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Friday, September 28, 2012

Just a quicky....


 



I've shown you this yummy stack of circles a couple of times now.  Each time I promised to tell you more in a little while.  It is no big secret...I've just been busy. 


This is what I've been working on.  I stole the picture from American Jane's web page.  So far I have 24 of the appliqued blocks done and some strip sets sewn for the nine patches. 

I thought it would be fun to have this quilt on my kitchen table with my Fiesta Ware.  My dear Gilbert thought so too and decided to figure out how to make it.  We could have purchased a kit on line, complete with pattern....but what fun would that be?!

I'll let you know how the rest of it goes.....

Have a great weekend!

PS  My oldest son got in last night!  First time I have seen him since mid August.  He had to meet the kittens....and drove 5 hours to do it.  I love having my boy home....even if he does bring home his stinky laundry and sleep the morning away while the rest of us are up and going.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Worth the wait

So, I know you have been wondering.  You want to know how it went and were my boys excited.

John and Coco hit it off!
Ben and Jack taking a snooze together.
Jack meeting Rae.  Um he was NOT impressed.
 
Jack after a day of meeting and greeting.
 
 
"Good morning!"  Jack ready for round 2.


Coco has decided that this is her favorite spot.
 
 
As expected we are all in love with the new kitties.  I hadn't expected them to hit it off so famously with my Took, but I am pleased as punch that they did.  He was beside himself and chortled for two days.  I don't ever remember him being so at peace.
 
The dogs....well....they are very excited about the new additions.  Jack, being a fearless little fellow, has them under control.  One squeak from his mighty .8 pound frame and, tails tucked, they make a hasty retreat.  (Very funny to watch).  Coco on the other hand had the sad misfortune of being cornered by the beasts on her first foray out of the master bath.  Until this is rectified the dogs are banished to the library where they pine away their evenings on an old leather couch.  Coco is quite pleased to have claimed Rae's favorite snoozing spot.
 
On the quilting front....I've been catching up on my work.  This is the first time in months that I can actually see the bottom and back of the work to be done shelf. 
 
 
I've been doing some hand work....
 

....more on that later.


Thursday, September 20, 2012

Not much quilting going on...



Although I did receive this lovely mini in the mail from Mamacjt as part of the latest Little Quilt- Sew, Vote, Swap on Flickr. It is fantastic....way better in person than in this photo. It is a much needed bright spot in my home.

My time has been spent trying to love on my boys...

the human and the fuzzy...

as we process the loss of our sweet Button kitty. My Tookie cat has been stuck to me like a big purring chunk of velcro.

Turns out God knew we would need some extra kitty loving long before we did and arranged for these babies to be born.

Meet Coco....as in the perfume...not the food group.

She is 11 months old and the daughter of Cashmire Mist and a handsome fellow named Velcro. (This might be an omen.)
Isn't she sweet? Turns out she has a scamp of a baby brother that also needed a forever home.

He is 3 months old. That funny little brown nose stole my heart.

They are both from the QT-Tonks Cattery in Groves, TX....5.5 hours south of where I live. Sounds like a good excuse for a road trip doesn't it. There is no way I can pick them up any time soon. It will be at least a couple of weeks before I have enough time to drive down and back. BUT remember how I told you that God had it all planned? Well the owners of QT-Tonks had been planning a road trip to Denver, CO. They left this morning...and are driving right through Dallas...in fact right by one of my favorite quilt shops not 20 minutes from my home. Oh yeah, my God is that good! The kittens are enroute as I type this. My boys don't know and I am just too excited to stand myself.

I was going to wait and share pictures of the babies in my own home....but I am giddy....I cant hardly wait to feel their yummy soft little selves and see the looks on my boys faces when they get home from school.

I don't have words to describe how awed I am feeling. I was given 11 years with the most extraordinary cat I have ever met. Cat is really too tiny a word to explain how large 9 pounds of fur and whiskers can be. Now I sit on the precipice of a new adventure, designed by God just for me and my family....

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Some Buttons are better than the rest....

 

It is with great sadness that I take a moment to say good by to an extrodinary cat.

Button was born on September 11, 2001. A day that for many people brings memories of infamy, to me brings a sense of calm and peace....all because of a little brown cat.

Everything about Button was geared toward comforting the people around her. She seemed to have a 6th sense regarding the state of our hearts and gravitated toward the person in greatest need. She sat patiently and let us polka dot her fur with our salty tears. She went willingly with my toddler to complete his bedtime ritual...and stayed tightly clutched in his chubby arms until he relaxed and fell asleep. She edured countless forrays into the t-shirts and hoodies of my boys....never once scratching or snarling at them....as well as trips in backpacks and dresser drawers. She didn't seem to care what was done to her as long as she could be with people.

