ORANGE you THANKFUL for friends?

i wrote about my dilemma with my Growing Up Odd quilt a couple weeks ago. The blocks were all pieced, with the exception of one 49 patch. I asked for suggestions, as to what color block to piece, AND: 

a never-before-met-quilty-friend, Dorthy, sent me a bag of orange scraps (more like orange hunks and small pieces, really!)

there were 50+ (!!!) pieces of orange in the surprise package i received the other day... enough to make the remaining 7X7 block for my Growing Up Odd quilt. 

the infusion of fun, new and colorful fabrics has spurred me on to finish this top! i dug out some neutral from my drawer, did some simple math (since my squares are cut at 3"; different than the size in the tutorial) and got to sewing. hopefully i'll have a finished flimsy to show next week! 

while my cat (Millie) naps in the sewing room, i've been busy making forward progress on this fun quilt. she's laying in the box of *another quilt that i've started*: the blue is kona cotton stratosphere, with a patchwork design with 1 of all the different 3" squares in my drawer. i think it's going to be obnoxiously big (the quilt, not Millie!) as there are far more squares in that drawer than i imagined!

and just to keep things interesting- i'm along for the ride on Bonnie's mystery quilt this year- Good Fortune. i've done all the shopping from my stash (yay, me!) and have substituted the orange for cheddar yellow. i'm thrilled with my colors- especially love those blues! 

i've pieced all of clue #1- just need to do the spinning of the middle seam and then the pressing. this is my fourth Bonnie mystery. i love the colors, so i'm hoping i love the quilt, too!

( i was a bit disappointed in the MQ from 2014) but after all, it's just fabric, right? i know the completed quilt will be loved by someone, no matter what!

linking up to Angela at soscrappy and Bonnie at Quiltville. thanks for stopping!