Tag Archives: cats

Tools for Piecing

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A couple of weeks ago, Crispy wrote about her favourite scissors.  I thought I’d do the same.

Those numbered 1 are a pair of Gingher stork scissors that I love for cutting embroidery threads.  I remember my mother had a pair of stork scissors, although I have no idea what happened to them.

The ones numbered 2 are a pair of Omnigrid scissors that are my favourites.  I use them constantly.  They have super fine blades, super sharp tips and cut through fabric beautifully.  Because they are so sharp right to the tips, it’s wonderfully easy to make perfectly accurate cuts.

Number 3 — a tiny pair of scissors given to me by a wonderful friend and always kept in my kit for stitching on the go, whether on the roof garden or elsewhere. They are the perfect addition to a stitching kit.

Numbers 4 and 5 are a set of Dovo scissors.  They’re pretty and they feel good in the hand, but they do not cut anywhere near as well as the Omnigrid pair.  I find they actually don’t cut through fabric cleanly at all.  They’ve hardly been used because of that.  I keep thinking they must be a lemon set as so many people seem to love Dovo scissors.  I’ve frequently thought I should take them somewhere to be sharpened and see if that makes a difference.  Has anyone had any experience with having scissors sharpened?  Is it worth pursuing that idea?

Number 6 are fine for clipping threads and are bright so I generally can find them easily.  I picked them up at the Creativ Festival for next to nothing along with the thread snips referred to below.

The three items above the six pairs of scissors are my absolute must-haves when hand piecing.  I’m totally lost without the finger pincushion.  At first, I didn’t think I would get used to it but within an hour after first starting to use it, I was sold.  Now I don’t start stitching until it’s on my finger.  The grey blob is the thimble I use for hand piecing. The thread snips are another tool I always reach for.  While I will use scissors if necessary to cut thread when hand piecing, the snips are the better solution for me.

Monday was a wonderful summery day and today promises to be more of the same, with a humidex reading in the low 30s Celsius.  It appears most of the week will be warm, although rather rainy.  Lester was enjoying the warmth on the windowsill Monday.

Smudge, on the other hand, was snoozing on the couch.

Pickled Ladies 8 and 9

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Stitching these blocks is well underway for this week.  First, this rich red one.  And its back:

This one isn’t quite the right colour, as it’s more a green than the brown it appears in this photo.

And its back:

On Saturday we were out doing some shopping.  As we were coming home, we ended up behind a Model T truck much like the one below that was in absolutely fabulous shape.  The truck had some wooden alcohol barrels rolling around the back. Although we didn’t realize this when we were behind it, but did when we pulled up beside it, inside the cab were a man and woman dressed in prohibition era clothing. That was when we saw “Boardwalk Empire” written on its side.

Ford Model T Truck

Image via Wikipedia

We had great weather on the weekend — a lovely late summer weekend and, from the sounds of our forecast, we will have a few more days of summer-like temperatures this week. The cats, however, are in their fall/winter snooze mode. Lester with a teddy bear and frog:

And Smudge in a kitty bed with a couple of toys nearby.

A Week of Clamshells in Review

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The pickled clams of one sort or another have clearly taken over!  Thanks to Inklingo, these blocks are very simple to stitch — but without it, I can’t imagine tackling them.  Another four of the pickled star clams were added this week, creating a new blue star at the intersection.  It’s difficult to get a good shot without a design wall as it is growing rather quickly.  I’m thinking it’s not going to take long to make this lap quilt as this one is being made with the 11″ clamshells.

A close-up of the little star shows that it too has a very gentle curve along one edge of each piece.

The back.

All the Pickled Ladies done so far.  There are another 15 or so fussy cut/printed clamshells waiting for their arcs.   On the weekend, I’m going to go through more of the shabby chic fabrics looking for others that will work for the fussy cutting/printing.

Thursday was a rainy, dark, dismal day and the kitties were snoozing.  However, earlier in the week we took a series of photos of each of them on the windowsill. Lester was looking out the window.

While Smudge was posing and showing off his magnificent tail.

Pickled Ladies Block 7

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Another block with another favourite fabric.  There are all sorts of different elements in this fabric, so I may well fussy cut another part of it for another one of the looped lasses aka pickled ladies.

The back:

Window replacements, where necessary, are done every fall.  Over the past few days, we’ve seen the ropes from the swing stage the workers use.  The other day it was obvious that they’d be going by our window so we thought they might get a laugh out of three little teddy bears lined up watching them.   We’re used to the window cleaners doing double takes when they see one of the cats.  I remember one of the window washers saying to his partner on the swing stage something along the lines of, “Look, there’s a lion in there!” when he caught sight of Lester who sat staring out at him, completely unperturbed.  Smudge, on the other hand, will hide under the bed the minute he sees the ropes.

Ideas for the fall quilt are flying through my mind.  This weekend I’m going to spend some time working with EQ again and see if I can sort out the design idea that is forming in my mind that way.  If not, paper and coloured pencils are my next choice.

Wednesday was a lovely mild day.  Lester spent some time on the windowsill.

While Smudge was working on his fall sleeping poses — this one almost qualifies as a headless cat pose, but not quite.

Fall Fabric & Pickled Lady 6

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A fall or a leaf quilt has never been something that I’ve thought of doing.  But then I came across these fabrics in my stash.  They are so perfect for a fall quilt that I can’t resist them.  What kind of pattern, though?  I remember some of the wonderful Japanese hexagon quilts I’ve seen online and in books and keep thinking that perhaps some hexagons falling on to the ground might be my version of a fall quilt. Maybe.

