Sewing a Blue Streak

I hate blue. At the beginning of this never-ending month, I loved it. But I have been sewing like the wind. Sidebar: Have you ever seen the movie “Three Amigos”?  Martin Short, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase were in it. They encourage a tiny old-time western town to save itself from the coming bad guy, El Guapo. But the townspeople’s only skill is sewing. So, he has them sew a big phony backdrop of the desert to hide the town behind. And sewed they did! He ran around encouraging them to “Sew Like the Wind!”. You can see the little clip here.

OK, so I really do like blue, but I am just OVER it for this month. However, I have more blocks to show you this week.  Next week I’ll just do a recap of my RSC blocks for the month as well as other sewing projects I hope to have completed. But I digress....

The three Dresden blocks are done.  They were machine-stitched onto a 20.5” pink or yellow background.

But first I had to back the doilies with a solid cotton circle. And because one of the doilies was age-stained in the center (and I had unsuccessfully to completely remove it), I decided to add yo-yos (Suffolk Puffs) to the very center. The yo-yos will match the block color.  I may do a tutorial on how I did all that some time.

I was going to work with my selvages this week, but just couldn’t decide how I wanted to use them. After much online research, I sat down to piece and realized that I really didn’t have enough to work with. That’s OK; I will table that project until next year. There is plenty on my plate without it.

So all that was left for me to do was to sew up the chunks and bits and leftovers.  From them I made 10 - 8.5” (unfinished) blocks.  I still had some blue fabric left over, but not much (probably about a fat quarter’s worth total in 4-5 prints; not enough for any variety).

Then I got this idea to pin up the ten 8.5” crumb slabs with the ten 8.5” 16-patches from last week. CHAOS. It is a certain bet that THEY will not be playing together in any future quilts!!

Once the blue was (finally) done, I turned to Seeing Red, the ugly monstrosity that I have pieced for my brother-in-law (although I didn’t intend for it to be so ugly). My trusty feline supervisors, Alfalfa and Darla were of enormous assistance.

Here is a BEFORE shot, as I had just laid down the quilt backing on the dining area floor:

Then I ran downstairs to my studio to get painters tape and the batting. When I came up, it was very clear that the supervisors had completed their inspection:

But somehow I managed to finish basting it, which was my only sewing goal of the day (I had to clean the floor first, no small feat).

Today I’ll start quilting it. As a break from quilting, I can finish piecing the Valentine Disappearing Nine-Patch (D9P).

I hope to have them both done before the end of the month, so I can get busy with February’s color as soon as it’s announced. We’ll be on vacation for a good part of February, so I need to get right on it!

Looking forward to seeing more scrappy BLUE goodness? Why not join us at So Scrappy for Scrappy Saturday? Participants from all over this blue planet are linking up their projects!!

Until next time,

Enjoying Life

Today I am ENJOYing (my word for the year) and am thankful for:

Sight:  Boomer curled up sleeping in the sun
Sound:  Our “Duffy" station on Pandora. Etta James is singing.
Smell:  Bruce just ground coffee beans.  :-)
Taste: Anticipating my first-ever Papa Murphy’s pizza when we watch the Superbowl
Feel:  My hands and arms have not been numb this morning, and I am grateful for that.

Other: Bruce is doing laundry while I have been listing things in Etsy.  Daughter Megan just called to say hello. The sun is shining outside, even if it is cold.  We are planning a Barnes & Noble date tomorrow. We go, read magazines and have coffee. And say hi to my former co-workers.

May your coming week be wonderful!

Celebrity Pet Buttons

My dear friend Gerry K (Olderrose) has completed a series of button paintings of friends’ pets.  My dear furson Boomer is among those featured (along with Pat Winter’s Angell and Nicki Lee’s Brat).  Do check them out.   Gerry is over-the-moon talented in CQ, and painting... and just about everything she does.   I am so lucky to count her among my dearest friends, and look forward to visiting her in just three weeks!

* * * * * * * * * *
By the way, I see that I am approaching 300 posts, and that means a celebration!  As I am off in Arizona next week vacationing, I will be thinking up something fun and easy in the way of a drawing.

In the meantime, here`s a vintage Valentine image for you...

Hugs,

Heirloom Love Letters

Oh wow!  Our dear Queen of Crazy Quilting, Betty Pillsbury, has teamed up with Beekman 1802 to make available some of her hand-stitched postcards.  Check them out here.

The cards can be personalized and mailed by Beekman as a special Valentine to your loved one.  Or to yourself, which is what I'd do, because who wouldn't want a piece of Betty's work?!?!

No, I have no affiliation in this brilliant opportunity, but I had to share this.  After all, I am the Unofficial President of Betty Pillsbury's fan club, LOL!!