end of may, start of june

May was not as productive of a month as previous months.  Two of my four sticks never saw any action.

The quilt slated for the longarm, Arcadia Avenue, is going to be a major adventure.  And for the April quilt, my machine threw a hissy fit.  I knew I needed to get something small on there to make sure all was well before I did something real and larger, but I just never talked myself into making time for any of it.

The box of scraps I should have been working on was also untouched.  But, to be fair, I did pick from it for most of the Project Quilting challenges and have added and subtracted pieces of fabric throughout the year.  It is kinda my ever-changing scrap bin.  And it will continue to be.  For now.  (It feels good to have something where odds and ends can land when they're too big to toss, but too small to stay in the stash.  Though I need to be sure it doesn't get out of control!)

What did I do?

Well, I learned to crochet.  Sort of.

I successfully made a ball.  It's not much, but for someone who has never crocheted anything, I'm pretty pleased with myself.  And it sets a baseline of knowledge for future endeavors, if I choose.

I also made 49 Steampunk blocks.  Well, mostly made them.  The centers are circles and needed to be appliqued.  I'm not sure if the pattern specified hand applique or machine, I much prefer the look of hand applique.  And I'm not very good at machine.  Add in the piece being circular and I'm all for handwork!

During the front porch quilt show (which was a bust if you want to consider visitors - just one couple showed up - friends of the hubby no less!), I set up an ironing station downstairs, near the front door, and worked on two at a time.  (I gather the circles around a cardboard and only had two of those.)  Each day I completed 18 blocks.  Which, if you're doing math, means I have 13 left to go.  They go fairly fast, so if I just make a point to prep two as I have time, it shouldn't take long.

(But remember, I'm really good at procrastinating.)

I took no photos except this one, of a center I wasn't too fond of covering - it's perfect!  (And yes, I realized before I sewed it down that it didn't match correctly.)

The quilt show was fun except for the itching I suffered.  All my weeding efforts the week before brought me poison ivy!  I have it on both forearms, but the reaction on my right arm started days before that on my left, so it's been a fun ride.  (Thankfully the weather has been cooler through the worst of it, so I could keep my arms covered instead of making people think I have the literal plague!)

On Saturday, we hung quilts this way:

All of these, except the science geek quilt hanging from a tree with more poison ivy at the base than I initially realized, were finished in the last year.  Not all were started in the last year, though!  (And a few that were finished are not displayed because they live elsewhere now.)

We took them down at night, of course, and the poison ivy quilt went straight into the washing machine (followed by a thorough scrubbing of me and a second load containing shoes), and was not hung there on Sunday.  The configuration changed a little, so here is Sunday, from a different angle:

Both days the crew was here working on the barn, but they weren't in the way at all.  In fact, I wasn't even sure they saw what was going on until Sunday afternoon when one of the guys asked if I made those.  And, of course, if I sell them.

The weather was downright cold on Saturday morning and it didn't warm up much.  But I wrapped a quilt over my lap and toughed it out.  Most of the hubby's family showed up Saturday around lunchtime.  More because we were offering free burgers than to see the quilts, but that's fine.  We just had a struggle keeping the younger kids out of the house - the cats don't quite know what to do when there is that much noise and action in here!  (Except Freddie.  He gets in the middle of it and wants to be everyone's best friend.  Aloof Freddie that gives me the side-eye when I try to pet him.  Little brat!  But he was fostered with kids and apparently loves them.)

My parents also came down for the middle part of Saturday.  They stayed longer than the hubby's family, but also didn't have young kids in tow.

Since we had all of two non-family visitors show up in two days, we opted to let Monday slide.  We ran errands and did some things we couldn't have done with quilts hanging on the porch.

And today dawned a new month.  So that means new sticks!

Here you see not only the sticks, but three of the four projects that go with them.

The quilt kit is one I purchased a few years back and the pattern is inside.  It is fairly simple, so it shouldn't take long to work through.  The green half square triangles...well...I'm not sure where those will end up, but there they are.  And the book is a TON of cross stitch patterns for people.  Bodies and heads to match up for men and women and children of all shapes, sizes and colors.  With different kinds of clothing and hair as well as cats and dogs of many breeds.  Lettering and even some extras to throw in for personalization of each character.  I have no plan yet for what I will do...

The last is the quilt to longarm.  100 blocks is another monster, but is less intimidating than Arcadia Avenue.  Maybe I'll get to it this month?

But pulling these is as far as I've gotten today.  I had a few errands to run this morning and then realized that Gabby (the grey girl with the short tail who ate thread in January) was in the litterbox a LOT.  And doing little.  I actually noticed yesterday afternoon, but since she was eating and drinking and acting normally (knocking everything off my cutting table, demanding pets, chasing bugs), I figured it couldn't be anything too serious.  She was still doing it today, so I called the vet and they had a 2:30 appointment available.  Being a wild child, my adrenaline started running at 10:30 this morning, right after I hung up.  Would I be able to get her into the carrier and still have all of my limbs?  Turns out she decided to sit and snuggle me for about 45 minutes before we had to go, so I sneak attacked and plopped her in the carrier before she really woke up!  (Believe you me, THAT will never happen again!)  Of course, her bladder was empty (we suspect a UTI), so doc asked if she could stay overnight.  Definitely the best choice because I won't get her back in a carrier any time soon.  I ran home to take her some food for her stay (lessening their burden while keeping her from a potential upset tummy) and then stopped on the way home for a few more errands that popped up since this morning.

Here's to hoping whatever is up with my little girl is easy.  And even more that whatever the treatment, it is something we can manage with her wild child tendencies.

So there you have it.  A lot of words, not too many photos.  And not really much happening.

But let's do a bonus photo of Miss Gabby, in honor of her bravery in staying the night in the scariest place ever.

Happy quilting!
Katie