4/26/17

Two Tuxedos

Well, I'll tell you what...quit a couple of projects, and the woman goes wild. I spent most of the morning yesterday cleaning up the sewing room. It wasn't too bad, but there were a few things that needed putting away. Then I was checking the projects listed on my white board. There are just five now where I'm still working on the blocks, along with four embroidery projects, and seven quilts to be quilted. Not too bad, for me, at least. There were also a couple of barely-started projects from classes I took long ago. I didn't like the classes much when I took them, and so what made me think I would ever finish the associated projects? I won't. And they are so outta here too.

One was from a class called "Transforming the Traditional". You can read about the class beginning right here. And this image shows the extent of what I accomplished in the class.


Then there was another barely started project from a hand applique class I took while I was still attending guild meetings. It was a rather unconventional way to do hand applique, and not really to my liking. The instructor called it "Quick Prep Hand Applique," but to my mind, it was anything but quick. You can read about the class right here. And this is the extent of what I had left from that class.


So you can see...hardly worth crying over, and that takes care of all my NGFI (Never Gonna Finish It) projects. Phew! I feel light as a feather now. I'm actually having a hard time keeping my feet on the ground. Who needs dieting?

With that finished, I got to work on the next of the Tuxedo Tales blocks. I wasn't just kidding when I said my next projects were going to be something involving cats. This was originally a block of the month. It was tempting to do the April block, but then I decided to take them in order, and so the next block is from February.


These were originally created to be done with wool, but mine are going to be done with quilter's cotton. Mostly, I'm using scraps from my stash. When I had it all fused down, it looked like this.


The stitching lines were drawn in with chalk and pencil and the buttons are just there for the picture.

Just then, another cat got in on the act.

Wait a minute. What did I just see? Are you sewing a cat?


Well that is just purrposterous. What self-respecting cat would let a purrd just sit on his head like that? 


These sewing cats just don't know how to purrform like cats. Purrsonally, I'd have that thing for lunch.


When all the stitching and embellishing was finished, it looked like this. 


This one happens to be machine stitched. The January block had quite a bit of hand embroidery in it.


March's block does as well, and just when I thought I was all finished embroidering bees.


Smitty was so disgusted by that cat, he decided to take a nap.


The only other thing I did yesterday was to round the second corner in Mumm's the Word. The border is about 30% quilted, but 50% of the corners are finished!


Next up, I have another kitty pawtrait to do. This cat belongs to my friend, Robin. His name is The Emperor. Fitting, don't you think?


Isn't he a fine looking tuxedo cat? He should be fairly easy to do after having done Miss Speckled Sadie. The Emperor's fur is fairly uniform in color. And what a fine set of whiskers he has! Those will be stitched in at the end. I've pulled quite a few fabrics from the gray bin, which will serve to create a little shading. Mainly he'll be done in black and white with some pretty green batik eyes and a nice pink nose. I can usually finish one of these in a few days, and so I'm hoping to have him finished before the weekend is over.

The next Solstice block is due to be released today, and I'm excited to say that our farmers created a "Hunger Gap" CSA share. They just finished the last of their winter CSA shares. We didn't purchase a share over the winter because, frankly, I need a little break from the challenge of using all the veggies from the summer share. The 2017 summer share won't start until mid-May, and so they're offering a one time only share of veggies between winter and summer that I'll pick up today. Having taken the winter off, I'm more than ready to get started again. Also, we'll probably miss the beginning of the summer share, but the kids will enjoy it on our behalf.

So that's it from me. It's hump day. Day after tomorrow, and Mike will be a free man!


15 comments:

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

Maybe you should have a NGFI Linky Party! It does make you feel lighter when you can toss a project you are never going to work on again.
Congratulations on Mike's retirement. My hubby retired 11 days ago. We're looking forward to what's upcoming.
You reminded me that I have my Tuxedo's Tales kits sitting in a project box...somewhere. I think I completed through March (last year!). I really need to pull it out and work on it.
Love The Emperor! Have fun with his portrait.

allthingzsewn said...

