Squirrel Whales and Frogs

 
The new carpet has been installed! I'm such a happy camper. This isn't the best picture...it is soft and cushy. I want to spend the whole day barefoot. It is the last big project for the new house. Now I have no excuses not to unpack fabric, set up the quilt frame and hang pictures.

Lincoln's Sampler has binding, and been washed. The binding is a very dark brown with gold flecks that match the back. Love it. This picture really doesn't do the colors justice.

Friday southern Oregon began Phase 1 of reopening. On Friday morning I was checking to see if there was going to be a guild meeting today, Monday. I noticed there was a Project Linus meeting scheduled Friday afternoon - the group has less than 25 people. No guild meeting - too many people.  I've been thinking about looking into Project Linus and decided to attend the meeting Friday afternoon. We did practice social distancing. Those ladies were busy in quarantine. One had 17 tied quilts and another had over 35 crochet edge polar fleece blankets.

Turns out the group is no longer Project Linus. It is now sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club so it is going by the name of Quilts for Kidz. The coordinator had three tables full of stuff, all donated. One had fabric / yarn that anyone could take, as long as it was brought back in quilt/blanket form. The second had larger pieces of fabric that could be used for backs, as long as it was brought back in quilt form. The third was non-cotton fabric and other things that couldn't be used for quilts or were more craft type things. The coordinator wanted all of that stuff gone and she didn't want it back, she didn't even want to have to pack it up and take it home again. Anything left over was going to another donation center. Of course the third table called my name.

Two of the items on the table were these hand appliqued whale blocks. Based on the fabric it looks like they might have been made in the 1980's or 90's. The whales need eyes.

Where does the squirrel come in? I Googled whale quilts late Friday night hoping I could find the original pattern and layout. Nope. But I found a quilt top I liked that had whale fabric in it.  I liked the simple 4 block layout.

My squirrel moment? I finished this about 11:30 p.m. Saturday (the whales still need eyes). It should not have take long. For such an incredibly simple quilt I kept screwing it up. It only has 26 seams, yet I managed to have to frog (ribbit (rip-it)) 9 of them...some of them twice. I'll get it quilted this week - and add eyes. It is about 42 inches square.

There were a few other items on the table that I took. Including this finished quilt. Another quilt that only it's maker could truly love.

This twin sized quilt with an attached dust ruffle is hand pieced and hand quilted. It is also made of two double knit fabrics. I'm guessing it was probably made in the 1970s. I think the ruffle is percale, probably an old sheet. I don't know why but I had to bring it home. There were also the beginnings of two pillow shams in the bag with the quilt.

I don't think it had ever been used. I've already washed the quilt and cut off the ruffle. I plan to "bind" it using the ruffle fabric then donate it back. When I talked to the group coordinator she mentioned that if she received a quilt that she thought was not appropriate for a kid, she would donate the quilt to a local dialysis or oncology center. Someone put a lot of work into the quilt, hopefully it will find a good home.

I have more treasures that I brought home. I'll show them off as I get quilts made from them.
 

Done

 
Well, the quilting is done. It is easier to see from the back...

 I binge watched two seasons of The Rookie to get it done.

There were a bazillion starts and stops. So far I haven't found any puckers in the front or back. Now I need to go over the front and back to remove all the thread - I backstitched all the starts and stops so I don't need to bury the threads. I haven't made the binding yet. Still haven't decided what color / fabric to use.

I'm so excited!! The carpet installers will be here tomorrow morning!

Progress all around

 
Well I didn't finish squaring up all the General Jack HST but I did make a dent in them. You can kinda sorta see them and my Bloc-Loc ruler at the top of this picture:

I got caught up on my blackwork SAL - I was about six weeks behind.

Gudrun Erla of GE Designs had another quarantine sew along on Sunday. I really really really wanted to sew along also. But I didn't (pat on back). I did follow along on Facebook throughout the day but I was determine to start quilting Lincoln's Sampler. I got the large top band of all the fans quilted to stabilize the sandwich and got a row completely done before I ran out of bobbin thread.

I bought two spools of the top thread knowing it was going to take a lot but only one spool of the bobbin thread. Not one of my smarter moments. I picked up more thread today so should be able to continue quilting this week. The fans take a bit of time, and a bit of maneuvering of the quilt, but so far have been pretty easy to do. All using my walking foot.

I have to "pack the quilt up" when I'm not working on it because Bella loves to dig into quilts. Literally digs with her claws. Luckily I was able to distract her with another old quilt that she is allowed to dig into.

I've also got her a new cat tower a few weeks ago. She has clawed huge bald spots in the old one.

She is slowly starting to use the new one. The old one is so ratty looking but she still love to chase her tail through the hole so I don't what to get rid of it. I'll probably move the old one to my bedroom. Maybe then she won't claw at my mattress. I love my cat...I love my cat...remind me often that I love my cat.
 

