Check, Check, Checking

There were three items on my list of sewing to-do's yesterday. First, I wanted to trace out the next three hearts for the project I'm calling "A Year of Hearts." In my next go-round with these stitcheries, I'll be stitching October,

November,

and December.

Those will need to wait until I've finished stitching the mystery project I'm working on right now. I'm probably a couple of days away on that.

Second on my list was to catch up on two weeks of Tiny Tuesday. The first was this Bear's Paw block set on the diagonal.

Second was this squealing pig, designed by our friend Sally who rooms with Molly and Buddy. Sally promised this would go together easier than it looks, and she wasn't kidding. It was kind of fun putting it all together. It got a little wonky by the time I had it sewn together, but nothing a little rotary cutter magic couldn't handle.

I'm afraid I'm going to run out of that star fabric before I run out of blocks for this project. This fabric has been in my stash practically from my quilting infancy, and so I won't be able to find more of it...that is, unless you have some you're looking to unload. I have something similar, but the stars are red instead of white. I suppose I could make it work if I have to.

The squealing from the pig must have awakened Smitty because he joined me from the Clubhouse about that time.

How's a cat supposed to get any shut-eye with all this noise?

Okay, and then I was on to my squirrel project. I've had this Beach Hut pattern from Patch Abilities for at least a couple of years. When I noticed a gaping hole on the wall of the camper this past week, I decided its time had come. And you know how a squirrel is...I was hard-pressed not to cancel the camping trip just so I could start on it right away. It's simple piecing and quick applique.

When I had the pieces fused down, I top-stitched them using invisible thread and a buttonhole stitch. Then, I did some machine embroidery for the details in the kite and the wind sock.

There's a button packet that goes with this pattern. The packet I bought with the pattern had only the beach ball and the house number button above the door. I used a hot fix nailhead for the door knob and for the top of the flag pole. For the window on the door, I asked Mike for a large washer (which he had...stainless steel, no less), and paired that with a button from my button can. I'll do a fancy embroidery stitch to hold those in place.

So that's where I left it. When I get back to the sewing room today, I'll sew on the buttons and add the binding...seen on the right in the image below.

I have a lot of business to take care of in town today, not the least of which is restocking Mother Hubbard's cupboard. This morning, we used the last two eggs, the last two slices of bread, and the last half of an avocado to make avocado toast for breakfast. From here on, we'll be licking our fingers trying to get the last crumbs from the bottom of the bread bag. Starvation is imminent. Please send in the Red Cross immediately. And that was a lot of drama to say I need to go to the grocery store. I'm only getting a few things though because tomorrow is a CSA day, and I want to see what's in our share before I commit to any menu planning.

If I can finish off the Beach Hut, I'm going to spend the last days of July working on the little quilt you see below as a gift for the granddaughter of a friend. My friend tells me her granddaughter likes zebras and the color red. (Their last name starts with "Z," and so I'm wondering if her love of zebras comes from that.

My friend has two granddaughters, and the other is too young to have expressed much preference for anything. Just the same, eventually, I'll be doing a unicorn for her. That will probably have to wait a couple of months, however. There's lots of other sewing to do in the meantime.

Okay, so it appears summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest. We've had warm weather and sunshine for the past couple of days. Time to get outside and do some watering before I get on with the rest of my to-do's.