14th Blogiversary Giveaway!

*Sorry, this giveaway is over.*

Good morning, my friends! Are you feeling lucky? Today marks the 14th anniversary of Cat Patches. Today's post will be my 5,653rd post. When I started blogging, it was because I wanted to learn from more experienced quilters (I didn’t learn until July of 2008). Also, there were online groups and events I wanted to join in and participate via blogging. With the passage of time, it has evolved into my daily “letter to friends.” When I started writing, I never dreamed I would stick with it for so long. 

Over the years, I’ve met new friends from all over the world. People from some 145 countries have visited at one time or another. It has become a personal reference manual and a great way to settle disagreements about the ”where and when” certain events took place. Like exercise, it is an important part of my morning routine. The day doesn’t get off to a good start until I’ve emptied my brain of the words that accumulated there from the day before. Daily writing forces me to pay attention and to be grateful for every good thing that happens. And I am so grateful to the many of you who have followed along over the years, and left so many supportive hints, ideas, and comments. Today I'll be thanking you with a chance to win some fabric. I'll be giving away a 9-fat quarter bundle of "Sunray Day in the Life" fabric. 

Pretty, huh? If you're only here for the giveaway, you'll want to skip to the bottom. Before I get to that, I need to empty my brain of the words that accumulated yesterday. No bad words today, I promise.

The kitties and I went out to feed the birds and water the annuals. As it turns out, the annuals didn't need water, but the birds for sure needed feeding. Sadie and Smitty were on the hunt for some non-dandelionized grass. Sheesh...the gardeners around here. Slackers. That's all there is to say about it.

Sadie agrees completely. 

Oh well. You can't please everyone. 

Today is the day we've decided to pick the cherries. They've turned more red than orange, and I'm tired of waiting for them. 

As I'm writing this, it occurs to me that we could go outside this morning and find them all gone, having been absconded with by raccoons. (I don't know if that sentence is correct grammatically, but you know what I mean.) Let's hope not. I have a couple of ideas of things I'd like to do with them. On the menu for sure are a skillet cherry crisp, cherry sherbet, and a cherry galette. Also, I have an interesting-sounding recipe for a black rice salad that I'd like to try. It uses cherries and plums. I have cherry pie filling and cherries in syrup left over from last year's canning, and so I won't be canning any cherries this year.

Checking in on the rest of the garden, the echinacea have finally opened. There are only a few flowers so far, but many more are coming.

I have three colors of echinacea. The ones above are standard pink. The ones below are "Powwow Wild Berry." There's another called "Cheyenne Spirit" that is more yellow and orange, but it has yet to make an appearance.

With the temperature cooled down some from last week, the variegated hydrangea is much happier.

The blue one is still going strong.

Recently, I replaced our hummingbird feeders for these new fancy ones. I'd been using the "Hummzinger" style of feeders. They finally drove me crazy because they required almost daily attention. These will be easier to clean and they'll require filling only every 3-4 days. I like the humming birds, but those feeders nearly did me in. This style was recommended on one of the Facebook bird sites I follow. I'd been watching for the hummingbirds to actually use them, and I was able to capture this guy while I was out yesterday.

Back inside, I finished sewing together the Amish Sampler quilt. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and I'm glad I remembered this block setting.

From there, I went to work making a back for it. This was the fabric I selected. I was sorry it wasn't a solid, but I was determined to use something from my stash.

When I opened it up....whoa! I could use the wrong side of the fabric!

Oh...but upon closer inspection, I could see where some of the dark dye had come through. If it's not going to be a pure solid, then I'd just as soon use the prettier side.

So that was done. And, hey! Remember those black binding strips I cut for the Blackwork Baskets, and then lost track of them? They'll work for this quilt, and I had the exact number of strips I needed. It's almost like it was meant to happen that way.

So for the last gasp of my sewing day, I got Eliza set up for quilting the Catnip quilt. I'm using a black thread top and bottom, and I'm quilting a straight line diagonal grid. I checked the tension, and then left it needle down for today's sewing. 

There's quite a bit on this morning's agenda. We're going to mop the kitchen floor, and then we're going to pick cherries. Since I didn't water yesterday, I'll need to water the annuals today. Also, I should get in a Bowflex workout. I was going to do that yesterday, but then my Photoshop Elements class put me in a bad mood when I couldn't figure something out. By the time I gave up, I was feeling too pissy to exercise. I posted a question in the discussion area, and that's all been settled now. I was able to accomplish the assignment this morning before I sat down to write to you guys.

Okay, but enough of this useless prattle. Let's get on with the real celebration. Would you like to win some fabric? Consider this my thank you for your readership, your many kind comments and suggestions, and your encouragement over these many years. Here's what you need to do to be a winner.

