Monday, November 18, 2019

Weekly update: kitchen, OMG, stars, and SQUIRREL!

The kitchen and dining room walls are now "Gleeful." (The contrast wall at the end of the entry hall is "Lime Rickey," a shade darker.) The base cabinets are in place and the upper cabinets are waiting in the garage for the carpenters this week.

My November OMG was to make a bookshelf quilt for a former coworker who is retiring this month.  This is the 40th bookshelf quilt I've made since 2004, all using Christine Thresh's pattern (Winnowing.com)  (I have gotten my money's worth!)

I'm linking this post to the  OMG November finish .

I was pleased to get a place in the star swap that  Barb Vedder  is hosting. They're not due until mid-January but I forged ahead and made all 31 (with a couple of extras).









Earlier this month I made some black and white slab blocks. When I got to 24 I put them on the design wall.  I don't want to replicate last year's Modern Cabin.  I arranged them horizontally by accent color and realized that may be the setting -- six rows, six blocks, each row a different accent color. Since I took this photo I've made another green, another yellow, and four turquoise blocks. Orange and purple to come.

And the SQUIRREL?  It leaped across my quilting path, metaphorically speaking, when I leafed through a stack of patterns clipped from magazines.  The pattern uses 100 paper-pieced 5-1/2" (unfin.) blocks.  I didn't want to go to the effort of printing 100 paper foundations and I really didn't want to have to tear out all that paper. Instead I'm piecing the blocks conventionally. They have 2-1/2" centers (I have a shoebox of them) and 1" strips (cut from the 1-1/2", 2", and 2-1/2" strip bins, and some yardage).  The skinny strips are not hard to work with.  I make the blocks in batches and press and trim after each round.   I've made 57 blocks so far.  The random arrangement on the design wall puts me in mind of the lively designs by Kathy Doughty and Jen Kingwell .  I'm not sure where I'll go with these blocks but after all,  SQUIRRELS dash here and there.

Linking up with
Oh Scrap!
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

17 comments:

  1. I love them all but ummm quirrel ---- I love her!!! What a fun and happy quilt! You are so good with small pieces - I love it!

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  2. Your kitchen is coming along nicely! I’m sure you will enjoy the lighter brighter kitchen from your 70’s darkness! I went the white cabinet look about 5 years ago and have wished I’d done it years ago! The black and white white slab blocks will make a very modern interesting quilt. I like your “ squirrel” too! That almost looks like slabs. So much fun!

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  3. I haven't made a bookshelf quilt but I do have the pattern. There are so many quilts out there that I want to make! All your projects are lovely.

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  4. Wise decision to leave out the paper on the squirrel project. With all that busyness a few wonky blocks will never be noticed and it sure speeds up the process.
    Pat

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  5. Love that squirrel and you made a wise decision to eliminate that paper! I like those slabs too. Great idea for black and white scraps.

    I did kitchen remodel about 10 years ago and they barely got everything finished in time for Christmas eve. Looks like everything is running smoothly in re your remodel.


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  6. what a fun post - wow you have so many great projects.
    Can't believe how fast you finished those stars.

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  7. Love that bookshelf quilt! Forty of them?!! Great job! The slab blocks and log cabins are super fun, too!

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  8. Yep, squirrels happen! I love your squirrel project. And those slabs are so fun too. What a bright, cheery kitchen you’re going to have - can’t wait to see it done. So much fun and eye candy; thanks for the day brightened!

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  9. It's great to see your kitchen coming along. The green makes a perky accent I'm sure you'll love to see every day. And all the quilts and blocks are delightful. My scrap bag is overflowing and will need to be addressed soon.

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  10. The kitchen is coming along nicely. And I love the new start. Squirrels happen to us all, and are part of the fun.

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  11. I love the colour of the kitchen walls, so fresh. I'll be interested to see how the slab blocks work out, at the moment I'm all for not matching points.

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  12. You are not just chasing squirrels you are slaying them - left, right and center. Love your bright log cabin blocks :-)

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  13. Your projects all look great. I talk to squirrels and ask them why why why do I chase you.lol
    Makes for a uh hmm Few ufos in my house. Love log cabin blocks

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  14. Squirrels! How well I know them. I'm trying very hard not to go off on tangents right now. I like what your doing with your slab blocks. You certainly have gotten your money's worth from your bookshelf pattern. Congrats on making 40 quilts -- I'm assuming all have gone to librarian type people or organizations. Congrats on finishing Nov. OMG.

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  15. What a great gift! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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