Happy Thanksgiving and two finishes

The front, all quilted and bound.

The back, sideways and quilted and bound.

My new office "art"

It's nice to get things all finished up during the week of Thanksgiving.  I quilted and bound the Ingie quilt and then delivered it to its recipient on Monday.  Everyone thought it was wonderful and I have to admit that I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  My Citrus Triangles quilt is also done and is hanging in my new office. (That's what I did at work yesterday - moved my office four doors down to be closer to the rest of my team.  My phone and computer aren't up and running yet, but at least all my stuff is in the right place.)

Today I might get some quilting done, but I have to watch some very important football games first.  The first and most important one starts in just over an hour.  I'm wondering if my heart can handle the stress of rolling out of bed and then watching a Packer game.  And, yes, Thanksgiving will be a low-key event this year with one friend coming over.  I prepared a turkey in the slow cooker last night and we will be watching football and eating turkey sandwiches in honor of our colonial ancestors who would have thrown rocks at the tv and burned everyone involved.  Here's hoping no one gets lit on fire today.

Favorite project last Citrusmonth

Citrus triangles quilt

Citrus Triangles Back.

Because I didn't read directions, this is for anyone coming over from the Lily's Quilt blog.  The directions said to link to a project from last month, I cleverly linked to my blog.  So, here is my favorite project from last month.  It's my citrus HST quilt, which I am quilting today on the long-arm downtown. I can't wait to get this one finished and on display on my office wall.

On a completely unrelated note, I have four deer in my backyard.  One of whom is trying to eat my fuchsia.  I keep going out there and telling her I would prefer she stick to the ferns, but she is not listening.

A back and a front, or a front and a back.

The completed front of the Union Jack Quilt.

I like how determined she looks.  Also, her back leg is slightly invisible which I find disturbing.

The completed back of the citrus quilt.

The profile shot to make us all squee.

I took yesterday off work to work in the garden so it immediately rained and/or was cloudy and cold for most of the day.  That's okay.  I took the opportunity to do some quilting and I will not complain that at about 3 in the afternoon, the heat kicked on.  In June.  However, I did manage to find some sun breaks and take a picture or two of the finished front of the Union Jack Quilt. I also decided that it was about time that I took a picture of the back of the Citrus Triangles Quilt.

The fabric for the backing of the CTQ was given to me by a friend of mine from work.  I really like DS, she is so generous and thoughtful and so supportive of my quilting endeavors.  She's a very crafty lady herself and is currently focusing on her knitting, but she has hand quilted in the past.  A couple of weeks ago, I had her over for dinner so I could show her my stash and I showed her the quilt top for the CTQ.  She was so funny, she said, "I have to tell you, I'm looking at your points.... and they look pretty good....."  This was followed by a "Yes!" from me.  Anyway, when I started the CTQ, I showed DS the fabrics I was going to be using and the next day she brought be the orange, lime, and lemon fabric above.  She wanted to donate it to the project and told me to use it or not use it in anyway I saw fit.  She purchased it in the 1980's and hasn't gotten around to using it herself.  I knew immediately that I was absolutely going to use it and I just had to figure out how.  I decided that the best way was to incorporate it in the backing because I didn't want to darken the front.  But since it was a citrus theme, the citrus fabric she gave me would be most appropriate.  Now all I have to do is quilt it and it will be done.

Citrus Triangles - Piecing Complete

The pieced front.

I've completed piecing the front of the citrus quilt.  I'm going to start on the back as soon as I finish some chores around the house and I need to plant something in the yard which I will take a picture of and share.

But, I know what you are thinking.  What would this look like with a cat on it?

Little Girl Cat supplies some necessary scale. 

Or, what would it look like with a cat taking a bath on it?

I'm just happy to be able to provide all these answers.

I was able to snatch this up before Sam walked in and we got to answer the question of what would this look like if a wet cat stood on it.  Not all questions need to be answered.

Friday Night Sew-In - May Results.

Only 4 rows to go!

