Erratum

My apologies for the paragraph of gobbledygook in yesterday's post, if you saw it in your feed reader or the post was emailed to you.  I know next to nil about HTML coding, but apparently my attempt to put an "arrow," in the form of typing a left-facing caret followed by a dash, totally screwed up the text that followed it. Who knew two little keystrokes could produce so much WTF?

I corrected it immediately on the blog, but that doesn't correct what went out in the feed.  And I don't know how to correct the feed.  I'm not even sure I know what a feed is.  Except this:

The horses say, "Hay!"

I am busy with work today, but hope to have a few minutes at some point to finish a backing for a flimsy from a few months ago.  Then I'll have two quilts ready to send off for long arm quilting.

After that, I need to "Feel the fear and quilt it anyway" (TM) for the two I have pin-basted.  Will start with the ditch quilting and hope that helps me over the hump.  Baby steps.

The Final Countdown

That sounds ominous, doesn't it?  Well, let me put your fears to rest by telling you it's simply the title of the '80s song I'm hearing in my head right now.  You know, the one by the band Europe?  (Click the link to share the same ear worm.  It'll be fun!  And OMG, the big hair!  The makeup!  Tight leather pants!  And the pyrotechnics!  It's a wonder the stage didn't go up in flames from all that Aqua Net.)

Why The Final Countdown?  Because I'm about to show you the last two of the 17 kennel quilts I made with scrubs.  Seventeen!  Which is also the median age of female Europe fans circa 1986, and yes I just made that up. 

Small, medium, and larger kennel quilts.  Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear sizes.  But, you know,  for cats and dogs.

You know what else has a strong '80s vibe?  The colors in these quilts.  Think Miami Vice and My Little Pony.  Hot pink spandex pants.

So here are the final two quilts that I finished last week.  Working with what was left of the scrubs and pilfering from the scrap pile at the end of the cutting table.

These ended up about 28 inches square.  The backs:

And here is the final countdown, a quick review of all 17 kennel quilts made over the past year.  Cue the keyboards and pyrotechnics!  Feel free to head bang!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I had left in the end was a plastic Walmart bag about one-third full of small scraps, and a few odd pieces of solid colored scrub pants legs. 

I tied up the bag of scraps and put it directly in the garbage (which went to the curb that very day, no possibility of retrieval).  The pants legs I cut down to workable size and put them under the kitchen sink to be used as rags for dusting, etc.

Rock on!

Two and a Half and Some Change

In the past couple weeks, I finished two more kennel quilts, Nos. 14 and 15, and have No. 16 in the flimsy stage.  

(Kennel Quilts No. 15 and 14)

(No. 14)

(Back of No. 14)

(No. 16 flimsy)

In between those things, I also managed to baste a UFO that has been sitting around for quite a while, the Tea Towel Challenge 2014 quilt.

I attended to this task mainly because I had to open a brand new, king-sized package of batting but only needed a smallish piece for No. 15 kennel quilt.  Figured I may as well cut the batting for two things at once for economy's sake, rather than just chop a chunk out.

I think the fall colors may have had something to do with wanting to work on it, too, though.  As I spread out the backing (above) on the floor and taped it down, I fell in love with it all over again.  It's been out of sight and mind for nine months.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the saying goes.  Hopefully, it won't take me that long to quilt it, but you never know.

No. 16 kennel quilt has an interesting backing too (below).  I was using the scraps of a butterfly print scrubs fabric to make HSTs and then assembled those flying geese style.  I had an odd number, though and needed one more to make the last set.  That is where the pile of scraps/trimmings came in handy.  I poked around and found just enough to create some "made" fabric for the last triangle.

Can you tell which is the "made" piece?  It's the one on the lower right.

I've had some fun thrifting recently, too.  I had a 25% off deal at Goodwill to use during the month August.  It slipped my mind until the very last day of the month, when I ventured in to see what treasures may be waiting.

How 'bout some mid-century California pottery?  Why yes, that will do, thank you.

Call them wings, paisleys, or a yin-yang dish.  Or be functionally descriptive and call them chip-and-dip trays or a lazy susan.  It's all good. Really good!

I was captivated by the color of this creamer.  Another mid-century era piece in the Rhythm pattern by Homer Laughlin. 

The code stamped on the bottom indicates this creamer was made in 1956.

A couple sweet books came home with me that day as well.

Last week, a friend of mine called to say he had found me a "Rembrandt" at a yard sale.  

Of course, he and I know that means a vintage paint-by-number, and that's a-okay with me!

What's in those baskets, do you think?  Flowers?  Bunches of radishes?  Berries or beets?  Maybe some things are meant to be a mystery!