Depending on which ever way the wind blows, our days here in the Truckee Meadows either start off looking like this:

Morning smoke from the King Fire in Pollock Pines, CA.

Or, yesterday’s sunrise pre-settling of smoke:

Canada geese flying by Sunday morning ~ 21 Sept 2014

As of this morning, the King fire has burnt 87,592 acres and is only 18% contained. Come on Mom Nature! Bring them some rain already!

Friday I took 4 hours of annual leave and stopped off for some canning jars as I had mustard seeds soaking in some Sierra Nevada 2014 Beer Camp West Coast Double IPA.

I adapted a recipe I saw using Guinness Stout:

In a glass bowl add the following: 1 cup yellow mustard seed, .5 cup of brown mustard seed, 12 oz IPA or dark beer, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 2-3 tsp of sea or kosher salt, 1 tsp coarse ground pepper, 1/4 tsp each of cloves, nutmeg and allspice. You can add turmeric for yellow coloring, but I didn’t use it. Let it sit on the counter, covered, for two days. I stirred it before going to work and then when I got home. Plop it all into a blender or food processor and grind away until you get it how you like it…I added a bit more beer to get it the thickness I liked. Pour into your canning jars and hot bath process for 10 minutes. Being at a higher altitude I processed mine for 20 minutes total.

Beer Mustard in the making.

10 4-oz jars of Sierra Nevada Beer Mustard.

I also stopped off at the Sparks Windy Moon Quilts shop to buy a yard of white on white fabric to start a wall hanging quilt. While there I bought the September’s Fat 8th to make a Building Blocks To The Moon in support of ovarian cancer research.

You donate $1 and then you receive a Fat 8th of focus fabric (September’s is a multi-colored Autumn leaf fabric). You then make a 12.5″ block using the fabric, a selected colored fabric by the store (brick red this time) and any fabrics from your stash. Turn in the block by noon of the last day of the month. Both stores are participating in the challenge…anyone who made a block will have their names entered into a drawing where one of us will end up with all the blocks.

I had saved a Mini Medallion tutorial and thought the center block of that would make a great block for that fabric.

My entry to Building Blocks To The Moon…September 2014.

After finishing up the challenge block, I got my Kate Spain’s Solstice layer cake out and Lori Holt’s tutorial for a Scrappy Cross Roads Block.

Then on Saturday morning, after shooshing my husband out the door for his half day of overtime, brewing a cup of chai latte, I settled in with my pretty winter Solstice fabric. I have four blocks all sewn together, now will put a border or two on it.

Winter Solstice Cross Roads

Sneak peak at an upcoming post ~