catching up

It's been two weeks since my last post.  Three?  Yep.  Three.

Two weeks ago, I worked a longer than average shift and, once chores were done, I was exhausted and decided to call it a night without blogging.  We have a new procedure for the truck that delivers merchandise once a week and it's been a little sticky getting used to it.  Also, it means my shifts on truck days (Tuesdays) are getting longer.  It's all good - new stuff always takes some adjustments - just getting there isn't always easy.

So I figured a week off would be no big deal.  And then last Monday morning, very early, my stomach became very unhappy.  I had a stomach bug and the only up side to that was seeing kitten Freddie puff up as big as he possibly could when I was using the toilet "wrong"...  Well, I guess there was another up side - Gabby, after seeing me spend Monday on the couch, decided to be more snuggly, so I had lots of love Tuesday when I was recovering with a dehydration/poor-posture-while-sleeping-on-the-couch monster headache.

And then, having been down for the count for two full days and a third of slow recovery, all while life was happening, I had to catch up.  Thankfully, after a round of chores tonight after a never-ending day at work today, I think I've finally made it!

So, with that story out of the way, I can show what I HAVE done, though it doesn't seem like much for this long!

First up, I have five more blocks for the Little Miss Sawtooth quilt along.  Two are duplicates, but for my quilt to be larger, I'm making two of some of the blocks I like better.

Isla 1 

Isla 2

Olivia

Asha

Aliyah

I think there are four more blocks to go, but at least one of those needs to be doubled.  I'm getting closer, though, and these have been fun.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to sew with my mom.  We had a fun day and I got this little quilt done, all but hand-binding, as well as a few other small projects.

It's only about 7" I think.  I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's made from leftovers from my 100 blocks project - those lost corners that I can't bear to toss!

Remember Philip's Quilt?  In that post, I mentioned that it may not be Philip's quilt after all.  Turns out, I never got invited to the wedding (not a surprise), so it became a homeless quilt. Until last week.  I was laying on the couch, trying to think of something OTHER than the throbbing pain in my head, and this quilt popped in there.  No idea why.  And then, a few hours later, I was looking at facebook and one thing led to another and I decided I would donate this quilt to Saved by Zade, the cat rescue (and more) group that brought us Freddie.

I stole their logo and made this label.  And when I went to sew it on...before I'd even figured out the top or bottom or side...

...Gabby claimed it.  And took half a bath in/on it.

Not to worry, it WAS dropped off to the proper people and will be used to raise funds to help rescue and trap/neuter/release kitties as well as educate the public and whatever else they need.

And for those of you not wanting to click the link, this is an old photo of the quilt.  It hasn't changed, just the amount of snow on the ground!

Freddie does not want to be outdone, so he asked me to make sure you know he helps around the house, too.

He is very adept with the grocery unpacking.  He has also decided he likes to get on the counters when he knows I am opening cans of cat food.  As if his bowl is not across the room on the floor and I might accidentally feed him there on the counter.  He's my big dork.

No photo yet, but I have purchased and washed fabric to make another pillowcase.  I had purchased fabrics to make them for my nieces (an annual tradition on my side of the family) way back in September.  And I sewed them up fairly recently.  The flamingos with the Santa hats caught my eye and I knew it was going to be for the oldest.  And then, a few weeks ago, we found out she had run away from home to live with her boyfriend, a Navy boy stationed in Florida.  Now before you gasp, she is 21.  She finished high school and had a job, but was living at home and this plan was kept from her parents.  And the boyfriend she knew from the Christian school she graduated from is from a good family.  As far as my hubby and I are concerned, she is an adult and this decision is hers to make.  There are other details I will not drag out here, but we are happy for her - maybe a little jealous with all the snow and cold we've gotten recently...and will continue to experience for quite some time!

Anyways, the goal is to send her a Christmas package and I can't send a pillowcase for JUST her, right?  I mean, they may not be married yet, but I'm okay calling him part of the family even if I haven't met him...yet...  So I bought more fabric, a fairly generic holiday print, and will whip that up soon enough.

Finally, on the quilting front, these quilts I've been making lately for gifts are not going to quilt themselves (but wouldn't that be awesome?), so I fired up the longarm Thursday to get Jordan's quilt done.

This took forever.  The quilt is 90x90 and swirls take a long time.  And a lot of thread.  But I got it done, trimmed and the binding sewn down - the machine side.  It is waiting now for the hand-sewn side to be done, but until I can turn the television on to something I enjoy while I do that, it will wait...

Yesterday, instead of sewing the binding down while the hubby was at work, I decided I should quilt Adrian's quilt.  A few in-progress shots...

I went back and did loop-de-loops in the white/light parts.  This quilt also seemed to take forever, but all the stopping and starting made it take longer.  But it, too, is done.  I did not get the binding on because by the time I finished last night it felt like midnight it was so dark outside and I was tired.  And knowing I had to be up early for work today, I opted to chill out and read for a bit instead.  It will get done.  The binding is prepared, I just have to sew it down.

The third quilt, a baby quilt, is still waiting, but it is quite small and will be fast to do.  I'll decide Thursday (my next day off) if I will quilt it or bind the others first.

And finally, because sometimes your washing machine needs a $103 zip tie...

...yep, you read that right.  The little doohickey that tells the washing machine the lid is open or closed broke and it wouldn't spin.  It cost me $103 for a guy to come out and put a zip tie in there and make the doohickey work right again.  In the meantime, the (THANKFULLY) last load of laundry needed to be rinsed and spun, so I visited a local hangout.  Memories of my college days...hard, uncomfortable chairs, shady characters...makes me so happy to have a home and all the amenities!

(And just in case you're worried about that $103 zip tie, $79 alone was just to have the guy show up.  Still a pricey zip tie.)

And with that, I believe you are caught up.

Time to crash.  Long day today and I've got to be up fairly early tomorrow for an oil change and getting my winter tires installed on the car.  (No getting stuck in the driveway for me this year!)

Happy quilting,

Katie