I have a lot of "strips and strings" of fabric left over from various projects. A lot of it is the (fairly expensive) Kaffe Fassett yardage, so I can't quite bear to throw away the little tag-ends of fat quarters (Also, I remember a time - not so very long ago - when I was a grad student and COULDN'T just go get fabric at will - when I had a much tighter budget than I do now). Most of the pieces are just under 2" wide, some bigger, some smaller.

Well, I think I found something I want to do with those bits: Happy Things foundation strip-pieced quilt.

Oh, I've seen these around before. But this was the first one that kind of grabbed me - I think the bright rainbowish-ness of it is what appeals (too many of the strips-and-strings quilts - even newer ones - that I've seen are kind of muddy looking because all the colors are mixed up and there's not a real design idea to them).

I don't know that I have enough "bits" of each color family for a full rainbow-pattern, but I do like the idea of combining same-colored "bits" in the same square, and separating different-colored "bits" into different squares - again, it cuts down on the muddiness that is sometimes a problem in these kind of scrap quilts.

****

I turned the heel and started the gussets of the first of the "waving lace" socks last night. This pattern's worked pretty well for me; there are a few times when there's a yarn over at the end of a repeat, and I forget it (but fortunately I can just pick it back up in the next row).

I also started a "Baby Snow Dragon" from this pattern. I actually went out and got the exact yarn (Bernat Softee Chunky in a sort of winter-white color). For some reason I wanted this to come out as exactly like the pattern as possible (usually I'm happy to go my own way with things). Also, I don't really KEEP chunky yarn on hand - most of what I have in the "can be used for toys" basket is worsted weight.

I may have to back off on the crochet, though - I've noticed a weird, almost bursitis-like pain in my right shoulder (at first I thought it was a bruise but there's no bruise there - part of the shoulder is sore to the touch, and there's a little muscle soreness). The only thing I've been doing differently that I can think of that could stress it is the crochet.

I also did start (once again) on handquilting the quilt that's been in the frame for, like, 4 1/2 years now. I really do need to get this done, if for no other reason than I'm afraid that I'm fraying away the edges every time I move it. There's still a distressingly large amount of quilting to be done, though.