Or perhaps a Winding Ways quilt.  I’m leaning towards that as I’d love to make something in the Winding Ways pattern again, but this time with the smaller blocks. There’s a cream batik in my stash that would work with these fabrics.  Starting the fall quilt won’t happen immediately as I really want to keep going with the Pickled Ladies  and the Pickled Clam Star blocks, but these fabrics are going to be kept together and a note is now in my ideas book.

The sixth Pickled Lady block is done.  Again in a favourite fabric.

The back:

Tuesday was a gloriously sunny day and both kitties were watching out the window. Smudge at one end:

And Lester at the other:

Pickled Ladies 5

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Another blue one — and another favourite print.  I’ve had this fabric in my shabby chic stash for ages and have used little pieces of it in every shabby chic quilt I’ve made.

The back:

Monday started out rather cool but turned into a lovely mild sunny day.  That said, the heat  was back on when the sun went down.  I suppose I really shouldn’t find this so surprising as it’s not uncommon for us to go from having heat on in the morning to having the a/c on by afternoon in May or June, but it just seems like fall arrived very suddenly this year.

Lester is still finding the windowsill attractive as there are still lots of birds out on the roof garden for him to watch.

Smudge, on the other hand, is all about finding spots where he can curl up and snooze.

Pickled Ladies Blocks 2 and 4

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The second block was redone with a more solid black for the triangles, and I like the effect much more.  Compare that to how it looked before:

Pickled Ladies 4 is, I think, so far my favourite.  I absolutely love this floral print.

We are definitely into fall weather with very cool nights — so cool, in fact, that we are finding we have to turn the heat on once the sun has gone down.  It seems unbelievably early to be turning the heat on.  This week is going to be quite cool, by the sounds of it, so I’m guessing we may have to have heat on during the day as well some days.

The cats were definitely finding cozy spots to curl up and have a nap during the weekend.  Smudge on a chair:

Lester with a teddy bear:

Pickled Ladies Quilt, Block 3

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Block 2 is probably going to be taken apart and redone with black triangles that have little white, if any.   When I look at this block and the first one I showed on Tuesday, I like them better than the one shown Wednesday.

The back:

The baseball game was fun, although the Jays lost.  At least we saw Bautista hit a home run, his 44th of the season.  We had amazing seats, 11 rows up from the field and so close to the field on the third base side that we could hear the home plate umpire.  The thing that struck me most was how much the television cameras distort what we see when watching the games on television.  The players, when shown on television, look much bigger than they are.  Seeing them in person I realized just how many pounds the camera does actually add!  This photo was taken at one of Bautista’s at-bats, but not the one when he hit the home run.

When we got home, I came up while Mr. Q.O. went to the store across the street.  Lester was waiting for us.

Smudge was rather relaxed.

Pickled Star Clams

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This was one of the other ideas that I couldn’t resist with the Pickled Clamshell collections.  At each intersection of 4 pickled clamshells a little sparkly star will appear.  For this one, I’m using the 11″ size and plan on making it 66″ x 66″.  I’m using four colours for the little stars — lime green, a darker green, blue and purple. There are starfish so I figure these are star clams, even if they are pickled!  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, the star shows up a bit better.

Because I’m using four different colours for the little stars, sorting out which colour to use for each end piece in the arcs was my first step.  With each of the Clamshell Pickle collections there are layout pages which are invaluable when planning a quilt like this.  I worked out my colour placement over the weekend, and started stitching.  As I complete each pickled clam, I check it off on the layout page and can tell at a glance what pieces to use at the ends of the next arc.  The back:

Wednesday was a rather unsettled day — cool with sunshine in the morning which was quickly replaced by clouds and windy conditions in the afternoon.   We have tickets for the Jays game tonight and, as I don’t think it will be very warm at all, I’ll be grateful the roof is closed!

Wednesday was a find a cozy spot and snooze day for the kitties.  Lester in one cat bed.

And Smudge in another with a toy or two close by.

Pickled Ladies Quilt, Block 1

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The new clamshell pickle collections have me completely enthralled.  I immediately had at least three different ideas, one of which will involve  my favourite shabby chic fabrics and some Oriental prints.  I’m calling it Pickled Ladies as there’s a story that goes along with it which I will eventually write and share.  The first of the Pickled Ladies is shown above.

The back:

I’m fussy cutting/printing the clamshells.  It’s quite quick to do as I printed out one clamshell on a piece of paper cut down to the right size for printing just one shape, Mr. Q.O. cut out the interior of it and I have a window template which makes it very simple to figure out how to cut the fabrics and have a flower or other item as the centre of the clamshell.

The baby quilt top is finished, pressing is partially done and I’m still hunting for the flannel backing for it.  As soon as it’s quilted, which I expect will only take a weekend or two, we’ll get good pictures of it.

Labour Day weekend was chilly.  In fact, so chilly that on Monday we turned the heat on for a bit.  It’s too bad that it was chilly, windy and rainy as so many people head to cottage country for that one last summer long weekend.  Of course, today it’s supposed to be quite warm and humid again — typical of the weather here, as I can’t remember a year when, on the first day of school, we weren’t all roasting by the time school was over.

Smudge was curled up on the pink chair.

Lester was also on the pink chair … at the same time.