Yesterday I snuck out of work an hour early so I could drink beer on my deck.  I needed that because during my testimony on my bill I managed to say it applied to counties with a population of 20,000 or more when in fact it applied to counties with a population of 200,000 or more.  Luckily, the sponsoring Senator caught that and questioned me about it (okay, corrected me) but she was very nice about it and told everyone how hard I'd been working (so please excuse her inability to read numbers correctly, really, she's just tired and not incompetent).  No harm and no embarrassing memos needed to be written. So, with my dignity still intact, I went home and enjoyed the experience of drinking a beer in a lawn chair with a 12 pound warm cat perched on my lap.

Later as I was in my kitchen and debating the merits of having a second beer on Friday night - and, it was Friday night so I could have a second beer - when it hit me.  It's Friday Night Sew-In.  With a mission now in my mind and a devil may care attitude, I put down my empty beer bottle and turned on the iron.  I attached 4 more rows to the Citrus Triangles Quilt and then remembered that I invited a friend over for dinner after Saturday's floor action and I'd better move around the larger piles of cat hair.

Mission completed and I'm ready to head to work for more public humiliation.  Sometime it is amazing I get paid for this.

Citrus Triangles

Almost half way there. 

I am a master of organization.  Also, post-it notes don't actually stick to fabric. 

It's been awhile since I've had two days off from work, let alone three.  I spent the first two days basically sleeping - I managed to do yard work and get some cleaning done in the mornings but both Friday and Saturday featured 4 hour long naps in the afternoons.  A friend of mine says that I have mental fatigue which is a nice way of her telling me that I look tired.

Today, however, was completely different.  I cooked, baked, cleaned, finished laundry, killed another very large spider in the garage, and worked on my quilt.  Day three of the three day weekend was bliss and I'm now ready for further abuse at work.  Did you miss the fact that I cooked and baked?  I'm trying to go through my cupboards now that I discovered an alarming amount of expired jars on the shelves. And not just a little expired - more like I think I brought that can with me when I moved here seven years ago, expired.  Whenever I throw away an expired bottle or can, I can hear my grandmother's voice telling me that it is perfectly good and she didn't have the luxury of throwing away cans of food when she was growing up in the great depression.  Yes, that is true. But, no matter how bad this recession is,  teriyaki sauce should not be grey.  Words to live by people. Words to live by.  

FNSI

Proof that I like repetitive motions.

I didn't do all of this for Friday Night Sew-In, but I did some triangles cut and all the sewing finished.  Because I've lost track of how many triangles I'm producing here, you won't be getting a final number yet and I know that the anticipation is likely going to get the better of you.

So, I would have posted this sooner but I had to go to work today then I came home and was very grumpy about having to go to work today so I worked out and took a nap.  Part of the grumpiness comes from an email sent to me seven hours into my work day that told me the requester changed their mind and won't be needing my work after all.  I'm very proud of myself that I have not had alcohol in any form after that email.

Citrus Triangles

A sneak peek...

....at some pretty

I just finished piecing the second and final baby quilt made with the blocks from block-a-palooza.  I'd show it to you, but I folded it and its batting and put it in the car to keep it away from the cat army.  I did this before I took a picture so no picture until it is finished tomorrow.  I'd bring it in to take a picture, but that is just what the cat army would want me to do.

To make up for the lack of a picture on the finished product, here are the fabrics I'm planning to use in my next project - a half square triangle quilt.  I'm using three colors from Patricia Bravo's Nature Elements line, which is a fabric line I'm a little obsessed with at the moment.  I find myself going on-line several times a day so I can touch her fabrics on the screen with a mangled claw while whispering, "precious, my precious."  I own several  most colors already and am thinking of buying a few more.  The quilt will be three of her citrus colors with two Kona solid greens and, of course, Kona White for the other half of the HST.  I'm debating whether I should add a Kona orange to the mix - I'm thinking School Bus or Tangerine, but I don't know.  I don't want it to become too orange and I don't want to detract from the Nature Elements fabrics either.  Plus as much as a like the Kona solids, they don't glow like my precious here does.  Any thoughts?