I had a mid-afternoon appointment yesterday with my retina doctor, whom I hadn't seen in 4 years. It just seemed like the prudent thing to do - get my eye health checked (after past macular hole surgeries) before going to get new eyeglasses. Summary of visit: interminable wait, rushed appointment with Dr. B. Not my doctor B, but Dr. B JUNIOR. He was knowledgeable and perfectly competent. But rushed. And I drove home and spent the rest of the evening with dilated eyes. That ruled out any sewing for the rest of the day. And apparently I've got a cataract starting in my right eye that's not bad enough to remove yet. But there's no point in getting new glasses for now. That's OK, I guess, because I have my carpal tunnel surgery later this month before Thanksgiving. Both hands. So I've got 2-3 weeks of mad quilt sewing and finishing lined up before then.In my last post, I showed my October One Monthly Goal (OMG) completed. This is the Rainbow Anvil quilt, which was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for this year. You can click back to read more about it, but I've added a pic above for those who may not have seen it.
My other October finishes, both Rainbow Scrap projects, were Gumdrops and Stringing in the Rain.
And that brings us up to the present and what I have planned for November.
First up and currently on the design wall is the second quilt I'm making from my dark neutral scraps. I let the size of my scraps dictate the size and type of blocks made. That was a lot of fun. I ended up with six rows of six inch blocks (8 of each pattern) and 3 rows of 8" blocks (6 of each pattern) that will measure 48" across by 60" down, before sashing. This is the layout of the first 5 rows. I will be adding 1.5" black strips to separate rows here and there and to outline the quilt on the tops and sides. Eventual finished size should be 50x66".
Below the lower black strip in the picture above, I will be sewing rows that look like these samples below. My design board is more horizontal than vertical, so I put these few up as a sewing order reference.
And this is the current work in process on the design board. All the blocks are made, but obviously not all are pinned up. My goal is to get this one finished up, including quilting and binding, this week.
After that I have plans for three more finishes (fingers crossed). One is to make a kitty quilt (probably a baby-sized quilt) for my two grand kittens, Carl and Xbox. Here is the fabric pull for that. It will be a simple quilt of rows and large blocks.
Next is a pillowcase for my grandson G, who is six years old and totally into Bob Ross. (What six-year-old even knows who Bob Ross is?) We think it's hilarious! So, I found and ordered some Bob Ross fabric from Spoonflower, and will make G a Bob Ross pillowcase for a stocking stuffer gift.
What's funny is that G is a flaming redhead, so I plan to play up the orange (his favorite color) and teal in this print for the pillowcase cuff and accent band.
And then I have this quilt top that I bought at that estate sale a few weeks ago. I need to add a border, then I can sandwich, quilt and bind it. This is my OMG for November - my stated One Monthly Goal for the challenge link-up over at Elm Street Quilts. Depending on when my carpal tunnel surgery is (I will know the date by Tuesday), I will likely move this one up to the top of my To-Do list after I finish the neutral scrappy quilt. I'm 10/10 with my OMG goals this year, and I want to keep my perfect record, surgery notwithstanding!
So, as the Holiday season begins, are you planning to pick up steam or slow down the pace? I'm rather happy that I'll be forced to slow it down for awhile. No Thanksgiving dinner to prepare - we'll buy a turkey and roast it eventually. We have an invitation to visit extended family for Thanksgiving. And no overdone Christmas decorations! I don't think we (meaning Bruce) will even get out the regular Christmas tree this year. He did mention something about buying a small tabletop tree. So I told him very sweetly that was a great idea; he just needed to figure out where to put it and how to decorate it. Translation: no tree this year, haha!
Linking up to
20 comments:
Your neutral tops are really handsome! Can't beat a string quilt in any colorway. Very nice quilt purchase too.
Surgeries? Ugh. Hoping the recovery time is short.
So much scrappy fun! I love the gumdrops quilt!
I've never heard of Bob Ross so Mr Google told me all about him. My excuse for my ignorance? I live halfway around the world in New Zealand. It's great that your grandson is taking an interest in this interesting painter, wonder how he found out about him?
