Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Cutting, cutting, cutting

Good morning, everyone!  This past weekend was very exciting and tiring for us.  Our son and daughter-in-law finally moved into their new home after everyone put in a LOT of work to make it ready.  If you're selling a house, please clean it before closing.  It's just rude to leave piles of trash in every room for the new owners to deal with.  I'd put up a picture of the trash pile, but it was too ugly.

Also, please take care of your pets!  Here's a story that will break your heart--not only did the former owners leave behind a bunch of garbage, but they also left their cat.  Seriously, they took off his collar and left him outside. Let me say that again--they moved (to another state) and left their cat outside on purpose.  It was so sad--the poor thing was batting at the doors, trying to get into the house.  The neighbors finally explained why.  What an incredibly cruel thing to do! Thankfully, the kids like cats and the cat seems to like them, so I guess he's a bonus that came with the house.

But now that that's finished, back to sewing!  I usually cut things on the weekend, but I used up all that time painting and cleaning carpets, so now I'm catching up.  Look at these great colors for the Roman Floors quilt:


These are brighter than the original floors, but they're not 500 years old.  I also made a sketch to decide how many of each color I needed and how they might be distributed:

The blank blocks are already made, not actually blank in the quilt!

Boy, am I excited to get started on this!  I went back to the quilt shop and bought several more yards of the navy batik so that I have enough for a couple of quilts, because I may or may not have made a sketch of another floor.


Yeah, we'll see what happens with that one.  I bet it would look great in a rose color instead of orange.

I also finished cutting all of the remaining pieces for the Friendship Star swap that I'm doing with friends:

Ziploc bags are a very useful quilting tool!

These are just bagged up and ready to go so that I can make up the stars quickly.  They don't take long, but having the cutting done makes it even faster.

Speaking of swaps. . .I let a friend talk me into another swap where we will swap 50 sets of 50 1-1/2 inch squares for a postage stamp quilt. There are actually about 60 people in the group, so everyone will get different scraps. I am saving 1-1/2 inch squares for a quilt, so. . .


This sounds awful to cut , but it really isn't!  And since I'm clearing out many of the scrap colors that we've already used for the rainbow scrap challenge, some of them had enough to cut 50 squares and will go to people who will appreciate them.  Plus I'll get different fabrics for my own quilt--already cut! And they're out of my bins, so I'm happy!  I have a few more to cut and then will sort them into identical sets.

And finally--I cut apart my Marquette fabric and started cutting pieces for that quilt.


Cutting that apart was hard since I can't get any more of it, but I guess now I've officially started that quilt!  I need to go find some more white on white, though, because I don't think I have enough yardage for the whole thing.

Okay, time to put the rotary cutter down and go sew something together!  It's hot today and will probably rain, so no guilt about not doing something else!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Linking to Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, and WIP Wednesday.

14 comments:

andrea @ tideline quilts said...

I was going to comment on your lovely quilts, but instead, am going to say how fantastic it is that your family adopted that poor cat that the horrible former owners of the house left with their trash. It is beyond me how anyone can do something like that. In Canada, if you deal through a real estate agent - you do not have to close on a house left in that condition (unless you come to an agreement with the owners that they will rebate you for cleanup).

After an awful beginning like that, your family deserves to have a wonderful life in their new home.

Wishing them all the best, and many years of happiness there.

Quiltdivajulie said...

SO glad that the kids like that poor abandoned cat . . . how despicably awful to simply leave him outdoors like that and leave town.

LOVE your colors and your projects . . . happy stitching!!

Sara said...

It's so nice that your kids adopted the cat. What a cruel family he used to have!

Love the colors for the Roman Floor and can't wait to see it take shape. You have some fun projects going.

Bernie Kringel said...

You're so dang smart.... Cutting is my very least favorite part of quilting. What a treat it would be to have everything so nicely prepped. I get so bored cutting that I usually stop and sew, go cut some more, stop again,.... not terribly efficient! If I send you my fabric, will you send it back all cut and stored in labeled bags for me??

Gina said...

I can't believe how some people act. It's deplorable.
I love the batiks you are using for the Roman Floor quilt. It'll be a great quilt when it's done

TLC said...

It appears that "You have your work cut out for you", for a very long time!

It's baffling how rude and self-centered people have become. In a previous home, the former owners begged us to take their cats. I politely explained that I was extremely allergic. They moved out and left the cats in the house for a couple of days. Traumatized cats spray. I spent two months with a carpet knife, and various substances to seal the concrete foundation........and scratching my eyes out. I empathize.

Enjoy the rest of your summer stitching!

Stitchin At Home said...

Glad to hear of the happy ending for that poor cat. How cruel some people are.

Skootchover said...

Stopping by from WIP Wednesday. Wow, you've been cutting a lot! Love the idea of a 1 1/2 square swap. Looking forward to seeing what you sew up with your hard work.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that' a lot of cutting work! Your sketches are beautiful, and I love that navy batik - it's really stunning!

I can't believe people would abandon a pet like that. I had a friend move and the man who bought their house ASKED for their cat - he was an elderly gentleman and wanted some companionship. They did leave the cat, but that's kind of a different situation.

I'm still not sure I could do it... they're MY pets. Even if they're obnoxious and drive me crazy... they're still mine!

As far as the mess in the house goes, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. We just bought a new home and while it was fairly clean (usual stuff you deal with when it's been vacant for 4 months: some bugs, dust, etc) we're discovering as we live in it that the sellers lied on the disclosure about some costly issues, and went out of their way to hide it. Buying a home is so hard, we're considering legal action, but it seems like such a hassle... we don't know if it's worth it. I hope that your family only has to deal with some piles of garbage now, and nothing more!

Kat said...

Cutting apart the squares doesn't sound so bad, but sewing them back together... How large of a postage stamp quilt will this potentially make?

Unknown said...

Oh I love how organized you are. That makes my heart sing seeing all the colors coordinated and the baggies marked. Great job on all that cutting. I'm so glad things worked out for that poor sweet cat, who would do such a thing? I swear some people must not see animals of living creatures but instead property.

JanineMarie said...

What a story about the house and cat. I'm glad it all turned out okay and that your kids and the cat bonded. I hope there won't be any more nasty surprises. Your Roman floors fabric is looking good. And I'm glad to see that someone else besides me still uses graph paper and color pencils for planning. (Actually, coloring among adults is a big deal now.) That does sound like a lot of cutting for the postage stamp quilts, but the payback will be tremendous.

Anonymous said...

I love those batiks! All your brightness in this post is so cheery. I can't believe people would be so cruel to their cat! I think they didn't deserve a pet, and I hope they don't get another one.

Rachel said...

I love your piles of 1.5 inch squares! I want to lay them all out and play with them. ;) It's always tempting to do a swap when I see pictures like yours. So many pretties! I'm looking forward to your batik "floors". That navy is so bright and bold; it's gorgeous!