Taking a Couple Weeks Off

 Hello Friends. I will be taking a couple weeks off from the blog, but I’ll be back before Christmas.

This morning (Thursday, Thanksgiving in the US), we had a visit from two police officers. They asked for me and I grew apprehensive. I knew what they were going to tell me. They’d had a call from the Montrose County (Colorado) Coroner. My brother Steve had passed away. Long story short, Steve (who had just turned 70 in September) had a stent implanted in his iliac artery last week. He had been fine and upbeat when we last talked on the weekend, and we had planned to talk today on Thanksgiving. Steve was found by his friend when Steve hadn’t answered his calls on Tuesday or Wednesday. We believe the cause was likely complications from the surgery. 

I don’t know yet what my plans are. Other than Steve and me, there were 2 cousins left in our generation, and we are all close (but not geographically). I don’t know if I’ll need to go out there. His home is in a remote little town in Colorado that’s a 4.5 hour drive from me in Utah, much of it through winding mountain roads. Or I could hop a short flight to Grand Junction and then drive 2 hours to his place. But my knee replacement surgery is scheduled for next Thursday and I won’t be driving for 2-4 weeks. Everyone official is off for the 4-day weekend, so I can’t even begin to deal with arrangements (or talk to my surgeon) until Monday. Nor do I want to, frankly.

In the meantime, I’m focusing solely on being grateful for my wonderful brother’s life. If there is an afterlife, I know he’s up there, reunited with his son W who passed a couple years ago. 

And I am grateful for my family and friends, including my internet friends. Thank you for the many friendships and kindnesses over the years.

Talk to you soon….

Cathy

No More Strings … and Other Things to Celebrate

My string bucket is empty!! Well, to be more accurate, this is what I have left over. 

But other than slipping these bits into the inside pocket of the bucket, this cavernous bucket is empty!

I keep my strings (when I have them) in this canvas beach bucket (that’s a pink flamingo on the outside) that I got for next to nothing at Barnes and Noble a decade or more ago. I believe this is the first time it’s been empty! I managed to sew 32 blocks from last week’s remains, which brought my final String Frenzy total up to exactly 500 from September 1 to mid-November. Woo-hoo! I haven’t trimmed the final 32, but here they are anyway. 

Whew! (Wipes brow) Now I can focus on other sewing projects until year-end. I took my Bernina in for annual servicing yesterday, and I hope to get it back before I’m unable to drive after surgery (about 10 days). But if not, I can get friend Ruby or Cousin Kim to pick it up and bring it to me at the next “Church of Bernina” sewing day. 

So this coming week I can trim the last string blocks and gather them together for the first January Quilts for Kids meeting. 

This past week I basted two quilts, both From Rainbow Scrap Challenge block sets from 2024 and 2025, respectively.. This first one, Windmills, is backed with a Tula Pink teacup fabric from her Alice in Wonderland line (it was probably named something else). 

The second quilt is Weathervanes. It’s rather odd, isn’t it, that both these quilt blocks and resulting quilts are named after things that relate to wind - Weathervanes and Windmills. Weathervanes, below, will be a gift for my housekeeper. 

I’m going to whip out my Pfaff Grand Quilter and try using that to quilt these two. I don’t remember any particulars from reading the machine’s instruction manual, so I’m not sure if I can FMQ on this straight-stitch-only machine,. But I should be able to handle whatever the heck it does do. If I have any issues, I can always use my little Brother machine to do a serpentine stitch. 

My next project will be to finish these Night-Flying Geese into a quilt top. These are just placed (sideways) on the design board. I hope to web them on Monday. Excuse the wonkiness…

 

While I have black thread out for that, I’ll fix a black leather purse handle on a beaded purse (an African design from Chico’s) that Ruby got for me at an estate sale. And speaking of Ruby, she and I did go up to Crystal Hot Springs to “take the waters” on Thursday. It was my turn to drive, and we had overcast weather all day. That was no problem while we were in the hot springs, but we did have some heavy rain for about a half hour on the way home. All in all, it was a fun day, but no pictures.

This week I also got all my pre-op registration and tests (EKG and lab work) done, so I will just waltz on in to the hospital on the 4th and let Calgon (or the anesthesiologist) take me away. My knee replacement will be done as outpatient surgery so I’ll go home the same day. But first, the HOA annual meeting this morning, a party later this weekend and Thanksgiving on Thursday. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate!

String Theory

It was a week of strings. My theory is that quilters who are obsessed with strings (*cough cough*) will let all other sewing projects go in hectic times or times where the calming influence of easy, mindless sewing are required. As an example, I offer myself.

