Tag Archives: cats

Red and White Quilt

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The main body of the Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt top is finished, all stitched by hand. The last stitch joining the blocks was taken Friday evening. Two of the pieced blocks for one of the borders are done, but there are still many to go. Right now it measures 60 x 80. It doesn’t look its best draped over the sofa, but I was so excited it was done that I had to share!

I had hoped we could get out on the roof garden to take photos but they haven’t opened it yet. Maybe Wednesday, when our forecast high is an unbelievably warm 25C, they’ll open access to the roof garden and we can get a good photo of the top.

I feel almost compelled to finish this quilt before I work on anything else, which is so unusual for me. My vision of how this top will look when complete is driving me to keep working on it so I can see the actual finished top. If I stick with it, I think I can have the top finished within 2 weeks.

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This is a slight rant, so if you want to see Baxter’s daily picture just scroll down. I won’t be insulted.

Can anyone tell me why on earth Canada Post is now slower than a carrier pigeon would be? I don’t mean with packages which always take a long time. I’m talking about plain ordinary everyday business mail. An envelope that was mailed to me from about half a mile away took 18 days to arrive. Another business envelope was mailed last Monday, from about the same distance, and still has yet to arrive. And for this we pay a high price for postage? No wonder Canada Post is sometimes called Canada Storage!

I’ve thought for a long time that we live in an area that’s a black hole when it comes to mail. I dread mailing things as I never feel the least bit secure that they’ll arrive in a timely manner, if at all. But this has been the final straw for me. I think from now on I’ll forego using the post office altogether and depend on UPS or some other courier service.

Okay. Rant over. Back to our normal programming.

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I heard a robin out on the roof garden on the weekend. Practically fell over myself racing to the window to see it and there it was, on the lawn. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a robin this early. We are having temperatures that feel more like early summer than the end of winter and are breaking records. This has been the winter that wasn’t for us and it has been wonderful. But it does make me wonder what our summer will be like and what it may mean for the farmers as there was so little precipitation during the winter.

Baxter has had a lot to keep him occupied on the windowsill. Grackles, robins, squirrels and something that he seems to see out on the roof garden at night, although we can’t see what it is that has him so fascinated.

Happy Dance!

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Over the past two days, the prizes from the Love the Lines contest have arrived. They’re all absolutely fantastic!!

The fabrics from Northcott’s Kaleidoscope collection are delicious. As soon as I unwrapped the bundle, ideas immediately started to fly through my mind. I’ve always been a fan of Northcott’s fabrics as they really are cottons that feel like silk and are wonderful to work with.

The Electric Quilt Quilting Designs CDs are something I’ve looked at over the past few years and had on my wish list. There’s something for everyone in these quilting designs. The best part for me is that I don’t have to try to draw my quilting ideas freehand. I can play with these, either tracing or using Pounce or some other method – there are how-to instructions on the CDs. There are feathers and stars, animals and continuous line designs, abstracts and leaves, hearts and flowers, holiday designs and all-over designs and the list just goes on and on. There are hundreds upon hundreds of designs to select from on the seven CDs!

What I’ve already started using is the button finger pincushion. It’s dainty and not heavy and just plain fun. The note that came with it refers to the wonderfully funny Oscar-Awaiting movie “How to make a Finger Pincushion” which can be seen here.

I am so excited to have been one of the three runners-up. The prizes are fantastic, but the best part and the most enduring benefit is that it gave me that added push to learn EQ. I’ll be putting it to good use as I play with the design idea I have in mind for the Kaleidoscope fabrics. Before I cut and print anything, I’ll be able to download the fabric images from Northcott’s website, import them into EQ and then play to see how different the quilt will look depending on which fabric I use for each shape.

Once again, a huge thank you to Inklingo, Northcott and Electric Quilt for these wonderful prizes and an enormous thank you to Linda Franz at Inklingo for holding the contest.

Baxter was watching as we took photographs. I think his face says it all, “What, nothing for me?” I’ll have to keep my eye on him. He may try to make off with some of that fabric!

Possibilities for Kaleidoscope Stars

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So much fun was had making the kaleidoscope stars like this one that I couldn’t resist doing a little hunting in my stash for some other fabrics that might be likely candidates for interesting kaleidoscope stars.

This one is a definite possibility and will be easy to fussy cut/print for some more kaleidoscope stars.

This one has a larger repeat, but I think some really striking kaleidoscope stars might be the result. I don’t have a lot of it, but perhaps an interesting wallhanging can be made using kaleidoscope stars from it.

This is the fabric combination from yesterday’s post that I was 90 per cent sure I was going to select. It was interesting to read how many of you also felt the same way. So that’s another project waiting in the wings. I’m going to make one block using the two fabrics before I start on that project in earnest.

Last night I was working again on the red and white quilt. I’m really motivated to at least get the 12 blocks together this week. Then I’ll make a decision on whether a small stop border is added before the pieced border.

This picture of Baxter makes me laugh.  If you look closely, you can see that his tongue is sticking out just a bit.

Red and White Feathered Stars

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Preparation of the centre blocks is almost complete. All that’s really left is to do is the grading of seams on the first 6 blocks.

It presses beautifully. The final six blocks have had all the seams graded. Why I left it with the first six I have no idea, but it won’t take long and is definitely worth the effort. It will make the quilt drape better, there will be no chance of the red shadowing through to the front and it will make the quilting easier.

I stacked them together for fun. It will be fabulous to see this quilt centre put together, but taking a picture of it will definitely have to wait until we can get out on the roof garden. Which, by the looks of our weather forecast, may not be too far off at all.

Making these blocks has been so much easier than they look, thanks to the perfect stitching lines and matching points of Inklingo, that I’ve got an idea for a completely different feathered star quilt that I’d like to make.

