catching up

It's been the usual day to day stuff around here so not much to blog about.

I did get a new mobile phone with a different service. The Sasquatch has one he really likes so when my old one went haywire and somehow kept using all my prepaid data, he urged me to get one like his.

The service is a bit more expensive, but hopefully more reliable.

Think I need to let go of some of these old ones?   That's my new one on the top right.

In the sewing department...I have some finished things from earlier this year that I haven't shown here.  I hate to take them outside to drape them around for photos.  Because we have had so little rain, everything seems to be covered with a blackish residue...polution? dirt?

But I have been working on more quilts.   I have paused work on the big "Y" quilt - that's how I think of the three dimensional quilt I am sewing.

I've switched off to this patriotic quilt that will go to a coworker of my son's.  I will tell more about him when I show photos when the quilt is finished.

I saw the design on pinterest.  Not sewn together here...just the layout.

Just so you know, my carpet isn't filthy - that's a smudge on my camera lens!

I thought about this layout but think the original is more striking.

 I used several different shades of red, most with a star theme. Used only one blue and one gold.

The Pinterest design had the stars in white but I thought the gold would add warmth.

The stars are fused on then zigzagged around the raw edges (maybe should have used a tighter zig zag stitch).  The fusible web causes some stiffness but hopefully will soften up after handling and quilting.

 Of course Puss must help in the sewing room.

I appreciate your loyalty, girl, but that's really not a good place to lay...right in my chair wheels!

 Maybe flip over at least.  Nope, the tail is on that side.

She decided if she couldn't lay there she would just bunch up the quilt top and lay on it.

Okay, but you'd better not shed even one hair on it!

I also finished some crochet baby blankets then started another crochet project...

This yarn was a give-away by one of the ladies in my quilt group.  When she brought it in, I used self control and didn't take any of it.  But she left it there that evening and one of the other ladies ended up carrying around in her car for weeks after she gathered it up just to leave the meeting room tidy.

I felt sorry for her and took it off her hands (ha ha). 

It's cotton yarn, which I had never used. I found a pattern online for a tote bag, made in panels.  It's an easy thing to crochet while sitting on the back porch in the evenings. 

And here is a couple of random things....

A tiny frog on the back door glass one morning after we had some rain.  (excuse my worn nail polish, I wanted to show how small he was)

And these vultures...I had dumped out some leftover homemade beef stew in the yard that had been in the fridge a bit too long.  I was expecting the crows to come for it but instead, it was vultures.  

They liked it and thought it was worth threatening each other over.

I was surprised that they would eat beef stew, but I guess if there are no dead rotting animals available they will settle for second best...my beef stew!