Friday, August 4, 2017

Searching for the Neutral Zone

The last week has been fun and busy as we have settled into having my brother Steve come live with us. Unloading, rearranging, cleaning out...... Plus two days this week were also spent tending granddaughters, which was seriously fun but a detriment to my productivity. But we only live once, right?

On Sunday and Monday, I was able to finish up the pineapple quilt top. It will be basted this weekend, after I clean the hardwood floors.


On Tuesday, granddaughter Lauren (age 13) spent the day with me. She is such a mature, delightful young girl. We mostly spent our time painting a carved wooden cockatoo (an old salvage rescue my brother brought me for the patio). We painted it in bright colors, like a parrot, then sealed it. It turned out great, but I have no picture yet.

Then on Thursday, one of Bruce’s days off, we (along with my brother) took all the kennel quilts to Best Friends Animal Shelter up in Salt Lake. One of the dogs wanted to adopt my brother, and one of the kittens wanted to adopt my dear husband. I had to put both feet down. We all walked out with misty eyes. And that is why I sew kennel quilts instead of volunteering my time, and also why I will take the quilts in by myself in the future.

After finishing the pineapple quilt top, the only other sewing-related thing I did was to pull my light neutrals. I can’t wait to work with them. I am in serious need of zen sewing time! So, even with this meager contribution, I am linking to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.


Since neutrals won’t work for my regular RSC blocks, I have another plan. One of the quilts I have wanted to start for awhile is Bonnie Hunter’s Jamestown Landing. The link will take you to one of her posts from 2015 where you can see the quilt made of blues and varied light neutrals. I may use both blues and greens for the colored portions, but for this month I plan to move full steam ahead on all the neutral strippy blocks.

Yesterday (Friday), granddaughter London came over, as well Cousin Kim’s two granddaughters Zoe and Trini for their final summer play date before school starts in 2 weeks. The “twins” London and Zoe were crazy girls all day. Our poor cats Darla and Alfie will probably need therapy!

In the morning we took the girls to Michael’s to buy craft supplies: Play Doh, foam crowns to decorate, wooden face masks (kittens) to decorate, scepters/batons, and more. They decorated their crowns and masks before lunch. After lunch, Trini (who is 12) watched the younger girls swim and play in their kiddie pools and break occasionally to play with Play Doh out on the patio. For three hours, they were busy outdoors. Kim and I got to relax and read indoors. We finished the day with my son Shane and Bruce joining us after work; pizza for all 8 of us.

Today, I recover and clean house. The pineapple quilt will be basted sometime this weekend, and then I can Sew Like The Wind next week.

Cathy maroon

18 comments:

  1. You've been busy! All I could manage this week was melting and trying not to breath too deeply. We are having uncharacteristically hot weather...(80's - 90's) and the smoke from the fires in British Columbia are being blown down to us. I couldn't even see the mountains just to the south of me for four days.
    So I have done nada, zilch, zero. It's hard to sew when you are a puddle on the floor!

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  2. I love how you set the pineapples and that pink one makes me smile every time I see it.

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  3. Your pineapples look just lovely. I think making strippy blocks is such fun..good choice of pattern to utilize those lights..have fun stripping (lol you know what I mean hahaha)
    hugs, Julierose

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  4. Ditto what Libby said - I love the pink pineapple! Your pile of light neutrals is so pretty, and will be perrfect for the Bonnie Hunter pattern. Zen sewing all the way! :)

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  5. Love that Bonnie Hunter quilt! I have two quilts on my want-to-make list that are both made mostly from light neutral scraps. So I'm going to have a blast this month. I still love that pink pineapple amidst the yellows!!

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  6. Nice idea for those LIGHT NEUTRALS!! I'll look forward to seeing the transformation of that small pile of scraps.

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  7. Great pineapple quilt!! Your neutral pile is full of fun fabrics, they will all play well with Bonnie Hunter's quilt!

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  8. That pink pineapple just sparks the quilt. What a great addition! Fun times with kids in the house. Always so much love and laughter. Love all the neutrals. Enjoy the making of James Town Landing.

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  9. Those light neutral look ready to come out and play! I did a Jamestown Landing quilt back when the pattern was new, and it was such a fun pattern to make! I'm looking forward to seeing you get started on yours. The pineapple top is beautiful. Great motivation to get those Flores ready for basting duty!

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  10. I LOVE that pineapple quilt. There is definitely something similar in my future. Jamestown Landing will be great! One of my favourites, too.

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  11. You have some great neutrals to work with, that is something that is sadly lacking in my stash. I have been building it slowly since the first of the year. I took a peek at the quilt you are going to make and it will be lovely when you get it done. Happy stitching!

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  12. The pineapple layout is wonderful, and I'm impressed how quickly it came together. And for some reason, I'm no longer tempted by kittens...since I can't keep up with a small two year old cat.

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  13. The pineapples are yummy looking, a very good setting. Did not know they come in pink Orr is that only in Cathyland. Good l unknown with the neutrals. At least you have an idea to work on.

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  14. Love how the Pineapples turned out - a smile-inducing quilt, for sure! All your family time sound like good fun - not as much fun as sewing, but good for the spirit all the same!

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  15. This sounds like a fun week. We have had house guests all week so it has been kind of chaotic. But fun.
    xx, Carol

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  16. You can really jam a lot into a week's time!! Your pineapple quilt is awesome. I did manage to pull out a pile of yellows for that. Hubby asked me weather my pink pineapple would be purple. Told him I would have to think on that one.
    I need to finish what I am up to before I start something new, but my short attention span is kicking in and I only have one more block until I am done with my Christmas one! I also need to scrub the floor extra well, so that I can do some basting soon. Sounds like all the young family members are going to follow in your creative footsteps. That is so awesome! Have a great rest of your weekend!!

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  17. Love the pineapple quilt. Is there a pattern out there I could obtain? That quilt is definitely in my future projects!

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  18. I'm with you in not being able to volunteer at the animal shelter. I would be absolutely wanting to bring most of them home....who can resist those big sad eyes. Sounds like you've had an amazing week with grand children - what fun.

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