Orange Crush Steps 1-3

Of the 3 steps, the 3rd one, with the fewest blocks, was the most challenging. Mirror images are not as easy as they look.

Orange Crush Step 3

I finished Step 3 this afternoon. After a minor melt down thinking half were done incorrectly and might have to do them over, I figured out I just had to turn one stack of blocks and it would be ok.

Looks like I'll have to wait a while before resuming work on step 2 of Orange Crush this afternoon. Mz Mouse usually sleeps on the larger part of the table, but with the window open, sun shine and gentle Spring breeze, the fell asleep in front of the machine. I'm going to let her enjoy the sun and fresh air for now. I've got other things I 'should' be doing anyway.

Orange Crush Clue 2

I'm about half way through clue 2 on Orange Crush. While I was getting out one of my quilts that just need binding, look what fell out. It's another UFO! Surprise......surprise! I've got about 30 of the larger blocks finished. They look similar to blocks we are making for Orange Crush. The assembly is entirely different and the larger blocks cut off the corner of the top square.

A Dog's Life

A day in the life of Wikki. Wikki lives with my daughter, her husband and two teenage daughters. His life is a hard one. He has to get up at 5am with the girls when they get ready for school, goes back to bed to nap until my daughter gets back from Jazzersize, watches the yard for squirrels and the UPS guy. Here you see him taking a break just before the girls get home from school.
Believe it or not, his younger sister, covered with pickers and burrs, is the dog in the pictures below...........Bad Marnie, Good Wikki.

This was supposed to be titled Before and After, but the pictures didn't post that way. Yesterday was not a good day. I went to the gas station to get gas before the price went up $.25 a gallon. My gas card was nowhere to be found. I had to pay full price for gas. Bummer #1. The weather wasn't all that great, windy, trying to rain and getting colder. Bummer #2

I put the dogs out when I got home, called the credit card company to cancel my card. While I was on the phone, the dogs out front were making so much noise that when I got off the phone, I looked out front and noticed one of the dogs, Mr. Big Stuff, to be exact, running on the OUTSIDE of the fence. He WAS in the backyard. He was soaking wet, covered with burrs and smelling of the barns. His mother, Birdie, and Marnie, who is just 6 months old were GONE! I live in the country, many open fields, wooded areas an several busy roads if they get far enough away from home. I searched for hours. One of the local farmers found Birdie in one of his fields but she wouldn't come to him. Marnie still had not been seen since they left, it was getting dark. I got Birdie home and safely in her crate to keep her warm and dry her off. By this time, 6 friends and their dogs had joined the search because it was getting dark. Marnie didn't stand a chance once it got dark which it would be in less than an hour and it was starting to rain again. I finally found her about a half mile from were we found Birdie. Both dogs were almost 2 miles from home. Both were soaking wet, covered with burrs, mud and scared to death. Birdie hasn't left my side all day. Mr. Big...........lets just say, he just wants to know where his next meal is coming from. Marnie is a little quieter today also.

The fence people are coming next week to fix the back fence that has lost a bolt during the winter allowing a corner to come loose and the dogs were able to escape. A very long bad day, but everyone was home by dark and sleeping except me. It was after 1 am before I was calm enough to get some sleep. I won't mention the 5 blisters on my feet from wearing work boots I haven't worn since I retired.

After and Before

Orange Crush Step 1

I finished my 4 patches last night. I cut way more fabric than I needed. I guess I was thinking of the 9 patches we did for the Carolina Crossroads.

Orange Crush

I got some of my darks cut tonight.

Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush Mystery

I think I've found my fabrics for Bonnie's new mystery, Orange Crush. I've got two blues that I have enough yardage of, but both have patterns. Not sure which or if either will work because the patterns that are not mute but they are like tone on tone blues. Suggestions are welcome. The black isn't a true solid black. It's got a leaf pattern that's kinda gray/brownish with a black background but looks solid enough. The orange is a piece of fabric I 'just had to have' many years ago, before I started quilting, from a trip to the first Super Joann's I went to in CT. with a friend. Neither of us had a clue what were doing. Well, I've still got it, have never used that 'just had to have' fabric so I'm using it here. It's got cactus and suns with tone on tone shades of orange. One of those fabrics you look at and go "What was I thinking!"

Mz Mouse

Mz Mouse is quite old. She came here with a litter of 4 kittens many years ago. We found homes for the little kitties, but nobody wanted mom. Because she was so small, skinny and her color, we named her Mz Mouse. She's been here forever and hasn't gone outside since she stepped foot inside the front door those many years ago. I was getting ready to go the Post Office for mail and found her sleeping in my goose down coat. It's been terribly cold, windy and snowy here for the last two weeks, so I don't blame her. She likes to sleep in boxes, lays on my fabrics (usually when I'm trying to figure out what goes where and she sits right beside the sewing machine sometimes when I'm trying to sew.

In the Beginning

This is a picture of Mr. Big Stuff at 8 weeks old. He only weighed 3 lbs. Normal weight for a Portuguese Water Dog Puppy at that age is around 6-8lbs. Guess I never should have given him the idea he could get on the table.

Mr. Big Stuff

Here's a picture of Mr. Big Stuff, the little hairball that ate my glasses. Looks harmless doesn't he.

Twisted Sister and Liberated Stars classes

Gwen Marston was the guest speaker at our Guild last month. She was kind enough to grace us with three of her classes. I attended the Liberated Stars, enjoyed her wit and had a lot of fun. This will be one of those projects I finish rather than send it to the deep with the ill fated Storm At Sea.

Ami Simms presented her Twisted Sisters class at the E. Grand Rapids Library on Sat. What a great day and another wonderful class. Another project that won't share space with Storm At Sea. I've already got the rest of my blocks cut out sitting at the sewing machine waiting to be put together.