Not Your Typical Week

Not MY typical week either, but what a week it was. My week went to the cats. Even though my son celebrated his 28th birthday, Raven got all my attention.

But first, FABRIC. 

Double Halo in Seafoam Green - done

Trimmed Blue and NOT trimmed Aqua crumb blocks 

and the usual 9 Patch trio. OOOOhhhh! Dots! 

And now the cat story. 

Bright and early Tuesday morning, we had the visit of Rascal. 

He came to the patio door, begging for food and love. Of course, I handed out both and plenty of it too. So he decided this place was cool and walked nonchalantly into the house. 😲

Raven was not amused that I gave HIS food to this stranger. "Hey, what's wrong with you? That's my food and you are busy petting me, REMEMBER!!" 

But somehow, they got along. Wow! Two males and I'm pretty sure this vagabond isn't neutered. He had no collar so we decided to name him Rascal. 

Unfortunately, I had to go to work so I sent him back outside where he chilled with Raven on the deck. Look how he keeps his paws together. So cute. I kept thinking about him all day long, and how skinny he was, and where to find the time to take him to the vet, etc. I rushed home that afternoon to care for him some more but he was no longer here. 

That little Rascal stole my heart. I'm still thinking of him and I hope someone has adopted him as he has a sweet disposition. (Deep inside, I still hope he will show up again.) Bye, Rascal. 

Raven started to have a peculiar behaviour, mainly not jumping on the bed anymore but literally climbing on the bed. Claws in the quilt, trying with all his might, to climb Mount (Super High Bed) Everest. I thought that was weird. Then I noticed that he didn't walk much. He walked a few steps and sat, walked 3 steps and sat. When he did walk, he would do so like a raccoon with his back all arched up. This caused me to be concerned, very concerned. 

A little visit to the vet turned into over an hour visit with a blood test and x-rays being taken to finally reveal that Raven has a spine injury. 😢 I don't know when or where this happened as my cat is an adventurous Indiana Jones in the jungle behind our house. Not only do I have to take care of my sons, but I am now a cat nurse! 🙀 I move him around the house to his desires so he doesn't have to exert himself. 😟

Here he is at the vet clinic. 

The picture is pretty blurry because we were both very nervous to hear the final verdict. Now, he's on meds and he's sleeping peacefully by my side. He has another appointment with the vet next week. Meanwhile, I will go to work because I am broke. 😭 But he is worth every penny. 

Hopefully, I can tackle my own Mount (Aqua) Everest during the weekend. 

Enjoy your week everyone. 

;^) 

P.S. If you see Rascal, please tell him to come back home. 😉

Joining these talented ladies this week. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

  

Whatcha' Doing?

Asks Logical Left Brain.

- I'm pondering - replies creative Right Brain.

- Pondering what?

- Whether or not I should do Bonnie's new Leader & Ender Challenge.

- Well that's an easy question. The answer is NO! There are too many little pieces! It will take forever. Besides, you're still doing bazillions of little 9-patch blocks. That's enough for L&E.

- Yeah, but Bonnie's is blue and green. I love blue and green quilts.

- So? You have so many quilts to finish and soooooooo many more you want to make, and now, you want to start another one just because of its colour?? Like, really??

- Yeaaaa. And your point is?  I said I was thinking about it; I haven't started it ... yet.

Left Brain, rolling eyes to the ceiling, walks to the door. 

- Hey, where are you going?

(Opening the door)

- You're hopeless. I give up on you. (slamming door)

What a dull (colourless) one that Big Brain is! thinks Right Brain with a smirk.



Yep! That was about the conversation my brain had while I read Bonnie's instructions for her new Leader & Ender Challenge. Sigh! Still pondering. Lol.

Anywho! What got sewn this week? 

Aqua did! 

I got the middle star of Double Halo done and pressed. Then I realized the HSTs make the star too bulky and I prefer Flying Geese units. So, my faithful Super Seam Ripper came out and we "frogged" for a bit. It looks so green here ...  

... but when photographed with blue, it looks more seafoam green. So peaceful. 

More aqua got together too. 

The crumb block was almost done last weekend but I did finish the first Aqua Stained Glass. And, of course, some 9-patch blocks. 

Aqua blue, turquoise and ... a visitor? Found this little piece of blue with lime and I couldn't leave it alone. It just had to grow into something. 

