The first one is finished! Stitching the two sides together was actually much easier than I anticipated. The part I found intriguing was just how much stuffing it takes — it was endless and seemed like I put enough stuffing in it for something twice its size. They’re fun to put together and the number of patterns for them is incredible.

This is the front:

And the back. No matter what angle I look at this, though, I see quilt blocks.

I’m working on a surprise gift for a friend on a rather tight deadline and, as I know she reads my blog, I can’t post about it. So the next couple of days will probably include photos from past projects.

Smudge in one of his upside-down posts.

Lester lounging on the heat/air conditioning register, looking out the window — of course!

The first biscornu I attempted did not turn out well. However, this second attempt is really working out. It’s a mini biscornu. I forgot to take pictures before I started sewing the two sides together, so it appears a bit odd in these pictures. This is the front.

And the back. I look at the designs and see quilt blocks.

Lester spent a lot of time on the windowsill Sunday.

And Smudge was hanging out on the sofa.

Two of these blocks are done now, the third is half done and the fourth shouldn’t take long at all as all the curved piecing is done – now it’s just a matter of joining it into rows.

Wednesday night saw me sorting out the sewing corner and getting projects organized, which was when these basket blocks came back to the front of the line. The setting for the blocks is really quite unique and one I’m looking forward to playing with.

What follows is a slight rant — feel free to skip to the kitty pictures! In Toronto, we now have to either bring our own reusable bags when shopping — and that’s absolutely all shopping in every store — or pay a nickel for each plastic bag. Bringing my own washable, reusable bags is no problem at all. I found some great washable ones that fold up very small and are perfect to tuck into a purse or pocket. What I’m finding irritating are the cashiers at the grocery store where we shop most often. If someone pays the nickel to buy a plastic bag, they bag the groceries. If someone brings their own bag, the cashiers do nothing. I’ve watched this happen over and over. It doesn’t matter if I hand over the reusable bag before they start scanning the items or not — they just shove the items over the scanner and stand there waiting to be paid while I’m trying to bag the groceries as fast as I can. It is not a grocery store that has the set-up for customers to bag their own and that was never done before this new charge for the plastic bags came into effect, but that doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve learned now not to pay until I’ve got the groceries packed as they start scanning the next customer’s items the minute they get the money and give back change. Doesn’t matter if I’ve finished bagging our items or not — they just shove the next customer’s items on top. At this point, I think we should be given a discount for bringing our own bags! A lot of the stores are donating the money people pay for the plastic bags to charity, but not this grocery store.

Smudge half awake:

And Lester in his favourite spot:

A few months ago, there was an apple core charm swap on the Inklingo list. I hadn’t up until now done anything with them. Now? Well, now they’re separated into a light or dark group and I’ve started stitching them together.

Although I plan to use the pieces as they come up in the two stacks and not try to colour coordinate them in any way, the first two pieces have some red in common. I don’t know how large this will become or if I’m perhaps going to do a couple of small quilts, but at least I’m piecing — and some curved piecing at that, which I love!

It looked like it was going to rain on and off throughout the day Tuesday, but it didn’t. We’re finally getting some heat and humidity. Now, if only the rain would stop! We’re supposed to have more today and then again on Friday.

Lester on the couch:

And Smudge stretched out beside Mr. Quilt Obsession. Smudge likes whoever he’s beside to stay put. In order to make sure that happens, he drapes a paw over and, if someone tries to move, the claws come out gently – just enough to remind us that he’s comfortable and we shouldn’t move!