Saturday, August 15, 2020

Days of Future Passed

When I was pondering what, if anything, interesting happened here this week to write about (the answer is: NOTHING), the phrase “Days of Future Passed” popped into my mind. Those of us of a certain age (*cough, cough*) may remember The Moody Blues concept album with that title. It was the album that contained Nights in White Satin. And indeed, the Moody Blues has been a major part of the music I stitched along to this week. Should’ve done that last month when we were stitching with moody blues! But a more contemporary version of the expression is spelled “Days of Future Past”, which is an X-Men story line. I don’t know or care about Marvel comics and X-Men, so I picked the older reference. All of that to say that we’re doing the same things over and over, like in the movie Groundhog Day. The future days and weeks will probably be much like the past days and weeks. Same old same old in the Time of Covid. 

But I did get some purple sewing done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. August is purple month.  I’ll be linking up to Scrappy Saturday, so come check out all the purpley stuff.

First up: Two Scraptastic Stars; one in red-purples and one in blue-purples.


Fifteen Split Nine-patches:


String Blocks (6” finished): 13

In between all of those, I stitched my weekly batch of Zipper blocks. Eleven this time, because it was hard to stop. 


Some of the fabrics aren’t as interesting as when I started, because I’m nearing the end. After these, I believe I only have ten left to reach 99, the number I need for a quilt that will measure 66x81”.

This block is my favorite this week. I love that scrappy fabric that Nann sent me and have used it here as well as in the Tessa Quilt I cut out a couple months ago. I hope to get to that one before year end. Note that I didn’t have enough of any of those solid oranges, so I used them all in a gradient fashion. 


And the block below is interesting too. I bought a fat quarter of this marijuana fabric from Spoonflower last year (when I bought that Bob Ross fabric - remember?)  I used every single square centimeter of it cutting out a mask for my brother, a zip pouch for my brother, and two of these Zipper blocks - one for me and one for Cousin Kim. There wasn’t even a half inch left over!

And finally, I sewed up the last two blocks for my One Monthly Goal project quilt. Nothing too exciting here. I just tried to keep the blocks simple so that the blocks of color would be prominent, and then to round out the colors for the overall balance of the quilt. 


It’s now basted and ready to be quilted this weekend. I really have enjoyed working with that rather wild background print with all the US States listed in brightly-colored abbreviations. I think I’ll just call it the States Quilt (original, eh?)

We are going to head out to the local Farmer’s Market this morning to see if we can get some raspberries and peaches. I want to make more raspberry jam, and the peaches are for eating. It may be a little early for the local peaches, but we’ll see. Then I have to swing by our Quilts for Kids workshop. I am not going to stay and stitch (even though they are limiting it to 10 people), but I do have six finished quilts to drop off. And my friend Bonnae, who is out camping this week, asked me to pick her up some quilt kits to sew on. As for myself, I still have seven baby quilts for QFK that I checked out last month and didn’t get quilted. They were sewn by other people - too bad more of them don’t quilt their own quilts, but oh well. I’ll get to them eventually. For the rest of this calendar year, the priority for me will be getting Christmas quilts done - more on that another time.  

So, for the coming week I’ll sew the last of the zipper blocks, quilt the States quilt, make a little purple scrap fabric bucket and sew a purple Beachcomber block. If I finish those, maybe I’ll baste and quilt some QFK quilts and/or finish up the last half dozen kennel quilts I stared a couple months ago. There is never a lack of  things to do in the studio. 

We’re having my older son Ryan and our DIL Kim over for dinner tonight. Maybe the grandkids Lauren and Easton will come too if they don’t have to work. Bruce and I bought a misting system for the patio, but we need to go to Home Depot and get a short hose for it. My guess is that we won’t get it set up until it’s time to take it down in the fall. Anyway, we’re celebrating DIL Kim’s birthday, so I’ve got to make her Something Chocolate for dessert. Better get my rear in gear!

Have a good week, wear your mask in public and wash your hands when you get home! 


25 comments:

  1. SEW much scrappy goodness, Cathy!! Enjoy your visit. Happy birthday, DIL Kim!!

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  2. You have really accomplished so much with your scraps! Love the different blocks that you made with the blue purples and the red purples... great idea!

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  3. I am impressed with all your scrappy sewing

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  4. WOW you got a lot done this week! that is great;)) I love the purple Scraptastic star and of course the sting blocks--one of my favorites--but they are all nice...
    I did No sewing this week! Zip, Nada, niente...not a thing...just didn't have the vibe I guess...nothing appealed....
    But I am on a cross stitchery kick right now...began 3rd butterfly...so easy to just pick up and put down...

    Hope your dinner celebration goes off well...

    Wearing my mask and washing- washing- washing- my hands,and oh that rminds me.....
    When we were on our cruise the "washy washy" girls sprayed our hands every time
    we came into a large room...I thought it was funny then--but they were SO RIGHT!!
    Julierose

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  5. Ummm string not sting blocks--covid brain hits again..;000

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  6. I look forward to your posts every week. You always have something interesting to share! Have a wonderful birthday dinner with your family! Chocolate is the best!