Raven showed up for the photoshoot this morning. Then, he decided to ignore me. Sooo cat-like! 

Finally got a somewhat decent picture of him. (Is that a smirk on your face, Raven?) His belly is wet; a tall-tell sign that he walked through the field behind our house, his favourite hunting ground. It also means that he needs another good brushing. 

Comment Questions: 

QuiltGranma asks me who is "Quilts for Survivor" but Granma is a no-reply comment. Would love to explain it to you Granma so please email me at scrap(dot)and(dot)quilts via gmail(dot)com. I will be happy to answer all your questions.  

Back in the house, Raven pretended I didn't catch him playing with the strings on the floor. Yes, that's the vacuum hose. With a cat like that, especially during shedding season, there's no point putting the vacuum away. It resides in the sewing room for the time being. 

I know that the comparison pictures of the blue scrap bags before and after months' end haven't been posted yet. The reason is that the first picture shows the aqua scrap bags too. At the end of July, I will do both at once. (It also gives me more time to chop down some blue. Win, win.) 

I believe this is all I have from this week. 

Hope you are all well and are having fun playing with scraps. 

Enjoy! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies this week. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Playing the Blues ... Still

As it seems to be my habit lately, I am still playing with last month's colour but the transition has started. 

I finished the Double Halo block in blue only to find a blooper after the pressing was done. 

This block has given me more headaches than all the others put together. 

Talk about putting them all together, aren't they nice? 

(The black spot on the bottom left is the shadow of the camera and not my cat. Sorry.) 

Only three more blocks to go for this mini quilt. One is Aqua, yes, then Orange for sure, and then ... what? What is missing? 

9-Patches, from blue to aqua ... and Canada Day too. 

During our long weekend, I decided to change the sewing room furniture around a little bit. I found these little 9-Patches that never got a chance to shine in a post. So, 

Ta-dah!! 

Cleaning up the sewing room meant less sewing time, of course. I managed to sew, on this Saturday morning, a few pieces for the crumbs ... 

and the Double Halo block in Aqua ... Teal?

A yardage was used for this Double Halo as nothing from the scrap bag was big enough. All the pieces are cut and ready by the sewing machine. 

These are the aqua bags on July 1st. 

It could all fit into one bag, maybe. We'll see at the end of the month how much got used. I didn't take a photo of the blue bags yet as the scraps are still on the floor. 

There are so many blue scraps ... and Aqua is calling my attention. On the top left is the bag of light blue; on the bottom right is the bag of dark blue. Anything that doesn't fit in either bag will be medium and bright blue to be bagged together. As previously mentioned, I would like to make a few crumb blocks out of it just to diminish the pile. Sigh!

There is usually an Ah-ha! moment whenever I decide to tidy up the sewing room. It was no exception this time around. I "re" discovered my Busy-Body bags made in 2016 when I was selling at Christmas Craft Sales. 

Seven didn't sell and now I have a mind to use them to store the scraps. Instead of using plastic bags, I might as well use the one in the busy-body bags. Each BB bag has 5 plastic bags inside. That's plenty enough for each BB bag to hold one colour each. And I can store the BB bag in ..., or on ... well, ... somewhere.  

Have a great week, everyone! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies this week. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Blue's Last Dash to the Sewing Machine

I barely have enough energy to sew. 

Isn't that an awful thing to say? Unfortunately, it is how I feel. 

Fortunately, it is a long weekend here in Canada as we are celebrating Canada Day on July 1st. This morning, I got to my sewing machine as soon as my first coffee was poured, to push more blues under the needle. 

Last week's buds have turned into a crumb block and a Stained Glass. 

A little crumb block along with my regular 9-Patches.

I'm trying to get the bag of "blue with other colours" used also. Since last week's tulip had orange fabric ... an orange 9-patch ... of course! You know me so well. 😄

Two more crumb blocks were finished this morning. (not trimmed) 

I want to do 1 or 2 crumb blocks (2 would be best) with the medium or bright blue before calling the blue done.  

Double Halo Star, my RSC2024 project, is still in pieces ... 

... because I keep sewing the HSTs the wrong way. Sigh! It is my uppermost priority today ... after checking all the bags that Carole brought this morning. Whoohoo!!

