Far Flung Flannel

Good morning, my friends. There was a little of everything going on here yesterday. The treadmill got a workout, as did the vacuum and dust cloth. We worked fast so we could get back to our sewing. But no morning can get started without a little slow stitching. I stitched up Day 4's Tiny Heart. This one was easy. 

Already, I've peeked at this morning's heart. It's a little more complicated. None of the dreaded stitches have shown up yet. (I'm looking at you, Cast-on Stitch and Bullion Stitch.)

With that finished, I took the first stitches on the "Shop for Shoes" block. These are so much fun.

When my housekeeping was done, I was ready to get back to the flannel quilt. Smitty was shocked...shocked, I tell you...that we were skipping quilting for a second day in a row.

After giving it some thought, he decided to refurrain from helping with this squirrel of a project.

Instead, he sent in second-string Sadie. She licked her lips at the thought of more sewing with flannel.

These colors are a purrfect match to my beautiful furs.

So, I went to work sewing row five to the rest. 

And then I had time for two more rows before I needed to stop for the day. The bottom two rows are not yet sewn to the top. I'll finish the bottom half first, and then sew the top and bottom halves together. (I don't like working with all that bulk.)

Sadie was 'zhausted by then.

There are two rows to go. Before turning out the lights for the evening, I cut the remaining scrappy bits for the four-patch blocks. I had enough scraps in my stash that there are no repeats in the quilt, except for those that create the pattern, of course. They were just pulled from the box at random. If the piece was big enough, it went into the quilt.

Also, I cut the rest of the batting squares I'd need. 

I went through my scrap bag and discarded pieces of batting that were too small to use. Also, I found a lot of batting that was rather poor quality. I discarded that as well. This formerly stuffed-to-the-gills bag is now only about half full of cut-off pieces.

Okay, so that brings me to today. I have a doctor's appointment this morning. My dermatologist of nearly 40 years retired last year. Bummer. And, honestly, can you believe he retired and doesn't want to see me anymore? The noyve of some people. Anyway...I'm seeing someone who's a little closer to home this morning...a woman this time. Mike saw her last year, and he liked her. I'm just going for a skin check, but I'm also wanting to establish myself as a new patient. Sometimes it's hard to get in with anyone. 

Seeing the doctor is the only thing on today's agenda, and I can spend the rest of the day sewing. I'll get a start on Day 5 of the Tiny Hearts, and then I'll probably have some time to stitch on the Shopping for Shoes block. Mainly, I'm hoping to get the flannel quilt all sewn together, so I can start on the clipping. You might recall I found some nifty scissors to use for that when I made the last Flannel 4-Patch quilt. I told all about their many pros when I found them a couple of years ago.

They're such a great tool, I'm almost looking forward to doing the clipping. Heck, this quilt is for Mike. I might even enlist his help. He's been working on the trailer brakes, but who needs brakes on a trailer anyway? I rest my case.

And now, I have overnight oatmeal to heat up for breakfast. The day awaits. And, oh my goodness, California friends. It looks like the weather really walloped you guys yesterday. I hope you're all doing okay. We're keeping an eye on you.