Adopted kittens

It probably won't be news to anyone if I introduce Typhoon the adopted kitten.

He was pretty chill when I told him.

And he is developing many new interests and hobbies, some of which, like his rubber band obsession, make him the Kitten U grad most likely to have a bowel obstruction.

And here is deception at its finest. Later in the day, Molly will stand on the printer, up on two legs stretched as far as she can in an attempt to swat the window blinds. Then, after knocking every block off the design wall, she will scale it to the top and then crash down with a sickening thud. And while she apparently has an endless supply of lives, Molly was voted as Kitten U's grad most likely to give me heart failure.

Owl and PussyCat Sailboat Block

There may be a blog or two that exhibit addictive behavior concerning monkeys, piglets and now, sailboats. How do you spell mangofeet? I thought that this might be a good time to mention that these fascinations apparently go in cycles, because here is a replica of a block that Jane Stickle made but did not include in her quilt. Following the Dear Jane convention, this block is 5 inches square unfinished.

The owl comes from some fabric I designed for a Spoonflower challenge a few years ago. They said they wanted to get away from the ubiquitous owl and present a challenge that limited the designer to three colors and geometric shapes. I obliged.

Applique owls

Here it is the end of February and I still hadn't decided on a fourth rainbow project. But these little applique owls have been calling to me. I made this brown owl as part of a Dear Jane project...well, the Dear Jane alternate universe project...blocks that I imagined she made but didn't put in her quilt. But as I learned from previous projects, owls need companionship so they can tell ribald knock knock jokes and trade mouse tales, I mean, mouse tails.

So this month I went back a month and made a blue owl. And if you're wondering why the blue owl has a pink beak and toes, its because he used up some remnant cuttings from a pink owl.

So at least on one project, I may well be ahead of the game. And to see what other games people are playing with brown and with scraps, fly on over to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

More bunnies and busy kittens

I added two peach plaid bunnies so the red bunnies came to welcome them. I am sewing a matching front strip to all of the bunnies I have made so far.

I also fixed the ears of these four bounding bunnies.

The rest of the day I was a disciplinary problem for the Dean of Kitten U. Molly is teaching me to come and help her down when she climbs to the highest shelf behind the design wall. And no, she does not want me to grab her. She wants to jump down to my shoulders and then be given a piggy back ride until she is no longer amused. And if she wants to repeat this over and over and over and over, it is obviously for my benefit.

Meanwhile, Typhoon is giving up his scaredy cat hobby and is spending time tearing things apart. I had to remove all plastic bags from the sewing room because he decided that it was his responsibility to shred them into bits to save the environment. Later I thought I heard a sound similar to someone popping bubble wrap, only to find that both cats had found the bubble wrap in the office closet and were popping it. Now they have to drop by intermittently to check to see if I left the closet door open again. Otherwise, I hear odd noises, go to investigate and have two cats glare at me with the total innocence of evil teenagers.

MidAtlantic Quilt Festival

This is a detail of the quilt "You Better Watch Out" by Sheila Riess. This was my favorite detail of all of the quilts at the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival. Yes, there were other quilts showing excellence in workmanship and mastery of the art form, but this one is certain to haunt me for a very long time.

And this was an adorable wallhanging. I took a picture of the credits for this quilt, but I can't read them given the fuzziness of the shot. I also wanted to show you favorite details from Vicki W.'s quilts that were also on display, but photography demons intervened.

Bounding bunnies and Typhoon

Here are the last of the bunnies bounding off to the left. Whew. Oops. I just noticed a genetic modification...the sharp eared bunnies. And there are four of them. For example, the bunny in the upper left hand corner is of the original heritage and when sewn into the quilt will have a squared off front ear. The bunny below it, though, has a front ear that is turned upside down, creating a dangerous, pointy ear. I had better go warm up the seam ripper after I go back and inspect all the other bunnies.

Meanwhile, Typhoon the foster kitten has shown a lot of progress just in the last couple of days. Here he is sleeping on top of the bed...out in the open instead of in a hidey hole. And thankfully, he is playing more in the day so he is slowly kicking his nocturnal habits.

Still more bounding bunnies

Just a few more bounding bunnies completed today with seven more to go for the right side of the quilt. Then I can start making bunnies that run towards the right. For more scrappy fun, hop on over to Oh Scrap!

Brown seahorses

Here are two brown seahorses to join the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge. I intended to make one seahorse facing in each direction, but got turned around early. I must have been seeing stars in my eyes.

Owls, bunnies, kittens

Why yes, it's another owl from the Dear Jane alternative universe.

And I have to confess my ignorance. All these years I thought I was buying beautiful florals by Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs, only to now realize that most of the fabric depicts owl eyes.

I also made more bounding bunnies...not to feed the owls...but merely to make some progress on this RSC challenge from last year.

Meanwhile, Molly would like to show you that even a six month old kitten can master some of Tommy's pretentious poses. (I personally think Tommy would recommend softer eyes that reveal less of the psychosis that dwells within.)

