squirrels! squirrels everywhere!

So in my last post, I shared the backing fabrics I purchased for my UFO and bonus UFO quilts, right?  Do you think I did the responsible thing and quilted those?  Or sewed borders on the true UFO that probably needs them?  Or maybe even dug out the fabric for said borders and looked into the need?

Nope.

(I did order more pink thread, as I'll be needing that.  Pity points?)

First, I pulled fabrics for my May dolly quilt.  At least this one is on the actual to-do list.

It kinda looks like my yellow, green and orange fabric bins threw up.  Not that they're actually in bins (because I have a nice cupboard/closet arrangement), but you get the idea.

I started cutting pieces based on a quilt I'd seen on Pinterest.  Of course, it linked to one you could have bought at one point online, not a pattern.  No worries.  I got this.

Some fabrics made the cut, a second yellow center did not.  Pieces were just getting too small.

(ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - you'll understand this in a minute)

Spray baste yellow background to back fabric.  Pin shapes.  Raw-edge applique freestyle.  Just pins.

Rename "walking foot": "smash, wrestle, fight, swear and dislocate your shoulder foot".

(Perhaps the freestyle was a bad choice?)

In the process of cutting all these lovely circles, I saw a squirrel.

After being a good girl and getting this quilt to the point of needing hand-sewing of binding...

...I chased down that squirrel...

...a mini wonky star pincushion!

What possessed me to make this?  Squirrels, I tell ya.

But I'd seen another one as I was cutting the binding...

...yeah, two squirrels in one day.

At this point, it was pretty much bedtime and though I didn't want to go to bed, I knew I had to go to work in the morning and probably should get enough sleep to be functional and not Angry Katie.

In the morning, I still didn't want to go to work.  But I did.  Because I am also Responsible Katie.  (And Needs Money to Support Quilting Problem Katie.)

But all I could think about all day Thursday was quilting.  I already had plans.  Plans for the leftovers from the Bonus April UFO quilt.

A bonus dolly quilt for May!

Yep, already.

This might also qualify as a squirrel, as it's not exactly on the to-do list for the month.

When you sew strip sets, you end up with shorter bits at the end, right?  So I cut those into skinnier strips than the big quilt and made an 18x20 square dolly quilt.  It sounds harder than it was - I was starting with strips sets of 5x1.  The hardest part (aside from pressing seams the right direction...) was getting all the pieces layed out so there weren't matchy-touchy pieces.  Doesn't seem that it should be that hard, but it was.  I promise.

So here's the top.  Maybe I'll quilt it tonight?

But while this squirrel was being attended to, another damn squirrel showed up...

...can you see my 6.5" square ruler under there?

Yeah.  That's gonna finish 3".

I've seriously LOST MY MIND.

Let's see all three (with one out of focus - thank you camera)

I'm pretty proud of myself with that 36-patch.  There's just ONE point/seam that doesn't match perfectly.  Why the he** can't I do that with larger pieces?  I mean, really...

And I still have this pile squirrel calling to me...

I'm thinking of sewing these together end-to-end and seeing about making a short-strip version of the 1600 quilt?  I have a bit of un-sewing to do before I can use all the strips, but how happy does this make anyone that I've gotten two quilts and a pincushion out of this leftover jelly roll...and likely a third quilt to come.  (I've got plenty of the pink, too, and have an idea how to stretch the remaining bits if needed.  But that wasn't part of the original fabric selection.)

The hubby took two nieces to a movie tonight (apparently I wasn't invited?), so I have the evening to myself.  Once laundry is done, I'm home free!  And he has to work tomorrow morning, too, so if I don't decide to sleep till noon (it's happened, folks), I have that time, too.  I could be responsible and, you know, like, wash dishes or vacuum, but seriously?

No.

I should probably eat dinner at some point, too.  I have leftover chili and found some hot dogs in the freezer.  (They're fine.  No, they are.  I'm a microbiologist, you can trust me.  Really, I am.)  Know what that means?  Chili dogs with homemade chili.  One of my seriously favorite uses of homemade chili.  Plain?  Good.  Chili dogs?  Heck yeah!!!!

Off to chase some squirrels.

(...so many squirrels...)

Happy quilting,

Katie

PS  I also have a squirrel brewing for another mini pincushion using more of the pink leftovers above.  Yep.  Mind gone.

PPS Blogger is being fiesty today and doesn't like to format stuff like normal.  Please ignore the highlighting everywhere.  ACK!