Quilt Sandwiches

 
Mmmmm, food. I think I've gained over 10 pounds in the last month. Unfortunately most of it is boredom eating. I don't know who keeps buying junk food at the grocery store. Lucky for me quilt sandwiches are not fattening.

Two of the quilts I showed last week were already pinned. I got three more pin based before I ran out of pins. After I quilt the Lincoln's Sampler I should have enough pins to pin the last three.

I did get the sampler quilt marked with the Baptist Fan template. That took a bit to do as the light fabric was marked with a blue water soluble pen and the dark fabrics with a white chalk. Sure hope in all comes out. I have a feeling this is going to take a while to quilt.

I finished making all the HST for the General Jack quilt. I didn't mark the smaller squares. I used this tape as a guide...sew a bunch on one side then flip the squares and sew down the other side...one long chain. I had to tape down the yellow tape as it kept lifting up.

Now I have 524 HSTs to press and square up. I'll probably do a little bit every night when I need to take a break from quilting all the fans - maybe they should be my goal for this week.

I also spent some time working outside. Tested the sprinklers, raked up all the oak leaves from the side yard, and pulled up a bazillion weeds and small oak saplings that were trying to grow every where.

I'm seeing new flowers and seasonal plants spring up every day. The azaleas are in full bloom.

I have a dogwood tree:

 The blooms are such a pretty pink.

The hosta's are shooting up:

Hehehehe...they look like horns.

I saw my first deer yesterday morning across the street. If it eats my roses before they bloom I might have to get my deer hunting license (not really). Luckily they don't seem to like pansies as they are growing everywhere.
 

Goal

 
My hardwood floors are finished. I LOVE THEM! The color is not as dark, a little bit redder, warmer, and doesn't look like there are stains all over. Before...

 And after...

I know, kinda hard to tell the difference in the pictures but believe me there is a BIG difference.

It took three and half days. With me out of the house for two days and Bella out for six. The smell was pretty strong.

Three more weeks and the carpet is installed, I can barely stand the wait.

Didn't get much sewing done as I was banned to the back bedroom (very noisy). I did get a little bit of cross stitching done. Made a little progress on the General Jack quilt:

 (not looking forward to squaring up all those HST blocks)

 I also got the binding made for the Side by Side quilt.

What I really need to be doing is getting some of these smaller quilt tops pinned and quilted.

I currently have 15 unquilted tops. That is almost embarrassing to admit. There is seven in the pile and one below. All have backs, some have batting. All, except for the one below, are very small and shouldn't take long to quilt. My goal is to get all of them pinned, and ideally start quilting at least one of them.

Hold me to this goal.

Put Your Sun Glasses On...

... Cause this baby is bright!

The quilt is roughly 39 x 54. I really like the Project Linus mystery quilts as they are always quilt patterns I would normally never make. And I tend to make them with fabrics I would normally never use - have yes, use no. Most of the brights in this quilt aren't just years old they are AGES old. Bought when I first started quilting and thought I needed to build a stash.

I'm getting my hardwood floors refinished. They started sanding today. The sander looks kinda like an old upright Hoover vacuum cleaner and it is attached to an industrial sized shop vac that is about the size of an oil drum. At the end of day most of the floor had been sanded and there was not a spec of dust anywhere.

You can see the big difference between the old finish and the sanded floor in this pic. I'm not changing the stain color, but I am hoping it ends up a bit lighter after they put the new finish on.  Bella is staying at my mom's this week. She would not like all the loud noise.

Speaking of Bella, she did her box thing...

That is the evil eye that says "see I fit". What you don't see is that the box is partly on the round cutting mat and partly on my little scissors, about two seconds later her and the box where on the floor.

I chased one of this guy's girl friends out of the back yard. He got all huffy.

I'm getting tired of cleaning up turkey poop.
 

Still There?

Ha, like we can go anywhere. I've been trying to stay home but some days are difficult. I visit my mom at least once a week. If I've been anywhere, like the grocery store, I'll wait 3-4 days before I go over. I've been doing the grocery shopping for both of us - when I do, I'll just drop the groceries off and head out. I miss my mom hugs!

So far there have been very few coronavirus cases in my part of Oregon - hope it stays that way.

I've ordered my new carpet, it won't come in or be installed until next month, but it is something to look forward to.

On the quilting front all of the houses for the Project Linus quilt are finished and the trees are about a third done...

Yup, those are some pretty bright houses. They wouldn't be allowed in my homeowner's association. ;o) I think I'm going to put a bright  green sashing between each of the rows and frame it with a bright blue. I have no idea what I'll use for the border, but I do know it will have to be just as bright.

I've also worked on a couple of cross stitch projects but they don't look like anything yet so no pictures.

I have an audio book, e-book, and a hardbound book going. My short attention span also applies to my reading material.

Stay safe.