squirrels masquerading as projects

The past week has not been as quilty as it might have been, but some weeks are just like that.  Part of my problem was that new sticks would be drawn in a few days and I didn't want to start something that might be abandoned in a few days for a more favorable "assignment."

I did find some fabric for the back of my Positivity quilt.  I made an oopsie figuring out how much I would need, but that's okay.  I just pieced a section of leftover brown in the middle!

Turns out that wasn't an all bad idea, being that there are stripes here that would have probably annoyed a number of people if they weren't lined up correctly.  This solves that problem nicely.  (And the fabric in this photo looks a lot more coarse than it really is.  It is truly a printed quilting cotton, not a woven fabric.)

I also mentioned the Covered in Love block drive in my last post as a possible direction to turn.  I decided to raid my stash and see what I could find that I felt would work nicely.  And in my effort to just cut a few and just use up that fabric...and that one that will also work and that one...I ended up cutting a set of 18...

I sewed all of those in just a short amount of time, but my sewing time for that day was up.

But the next day I could get to the sewing room, I cut another stack.  This time 17, while again not aiming for so many.  At that point, my stash of tan fabrics pretty much ran out.

Again, these went together quickly, chain piecing all the way, and I suddenly had a stack of 35 blocks to send along.

For this project, unlike so many others I will mention here today, I actually took a decent number of photos.  After this photo, I packed them up and sent them off on the last day of the month - and the last day of the two-month drive for these blocks.

All this scrap-busting (even my stash of blues seems a bit diminished!) brought me to the beginning of the month, allowing me to draw another set of sticks.  No photo, but they are:

Longarm: bright random with embroidered birds

New quilt: from a book I own

Scraps: from the princess castle quilt

Other: pajama pants

I looked through a few books and found a quilt I was interested in making, and most of it could have been made from stash, but the background looked like it needed to be cohesive, yet required 4.5 yards and I just didn't feel like heading out to buy so much fabric when lately my effort has been to bust some of what I have.

So that went on hold and I pulled out the box of scraps from the princess castle quilt.  There were quite a few strips, or remainders of strips, from cutting a lot of pieces.  There are also some somewhat larger pieces that I wouldn't have any trouble adding to the stash, but those strips annoy me.  Now what can I do with those strips?

These are currently 15" each, but I plan to add a few borders.  The fabric that had the dolls had a bunting-like printed border above the selvedge, so that will go on as a border, but also maybe something else.  I'm hoping to get these large enough to be dolly quilts, though maybe a little smaller than some I've made.  (If I pair them with smaller dolls, it will be okay, right?)

This project was abandoned today when I started making more cat hammocks!  We went to visit my parents for the 4th of July holiday, having a potluck lunch and just hanging out.  I had run out of tiny stars parts from my last raid of my mom's stash, so while there, I raided her stash again.  My sister-in-law joined the fun and helped select fabrics and press them so I could cut faster.  I have no photos of the box of squares I brought home, but I promise you, they exist!  And eventually I will begin sewing with them.

While cutting, the subject of cat hammocks came up.  A lot of people know my mom will take pretty much any fabric and figure out how to use it.  As a result, she has a LOT of fabric.  She tries to use it for charity quilts, some she sews up and stuffs with fabric and batting scraps to make pet beds for shelters in her area, but some of it she just can't figure out how to use (or it becomes too overwhelming!).  After hearing about my project with hammocks, she dug into a bag of stuff she was planning to re-home.  I came home with a big bag of fabric, a lot of it 70's-looking calicos.  As soon as we got in the door and the more important things settled, I started the laundry to get everything washed.  While the fabrics seemed clean and smell-free, I can't guarantee they won't fade and ruin something else in the wash.  And a few of them had a fair amount of sizing in them.  (One still stands up on its own!)

Today, I cut into the first very large piece.  It is a little heavier than quilting cotton, but I believe it is all cotton and not a blend.  It was approximately 80x64!  There are two pieces of this and I wonder if maybe they were sheets?

That piece yielded six hammocks.  Two are significantly larger than the other four, but all are good-sized.  My only trouble was top-stitching through four layers - my machine did not like to go fast and would skip stitches if I got moving too quickly.  I tried a jeans needle, which made more noise, but also poked threads through the back and made obvious holes.  Also, I was afraid to go any faster than I had with the normal needle...it just didn't seem like it was wise.  I may try one of the super-sharp needles for the next one, but in general, I can slow down and it should be fine.  If I have to go back and re-sew a few short sections, that's okay, too.  The goal here is to make them sturdy, not pretty.  (Though pretty isn't all bad!)

Gabby supervised.

Right.  Supervised.

I'm afraid after seeing her sleeping in this pose twice today, I will no longer be able to convince people that she is at all feral.  She was, but in the last six months, she has mellowed out a lot.  To the point where she sleeps upside down where I can see her.

I will take this every single day over her formerly feral fearfulness.

Perhaps she is learning from her brother?

The other two boys also sleep upside down like that, Freddie (the black kitty) does it in the middle of the living room floor and makes us walk around him.  So maybe she does think it's normal?

Time to go see about making some dinner.  Lasagna - that has to cook a while, so you gotta start kinda early!

Happy quilting!

Katie

PS The Positivity quilt is a top.  Last time you saw it, it was not.  I have no photos yet.

PPS The pajama pants may morph into summer pajamas as a whole.  I'm struggling to find some I like (that also aren't the dreaded polyester that doesn't breathe and you end up in a pool of sweat, which is not okay any time of the year, but far worse in the summer), so this might be my solution.  Wish me luck.  I'm not so great with sewing clothing...