Saturday, October 22, 2016

Busy Week - and a Finish!

This was another busy week, which was no surprise. Between the living room remodel, the garden, quilting, family and errands ..... whew!  This is a busy autumn, and the weather this week was just sensational.

Yesterday my cousin Kim was over (she won’t be here for our usual Sunday sewing) and we basted two quilts - one was her black, white and red one and the other was my black and purple one. More on those as they’re quilted. Anyway, after they were done, we went out to lunch and then stopped to enjoy some lattes. It was such a perfectly bright afternoon, and as we were sitting in the coffee shop, we looked outside and a car parked right outside in front of us was plugged in. An actual electrical cord ran from the front grille to the building’s outside electrical outlet. Of course I’ve heard of electric cars, but I hadn’t seen one until then. It was a Nissan Leaf. Ha! A perfect autumn sighting. A sign of things to come. We both laughed that we would remember this day; something that is sure to be so common in the future was so charmingly futuristic to us that afternoon. In telling DH about it last evening, he said that there are regular charging stations in downtown Salt Lake for electric cars. I guess I’ve been living under a rock!

While we were basting our quilts, the fireplace guys were installing our new gas fireplace insert. I snapped a quick picture of course.


That is a first coat of paint around some of it, but most of what you see will be covered up by the fireplace trim and mantel. Yeah, the picture makes it look like sixteen different shades, but it’s not. And I have to wipe off the workers' sooty hand marks before I paint the second coat. Hubby will be finishing up the wiring this weekend, I will start painting more living room walls, and our contractor Jeff has to finish leveling out the floor in front of the fireplace and then do the hearth bricks. Then the carpenter can start building the custom cabinets.

But let’s move on to yellow - the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I finished my eight 9” blocks, doing a slight variation on Angela’s suggested pattern.


And then I sewed all the rows together, and the top of my 2016 RSC Sampler Flimsy is done!  It is now in line to be quilted.... but there are three ahead of it. One of the three is the second kitty quilt, which is 5/6 done.  Join us over at Angela’s So Scrappy blog to see more rainbow goodness today!


And speaking of quilting the second kitty quilt, I had a helper when I was working on it on Thursday. Darla was patient for a long time while I worked, but finally she’d had enough and demanded that I stop so she could snuggle and so I would pay some attention to her.

Darla on Kitty Quilt #2 for DGD London
The FIRST kitty quilt is done, and this post also serves as my official announcement post for  my Quarter 4 Finish-Along goals. This was goal #2 on my Finish-Along list, which you can see here.
Goal 2; Kitty Quilt #1
So, this quilt is for DGD Remington. It has kitties in red, blue, purple, green and orange . The 3 kitty quilts I’m making will all be backed with the cute kitty print with the blue background. This was quilted with free-form loops. I’m all about easy quilting!


Alfie wanted me to tell you about the indignities he suffered last month when he went to the vets to have his teeth cleaned. I had promised to tell you about it a couple weeks ago, but forgot, and he has been nagging me constantly.  Yes, his teeth are now sparkly white and his gums totally healed and free of gingivitis; however, a portion of his paw was shaved for the IV. It has mostly grown back, but here we see evidence of the humiliating shaved patch on his forepaw. Alfie is not sure what else may have happened while he was “out”, but there is an ongoing investigation. Or so he claims.


Finally, I have some yellow/gold 16-patch and improv blocks to show next week. They’re done but I didn’t get pictures. I have one quilt planned for the 90 16-patch blocks I made this year, and two quilts planned (one is even started) from the improv blocks. I’ll show those next week too. My studio is undergoing a major upheaval (general cleaning and new furniture), so I’ve not been too good about getting pictures this week.

Linking up to:
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
2016 Finish-Along (4th Quarter Goals)

Cathy maroon

13 comments:

  1. Your sampler quilt is looking great! The kitty quilt is so pretty. Love all those bright colors. Hope the around the house madness dies down soon.

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  2. Gas fireplace - DEFINITELY the way to go - we love ours!
    Your RSC sampler top looks great, I love the bright colors.
    The first kitty quilt is adorable - lucky DGD!

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  3. Your column quilt looks great. I hope to finish up my yellow blocks today and start working on a layout.

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  4. There's nothing like a kitty on a kitty quilt! Perfect photo! Your sampler quilt looks great, too. I didn't try that this year, but may have to join in next year!

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  5. Congrats! on your completed Kitty Quilt #1 and the RSC flimsy. Looking forward to seeing the living room renovation project!

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  6. You have a very lovely finish there and the colors go so well in the rows. Good luck with the house painting. Your stone fireplace surround is very elegant. Aren't you lucky to have such perceptive cats!

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  7. Very busy indeed! I guess if you live in Salt Lake, you'll be able to get lots of use from your new fireplace. LOVE the kitty quilts!

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  8. sure You're home having fun quilting while your poor cat is on DEATH's DOOR getting heaven knows WHAT done to him. Poor cat! He might keep the bald patch for a while just to remind you of the terrible no good time he had. What??? Oh his teeth no longer hurt? well... okay, carry on...
    LeeAnna

    also fireplace looks great

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  9. The fireplace is shaping up. Gas is so much better and cleaner than wood. The kitty quilts look great and that darned Alphie is spilling his guts to the kitties on those quilts. It seems no one else will listen to his doctor tales which he continues to embellish with each telling.
    xx, Carol

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  10. Very pretty finishes. I love your kitty quilt. I am going to look for a kitty pattern because I think they would be fun to make. I love your fireplace.

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  11. Gas fireplace? Sheesh, we still split wood from our own trees for our wood burning stove! And in re electric cars...you must be under a rock...get out of there. Several people where I work even drive electric cars but you wouldn't know it if you didn't know that model was electric since we have no car charging station at work.

    Your cat quilts are just darling. I'll bet all those darling little girls will love them. They will always be able to cuddle with kitties!

    Good luck on your other FAL goals. I was a Q3 winner of a gift certificate! Wooohoo.

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  12. Your fireplace looks so warm and cozy! I kind of wish I had a gas fireplace. I have a wood burning stove which is wonderful, except that it is not as easy to regulate as the gas ones are. (Not complaining, mind you, I could have no house heater at all!)
    Your quilt top is so pretty! I wish I would have known about the ScrapHappy Saturdays earlier. It looks like it has been fun. I have loved following along with all the great blocks and quilts!
    I love your kitties!
    I also love your kitty quilts!

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  13. Love, love, LOVE those cat blocks. I especially love that there are different sized cats to break up the fun.

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