Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day

As my regular readers know, I have a lot of fun with the squirrel concept including the Ad Hoc Squirrel Club.

First there was Chase.  

Then there was Hunter.  

Then there was Flash.

Then there was Mischief.

And more recently Violet joined the scurry.

(and it is all Dug's fault - you know, the dog in the movie UP who frequently stopped mid sentence to exclaim "Squirrel!")

This  photo was sent to me by Louise  who noticed this winter-season-dressed squirrel during her recent visit to Montreal.  

Thankfully I am not alone in my chasing of squirrels.

There are lots of you out there who are self-identified members of the Ad-Hoc Squirrel Club (linked above) and probably a lot more who haven't actually ID'd themselves yet. 

(remember, it is never too late to join the party)

Mari (on a blogging hiatus) sent me this fun photo a while back.

(Fair warning - squirrels can be very convincing!)

And here's a fun vintage graphic that Louise discovered while doing research on a completely different subject.

You can see lots of other posts featuring my studio squirrels by clicking on the different labels at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy! 

Quiltdivajulie

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Double click the image below to enjoy one of my all-time favorite Non Sequitur comic strips --

Ottoman Quilt Moves Forward

Somehow I chanced upon this gloriously scrappy quilt online - part of THIS POST on Barbara Brackman's blog - and the fuzzy dots in my head connected it with the box of scraps that Little Man had gathered/curated for his placemats project Ottoman quilt.  

I decided to sort through his box, just to see if the idea was worth pursuing before I showed him the photo.

Sorting like sizes with like sizes led to . . . 

. . . a grand way to use up miscellaneous leftover die cut 3" triangle halves . . . 

. . . and leftover binding bits, HSTs, etc. in the 2" finished range.

The longer strips and chunks were sorted as well.

In Little Man's absence, studio squirrels Mischief and Chase held an impromptu discussion on how to proceed.

The decision was to forge ahead and create the top - knowing that there were plenty more scraps to play with should Little Man want to when he stays with us in July. 

Here are the long strips pinned to the design wall in no particular order.

(the serape stripe on the right is what Little Man had asked me to use for the binding)

At this point there are five groups of strips sewn together and pressed.  

I need to do some measuring before I attach these groups just in case another bit of width is necessary.

Target size is 48" x 66" but I'm making this slightly larger to allow for shrinkage due to quilting and because this quilt will be laundered frequently.  

. . . which also means the back must be larger than the array of squares Little Man laid out, so I need to talk with him to see what he thinks about the options I've pulled from the stash.  

To be continued later this week.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Finding your unique style . . . it's following the breadcrumbs of the things you like."

Grace Chon

Gifted

The surprise birthday quilt and runner for our DIL was gifted on Sunday - she loves them!

The second birthday quilt and runner (also a surprise) are waiting to be packed for shipment to my sister in Michigan.

The runners each measure 12" x 44" 

DIL plans to use hers as a table runner.  

I'm guessing my sister will use hers on the countertop near their table.  

Chase had to get involved by checking each of the white quilts for any post-FMQ stray threads.

The quilts and runners were all bound with the same "Rollicking Robots" fabric.

DIL's quilt was backed with the same fabric used for the hanging sleeve.

My sister's quilt was backed and sleeved with this fun print.

(both of the wall quilts measure 24" wide x 44" long)

I just love the quilted  texture . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"May the joy of simple things color the canvas of your soul."

Mary Davis

Rident - Question Answered

And the answer is . . . 

I was able to cut fifty-one 8.5" squares from those many four-strip strata.

They are now sorted onto five trays ready to be pieced into five columns - after I get February's placemats quilted and bound.

(Pretty in Pink is quilted with binding pending - so I hope to have a finish to share on Wednesday). 

Of course (!) I saved all the strata offcuts  - you can see them sewn together on the right side of my second design wall.  

That full-length offcuts strip is shown here folded in half.  

