Still Playing in the Neutral Zone

I'm a woman on a mission - to go where no one has gone before use up most (or at least make a substantial dent in) my dark neutral scraps. Before I started at the beginning of the month, these scraps took up three drawers of my scrap drawer units, and were overflowing. Now they fit into 2 drawers (brown/beige in one, gray/black in another). And I'm not done yet. But first, let's officially check this finish off the list. Meet the finished Stringing in the Rain quilt!

Stringing in the Rain finished at 54" x 64", a medium-sized lap quilt.  I just stipple-quilted it because I wanted it done. For the last couple months my quilting has been limited to wall hangings and small kid quilts for Quilts for Kids, so this one felt large by comparison. It was a good size to ease me back into quilting big things, because I've got lots of Rainbow Scrap quilt finishes coming up.

Stringing in the Rain was goal #11 on my 4th Quarter Finish-Along list, which you can see HERE. I'll link up to their official link-up party at the end of the year.

Now I'm working on my OMG (One Monthly Goal) so I can finish that up before month-end. Here are the Rainbow Anvil blocks, which was another Rainbow Scrap Challenge block and project for this year. The bottom four rows are sewn together and hanging from the bottom of my design wall. That's how I work (bottom half first) so that I can see it all together on my too-small design board.  This top will be finished up this weekend, and I hope to get it basted on Sunday and begin quilting.

Darla decided to join me in the sewing room on Thursday.

It's an unwritten law in the cat world that one must always look bored. It throws off the humans and allows you to plot sneaky adventures.

Hey Mom, what is this pole thingy with stuff hanging from it? 

It tastes like THREAD!!

Darla grabbed the thread in her mouth and ran with it. Naturally, it knocked over the thread stand which clanked loudly and scared her half to death.  She was GONE.....

Sometimes cats are their own worst enemies!

Finally, here's a peek at what I'm working on in the coming week with my dark neutral scraps (with a little help from their lighter neutral scrap friends). I'm making various blocks in both 8-inch and 6-inch sizes. There are still three sets of blocks to go, then I've got an idea for putting them together. I'd like to have it to the flimsy (quilt top) stage by next weekend. Today I'm linking up to Scrappy Saturday and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

This will be a crazy week because my daughter Megan is visiting us from Seattle. She'll be here through Monday. Then I have three doctor appointments next week; my annual physical, a meeting with my retina doctor and an appointment with a surgeon regarding my carpal tunnel.  Plus Weight Watchers on Tuesday morning and sewing group here on Wednesday afternoon. Whew! I've decided to get a housekeeper to come in and clean a couple times a month. It was either that or hire a stunt sewist, so housekeeper it is!

Stringing in the Rain

I had hoped to finish my dark neutral-colored string quilt this week, but too many other projects and responsibilities prevented that. However, I was able to play with the rest of my strings and eke out enough more squares to total 42 (7.5" unfinished). Here they are set horizontally on the design board.

After the blocks were done, I had three quilts to quilt (two for Quilts for Kids and one for Cousin Kim's daughter). But then I came back to the strings and decided it needed a better name than its working title, November Strings. The colors reminded me of a quilt that I made for my son Ryan about 3 years ago, which we called November Rain (a reference to a Guns 'n Roses song that Ryan has always liked. So do I, come to think of it). And somehow, with all that swirling around in my brain, the name Stringing in the Rain came to be.

The flimsy has a 2" inner border and a black outer border that measures 4" on the sides and 6" on the top and bottom. Although it looks wonky on the design board because the top is pinned and the bottom is just hanging (the design board isn't long enough), it is perfectly rectangular at 54.5 x 65.5". I will get it layered, quilted and bound in the coming week.

This is the first of two quilts that I plan to make from my dark neutral scrap stash for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Today I'm linking up with Scrappy Saturday, where many of us are beginning to finish up and share our rainbow scrappy projects for this year.

I also managed to sew up eight cute blocks (6.5" each, unfinished) for the second step in the Seeing Stars Sew Along, hosted by Diane Knott at Butterfly Threads Quilting.  Check it out! I've really enjoyed it, and there is so much room for variety and personal interpretation - a super sew-along that's just getting started.

Alfie had a dental appointment this week, and came through just fine. Just a cleaning with no cavities extractions or other work needed. My pocketbook is grateful for that. But Himself was a bit put out that the bandage they put on his foreleg (the IV site) was PINK. Sheesh. But he recovered his dignity soon enough. And when Bruce turned on the fireplace that evening, the cats curled up in spots to contrast their furs to best advantage, and took a nice evening nap.

Life is good.