The list of projects in my sewing pipeline is longer than Donald Trump’s Pinocchio nose, but all other projects were forsaken this week. And I don’t regret it one bit.

I sewed four sets of 15 string blocks (6.5” unfinished) for a total of 60 this week. That brings my String Frenzy total to 468 (out of a goal of 600). I will not make my goal of 600, because the remaining pile is small, and will likely only yield me somewhere between 45-60 more. I hope to find out exactly how many before month end. But as my friend Carolyn pointed out, I should not think of it as missing my goal, but rather that my string bucket will be cleaned out. Yippee! And that is (or will be) cause for celebration.  And will likely last less than a week or until I trim the next quilt backs…..

Anyway, here are this week’s strings with their brethren on my design board. These are the blocks that I’ve made just since our October Quilts for Kids meeting, where I turned in over 200. They are pinned in groups of 15 to be inserted into quilt kits for our volunteers.

I did find a couple rolls of strings in my light neutrals drawers, one in whites and another in off-whites, that are leftovers of several rolls that someone in our chapter of Quilts for Kids gifted me with a few years ago. White isn’t the most preferred color for kids quilts, but I could make HST string blocks with them and come up with a design. I would just need to dig up some complementary fabrics. 

I have a couple doctor appointments next week, an HOA Board meeting in preparation for next Saturday’s big annual meeting, my Weight Watchers workshop, and a Block-of-the-month class at my local quilt store. I’m taking the class with Ruby and her sister Cathy, Cousin Kim and her niece Jenny, plus two ladies from my WW group. Whew. Hopefully there will be chunks of time in there where I can retreat to my sewing room and start working again on quilts. I would like to make a backing for the Weathervane quilt and hopefully pin baste it and the Windmills top too. And maybe finish up my strings. HA! One can dream!

Also, Ruby and I (and possibly Bruce) are planning another day trip on Thursday up to Crystal Hot Springs, where we went to soak in the mineral waters last January. But the weather is supposed to turn cold and nasty this week, so that may or may not happen. 

So, that’s all I have this week to share. But I’ll insert a gratuitous picture of Darla. I walked into the bedroom one afternoon a few days ago and noticed that the pillows were askew. This is what  who I found peeking from behind. 

Daddy can sleep on the couch tonight because I am claiming this side!

Oh, one more thing. Not to brag, but I’m done with my Christmas shopping. Before you boo and hiss, I should remind you that my knee surgery is December 4 and I will not be able to drive for weeks afterwards (and Bruce doesn’t drive anymore). So we took advantage of Barnes and Noble’s yearly promotion - it ends before Thanksgiving - and bought gift cards for everyone. In the process, we earned enough in rewards to supply our coffee, book, magazine, and puzzle habit for a long time! Life is good!

Linking to Scrappy Saturday at Angela’s blog for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

First November Finish

Paint Chips is a finished quilt! I’ve had so much fun with these 2.5” squares (and some 2.5x4.5” pieces), that I almost hate to see this one end. The blocks were constructed this year as part of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge plan. Please note that the blocks are not supposed to be identical - I pieced the colored columns of each block any way that I wanted to so that the ups and downs would be more varied. Probably would’ve worked better with an uneven number of columns, etc (like a 25-patch block). Hmmm… I may have to try that.

Regardless, I do love it, and Paint Chips finished at 48x56”, a good size for a young child. Naturally, it will go to Quilts for Kids. 

Once that was done, I did some webbing on the Weathervane quilt. I’ll finish this later today, but the vertical columns are webbed and the first horizontal seam has been stitched. The rest are just pinned up there, safe from Designing Cats. 

And speaking of cats, Mr. Cat himself, Alfie, had a dental visit on Thursday. The sore he had on his gums had healed up, so he got a cleaning and didn’t need to have any teeth extracted. Way to go, Alfalfa! 

Pic taken a few years ago

I only got 30 string blocks done this week (6.5”), which brings my fall total up to 408. I hope to finish 600 by the end of the year and this puts me at 68% of the way there. I’m not sure my strings or stamina will last until I reach 600, but I’ll keep on plugging away. I’m sorely wishing I had taken a “before” picture of my strings tote, a big beach bag, jammed tightly with strings yet still overflowing. Lots of other strings were given to me at the October Quilts for Kids workshop (a gallon-sized zip bag), plus I pieced 63 blocks from my Christmas scraps. So the fact that the tote is now loosely filled and 2/3 full doesn’t bode well for reaching 600. But we’ll take it one block at a time. 

Here they are, pinned in the corner of the design board with the 3 sets (of 15) from last blog post. All the others have already been given to QFK except my Christmas blocks. 

