My first finish was the pineapple quilt, Pina, that I finished a few days ago. Yesterday’s blog post goes into detail about that, but I’ll throw in a quick picture of it here
And I finished my monthly color quilt for my “Creature” quilt series. These are donation quilts that I’ve been making this year from scraps and orphan blocks that have been accumulating. This month’s quilt is Creature From the Blue Precinct. Now, you can decide for yourself if you want “precinct” to mean a voting precinct or a police precinct. They’ve both been in the news lately. All this little quilt wants to do is wrap some love around some child!
Creature From the Blue Precinct measures 40x49”. It should be a great quilt for a boy. I purposely included some old sea-themed scraps throughout. The back and binding is a leftover scalloped print that makes the binding look way more wavy than it is. I’m confident the wonkiness will soften up and look better once it’s laundered.
I also sewed up eleven Zipper blocks this week. I have about thirty-some more to go!
And finally, my dark blue scrap recap for July (picture below).
Top Row: 6 International Sisters blocks, one scrap bucket and 18 selvage half hexies.
Middle Row: 12 Twin Sister blocks and lots of selvage columns (possible future coin quilt?)
Bottom Row: 20 string blocks, 1 Scraptastic Star, 18 Split Nine blocks
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On a personal note, July was a hot month here in Salt Lake and I felt drained. I’m sure the Covid crisis and staying at home (mostly; we still have to visit doctors and buy groceries) doesn’t help the energy level or mood. Bruce is doing great. The mechanical arm is coming along in the building/customization process; next week they (Bruce and the prosthetist) will be focusing on the elbow. Bruce has been practicing manipulating a myo-electric tester device with wires hooked up to his stump nerve endings. The occupational therapist has him doing exercises to increase his range of motion and to learn to relax while he’s manipulating the muscles he’ll need. They will also be getting him a steering knob for the car and they’ll teach him how to steer on a simulator when he gets his new arm. The progress is slow, but steady.
I am so grateful for my family, friends and fellow bloggers. We’ve managed to stay in touch with family via the phone (and video calls) and the rare socially-distanced visit. This week I even got a hand-written letter from a friend, which was so thoughtful! I intend to pay that one forward because it was so cheery.
But I’ve been battling the blues and the “Covid 15”, the definite tightening of my clothes from too much sitting and eating and not enough walking and saying NO to snacks. I hope the lethargy of the hot summer dissipates after August. At least the veggies in the garden are coming on, so there is plenty to do in the kitchen (besides eat) as well as in the studio. And how can I not be happy when a gentle paw on my cheek wakes me up every morning?
Wishing you all a nice week of family, good health and lots of fun, scrappy sewing!
18 comments:
Hi,
Your Pineapple and Zipper quilts are awesome...so colorful.
The paw on your cheek is a wonderful way to wake up...have a
great day!
Such fun blocks you have been making. I hope the pet attached to the paw is getting some nice petting. Hope you have a great day and can enjoy some of those yummy veggies from the garden.
I am so impressed with all you got done in July! Pina is beautiful and fun (the pink pineapple is awesome!), and such a wealth of blue blocks. What a great idea to use orphan blocks to finish donation quilts--I'm sure a little boy will love the Creature from the Blue Precinct!
I love the name of your Blue Creature quilt. I was going with the tired already boring Creature from the Blue Lagoon. Yours is much better, much more apropos. I really want to do a pineapple quilt or at least a pillow cover or small wall hanging. It's so cheery!
Sorry your blue, me too! My old quilt groups are meeting now, no one wears a mask, not staying 6' apart. I won't partake, and that saddens me. Also, lots of negative posts on Facebook regarding mask wearing, opening of schools etc. It hurts.
Your cheery post helps me!
Your pineapple quilt is so beautiful, Cathy - that pretty yellow with the pop of pink is just happy! I saw in your other post about it that you're keeping it, and I'm so glad! You deserve some quilty love, too. :) The Creature from the Blue Precinct is great - love the change from lighter blues to darker, top to bottom. Glad to hear about how Bruce is doing, too - amazing really!
The Creature From The Blue quilt is awesome. And I love the bottom right zipper block...the fabric itself looks like a zipper block. And while I understand the feelings of heat and pandemic lethargy, I am finding it hard to square it with your energizer bunny scale of activity. You do know that the RSC challenge is for making blocks from the color of the month...not finished quilts?
What an amazing collection of blocks you made during July. Very impressive. Love your Blue Creature quilt, it will be loved by a little boy. Bruce seems to be doing so well, his determination deserves a round of applause. Yes this continued Covid crisis is draining, I can understand your feelings.
SEW much Dark BLUE awesomeness during July, Cathy! Thanks for an update on Bruce and I hope you will get a break from the heat soon. Have fun diving into your PURPLE scraps!!
Cathy, I love your blue Precinct Quilt and how you puzzle your creature quilts together. So much fun! The roundup of blue blocks for the month is impressive.
I am sorry you are blue. 😥 I think we can all relate and some days and weeks are better than others. I so enjoy your blog and your quilts and I hope you feel the quilty love that your online quiltmates are sending your way. Hugs to you from 🇨🇦!
I like your zipper blocks; I've never seen that block before, but it seems a useful one to use as a border. The pineapples look delicious, so I'm now going back a post to read more about them.
I think we all have to just keep going, one day at a time. I feel I'm just marking time, and I've never felt like that before. Like you, I never know what day it is!
Creature from the Blue Precinct is great! My mom told me she had been binge-rewatching episodes of Hill Street Blues (wow! that's really a golden oldie!), so in my mind your quilt is now HSB-related.
Thanks for sharing Bruce's progress report! It's inspirational to hear that tough times can be handled. And I'd love to have that sweet little paw on my cheek in the morning!
You are still getting a lot done despite the heat, the medical issues and Covid isolation. The days do seem to drag and yet, here it is, August already. Wish I could say the stay at home orders have led to much quilt production here, but it's not true. The heat makes me wilt so I mostly sit and scroll through blogs and IG and read too much distressing news. I'll be happy to see some cooler weather. So glad Bruce is making progress.
Pat
I am so happy to hear that Bruce is doing so well! I love to hear good news, especially these days! Reading your posts always brings a smile which I so appreciate! So, Thank you! Keep well, and safe! It's good to have online friends as well as the telephone and video chats that we can use to sweep away those isolation blues!
Thank you for the upbeat news of Bruce and his magical arm-to-be. He's my hero for his perseverance and can-do attitude. Still, all this medical brouhaha amidst the pandemic has got to take a toll on both of you. A few extra snacks are to be forgiven, I think. Meanwhile, Blue Precinct turned out really super, with the lighter blue ocean waters up near the sunshine and mysterious deep blues below :)
Your Creature quilts are always such fun! And what a pile of pretty blue blocks you've created!
All this hot weather on top of the Covid stress has left us all a bit drained. Glad to see how well you and Bruce are hanging in there!
Blue Precinct -- perfect! A great addition to the Creature Features. When the shutdown began my sister and I speculated when it would cease being "we're all in this adventure together!" with a gung-ho attitude. It is definitely a slog now. Glad Bruce's new limb is progressing well.
So many finished projects, Cathy. I am in awe. It is a good thing that we are friends otherwise I'd be greener than the carrot tops in your garden. Ooh the string blocks make me want to drop everything and find a telephone book. I am sending big squishy hugs to you and lots of good wishes to Bruce.
I'm so happy that Bruce is doing well and have to say that he's a wonder. I can only imagine what he'll be able to do once he gets his 'new' arm. There will be no stopping him! I'm sad to see the blues end although I'm somewhat appeased to know that purple (my second favourite colour) is up next.
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