Progress, Prepping, Another Visitor, and a Recommendation

 When I first started what I am calling the Monster Quilt (because it will be 99 x 99), my plan was to use every fabric only twice -- once in a gray block and once in a yellow block.  I also planned for every block to be a unique combination.  I think I have been successful in making every block combination of fabrics unique, but in my press to wrap this one up I am being a little less discriminating in my choice of fabrics.

Having finished the 41 gray blocks, I pulled out the yellow blocks to see where I stand.

Currently I need 16 more blocks to make 40.  However, there's one that probably needs to be replaced ...

As much as I love the yellow print, it's a bit distracting and the gray units just blend into the mess.  I had hoped to have all the blocks made before the S'mores fall retreat, but that's not going to happen.  However, I have cut nine more blocks.

And I have bagged them up to work on at the retreat.  Here's a tip if you use zipper bags to kit your projects:  nip a corner or two to let the air out.

Today's visitor was a bald eagle!  (take my word for it, he's there in the tree)`

He swooped around our dock about 10 times before landing in our tree.  I was painting window frames at the time so couldn't capture him in flight.  I knew we had a nest nearby, but sightings are rare.

Are your hands getting so dried out from all the hand sanitizers?  I found a product yesterday that I am hoping will help.

I used it last night and I'm already impressed.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

And then there were forty-one

The Final Four 

And the full complement

Now, on to the yellow.  I'm not sure how these will be arranged other than alternating yellow and gray.

This Morning's Visitor

 Woody!

Taken from my bedroom window because I was afraid I would scare him off if I stepped out on the deck.

Out of Synch

 and the Prodigal Block

Do you ever feel like you are out of synch, that whatever you attempt is not quite right?

Such has been my last two days in the sewing room but, thanks to a Prodigal Block, I think I'm back on track.  At least I hope so!

Over the weekend I made bindings for three of the four tops I am prepping to take to my LAQ (thought I had taken a picture ...) and also selected gray and yellow fabrics for the last eight gray monster blocks.  On Monday I cut those eight blocks with a plan to make four a day.  Instead, I decided to make all eight 9-patch centers and that's when I lost MY center.

Five of the eight were fine.  But I sewed a strip of 3 on the wrong side of one 9P.  On another some of the 2.5" squares were not square so the seams wouldn't line up. And the last 9P just flat-out DISAPPEARED!  I should have stuck to the original plan of four per day ...

Today I was determined to get back on track.  I completed one block.

Then another ...

And before I stopped for lunch I had two more.

AND I fixed the two problem 9Ps.  But where, oh where, was the missing 9-patch?  I could tell by my scraps that I had cut it out.  Could the pieces be stuck to the bottom of something else?  I even enlisted help from my husband to keep his eye out for the missing piece(s).  

As I sat at the lunch table I glanced under my chair in the family room.  There it was!

The prodigal block has returned!  Now I should be able to complete the last four gray blocks this afternoon and move on to the yellow.

Day of the Not-So Dead

 Welcome to November

We woke to Moon and Sun again at 6:30 a.m. CST

Also 27 degrees!  Good thing I brought in my geraniums.  

This young stag (viewed from my sewing room window) was not deterred by the frosty temperatures.

In the quilting room I cut out the last 8 gray monster blocks and hope to finish four before bedtime.

Halloween on Dartmoor

We had heard there would be a Halloween boat parade in the afternoon so I gathered up a few things at Dollar Tree (love that place!) and decorated our dock.

We could only see one other decorated dock from our point.

There was too much slack in the ropes to hang the quilts toward the front point.  We will work on that before next year!

There were about a dozen boats in the parade, most with some form of decoration, though it isn't apparent in my pictures.

We threw bags of hard candy to any boats that ventured close to us.  

With wine and Goldfish crackers, what more could one ask for on a beautiful fall afternoon?

Moonset Over Dartmoor

 

10/31/20 5:30 a.m.

And then the sun rose on the east about 7, coloring the clouds where the moon had just set.

Today I will devote time to prepping these four quilts to go to my LAQ soon.

I need to cut the selected backs to size.  

Three of the four bindings sit next to my machine, ready for stitching.

I'm happy to report that 31 of the 41 gray blocks are finished for the monster quilt.

Ten more gray to go and then sixteen more yellow.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!