Saturday, November 12, 2016

What a Week!

Thank goodness it’s over!  The week, that is. You may remember from my last post that I had a “procedure” scheduled for Monday. Oh heck, we’re all adults here...... it was a colonoscopy. After my weekend of fasting, the procedure finally took place on Monday at 2-ish. Missing the food was not the worst of it. Neither was the frequent trips to the bathroom. The worst was drinking the POISON - a solution that can be best described as warm seawater. But the results were perfect, and I don’t have to do THAT again for ten years!

And if that wasn’t enough crap (literally and figuratively), the election was on Tuesday. The results, to most of us, are devastating. Talk about CRAP. And by “most”, I mean the majority of voters (because H won the popular vote), educated women, minorities of any variety, and the rest of the peace-loving world. My daughter (age 30) called me, crying. My neighborhood friend’s daughter (age 24) called her, crying. Bruce’s co-workers (many are gay or minorities) were in a deep funk on Wednesday. We are still trying to come to terms with what this means for us going forward.
End of political discussion. I just deleted a paragraph of rant here. You’re welcome.  

So, back to why we're REALLY here - faaaaabric and those wonderful things we do with it!

I didn’t get much sewn this week, but I did finish the litter of purple kitties from last week. That is 4 litters down, two to go on the third and final Kitty Quilt.  As this is a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, I am linking up to Angela’s Scrappy Saturday party. Swing by and see all our rainbow projects coming together!


I also got the green and black borders sewn onto this pre-printed panel from Pattern Jam that I bought a year ago. Our son-in-law Mike is a hunter and this has his name written all over it.  The backing is pieced and it's ready to be quilted (behind several others in line!) And yes, I realize I need to pay more attention to how I pin quilts up on my design board. Sorry for the waves, LOL.


I finally began quilting the Magic Carpet quilt last night. After a false start that required some frog stitching (rippit, rippit), I decided on some basic stippling for the blue sections. The quilting on all the colored squares will be simple and medium to large scale. I don’t want to interfere with their color punch. The black bits will probably be X’ed or ???


I am not enjoying the quilting of this one, mainly because of all the stops and starts, changing thread colors, etc. I just want to put the pedal to the metal and stitch because I have so many quilts to do. But I am being patient, though it’s hard.

As far as my Christmas quilts go, there is only one left to start, and that is for my son Ryan. I have a jelly roll of Black Tie Affair by Basic Grey, plus lots of light and dark neutrals and some matching yardage for a border. Originally, I was going to do a Ribbon Star (MSQC) pattern, but decided it was too much background, and the stars were too cutesy for my athletic son. So now, the four patterns I’m considering are below, and they’re all in fabric colors or lines that are similar to what I’m working with. Which one do you like? I’m leaning to the strings one in the upper left (a la Three Dudes quilting).


One of the projects I’ve set for myself for 2017 is to make and contribute small kennel quilts to charities. These quilts are for cats and/or small dogs and measure approximately 12x18”. To find a local charity, I contacted our local Best Friends Shelter, a no-kill shelter and organization from whom we adopted Alfalfa and Darla two years ago. They were enthusiastic about the kennel quilts, and indeed accept quilts of all sizes for not only the kennels, but for fostering families and other uses. My cousin Kim and her granddaughter Trinity and I will begin sewing these in January. Our goal is to complete and donate at least a half dozen per month. Here are some kitty fabrics I ordered just for the fun of it, but any fabric will do, of course.


Along with the fabric I got a great new book, Modern Selvage Quilting by Riel Nason. I ordered it because I was having difficulty finding a pattern to use my selvages for. After getting the book (and seeing what she has coming in 2017 - a book of Halloween selvage patterns!), I am now having trouble narrowing it down, LOL.  But I think this quilt, pictured below, will be a great one to use for my selvage RSC project in 2017.  I will do it as a column quilt, working on one color - two columns - per month. The selvages themselves can be multi-colored (which will allow me to continually collect them), while the alternating solid pieces can be sewn in the color of the month. And those solid-color pieces can be one piece or scrappy/crumby. A solution that really works for me!


Finally, in remodeling news, the living room is fully painted, with new outlet and vent covers installed. The hallway is getting its second coat of Agreeable Gray today by yours truly.  Then, since Sunday is Sewing Day, on Monday I will start painting all the hall doors and door trim white. The baseboards will be replaced along with the baseboards in the living room. But unlike the living room, the hallway will not have crown molding.

