Construction Complete on all Fronts

When I left off yesterday, we'd just returned from getting the final of the final of the final supplies for the catio. I think the most difficult part of this project has been collecting supplies! There was some prep work required before the roof panels could begin to be mounted on the rafters...mainly, trying to remove stickers from them. Mike tried no less than five different compounds, including lighter fluid, alcohol, denatured alcohol, turpentine, and paint thinner to remove them before he gave up and scraped them off with a razor blade. When that was done, the roof construction was under way.

It took much longer to remove the stickers than it did to actually complete the roof, and so it was finished in pretty short order.

It has an end cap at the edge, and it looks really nice.

Here's how it looks from above, and check out the clearance under the gutter there. Phew! Close call.

The sun was intense by then, and Mike was pretty well done in by the heat. Fortunately, I'd thought ahead and made some coffee slushie stuff to make Frozen Frangelico Coffee with Cream. So yummy. I've made this before, but never think far enough ahead. The coffee must first be chilled, then frozen after the Frangelico is added. The cream is made from whipping cream and maple syrup. It's very flavorful.

The only thing left to do at that point was to hang the door...and, done!

Sadie was grateful for her first excursion outside in nearly two weeks. She's still kind of a scaredy cat, and so we had to coax her outside with some food. 

Smitty just seemed completely confused.

WTF? Is THIS what you've been going on about for a month?!? And you thought I was going to like it?!?

In my cool basement sewing room, I was busy finishing up the Pawtrait of Scooter. I first needed to top-stitch down all the pieces. For that I used both a clear and a smoky monofilament thread with a 60/8 microtex needle. It's hard to see the stitching, and that's the point.

It's a little easier to see from the back. I always stitch through the batting, but I won't put the back on until I'm ready to quilt it.

After that, I switched to regular cotton thread and used my stitch regulator to free motion embroider/paint in the shading. Also, I added a line for the mouth and outlined the eyes, adding some lines for the iris of the eyes. I took a picture here because the only thing left to stitch was the eye spot, and I wanted you to see how much it lights up the eyes. So here it is with no eye-spot.

Here it is with the eyespot.

See how that tiny addition brings life to the eyes? I've always done this with French knots, but yesterday I decided to lay down some tiny stitches side by side using my sewing machine. I like that better.

Also, I traced out Block #5 for the Bee-utiful Quilt-A-Long. This one is called Bee Industrious. I'm still working on Block #4, but I should finish it up this morning.

While it was tempting to finish off Scooter, it was late in the day, and so I decided to wait until this morning. Then, I woke up thinking about it at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. At 4:00, I decided I might as well get up and finish it. So I added the backing, quilted it, and bound it. That was pretty quick since the piece is only 8 1/2 x 12 inches.

For comparison's sake, here's the original image I was working from.

And I decided to add this bit of doggy wisdom to the quilt back. If I'm remembering correctly, I won a fat quarter bundle of these fabrics last year. I have them in all colors.

So now that's done. And kitties have been out enjoying the catio this morning. I have to sneak up on Sadie with the camera because she runs away the instant she sees me...unless there are treats in the deal, of course.

She must be feeling pretty comfortable, because she just laid down on the cool deck for a while.

Smitty still cannot believe how messed up this is.

We'll be adding shelves, a kitty tree, and other ways for the kitties to get up higher and off the deck surface the way they like it. We're still investigating options. I'm also going to put a pot of catnip out here, and I believe I can get a pot of kitty greens at the pet store. Also, we'll probably put some kind of indoor/outdoor carpeting to make it nicer for lying on. The deck can get hot in the sunshine. It's all just in the thinking and planning stages now, so we haven't made any firm decisions about what or how much to furnish this.

For today it's going to get warmer, and so I need to get out and water the annuals, feed the birds, and get in a walk before it heats up too much. After that, my basement sewing room will be the coolest place in the house. I'm hoping to get a start on the baby quilt I'm making for my cousin's granddaughter today.