Once the top is pieced and I know the size, I'll use these vertical slabs to piece the backing using my notes on the clipboard in the second photo.

Rident (adj. - laughing, smiling, cheerful) is going to end up being an awesome big brother quilt.

* * * 

Hunter has arrived safely and seems quite happy in his matted frame on the wall in my sewing studio.  

And, as Megan put it, "he's definitely a bloke." 

Quiltdivajulie

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"No one looks stupid when they're having fun."

Amy Poehler

Rident Returns

You can use the RIDENT label at the end of this post to read my previous posts for this big brother quilt for the older child of our youngest nephew and his wife.  Baby No. 2 is due in April (that quilt - Ohana - is made but needs to be quilted).

Tuesday evening I pulled these strips out of the closet planning to use them for mindless evening stitching, only to discover I had less than half of what was needed for the pattern I'd chosen.

Serious OOPS.

So I had to do a bit of quick thinking, which isn't always easy in the evening when I've already used most of my daily allotment of brain cells.

I pulled the shorter pieces out of the 2.5" strips drawer and added them to the longer strips shown in the first photo.  

I then created random sets of four strips.

The general game plan is to sew the sets together to then be cut into as many 8.5" squares as possible to create either a scrappy rail fence or column-based layout.

Of course Chase had to get in the middle of things once morning arrived and I started stitching.

Now that the strip sets are all sewn (some longer, some shorter), they all need to be pressed.

The lingering question is how many squares will these strip sets actually yield?

I have also pulled out the long strata I created as a center for the backing - and that, too, is being redesigned to fit this new plan.

Once I have the final size of the quilt top, I'll cut the long strip in half lengthwise and fill in on either side (and down the center) using more of the green Jumble to make the backing wide enough.  

If it isn't long enough, I'll add more Jumble to the top and bottom.  

* * *

The good news is I'm pretty sure I'm going to like the end result of this improvised / make-it-work approach far more than I would have liked the original patterned idea.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it . . . including YOU."

Anne Lamott

More Squirrel-y Additions

National Squirrel Day Part Two: 

I sorted my collection of KF books into date-published order and added small labels to the spines so it will be easy to put them back in chronological order. 

Of course I had to sit and browse through some of them . . . 

When I encountered TUSSIE MUSSIE from Quilts in Italy, I remembered how much I've always wanted to make this.

No time like NOW to create the fabric pull . . . so off I went.

TA-DA . . . Proposed backing on the bottom, fabric stacks in the middle, and possible binding fabric along the top edge.

I will go ahead and cut strips from each of the stacked fabrics since this glorious assortment is monopolizing my design-cutting-basting table.

But as I was taking this photo, one of the comments left on Saturday's post - the one from Cherie (no blog) who was part of the SSOBB (see sidebar for permanent link) - popped into my head.  

Cherie wrote:  "I found a cool stuffed squirrel while thrifting shirts and he has lived in my studio ever since"

I quickly headed downstairs to the spot where we keep our grand-dog's toys.  

We bought her this squirrel because her very favorite thing to do when she visits is to watch for and bark at and chase the squirrels.

Since she does not like the toy (with a squeaker in his tail, even), I have now claimed it as mine and moved him to my studio!

His name is CHASE, for obvious reasons.

After he checked out the greens in my diamond squirrel project, he hopped to the other side of the room to meet up with Max.

And then he was off to the design studio where he just had to get paws-on with the new fabric pull for Tussie Mussie.

 (Note to self:  Blogger's spell checker does NOT like those two words.  It keeps turning them into "Aussie Aussie" -- so I must come up with another name for the project)

And because there is never ONE squirrel anywhere, I have this character on order.  

(the print will arrive unframed but I have one ready and waiting)

I've chosen the name Hunter.  

There's quite a difference of opinion here as to Hunter's gender and so I chose a neutral name meaning a hunter or provider - of ideas in this case.

* * *

And so ends National Squirrel Appreciation Day 2022.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Albert Einstein