High and dry through the rain

I don't know how many days we've had rain, but today's was steady and serious.  I had to go to the dentist for tooth cleaning at 8 am and saw water just pouring down the hills to downtown.  We live at around 2,000 ft. so for once it was an advantage to live up a big hill.  There's just some seepage into the garage, and the thing we got to attach to the downspout to fix it just arrived yesterday.  It was too wet to do anything with it today, and maybe not even tomorrow.

I treated the day as I do most "snow days" - sewing and reading.  Yesterday I finished the flying geese I needed to make Aby's Rows Parade quilt along for July and August.  I have not attached the geese yet because I made four too many, and I want to see how all the parts look before I make the rows.  Will I really want it to be queen-sized or will I want two throws?  I won't know until October or November.

After finishing the geese, I started working with some "strings."  I have an overflowing basket of colors and a large bag of neutrals.  I thought I'd make some log cabin blocks, and in the end I made 25 6" blocks this morning.  Obviously, it was pretty easy.  I love improvisational quilting and just picking up random snippets as I go.  

I think I may use these blocks as a border for some string blocks I have made out of neutrals.  Will have to see how they all look together.    I had so much fun making log cabin blocks out of the neutrals, I hope to sort my strings by color and make some sort of rainbow quilt out of them.   My basket runneth over.

But I will have to set all this aside for now as tomorrow I'm going to take a class to certify me in using the long arm at the quilt shop downtown (if it isn't closed due to the weather).  I hope I'll be finished with the throw I'm taking to learn with and can get the binding (already cut) on next.

After that, I need to spend a little time with the guild blocks of the month.  I have 15 12" blocks, so if I make another one, I can put them together with sashing for a throw which I'll give to "Bags of Love" for kids in foster care.   However, it occurred to me that perhaps I can use the blocks to make some table runners for friends and family this Christmas.   Decisions, decisions!

Meanwhile, we watch the rain pour down and stick close to Facebook for news on various developments.  There are road closings all around us, a "boil water" notice from the city, an emergency shelter set up at the city Auditorium, and more.  Good thing the kids aren't in school right now.