Tag Archives: cats

Another Farmer’s Delight

Posted on by

8

Once this and two more blocks are finished, and the next one is already partially put together, the blocks for this quilt will be made.  Setting the blocks is something I’ve started thinking about and, while I have no firm ideas as of yet, I’m thinking about something that will involve some applique.  I’ll make that decision once all the blocks are done and I start playing with layouts.

An idea for another Dresden Plate variation is slowly working its way to the top of the list.  I may play with some fabric choices for it and perhaps make the first block this week.

Thanks to the rain early Monday, we have no snow left on the roof garden.  As it’s now March 1, I’m hoping that we get no more snow until next year.   Spring can’t arrive soon enough for me.  There’s something about it being March that always feels so promising.  We got through January and February and it’s all good from here.

We didn’t manage to get any photos of the kitties on Monday.  We just didn’t seem to have a camera at hand at the appropriate times, so I thought I’d dig up some photos from a year ago.

This was Lester just under a year ago.

And Smudge slightly over a year ago, giving a classic Smudge look.

Pickled Ladies and the Pastry Shop

Posted on by

17

Sounds like a funny book title, doesn’t it?  As it’s time for the February Clamshell Club report, I’m showing the Pickled Ladies that got finished this month.  Not as many as I had hoped, but half a dozen to add to the mix is progress.  To see more clamshell reports from other participants, check in here at Cybele’s Patch to find those links.

On the weekend, a new Inklingo Pies and Tarts collection was released.  While I’ve often thought  the quilt was appealing, there was no way I was going to make anything that required English paper piecing.  Now?  Now I can make it with a simple running stitch and some continuous stitching as I’ve got perfect shapes with stitching lines marked on the back of my fabrics.

Of course, I had to start making some of the blocks and have printed enough shapes now to make a small quilt.  Mr. Q.O. suggested naming it Pastry Shop.  And that’s how the Pickled Ladies have ended up in a post with the Pastry Shop.  The back:

We had yet more snow on the weekend, but it sounds like today we’ll have rain and who knows what else.  I had a migraine Sunday afternoon that was rather nasty, but it lifted as the storm got closer.  The cats decided to find cozy spots to curl up.

Smudge’s new favourite spot is where the heating pad is.

Lester prefers the loveseat.  I think this is one of the best shots of Lester, as it shows how rich the red colour is in his coat.

Saving My First Quilt

Posted on by

10

When I began quilting I clearly jumped in at the deep end, making a top like this. Some of the stars have holes in the middle through which a truck could be driven. Well, okay — that might be an exaggeration, but there are definite holes that I cannot close.  Over the years, I’ve tried.  I’ve had the top tucked away now for years, trying to decide how I could save it.  Buttons in the centres was one idea, but not one that I was crazy about.  Appliqueing on some shape was clearly the best idea, but what shape?  Now I think I finally have a solution.

On Thursday, a new Inklingo collection of circles was released.  The combination of Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Circles ® and Inklingo Circles means perfect circles with virtually no fabric waste at all.  This way I can pick my circle size to applique over the centres of the stars and finally finish that first quilt.

It’s not a perfect quilt by any stretch, but it’s one I want to see finished and in use. The other goal I have in mind for this quilt?  I’m going to mark some quilting designs on it and see how well I do quilting by machine.

Thursday we woke up to a new dusting of snow.  But there was also a sign that spring isn’t too far off.  For the first time in months, we saw grackles out on the roof garden.  Soon Lester will have lots to watch out the window.

Thursday evening Lester decided it was his turn to curl up by the heating pad.

Smudge gets into one of the round kitty beds and immediately sets to kneading it into the oval shape he prefers.

More Melons

Posted on by

4

All 52 melon blocks are made, so the X’s and O’s top should be finished relatively quickly.  I am going to machine quilt it, know exactly how I want to quilt it and may get this one finished within another a couple of weeks.  Making the melon blocks has me tempted to start another quilt using some melons and other shapes.

A while back, I joined the Bargain Lover’s Club at Sew Sisters and have been receiving 10 great FQs every month.  This time?  This time, when I opened the envelope, Mr. Q.O. said he wanted these fabrics.  I keep threatening to get him piecing to help get all these designs I have in my notebook and in my head actually made.  Maybe this grouping will do it.