1. Just leave a comment...any comment will do. If you can't think of anything, then tell me about any travel plans you might have for what remains of summer. Please leave your comment here on the blog. If you are an email follower, simply click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual web page. You can leave your comment there.

2. Since this giveaway is to thank those of you who have followed along over the years, this prize is reserved for followers only...new, old, salty, sweet, bitter, and twisted...just step on up and tell me how you follow. If you want to become a follower, you can find some ways to do it there in my left side bar. Also, I will ship internationally, so all residents of Planet Earth are welcome to join in. 

3. If you're no-reply, be sure to leave an email address. You can't win if I can't contact you.

So good luck, and a big thank you for helping me celebrate the day! I'll leave this giveaway open through Wednesday, July 17th and announce the winner sometime on Thursday, July 18th.

Pieceful Sewing

Good morning, my friends. It was a busy morning yesterday. I didn't get as much sewing done as I'd hoped, but I did get in a walk on the treadmill. Yay me! Today is a grocery shopping day, but I'm still hoping to get in a Bowflex workout. If I can keep it up for a couple of weeks, I think I'll successfully have incorporated more movement into my morning routine. I'm hoping the weather will cool off, and I can get in some walks outside.

The annuals needed watering yesterday, and so I took a walk around to check out the flowers. This is the poppy's last gasp. Both plants were completely bloomed out and the flowers gone to seed, when this one produced one last bud. It opened yesterday.

The daylilies are still going strong. They're so pretty in the morning sunshine.

To the left of the daylilies, I noticed the first petals forming on the echinacea. This might bloom today. The bees love it.

We're seeing more flowers from the variegated hydrangea.

Sadly, the hot sun is burning its petals.

I walked along the fence line of the bee garden to see if anything new had popped up. It's mostly evening primrose right now, but I love these blooming grasses. The blooming grasses are my worst hay fever nemeses. When I got within six feet of the fence, my nose started to twitch.

We're keeping a close eye on the cherries. They should turn dark purple when they're ripe. They're getting close, and their color deepens each day. I'm glad they held off a little bit. Today is supposed to be the last day of our heat wave, although it will still be plenty warm tomorrow. In any case, we didn't want to be out picking them in the heat.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that our daphne did not survive the winter. We replaced it, but the poor thing has been wilting in the heat. It always perks up by morning, but we worry it will be done-in with the sun beating down on it. Mike fashioned a little shelter for it with a loosely woven black tarp. He cut the lowest ring off a tomato cage and then used the wires from that to make "tent stakes." It still wilted in the sunshine yesterday, but we're hoping the shelter will still give it some respite from the heat.

Back inside, I was ready to start sewing together pieced blocks for the Almost Amish quilt. I had lots of kitty help.

Smitty helped by reading the instructions to me.

Sadie controlled the finished blocks.

With their help, I made a nine-patch. Good old nine-patch. It was the first quilt block I learned to make.

Then an Anvil block.

Then a Churn Dash.

And then, a Diamond Star. This one nearly broke my brain trying to get all those pieces pointing in the right direction.

Then I laid out the first two rows. These aren't sewn together, and I might decide to rearrange them. But this is what I have so far. I'm thinking this should be called an "Amish Sampler."

Before sitting down to write this post, I did my morning slow-stitching. I had just a little bit left to stitch on July's Joy in the Ordinarily block.

Today I'll add some borders to this, and it will be finished. I'm still working on the names and places for two more Shop Hop blocks. Those shouldn't take long, and then I'll be ready to get back to stitching two more blocks for The Story of My Day. These are the blocks I have for that quilt so far.

I'll be making blocks 17 and 18 out of 25. There should be time to trace the designs today.

Okay, so it's time to get on with my day. We'll have breakfast, and then there's plenty of time for a Bowflex workout before we need to go. It's been months since I did anything on the Bowflex. I hope I can still remember the exercises. If not...there's always the manual. Pictures will remind me what I'm supposed to be doing.

We're keeping cool here. I hope y'all are keeping cool and dry wherever you happen to be. My 14th Blogiversary celebration giveaway will be announced in a few days. I'll say more about that on Saturday

Penny Power and a Giveaway!

Good morning, my friends. Welcome to Wednesday. It's been a slow couple of days here at the Three Cats Ranch. I've been sidelined from my quilting project, but my wrist is improving slowly. The pain in the back of my hand has settled down. There's still some stiffness in my wrist, and so I'll just cool my jets for another day of not-quilting. There's plenty to do on my art quilt to keep me busy. On today's agenda I have one housekeeping chore and I want to walk on the treadmill. Also, I need to make up a grocery shopping list. Aside from that, it's leftovers for dinner, and so I have the whole day to work on my art quilt. I might finish the main subject today. I've been puzzling over the background, but I think I have that nailed down too.

