More Orange Doggies....

Another day.  Another block.  This is another mish mash block, made from leftover triangles.  Hmmm...I think I'm getting tired of mish mash blocks.  Tomorrow I think I'll pick out some different fabrics!

I had several workman at the house this morning tweaking this, that, and the other.  I held down the fort in the living area, making hexies while they all went in and out, upstairs and back down again. Forgot to take pictures of the hexies - hopefully I'll remember tomorrow.  Once they all left I ate lunch and made the block of the day.  I was so motivated that I stayed up in my studio for a couple of more hours working on another project.

We have an airport nearby and I see lots of small planes and small jets daily.  Today I saw this cool helicopter while I sewed.

And another Auburn-ish sighting:  a big mosaic tiger.  Hubby and I went out to dinner tonight and walked around the nearby shopping center.  A really nice evening.  It's so good to be back among the living again.

Thank Goodness it's Monday!!!

Most people don't like it when Monday rolls around, but I spent most of the weekend under the weather; a yukky-yuck cold has visited me.......

Today (more specifically this afternoon) I'm feeling like a human again.  Yay!  Back to sewing!  Back to blogging!

Today's block is above - another mish mash of previously cut triangles.  An ugly block if I ever saw one!  But that's the beauty of these creations - you can use all your "What was I thinking?" fabric and somehow the quilt turns out gorgeous.  At least that's what I'm hoping!

Thanks to Sujata at The Root Connection for the shout out about my zigzags on her blog over the weekend!  Go there to see lots more of these quilts.  AND, I noticed that Wanda of Exuberant Color is in on the action!  Lots of zigs and zags around blogland!

It was a VERY good mail day around here.  Look what I found outside my door.  It's the Traveling Stash Box!  Yes, I was luck enough to win it last month from Melinda at Melinda Quilts, Etc.

It a box full of quilty goodness!  There are loads of fat quarters, some thread, and patterns underneath everything else.  The rules state that I can take anything I want from the box, as much as I want.  Then I replace what I took with stuff from my own stash.  Then I have a giveaway on the 29th of the month to select the next winner.

Did you hear that?  There will be a GIVEAWAY here soon!  You do need to have a quilt blog to have a chance to win.  So stay tuned.  I'll share what I've taken out before the giveaway!

My Roots Are Showing!

Another mish mash block!  I combined  pink with those little girls with cats.  Works fine.

And the group so far.  Wow, I've already made 12 blocks!  This is going really well!  Before you know it, I'll have a quilt top.

And lookie, lookie!  My avocado pit has 3 little roots!  That's my kitchen sink in the background, by the way.

Tonight hubby and I tried a restaurant that was new to us, or at least new to him.  I'd been there one time several years ago when chaperoning a high school band All State group.  It's nothing fancy, but was just right for a casual evening.  It was delish, and I'd definitely go back.  I had grilled lemon pepper catfish with a salad.  Yum!  We have a list of restaurants around here that we want to try.  So far we haven't been disappointed.

Mish Mash Zig Zag and Drizzle Stitch

I used two different green fabrics in today's block, plus a rerun of the brown woodgrain.  It looks like three green fabrics, but the dots all came from the same fat quarter - it has different variations of color.

This morning I sat down (with great concentration!) to learn the Drizzle Stitch.  This is the second Sue Spargo block (that was number 3 I showed yesterday).  When I got to the point of learning this new stitch on this block a couple of weeks ago, I had a headache and my brain wouldn't work well enough to figure it out.  Today it came more easily.  But the first stitch I made was ugly - see that knobby pink thing sticking out above?

I cut it off and tried again.  Okay, I think I've got it now!  Four down, MANY to go.....  This will be my TV activity tonight.

Today I went to a newcomers' luncheon - women only.  I really had a great time!  I met more interesting women and think I'll get involved in this group.  In fact, I signed up for so many mini-groups that I may be overdoing it!  What did I sign up for?  Let's see.  A book club.  Canasta.  Nope, I've never played Canasta in my life.  Bridge 101.  Nope, I've never played Bridge before either.  But they said they'd teach me.  There is another Bridge group for serious players.  The Bridge 101 group is very low key and non competitive.  I'll try anything once.  If I don't like it, I'll cross it off the list.  They also have a Let's Go Exploring group, a Mahjong group, and maybe something else.