Smudge likes to lounge by the water and food bowls.  This was a shot we couldn’t resist taking.

Lester found himself a cozy spot to curl up and have a nap.  It was cold again on Tuesday, but he’s showing more interest in getting up on the windowsill every day. Maybe that’s an indication that spring will be here sooner rather than later.

Finger Pincushions

Posted on by

13

After I was so lost without the finger pincushion and then receiving the lovely new one, I decided to try my hand at making them.  I used a couple of different of methods for the final stitching together of them, different stuffing and think I’ve found the perfect “recipe”, so to speak.  They’re dead easy to make — a 4.5″ square folded in half into a triangle shape and stitched, leaving an opening to turn them right side out and then insert the stuffing — and they are absolutely the best tool going for piecing.

As a hand piecer, I wear mine on my index finger.  Machine piecers apparently wear these on their thumbs.  I know that I’m absolutely lost without mine — not having it makes piecing seem so much slower.  It took me maybe half an hour to get used to wearing it when I first got one.  Now?  Now I can’t even begin piecing until it’s on my finger.  So now that I have figured out how to make them, the next step is to find the decorative braiding to make them look that much nicer.

There were some interesting responses to the post on Friday regarding what people use to mark quilting designs on their quilt tops.  I decided to play it safe and have a scrap piece of the cream fabric on which I’ve made marks using a number of things such as a graphite pencil, chalk pencil, watercolour pencil.  I’m going to let it sit for a week or so and then wash it to see if the marks come out.   I’m planning to hand quilt the pink and cream quilt, so know that the marks will be on it for a while and want to be sure that whatever I end up using will come out without  any problems.

We had one of those glorious mid-February days late last week when one thinks spring isn’t far off. Saturday and Sunday showed us winter isn’t done with us yet. This was the scene on the roof garden Monday morning.  It may be pretty, but winter seems to be lasting altogether too long this year.  It’s time for spring.

Lester was on the windowsill on Sunday for a while.  Not that there was much to see, but that seems like another true sign winter may be drawing to a close.  I think he’s getting bored without any birds to watch.  We didn’t get a picture of him there, but did get this one of him having a snooze later on in the day.

Mr. Q.O. has been using the heating pad on his shoulder lately as he has a frozen shoulder.  Smudge decided it was there for him.

Half a Dozen Melons

Posted on by

6

I’m hooked.  No question about it.  Stitching these little blocks is nothing but fun. They’re a quick stitch and those perfect curves make me smile every time.  I need around 40 of them for the border I’m planning but, at the rate they’re going together, it’s not going to take long.  But ideas for a quilt made with just these blocks keep floating through my mind.  It’s one of those blocks that I find irresistible.

Thursday was a great day.  The pink and cream quilt top is finished.  When I got up Thursday morning, I decided it was time.  Sashings were cut, sewn to cornerstones and added to the blocks and then the final border was added.  What I learned yesterday?  That machine piecing isn’t that difficult.  All the joining was done by machine, while the blocks themselves were hand pieced and I got it all put together without having to rip out any seams.  The top finishes at around 60 x 70, and I am thrilled with it.  Pictures when it’s quilted.  I’ve already got the quilting planned for it.

Charlsey posted some pictures on her blog post here from our two days of stitching, talking and planning as well as some interesting people watching.  There’s one shot of Charlsey’s Seven Sisters quilt and my X’s and O’s quilt that I love.  The hotel lobby is rather beige and I think our quilts added some needed colour!

For some reason we got no new photos of the cats on Thursday.  Things are definitely looking up — the two of them had one of their mock battles on Thursday evening, which they haven’t really done for a couple of months.  This is one of my favourite photos and a rather rare shot of the two of them together that was taken a few months ago.

Melons

Posted on by

11

I’ve started putting together one of the elements for the borders of the X’s and O’s quilt.  These little 4″ blocks go together so quickly that I don’t think it will take long at all to get this part of the border ready to put together.

The back of one of the little blocks.

