Dog Days of Summer!

Happy first day of August, everyone!

These are the days when it is too hot and humid to want to be outside, so we hunker in and enjoy the mountain views from behind glass in the cool of the air conditioning!

And while Mama works at making kits, Sadie the Supervisor is yet again asleep on the job!

I listen to her heavy breathing and downright snoring with a grin on my face, so happy that her surgery was successful!

Thank you so much for your cards and well wishes, and even treats and toys in the mail.  The wagging tail will let you know how grateful we are for your caring friendship where my girl is concerned.

The incision on her side has completely healed, and her fur is now growing back in to cover it.  You’d never know that she went through this big scary surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.  We now just have to watch it carefully to make sure nothing grows back.  Other than that, she has a clean bill of health, is caught up on all her shots, had her teeth cleaned while she was under and got her nails trimmed, a veritable spa treatment while under anesthesia. 

See that little bit of Hexiness peeking into the bottom left of the photo?  I was able to get the second fill in corner completely attached, and the 3rd corner is well under way:

Oh, Sadie!  You ham!

When I finish the 4 fill in corners, I think I’m going to need some kind of dark border to frame the whole thing, so I’m working on figuring out what that is going to be…as I said.  This has a long, long way to go yet and it has no deadline.  It’s just airplane time!

This was MY day yesterday.

200 base blocks.  4 blocks per kit.

Almost all cut out and ready to kit up!

I have to say that I now understand why kits are so costly.  I have always poo-pooed the cost of kits not because I am squeaky frugal with my fabric budget (I am!) but I really like pulling my own fabric choices together from what I have on hand for any project.  That’s the fun part for me.  But assembling kits for 200 blocks that go into 50 kits – this took me more than all day yesterday as some had already been cut at home and brought with me.

I have been able to use my accuquilt strip die for stems and my square die for pieces that will be flower heads.  I used a 60 degree diamond die to cut pieces big enough for leaves and flower bases. (Need to cut more today, those aren’t quite done yet.)  But all of the block backgrounds and the triangles for the flower pots had to be cut with regular rotary cutter as there are no dies in those sizes.

I will never gawk over the price of a kitted up quilt ever ever again!

And then there is the fusible for each person who wants to fuse it instead of needle turn….I am bringing a bolt of fusible on the ship!  I can just see security now. 

Irene’s sample blocks are in the mail and should be here any day and I can get the sample together, quilted and hopefully be binding it on my way to Denver on the 7th.

Comments so far have been “This doesn’t look anything like you, Bonnie….”  But I have done applique since I first started quilting.  You just don’t see it a lot because I fell into the piecing genre early on designing scrap quilt patterns to use up fabric the guild was donated while I was the charity quilt chairperson for my guild. 

But remember THIS applique project??  Ummmm…it’s still a top.  we need to remedy that.  I love this top!

Once the blocks are together, and the scrappy borders are on, It will look like a Bonnie Quilt, I promise!

Thank heavens this is a “partial” kit, and there are some ingredients that the cruisers are going to add to make it their own, and that includes borders because it is going to be uber scrappy and there is no way to kit all of that variety up. This will allow them to add their own fabrics to the mix.  I love the combination of  scrappy piecing and applique together.

For those asking why they can't find the pattern for this on my blog yet....HA!  It's not even fully MADE yet!  I have to finish the quilt sample before I can write the pattern.  Right now, this pattern is exclusive to my cruisers, and when we are done, I plan on submitting it to Quiltmaker so it may appear in a future issue, and that makes it easy to provide you with the template shapes.

Hold your horses, finish some UFOs....and it will be available in the future!

While all of this kit cutting was going on inside, this was going on outside:

Afternoon Visitors!

2 mamas, 2 babies with spots!

And all of a sudden two deer became four deer as the babies came out of the trees! . . #quiltville #bonniekhunter #quiltvilla #blueridgemountains #northcarolina #cabin #cabinlife #deer #doe #fawn

A video posted by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Jul 31, 2016 at 2:35pm PDT

I could watch the deer all day long. Those ears!!

There was other wildlife spotted outside as well:

Caught brown handed, painting the shed!

It was a terrific Sunday, made all the better with burgers on the grill in the evening.

As for Monday. Kits will be going in baggies.  200 blocks divided into sets of 4 in 50 baggies! Instructions need to be written, and I am headed home tomorrow and have until I leave for Colorado to do that.  I don’t have much time in between coming home from Colorado and leaving for Barcelona, so that needs to get done.  And power point how-to demos.  Oh, the list is getting longer.

But first.  Breakfast!  Who wants French toast?

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage Star Quilt made of silks, satins crepe and other slinky fabrics found in North Carolina.

This I am sure of! Happy Monday, everyone - it's a brand new week!

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