Graphic Florals - Completed Front

I promised more pictures of my current project that uses a lot of colors that are bright enough to see from space.  (As if I can do any other kind of quilt.)  I'm posting those pictures which also includes lots of cameos from the cat army.  

Working on the layout with Angry Bob.  

Layout complete, cats in motion.

Labeled and ready to go. 

Scout on inspection of the final project. 

Completely pieced front.

Sadly, no cats appeared for this photo.

I'm off to work on the back of this and I'm thinking of using some of the dark blue that was left over from the Spinster Quilt. I really should be outside playing on this beautiful day, but I'm staying close to home to keep an eye on Scout, AKA Little Girl Cat, AKA Scooter, AKA Scooter McGooder.   As you can see above, she is doing great.  Why am I worried?  Well, she had surgery on Friday to remove a tumor and an abscessed tooth.  The tumor was on her lip and is in the process of being sent to the lab for testing.  We are assuming that the tumor is benign until we hear differently and will not be worrying about it until then.  Friday was exciting in that I got her home from the vet and she was still loopy from the anesthesia and stumbling around like an adorable little furry drunken sailor.  She also managed to fall down the stairs twice, which is why I'm staying close to home today.  Meanwhile don't worry about Scooter McFurryPants.  She is getting lots of scritches today and free access to whatever sewing project she chooses to sit on.  She will be fine.  Me, on the other hand........

110 blocks done, and only a few to go

What do 110 blocks look like?  Let's use a cat for scale. 

Mine.

I'm not doing all 111 blocks of the Farmer's Wife quilt because the layout I'm choosing to use won't be able to handle one more.  So, I'm doing 110 blocks and being very happy with them.

This is her throwing shade look.  I just suggested that perhaps she remove herself from the box.  Not a good idea. 

She looks happier, because I gave up and let her stay. 

 But enough of the cute cat pictures, let's get on to final round.

W.C.T.U.

Another temperance movement-related block.  Let me tell you, spinsters have no need for the temperance movement.  If they are like me, they like gin and tonics too much to give them up for the betterment of society.  Speaking of the temperance movement, I made a horrible discovery this weekend. I am out of gin.  Rising to the challenge, I made myself a vodka tonic instead which was rather tasty.  I added a slice and a squeeze of meyer lemon instead of lime because when I went to the local grocery story at lunch on Friday to make a yummy salad from their salad bar and to stock up on fruit for the next couple days, I discovered they carried meyer lemons.  I don't know anything about meyer lemons except they look like lemons and are a lovely shade of orange.  A beautiful shade of orange which adds a touch of class to my vodka tonic.  And, probably annoys the W.C.T.U.  Good for me.

Wild Rose and Square

Of course, the wild roses around here are pink. They aren't blooming yet, but they will eventually.  I've got one wild rose bush in my backyard which I have not destroyed yet.  Give me time.

Windows

 You know, I just really wanted to add more red to my quilt.

Wedding Ring

 I've already mentioned that I have my grandmother's engagement ring which was given to her in the 1930s (I think) and which was given to her by a man who did not become her husband.  I love that story.  I love how it shows that our families have their own histories and their own lives before we designate them into the role of grandmother, mother, father, etc.  The ring itself is a beautiful purple and I get complements on it frequently.  I also enjoy telling people that it was my grandmother's engagement ring to have them ooh and ah about it, then I tell them, "Oh, she didn't marry the guy" and watch the reaction.  It's lots of fun.  Grandmother would approve.

Windmill

Last but not least, the windmill block.  This has to be orange for the Netherlands, land of windmills.  Of course when I went there a few years ago, the traditional windmills had basically all been replaced with modern industrial blades but this looks a little modern too so it all comes together.

And, that's it.  Thanks for tagging along on this little journey.  I'll have more posts as I put this together and I have some rather complicated ideas for the backing so this won't be done anytime soon.  Still, I'm rather excited to have everything completed.  Well, that's not true. I'm remaking 11 of these guys.  Some because I didn't like how they turned out, some because I think they don't look good with the others, some to balance out colors, and some because I want to work other fabric into the mix.  I'll post when they are completed and start day dreaming about layouts.  Crazy, right?

FNSI - February results

Warning, this post contains gratuitous kitty nipples and should only be viewed by adults who can handle that sort of thing.  Please know that no cats were hurt in the making of this post, but were rewarded with scritches and cheese.

Scout is bringing sexy back. 

Sam is properly horrified by this display.

Tonight for Friday Night Sew-in, I finished up two more blocks for my Smitten quilt with much assistance from the cat army. Here the word "assistance" is defined as "annoyance."  I kid, I kid, their crazy amount of interest in fabrics that much be cut accurately with sharp instruments is endearing.  Well, not really, but they clearly need some attention so I called it quits after two blocks.  We are going to spend some quality time on the couch discussing why we all have needs and boundaries that should be respected.

Let's do this. Let's have a very good New Year.

Fussy Cut Christmas Table Runner.  Quilted and Bound.

A close up, featuring an ear.  