After Weathervanes is a top, I’ll sew a backing and then it, together with my Windmills quilt top shown last week, will be pin basted. Hopefully that will be this week if my back cooperates. It’s been so stiff and sore (arthritis), that I’ve spent too much time with ice packs and heating pads. This getting old sh** is for the birds! But the past flare-ups have always passed, so I’m hopeful (and maybe naive). 

Next up in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge “finishing pipeline” will be these Night Flying Geese blocks. Stay tuned!

The last bit of news that I have is that my first knee replacement surgery will take place on Thursday, December 4. I’ll talk more about that as the time approaches. 

Have a good week, my friends! Linking up to Scrappy Saturday.

Welcome November!

It wouldn’t be autumn in my house without string blocks. Along with pumpkins and falling leaves, it seems I’m always working on sewing up (or sewing down?) my big scrap bucket of strings every autumn. This past week saw me churn out another 45 blocks, to bring my string fall frenzy total to 378. I’m 63% of the way to my goal of 600 blocks by year-end at the halfway point in time. It finally seems as though the string bucket has “lost some weight”. So now I can switch from worrying about keeping up to worrying about whether there will be enough strings to complete 600 blocks. And if I don’t make it, it’s all good, right?

One of my sewing days evaporated away this week when Bruce’s mild toothache began raging. News Alert, Dear Hubby: tooth issues don’t heal themselves. So off we went to the dentist where Bruce had n emergency root canal. Next week Alfie (our orange tabby) also goes in for “teeth cleaning”, but they identified a problem tooth/gum area in his annual vet visit last month, so he may be in for a dental surprise as well. 

Anyway, I did finish off this basic bright squares donation quilt. It measures 35.5”x48.5”. 

The quilting was a basic straight-stitch crosshatch with a serpentine stitch along the vertical and horizontal seamlines. 

It’s going to Quilts for Kids, of course (because I don’t like or want it, hehehe). That was my third quilt finish for October. No wait, in checking my records, it was my fifth finish. Apparently I never took pictures of the finished Pastel Little Bricks and Bright Little Bricks quilts. I finished those after ny Halloween Quilt but before the Little Strippie shown last week. Sheesh, what’s happened to my mind? 

I do like how these “Windmill” blocks came together into a fun flimsy. I’ve been calling them windmills because they have blades. But is that their proper name? Wait. I just asked Google, and the images for Windmill blocks are many and varied. Yes, this is a proper (and popular) iteration of windmills. So there you go! 

This one will get basted this week (hopefully), along with this new set of Weathervane blocks that just went up on the design wall. I plan to web it this afternoon, but this morning I’ll be planting my spring tulip and daffodil bulbs. 

And next up for its turn to be quilted is the Paint Chips quilt. Maybe that will happen on Sunday, if I can put off sewing string blocks for a few days, LOL!

So, it’s a full day ahead and a full upcoming week as well. We’re sure having a beautiful autumn, but I know the cold and rain are right around the corner. Stay safe and sew on, my friends!

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

P.S. - Go Dodgers!!!! (But it’s been a great World Series regardless of who wins).

Lots to Share This Week!

What a difference a week makes! We did have two hectic days on Monday and Tuesday filled with doctor appointments (mostly annual visits for Bruce), and even as we were working through those, we had some fun. We got to visit with our dear friend Terri (whose late husband was Bruce’s lifelong best friend) and take her to lunch. She’s finished quilts for all 15 of her grandchildren, an impressive feat. Her work, to my eyes is show quality. But I forgot to ask her if she started that Halloween quilt for her son Clark! Terri, you’ll have to keep me apprised! 😘  The rest of my week that followed was filled with lots of glorious sewing time!! 

So, we’ll start small. I didn’t show my 30 string blocks from last week, so here are those. 

At that point, my block total was 303. Then I stitched 30 more blocks this week to bring my total up to 333. I’m trying to finish 600 string blocks between September 1-Dec 31. But I didn’t take a picture of  this week’s 30 because I couldn’t find one batch of 15. But then Bruce found them later in the trash can and rescued them for me! They’d been knocked in accidentally when I was trimming up a quilt. It’s a good thing he knows what’s what in my sewing room! Anyway, here is my pile of string blocks that I’m taking to Quilts for Kids this morning. I’ve circled in yellow the safety pins that hold each batch of 15 blocks together. 

Fourteen sets of 15 blocks = 210. In addition to that I had sewn 60 brown blocks which my friend Sandy (our QFK chapter president) took when she dropped off a roll of batting I’d purchased, and then there are the 63 Christmas string blocks I sewed and put away for myself. So, 210+60+63=333. I’m still on pace to reach 600 by the end of the year. But I’m going to have to step it up because I’ve got knee surgery coming up after Thanksgiving, and I figure that may slow me down.. 