Baxter had to get in on the act of photographing the blocks. Mr. Q.O. labelled this one, “The Critic.”

Although it was Mr. Q.O.’s birthday yesterday, Baxter got a present. One of our neighbours gave this to him. He absolutely loves it and played with it for hours.

Stars in Pink

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A few of these stars are made every once in a while. There are now 18 of them done, each measuring 6″ from tip to tip.

The box in which the pieces reside is almost empty. There are only 12 stars left to make and then I can free this box up for another project.

At the rate I’m going on a few of these smaller projects, I think there may be a flurry of finishes over the next while. Scrappy Star and the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt remain at the top of the list but sometimes it’s nice to work on a small project. A pink star wall hanging sounds like it might just fill the bill.

There’s an idea nagging away at me to make a quilt using a purple batik and … well, the and isn’t quite yet decided but that would mean another in the series of two-colour quilts I want to make. I may play with that this weekend for a bit to see if I have anything on hand that works as the other colour.

Today is a big day in the household. It’s Mr. Q.O.’s birthday. The birthday bears will have to come out to sing Happy Birthday to him.

It was incredibly mild here yesterday, definitely felt like spring. But very windy. Baxter was up on the windowsill repeatedly. Later on, he was resting up in his chair.

Little Bits

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The centre of the last of the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower blocks is ready. I’m getting very close to having the main body of the quilt done. The pieced border is going to take a bit of time, but I think once the centre is done and together it’s going to put this quilt right up at the top of the list to be worked on until it’s completed.

The seams are graded and it’s pressed, ready to be put in the centre of that last block.

Two sides of the Scrappy Star now have the pieced border attached. I think I want to try to add those final two sides before I get started on the pieced border for the Feathered Star quilt, as I’d love to see the Scrappy Star top done and ready to baste. It’s getting a bit large to get a decent photo of inside but the weather is getting better every day, so a roof garden photo may not be that far off.

A few more sets for the Kaleidoscope Stars are ready to stitch. They’re a fun, quick stitch. I think I’ll end up with 20 of them and will then put them into a small top.

Thanks for all the great comments on the orchids. I’m really hoping I can keep this plant alive and see it flower again.

Baxter appears to love draping himself over the arm of the chair. Makes me laugh every time as he seems to be almost having a conversation with us.

Gifted Blocks and a Gift of Orchids

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I’ve blogged about these blocks before that were given to me by a good friend, but now I feel I have enough experience with the sewing machine to set them together successfully. There are a stack of these blocks that will finish at 7.75″.

And a stack of these, which also finish at 7.75″. As well, I was given a lot of the fabric that was used to make them. I’m going to play with some setting ideas over the next few days. They were foundation pieced on muslin so it’s going to be a heavy quilt and one which I will have to figure out how to machine quilt.

Last night, Mr. Q.O. took the garbage down the hall and came back with a pot of orchids. One of our neighbours gave it to us. The instructions on its care seem rather odd to me. It says to water the plant by giving it 3 ice cubes once a week. Three ice cubes? I would have thought that would shock the poor plant. If any of you have grown orchids successfully and have some hints, please share. I’d love to keep this plant growing and hopefully flowering.

There are some buds on it that look very close to opening. I love the colour of the flowers. Such a wonderful pink, my favourite colour.

Baxter’s look says it all, “An orchid? Yummy!” We have it well out of his reach.

Jumping Up and Down!

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I just can’t wait until tomorrow to post this. Inklingo Stars, one of the other designs I submitted to the Love the Lines contest, is in the Top 25. It was on both the EQ and All About Inklingo blogs today!

Baxter looks somewhat startled. He’s not quite sure what all the excitement is about but is happy as long as his toy is nearby.

Egads, 3 blog posts in one day? That’s a first for me!

Colourful Little Nine Patches

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Over the past few months, I have worked on putting the 9-patch blocks together bit by bit. Sometimes when I’m stitching a block like a Feathered Star, I’ll reach the end of some continuous stitching and, rather than begin the next stage, it’s the perfect time to make one or two of these blocks. There are nine left to make and then I’ll have the total needed for the little quilt I have in mind.

Seconds after that photo was taken, Baxter had one of the 9-patch blocks in his mouth and was proudly carting it off towards the kitchen. I have a feeling he was taking it to put in his water bowl. Thankfully I rescued it before he got that far!

The stack of finished 9-patch blocks on point have also been growing as that’s another easy stitch to pick up after some more involved piecing.

But the box full of the 9-patch blocks waiting to be surrounded by triangles has grown at a faster pace than those that have been finished.  The box is now full to the brim.

Baxter was curled up in his kitty bed beside the toy basket. He loves to curl up there, particularly on cooler evenings which last night definitely was.

Little Red and White Blocks

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Remember these little 6″ blocks? They’ve been languishing on my sewing table, waiting to be turned into a small quilt. I was looking at them last night and thought I had decided on a setting that will require only two more blocks. That is, I thought I had until I noticed the secondary star pattern they create when put together this way when I looked at the photo. That may change my setting idea.

Here are the pieces for one of the two remaining blocks, ready to be stitched together. With any luck, I might get the remaining two blocks done this weekend and may even get a start at putting the little top together.

One of my goals is to do a series of two-colour quilts. So far, all those that I’ve done have been lap size or larger. The little red and white one will be the first small two-colour quilt, but I’m now thinking that a whole series of two-colour little quilts might be fun.

Baxter caught sight of the pieces for the little red and white block and this was his reaction. He really loves to get a piece of fabric and march around with it in his mouth so I could almost imagine him thinking, “Yum, fabric bits!”