Fabulous Feline Finish

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast this morning. In a little while, I'm heading out to get a badly-needed haircut and to run some errands in town. I'm happy to start today's post announcing the Fantastic Felines are finished. This quilt will be donated to an organization known as Leave It for the Pooch, and it will be included in a fund-raising auction sometime in June.

Here’s how it looks from the back. It ends up at 60 x 60 inches.

Wanna know how much kitty help was offered?

Yeah…the whole notion of these being “fantastic felines” bored them to sleep.

Mainly, though, they were just tired after spending the morning chasing this guy. He’s too large for them to do any damage, but he keeps them occupied.

Also, I finished Block 6 for Le Jardin. I knew I was close, but I didn’t expect to have it finished just yet.

It still needed borders.

These are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far. Probably I’m going to need to change a few of these. Some of them are supposed to have red cornerstones like the one in the upper left.

And that meant I needed to trace out the next one. This is the Cozy Quilt stitchery.

Colors were listed with the pattern. I’m using whatever I have from my stash. These are all the colors that will be used.

And that was all the sewing I did yesterday.

It’s going to be a busy run-around day, and so I’ll take tomorrow off from blogging. If there’s time for any sewing today (doubtful), I’ll get going on the Nordic Star table runner. Just now, I’m going to eat some breakfast. If I hurry, I might have a little time for some slow stitching. We’re expecting rain for the next few days. It’ll be good sewing weather. How is spring treating you so far?

Monday Musings

Good morning, my friends. It was good to take a day off yesterday. I managed to make my way all the way around the house pulling weeds, filling my 7-gallon bucket with hairy bittercress. I'm sure I missed a few sprigs here and there, but I gave it something to think about. There were a few other unrecognized blooming weeds out there too...friends of the hairy bittercress, one assumes. I pulled up any weed that was blooming. They'll have to spread their seeds somewhere else.

My knees were killing me after that effort. The thing is...there really wasn't that much getting up and down. I mostly bent from the waist unless I came across a particularly populated patch (awesome alliteration). There were just a few times I sat on the ground and had to get up again. Just the same, I iced my knees when I was finished, and then again last night while we watched TV. This morning, everything seems fine. I worried I'd broken myself.

And you'd be disappointed if I didn't show you every blooming thing, wouldn't you? It's still a little too cold for most things, but the yellow daffodils are starting to open.

As I've mentioned, we planted more daffodils last fall, and so I haven't yet seen some of them. I saw a few of these little guys. They look like any other daffodil, but they are tiny, and their stems are only about four inches tall.

Across from where I was standing, I could see the flowering plums in bloom. They've been blooming in the valley for a while, but at our elevation, we have to wait a little longer.

The star magnolias are starting to fully open too.

This whole big shrub will be covered in flowers within a few days.

Also, the grape hyacinths are blooming.

There is still much to do in the garden. My next focus will be to deadhead all the hydrangeas. That's a job that allows me to remain standing, and so it shouldn't cause me any grief from my knees. Probably, I'll take a few days off before I start on it, though. The weather is still chilly. I had on a thermal shirt, a sweatshirt, and a heavy coat yesterday, and I was still too cold. We're expecting warmer weather by Thursday, and a good day of weather on Saturday. (We'll be attending a No Kings event that day, and so a sunny day will be appreciated.)

On the sewing front, I squared up the Fantastic Felines and sewed on the binding.

In two sittings yesterday, I turned two corners. I'm about halfway around this now, and so I expect to have it finished in a day or two.

Today I have just one easy housekeeping chore to do, and then I can focus on more sewing. The next thing I'd like to work on is the Nordic Star table runner I made while we were traveling. It was a request from one of my friend Sue's inlaws.

I need to make a back for it, and then it will be ready for sandwiching and quilting. I'll probably do some sort of dot-to-dot motif on this. With straight lines, I can probably create some star shapes on the quilt back with whatever quilting design I choose. I'm hoping to get it sandwiched today.

Tomorrow is going to be a run-around day. I'm getting a badly needed haircut, and then I'm going to run a few errands in town. Despite that, I'll be back here for a quicky post in the morning.

It's gray and chilly again this morning. We're expecting rain tomorrow and the next day, but then some clearing and warming. Better days are ahead, my friends. It's a hopeful time of the year weather-wise.

Happy National Quilting Day!

 Good morning, my friends, and Happy National Quilting Day to all who celebrate!

To celebrate, I finished the Painted Ladies yesterday. The quilt ends up at 60 x 72 inches. I started it on March 15, 2003, and so it was almost exactly three years in the making. Here's the quilt top:

Here's the quilt back. I pieced it using some fabrics gifted to me by a friend. They came from a quilter who had passed away. These aren't the sorts of fabrics I usually buy, and so it seemed like this quilt back was a good way to put them to use.

