No News and Good News

Not much happening here at the Three Cats Ranch the past couple of days. It actually rained quite a bit yesterday and today, which made me very glad my tomatoes are in the greenhouse. It's a little early for summer to be coming to an end, but that's how we roll in the Pacific Northwest. In years gone by, the tomatoes would still be green, and it would start raining in dribs and drabs like this, and then the tomatoes wouldn't ripen, and then I would start gnashing my teeth, and first I'd be mad, and then I'd just be despondent over yet another year of a green tomato harvest. Thank goodness I don't have to go through THAT again, because honestly, I don't think I could take it.

Instead of gnashing my teeth, I spent the past couple of days sewing. It's that end-of-the month rush to try to knock things off of my to-do list.

"Oh, you say you want to sew? Ask me if I care. Go on, ask me."

Speaking of Smitty, look how much he's grown! He used to look like a peanut in this bed, but look at him now!

Yesterday, I made my second Wine Waiter for a housewarming we're going to attend on Saturday. This is a purchased pattern from Sew Happy Me, and they are such fun to make.

I used some leftover fabric from the True Hope quilt for this one. The lining is gray, and I always get such a kick out of the bow tie.

Also, I used the button foot for my new sewing machine to machine sew those buttons. Man, is that ever slick!

Then in yesterday's mail, I got the second month's kit for the Wind in the Whiskers BOM. That was a little disconcerting since I haven't even opened last month's kit. Oy. That one is next on my list. Next month's block is called "I Spy".

Aren't these fabrics pretty?

Then today, I finished up the top for the Wonky Houses wallhanging.

I still need to embroider the words "Home Sweet Home" and some X's and O's in the green strip at the bottom. Hopefully I can get that done fairly quickly because I want to be able to quilt this next week. I thought I might hand quilt it, but I've decided to machine quilt it instead. I'll get the binding sewn on by machine, and then I can finish it up while we're traveling next month.

Today I want to end by thanking all of you who voted for Gracie and Smitty's entry into the Pets on Quilt show. Their quilt, Love Me, Love My Cat won the best pet-themed quilt, and Smitty and Gracie were thrilled. I was happy too!

Also, I want to thank all of you for your sweet comments about the red ribbon I won at the Oregon State Fair. There were a lot of ribbons handed out, and so it isn't a monumental win...not like winning Houston or Paducah, anyway. But for someone who's never entered before and who has won not a single ribbon, winning anything at all is a huge thrill. It's made even more fun by having such great bloggy friends with whom to share the good news. Thank you.

So Mike is on his way home, and I need to get dinner started. Tomorrow my quilting buddy Pat and I are headed to the fair, and so I'll probably have some stuff to tell you tomorrow or the next day. Until then, have a good evening.

Oh yes, and don't forget!  The August NewFO Challenge Linky Party and giveaway goes live on Saturday! Are you ready?