4/1/20

Lackluster Day

No news is good news, as they say, and I have very little to report. As I mentioned yesterday, I was heading out for a "short" trip to the grocery store. Before I left yesterday, Erik called to ask about our toilet paper situation. (I just love meaningful conversations with my sons, don't you?) He was aware we had a plentiful supply, and he and Mae were nearly out. No problem, of course. I had some to spare. He had another outing planned to Target, and hoped to find his own, but I was going to check at our store too.

I first stopped off at a vegetable market in town. They sell only vegetables and fruits. It's a little like a privately-owned farmers market. I picked up my produce there. They also had strawberries. Matthew has requested angelfood cake with strawberry topping for his birthday cake tomorrow, and so it was good to find fresh strawberries...ripe ones, even.

After that, I headed off to the small grocery store, located just down the street from the vegetable stand. There, I picked up most of my groceries, and checked the toilet paper aisle. I found none. I texted Erik to let him know it was a no-go, and he hadn't found any at Target either. Also, I found no mascarpone cheese, which I needed for a recipe, and so that meant going to the larger grocery store (my usual store) at the other end of town. While there, I checked again for TP...annnnnnnnnd SCORE!


There were two packages left on the shelf, with a limit of one per customer. From there I had to walk to the far end of the store to look for cat food. When I came back about five minutes later, the last package was gone. You know it's been a lackluster day when I start blogging about toilet paper. Haven't we all moved the bar that measures a good time to a seriously low position in all of this?

Also, I was happy to find zucchini seeds. I'd read about a seed shortage recently, and it seems seeds are on the “panic buying” list now. We want to plant a garden this year, but when I went to my usual online source for seeds, I found them sold out of residential quantities of some of the things I wanted. I purchased different varieties from the old standbys, but couldn’t find any zucchini except in farm-sized packets. (My friend Marei requested that I not plant a farm-sized amount of zucchini, which I took to be good advice.) I planned to look at a local feed store this week, but found them at the grocery store. I can cross one less worry off my list. It would be disastrous if I couldn't plant zucchini, wouldn't you agree?

So, back home again, I finished stitching the face on the cat.


The collar is three-dimensional. It lays flat, but wasn't tacked down until I stitched the whiskers over the top. And then, I was to add a button to each corner. I'd say that's one dapper cat with his button-down collar and tie, wouldn't you?


That was all the sewing I did yesterday. I'm going to cut all the little sashing blocks and sew them around it before I move on to the next thing. I'd like to do them a little at a time, rather than all at once. I've been sewing for days and days, and all that cutting makes my left wrist hurt. Holding the ruler gives me tendonitis. So, I gave my wrist a break and immobilized it. I can still feel it a little this morning, but I'll probably get back to sewing anyway.

Speaking of "moving on," it's time to set a goal for April's


As I've mentioned, I'm working away at a bag of bonus triangles. I'd like to sew them into a quilt top before month's end, but I'm not sure I can get it accomplished. Instead, I think I'll set as my goal to finish quilting and binding the pansy mosaic. That would be my quilt finish for the month.


It's all sandwiched and ready to go. It shouldn't take too long. Binding strips are already cut, if I'm remembering right. It'll be good to get this one finished. This was a pattern by Jane Kakaley. As I was writing this, I looked for images of pansies I might use a guides for quilting. In the process, I found this article from the Vancouver Sun all about pansies with several pretty pictures. Check it out! Or don't...I'm not trying to boss you around. I would never do that.

Today I have some housework to catch up on, and then I'll get back to the sashing for the tall cat. Also, I'll get back to the Appalachian Memories block for today's slow-stitching. I missed stitching it yesterday in favor of the cat. Cats. Their needs always come first, even when they're made of fabric.

16 comments:

works4me said...

I have made the centre cat. Because of the tie, his name is Thomas. Not Tom, Thomas. :) Thomas is a top that I really need to turn into a quilt.

Congratulations on the toilet paper score. Wow, those are words I never thought I would write. I went shopping yesterday and got about half my list - no vinegar, no flour, at all, no TP. The produce department seems to be okay and we are eating well because of that. Because we moved to a condo recently, I was eager and got all my veggie seeds at the beginning of March. Who knew?

Petsies to Smitty and Sadie, as if they don't get enough already. :)

Unknown said...

