I pulled out my UFO of Smith Mountain Morning. Â I am a little between deadline projects and want to make the most of my time. Â I got my box that the pieces were in, sorted and started sewing.
I have more pieces than I should have..then I remembered I was going to make this bigger. Â I started calculating how many more of each block I needed then I remembered that Kelli made her’s bigger too. Â Then the phone rang…it was Kelli and she had all the numbers of blocks I needed so the original calls for the quilt to be in a 7×8 setting. Â I want a 9×9 setting. Â That will make the quilt go from 71″ x 80″ to 89″ x 89″. Â Well I like that idea so I need to make 30 blocks with blue stars, 20 with brown stars and 49 chimney and cornerstone type blocks. Â I didn’t do any figuring on the border triangles.
That should keep me busy for a bit.
I am working on a deadline project too…the deadline is just a ways out and I am not so pushed on it. Â Saturday I finished up all of the white blocks for that and Sunday I started on the dark blocks. Â That’s great progress.
The news is in Kelli decided on a double wedding ring quilt for her wedding quilt so quick before the double wedding ring quilt for her gets into full swing I want to sew like crazy on Smith Mountain Morning. Â I’d like to at least have the block finished before I have to pack it away. Â I have the rest of the blocks in a variety of different stages.
I have other piles of things that need pinning but I’ve been waiting for something good to be on television one night so I can pin and watch.
To see what others are working on, check out Patchwork Times.
Each day leading to Thanksgiving I write about something I am thankful for….
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Today I am thankful for pets. Â I have been so blessed to have amazing pets in my life-for me dogs. Â Just the other day I was scrolling through some old pictures and saw this one of me and Gracie. Â Seeing it was what made me decided that I was going to give pet foster care a try. Â Gracie would have ended up in foster care had we not stepped in and adopted her.
She was WAY too good of a dog for that. Â We were her sixth home in five years…and she was a good dog. Â Last week I was notified that an 8 year old beagle named Dixie who was now living as an outside dog, needed foster care. Â She is an owner surrender. Â Today, I am going to pick her up at the vet and she is going to be with us until she finds her forever home. Â It will be lots of work but I think we can do it…and yes, I think I can give her away when the time comes. Â Stop back tomorrow afternoon. Â I’ll show you some pictures and introduce you.
Anyway, I am thankful for pets. Â They have taught me much about empathy and compassion. Â They have taught me unconditional love and how to be a friend…if you don’t have a pet, you probably don’t understand that and if you do have a pet, you likely feel the same. Â As I type Ruby is sitting in the office chair next to me snoozing. Â I just love it…I love having a someone with me..a faithful companion-an understanding friend. Â Now that Gracie and Ruby have convinced my husband that having a house dog is okay, I’ll never be without one. Â Pets have truly brought so much joy into my life from being a child to being an adult. Â Today I am thankful for all my pets…past and present.
Glad to see your Smith Mountain Morning is something other than the plaids in Bonnie’s because that is what I have planned for mine and I wasn’t sure it would be as attractive as hers. I am using the blue and brown color scheme too, mainly because I think that is what attracted my husband to the quilt. But I’m not sure he’s going to want it with some of my flowery scraps in there! I did test blocks and have decided that the quarter square and pinwheel centers need more light/dark contrast. I hate to put all that effort into matching up the intersecting seams and not have the work show! It will be my first really scrappy (read that uncontrolled) quilt.
Your quilt is going to be beautiful, that pattern is on my list too. What a wonderful thing to foster a pet, you are wonderful Jo! Wonderful photo of you and Gracie.
I’ve had several rescued dogs and found it to be a rewarding thing to do. So many people get a puppy and find they must make a life change or some other problem that causes a surrender. Not everyone can foster or adopt so another great way to help needy animals is to donate time or contributions to a rescue group. You’re doing a wonderful thing for Dixie…it might be challenging sometimes but you’ll both learn from the experience :).
Forgot to say you motivated me to get out my Pineapple Blossom UFO. Hope to get it finished this week.
I see many Bonnie Hunter quilts getting worked on for DWM today. Counting the days until Thanksgiving. I have to get my sewing stuff put out of sight too. Many little fingers that might make a mess of the scrappy parts if I don’t. SEWING frantically to meet my goal of finishing something before the 28th, too.
I finished my SMM about a month ago. I also enlarged mine to 9×9. I only had to add 3 extra border triangles for each extra block in length and/or width. Since the border triangles are 3″ squares and the blocks are 9″, the math was perfectly easy. No adjusting of the inner border was necessary and everything fit just like it was supposed to. Still have to bind mine, but oh so happy it is this close to done.
Your SMM blocks + pieces look fabulous! Quick question: did you cut them with Accuquilt or rotary cutter?
Your Smith Mountain Morning blocks look beautiful! I have a dog and a cat and I couldn’t imagine my life without either of them. Both came from the shelter. Good luck with your foster-dog.
That is one of my favorite Bonnie patterns. I made one out of army fatigues, desert and camo. I need to make another. Gracie looks like a sweetie! And Dixie is lucky to have you.
Love beagles! Grew up with a whole slew of “Fido”s. Beagles are the best – love their howls, their friendliness, their loyalty. As my hubby isn’t too fond of dogs, we have cats. Either way, our furry friends give us so much joy and companionship.
The quilt will be beautiful. Can’t wait to see it finished.