7/3/20

Happy Feet

After writing yesterday's post, I went downstairs to observe this out the dining room window.


Wait a minute...is he eating the flowers?


He is!!! Little fecker!


Oh yes...by all means...never settle for any bloomed out ones. Be sure to grab the buds and all the most colorful ones. I don't mind at all. Where's a cat when you need one?

Well, kitties are in coyote quarantine for the time being. Sadie doesn't mind. She uses this oppurrtunity to catch up on her purrsonal grooming.


Smitty doesn't like it. Not one bit. He refuses to show you his better side.


Sigh. Well, I'm happy to say I've stitched from one corner to the other on "Mulligan Stew." I can put it away for a while, guilt-free. This morning I'll get started on the last three blocks for "I Believe in Snowmen."


It was time to get ready and go for my first pedicure in many moons. When I got home, I had frazzled nerves from terrible traffic, but also happy feet.


There wasn't much time left in the day, but I hurried into the sewing room. I really wanted to get Luna's pawtrait onto a background piece so I can start the thread work. Of course, my trusty cat was at the ready.


So, before fusing these to a background piece, I always want to check first for any holes in the collage. There was just one tiny one near the eye, but it was small enough I didn't need to fix anything. The white specks above the eyes are just digital noise from my camera. It seems to happen when I'm shooting a shiny surface with a dark background.


Earlier in the morning, I'd dragged out nearly my entire stash of fabrics looking for something I thought would work. I needed to give her a surface to stand on, and I wanted to bring out the color of her eyes. I settled on this pieced background. I'll use that same blue for the binding.


When I first approached this piece, I worried about her ears being cut off in the original photo. I wasn't sure how it would look when it was all put together into a small quilt. When I've done these before, I've always had the whole face in the picture.


So I lined her up with the bottom "surface," sucked in my breath, and fused her down.


So far, so good. And then I added borders.


When I selected that border fabric, I was simply choosing it for the colors. When I had it sewn to the rest, it made me think of a cat sitting at a window looking out. The batik appears like a stone wall. A real artist probably would have figured this out intuitively. But I'm not a "real" artist, and so my choice was just plain dumb luck.

After that, I spray basted it to a piece of scrap batting. Now she's ready for her thread work. She ends up about 15 x 16 inches.


I won't add the backing fabric until all the top-stitching is done. The top-stitching is done just through the batting, which holds it in place. Then, I add just a little quilting when the backing fabric is added. This is the fabric I'll use on the back. I don't know if those are suns or moons. Since there are stars, I'm calling them moons, which is in keeping with her name, Luna.


And that was all the sewing I did yesterday.

Today will be a busy day. I have some things to do in the garden and in the house. Mainly, it will be a cooking day. I'm making one salad and one dessert. Also, I'm putting tonight's dinner in the slow cooker. I'll still have another salad and a side dish to make tomorrow. The kids are coming up to celebrate the Fourth...and just because we've missed one another. I want to have the food prepared ahead of time. Mike will be grilling some crisp-skin chickens, and so I'll want to get those brining too. The brine gives them a nice flavor, but it also gives them a nice crispy skin.

So I doubt I'll get any more done on Luna before Sunday. Also, I received the happy news yesterday that Eliza is back getting serviced, and I can pick her up any time. I'll be glad to get on with my quilting. You might remember I had to stop in the middle of the Shop Hop quilt, and I'd like to get two more quilts finished in July. There is lots to do. I'll be glad to have Eliza back doing her part.

14 comments:

Frog Quilter said...

love the fabric you used on Luna. So pretty. A masterpiece for sure. Happy Fourth of July 🇺🇸.

Julierose said...

Man that squirrel has a nerve!! Talk about bold!! I didn't know they ate flowers, too? What--dessert???
Maybe I've been blaming the deer for it all and it's squirrels, ya think?? [Maybe you need a gansta gun with a silencer?--umm...............
did I just say that?? yikes]

I think Luna is gorgeous; and you are right, the border looks like stones...
beautiful job setting her up...can't wait to see the thread work...and the colors you choose...you are really good at these...

SO humid here today-- 88 degrees and 74 dewpoint...need I say: AC AC AC??;000

~ ~ ~ Waving from the cool house~ ~~ Julierose

Cathy Smith said...

I remember when you did your first pawtrait. Oh, the agonizing! Now, you bang them out like an assembly line! Hahaha! You really have become the master when it comes to the eyes. Luna is absolutely lovely! Her mommy will be thrilled.

Tina W. In Oregon said...

I’ve just recently started following your blog and have enjoyed it immensely!
I had to comment because that is one fat squirrel!! They’re cute but can reek havoc in your garden.
Love your pawtraits. Very well done!

Chris K. said...

I think that squirrel might be pregnant. Maybe she has flower cravings.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

The squirrels have been the feeders here - it doesn't take them long to figure out the 'easy' way into them. They even knocked one on the ground - or maybe it was a racoon because it's torn apart. The one and only time I had a pedi, all my toenails fell off so never again. We are still having terrible storms right until Monday. My son is coming by and we plan to just do pizza - his request.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Too bad those coyotes wouldn't help out with the thieving squirrel situation...not that I'm advocated blood letting by any means, but the coyotes DO have to eat. I think I might envy you the pedicure but I've never had one so I don't know much about them. And Luna - she just keeps getting better!

gpc said...

Luna is beautiful already and I can't wait to see the thread painting -- that always makes such a difference! You do, always, such lovely work. (Spoiler alert: they look like suns to me, but perfect to have luna on front and sol on back, right?)

Christine said...

I was going to plant an red azalea alongside my white one (just being patriotic!) but now ...... the squirrel run may be a tad too close!

Love the way Luna appears to be peering out of the window.

Enjoy your family day - Happy Fourth of July.

BTW nice toes!

piecefulwendy said...

Nice work on Luna. I'm fascinated with your process, and you do it so well. I'm jealous of your red tootsies - I must get a pedi scheduled! I wonder if that squirrel is a she, and maybe carrying babies? Enjoy your time together as a family - we are all together here too, and ready to enjoy the weekend together.

Lyndsey said...

Great fabric choices for the background and borders on the pawtrait. Tat squirrel is a fat little thing, he's obviously been eating rather a lot of tasty buds in your garden.Enjoy getting together with all the family, it will be fun after all this time. We're hoping to have Katy and Olly come over for dinner sometime next week and I'm really looking forward to it.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Looking good, Luna! Have fun adding the thread, Barbara.

Jerilea Hendrick said...

Luna's portrait is coming along great.

That is a chubby squirrel....maybe she's pregnant? St any rate she should stay out of your flowers. I have a similar problem, but only with spoiled rotten chickens.

QuiltGranma said...

What a sweet looking Luna, you have captured her beautifully!