WiP-ing Right Along

After a couple of "blue" days wherein I kept plugging along in the studio by sheer force of will (mine and the Good Lord's!), I seem to have surfaced into a groove.

I attribute that in part to a 2-hour jog yesterday which cleared my head in more ways than one.  And I attribute it in part to the fact that once you begin, and you see progress, you can't help but keep going!

Yesterday I quilted the red/blue panel from The Door Quilt, and appliqued the first couple of stems on "Posh Poppies".  Accomplishing those two things built up a head of steam that's carried over to today and will continue tomorrow.

As of about 1/2 hour ago, the first green panel of TDQ is quilted too:

I'd have started on the second green panel if I'd not run out of batting.  After quilting the first two panels, what remained was just a bit too narrow to work for the last one.  I could piece it but the nature of this piece is such that I don't want to.  Not a problem; the remnant will be used in other projects -- and there's no shortage of those!

And as of this morning, more leaves have been pinned to the background of "Posh Poppies", just in time for me to take it with me to work on tomorrow while my car has it's oil change/maintenance service/paint touch-up/winter tire installation (yes, you read that correctly!).  That work will take several hours (in part because of the painting), so this is the perfect project to take along:

That, and some knitting.  I have several pieces on the go, including yet another hat, a pair of finger-less mittens, a cardigan knit sideways in one piece, and a striped throw.  Methinks the hat and the cardigan will be on board in case I finish or get bored with the stems.

But for now?  The sun is shining and I'm over due for some exercise.  I leave you with a link to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network, and these photos of autumn bliss...

Diesel (R) & Pookie (L) in the sunny sewing  room window

Hey!  What're you doing here?!

Tough Week

This is as close as I get to the outdoors. Darn!

Not so much for me...but for my feline companion, Diesel.  He's got it rough at both ends -- the front, enclosed in an "Elizabethan" collar (!) to keep him from getting at the tubes draining the wounds at the rear.  Unbeknownst to me, he apparently had an altercation on one of his evenings out, and though I noticed what I thought was a healing scratch on his back about a  week ago, it wasn't till late Tuesday night that infection reared its ugly head.

Haaarrumph!

A chunk of change later, and he's doing very well, though eating is a messy challenge, and he feels very sorry for himself -- in large part because I won't let him out!  The appendages are due to be removed on Tuesday morning....

My New(est) Guy

Diesel has arrived! Yep, my DD was here house-sitting on the weekend while I was at the Victoria Sampler Retreat (more about that later), and she brought Himself home to stay. Handsome, wot?!