She loved to be held. Button conformed to the arms and body of whomever was lucky enough to be her chosen one as if she had melted into them....becoming one. And though I tease that she suffered from Stolkhome Syndrome I do believe that she loved my youngest son with a love that was rare beautiful and matched only by the love he felt for her in return. I've never cried so hard for the pain I knew was about to befall someone else...until I anticipated having to tell Ben that she had died last Friday.

She went very quickly. There was nothing that could have been done to save her, nothing I wouldn't have done if there had been a way. Life is like that. It comes to an end....at least this side of heaven. I have no idea what happens to the soul of a cat....if a cat has a soul....but I like to think that there is something eternal about critters, just as there is about men, and that she is with my Dad, and our Sophie enjoying a day of fishing by the Chrystal Sea.

Thank You God for lending her to us for a little while.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Richly blessed....

Today is my oldest son's 20th birthday. If I knew then what I know now I would have been more excited about being pregnant. Noah has filled my life with love and laughter for the past 20 years....how amazing is that?!

Thank You God for making me a mom and for giving me this boy. I have been richly blessed.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Ta-done!

All ready for my secret swap partner.

I have a few weeks before I can mail it...during that time I need to come up with a name for the quilt and make a label. Any suggestion?


The little birds are movable. The nest is a big pocket so the fledglings stay put rather nicely. The birds that are perched on branches are safety pinned from the back of the quilt.

Ta-done!



"Date Night"

Hot off the presses....well not presses exactly....there were no presses involved in the creation of this quilt...but I did just finish it.

I think it is lovely and couldn't wait to share it with you.

The quilt features Bella solids and 6 of the new "candy" sized charm packs from Moda.  The fabric line is Cuzco by Kate Spain.

I took a more adventurous track on the quilting and used a bright and variegated thread from Signature called Fad 5.  You can't really tell in these photos, but it is bright like Cuzco and sparkles against the grey background.


For those who are curious....yes, I did make it for the Bake Shop.  I'm not sure when it will appear, but the pattern will be published there sometime in the next couple of months.  It is not difficult to make...but neither is it for the impatient sewest.  The quilt is constructed of 20 large blocks each made from rather small pieces.  (The bright bits are only 2" finished.)

I have to say, I am loving this designing thing.  It is such a kick to design something and then make it and have it turn out to look like what you had envisioned.  The only thing better is to design it, write a pattern, and then see someone else enjoy making it.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

FLiQS - Round 2 - Part Two

What the Heck is it?!
 
There has been more hacking and whacking and sewing going on today.....a little bit of ironing as well.
 
 
This is where I left off yesterday.
 
 
Added some quilting....
 
 
And some Solvy, nest making....
 

 
some leaves...do you think I need more?
 
 
Played with some paper inhabitants...
 
 
moved on to some fabric creations....
 
 
She isn't stuffed, but I think Mama is too small.  What do you think?
 
I plan to add some little black beads for eyes and maybe a tiny bit of embroidery to suggest wings.
 
For now I think it is time to take a break....tea and chocolate sounds nice....hmmm.

FLiQS - Round 2

I love Flickr and the quilt community that lives on it.  Over the years it has gifted me with friends, swaps, and the opportunity to broaden my horizons.

Today I worked on a quilt for my partner in the Fab Little Quilt Swap (FLiQS).  The partners were assigned some time ago.  I was tickled when I found out who mine is....not tellin'....but it has taken me quite a while to get the quilt off of the back burner in my mind and onto the  cutting table.



I started with an empty laundry basket and tossed in some neutrals and a few blue scraps.

 
I randomly pieced for a while and then decided that I needed some greens  and a tiny bit of brown.
 

More green....
 
And a little more brown....
 
 
Tomorrow I am going to quilt it and build some 3D applique pieces.
 
 
Can you tell what it is?
 
 
I can tell you what it isn't.....that would be my sweet place to design....I like  love geometry and math.  It makes things so easy.  This is all free form, as if you hadn't notices, and just a bit out side of my comfort zone.  That said, it has been fun to hack and whack and piece this from my scrap bins.
 
 
Stay tuned for part two..."What the heck is it!"
 
 
 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Gotta Dance!




Some days you just gotta dance!
 
Today my fifth pattern appears on Moda Bake Shop.  How cool is that?
 
 
I love this quilt, and I am super excited to be able to share it with you. 
 
 
Marmalade Circles was super easy and fun to make.  Bonnie & Camille did a great job with the fabric line.  I wish I had some left over so that I could do a give away....sorry...not even a few sad kernels of magic reindeer corn left this time.  You have to wait until it arrives in shops sometime next month. 
 
 
If you are visiting me for the first time....welcome!  I am glad you stopped by.  Feel free to sit a spell and kick the tires.  Join my following and be privy to all sorts of sneak peaks into my crazy quilty world and family of men....who aren't that impressed with this quilt....but they are men and I can't really hold that against them.