Saturday, July 10, 2021

Is it Fall Yet?

Are we there yet? Is it autumn? Oh, wait … summer just started a couple weeks ago. Shucks! Being forced indoors by the extreme heat here in the Western United States is like enduring Pandemic 2.0. (But seriously, if the unvaccinated peeps don’t get their arms under a needle soon, the Delta variant will be forcing the real Pandemic 2.0 on us this winter. But I digress… ) Back to the heat. This born-and-bred California girl is officially stating for the record that I no longer have any desire to return to California. The “good old days” are gone. A summer at the beach and Disneyland don’t hold the appeal they did decades ago, especially when things are burning up around you and water sources are drying up. Oh my, I digressed again. Let’s just move on to something more pleasant, shall we? But first, share a chuckle with me.


Ok, so the best way I’ve found to stay cool is to stay indoors with the air conditioning running, sipping lots of Fresca mixed with Cran-Raspberry juice and sewing in my basement studio. That’s because I don’t fit in the refrigerator, and standing in front of it with the door open wastes energy. So, I sewed. And sewed. And sewed some more. In fact, I sewed so much that I’m going to save some of it (38 string blocks and counting) until next week.

But I do have two Spring Star blocks to share.


And a dark blue mama cat and her litter of five kittens.


And another quilt top from scraps that just needs two side borders sewn on. You can see the orange strips there, pinned along the sides. 

This was a fun little quilt to puzzle out with the scraps that I had. You may remember that these scraps are what I started with.


The plan for the coming week is to get this quilt top and the first scrappy blues quilt top (no picture except last week’s in-process photo) basted, quilted and bound this week. Then I can begin on the next set of scraps, the “bricks”.  I’ll also be sewing up more dark blue blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s color of the month. So there should be plenty to share next week. I just need to remember to photograph everything. I think my brain has melted in the heat.....

So I’ll sign off with this picture of Emily and the grands, Deacon, Gunner and Abbie. Emily’s husband Chad had to stay behind in Idaho because their air conditioning went out and he was waiting for the contractors to come to fix it. Hopefully he’ll be joining them later either this trip or another one later in the summer. We haven’t seen him in ages!

Have a good week and stay cool (or warm if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, LOL). Life is good.

21 comments:

  1. Great idea for using those blue and orange scraps, this will be a lovely quilt. Lovely to have family visiting. We haven’t had anyone to stay for almost 2 years.

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  2. Love the kitten litter... one looks like Mom, and the others look like distant relatives!

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  3. Great projects going, Cathy;)) Cutest picture...my brain is just an olde fogey these days...
    I totally emphatically agree that those nay-sayers NEED to get their shots...what is WRONG with them--see, I digress, too;0))
    Anyway..despite my fried brain, I am trying to organize still--I don't know quite why it's eluding me,,but am hanging in there...hugs, Julierose

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  4. Handsome family! I like the orange-bar quilt in progress. Hope the heat wave breaks. (We're in a cool spell right now. The furnace switched on for about 3 minutes very early this morning.)

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  5. Smile at all the ones who want to experience Delta, then go on your merry way. Escaping to the basement to sew, what a brilliant idea. Maggie it I need to take my sewing machine to the basement. The a.c. has been running non stop to keep us cool. So blessed to have cooling. Interesting projects, time with loved ones amazing.

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  6. Beautiful and cute blocks and I like also the orange bar quilt, Cathy.
    Handsome picture of the grands with Emily.

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  7. Lots of lovely sewing here, I especially love your cat blocks. So nice to have family visiting too. I'm "in the pink" today, not because of excessive heat but because of cooler temps down here in the Southern hemisphere. I'm clad in navy fleecey trousers, navy skivvy, topped with a bright pink tunic and bright pink hand knit socks keeping my toes warm!

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  8. so many pretty blocks...especially love the kitty blocks!

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  9. Your kitty quilt is going to be so much fun, Cathy! What pattern are you using for that? I'm not a cat owner, but they fascinate me. It would be fun to make a quilt full of them! Stay cool!

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  10. Sew much sewing! I love what you did with the orange and blue scraps. It just says "fun!" Stay cool and enjoy your family!

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  11. Keep on sewing and keeping your cool. No more digressing. Hahaha!

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  12. Nice job on your Dark BLUE sewing for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Cathy! Looks like a happy crew, so you must have had a nice visit. What a great setting for the latest scrappy quilt! I never think of adding sashing in that manner.

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  13. I really like the blue and orange piece! You did good with those scraps :)

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  14. We've had crazy weather here too, blazing hot for a few days and then cooler. There's been downpours of rain for a couple of days too. I really like the orange and blue quilt. The setting really changes it completely. Beautiful family photo too!

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  15. The orange and blue scrap quilt is very clever and I've always loved the Momma cat and kits. Sorry you are being assaulted by searing temperatures again. Our basement is certainly cool, but not anywhere you would want to spend much time. We've finally gotten some much needed rain which, of course, has made the weeds go into overdrive.
    Pat

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  16. It looks like some of your kittens got mixed up with fireworks. And I think the vaccine needs to hire a new marketing firm so it can get rebranded as “the magic bullet”.

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  17. Great idea to sew the heat away. At the rate we're going, you'll have a houseful before it gets cool again! And aren't grandchildren the best?

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  18. "Still yes, but in pink" indeed! Digress away!
    Love that scrappy quilt (orange!) and glad you got a visit with your happy crew!

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  19. Great post, Cathy. I enjoyed seeing the fruits of your sewing room labour as it were. Lots to show for your efforts. Beautiful blocks. How nice to see lovely Emily and those happy grands!

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  20. What a lovely looking family! And you know I love the blues....

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