Searching for the Neutral Zone

The last week has been fun and busy as we have settled into having my brother Steve come live with us. Unloading, rearranging, cleaning out...... Plus two days this week were also spent tending granddaughters, which was seriously fun but a detriment to my productivity. But we only live once, right?

On Sunday and Monday, I was able to finish up the pineapple quilt top. It will be basted this weekend, after I clean the hardwood floors.

On Tuesday, granddaughter Lauren (age 13) spent the day with me. She is such a mature, delightful young girl. We mostly spent our time painting a carved wooden cockatoo (an old salvage rescue my brother brought me for the patio). We painted it in bright colors, like a parrot, then sealed it. It turned out great, but I have no picture yet.

Then on Thursday, one of Bruce’s days off, we (along with my brother) took all the kennel quilts to Best Friends Animal Shelter up in Salt Lake. One of the dogs wanted to adopt my brother, and one of the kittens wanted to adopt my dear husband. I had to put both feet down. We all walked out with misty eyes. And that is why I sew kennel quilts instead of volunteering my time, and also why I will take the quilts in by myself in the future.

After finishing the pineapple quilt top, the only other sewing-related thing I did was to pull my light neutrals. I can’t wait to work with them. I am in serious need of zen sewing time! So, even with this meager contribution, I am linking to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Since neutrals won’t work for my regular RSC blocks, I have another plan. One of the quilts I have wanted to start for awhile is Bonnie Hunter’s Jamestown Landing. The link will take you to one of her posts from 2015 where you can see the quilt made of blues and varied light neutrals. I may use both blues and greens for the colored portions, but for this month I plan to move full steam ahead on all the neutral strippy blocks.

Yesterday (Friday), granddaughter London came over, as well Cousin Kim’s two granddaughters Zoe and Trini for their final summer play date before school starts in 2 weeks. The “twins” London and Zoe were crazy girls all day. Our poor cats Darla and Alfie will probably need therapy!

In the morning we took the girls to Michael’s to buy craft supplies: Play Doh, foam crowns to decorate, wooden face masks (kittens) to decorate, scepters/batons, and more. They decorated their crowns and masks before lunch. After lunch, Trini (who is 12) watched the younger girls swim and play in their kiddie pools and break occasionally to play with Play Doh out on the patio. For three hours, they were busy outdoors. Kim and I got to relax and read indoors. We finished the day with my son Shane and Bruce joining us after work; pizza for all 8 of us.

Today, I recover and clean house. The pineapple quilt will be basted sometime this weekend, and then I can Sew Like The Wind next week.

My Friendship Stars

You may not know it, but the blog title has a double meaning. Friendship Stars (a variation block) are one of the selected blocks I’ve been making throughout the year as we move from color to color every month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  My FAVORITE friendship stars this week are two little girls, as you’ll see momentarily.

First, let’s talk about the stars I sewed. All 42 of them. All these blue FS’s bring me up to a total of 122 blocks. I will need a (revised) total of 136 for the quilt I’m planning, which has been downsized. I will make at least a dozen each of pink and orange as their months come along, so I will have wiggle room to edit blocks that aren’t really doing it for me. Like maybe those wildly-printed stars with leftover banjo fabric.

And yet, they may not be the butt-ugliest. We will have to wait and see.....  These blocks finish at 6” each.  I have to send a big cyber hug and many thanks to Cathy at Sane, Crazy Crumby Quilting for suggesting that using the EZ angle ruler might be a better and faster way to make my HSTs. She was right, of course, and it's thanks to her that I got all these done. Some of those damn banjo HSTs, which were trimming leftovers, have been sitting around for 2 years since I made THIS quilt for DH.

Linking up to Angela’s Scrappy Saturday for our weekly Rainbow Scrap Challenge party. Stop by and see all the creativity in blue!

Anyway, with the remaining banjo HST’s, I made these 4 blocks:

I may sew them together in one giant block, or use them individually. Either way, they will become parts for kennel quilts, because if I never see this fabric again, it will be too soon.

As diversionary sewing from all the blue and banjos, I worked on my pineapples. I really love the green chevron fabric (what I had left of it) in the pineapple crowns....

I need a total of 24 pineapples, so these will continue to provide sewing refreshment, just like the real thing.

And as for my favorite Friendship Stars? These two seven-and-a-half-year-olds:

Left: Zoe   Right: London

Cousin Kim and her granddaughter Zoe came over Friday to play with me and my granddaughter London. In the morning we went to Wheeler Farm, a local working historic farm where I worked for 4 years. (See all my many posts under the keywords Wheeler Farm). We took wagon rides, visited the animals, saw a blacksmith demonstration, the girls got to brush down a cow (it wasn’t milking time), and played on the playground. We walked all over, and I got to visit with several of my former co-workers.

Kim and I noticed how similar our girls’ skin coloring was (olive), as well as their brown hair (long, with golden highlights, both with braids at that point), light blue-gray eyes, and long skinny legs. We decided they could be sisters. That delighted them to no end (they were holding hands within five minutes of meeting each other - oh to be seven again!). Naturally, then then decided they were TWINS.

We got back to my house at noonish, had lunch (picnic on the patio), then they alternated doing art projects indoors and swimming in the kiddie pools outdoors. Kim and I sat with them outside, in the shade of the apricot tree, with our feet in the pool. It was such a wonderful, relaxing day. We got NO sewing done and I didn’t get my hair cut - we were too sweaty, tired and lazy after the farm excursion. We did chat, drink iced coffee, and laughed with the girls. Kim took some great pix of the girls at the farm, and I hope she sends them to me so I can share one or two. I only got this one above, late in the day....

We are going to do this again in a couple weeks. I think it will probably take that long for Kim and I to recover.....