We’re definitely going to have a couple of days of milder temperatures.  If the forecast is correct, we may hit 50 on Friday!  It looks like it will go back to the cold winter weather shortly after that, but what a treat to get a day that warm in February.

Lester continues to improve.  Mr. Q.O. was taking pictures of the boys, focusing on their paws.

Smudge was showing off his paws while he slept.

6 More Pickled Ladies and a Plan

Posted on by

15

Lots of stitching and talking on Tuesday resulted, for me, in six more finished Pickled Ladies.  I think this will end up as a large wall hanging with a narrow stop border in black and a larger border in a shabby floral.  When I have all the ones that are currently prepped done, then I’ll assess its size.

Tuesday was chilly again with temps in the mid 20s.  But it looks like we’re heading into a nice warm-up, so I’m hoping that maybe we’ve had the worst of winter and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the warmer weather to arrive.

Smudge was reaching for the kitty toy basket from the kitty bed.  Always makes me laugh when he does something like this.

Lester was having a snooze.

More Arcs for Pickled Ladies

Posted on by

10

I realized that it’s the middle of the month and no new Pickled Ladies have been stitched, so last night I put together some arcs for another dozen or so of them. They go together quickly and it’s even faster to add them to the clamshells, so I’m hoping to get these all stitched today.

Monday I met up with another Inklingo’er, who is here with her husband.  We had a prime spot in front of the fireplace in the lobby of the hotel at which they’re staying and stitched and talked our way through a good part of the day.  Today will be more of the same.  Monday I worked on the triangle bands for another Farmer’s Delight block, but today it will be the Pickled Ladies.  I’m behind again on replying to comments and visiting blogs, but will catch up on Wednesday.

When I’m upset about something, I have a tendency to throw out things that I don’t mean to toss.   Last week, when Lester had the stroke, I apparently threw out my finger pincushion.  It’s hard to believe just how lost I was without it.  Thanks to my friend, I now have a new one.  This one is going to be very carefully taken care of and tucked away each evening after I finish stitching so that there’s no chance of it getting tossed out!

Lester is definitely on the mend.  Monday night he was spilling out of the kitty bed as he stretched and then slept in this position.

An hour or so later and Smudge had taken over the kitty bed.


Carpenter’s Wheel — Lots of Photos

Posted on by

15

A friend asked me how I’d make one of the Carpenter’s Wheel blocks so I decided to do a mini tutorial on it.  Smudge is watching intently.

The first thing I did was figure out what I needed to print, which was 8 diamonds for the centre star, 8 squares in the background fabric to surround the centre star, a total of 24 other diamonds for the frame around the star/square centre,  8 QSTs and 8 more squares in the background fabric, and 4 squares in another colour for the corners.  Once that was done, it took only minutes to print and then cut out my pieces.

The first step was to make the centre star.

The next step is to add the 8 squares around the centre star.  As I hand piece, I look for these continuous stitching possibilities.  Two lengths of thread later and all the squares were added.

Pressing after each round isn’t normally something I do, but this time I did.

The next step is to make the frame of diamonds that will surround the centre star/squares.  As I was using two colours, I first stitched the purple diamond pairs and then added the orange diamonds in between and continued joining them until I had the frame ready.

Another opportunity for lots of continuous stitching and a few threads later, the frame is added.  In fact, it went so fast that I had started to add the final squares and QSTs around the block before I remembered to take this picture.

The final step is to add the background squares and QSTs around the perimeter. Again, lots of continuous stitching.  When adding the squares and QSTs, I left the corner squares until the end so that I could take advantage of the continuous stitching opportunities and then went back and added the 4 final squares.

It presses beautifully and lies flat as can be.  Because of the perfect stitching lines and matching points printed with Inklingo, making this block is not difficult at all.  I used the 6 inch LeMoyne Star collection to make my block, which finishes at 12″.

The fabrics I used for this block really had me out of my normal comfort zone as far as colour goes.  It was interesting stitching and now that it’s done, it’s on its way to a friend.

Lester found this whole thing so relaxing that he fell asleep!  He’s continuing to improve and has been playing with toys, is eating on his own and seems more like himself every day.