Big Quilt, Little Quilt

Good morning, my friends. My kids had a book when they were little. I'm sure we read it at least five zillion times. It was about two dogs: Fred and Ted. Ted was a tall, slim dog. Fred was short and, um, portly. The story was about their different needs, based on their sizes. It became a family joke, this "Fred and Ted" business. Mike started calling me to make the bed by saying, "Oh, Fred! It's time to make the bed, Fred!" Then I'd shout back, "Okay, Ted!" We still call one another Fred and Ted from time to time. Yeah...it's one of those weird family rituals where you really had to be there from the get-go. 

Yesterday was the story of the Fred and Ted of quilts. After blogging, I did my slow-stitching, and then I worked on hand-sewing the binding for Chicken Feed. I was able to turn the third corner before I stopped.

It was overcast and cold, but there was no rain in the forecast. I decided I'd rather take a walk outside rather than on the treadmill in our Chamber of Horrors. When I left, the kitties were harassing a small mouse. They played with it until it had no play left in it.

As I was leaving, I took a picture of this Blue Pyramid Spruce tree. It's grown to a height of about eight feet.

You might remember when it was our Christmas tree about four years back. We were trying to have the Charlie Browniest Christmas tree ever that year. It was in a pot and about waist-high. I'd seen it at a specialty market, and passed it by. But then I couldn't get it out of my mind, so I went back for it.

Nobody is laughing at it anymore. It's turning into a beauty. Give it a few more years.

Along my walk, I took pictures of anything that caught my eye. These white berries were new to me.

They're about half the size of these snowberries I've shown you on previous walks. It could be the same plant. The leaves are similar.

Also, these tiny "pine cones." I don't know what kind of a tree this is. The needles are short and close together. The seed cones are about the size of the head of a glass-headed pin.

There were red berries in different varieties. My last image of holly berries wasn't very well focused, and so I was happy to get a better image.

I don't know these next ones.

There's an alpaca ranch at the top of our hill. People keep alpacas in our area for a variety of reasons. They shear the wool, but the alpacas also protect other livestock from predators.

The two I saw yesterday had been sheared recently. I wondered if they were cold without their wooly coats.

I'm envious of the hairstyle on this one.

I walked to where there was an open view of the valley below. There was a tantalizing streak of sunny sky off in the distance. It was brighter than this picture appears, but the valley was smoky. Lots of people are burning wood fires at this time of year.

I could see one barn in the valley. I drive by this one on my way into town.

Walking back, I passed by Tina's Barn. There's a sign out in front designating it as "Tina's Barn." I don't know Tina, nor much about her barn, but I believe she uses this as some kind of art studio. The satellite dish outside might indicate someone lives there, but there is a house to the left. Tina's Barn came within about 100 yards of burning when we had a wildfire on our hill several years ago.

Here's a cat I haven't seen before. He kept his distance.

The only dead thing of any interest was this dead thistle.

When I was nearly back home, I was greeted by the neighbor's horse...

and mule. I usually have horse cookies with me, and so they ran to the fence to see me. Sadly, I'd completely forgotten about the horse cookies. I'm out of practice. Next time, you guys.

Back home, I went to work sewing borders on my challenge piece. Here's your peek. Since your last peek, I've also fused it to the background.

Now, I'm putting it aside for a day or two. The next step is thread-painting, which I face with great trepidation. 

Instead, I sewed borders on the Tucson Tabby.

I had this fabric selected for the quilt back.

It was one of those days where I kept doing "just one more thing," and so I decided to stitch together two scraps of batting for sandwiching. For this, I like to use the #10 stitch on my Bernina 750QE machine. I believe this is called an "overlock stitch."

Also, I like this 34D foot. My machine has a dual feed, which is nice for something thick as batting. Not all my machine feet allow me to use the dual feed, but this one does.

Also, it has a nice guideline to help me keep the edges butted together and straight.

It all gives me a nice tidy, flat, and smooth seam.

And then I sandwiched it for quilting. I figured I'd do "just one more thing" by quilting it pretty simply. I stitched all around the perimeter of the embroidery.

I didn't want to sew over the cat's black whiskers with white thread, but I didn't want to leave a gap there either.

So I took a black Pigma micron pen and "dyed" the white thread black where it crossed over the whiskers.

I stitched two straight lines on both sides of the pink border, and then the quilting was finished.

Here's how it looks from the back:

And then, I figured I'd do "just one more thing," so I squared it up and sewed on the binding. I found that scrap of binding in my scrap binding bag. It seemed as good a choice as any.

Now it's waiting to be hand-stitched. And that was the end of my sewing day.

Oh, but then I went back upstairs. There was still some time left, and so I figured I'd do "just one more thing," and I sewed around the fourth corner of Chicken Feed.

And then, it was just about 36 more inches to finish it off, so I did.

It ends up at 46 x 54 inches. Here's how it looks from the back:

I started it on April 10, 2020, and finished it yesterday. 

Okay, so today will be a busier day. I'm only hoping to have some time for sewing. My monthly pedicure is scheduled for early afternoon. (I hate afternoon appointments. They chop up the day too much.) Afterward, I'll stop at the grocery store for a short trip. We have guests coming for dinner on Friday, and I'm cooking. Also, I'm on the hunt for some Chanterelle mushrooms. 'Tis the season for Chanterelles, and I need them for a risotto recipe I like to make each year. I'm hoping I can find some at a specialty market. They can only be found wild, and so they are much sought after at this time of the year...by me, at least.

When I came upstairs to write this post, I left Sadie wrapped up in her favorite flannel quilt. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh...baby is sleeping.

Despite having a busy day, I think I'll go join her under the covers for a few minutes. There's lots on today's agenda, so I'd better get going.