As for yesterday, I spent some time on my slow-stitching before heading out for my blood draw. The cat's face was finished...

allowing me to move my hoop to the bottom of the cat. And don't you know it drives me crazy when the last little bit of the design won't fit inside my hoop.

So I decided to stitch the duck and the little bit remaining of the cat's paw. That allowed me to move the hoop to encompass the last of it. Now there are just two different shades of gray left to stitch.

And then I could put off my flirtation with death no longer. I'll admit to being a bit of a needle weenie, and my veins don't always cooperate on these forays along the path leading to my final exit. When I got out of the car at the doctor's office parking lot, I noticed a penny on the ground. At first I walked past it, but then I turned around and picked it up. I figured a lucky penny in my pocket would go a long way toward getting my blood drawn with a single stick.

And I'm hear to tell you that it worked!!! Never pass up a lucky penny. Lucky pennies have saved me from getting a speeding ticket, and they've also saved us from mechanical problems when we're on the road. Mike keeps that particular penny in his truck all the time now.

It was relatively warm when I arrived back home. The bird feeders were empty. Again. It was a good time to fill them. The Steller's Jays find the peanuts almost immediately.

They can empty this feeder in less than an hour.

Back inside, I decided to avert an impending stitching emergency by making up the next block for the Domestic Affairs quilt. I'll start on this one when the kitten is finished.

And then I made a little more progress on my art quilt. Here's your peek:

Any thoughts?

As I mentioned a few days ago, we're in the planning stages of replacing the carpet in the upstairs part of our house (including the stairs). Two carpet samples were delivered yesterday. Mike picked the one on the right. I picked the one on the left. We both want the carpet on the stairs to blend in with the carpet on the main floor. The one on the right seems too gray, and so we'll go with the one on the left.

The carpet we have now was the original carpet from when we bought the house. We've lived here going on 22 years, and I don't know how long the carpet was down before we moved in. There are some places on the stairs where I can poke my finger through a hole that goes all the way through to the wood below. Yes, it's time. No matter how much I dread it, there's no getting around the expense and the hassle. If that lucky penny were really any good, it could transport us through time to a point where this job is already done. Oh well. 

Okay, so I'll get busy with my slow stitching again, and then I'll get on with my day. But before I go, I have a little giveaway for you. A few weeks ago, my friend Darlene sent me a link to this quilt pattern that happened to be on sale and with free shipping. And wouldn't this be cute as next year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt?

Well, Darlene knows me so well. Of course, I jumped on that. Only...without going into the whole sad story, I'll say I ended up with two of these patterns. I could send one back, but I decided to offer it up as a giveaway. So, if you're hot to make a cat quilt or a cat pillow, here's what you need to do.

1. Just leave a comment...any comment will do. If you can't think of anything, then tell me about whatever project you're working on right now. Please leave your comment here on the blog. If you are an email follower, simply click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual web page. You can leave your comment there.

2. You don't need to be a follower, but if you want to become a follower, you can find lots of ways to do it there in my left side bar. Also, I will ship internationally, so all residents of Planet Earth are welcome to join in. 

3. If you're no-reply, be sure to leave an email address. You can't win if I can't contact you.

So good luck! I'll leave this giveaway open through Sunday, November 19th and announce the winner sometime on Monday, November 20th.

Gotcha Day Giveaway

Good morning, my friends, and a Happy Gotcha Day to this little person! 

She was the sixth cat to join the Three Cats Ranch seven years ago. She was about a year old when we brought her home, and so we estimate she's about eight years old now...practically still a kitten! She's so excited you came to her party that she's sponsoring a giveaway at the end of this post. 

But let's just hold on there a second because there's plenty of news to report from yesterday. Mike and I were out bright and early to do our gardening...before it got too hot. A few days ago, Mike made a dry run at destroying the rotted whiskey barrel at the front door, and moving everything there to a new pot. There isn't much to see in this image because the pot contains all bulb flowers at this point.

When we head down to our local mega mart later this week, I'm going to pick up a potted perennial and some flower seeds to dress it up a little. I'd dearly love to get some California Poppies and some Black-eyed Susans going here. 

Okay, so (queue the scary music) we tried our best to move the poppy near the greenhouse to a similar pot yesterday. Here's how it looked when we were finished. It wanted to flop over, and so we put stakes around it and tied it upright. It was looking pretty sad by the time we finished, but not nearly as sad as it looks right now. I'm afraid the thing just up and died, probably with the first shovelful of dirt.

Here's all that's left of its rotted out whiskey barrel. The plant looks just about as bad.

