Almost a Finish

It was kind of a lazy day yesterday, and a slow start for me. Grocery shopping was on my agenda, and I'll do anything to avoid the grocery store. While I was making breakfast, I happened to glance over my shoulder at some glasses sitting on the counter. They had an interesting pinky glow about them.

Heading to the window, I saw that the sun is obscured by smoke from the fires in Northern California. We probably have fires burning in southern Oregon as well, but I haven't really been paying attention enough to know. It's been like this for days.

After breakfast I went outside to water the annuals. Look at what a show stopper this Red Sun sunflower is. I'm going to plant more of these next year. There's a place along the exterior wall of the greenhouse where they would be a great addition to our summer garden.

Nothing makes me more nervous than a zucchini that's almost ready for picking. I'll most likely regret not picking the one on the right. It's probably achieved baseball bat size by now.

Also, I noticed this bumblebee sitting in the same spot on the echinacea. Do you suppose this is his crash pad for the night? I'll admit it...I tried petting him. It just seemed to piss him off, and so I stopped. Nice Bumblebee. Nice Bumblebee. I'll just go away now.

It occurred to me to check the plum tree. The plums should be ripening soon. For now, they're still mostly green.

A few are starting to turn, but they're also shriveling. It's not unusual for the tree to shed quite a few of its plums about now.

Indeed. Looking at the ground...

After that, I did some slow stitching. I've almost made my way all across the bottom of this piece now.

After that, I could put off grocery shopping no longer. When I got there, the parking lot was full, and I regretted not getting an earlier start. It was kind of nuts inside, and at one point, the power went off. My fellow shoppers and I let out a collective "Ohhhhhhh!" when that happened. Within about 30 seconds the back-up generators came on, and there was a quieter and more high-pitched collective "Whoooo!" When I was about halfway through the store, the power came back on full steam, and there was an even higher-pitched and louder "Wheeeee!" Never a dull moment at the grocery store, let me tell you.

When I got home, Smitty showed up for treats. There was quite a haul to put away. About twenty minutes later, it was time to get the kitties in for the day, and so I checked inside the house first. The kitties have taught me to do this since I can go outside, walk all around the property, calling, and calling, and calling, only to find them inside napping. Sure enough, when I went into my office upstairs. I found them both sound asleep.

They're always ready to come in for naps around noon. Sadie has co-opted the spot where an old book bag lies on top of the bookcase situated on my desk. George used to sleep here too.

Looking in the lower left-hand corner of that image, the book title there gave me a chuckle. The Zucchini Cookbook. I must have stashed that there last summer. Might be a good time to get it out again.

With everybody safe inside, I was ready to get back to my quilting. It was well along, with two embroidered blocks and borders left to do. It was a bit tedious doing that straight line grid around the blocks. I'm just OCD enough to be bothered by crooked lines, and so I was using a ruler...back and forth...back and forth...to keep them straight.

When the blocks were finished I did this motif Lori Kennedy refers to as a Sweetheart Border. It seemed a good choice for this quilt.

In her tutorial, Lori Kennedy doesn't show how to turn a corner, and I couldn't figure it out. I used another motif I'd seen on Pinterest to make that turn.

When the first border was finished, I did some more straight line criss-crosses in the outer border.

When I was this close to being finished with all the quilting, I ran out of bobbin thread. Who couldn't see that coming?

Then, I took it downstairs and laid it out to have its picture taken.

Oh wow, Sadie. Mom finished a quilt. Let's have a look!

You say you're finished with your post for the Pets on Quilts show? Well then, I'd be happy to sit on your quilt. You're welcome!

You know, Smitty, there's nothing I like better than a quilt.

Me too, Sadie, and lying on them has the added benefit of preventing our mom from taking pictures of it. Being a furry obstacle is one of a cat's most impurrtant functions.

It's so soft and squishy...just the way I like, Smitty. It feels so good on my cheeks and whiskers.

Wait just a darned minute, Sadie. There's something furrightfully wrong with this quilt!

Holy Pawstompers! It has WOOFIES on it! 

Really? Did you put woofies on our quilt? I can't believe it!

Avert your eyes, People of Blogland. Here...I'll cover it up. It's much too hideous to behold.

Once they discovered the woofies, they cleared the decks so I could show it to you. I love this quilt. It's a design from Lynette Anderson. Just possibly I started this for one of the "Let's Book It" challenges, but it's been so long, I can't recall for sure.

The individual blocks were so much fun to make.

They're a combination of hand embroidery and raw-edged applique.

The blocks were quilted simply with just a few details and some outlining added in.

The little checkered border around the blocks was made using a leftover strip I'd used in another quilt. I simply added a few fabrics from this group.

It makes me think of our travels with kitties.

Here's how it looks from the back. The back was pieced together using some scraps from this quilt and from another Lynette Anderson quilt I made back when I first started quilted. Also, a couple of orphaned quilt blocks I pulled from my closet.

Now, it just needs binding.

When I looked out the window just then, I noticed one of our squirrel pets. What do you suppose he's eating?

Today I have the distinct pleasure of heading to one of our westside quilt shops (one I've never actually visited, if you can believe that) to take a class from Meg Hawkey. She's the Crabapple Hill Studio queen of embroidered quilt patterns. My friend, Annette, informed me of the class, and she's going to be there too. I'll be taking the class from Meg and meeting a new friend of the blog. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

As for the class, we need only bring our embroidery hoop, some scissors, and our lunch. Everything we need will be provided in a kit that comes with the class. From what I understand, she'll be showing us how she colors her quilts with crayons and pencils and she'll also be showing us some stitches. Maybe I'll finally have someone show me how to do the dreaded cast-on stitch.

So that's my day. You can bet I'll be taking plenty of crappy iPhone pictures during the day, and I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about it. It's cloudy and cool today, a welcome change from the heat wave we've been experiencing.