I found toilet paper at the dollar stores. I was actually looking for something else and the shelves were full.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

It really is funny (not) about the TP excitement - we scored some yesterday as well. I hadn't thought about the seeds, but I think it's wonderful that more people will be 'victory' gardening. There has been discussion of a community garden in the empty lot where the firehouse use to be (location changed due to storm Irene). I will be supporting our local farmers for sure.

Sally Trude said...

The hoarding masses have Bob’s Red Mill cleaned out Keep your yeast alive because I think that is getting hard to find along with raisins and peanut butter. I ran into the same problem with seeds at the beginning of March and hopefully “backordered until March 29” doesn’t turn into “out of stock.” i personally have all my money riding on coffee and chocolate.

Lynette said...

Holy smokes!! Your pansy mosaic is amazingly gorgeous. :D

Julierose said...

that cat is "the cat's pajamas!" [groan] but i can see it would be a whole lot of cutting involved. Rest that wrist...
I love that pansy mosaic...great colors in there...beautiful work on it.
~ ~ ~ ~waving in the winds from here to there..Julierose

Cathy said...

My daughter's Target had the toilet paper and paper towels in with the bedding, so Erik might want to check other parts of the store. BTW, I read your posts everyday and really enjoy them, but rarely comment.

Lyndsey said...

I was seriously starting to get worried about you all. What was wrong with the Cat Patches team that there was so much information abut toilet paper? Why hadn't the kitties sent out distress calls? Ahh no need to worry the world righted itself further down the post. That cat block is very cute and he is a dapper fellow. I liked the pattern when you posted it the other day but looking at your first block it is going to be a fabulous quilt and just what we need in these troubling times

Gretchen Weaver said...

Love the cat block! He's really dapper.

Linda said...

We are also finding some odd things that are scarce at the stores, including seeds. Yes it is funny that we are talking to our sons about toilet paper! I never thought I'd hear him ask about our TP supply. We scored a package or two early on, but they are off brands that are, well . . . way too thin.
Pansy mosaic is beautiful. Did you back it with the pansy fabric you used on Stitched Inchies?
I love pansies, but our deer love them also!

piecefulwendy said...

Well, I'm sorry you had to go to more stores than planned, just to find TP. Who knew shopping was going to be like this? I'm glad you have those fun cat blocks to work on. I'm sure the kitties approve.

kc said...

Never thought the day would come when shopping for everyday items would be so challenging. Used to be, we didn't have enough money to purchase the items, but they were always plentiful. Now, for today anyway, I've got enough money, but items are scarce. Thank goodness for cute and dapper cats! Only way that cat could get cuter is if Smitty got in the picture!

Ohhhhh, that pansy mosaic turned out beautifully. So glad you shared another look at it. Gotta come clean here, haven't followed your link yet, but I will absolutely go there as soon as I verify I'm not a robot.

Good score on the seeds too, and good advice you got about planting a farm sized bag. I had read where Victory gardens were making a comeback. We always felt good about feeding ourselves, the deer and racoons and the neighborhood from our backyard. Now that we have postponed our month-away trip to PA, I really regret not having purchased the tomato and pepper seedlings we saw back at the beginning of all this mess.

QuiltGranma said...

LOVE your beautiful pansies! Once quilted and up on the wall that should definitely help cheer you during these times!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

What a cute cat block. I'd grow a victory garden, except that I have a brown thumb (something about plants wanting to be watered more than once a month). Yes, can't live without our zucchini.

Patty said...

Lovely mosaic quilt. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.

quiltzyx said...

Since the Colleges have shut down for the time being, I'm not getting my normal time to read Cat Patches on the weekend. My home internet is horrible, so it is no fun at all trying to read it on my tablet. :( So, anyway, since my 8-5 job is an "essential", I'm taking a few minutes here & there to catch up.
Love seeing all the blooming things at 3 Cats Ranch! We've been having quite a bit of rain (for us anyway), so my roses are starting to bloom nicely.
It is crazy that one of our 1st topics of conversation these days is TP...followed closely by masks lately. I'm currently using a FQ for mine. I haven't been able to find any TP for ages, so my boss gave me a couple of rolls. :)
The new tall cats look like they are going to be fun for us to see you build! I hope they get easier as they go along for you.
Stay safe!