Monthly Archives: December 2010

It’s Way Too Cold!

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Nothing much quilt-related to show.  My wrists have really flared up.  The swelling is noticeable at this point and the pain is getting rather tiresome.  However, I’m playing with an idea for a baby quilt, thinking of making a 12″ version of this block using some bright prints.  If I decide to do this, I think it will only take 6 blocks and a small border so could be made relatively quickly.  I’d love to be able to pull the fabrics I want to use, but that’s going to have to wait till this flare-up has ended.  At least I can plan.

Wind chill temperatures of -20C are just too cold for me, particularly when the wind is gusting between 40 and 60 kilometres per hour!  And we have to go to the vet this afternoon.  I’m going to put a fleecy towel in the carrier.  Thankfully, Mr. Q.O. can pull up right to the door and I can jump out with the carrier.  Because it’s so bitterly cold, Mr. Q.O. is going to stay in the car and keep it running so that Smudge goes right into a nice warm car after seeing the vet.  At least we’ve not had any snow other than a light dusting.

Once again, I’ve fallen way behind on responding to comments.  Until the inflammation in my wrists subsides, I’m trying to avoid the keyboard as much as possible.

The cats know how to deal with this weather.  They curl up and have a snooze.  First Smudge was on the couch, curled up with a teddy bear.

Then Lester.

Seven Stormy Seas Blocks

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The first seven blocks are done and the eighth is close to being finished.  The circular effect that these blocks give is something I absolutely love.  I can’t wait till they’re all done and I can lay them out and decide on placement.

I got all the remaining fabrics printed.  In just slightly over 2 hours I had all the fabrics ironed to freezer paper, printed and cut out.  Then I started sorting them into glassine envelopes in sets for each block.  This box has all the pieces for each of 17 or 18 blocks, ready to stitch.

This box has the remaining pieces, all sorted in envelopes by fabric, ready to be pulled and put into block envelopes to join those in the first box.  I love having lots ready to stitch like this.

I wanted to get all the Storm at Sea shapes printed on the fabrics and ready to stitch before I somehow or another “borrowed” one of those fabrics for use in something else.  Two of the fabrics I’ve picked for this are batiks with a slight dusting of a gold metallic that I think are going to look rather like light reflecting on the water.  The best part of this is I know I won’t get bored making the blocks as each one will be slightly different.  There will be 41 blocks to go once I get the current one finished.

We’ve yet to do any decorating for Christmas.  But our door decoration is up.  A few years ago we decided to find something that was a bit different than a formal wreath.  I think we managed to definitely find that something different.

The weekend was relatively mild, but we’ve had a real drop in temperatures that started overnight.  While there was a lot of snow around us, the city once again didn’t seem to get any.  I have a feeling the roads and sidewalks are slippery, though, as it rained on and off throughout Sunday and then the temperature dropped suddenly.

Smudge definitely seems on the mend.  Trying to figure out what he’ll eat on his own is becoming an adventure.  What he likes today, he won’t like tomorrow.  We’re fortunate in that he is still being quite cooperative with the syringe feeding.  I can’t wait until tomorrow when we take him in to the vet.  We can’t see any signs of jaundice now and I think he may have put on another pound.  He was very lively on the weekend and even had one of his play fights with Lester.   He also found a few spots to sprawl out and snooze.

Lester was also in snooze mode a lot of the weekend.

More Stormy Seas

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Up until last night, I had only 3 of the 7 fabrics that will be in the Stormy Seas quilt ready and printed. Last night I got the fabric for the remaining 4 fabrics ready to print and will print all the shapes over the weekend.  Once that’s done, I’ll have everything ready to stitch the blocks.  I’ve found a stitching sequence that makes the blocks relatively quick to construct.

I’ve made blocks using the three fabrics that have been printed so far and am thrilled with how they’re turning out. These three were stitched over the course of the last 10 days or so.

While I had initially thought I’d use 11 fabrics in the Stormy Seas quilt, I’ve now decided to narrow it down to 7 fabrics and will make a slightly smaller quilt. It will be a lap quilt. Making that decision actually got me thinking about the size of quilts I want to make going forward.   Lap quilts seem like the best idea for me.  While I want to make a king-size quilt for us to use, I still haven’t decided on a specific pattern although it may end up being a large Chintz Circles, aka Alabama Beauty, quilt.  I have been slowly printing pieces to make another one of those for us and am debating whether I want to make it a lap or bed quilt.  It would be beautiful thrown over the back of the pink loveseat but would also go wonderfully with the toile wallpaper in the bedroom.

Do you have a favourite size of quilt to make?  Are they all large enough for a bed or lap quilts or wall hangings?  If you do have a favourite size to make, why did you choose that size of quilt?

Smudge continues to improve daily now.  Thursday he was eating more on his own and was livelier than he has been in a couple of weeks.  He and Lester were curled up together Thursday night.

Arcs for the Pickled Ladies

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One of the things I’ve been working on is stitching the arcs for the Pickled Lady blocks.  I’m trying to get lots and lots of them ready as stitching the arcs to the clamshell body takes next to no time.  Unfortunately, my wrists are still not cooperating so pressing the arcs wasn’t possible before the picture was taken.   All the black triangles are cut for at least another 40 arcs while the white pieces are being cut as I need them.

