h2h donation, a week off and a new project

First up, the one bigger quilt I made for a Project Quilting challenge earlier this year, will be heading out for the Hands 2 Help challenge shortly.

Which one was that?

The pattern is called Star'd and more info is in the first link above.

I had hopes that the brown/orange blocks would grow up to become another quilt to send along with this one (or to another group - size matters here), but I stalled out on that one.  It's just not making me happy, so I set it aside in favor of the GIANT pile of fabrics for cat hammocks.

I will get back to it.

In fact, I have plans to do so soon.

But that is all because I started another project.  To be fair, this is a quilt along and has a deadline.  Check out Preeti's Positivity Quilt Along for all the details.

Yesterday I raided the stash and made a few blocks.  The background will be the grey throughout - I think...

And because I was struggling to wrap my brain around how many blocks the pieces I cut would make, I ended up with eight, not four!

It takes 80 blocks, so this is a tiny dent, but it felt good to sew a quilt block.

She gives you instructions in one of the posts within that link and it's super easy.  not even really any points to match, though I did try to make sure where seams do butt up against each other to do my best.  Helps keep things square and all!

I'll be working on these and the brown blocks alternately.  Sort of.

But I missed a week of blogging.

Why?

Here's a tiny clue...

See that spike?

That's where the rotary cutter slipped off the ruler and went across the side/end of my left index finger.

I was in my pajamas, just about to wrap it up for the morning and go shower and have lunch, enjoying a Saturday off work and home alone (hubby was fishing).  I put pressure on it, dressed myself, got the cats in from their outside playland and drove myself to the urgent care.

Oh, and I called the hubby to tell him where I was going and request him to meet me there.

They weren't busy and we decided gluing was a better option than stitching, and in no time, I was headed home.  It hurt a lot that day, but other than if you whack it just wrong, has not hurt at all since.

I am on the lookout for a cut-proof glove, but have been cautiously continuing to cut and sew, after a few days hiatus.  (I'm always careful, but after 25 years, I guess it was just time for the initiation?)

Thankfully I had a helper cat to get me through that first bit.  Reading a book alone would have been shameful.

I also had a little bonus time on Monday...

We were once again in the "triangle of doom" (which this time is more diamond-shaped) with a tiny power outage.  After having been out at work on Friday for about 3 hours, I groaned when it flickered out again at home on Monday.  But this doesn't even reach the mile up the road to where I work from home (we're about dead center here) and it only lasted a little more than an hour.  

Being home in a power outage means you grab a book and start thinking about where flashlights are in case it lasts past dark.  At work in a power outage is much more interesting.  We stay open.  Farmers are much more resilient folks and expect their favorite store to be so as well.  We did not disappoint, and in fact had a pretty good time.  It was kinda like camping mixed with a garage sale.

I also decided to put in a small garden this year.  I'm nearly out of canned tomatoes, and that is a hassle to find somewhere to purchase quality fruits in bulk, so I decided to grow my own.  It's a small area, which I hope will help me with the whole weed issue.

Six tomatoes (five for canning, one for eating), a row of beans, a hill of cucumbers and a few kohlrabi.  I have more space, but decided to plant what I know we will eat and not get too carried away.  If this goes well, I'll make it bigger next year.

I opted for the soaker hose to make watering simpler, and when I went out this morning with some landscaping staples to get that hose better under control, saw a bunny in there already.  Thankfully they don't like tomato plants, but we plan to get a fence around it soon.

After garden tidying, I came in and sat down to type, and the hubby (home today for the holiday) heard growling.  Freddie brought me a prize.

We ran him back outside...

First chipmunk of 2022.

But, my love, that is an OUTSIDE TOY.

(Clearly he is back outside now and you can maybe see the reflection, as this photos was taken through the window.  He and Toby are playing now.  They can come back in when they're done - and leave the dead thing outside.  We'll get in there later and get the dead thing out.  And I'll treat them for worms if needed.  I would much rather let their lives be enriched with natural hunting.)

Time to go sew!

Happy quilting!

Katie