A Squirrel IS DrEAMi Right?!

This cute picture from Cathy at Cathy’s Crazy By Design inspired the whole idea for this post.  Her humor and wit, along with her cute quilt finishes also inspired me to get going on something that was in the back of my mind, needing to be made.

squirrel

Let’s Get Squirrel – y, eh?!

I have been on the wrong end of the leash when a dog decided he needed to chase a squirrel.  I’ve also seen posts from several friends who did some squirrel chasing of their own.  Sandra at mmm Quilts hosts a monthly link up for all chasers called DrEAMi.  Drop Everything And Make it, but we had never participated before.  It hadn’t even crossed my mind, although Sue would be the first to tell you that it happens very often in our sewing room.  Each of us stumble upon a project that speak to us, and boom.  Mike drop.  We are making it.  So, for our very first post on the last Saturday of November we have three squirrels to share.

Baby Girl is a Squirrel

No one knows exactly when Baby Girl is coming.  There are definitely some educated guesses, and one expectant mom that says it HAS to be after her last final on December 17th.  We agree with that, and say whenever she wants to join us is fine with us.  However, we NEED to have a few things ready for her arrival right?!  Baby quilts are of course required.  Duh.  Not to worry – we’ve had oodles of pink quilts on hand and at the ready for ages.  They been dispersed into the grandmas hands for additional love spells to be added to our love stitched within them.  However, a birth announcement is necessary as is a Christmas stocking.  Sue thankfully has stepped up to the plate to tackle both of these projects.

Further details cannot be shared yet though.  A birth announcement has to wait for, well, the actual birth . . . so we have that to add later along with a cute giraffe face.  Her stocking can be finished but we can’t show the name!  Some people have been known to steal baby names in the past . . . so mum’s the word on this blog.

Work Squirrel Too!

You may not know it, but I love my job.  Best place to work, best people to work with hands down.  I decided that I needed to make a table runner for my boss for Christmas.  We were discussing the colors she has in her home, and she is a woman after my own heart.  Talk about ecru, beige, off-white, low volume neutrals, and everything dreamy to me.  Nice and soothing, goes with everything and never goes out of style.  So, I took myself on a frustrating trip to Joann’s – actually in search of the darn thread wax. ~Rolling my eyes~  But while I was there, I peeked at the fat quarters.  Not a single one really spoke to me – they would do if there was nothing better.  Annoyed, I took myself home and started complaining to Sue.  She handed me this charm pack.

CW Vanilla Cream

Vanilla Cream You’re Speaking My Language

Vanilla cream.  Doesn’t that name sound just dreamy-ish?!  Delicious in coffee, absolutely needed in cookies and ice cream – all good things contain vanilla.  I’ve never met a vanilla anything I didn’t like, including this charm pack.  Happily, I set about dividing the squares into dark and light piles as some HSTs were on the horizon.  Thinking of Chris from Chris Knits Sews I took a black and white snapshot to check values, etc.

Math is Not My Friend

We repeatedly have math issues, and we have determined that we really means me.  I decided to make a runner that is 4×12.  Forty-eight blocks, right?!  That means I need half that number of fabric squares . . . but then I divided it one more time in half for a light and dark match.  Once all the pretties were sewn in to those lovely HSTs, pressed and trimmed with the fun Bloc-Loc I only had enough for a 4×6 runner.  Oh, I needed 24 of each light and dark to make the 48 needed.  Back to the matching board.  Sue was not at all surprised that I miscalculated, and she informed me that I am the issue whenever math is involved.  The common denominator, if you will.  I am very thankful that I have a VBF to double check on me and my math!

Squirrel Audition Time

Once all the blocks were laid out we could audition their placement.  In reality, we laid them out and walked away, never to make one single change.  That is until I ironed some rows in the wrong direction to nest with its neighboring row.  When that happens, I just flip the row and carry on.  My OCDness could have issues with like-fabrics touching like-fabrics, but not in this case.  I didn’t even look!  We layered it up and pinned it so quilting was next.  I didn’t even obsess too much about how to quilt it!  Doesn’t that chevron pattern show up well in the photos above?!!  Ohhh so pretty.

Squirrely Finish to Share

CW finish

A finish just in the knick of time for the linky party, although technically it was all complete before turkey day.  Plenty of time to get it wrapped for hand delivery on December 21st.  I’ll have to get a photo of my boss with it then.  We used the beautiful neutral swirl fabric as the backing and binding mostly because it matched so well.

CW Vanilla

Oddly enough, it is difficult to see in these photos but a basic crosshatch is the quilting pattern chosen.  I stitched the straight lines one inch apart in both directions.  The quilty squishiness is fabulous, too.  I hope she likes it!

 

Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!

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10 Responses

  1. Your table runner turned out so well! And I’ve definitely had my dREAMi moments and have linked up with Sandra’s linky party before. My current dREAMi project is participating in Ugly Sweater Instagram swap. There sure are some cute “ugly” sweaters being made! Take care, Mary.

  2. sandradny says:

    Love the vanilla squirrel! Math — sigh — it is not my friend either….:(

  3. Roseanne, I love, love, love your Vanilla Cream tablerunner! Perfect idea for your boss! I like the idea that it will work for any season, too – just use a different candle or seasonal thing on it and voila! That will be a great gift.

  4. Vicki in MN says:

    Indeed she will love it-very classy and won’t go out of style and can be used for any season. Hmmm math and me don’t agree either-I call on DH or the calculator if he isn’t here. And then sometimes I still mess up!

  5. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Roseanne, You are not alone when it comes to the MATH part with quilting patterns. That is most likely the reason that I have never actually tried to create my own quilt patterns. LOL. Your table runner is lovely and has me considering making something in the same colorway as yours for my Mother. I am also looking forward to seeing more of these baby girl creations. The two of you work splendidly together and it is fabulous to read about. Thank you for sharing and have a spectacular day!

  6. I love a squirrel that is so elegant! At least our sewing squirrels are much prettier than the real thing!

  7. Barbara Esposito, The Quilted B says:

    Love that table runner! And you already know that I too have issues with pressing in which direction. I did laugh out loud at “the common denominator if you will”! I am NOT math enabled but thankfully I married a calculator! Have a wonderful weekend friend!

  8. Brenda @ Songbird Designs says:

    Love the runner in those neutral colors. Great job!! And yes, even though I loved math in school, sometimes quilting math gets the best of me!! I always seem to wind up with way more squares than I need – but I decided that is much better than winding up with too few! LOL

  9. Oh yes, those math problems. Had them the other day while working on my UfH quilt. Haha. I imagine Sue to be like Mary Poppins, with that large carpetbag that she opens and out comes a measuring tape (for the math), a teaspoon of sugar (for when you get fussy), and of course, a charm pack. It’s very fun when you have the fabric you need on hand. Your runner is lovely, and just perfect in every way!

  10. jan altomare says:

    This runner is so cute. I have those same math problems. Trying to adjust any patterns to size up is always a fun (not) time.

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