Adopting leaves...

A whole week went by without posting...I knew it had been crazy but that crazy!I have been working on my leftover quilt...adding these orphan leaves and a border and calling it a day...maybe!
As I cut the first quilt I sort the leftover bits into several bags. First I cut the remaining strips into either 2-1/2 or 3 inch squares.Remaining pieces larger than 1 inch square go into the bag for random scrap piecing...and the pieces that are truely "scraps" are used to stuff pillows for the pets. As Macbeth gets older he needs more comfy places to nap...
Goldie just takes over the chairs in the Dining Room (sometimes sewing room since it gets such great light!) So I guess it is safe to say that the scrap bag is sort of like the sourdough bin on my counter...take out some then add a bit and it just seems to keep on growing!
Also finished up a small Amish influenced wall hanging. I have some thin perle cotton that I am going to use to hand quilt it...I need a low vision haul around project....behind the "amish" quilt is the batik scrappy bargello I am making for a local soldier (he likes purple and Hawaiian shirts!)

A lot of time was spent working on a mystery quilt...not a real mystery quilt...just one I can't post on the internet for a few more weeks...

Little Leftover Quilt...

Playing in the leftovers was fun...a bit addictive even. Last night I sewed the strips together and told myself to "back away from the scrap pile!"
This is what I finally finished (for now) using the scraps. Not quite big enough for a baby quilt...too big for a table topper...hummm, maybe just aadd few borders or use it as a medallion to anchor some orphan blocks....
On the pet front...Macbeth is doing better. I think having Graybeard the cat around is helping. Mac checks the windows four or five times a day to keep an eye on his nemesis...the activity is good for him.(Who knows what that cat could have done while Mac was taking his bath!)
Even if it wears him out sometimes....

Left-overs

My most recent quilt top has left an avalanche of left-over bits all over my cutting table/dining-room table. Lots of 1-3/4 inch strips, 3 inch strips, 3 inch (unfinished) four-patches and HST's....hummmmm...it looks like fun!
First, I used a lot of fabrics. Some of the scraps didn't even make it into the blocks! My "process" for the original blocks was to focus on each one separately and not to worry if it would "go" with the rest. When cutting the fabrics I would often cut two components (like a couple of 4-3/4 inch squares to use in the large HST and a couple of 1-3/4 inch strips to use for the four patches.) It helps on folding and putting away time but does create more left-overs. And since these aren't sizes that I use in my scrap "system" I figured I better do something with them now...These are the layouts I have been playing with....

a. basic four-patch alternating with a scrappy patch on point....
b. put the little four patches together and make a larger 4-patch out of the 3 inch squaresc. or maybe a scrappy sashing with the 3-inch squares
d. or make a alternate block and sort of make a chain (saw something like this in blogdom today but can't remember where...my apologies! Also after taking these photos I spent a bit more time at the ironing board!)
On the pet front...Mac is doing ok. He and Graybeard haven't come to an understanding yet but in a way it is helping Mac...keeps him on his toes! Graybeard on the other hand is looking so much better than when he showed up in our yard all skinny and beaten up. He even purrs now when I pet him. On the sad side, neighbors tell me occasionally he still goes to his old home and cries by the front door...

Cat and quilt guilt...

My cat Brownie was gone but is back again... but all of that made the last 24 hours a bit tense.
Urggggg....she slipped out which isn't all that unusual but when she didn't come back within the next hour - then couple of hours- then the next morning. Needless to say I didn't sleep much. I got up this morning searched the neighborhood (again) then printed out "lost cat" posters using the photo on the top.

About noon I got a phone call from a really nice painter who spoke almost no english however my high school Spanish kicked in enough for me to figure out he had my cat and my cat was sick. Long story short they are working on a empty house a few doors up the street and she got into the garage without the workmen knowing. Luckily today he was back this afternoon to check on paint job. The heat was over 100 and she was really dehydrated and scared. So today I am staying close to home to keep an eye on her.
To make matters worse I was feeling really guilty for having yelled at her just before she went missing. I was laying the quilt out on the floor and she was "stealing" blocks and hiding them. (which by the way is why I made 21 blocks instead of 20 and have a stack of 2-1/2 inch squares for corner-stones...she likes little squares!) On top of that she and Goldie were block surfing (run really fast then jump on a block and surf across the rug...) So I guess she will be spoiled the next few days as much to heal my conscience as to make her better...
Besides recreating the vintage block we have also finished the top for our guild's donation quilt. (Blackbird Designs: Simply Vintage) Lots of folks worked on this but as the quilt-mom I felt very nervous about getting it done in time! Now to just get the darn thing quilted (have a volunteer to bind it...insert happy dance her since I dislike binding so much!)

