Squirrel in the Strings!

This week a “squirrel” got into my sewing room and so my sewing plans for the week took a bit of a detour. That means there was absolutely no quilting on my Halloween quilt, which puts it at the very top of my priority list for the next few sewing sessions until it is finished. But in the meantime, there are a few things to share.

My daughter Megan called and asked me if I’d sew a couple little kitty quilts for their new furbabies, Laszlo and Nadja. The kitties are named after two “funny vampires” in some TV series that Megan and Ted watch. 

Nadja and Laszlo (with crossed eyes)

So, naturally, I dropped everything to start on these, and a squirrel was born. But before I began sewing, I needed to sort through all the cat fabric and scraps that I was given last year when my friend Pat was destashing. (See that post HERE). I had a whole drawer of cat fabric, much of it cut into squares (4.5”, 5”, 6”) and 2.5” short strips. The rest was large chunks and yardage. It was a great way to spend a morning. 

Once I picked out squares and matching fabrics, it was quick work to plan out, stitch, and then pin and quilt the two little quilts. The binding was just the back folded over. 

Both quilts are in the neighborhood of 24x24”, although the pink one for Nadja is a little longer because that’s the way the fabrics worked out. 

Nadja’s quilt is in hot pink and a variety of bright squares. The batik on the back rather looks like paws, but I think they’re just meant to be dots. It’s purrfect anyway!

Laszlo’s quilt in blues and greens fits perfectly with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s colors of the month, a redux of blues and greens. 

A scrap of batik (thanks, Nann!) on the back for the win!

So those will be packed up and sent off to Megan and family, along with an older human-sized quilt, Starry, Starry Day.

Once the squirrels were vanquished, I did sew 15 multi-colored string string blocks and 23 brown crumb blocks. 

Strings and crumbs

That brings my string block total up to 195. I didn’t take a picture of them all pinned up in groups on the design board because I already took 60 brown string bocks (4 sets of 15) and matching boy’s football fabric to Quilts for Kids to make into quilt kits.  I figure it’s better to get them out into the world sooner rather than later since it is football season. I’ll still be counting them toward my total goal (600 blocks by year end), even if they aren’t here. 

Yesterday afternoon I was able to pin baste three little quilts in order to get them moving along. You may recognize them.

Bright Animals Strippy

little Bricks Pastel

Little Bricks Bright

These will await their turns under the needle until after I finish quilting my Halloween Quilt. My goodness, October is next week! 

This morning I’m headed off to a very sad funeral. Our former neighbor Doug, who lived across the street from us in our old house, passed away last weekend. He was only 61 and died in his sleep. His daughter Mary, the youngest of their 4 children, used to work for me after school when I had my Etsy shop. They are such a wonderful family and Doug and Lynda were just beginning their lives as grandparents. In fact, Mary is now married and pregnant with a grandchild that her dad will never meet. 

There will definitely be some calming music and quilting when I get home from the funeral. Have a good week everyone!