It was nice to finish a Christmas project on Christmas Eve.  I had a friend over for lunch on Christmas Day (in case you are wondering brie ravioli are the bomb) and I made sure to point it out to her and make her adore it.  I'm not entirely pleased with the quilting, but this was my first project that I quilted on my home machine and overall, despite a few puckers on the back, it looks more like a second or third project done on a home machine.   I'm sure my next one will be even better.

Smitten Block #4

Smitten Block #5

These blocks are fun to do and I'm pleased with how they are looking next to each other.  I've now used each of the Heirloom fabrics once and now I get to repeat them but paired differently.

Flock

Flower Basket

And, finally, a poor neglected Spinster update.  I've hit the flowers/friendship blocks so be prepared for a lot of pinks and oranges for the next few blocks.  I made the Flock Block (oh, that sounds dirty) purple to represent purple martins.  My grandparents in Wisconsin had bird houses for purple martins in their back yard.  I never saw any when I visited them so I'm not sure how successful the bird houses were.  I can only imagine my block is a good representation of them.

The Flower Basket block is missing a handle because I'm a rebel and accountable to no one.  Also, I don't want to make a handle.  You might say that it is too obvious to use flower prints on a Flower Basket, but why would you?  I mean really, we all need to work together here.  (Also, it took me four times to get the spell check on my computer to tell me that I had the correct spelling for "obvious.")

Playing around and a story about a food source I hadn't considered.

Smitten Block #3

Scout finds flannel fabric and immediately loses the ability to walk. 

Apparently, I have quilting ADHD.  I decided to crank out a couple of blocks for the Smitten quilt when I thought it would be fun to do some more wonky quilting.  After digging through my fabric to choose something appropriate, I spotted this baby fabric left over from a past project.  Having only 4 projects going right now, it seemed like just the time to start a baby quilt for a random baby yet to be named.  No, nobody I know is having a baby but that shouldn't stop me from being ready for such an eventuality.

By the way, I took a nap when I got home from work after eating an inordinate amount of very good food today.  The nap was interrupted when a cat (not the sweet girl pictured who was napping on my lap) mewed piteously and brought me a dead mouse that he was carrying in his mouth.  I assured him that I had enough to eat today, thank you very much, but that he was a very good provider.  And, that his friend needed to go outside.

Fussy Cut Christmas

Tonight I finished the fifth and final square for my Fussy Cut Christmas squares.  I'm starting to think that they would make a nice table runner instead of a series of mini quilts.  And, if I make a table runner, I'll only have to bind one quilt instead of several.  Many thanks to Little Girl Cat for keeping the page open in my block book, minus a few points for sitting on the instructions.

Piecing madness

All footprints will be washed away. I promise. 

Several days ago I promised Ms. IM an update on how her quilt was doing.  As you can see, it is under an appropriate level of supervision and is getting some necessary attention.  So far, its gone from 156 squares to 16 blocks to the current 7 blocks.  The hardest part now is keeping everything in order (thank you handy new design wall) and keeping the cats from stretching it while they sit on it.  This is about to be locked away in a plastic tub so I can finish the binding on another project that might make it to work tomorrow to be shown off.  Ladies, prepare your amazed sounds now.

Booty! (no, not that kind)

This isn't the best picture of the thread that I won, but I like Scout's toes in the picture. 

A weekend's worth of damage - bought by me, given to me by the Sewing Summit and its sponsors, and some won by me.

Greens

Purples

Orange and yellow, featuring scraps I won from Fabricworm.

Black, grey, and circus animals.  

Fat quarters, solid charm squares, and small Christmas fabric from Moda.

112 charm squares from the charm square swap?  Yes, yes they are. 

Blues, baby. 

A hint of brown.

Pinks and reds.

See what I mean by too much stuff?  I won a lot of this which is pretty sweet.  Honestly, I could have left after the Shop Hop and been happy. I'm glad that I didn't because the classes and instructors were pretty awesome and inspiring.

Many thanks to the lovely Scout for providing her modeling services.

The cat days of summer

Finally!  Strawberries.

Like any good supermodel, she shows her best side to the camera.

Just one of those lazy, sit in the grass and lick your paw kind of day.  

Let's see how many cats we can get on this lawn chair.

Basket

I should have gone hiking or biking this weekend.  Instead, I made strawberry jam and spent some quality time in the backyard with the cat army.  Yes, the locally grown strawberries finally came in and I immediately bought a flat and turned it into jam (the bits that I didn't eat in the car on the way home).

The cats and I enjoyed the warm weather and the boys decided to both sit on me while I was trying to get some sun on my zombie legs.  I still look like a zombie, but now I feel weak from the heat of the sun, supplemented by the body heat of two cats.  Their crazy love will be the end of us all.

Later, after a refreshing nap under a different combination of two cats, I poured myself a large glass of water and tackled the Basket block.  I should have used interfacing, but I was too lazy to dig through my supplies and see where I left it last.  Still, a bright pink basket on a sunny summer day seemed like a lovely idea and a lovely end to the weekend.  We are expecting rain this week, so I'm glad I took advantage of the opportunity to get heatstroke with the cats instead of mowing the lawn or exercising.