eeek, a mouse!

I
DON'T
THINK
SO!

I was sitting in traffic on Florida Avenue, just looking at buildings, trees, people... I noticed two men and a woman sitting on the stoop of a townhouse.  Suddenly the woman screamed, jumped off the stoop and backed off.  I'm wondering, what in the world is her problem??  Then one of the men yelled and jumped up, a second later the other man yelled, jumped up and took off down the street.  What in the world??  Well, from under the steps ran the biggest RAT I've ever seen!  It was the size of a kitten, I swear!  You see rats in DC, but construction seems to stir them up and you see even more.  Such is life in the city...

Someone asked about the fabric I used for my Mother's day postcard - I bought it online years ago, I believe it was at eQuilter.  At this point I don't even remember the manufacturer, and I don't think I've seen it lately.  It was very popular at the time I bought it.

I've been doing behind-the-scenes prep for a Bee challenge due next month, where we're to make a quilt based on a Motown song.  I'll be able to share that one with you after we show them the middle of June at the rec center's Friend and Family day event. 

But I can show you some prep work for a graduation quilt for my niece, who lives in North Carolina.  I've decided to make a Wickedly Easy quilt using African fabrics:

The pattern calls for 4-1/2" and 2-1/2" strips cut from fat quarters.  I don't have any FQ in african fabrics, only yardage, so I cut a couple WOF strips from each fabric.  These are the 2-1/2" strips:

Isn't it funny how fabrics look one way when they're just lying there in yardage-sized pieces, then when you cut them into strips and lay them side-by-side, they take on a whole nother look? 

Here are the 4-1/2" strips, mostly the same fabrics:

4-1/2" strips

The size quilt I'm making calls for 20 blocks... with the theory that one FQ makes one 16" block.  Since I was working with yardage, I didn't wonder whether I had a FQ's worth; I dunno, I just grabbed fabrics and started cutting.  I'll cut some more later in order to have a large variety because, as you know, I love scrappy quilts.  No worries, I can always use the leftover strips in something else. 

She graduates the first or second week in December, so I should have plenty of time to make this one.

Sew forth and sew on...