All it took...

With my DH away on a golfing outing this weekend I had lots of time to work of the sewing room...but did I? Ten minutes into the digout I found a vintage block that had fallen off my inspiration board. That is all it took...
It was time for a break anyways right? And drafting the block is as good as Suduko for exercising the "little brain cells." (I do my blocks the old fashioned way with graph paper, a ruler, pencil and an eraser...)

And well then I need to make up a test block to check my math....
Maybe I will change up the fabrics a bit...
OK, so now it is Monday and all I have done in my "organize the sewing room closet quest' is pick up this one block. But I now have a dozen of these blocks that hopefully will be made into a quilt and not just fodder for the UFO pile....

I did do a few other things...appliqued a few more leaves on my guild's donation quilt (which is so close to being done!)...made a big pot of corn chowder using lots of fresh corn from the farmer's market which I served to some fellow quilters on Saturday with melon salad and cherry coffee cake (I'm living off of leftovers still which means I have more stitching time....)

This morning I have to go to the Y but after my "balance" class I promise to empty that closet...unless of course I find another block....

ps...the pincushion and luggage tag in the photo on the top of this post are gifts from a quilting buddy's Mom. Aren't they cute! And things I can sure use!

Goals and such...

It has been hot...hot...hot here in sunny, humid, sticky Georgia so I've been spending lots of time fussin' around the quilt room but not getting a whole lot done. I have however spent a lot of time thinking and planning....
On the quilting front I played with some orphan blocks left over from my Moda phase. (Do you find you go through "phases" where you use a lot of one line or type of fabric then move on...I made three or four quilts from these pink, brown, green and red Modas. I must still love them since I can't seem to part with the scraps!)
I've had this little scottie dog figure on my shelf for years and had the brainstorm of adding a little wool pincushion to his basket...a perfect place for my needle while I am working. Can't tell you how many needles I've "lost" in the regular pincushions....
I'm gradually pulling out the projects from the sewing room and making a list of what I need/want to finish, boxing up ones that I "may do," and putting the "what was I thinking" projects into bags for our next guild sale.

Now a little non-quilt musings...for the past few months I have been going to a really good physical therapist. Besides the fact he looks a lot like a young Robert Conrad (think Wild Wild West original TV Series...) with a Ukrainian accent...he is also very philosophical in his approach to PT.

A few weeks ago he asked me why I fight having MS. It struck me as a really dumb comment and I must have given him one of "those" looks. "You Americans want everything to be perfect and if not you fight it or ignore it...why don't you just accept and work with it." Coming from a man with a 24 inch waist who didn't come to work one day because he has a pimple on his nose this was pretty funny...but it did get me thinking.

My initial approach to MS was an all out battle...I was determined not to change my behavior at all. And how did that work out for me? Not good. I had repeated episodes and my life was pretty much in chaos since day to day my physical capabilities were all over the place.

So change to "I accept I have MS and I am going to fix it!" So I went in search of the magic formula of medications, meditations, nutrients and exercise. Think of Type A personality in search of the Holy Grail, Fountain of Youth or the perfect little back dress....I'm not sure who I drove crazy first: my doctor, my husband, or me. (They both claim the honors.)

What I did not change however was my image of what success would be...this is where that Type A thing becomes a problem. I'm not going to ever be the athlete I was while in the military, nor wear a size 6 (or even an 8!) and I'm certainly not going to stitch another Baltimore Album Quilt but in the past f my MS cure didn't get me to those goals I was moving on to the next "cure."

And when I looked over my turning 50 goals there all those perfect things were just waiting to be abandoned....So I am revamping my list to being more experience vs end result. For instance I am changing my "be able to walk two miles in under 24 minutes" to "participate in PT or modified cardio-aerobics 3 times a week." Instead of "win a ribbon at the next guild show" it is "sign up to do quilt appraisals at the quilt show."

Being less competitive and participative...my new matra...if I only could say it three times quickly....