How I spent my summer vacation... err... my lazy fall

 I was going to do a catch-up post, but it started looming on me like one of those elementary back-to-school assignments.  (The teachers never accepted "I sat on the couch and watched cartoons all summer.") (Even when it was true.)  The only way to make myself stop procrastinating was to just gather a few random pictures, throw them onto the blank screen, and say a word or two.

So here goes.

I seem to have come unstuck from time somewhere in August - my last pictures show a few teal/aqua blocks.  Some Antique Tiles -

and a couple of cake stands.

Around that time someone seems to have stolen my batteries, 

because I don't have any orange blocks for September to show - which is a surprise since orange is always my favorite RSC month! 

I lined up my framed stars at some point,

and cut out at least one more.

(And does anyone know what this star is really called?  I've been calling it framed star for lack of anything better.  The newsletter I got the pattern from just called it block 5 or something...)

I started sewing some of my La Passacaglia blocks together.  This is a hand-piecing project that is going pretty slowly.  

I crocheted yet another afghan, but I haven't gifted it yet, so no pictures. 

I managed to cut quite a few pieces for Bonnie Hunter's newest Mystery Quilt - Rhododendron Trail -

and got a start on sewing them together.

And I was glad that I'd held off on sewing all those neutral triangles to the HSTs when Sally pointed out the easier way.  And then I remembered when Libby taught me a magic way of ending up with a large triangle sewn to the little winged triangle units without actually sewing any triangles, and I got a start with that.

I've only finished two of these Bonnie blocks so far, but it's a beginning.

and squaring up the little hourglasses is a nice end of the day activity while I'm watching a movie or listening to an audiobook.

There'll be another mystery clue tomorrow.  I'm ready to keep plodding on my Rhododendron Trail.

Goofing off lately

 After that last huge push to finish the Totally Demented top, I needed some down time.  Mostly I've been cutting squares for postage stamps and for 4-patches (I'm going to need a bunch for Sand Castles 2), but I did manage to stitch up a couple of red cake stands for the RSC.

I've also been putting in some quality time fussy-cutting pieces for my La Passacaglia.  (Still unstarted - I'm just assembling lots of bits and getting ready to start stitching)

I'm planning to hand-stitch La Pas, but there's been a complication.

My stepmom brought home these two young hooligans the other day and they insist that my lap is the only possible place for napping.

Might make stitching a trifle awkward...

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see the fun!

(Our beloved old cat Lynx went out for his usual evening ramble about 6 weeks ago and never came back.  We held our breath for the first week, hoping he'd come sauntering through the door, but as time passed we lost heart.  Since life without a cat is too horrible to contemplate, we've now got these two little kitties diligently training us in the fine art of Kitten Care.)  (And I've got the claw marks to prove it)

Why, no, I'm not starting a new project. Why do you ask?

This project I'm not starting (Hi, Sally!) has its beginning in my being gifted with this book a couple of years ago.  (Dear daughter caught me drooling all over its pages at a quilt shop we were visiting)

Didn't start the quilt, though!  Strong am I, and focused.

And then a year or two later I 'accidentally' bought the templates for cutting the pieces.  (oops!) 

Still didn't start the quilt!  Too many projects going already!  Must resist!

And then I found this fabric.

And fell head over heels.  A fussy-cutter's dream, I tell ya!  And in all my colors!  How perfect is that?

I grabbed those templates and my mirror-thingy (another 'accidental' acquisition - not that I was starting a new project) and started playing.

There's just no bad place to set those templates down.

 Next thing I knew, I was pulling fabric and had my rotary cutter in hand

and was starting to accumulate all kinds of bits and bobs.

Maybe something warmer for those skinny diamonds?

And what about for this one?  Blue?

Or green?

And now I've noticed that little piles of zippybags are appearing.

And I finally figured out what that little dumpling bag I'd made was for.

But I haven't sewn a stitch yet, so it totally doesn't count as starting a quilt, right?

Right?

Though for an unstarted project, there sure are a bunch of holes in that fabric...


Linking with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Lots of scrappy goodness going on!