Approaching Normal

Good morning, my friends. Happily, the big squash is over for another year. I won't get the results until Monday, but I'm not expecting anything. Fingers crossed. I needed to pick up a couple of items at the grocery store, and then I spent part of my day driving Mike into town to pick up his truck. Aside from those in-town items, it was pretty much a normal day here at the Three Cats Ranch. When we go on short getaways, there isn't much packing or unpacking to do, and so its easy to get back to what passes for normal. 

We've had some nice weather, but it's very cold. The sun is shining, and I considered going out for a walk until I saw the temperature at 34°. Some of you will laugh when you see that number, but it's cold enough to keep this Oregonian inside for the day. If I need to put on a hat and mittens, then it's probably best to enjoy the sunshine from inside the house. Besides, that's where I keep my needles and thread.

Before I needed to get on my way yesterday, I had time to take the first stitches on the newest "Kittens" block.

When all my non-sewing tasks were finished yesterday, I could get back to my quilting. Smitty joined me for part of that time. He loves all the knobs and hooks on the quilting machine.

He even likes the needle. The quilting machine is the best place in the house for face scratching.

And with this comfy quilt in the mix, he thought he might take a nap. And if you look carefully at his right paw there, you can see how the thread has gotten tangled up in his whiskers.

I tried moving him off the quilt as gently as possible, but that was when we had words.

Don't let my diminutive size fool you. I could easily kill you with one swipe of my murder mittens.

While we were talking, I noticed how seriously empty my thread spool appeared. Here's how it looked when I started.

Here's how it looks now.

Well. I went straight to my computer and ordered another spool from Superior Threads. I still think I have enough to finish the quilt, but I'd hate to get delayed if I run out.

When I was able to clear the quilt of cats, I quilted all around the leaf border. This took about an hour's time (including the time I spent wrestling with the cat).

From the get-go, I've been careful about not spending too much time quilting and aggravating my hand and wrist. Before we took off on our getaway, I hadn't done any quilting for a day or two, and yet, my wrist was still bothering me the whole time we were gone. I'm pretty sure it's a problem of inflammation in my wrist pinching a nerve in my hand. The pain feels like a knife to the back of my hand, but I can also feel it in my elbow. Also, I noticed my hand was a little swollen. It was hard to get my wedding ring on and off. And all of that to say that I tried icing my wrist while we were away, and it worked wonders. So when I finished with my quilting yesterday, I sat and iced my wrist for a while as a preventative measure. It feels fine this morning. Maybe I'm onto something. I hope so.

Here's how the quilting is looking from the back. When I chose that variegated thread, I wasn't sure I would like it, but it looks pretty against the dark brown background.

I left it needle down in the narrow brown border. There, I'll be quilting an alternating half-heart pattern all the way around. That will bring me to the outer border of leaf blocks. I've been puzzling over how to quilt those, but I think I've decided on something now. I won't finish it today, but I'm still hoping to at least test out my design before I quit for the day. 

Finally, I promised you a picture of October's Joyful Journey block with its brethren.

And there they all are. Ten of twelve blocks are finished.

Today I'll get back to my purging task. I'll focus on the three drawers remaining in my office, and then I'll be able to call that room finished. There are just three more drawers in the bedroom. Oh yes, and then there's my closet. We're getting there, slowly but surely. As the purging effort draws to a close, the carpeting effort seems less daunting. There are a couple of small housekeeping chores to check off the list, and then I'll get back to my quilting. 

Also, I'm hoping to have some time to get started sewing together the "Stitching Wisdom" quilt top. I threatened to get started on this a couple of weeks ago, but it still sits right where I left it.

The four small blocks in the lower right-hand corner will be pieced into star blocks, and those will be at the four corners of the quilt. I've pulled some fabrics from my stash, and I sincerely hope to get a start on it today. 

So that's all the news that's fit to print for the day. Enjoy your Saturday. There aren't many left in the year.