Oh Deer

It was an exciting morning here at the Three Cats Ranch, and Smitty had a chance to show off his best Kung Fu moves. We looked out the window and right outside there was a deer (a young buck) nibbling away at the tulips that are planted in the whiskey barrels.

Mike tapped at the window and even went outside to shoo him away, but he was pretty bold! Usually they run like the wind when a human shows up, but this guy seemed pretty unperturbed with our petty protestations (awesome alliteration).

He moved off a little ways, even turning on his lasers to let us know he wasn't a bit afraid of us.

Well, about that time, Smitty caught sight of him and gave chase. The conversation between the deer and Smitty went something like this:

Hey! Get away from my outdoor litter box, you lily-livered ruminant. Why, I oughta....I've eaten bigger critters than you!!!

About that time, the deer stopped and turned around, obviously curious about Smitty.

Hey...what kind of an animal are you anyway?

You better run, Bambi Britches, because we don't like your kind around here! 

And then the deer trotted off. Smitty stood guard for another hour or so before being completely satisfied that this interloper had loped off.

So. That was something.

After that I worked on my stitcheries and did some housework, and then I finished up the applique for the last two little campers.

And then I did all the top-stitching. Here's the original:

Here's mine:

Here's the original:

And this one is mine. I used a triple stitch for the "trees," or whatever they are.  I thought I might use a satin stitch for the "poles", but then I just laid down row after row of triple stitch, and it worked out pretty well. I don't usually do this, but I backed each block with an OESD mesh stabilizer because I knew that machine stitching would give me puckers if I didn't.

Here's the original of the next one:

Here's mine:

I have the blocks trimmed to 8-1/2 inches square right now, but I might make them smaller. I really want the trees to go all the way to the top of the block as they are in the original. The panel I'm trying to cover in our trailer is 18 x 22, and so I can cut them fairly small and still have plenty of coverage once I add borders and sashings.

Here's the original of the last one:

And here's mine. On this one, the "trunks" were a little wider, and so they are appliqued while the "branches" are done with a triple stitch.

I used hot fix nailheads for all of the door knobs.

My plan is to put a narrow stop border around each block and then use the trailer fabric for the borders and sashing. I was trying to decide what color to use for the stop border, and at first, I laid them out like this...just auditioning the colors, you understand:

And about that time, Mike came in and was pretty clear that he thought it was too busy. I had to agree. I really love that trailer fabric, however, and so I tried putting a black border as the stop border around the blocks.

I like that better. I think the absence of color is better than any other color I could choose. I'll most likely give it a black binding too.

So that's how I left it today. I won't be doing any sewing tomorrow because I'm going to an all-day long-arm class at my LQS. I'll probably get the Happy Camper quilt top finished on Tuesday. As for my long-arm class, I have my sampler quilt top and back made and packed up, and I'm ready to go. It's a small class...only three plus the instructor, I'm told, and so my inner introvert isn't feeling as apprehensive as she usually does. It is going to be a long day, however. Hopefully, I'll be having so much fun that the time will pass quickly.

Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll know it's because I'm tuckered out from my day of long arm learning. I'll most likely take pictures, however, and so I'll tell you all about it when I get back.