I complained about the same thing after my eye doc appointment in August - they dilate your eyes so the doc can look in them for a few minutes and then your vision is messed up for the rest of the day!! Ugh! Meanwhile, you have some lovely finishes, Cathy, and I love your next neutral scrap quilt, too. Such a great idea! Best wishes for your carpal tunnel surgery!
That's the most exciting 'neutral' quilt I've seen in a long time! Good luck with all your projects as you try to outrace the surgeon.
My eye doc has some kind of magic machine that takes a light-speed picture of the back of the eye, so no dilation is necessary. I highly recommend it!
So many gorgeous projects. Congrats on your lovely finishes. I love your string quilt and the new dark neutral quilt. Sew, sew, sew before the time is up. ;^)
Fascinating that your grandson has a fascination with Bob Ross...but he does seem a bit like Mr. Rogers with a paint brush. And Molly says that you will be wasting the Tula Pink fabric unless you fussy cut the kitten heads as a warning.
OMG - Bob Ross fabric! Gotta love Spoonflower. What a fun idea!
That Bob Ross fabric is fantastic! So funny that your 6-year-old grandson is a fan, but that's awesome, too! There is a Bob Ross board game out there that's gotten good reviews from the board game fan sites, though I don't know what the age range on the game is.
OKAY, I'll be interested to see your surgery incisions. Not morbidly, but since your doc is cutting at the wrist. Oh, I have that cataract thing going on too. We need to get Terry taken care of first since his surgery started a whole new fiasco. In all the years since we were married we have always decorated the outside with lights. I'm pretty sure i'm not doing that this year. I think I turned some kind of corner because I have no interest in putting up a tree, though I do have a table top fiber-optic tree that I may set up.
When I saw the Bob Ross fabric I thought "that looks like Bob Ross" and then I read that it is. My grandson and his family love to watch Bob Ross. Sometimes they even try to paint a long with him. Such great family time.
I hope our holidays will be quiet and laid back. I'd make T-Day dinner here without the Turkey since neither Terry or I like it, but we do like all the stuff that goes with it.
cc, Carol
That Bob Ross fabric is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks!! My DH really cracked up when I read about G and showed him the pillowcase plans. Too funny :D
I'm sorry you have to deal with surgery, but hopefully things will be so much better afterwards that all the waiting before and after will be totally worth it.
And finally, I love that you're doing all those different blocks as a row quilt in the dark neutrals. That's going to be a handsome quilt!
Great finishes and more to come! Best of luck on your upcoming surgery.
Here's hoping the carpal tunnel recovery will be short, although, it will be a challenge for you to wait it out. Good thing you've managed to finish so much up this year. I've scaled back Christmas decorating and haven't had a big tree in years, but I do miss seeing all my favorite ornaments.
Pat
Have fun with that row quilt, my favorite kind because I don’t have to match up seams. I pray you have good results from your surgery. Not surprising, since you are the most prolific quilter I’ve ever met I think. Maybe you could spend your downtime designing more quilts and color schemes. That is the most fun part anyway.
good luck with your surgeries and I hope you get a lot of sewing in before the dreaded day
Very ambitious projects. Wishing you a speedey recovery whenever they decide to set your date.
How fun is that pillowcase fabric! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.
I love reading your posts. They make me a bit awestruck at all your projects. You are an amazingly productive quilter.
I must admit I laughed when I read about Bob Ross because, oddly enough, our 5 year old grandson watches him all the time! Funny what will catch a kids eye. I'm with you in not being excited about having a decorated tree - we're going to spend Christmas day with our son and his family and otherwise we won't be doing any entertaining so as far as I'm concerned it's a huge amount of bother for virtually nothing. I'd be more than happy with just the nativity set, but Resident Chef wants the tree. Sigh.
Too much fun going in your sewing room. Love the Bob Ross fabric, that will be a fun stocking stuffer. Sorry you have to have surgery over the holidays. Good luck with all your goals this month.
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