Don't worry - I'll still make time for quilting!  It's my priority!

Lizard Lips Prince didn't catch anything today.  If fact, I never even saw a lizard, though he certainly looked.  I think they've all migrated across the street.

Back to Work

Today's block:  solid red and black with dots.  Wonderful contrast - this block definitely shouts out loud.

When I run the fabric through my Accuquilt, I never cut exactly 9 triangles from each fabric.  So I now have a big pile of pre-cut triangles.  For the next few days I'm going to make use of them, mixing and matching them differently to make more zigzags.  So that will save me 10 minutes per day!

So what else is new around here?  We have lots of lizards around this house - outside, thankfully!  The dogs are definitely intrigued obsessed with them.  Especially Prince.  Every time I let them out, Prince is immediately on the prowl.  Today was the day.  He caught one.  Yes, he did.  He ate it.  Yes, he did. Poor lizard.  RIP.  I like lizards.  They eat bugs.  I don't like bugs.

Stove Up and Sniffing

Here's block 3 of the Sue Spargo BOM.  Almost done with the appliqué.  Almost ready to embellish!  I'm feeling good about this progress even though block 2 equates to March and we are in August.  I'm getting there.....

I didn't get a zigzag block sewn yesterday.  I did pick out the fabric and cut the pieces.  It was one busy day with lots of errands and miscellany to accomplish.

Hubby and I went to a newcomers' dinner last night.  Have you ever joined a newcomers' group?  We were expecting:

1.  People (like us) who have just moved to the area.
2.  People from all age groups.

We had a good time, but we did not find what we expected.  I think we were the only ones present who had recently moved to Auburn.  And almost without exception, the crowd was all retirees.  They were all very nice and we met some interesting people.

The most embarrassing thing about the evening was my allergy attack.  As soon as I sat down at the table (we were at a local restaurant), I found myself clogging up.  Uh oh.  Didn't bring any kleenex.  I sneezed and sniffed and blew my nose through the ENTIRE dinner.  There was a bucket of red napkins on the table and I quickly made my way through them.

I didn't want to put the used ones on the table, so by the time dinner was over I had a huge pile hidden in my lap.  I discreetly stashed them on hubby's plate and quickly covered them with my plate - at the end of the meal, of course.  :)

Today is the day I finally make an appointment with an allergist to figure out exactly WHAT I'm allergic to and how I can control it.  I find I spend about 1/3 of my life dealing with allergy attacks!

Before the dinner, hubby and I stopped by a local store to pick up some dining room chairs we had ordered.  He did all the heavy lifting.  But one time I leaned over to adjust a chair cover, and OUCH!  Pulled a muscle in my back!  So as we say in the South, I'm a bit 'stove up.'

The good news is that this morning the allergies have calmed down! Yay!  I'm still stove up, but moving around helps so I'm ready to dive in and accomplish LOTS!

Ugly or Not?

I can't decide whether this fabric is uber ooo-gly or beautiful.  I certainly would wear it!  But cut up for a quilt it could be nice.  I paired it with the yellow in the lower right hand corner.

The block turned out nice!  But do you notice anything interesting about it?  Click on the picture to see it closer.  Go ahead.  I'll wait....

That's right!  I didn't have enough of the yellow!  I had to MAKE DO!  I found a batik with similar coloring and used it for two of the half square triangles.  I think I like this making do stuff!

And a group shot.  Coming along nicely, I think.  It takes me about 30 minutes to make one block: 10 minutes to select fabric, press it, cut it with my Accuquilt Studio.  Then 20 minutes to sew it together.

I also spent some time today working on a Sue Spargo block - I'll show that tomorrow hopefully.  Tonight I have a nice pile of handwork at the ready:  Sue Spargo block and some lovely hexie making!