That was the only sewing I did yesterday. Most of my day was spent in the kitchen. I wanted to bake another loaf of Irish Brown Bread. We really like this toasted for breakfast in the morning, and so we wanted another loaf.

Also, I ended up with too many lemons, and so I made another round of Lemon Pudding Cakes for Two. 

When I made these last month, I unmolded the cakes onto a small plate, thus:

When I looked at the recipe yesterday, I realized they'd left them in the ramekins they were baked in, and so I did that this time too. So much easier. I'll do it that way from now on.

Also in yesterday's kitchen duties, some hard boiled eggs, and a Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad.

This is my contribution to tonight's dinner. Erik, the Grill King, is grilling up a brisket. We'll be making Reubens with homemade sauerkraut. As someone who loves most anything fermented, I'm looking forward to trying the homemade sauerkraut. Also, I'm exceedingly curious about how it was made.

So with all that going on in the kitchen, there wasn't a lot of time for sewing. The only other sewing I did was to make some more progress on the sixth block for Le Jardin.

There are probably a few days' work left on this one, but I decided to choose the next project from my embroidery dance card. I've reached the "short" project. Short projects are those that can be finished in one go-round. This time, Mr. Random chose the Cozy Quilt embroidery pattern. 

That looks like fun, and I feel fairly certain I have everything I need to get started when the time comes.

So I've planned another busy day today. We'll be heading over to Erik and Mae's house this afternoon for our dinner. As for the rest of the day, it'll be mostly boring houseworky type of things. I need to start some laundry, and I need to do some other cleaning. Knowing there won't be time for most anything blog-worthy, I'll take tomorrow off from blogging and meet you back here on Monday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friends. And for National Quilting Day, be sure to celebrate with style!

So Much Sewing

Good morning, my friends. All of my to-do's were crossed off yesterday, including walking on the treadmill and the one housekeeping chore on my list. Yay me! 

Once the meat and potatoes part of my day was complete, I could move on to dessert. There was lots of time for sewing. Fortunately, my purrtector cat was on the job, keeping an eye out for any invading forces from the north.

It was unclear how much quilting there was left to do on the Fantastic Felines, and so I just sewed until I was tired of sewing, and then laid the quilt out on the floor to have a look-see. Smitty was Johnny-on- the-spot to give it his once over too. Also..."Fantastic Felines"? Pshaw! There's no more fantastic feline than Smitty, and this quilt did not convince him otherwise.

And I looked carefully at all the lines and discovered the quilting was FINISHED!!! Yahoo!!!!

Here's another peek at the back.

So I turned everything off, folded it up, and carried it downstairs. There, I went to work on the binding for the Painted Ladies, turning the fourth and final corner.

There's just this much left to do:

And so I should easily finish this today.

As I was preparing to go downstairs to my sewing room, I happened to look outside to see that our star magnolia is starting to bloom. I noticed it a few days ago, but this was one of the first flowers to open.

A bird was living in this tree last year (or maybe it was the year before). I looked down to see if the nest was still there. It is, which had me wondering if a bird will take up residence there. If so, it'll have to do some housekeeping since the nest has accumulated some leaves and twigs with the passage of time.

It was tempting to call it a day at that point, but there was still another hour left to kill. I headed down stairs and pretty quickly finished sewing the Gumballs quilt into a finished quilt top. Yay! It ends up at 60 x 72 inches.

This was so much fun to make that I'm planning to start another one soon. I'll do the next one in greens, blues, and aquas. 

Sewing the Gumballs quilt into a finished flimsy was my goal for March's

and so I'll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month. 

And that really was the end of my sewing day. Last night's dinner was a new recipe for this One-Pot Cheesy Orecchiette with Cabbage and Paprika. We liked this a lot. I liked it because it as so easy to make. The whole thing is cooked up in a single skillet, including boiling the pasta.

We had that with a side of Texas toast, and that was one tasty dinner with easy clean-up. I'll be marking this as suitable for RV cooking.

So there won't be as much time for sewing today. I'm going to do some cooking this morning. Erik, the Grill King, has invited us for dinner tomorrow. He has an enormous pastrami brisket to grill up, and he says they need "all hands on deck" to devour said brisket. They're going to be serving Reubens (practically my favorite sandwich) with homemade sauerkraut. My contribution will be a macaroni salad. Also, and just for fun on Friday, I'm going to make some more lemon pudding cakes. I made them while we were traveling, and Mike asked for another round. 