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I’m going to switch gears for a moment and show you some photos from the No Kings protest rally that Ruby and I attended last Saturday. As before, it was a peaceful, high energy and fun gathering. The number of participants in Salt Lake was estimated in the range of 8-12,000. I believe it was toward the higher end because there were waaaaay more people there than the estimated 10,000 back in April. 

I loved all the inflatable costumes. At first we were going to try to get selfies with all of them, but then we realized there were too many. 

As you can see from the pictures, it was a perfect weather day! 

Ruby and I went inside the Capitol while we were there since it had been over a decade - and probably two decades - that either of us had been inside. 

The Beautiful Rotunda

Looking out at the east half of the crowd from a window.

And to remind us all why we do this, ….

Now, will someone please tell that to our Orange Idiot in the White House?  You know, the White House that’s now missing its East Wing. I won’t rant about that because I can’t find the words to describe how horrified and heartbroken I am. I trust that most of you feel the same way. 

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And back to the quilting part of this program! 

I pin basted the Paint Chips RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) quilt, as well as this other little number containing bright squares. I’m planning to quilt them in the coming week.

And then I *did* quilt this cute little strippie quilt, which finished at 40.5”x48”.

The back used my last yard of the fabric I used for the back of the quilt I finished last November. I also used some leftover bright squares from the quilt block orphanage. 

I even had enough time to pull and arrange the Windmill quilt blocks (made for RSC in 2024) as my next project to tackle. 

So this morning, Ruby, Cousin Kim and I are heading out to our Quilts for Kids scrappy workshop. It’s the last meeting for this calendar year, hence the reason I’m taking the string blocks. They can make up quilt kits with them during our holiday break. I’ll take another large batch of string blocks to them when we reconvene in January. And hopefully lots of little quilt finishes too! 

Have a good week, friends! You may have to ignore some of the news from the Administration Regime to have a good week, but whatever it takes…..

I’ve Got Nothing!

It’s been a crazy week. I’ve been so busy and frazzled, that I didn’t get too much done in the sewing room.

***Warning, rant ahead! ***

We had doctor appointments, meetings, running here, going there. I hate that the HOA work grows like the scraps in my sewing room. I hate that I have to go to multiple stores to find basic coffee creamer. What’s up with that? I hate that everyone (friends, family, acquaintances with a question) wants to talk to me - on the only free afternoon I have - and they call or text or both to just chat (normally I love that), but after everything this week, I wanted nothing more than to be alone, to be still, to recharge my batteries and just be away from anything involving decisions or responsibilities. I’m craving some quiet time. 

And then…. Here’s what the next several days look like: this morning I need to be at the fabric store by 9:00 for a BOM class (Block of the month) with Ruby. After that, her sister is driving us up to the Capitol in Salt Lake City to participate in the No Kings Day. Ruby’s car is already parked up there for us to return home in after the rally. I really didn’t want to go for myriad reasons, but… Ruby. I intend to come straight home and not make it a Girls Day Out. Sunday is sewing day (Church of Bernina), which should be fun and relaxing. Monday is our monthly HOA Board meeting but, gee, I have to miss it (she said, dripping with sarcasm) because I have to drive Bruce up to Bountiful (40 minutes by freeway) to a doctor appointment. Oh, the housekeeper is coming on Monday too, which is a good thing. Who has time to do housework? Tuesday is shot - Weight Watchers in the morning (I enjoy that) and a trip to the VA with Bruce in the afternoon. Maybe by Wednesday I can relax and have some time to myself. But I know I’ll get calls, issues to research and writing assignments after the HOA meeting. I’m going to have to develop a spine and say NO to any more projects. I may just shut off my phone. Calgon, take me away!!

***End of Rant***

What I did do: 

I sewed 30 string blocks. But they aren’t pressed or trimmed and there is no picture. Trust me on the count. I’ll have a picture next week (plus hopefully another group to show). 

I quilted and trimmed the two Little Bricks quilts, but they still need to be bound and labeled. Again, no pictures, but there will be next week. 

I pulled out the blocks for my next quilt top - Paint Chips. They were one of the block sets I sewed this year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Here’s a picture of them pinned on the design board.. I will get them webbed and sewn into a top on Sunday.

And here’s a gratuitous picture of Herself - Miss Darla, rolling on the floor showing off her beautiful tummy furs. I love all her orange undertones. 

And that’s it. I’m actually writing this on Friday night, and since I have to get up early, I’d best haul my buns off to bed. I am tired in so many different ways! But I’ll be back to my ol’ cheery self next Saturday, with lots of eye candy to share. I promise. Have a great week!