...it happened again...and again...

One would think that with 5 cats in the house, squirrels would be scarce.

Nope.

While I'm allowing Philip's quilt to rest a bit and decide if it needs borders and what those might be, I started thinking about what else I could work on until the new Rainbow Scrap Challenge color and the new UFO number are announced.

I could work ahead.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Nope.

I had read about a doll quilt project going on earlier in the month, but it didn't grab my attention too much.  Last weekend?  It slapped me in the face.  I started looking deeper and liked what I read.  Mostly.  Why?  Well, there's a wonderful woman who makes dolls for kids - dolls just like them.  If the child has a big scar, the doll does too.  If the child is missing a limb, the doll is too.  I think this is an amazing idea.  The donated quilts will be paired with the dolls.  Another fantastic idea.  The part that held me back just a little was that the gal making the dolls charges for them.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't think she shouldn't be paid for what she does.  And when I read more about it, this is her business, not a hobby, and she's open about it and that made me feel much better.  So a squirrel decided I needed to make a quilt.

I went to Pinterest.  That vast space that wastes way too much of my time.  But provides some pretty good ideas, too.  I saw this quilt, previously pinned, and knew it was IT.

There wasn't a pattern, but it was far too large anyways, so I had to make it up as I went along.

As I went to pull out my blue stash to choose fabrics, I saw the stack of solids left over from my paint chip challenge project.  I'm not much of a solids gal (I like prints that read as solids, so you get the best of both worlds!), but they seemed to be screaming that they were IT for this project.  And since I don't use solids much, win-win!

I started cutting the lightest, using it all.  Then the next lightest, using it all.  Then the next and used it all.  Fill in with the fourth lightest (middle color for the challenge) and I have all 80 squares I need.

I had to sew carefully, as those squares are all carefully placed to not be touchy-touchy with the same color.  Good thing I've done this before!

I knew I wanted to do straight-line quilting to hold things together, but there's that sun...  (But I already knew what fabric that sun would be!)  How about machine applique that OVER the already-quilted top?  Sounds like I'm going to hear from the quilt police, but bring it on!

I can't believe I did this in about 4 hours.  Even the binding.

But I had help with the binding...

Thank you, Gabby-don't-eat-the-pins!  (I have extra holes in my skin now, too.)

What does it look like?

It's about 20"x25".

(and actually not skinnier at the bottom than the top...I just can't get the hang of taking actually square photos with my camera...)

I absolutely love it.  I can't wait to send it off.

But then, as I was sewing down the binding, I remembered the stack of blue squares I'd cut for the blue squirrel project - the ones that should have been 6" instead of 3"?

What if I lay those out in a gradient-like pattern?

And if I turn the photo black-and-white, I can see how I did, right?

(this is not the first layout, as it took a few tries, but I think I've got it!)

Time for bed!

But I tossed and turned in bed last night, thinking that this wasn't quite large enough.  It will finish about 18" square and the call is for about 22-24", as the dolls are 18" dolls.

What if I put a darker border on two sides and a lighter border on the other two?  Miter the corners where the different colors meet?

Maybe applique some orange fish on there, using the same technique as the sun?  And maybe some seaweed?

Today, I went back to the sewing room and decided I did not want that.  Not exactly.  I still wanted fish.  What about pieced fish?  One in each row will make the quilt wider at least...

Fish #1.  And the blue?  I grabbed that out of my scrap bin to see what size squares I needed for the lost corner technique.  Well, why not just use them?

I ensmallenated the pattern from The Objects of Design, as I wanted the fish to be 3" tall finished.  I hope Molly approves...

So I still have to figure out how to make the quilt taller...and sew the remaining 5 fish...and decide if I still want seaweed...and decide on a new layout with fish because their backgrounds and bodies are varying shades of blue and orange, respectively...and figure out how to quilt it now that I've changed a whole bunch of stuff...

But hey, this is a happy squirrel.  And I hope this one will be boy-worthy.  (Though the sunshine quilt is probably boy-worthy, even with a funky back.  I used leftovers from Sarah's quilt back.)

I'd better go get sewing.  The hubby has promised he'll heat up lasagna for dinner, but he's promised that four times in the last hour and a half.  I'm starting to wonder if the couch has assimilated his body and he can't get out?  He's not hollering though, so I guess he's enjoying it?

Happy quilting,

Katie

PS I sucked my mom AND my aunt into this project, too!