30 done!

There are 42 blocks in the Very Vintage Christmas book and sampler quilt.  I can't believe that I have 30 of them done already!  When I started the quilt-along, I thought five per week would too many.  It is a lot, but so far, I've been doing okay keeping up.  12 more go to, which I assume means three more weeks and then we'll see how long the blocks hang out before I decide to sew them together...

Blocks this week swung back towards more traditional piecing, which was nice.  But I struggled with matching points (or not losing them) more than I thought I should.  Perhaps I got a bit cocky after all the fussy blocks in past weeks?

Anyways, here they are:

I about lost it on that last one.  It should NOT have been that hard.

But they're finished and that has me happy.

That also leaves me with a few days to spare.  I will probably talk myself into prepping some "seeds" for my Bird Seeds quilt after I finish typing here.  I did well on them for a stretch this summer, but they've fallen off the radar again.  The prep, though it isn't that difficult, is just enough to turn me off doing them.  Wanting the quilt, though, will eventually win that battle.  Eventually.

This week I purchased some fabric for my niece's quilt that I mentioned in the last post.  I went in with plans to do bright, jewel-toned fabric.  I couldn't find a red or a purple or even a good blue that I really liked.  So I brought home what feels like Easter...

In my original drawing, I used four colors.  There was some corner-touching of colors going on, so I thought I'd add in a fifth color to help that issue (and make the layout maybe easier?).  And then I threw the grey in there, too, just in case.  (I have a grey problem and a dot problem, so if I don't use this in her quilt, I'll use it somewhere else...or just stare lovingly at it for a while...)

But now I'm torn.  I feel like maybe that light blue in the middle is too light.  Maybe it should go and the grey should stay?  Or should another color go?  Keep the grey?  What are your thoughts?

While I was shopping, I also picked up some adorable, tiny buttons for the Christmas quilt.  It needs such embellishments and I might have gone a little crazy...

...there is also a package hiding in there that has stars and hearts.  I may not need them all, but seriously, how could you not buy those tiny flowers?  They're like 1/4" across!  My button box just got a whole lot cuter.  (Previously it mostly held buttons I'd rescued from shirts that were headed to the trash bin.)

In other sewing news, I pulled out a bag of "lost" corners left over from making my sheeps.  Due to block construction, I had only three of each colorway, so pinwheels weren't a good option.  At least not matchy ones.  I thought about making less-matchy ones, but then thought I'd get creative.  I planned to use these as leader-enders since my cute pink pinwheels ran out.

And I made the Ugliest Leader-Ender Project Ever.

And yes, I see the error.  I'm debating now whether to fix it, throw it out, or what.  It was not the first error, but that other one was found and corrected early.  This one will require much more trouble.

It's about 8 ugly inches square.

How can fabrics that made such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful, loved quilt come together to make THIS?

Ugh.

So that's it for sewing news this week.  But we can't have a post without cats, right?

This week I purchased a new window seat for the cats.  They have one in the bedroom upstairs that is a coveted place for both Lexie and Gabby (my two grey babies).  So I thought, in the wintertime absence of the air conditioner in this window, a new seat downstairs might be nice.  You know, to keep tabs on the squirrels and such.

I'm a little wary of the suction cup mount, but have seen enough of these in other people's cat photos (and no note of disastrous aftermath), that I finally purchased one.  Cleaned the window first.  Cleaned the suction cups first.  Followed all the directions.

And the cats are afraid of it.

Of course they are.

Gabby prefers the quilt ladder...

...of course Gabby prefers the quilt ladder.  Then again, she rarely stays in one place for long, so shortly after this, she was knocking things off the adjacent bookshelf and climbing on top of it to peer down through the window below - the same window that has the new cat seat in it.  Obviously.

Off now to decide what the remainder of the afternoon will hold.  The hubby will be home soon, but other than asking me to make dinner, he's pretty easy going.

Happy quilting,

Katie