Catching Up

The sewing schedule is feeling a little less frantic. I'm still behind on two of my monthlies, but I'm caught up on two as well, so 50-50 isn't so bad. Also, I finished off the 4th block for the Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs quilt. This could not have been done without the hard working contribution of my stitching cat. This was my view as I stitched the last of it.

Being a stitching cat is 'zausting, as you can plainly see.

Just the running stitch around the outside remained. When it was finished, it looked like this.

And if, like me, you're going to get an ear worm from looking at those words, here's a little tip I picked up from Stephen Colbert the other night. It actually works. He says that the way to cure an ear worm is to replace it with some little ditty. The trick is that it needs to be a ditty short enough that it doesn't loop back on itself. The one he suggested was the "Buy Mennen," little ditty. Here's a video if that doesn't ring a bell for you. I apologize, but you'll have to watch the whole 30-second ad before the ditty plays. Either that, or drag the little cursor to about 26 seconds, and you can hear it right away. And if you can't see the video, then click right here.

Maybe I've mentioned this before, but I am plagued by ear worms every hour of every day, and starting the second I open my eyes in the morning. My dad used to complain about it too, so maybe it's in my DNA somehow. Anyway...this actually works! You might have to keep repeating it to yourself before the ear worm is gone for good, but it's better than being enslaved to the same song for weeks on end. 

So anyway...what was I saying? Oh yes...Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs. Here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far.

And with that finished, I got to work finishing up the October blocks for Garden Sunshine. This first one is called "Indiana Puzzle." It looks complicated, but it was really easy. It's just a friendship star with a fancy center and HST's in the corner.

Finally, this one, called "Rising Star."

Smitty was my sentinel as I laid all the blocks out for a picture. That Sadie...always rearranging things.

There are 15 blocks for this quilt so far. Methinks we must be coming to the end.

Okay, and so finally, I was able to get at my free motion quilting. I have an idea about how to quilt the Wine Country quilt...this one...

And I just want to say that I took that picture above in August of 2018, which was the last time I worked on this quilt. Oy. So anyway...my quilting is going to be a riff on grapevines. I started trying to copy a pretty motif done by Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing. You can see her pretty version on her blog right here.

The grapes are pretty easy.

The leaves, not so much. I'm struggling with these, and I've nearly filled up the large practice piece I made trying to get them right. First, I tried doing them without the "pinked" edges.

And I didn't like that. They don't look like grape leaves. The one below looks like a marijuana leaf...not that I would know...but, you know...a friend told me.

And I tried various different shapes and edges and patterns of veins. Finally, as I was turning out the light for the evening, I pulled this book off my bookshelf.

Looking at the index, I found this "Grapevine" motif.

So then, I turned the light back on and tried it a couple of times. It's still not right, but I think I have a fighting chance, with more practice.

Today I'll make up another practice piece and work on the leaves some more. I'm hopeful that I can get it nailed down and start on the quilt today. I hope to be able to get at least a little ways along on the quilt itself. Fingers crossed.

For now, I'll head back to my slow stitching. Today I'll be starting January's heart.

I hope you have a good day planned for yourself. Mine is looking pretty good from where I sit. Let's just hope those grape leaves don't ruin it.