4/24/12

That's What Friends Are For

Looking for my giveaway?  Click here.


It's Good To Have Friends


There's nothing better than blogging to keep one from a hated task like grocery shopping.  So thank you, thank you, thank you, for being my best demotivating friends . . . . not that I was ever motivated, you understand.  Clearly, I have my priorities, and showing you what George and I have been up to is high on the list.  Grocery shopping? Not so high on the list.  I will have to go, but you understand my wanting to put it off as long as possible, don't you?

First, I have to show you what came in the mail yesterday.  Ms. Katy who blogs over at Plethora of Pinatas, sent me these sweet little mini quilts honoring the current cat residents here at the Three Cats Ranch.  Aren't these adorable?



And they came with this card explaining her choices of fabrics and embellishments.  Too cute!



Thank you, Katy.  Hugs back!  They are very special to me.  It was so kind and generous of you to make them for me.

These are definitely going into the Cat Wall of Fame that hangs in my two stairwells.  I've blogged before about the two stairwells in my house.  They are dark narrow hallways that happen to be stairways.  I decided long ago that I wanted to cover all four walls with nothing but cat quilts.  I'm off to a good start.  Whenever I mention this, people want to see the cat walls.  Because the stairways are narrow, I can't really back up to get a good picture of them, but I'll endeavor to give you a little peek, poor photograph though it is.  From the top looking down . . . 


And from the bottom looking up . . . 


That was the stairway that leads from the main floor to the downstairs (where my sewing room is).  The stairs that lead from the main floor up have just this one quilt hanging.  I've shown it to you before, but just to complete the thought about the Cat Wall of Fame, I'll show it to you again.  


When I finish the Mr. Bear quilt I have a new embroidered cat quilt I'm going to start on, but I'll save that for another post.

Friends Make Surprises Fun


So, because I'm excellent at keeping secrets (not), I'm going to reveal the mystery project that I managed to keep secret for all of a day or two.  When I posted the picture of the backing fabric as a hint, my friend Lisa (who happens to be a teacher) knew right away that it was for her.


That must be why she's a teacher . . . because she's so smart.  So then I made a half-hearted attempt to give only sneak peeks at the project.  And then, because Lisa whined, begged, and pleaded with me I'm terrible at keeping secrets, I asked her if she wanted to see it.  It's a good thing she said yes because otherwise I would have been the one doing the whining, begging, and pleading.  And I hate that, don't you?  So, because my fingers can barely type in anticipation of revealing the so-called secret, here it is:


Lisa teaches 4th grade at the Idyllwild school and their mascot is the "Mountain Lions".  The name above the door and the banner behind the airplane will be hand embroidered with those words.  When it's all quilted, I'm going to add some yo-yo flowers around the fence and grass.  I might add some other button embellishments too, but I haven't decided on those yet.  There will also be a button for the doorknob.  I'm going to quilt it rather simply, some stippling in the grass, long rays for the sun, pebbling in the sidewalk, and some lines for the boards in the school house.  Oh yes, and the black checked fabric will go all the way around for the binding.  Cute huh?  When I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make it for Lisa.

Some of My Friends are Cats

George had a positively terrible day yesterday.  He had to go to the V-E-T.  He doesn't like that at all.  His appointment wasn't until later in the afternoon, and so we went outside in the morning.  We would have walked in the woods, but our neighbor was banging around on his property, and that was offensive to George's tender ears.  We decided to stay up near the house.

Poor George has an autoimmune disorder called pemphigus.  It's a horrible skin disease, and it has plagued George for most of his life.  It took a long time to get a correct diagnosis, and now we give him steroids to control it.  Sadly, we seem to have to give him the steroids more and more frequently to keep it controlled.  He has had a really persistent lesion since before Thanksgiving.  The vet has looked at it before, but didn't really have anything new to add.  She said to check back if it didn't get better.  Now a couple of months have gone by.  Every time we think it's getting better, it starts looking worse again, so yesterday we had her take another look at it.  I've been photoshopping this out of the images I've posted of George, but here's a little look see so you can see what I'm talking about.

Can you see that large bald patch on his back?  It extends from shoulder to shoulder and it's about two inches wide and scabbed over.  Poor guy.


I know.  It burns your eyes to look at it, doesn't it.  Here's some salve to get that image out of your eyes.


Well, George was pretty put out about being loaded into a cage and driven down the hill, and he spent the rest of the afternoon hiding out under the table, refusing to even look in my direction.


The vet gave us some oral antibiotics that contain a steroid to give in addition to his other medicine.  She also gave us some ointment to rub on it.  We don't know if that will help, but it's worth a try.  He's forgiven us today, but he still seems a little lethargic and hung over after such a humiliating ordeal.