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  7. You may feel like nothing happened last week, but you were very productive in the sewing room! You made so many beautiful purple blocks, and I especially love those Scraptastic Stars. I keep resisting starting some Zipper blocks, although they are very tempting!

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  8. You always get so much done each week, in spite of things feeling very much like "same old, same old" these days! I love those scraptastic stars, and especially the way you sorted the red-purples from the blue-purples. Enjoy your dinner with the family, and something chocolate sounds yummy!

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  9. I agree with all the previous comments. I’m continually amazed by how much you achieve in a week! You make me feel lazy! Love all the purple and Zipper blocks( how will you cope when you have finished the last 10???) but the Scraptastic Stars are probably my favourite. A clever idea to separate the red-purples from the blue- purples, makes each block look so striking. Hope the birthday celebration went well and that your DIL enjoyed her chocolate dessert.😋

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  10. I still have most of the Moody Blues in album form. Several of them were a birthday present once upon a time. I actually still listen to albums once in awhile. No marijuana fabric here, though!

    When I see your string blocks I'm always reminded my string box overfloweth. I don't think I have that many purple strings, though.

    Ive resisted making those Zippers (so far). They just look like too much fun. Can't wait to see what they all look like in a quilt.

    Something chocolate is always welcome here!

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  11. Love all your purple scrappy blocks, especially your scrappy stars!

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  12. Your purple blocks are to die for! I never have enough purples for much of anything. They are so hard to find. Do you buy yours online or local?

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  13. You're a wiz with the string blocks! Takes me forever to stitch them. What am I doing wrong? Maybe it's because I have to wait until the generator is running to iron them? The pot fabric is too funny. I'm guessing you bought a fat quarter from Spoonflower? Their fabric is more expensive per ounce than the marijuana itself. But it's great for truly odd theme fabrics. For some reason, I thought of the name Federalism for your states quilt, but I think that might be a bit too Civics 101 for such a bright, fun quilt :)

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  14. As Louise points out, Spoonflower fabrics are quite pricey, so it's a good thing you didn't waste any of that weed. But I bet your brother loved (or will) the mask and pouch. And I chuckled at the comment about purples being hard to find. I probably have more purple fabrics than any other color, although they do lean toward the red purple more than the blue. Lots of fun blocks happening in your neighborhood.
    Pat

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  15. I thought that floral print was familiar! :) But those poor zipper block fish who got their faces chopped off . . . Red-purples and blue-purples are hard to mix (when used in the same block). Separating them as you did makes them both look better. And I like the wordplay in "days of future passed."

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  16. Hi Cathy! Oh yes, how ever did you come up with that name?? States quilt. Now that I'm done ribbing you, I LOVE it. The red sashing is an unexpected pop of delightfulness. I'm sorry to say I didn't get the Moody Blues reference although I did have to sit through several of their concerts one year. The guy I was dating adored them - thankfully, it was a double-header with Chicago so I endured them. We probably saw them a dozen times that summer - I don't care if I ever hear Nights in White Satin again in my life. HAHA! However, it makes me smile to think of you sewing away to their tunes even when it's not a moody blue color for the month. I am jumping into the RSC challenge next year for the first time and I love seeing all the different choices you offer up with what you're making. Oh, so many choices! How will I ever decide? I hope you are both doing well. The peaches and raspberries sound delicious. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  17. Days of Future Passed...yep! I often think of this time as our very own Ground Hog Days. UGH!
    I really need to get on the band wagon of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I have been going through all of my past quilt making endeavors which were halted by a move. It always takes me so long to get back into the swing of things. I get a little twinge of guilt when I see your scrap challenge projects...I should be joining along!
    It is so much fun to catch up with you and your projects. I always feel I am in the company of a good friend.
    Stay healthy and safe! Have a great birthday dinner with your kids!

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  18. I like how you embraced the duality of the reddish versus the blueish in purple. While I am having a harder time distinguishing blue-greens from green-blues, I’m about to force red-purple to live separately from blue-purple.

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  19. As soon as I read "Days of Future Passed", I had Moody Blues ear worms rocking through my head! You've had a productive scrappy purple week! Love that kinda retro flower fabric with the orange zipper.

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  20. Wow, what a lot of blocks you have! :) I love those stars. They're going to make a great quilt. Hope you had a fun dinner and found a lot at the farmer's market.

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  21. Did you find peaches at the Farmers Market! I hope we have some show up at out parking lot sales, love the Scraptastic Stars, always. And zipper blocks are goin to be a project soon, I think!

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  22. As soon as I read the title I got Nights in White Satin stuck in my head... (My best friend in high school had that album (in VINYL!) and we played it way too many times!)
    Love all those zippers, especially the gradient one!

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  23. Oh how I love those purple strings!!! And now I thank you for the ear worm (NinWS). Loved that song back in the day and still do.

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  24. Your States quilt is beautiful! And I'll always be partial to strings! Happy Birthday, Kim! What chocolate concoction did you make for her?

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  25. The Scraptastic Stars are absolutely fantastic. They perfectly explain the difference between Reddish-Purple and Bluish-Purple. Chocolate? Oh I need some right now. Gotta GO.

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