Also, we've really enjoyed the Irish Brown Bread I made for St. Patrick's Day. It was good with the Irish Beef Stew I made for dinner that night, but we've really enjoyed it toasted in the morning.

The first loaf is nearly gone, and so I'll bake another. It's mixed up in a single bowl, and so it's easy enough. As long as I'm going to be in the kitchen anyway, I might as well bake some more. Also in the I-might-as-well category, I'm going to hard boil some eggs. I like to have at least a few on hand at all times, and we're fresh out.

Okay, so it's a busy kitchen day ahead. Also, I'm going to try to continue my effort to get back into some movement by doing a Bow-Flex workout. And I really have no idea how well that will work. Certainly, I can't be doing any resistance work with my hurting left shoulder. I can still do leg work, but I'll have to try doing the arms without any resistance on the left side. Maybe it'll work out, and maybe it won't.  Finally, I'm committed to finishing up the Painted Ladies, and so that'll be at the top of my list.

We're still gray and gloomy here. I'm anxiously awaiting some warmer weather so that I can get out and do some yard work. Looks like it'll be Sunday at the earliest now, and the weather is looking dry, even if it is on the chilly side. Still...the hairy bittercress is calling in reinforcements every day. I really need to get out and start yanking it up.

What's on your agenda for the weekend? Something fun, I hope.

Out with the Old

Good morning, my friends. My yesterday started with a long list of to-do's. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get through all of it, but there was a good amount of progress. But first...out with the old, in with the new. St. Patrick's Day is history, and Easter is approaching. My first priority was to switch out my holiday decor. 

First, I hung the little Bunny Garden on the wall between the kitchen and dining room. If I'm remembering right, this was a free pattern from Lynette Anderson at one time. It's no longer free, but you can find the pattern right here.

This Bunny Go Round able topper is on our breakfast bar. This was a free pattern from Doghouse Designs.

On the dining room table, this Easter Egg table runner. This was a free pattern from We All Sew, but it seems no longer to be available.

Okay, and with St. Patrick's Day banished from the house, I could get on with my one housekeeping chore. With that done, I had to decide whether to walk on the treadmill or do more sewing. Which do you think I chose? If you picked sewing, then you'd be right. Ding, ding, ding! You win the prize! (Disclaimer: there is no prize.)

And with every day here at the Three Cats Ranch, no activity is complete until I've let the cats in and out half a dozen times. When I looked out yesterday, I saw Sadie with a bead on something.

To her left, Smitty was urging her on. These two have an arrangement. Sadie does the hunting, and she gives whatever she catches to Smitty for proper, um, "disposal."

And it's completely understandable because Smitty has grown to geriatric status. He'll celebrate his 14th birthday next month. (They grow up so fast.) A while back, we gave him a geriatric kitty pole. He can be on the top rung without having to jump so high. Also, he can use the window sill for a boost up.

So my next sewing task was to finish off September's block for A Year in the Garden.

Here are the nine blocks I have for this quilt so far.

That meant I needed to trace something new or suffer a stitching emergency. Happily, youthful, energetic Sadie was there to help.

Together, we traced out Block 6 for Le Jardin.

Setting that aside, I went back to my quilting. Probably I spent about 45 minutes on this before I decided to call it quits. With my shoulder still bothering me, it's a literal pain wrestling with this quilt as I make my way around it with a straight line grid. Here's how it looks so far. Probably, I'm a little more than halfway finished.

Here's a peek at the back.

Regarding my shoulder, I'm still waiting for a decision about whether an MRI will be authorized. Yesterday, tired of waiting, I called my insurance carrier. There's been no decision, and they told me it takes 14 business days. Counting out the days, that would mean I might need to wait as long as April 1st before anything more can happen. To say I'm irked by this would be an understatement, but it is what it is.

And from there, I settled into our recliner to make some more progress on the quilt binding. I've been stitching two lengths of thread at a time on this, and I've turned three corners.

It was getting close to the end of the day by then. While we watched the news, I took the first stitches on the newest block for Le Jardin. Mainly, I was just cleaning up the extra bits of floss from my floss bobbins.

This one has a new-to-me stitch called the Ribbed Spider Web stitch. Possibly, I've done this before, but I had to look it up anyway. I was using a lavender variegated floss for this.

You can watch Mary Corbet's tutorial on this stitch right here. And if you can't open the video, then click right here.

Okay, and that brought me to the end of my day.

Today will look much like yesterday except that I'm determined to get in a walk on the treadmill. No excuses. And if I'm going to fit everything in, I'd better get busy. We're approaching vernal equinox tomorrow. We can say good-bye to winter and Hellllllooooooo, Spring! I cannot wait!