All our living room furniture is moved out; we have temporarily relocated  the TV and Bruce’s recliner to the library/music room (our back bedroom). I have the futon to curl up on. It’s cozy, but the cats think we are crazy. So what else is new. The living room carpet comes up today, and the old ceiling lights are coming out and new can lights are being installed.  Our cabinetry may be done as early as next week, but if it’s the week after, that’s OK. In the meantime, the hall painting needs to be finished (me) and floor laid (contractor). Once the flooring in the living room is done, we will move the recliner (etc) back while the flooring moves down the hall and into that back bedroom. Such fun; musical furniture. And we are still on track for the new furniture delivery on or around December 7-8. And padded white cells shortly thereafter.

Cathy maroon

11 comments:

  1. First of all Yea! on the big C results! That's the best news.
    I am in appalled at the outcome.
    I am about connections not intolerance.
    I did soothing things this week like knitting mindlessly on soft yarn, and stitching beads together. Both allowed me to see something beautiful grow in my hands. Thank you Kathy for making something beautiful and writing about it for us to share.

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  2. I was in a funk on Wednesday, too. Never in my wildest dreams did I think... And you know the end of that sentence! Sewing and a good book have been my respite from it all! I love looking at all of your projects, including the new RSC project that will use your selvage collection. That looks so fun! Always glad to hear there is progress on your remodel. We are in the process of getting new appliances, so I have just finished cleaning out the old fridge, as the new one is coming this afternoon. Where does all that stuff I found in there come from?! Have a great week, Cathy! xo

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  3. I stayed up very very late on Tuesday night, and I've been in shock ever since. How is this even possible? All I can do at this point is hope that I was wrong, and wait for America to be Great Again! In the meantime, I will do my best to spread kindness and tolerance wherever I go. Glad you got great results from your C.

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  4. I don't think you can go wrong with either of the first three options for Ryan. Have you asked which one HE prefers??

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  5. Of course I love the kitties, but the deer head panel is AWESOME! I fell in love with the deer head pattern on the cover of Simply Moderne (issue 2, I think), but I'll never have the time to make that. The panel is a great alternative! I like all the pattern ideas for the neutrals, but your favorite is definitely intriguing.

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  6. The choices for Ryan's quilt are all masculine and will suit your fabrics. The selvege quilt is perfect for you this year, so easy and, as you say, you can just add them as they come. You are doing a great job on your house and the results will be worth it. Keep hanging in there and sew when you can.

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  7. And what does the Best Friends animal sanctuary think about all of these litters of kittens? Tommy and Jimmy used to donate to Best Friends because they liked the idea of cats and dogs off in a different state. I've always been a fan of the bento box quilt and it must be fall for me to enjoy those browns. Except they do look a bit like Buddy.

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  8. there is always so much going on at YOUR house. I am progressing, but honestly this past week I have had to invent places to go to get Terry out of the house. I slept through Wednesday and Thursday pretty much. He is still depressed and I am getting more angry and redirected my anger into the effort to change Indiana's method of Gerrymandering from partisan to an independent committee.

    Every time I see an update to your kitty quilts my mind immediately thinks "Here Kitty Kitty, Here Kitty Kitty. Still loving these purple blocks. Glad the remodel is progressing nicely. The best I could do was to buy a new area rug to cover the wood floor in the dining room. I must keep it covered or Tyson falls on his nubby tail when the runs to play rag toy with Boscoe.

    Have a Happy Week!
    xx, Carol

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  9. Love your purple litter of kitties. Very cute. You have a very fun idea picked out for next years RSC. I like all your choices for Ryan's quilt, I don't think you can wrong with any of the four.

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  10. Padded cell? Just as long as you can take your sewing machine you're good. Better yet, a certain elected person ought to be the one in that padded cell - locked up and key thrown away. It is absolutely terrifying to hear the reports on the news about how quickly racial issues have escalated and I fear this whole thing has set the inroads to equality that have been made back at least two generations. I'm so glad I live where I do, but I know whatever happens is going to spill over to us. All we can do is hide in our sewing rooms and spread love through what we create.

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  11. I think the cats are very regal. I think a lot of people were in a funk but I'll share an e-mail from my son's 3rd grade teacher last Friday.

    '​Happy Fall! I want to thank all of you for raising such kind, curious, and respectful little humans. When the news is full of depressing reports about people's behavior, it warms my heart to come to school each day and spend it with your children. These children give me faith that they will make the USA a wonderful and more tolerant nation as they grow up and start making life decisions. Have a wonderful weekend and hold them extra close!'

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