How cute, I'm going to look these up. I would like to see Sadie too. I'm going to see if I can locate her on your blog. These cat portraits sound very interesting.

Californianativedaughter said...

OMG!
The Emperor Fling looks just like our new addition, Joshua, only his white on his face is on the other side! They could've been litter mates. We adopted him at a no-kill shelter: http://www.petsinneed.org He's a sweet cat and has many pleasing characteristics like our Gus who looked like you Smitty. We miss him, but Joshua reminds us of him so often, sweet & cuddly, but very smart!

Rosemary

Donna~~ said...

Your cats are wonderful. I would love to make those too--I'll add them to my millions of unfinished things. :) Maybe I should toss a few things I don't like from my sewing room too, so I can go wild? You've got me thinking....

Donna~~ said...

That back basting seems quite slow, but I do use front basting and like it A LOT. I do it by machine with a normal size stitch and pick out as I go, so it really isn't basting. It sounds awful, but it isn't bad at all, and it keeps a project all together nicely for travel. It's really nice when there is a complicated piece (say one elaborate design) on a background. Takes a bit to sew through the piece (I just iron on the design), but then it's there, no slipping or sliding or markings wearing off.

WoolenSails said...

You really got a lot done, a bit at a time and you will have some beautifully finished quilts.

Debbie

liniecat said...

Loving the Tuxedo characters ..... naturally Smitty will have his own idea about any extra cats about the place lol

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Love the Tuxedo blocks! And a Tuxie pawtrait in the works as well. Aw, Smitty - Moe would agree with whole heartedly - birds are for eating!

Brown Family said...

Another good choice. I did not fully understand the object of either class. You described them very well, but I just did not feel the love! On to something fun!


The Tuxedo Tales is so cute. The Emperor is a very handsome fellow. Sorry, Smitty, you are handsome, too!

Sarah said...

Love those tuxie BOM blocks. So adorable. Im really looking foward to your tuxie portrait tho, as I have a tuxie at my house.

piecefulwendy said...

Those tuxedo cat blocks are so cute! What a fun project after tossing some of those others! The Emperor is a handsome fellow. It will be fun to see how you put his quilt together. One more day now, right?

Lana said...

The Emperor is so cute. My daughter has a tuxedo cat. Can't wait to see his pawtrait. And can I say....."I LOVE CATS!"......and anything cat related! Lol. Loving those tuxedo cat blocks......and all your other cat related "stuff".....including Smitty's and Sadie's antics.

Robin said...

I am the mom of The Emperor. I got him as an adult male cat from a woman I work with, apparently he was dumped. I checked that neighborhood for days looking for signs of anyone looking for him. He was scared, underweight and grateful to be warm and fed. I took him to the vet, he was not chipped nor did they have any info on a missing cat. I truly believe he was dumped. I love him and he loves me...sleeps on my bed every night and all the wonderful things cats do. Oh, he's my first cat. My adult children gave him that name. Yeah, no idea why. Something to do with how I treat him and all the towers and toys I've purchased just for him. Ok, whatever, he's mine and I love him. Thank you all for the kind words. This is the only blog I've ever communicated on and I feel so honored and privileged to hear your kind words. I'm not joking, this warms my heart.

quiltzyx said...

How lucky you are Robin, to have Barbara doing a portrait of your Emperor! He is also lucky to have you!

More beeeessszzzzzzzzzz! Cute. Love the Tuxedos so far.

Junebug613 said...

How liberated you must feel! Those two class projects didn't look very enticing. I applaud your decision to move on to something more fun. Isn't that one of those organizational tools? "if it doesn't bring you joy, discard it", I think there's something like that anyway. I love the BOM tuxedo blocks and The Emperor is a striking fellow. Can't wait to keep reading to see how his portrait comes out. I could keep you busy with my cats! Sadly we lost our Multi in May, but we still have 8 more, if you ever are looking for project inspiration. As if!