Four patch frenzy

Hi all! How's your life been? We've had quite the time around here. Let's start with this-- I am allergic to cats. So if, theoretically, I moved into a house with carpets and window treatments and such and a cat had lived there before me, my sinuses would swell up and I would have a big headache until I either moved out or employed someone with big industrial rug-sucking machines to clean the place.  And of course ripped out all of the offending window treatments, washed down the walls, and used the big sucking machines on all the nooks and crannies, too.  So when a neighbor mentioned the cat that used to live here, it solved a couple of mysteries and caused some trouble, but at least I'm feeling better now.

And how have you been?

Now that I can breathe again, I've started working in earnest on the quilt for my nephew. If you recall, he wanted orange, and I've been working on making four patches for Kevin the Quilter's mystery scrap quilt. It's turning out pretty well, even though there are a ton of four-patches to be made. Here's how far I am:

Okay, that doesn't look like much, but there are tons of four-patches waiting in the wings. I decided to make the center from two patches so that I could get more variety in the center, which is a pretty solid block of orange. I just don't want to have the same fabrics next to each other. Is that weird?

Of course, I did not have this many oranges in the stash.  I used most of the orange scraps I had, plus I purchased some orange fat quarters to cut up. I thought there was plenty of variety, but you know that you can always use more.  I get bored with stitching the same fabrics over and over, and a little stressed about making sure that there aren't too many that are the same. I'm not done with all the four patches in orange yet, so I think I might get a few more pieces just for a little more variation in the four patches. I think it might need some lighter oranges, just for a little zing. A few brights never hurt!

This is a two-color quilt, and I chose to use gray with the orange, because, you know, Joe is a guy and I wanted it to look masculine but not Halloween-ish:

I think the gray is going to work!  As you know if you have read this blog at all, I am not a big fan of gray and I generally don't have very much of it around. I used every single piece I could find, plus I bought some fat quarters, and I was able to eke out all of the gray that I needed. I *may* have cut one strip from a piece of yardage, but you can't fault me for that, can you? And I used up a lot of gray that was never going to get used in anything else, so that's a win, too.

I actually liked working with the grays a little better than the oranges. They're a little easier on the eyes, and for some reason I didn't care quite as much about how the different fabrics went together.  (I wonder what that says about me?) The grays don't photograph nearly as well, though!

So, now that our new place is cat-allergen free, I am back to it. The sewing room is not yet all together, but all the fabric is out of boxes (again), I've wiped down all the shelves and washed a few things, and I've gotten the books arranged.  And I found the walking foot, too, so maybe there will be a fun finish later this week.  We can hope, right?

This last photo is from the window in my office. By far the best view I've ever had. Usually I'm looking at some kind of building they put up in the 1970s, but all the offices in our "pod" have these huge, tall windows. It's great, and I'm happy to be looking at trees instead. Allergic to those, too, but at least they stay outside!

Hope you're all having a good, allergy-free week and getting some stitching in. And if you're selling your house, be sure to tell people about your pets! Or at least spring for some rug sucking when you move out!