It was bitterly cold here on Wednesday.  So cold that the first cold weather alert of the season was issued by the city.  It seems awfully early for this horribly cold weather and makes me wonder what January and February are going to be like. When it’s bitterly cold, I resort to my mice slippers.  They are toasty warm and I really don’t care how ridiculous they look.  My mother bought these slippers for me well over 15 years ago and I treasure them.  They only come out in the winter so they’ve stood up quite well.   Watching the cats’ reactions to the oversized mice on my feet makes me laugh.  The sight of them makes Mr. Q.O. laugh.

Smudge greeted me Wednesday morning by chirping for his breakfast and doing figure eights around my legs.  Huge improvement.  Getting him to eat on his own has been a challenge, so hearing him ask for breakfast felt like a huge achievement.

Both of the kitties were spending time either in the cat beds or on the couch, staying warm.  Lester looked at the windowsill ever so briefly on Wednesday afternoon but I think he could sense it was chilly and decided to head for the couch.

Planning A Christmas Quilt

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A Christmas quilt is on my list to make one for next year using these fabrics.  I know that an Inklingo Feathered Star collection will be coming out sometime in the near future and have decided that will be the design I’ll use for a Christmas quilt with these fabrics.  A Feathered Star has been on my want-to-make list for years, so I’m really excited about the thought of making one.  These fabrics have been tucked away for ages, waiting for the right idea for a Christmas quilt.  I’ll get them washed and pressed in the next few days so that I’m ready to start.

I have been working on blocks for two quilts but, as my wrists are too sore to handle pressing at the moment, nothing is pressed so no photos to show quite yet.

Once again, thank you to everyone — all the good wishes and thoughts for Smudge meant a lot!  We had Smudge to the vet again on Tuesday and he has put on a pound.  We’re thrilled.  Our vet’s  happy.  Smudge seems livelier and more engaged. That is the best Christmas present we could have asked for.  We’re still syringe feeding and will be for a few weeks yet to ensure his weight gets back up to his normal 18+ pounds.  Along with syringe feeding the food, we’re giving him a bit of yogourt every night now as he was given an injectable antibiotic yesterday.  While he has always loved having a bit of yogourt, since he got sick he hasn’t wanted any of it so we’re giving that by syringe as well.

This photo was taken on Tuesday night.  It’s hard to tell from the photo, but he’s more interested in what’s going on around him than he has been the past week or so.  He’s still a bit jaundiced, but not as much as he was.  A visit to the vet is scheduled for next Tuesday for another weigh-in and colour check.

Lester has continued to keep his eye on Smudge.  He’s intrigued by the syringe feeding to the point that last night when we were giving Smudge some food, Lester decided he had to sniff the syringe.

Hopefully I’ll start replying to comments, visiting and commenting on blogs a bit more now.

Little Stars

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While we’re continuing to deal with a kitty who’s not well, I have been doing a bit of stitching in between syringe feeding and the like (if you’re looking for an update on Smudge, scroll down a bit).  Putting the LeMoyne Star blocks together has been a lovely distraction when I’ve had a few minutes to stitch.

Even pressing the blocks feels like fun at the moment.  I think getting them pressed just perfectly gives me a feeling that I’ve got some control over something.

As the sun was going down one day this week, and I can’t even remember which day at this point, it cast a wonderful pink light on the office towers in the area. The one that’s on the other side of the roof garden looked, I think, quite pretty — although I’d rather it was summer and the leaves were out on the trees and I wouldn’t be able to see it.

A couple of the buildings across the street also were turning quite pink.

And here’s Smudge, resting in a kitty bed in between feedings.

Thank you to everyone for your wishes and thoughts for Smudge’s recovery.  We’re by no means out of the woods yet and his appetite is — well, beyond finicky.   He’s finicky at the best of times, let alone when not well.  The cupboard shelf with kitty food has so many different varieties and flavours that we’ve bought in the hopes of finding one that he’ll actually eat on his own that I think we could open a small shop!  He’s on an appetite stimulant and, while he is eating a little bit on his own, I really don’t think it has had the effect the vet was hoping for.  I know there are other appetite stimulants for cats and will bring that up in today’s conversation with the vet.

In the meantime, our goal is to get 250 calories per day into him.  I had never noticed it before, but cat food labels do not show the calorie count.  Thankfully, our vet had the calorie count for some foods and a non-blogging friend found and forwarded to me a chart with all sorts of cat foods and their calorie counts listed.  In order to get enough calories into him, we’re making a slurry out of a tin of food and syringe feeding him in 1 to 1.5 ounce increments throughout the day.

An ounce or ounce and a half may not sound like a lot, but it takes some time.  I am extremely grateful Smudge has the typical Maine Coon temperament.  He lets me give him  his pills, syringe feed him and generally be a pest (which must be what I appear to be from his point of view) without protest or struggle.  I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult this could be with many cats!

He has us waiting on him hand and foot.  He likes baked chicken, but only when it’s just out of the oven warm.  Not warmed up the next day after it’s cooked, mind you. Only out of the oven warm.  So chicken is cooking here at various odd hours of the day and night.

Lester has been enjoying the variety of foods that are suddenly appearing.  He seems to know that Smudge isn’t well and has been periodically going over to wherever Smudge is to check on him.

I’m still basically taking a brief blog break, but thought that I’d pop in with a post — mostly to say thank you to you all.  Although I haven’t responded to comments, I can’t begin to say how much I’ve appreciated each and every one.  Hopefully, I’ll be back with a report sometime next week that Smudge is improving and can then start to visit and comment on blogs too but, for the time being, Smudge’s needs absolutely have to come first.