Smitty was my constant companion for all things sewing yesterday. He was there for me while I did my morning slow stitching.
Appalachian Memories is moving along. There's a good bit of vertical distance on this one. Yesterday, I finished stitching the top of the silo.
And that allowed me to move my hoop to encompass what remains of the left side. There is more across the bottom. When I stitch this next bit, however, I'll be close to finishing the block. This is the last block for this quilt, and so the project will be moving to the sew-it-together phase very soon.
After doing a few things outside, I made my way upstairs to work on the quilting. Smitty was there for that too.
Yesterday's ladies were Hildegard...
and Earlene. Earlene is so cool in her shades.
So, my focus in 2020 has been to quilt as many quilts as I can. The To-Be-Quilted pile was getting pretty onerous. I've made a lot of progress on that, and I should have no problem finishing up the Bag Ladies during the month of September. It means my WIP's haven't seen much attention, however, and so I'm hoping to get back into the basement sewing room to make some progress on those. So, I surveyed the list yesterday. I snuck in two "Quilter's Choice" projects since making my way through the list last time.
It's time to make some more progress on Jenny's Flower Garden. It was June when I worked on it the last time. I have three of six rows of blocks made. These are laid out so I can see the pattern, but the quilt is actually wider than what is pictured below.
The next row will put me past the halfway mark. And Smitty was raring to go.
As I entered the sewing room, however, I noticed the yardage I'd purchased to make a backing for the Garden Sunshine quilt...this one:
And so I spent what remained of my sewing time cutting and sewing the back together. There was about a half yard of fabric left, and Smitty claimed that as his own. A cat's entitled to compensation for all his hard work, isn't he?
Then, I used the last of this yellow stripe to cut binding strips. Smitty held his ground.
But he's such an excellent helper that he came and held the fabric while I measured and cut those binding strips. I'm telling you, a quilter couldn't ask for better help than this.
Okay, so with that done, I lined up all the things I'll need to get busy on Jenny's Flower Garden.
Today I'll finish quilting the last three Bag Ladies' backgrounds, and then I'll do a little work on Jenny's Flower Garden. The Bag Ladies will still need their sashings, cornerstones, and borders quilted. My goal is to finish it during the month of September. There will be plenty of time if I continue doing a little each day until it's ready for binding.
But here's the best news of the day. RAIN!!! A storm blew through last night bringing thunder, lightning, and lots and lots of rain. It was sparkling like diamonds on the window this morning.
It's supposed to rain for a good part of the day, and there could be more thunder and lightning. Hopefully, we won't lose our power, but even that would be fine. It's just good to give everything a good wetting down. We'll feel a lot better knowing those smoldering ashes are getting a good dousing.
Mike and I are headed to the post office and a quick trip to the grocery store today. After that, I'll get back to my sewing.
18 comments:
Hey Smitty! Be careful helping mom cut fabric. You don't want to go trick or treating this year masquerading as a Manx! Ha ha ha!!!
Yay for rain!
So good to hear you have gotten rains;))
You are making great quilting progress--Bag Ladies is looking really great! I did grocery shopping this morning too. Glad that's over as it always exhausts me somehow...
Hope you have a nice rain-filled weekend
Hugs, Julierose
So many good things going on here! Always love an Irish Chain quilt so loving the fresh vibrant colors of your Jenny's Flower Garden. Smitty is such a gallant Quilter's Consort ("Here dear, let me hold down that binding fabric for you while you cut it.") --- priceless, I tell you! And cheap at only the cost of a half yard resting spot!!
Happy dance for the rain! Hope others on the west coast got in on that also. Smitty sure is a dedicated quilt helper, but that butt shot looks a little too close to the ruler for comfort! lol
Smitty is such a good helper in the sewing room. What was the other cat doing, snoozing the day away perhaps?
That rain must be so welcome, was it enough to stop the danger of more flare ups?
So glad the rain has cleared out much of the smoke pollution and you all can breathe easier again. Smitty is just about the most purrfect helper a quilter could have! What a loyal companion, more like a dog than a cat I think (but don't tell him that, I know his opinion of woofies!)
Yay for rain!!! And lucky you to have such a cute helper in your sewing room. I miss having a fur baby around to help me stitch but DH has developed severe allergies so I can but dream.
Hurrah for rain!!!! Diamonds on windows ...what a superb sight to wake up to!
Sooooo pleased for you.
Barbara,
Glad to hear Smitty is being such a good helper and inspector. Better news is the rain, may it have put all those potential hot spots out!
Jenny's Flower Garden is very pretty. Smittty is doing a great job as quilting assistant, too. So glad the rain came!
So glad the rain arrived. Smitty is a real help in the sewing room. Picasso gets bored very quickly and starts to play with the pins or trying to stop the needle going up and down on the machine. He is good at holding fabric down but doesn't like to let go until he gets a treat. Scamp is excellent at testing the comfort and cuddle factor of a quilt.
Praise the Lord for rain. Although we don’t have the fires, it has been a month since we have had a recordable amount of tain at our house. Our cabin, 45 minutes away has had recordable rain. You are doing a wonderful job with embroidery and quilting. PTL for rain. Stay safe.
Hooray for the rain!! You were very productive on your projects. And Smitty is "on it" in every sense of the term.
Great job on the barn stitching and so fun to see the ladies getting quilted!
Hallelujah! You no longer breathe the worlds worse air and can make great progress on putting out your fires. We had good air quality for 2 days after 30 days of various air hazards. Were grateful for a under 200 rating during that time. The last 2 days it’s been under 59. The winds are shifting back and we expect air quality to go way up. At least to the 159 level, perhaps more. I had so much energy with the good air time I threw open the windows and cleaned like crazy. There was a film of black on all the inside surfaces that needed eradicating. You don’t see it until you wipe it down.
Good for you getting your routine back. We continue to SIP, avoid exercise and hope for the winter rains to douse the fires. Meanwhile I am spending a lot of time sewing.
Hooray for rain!! And that Smitty is one handsome dude!!! You're really going to town on your UFOs, good for you! Hope you weren't too stressed out by the PO and grocery - I find myself having panic attacks if there are too many folks milling around and picking through the same produce I'm scanning. We are going earlier and earlier in the day, and finding it not so crowded, which makes it easier to bear.
Rain is such a wonderful visitor when it hasn't been around for a while! We had some too, last night along with lightening. And today our air is CLEAR! Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!
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