Dog Days of Summer, Chapter 2019

The Dog Days of Summer usually end in late August, but my dog days continue a little longer.

These four fur-children are my summer companions.  The black lab mix and light yellow lab mix (foreground) are my dogs, Bailey and McKenzie.  The dog with black spots is my son Andrew's dog, Moose.  The darker yellow lab is my son David's dog, Jozy.  Moose and Andrew have been living with us for the past two years while Andrew went back to school.  Jozy visits for about six weeks every summer while David is in California for work.  I call my house Doggy Day Care!

Tomorrow I get to drive to Natchitoches, Louisiana to meet up with David and hand over his dog.  Natchitoches (pronounced "Nack-a-tish") is about half-way between New Orleans and Dallas, where David and Jozy usually live.

In another week, Andrew will be taking off for Denver, Colorado and a new career since graduating from school (second time's the charm).  The plan is to leave Moose with us for a little while until he gets settled.  Then I guess another dog-delivery trip will be in order!

In spite of all the four-legged assistants, I did manage to do some Rainbow Scrap Challenge stitching this month.

For example, some Tiny Tuesday blocks with light blue or bright blue scraps.

Random 4-patch blocks that go to the Parts Department.

These Carolina Chain blocks look a bit chaotic, but they should be fine when all the scrappy colors are done and put together.

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week.  Thinking of friends and family in Florida as Hurricane Dorian churns offshore, waiting for the forces of Mother Nature to figure out where the storm will land.

Hospital Sketches BOM: Never Give Up!

No surprise - I'm still trying to catch up with my appliqué blocks for Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches BOM.

The June block was Pineapple.  The pattern introduction also featured a great story about Walt Whitman visiting Civil War hospitals in Washington, DC.  Highly recommended reading!

My fabric choices don't look so great in the photograph, but the blue print on a white background does show up better in person.  If I were doing the block over, I think I'd choose a different fabric, maybe a with a light blue background.  Learning about appliqué fabric choices was one of my goals for this project, and I've already learned lots!

The July block was Mountain Laurel.  I finished prepping all the leaves yesterday.  I just need to make the bias stems for each batch of leaves and I'll be ready to stitch everything in place.  

The next block in the series is Tennessee Rose.  I doubt I'll finish Mountain Laurel and get a good start on the rose before a new block is introduced this coming Wednesday.  It's OK, I'll just keep working through at my own speed!  It's all about the process, not the result - right?

Scrappy Times

I never get tired of making scrappy quilts!  I added a new project to my Rainbow Scrap Challenge list last month in an effort to use up more of the strips filling my 2 inch scrap bin.

Carolina Chain is a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  It's a variation on a 9-patch block which results in light and dark chains criss-crossing the quilt.  This makes a great leader-ender project, as the cutting and piecing are quick and easy.  I'll keep making these for the next year or so until there are enough for a quilt.  Hopefully, they will put a dent in the 2 inch strip bin!

I also paired up some random 2 inch scraps into 4-patch blocks.  These go into the Parts Department and will eventually become part of another scrappy quilt.

Tiny Tuesday blocks are great for using up small scraps.  I'm glad I tried my hand at intense flip triangles for Sally's pink piglet.  I chose the pink and brown fabric for the piggy body as it reminded me of chocolate-covered bacon!

No pink scraps were harmed for another Burgoyne Surrounded block.  I only need three more blocks for the BS quilt, so I'm looking through scrappy chunks of multi-colored prints on white backgrounds for block inspiration.  I love these little birds, so decided to give them their own block.

Ditto for this multi-colored fish print.   It is now part of the Burgoyne scrappiness.  Only one block left to make, and I'm having trouble deciding on colors and fabrics.  It probably won't be this month's RSC color, light blue, but who knows where inspiration will lead?!

More scrappy goodies to be seen at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up!