As if that weren't bad enough, I noticed one of the dahlias was wilted and dying. It's the second one from the top in the image below.

Here's a closer view. No idea what its problem is. It has received exactly the same treatment as the others, and they all look good. (Hopefully, this isn't the start of a full-scale die-off.) 

They were planted just seven weeks ago today. I've sent an email with pictures to the local grower, and I've read over their guarantee. I think I'll still be able to get a free replacement for this. They have an online "contact us" form on their website. There was no confirmation that they'd received my email, and so I might try it again this morning, just to be sure.

The kitties were outside helping us while we worked. They were sticking to the shade. Kitties with dark furs are not fond of bright sunshine on a warm day.

Setting my garden disappointments aside, I headed into the sewing room later in the afternoon. The day's efforts went toward sewing together the next two Shop Hop blocks. This one is from Pressing Matters Quilt Shoppe in Holland, Michigan. You can read about my visit there at the link I've given you.

We were staying at a state park in Grand Haven, Michigan, and we made a day trip to Holland. The image below from our visit pretty well sums up why I selected this fabric.

When the first block was finished, Sadie joined me in the sewing room.

She took one look at the paper-piecing I was doing and decided she could best help by looking adorable.

And then I went to work on the next block to represent Park Bench Quilt Shop in Midland, Michigan.

I visited this shop with my dear blogging friend, Gail. We'd spent the day together, including a visit to a public garden. I selected this fabric as a reminder of our time together.

Meeting up with Gail was a many-years-long quest, and we had a wonderful day. You can read all about it right here. And here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far. Michigan will feature prominently in this quilt.

For dinner last night, I made something I used to make often when I was still working. This is Japanese Soy-braised Chicken and Sweet Potatoes. When I was working, I liked it because it pretty much makes itself. The chicken is first browned, and I used that time to prepare the vegetables and the sauce. Once everything was in the pan, it just needed time and an occasional turning of something. I could sit and relax.

Just now I spent some time trying to locate the recipe online. Apparently, one needs to own the book in which it appears now. It was originally published in Sunset magazine, but that was some years ago. Since I can't link to it, I'll give it to you here.

Japanese Soy-braised Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Recipe from Sunset magazine

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 skinned chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry

2 cups fat-skimmed chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (see note) or dry vermouth

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into 1-inch thick rounds

6 baby bok choy, rinsed and cut in half lengthwise

Directions:

Set a 12-inch nonstick frying pan (with 2-inch-tall sides) or a 5- to 6-quart nonstick pan over high heat.  When pan is hot, drizzle oil over bottom.  Add chicken thighs and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total.

Add broth, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar; bring to a boil.  Add sweet potatoes; cover, reduce heat, and simmer, turning chicken and potatoes after about 10 minutes, until chicken and sweet potatoes are tender when pierced, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Lay bok choy halves over chicken and sweet potatoes; cover and simmer until bok choy is barely tender when pierced, 7 to 8 minutes.

Arrange chicken, sweet potatoes, and bok choy in wide bowls. Spoon broth over servings.

My notes: Mirin--sweet sake--can be found in the international section of many supermarkets and in Asian grocery stores.  I substituted dry vermouth with good results; however, the original recipe suggests cream sherry as a substitution.

* * * * *

Okay, so now that you've been fed, let's turn our attention to the promised giveaway. Sadie selected this 6-fat quarter bundle for its name. This is "Tiny Beasts" by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics.

Here's what you need to do to win it.

1. Just leave a comment...any comment will do. If you can't think of anything, then tell me about any vacation plans you might have for this summer. Please leave your comment here on the blog. If you are an email follower, simply click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual web page. You can leave your comment there.

2. You do not need to be a follower to win, but if you want to become a follower, you can find lots of ways to do it there in my left side bar. Also, I will ship internationally, so all residents of Planet Earth are welcome to join in. 

3. If you're no reply, be sure to leave an email address. You can't win if I can't contact you. Even though I say this every time, I'm going to estimate that about half of the comments come from no-reply folks. Please take a minute to update your settings. If you aren't sure, then please leave your email. To avoid getting spammed to death, leave it in this format: your name at your service provider dot com.

So good luck, and a big thank you for helping Sadie celebrate her special day! I'll leave this giveaway open through Saturday, June 17th and announce the winner sometime on Sunday, June 18th. That's Father's Day, y'all.

Good luck everybody!

Okay, so a new day begins. I'll institute the one-hour rule and get started on Tiny House #22...this one.

When my hour is up, I'll get to work on the next barn block for the Barn Block Sampler quilt. This is the block I'll make next.

There are weeds to hoe and peonies to deadhead, and so I have a busy day ahead. I'll leave you to get on with whatever is on tap in your world today.