Oh! the fun of "new" fabric!! 

Hope you too are having lots of fun with fabrics. 

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians and happy Independence Day to my friends down south. 🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇 

Enjoy! 

;^)

Joining these links to get more inspiration

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Late Bloomers

These tulips are very late bloomers, but they sure look nice. The colours are true in the first picture. 

 At first, I didn't like the pink one when I saw how I had sewn the zigzag in different directions, but now I think it looks whimsical. Do you like it ? or not? 

These two blocks are part of a donation box for Quilts for Survivors. You can read more about this Canadian non-profit organisation at Quilts for Survivors.

Michele's quilts (see them here) and two tops I made, Buttons and Spools (here) and Paper Chain (here), are also part of the donation. They are travelling to Timmins this month. It is my first big donation. 

On the trail to Blues.

Poor blue. Due to the freaking unbelievably hot and humid weather we had this past week (like +34C) (in June, mind you!!), my son came home to the AC. I, therefore, had to remove all the blue scraps from his bed. (See last post)

The blue scraps are now all over my cutting and sewing area. Sigh! 

Just enough room for my cup of coffee. 

At work, it is Real Estate Season, meaning lots of phone calls, cheques and keys change hands. I get home too tired to sew, so there's very little to show. 

Double Halo had its star completed last weekend but nothing else. 

Transitioning 9 patch blocks from pink to blue; 

Little blue buds; one for a crumb block, and on the right, a Stained Glass bud. 

Talking buds... 

I bought these at a very good price since the season for planting is almost over. 

The orange one is a begonia, that I know, but the one I'm holding is ... a double begonia?  something else? The pot lost its name tag. Does anyone know the name? Thanks for helping. 

That's all I have for now. 

Hope you have plenty of sewing time. 

Enjoy it! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies during the week: 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Sorting the Blues

I separated the blues by "colour" this week.

And there are still more bags to go through. Two are on the bed (aqua) and one with multicoloured prints with blue as the background.
If you are wondering why the splashes of colour on the wall, it wasn't done to empty cans of paint. It is an actual mural done for my son a long time ago. I might have shown this wall before but whatever.

The design was taken from the bed cover he had back then. 

Anywho! I digress. 

Double Halo Star is progressing at a slow pace but progressing nonetheless. 

Fabrics were picked out and cut. 

Worked with the black and white parts...

and some assembling has started. 

The Double Tulips blocks also progressed a bit. 

Auditioning some fabrics for the top parts is the next task. I want these to be done before the end of this weekend. 

Crumb blocks and 9 Patches are in no shape to be photographed yet. So, that's all I have for now. 

Enjoy! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies during the week: 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Bringing Out the Blues

Well, here we are in June or the blue month and I am still working with Pink. That is my life lately. In my defence, better be late than being a quitter, right? Lol.

So, Pink 9 patch ...

...and a 6.5 X 8.5 crumb block with 4X4 ones. I finished the crumb blocks Saturday morning. 

The pink scraps from the beginning of May 

to the end of May. I think the bags are smaller only because the scraps are nicely folded. 

The bigger pieces are in the left bag. The other one holds bags with lighter pink, pink with other colours, orangy-pink, etc. 

On to blue: 

Oooooooooh! My Skittles are burnt!!! 

Five bags of dark, light, bright, and aqua for this month. Not counting ...  

two scrap baskets too. They are supposed to be one light blue basket and one dark blue but some swapping, trading and exchange has occurred during the years. I will concentrate my efforts on the bags. 

Talking bags of scrap, I was gifted a scrap bag (again) during the Artisanat meeting. It has lots of pieces that got my brain working. 

Do you know what pattern these are for? In the first picture, there are two sizes of triangles. The second picture shows very small pieces. I might just cut them up to 1.5" and be done with it instead of trying to figure out what they are for. Life is short after all. 

There was also a lot of sewn pieces. 

I will unstitch them during lunch at work so I can use them up. Lovely prints in there.  

I will return to pink to finish the Double Tulips block which still looks like this. Sigh! 

I am catching up on comments' replies too. I was so far behind it was shameful. Anywho!! That's all for now. See you next weekend. Meanwhile, enjoy some scrap sewing. 

;^) 

Joining these talented ladies during the week: 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

NinaMarie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever