Christmas Stars Top Done

It is with great relief that I can announce that the Christmas Stars quilt top assembly is complete! This quilt fought me all the way, but I prevailed in the end. Its working name became Nightmare on Twinkle Street, LOL. This week I needed to finish up the last four sections, and then add the extra 10 stars to the bottom. Or so I thought. It turns out that I needed the stars for the width, not the length, so I had to sew two extra 8” stars and cut some alternating plain red squares and split them into two 8” columns on each side. None of that likely makes any sense, but here are some photos I snapped. I had to move the dinette set out of the way - the kitchen floor was the only place large enough to lay it out.

Naturally, Alfalfa and Darla had to walk all over it to add their artistic touches. Cats will be cats. I finished off with a 2.5” border all around, making it slightly oversized at 98x88”. I figure it will lose an inch or two in the quilting process.  

In this picture (above) the “top” and “bottom” are really the sides. Anyway, I dropped it off at the quilter - a cute little shop called Quilts on the Corner in old historic Sandy, UT, about a 10 minute drive from my house. They’ve quilted for both me and Cousin Kim before and always do a great job. The quilting pattern I selected was cardinals among mistletoe sprays and berries. So cute, and my daughter-in-law Kim loves cardinals. She picked out the colors and fabrics which include some prints with cardinals in them. The quilt is for her and my son Ryan. The quilt shop said the quilt will be ready before Thanksgiving, which is perfect as it’ll give me time to trim and bind it and give it to them before the end of November. 

The only other sewing I did this week - because I spent two and a half days on finishing the last sections of stars and sewing the Christmas Stars top together - was making string blocks. This time, for a change of pace and in keeping with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge October color of the month, I worked on my light neutral strings, because:

Yep, those are neat rolls (and a messy pile) of white, cream, light neutral strings. Think I have my work cut out for me?  hahaha

I did get thirty blocks sewn. For this coming week, I’ll focus on whittling down the pile of neutral strings while it’s still October. I’ve got other plans for November (like finishing some UFO’s and kid quilts). And the multi-colored strings - I will continue with those in November.

In other news, last Saturday, Cousin Kim and I (and her DD and DGD) went to a Zac Brown Band concert at the local Usana Amphitheater. Note to self: Cathy, you are too old to sit outdoors on a quilt on the grass without a chair (the rental were all taken and we weren’t allowed to bring our own). We ended up standing most of the time anyway, but on a grassy incline. With my bad hip (and back and knees by the time we were done, LOL), I was sore the next day or two. So was Kim. But it was loads of rockin’ fun! Never too old for that!

The pictures above and below are of the Jumbotron - the actual performers are shown as little tiny images below the Jumbotron. 

Our kitchen range (oven/stove) died this week. Poor thing worked very hard for us over the last 17 years.  So, we went appliance shopping and bought a new electric range in stainless and black. We figured we’d have to replace a couple things before we got the house sold. I’ve got my eye on our poor old microwave that keeps going like the Energizer bunny, even though the finish is wearing off in several places from being cleaned so much! We’ll replace that before we leave, too. We’re listing the house in November, ready or not.

Today we’ll be out in the yard, pulling up the remaining tomato plants, bringing in the last of the flower pots and finishing the garden cleanup. We found family members who will claim more of the outdoor stuff - our lawn mower and chiminea.  Next week is full of appointments for us, but when we’re not running around we’ll be cleaning out the basement and I’ll be sewing strings (I can work twice as fast as Bruce because I have twice as many arms). 

I think that’s about it for now. Time for another cup of coffee and checking out the links for Scrappy Saturday.