Some Things that are Totally Non-Friend Related


I finished up the fourth block for the Promises & Borders BOM.  It still needs borders.


And the black floss I was waiting for came yesterday, so I was able to finish up the 2nd block for the Vintage Miniature Sewing Machines BOM.  This one also needs borders.


And Sometimes Even Friends Can't Postpone the Inevitable


Darn.  Grocery store, here I come.  As soon as I do something else first.




19 comments:

Mrs.Pickles said...

lovely post. Sorry to hear about George I hope the new creams help!

Rachel said...

Love all of the quilts. The kitty quilts are adorable! The schoolhouse quilt is amazing! Poor George :-) I feel for him....

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

The school house quilt is just adorable! The little quilts of Gracie and George are precious - what a wonderful gift to receive. Sorry to hear about George's ailments and hopefully the new meds will help. We are scheduled to go grocery shopping tomorrow evening - YUCK!!

WoolenSails said...

Wonderful kitty surprises from a friend. My house is a bit over run with cat pieces and collectibles, lol. Your friend is going to love her gift, perfect piece for a teacher.

Poor George, it is so hard to see them suffer.

Debbie

JoAnn SweetPepperRose said...

Sweet gifts, cute quilt idea and love the frames!
JoAnn

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Great kitty quilts. I also love your school house quilt. Give George a hug....poor kitty.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Poor little guy! I hope the medicine helps quickly. I do like the cat wall, cats being my favorite. Keep us posted on how the medicine is doing.

Teresa in Music City said...

You are SO creative with your little quilts!!! I wish I had an ounce of that creativity! Very much enjoyed the tour of your "cat" walls - what a great idea! Poor George!!! I hope the new meds help him poor little fellow! It's just not fair for such a great guy to have to suffer such nonsense!

Diane Wild said...

I love the cat wall, too. You should have a Mr. Linky so we can share our cat quilts. I did one of each of my cats. Hope George feels better soon.

LethargicLass said...

I love the "four seasons cats"... I haven't seen it before... So glad you like your gift! And whenever I think about hating grocery shopping, I remember how much I love food LOL!

quiltzyx said...

Poor George. I do hope the new stuff gives him some relief.

The little schoolhouse quilt is PERFECT! Lisa will think of you every time she sees it in her classroom. :D

p.s. I hate grocery shopping too, although I did a little bit today when I was out running other errands.

The Thimblemouse of Country Crossroads said...

Just when I think I can't possibly fit another idea in my head - I read your blog and now I need a wall of cat cuties - we have a house of furries, and yet, I'm so ashamed, not one on the wall :) Love all your pics - and sending George some Florida lovin' - we have an alley friend behind our quilt shop that I put cream on every day - slowly we're getting there.
PS...so love to read a blog that thinks like me :)

kc said...

Poor, poor George!! Sending him some Texas sunshine & big ole hugs to help him heal!! And hopes that the new cream helps!

Love the idea of the cat walls - they must really brighten up the place. And the schoolhouse quilt is adorable (but I think I've already told you that) - thank you for sharing it with us already!! I'm so glad Lisa said YES and begged and whined till you revealed it!!

I love grocery shopping tho - it's time away from the sewing machine, yes, but it's also time spent with hubs, and we have THE BEST produce dept - we no longer have a real garden, so I really enjoy spending time in our produce dept, looking at all the beautiful colors & arrangements of products. (plus, it's really inexpensive, compared to some areas!)

And then there's all the sampling!! Whoa boy, you could come away full, if you wanted to!! And the little wine sips they offer are just exactly the right size for me!! :) Just a taste is usually all I need or want!! Wish I could figure out a way to do it for you! Make yourself a real pretty market tote to carry your groceries home, and you'll instantly feel better about going shopping!

Wilma Lee said...

I want that puppy!!!!

mj said...

sorry to hear about lovely George. my baby has a similar disorder. when it flares up the vet gave me a topical steroid cream. helps and now it seems to have gone into remission since me moved homes. i hope the creams help sweet George.

Snoodles said...

I love your idea of decorating the stairwell....could use that here. Gears are turning! LOL
Your project for Lisa is adorable! Aww, give George a snuggle from us...poor lovie. Hope the antibiotics and ointment will help.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Poor George! Lisa's quilt is really cute! Loving that antique sewing machine embroidery.

Karen said...

I hope those new meds work for George. He is such a handsome fellow.

Those cat mini's from your friend are adorable!

Kate said...

Hope George starts to heal up with the new treatment. Poor kitty.

Love the School house mini quilt, very cute. Your new fabric pictures of Grace and George are fabulous, very nice likeness indeed!