And I probably should have warned you to avert your eyes if you don't want to see pictures of a kitten enduring the pain of touch.

The writhing and suffering lasts much longer than the actual touch.

Foster Follies

And what is wrong with this picture? Why yes, that is Typhoon in Molly's diva batting bed. This is what happens when a foster cat decides that they are too good for hiding and sleeping under a bed.

Molly has taken over this blanket on the bottom of a shelving unit. She began to sleep here last night to avoid sleep deprivation from Typhoon's relentless need to cuddle.  How do you spell passive-aggressive?

Dear Jane Progress

Here's my progress on the Dear Jane (and Alternate Jane Universe) quilt(s). Fabadashery is celebrating her six month anniversary since she began her Dear Jane journey. I began following along some time after that, but then I haven't caught up yet either. I do have four triangles finished but I didn't get them up in time.

By now I assume you know to expect Molly the adopted kitten to weigh in with her choice of blocks. She must have been in a good mood because she only took down ten of the blocks. But it was early in the day. And she has learned a new technique where she can bring the blocks down by simply pulling at the bottom of the wall. This is not as strenuous as climbing it.

And as you can see my design wall as developed a bulge. Behind it are shelves of flat folds of fabric.  Typhoon is wedged behind the bottom stack of fabric forming that bulge. Molly has learned that she can attack Typhoon and rain blocks all at the same time. 

Here's the four inches of snow we received on Monday.

And this is the freezing rain that greeted us this morning. 

Double nine revisited

I did remember that I had this project, but I didn't really know where I had left off. I did decide to make this quilt reversible with a dark side and a light side. To help inspire me, I laid some of the blocks up on the design wall. Of course, the design wall was clear because Molly had pulled the spiderweb quilt to the floor.

The double nine patch met the same fate. Is this Molly with a look of remorse...or is that a look of diabolical planning? In any case, we also have territorial disputes over the sewing chair. She sometimes takes higher ground...literally...climbing onto my shoulder as I sew.

I was reminded of this project when I found this stack of nine patches buried under the spiderweb scraps.

And so now the nine patches can join its container. In the background are the pile of high contrast strips I pulled for this project that have now taken up permanent residence on my sewing table.

In related news, Typhoon has learned the joys of the strip pile on the floor. He has been wary of this area because a devious predator (Molly) hides there to launch sneak attacks.

Brown standing bunnies

Here are some chocolate bunnies to enjoy well before Easter. Maybe with the addition of pink, they are perfect for Valentine's Day. In any case, they are here to join the brown with pink party at the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.  I should also mention that these bunnies are being made for a rainbow quilt separate from the plaid bunnies. As you might imagine, keeping all these bunnies separate and accounted for is no small task.

A Return to Bounding Bunnies

The bounding bunnies are back. A while ago I figured out a layout for this quilt. Right facing bunnies on one side, left facing bunnies on the other, with carrots as a column between them. I also figured out how many bunnies of each color I needed. These are 7 of the 23 left facing bunnies that I need to make.

And here is Typhoon's Life is Unfair block. It will join the Dear Jane Alternate Universe collection. As you can see, life is unfair because one block is bigger than the other, and then to make things worse, the large square is fussy cut.

But Typhoon is really fitting in quite well. He has taken over one of Molly's nests in the fabric stash for his daytime napping. It's still hiding, but at least its creative hiding and better than sleeping under a bed.  The shelves of fabric are also fun for sneak attacks. And this afternoon, when Molly went to nap in her batting bed, Typhoon went and kept her company. Apparently sleeping with the warden is allowed at Kitten Korrectional Facility.

Dear Jane and Typhoon

Today seems to be a day of subdued colors, relatively speaking. This is Dear Jane block C3 or Rayelle's Fence.

And here is block F6 or Deanie's Fence.

And Typhoon thinks there should be a block called "Life is Unfair." You will notice that Molly, the adopted kitten, is sleeping in her personal special contoured batting bed, while Typhoon the foster kitten, has to share a pillow with stinky staff.

Jane, Molly and Typhoon

First, let's catch up with Dear Jane. Here is block G13 or Molly's Muffins. I used the color layout that Fabadashery used which avoids a big blob (or muffin) in the middle.

To make my version however, I made two blocks. The circle like figure is cut out of the block on top, and then using Dale Fleming's simple circle technique, I sew the bottom block underneath the top block so the bottom block is inlaid under the circular opening.

And this is Dear Jane Block G11 or Decisions Decisions. This is simply a nine patch with diamonds appliqued on top. I use pins instead of glue for the applique and often find my diamond points drift.

Meanwhile, I didn't want to reintroduce Molly (Hurricane) and Buddy (Typhoon) too soon, but they decided that playing pawsies under the door was lame. Here, Warden Molly is explaining the rules of the Kitty Korrectional Facility to Typhoon. Typhoon is very shy and hides and sleeps under the bed during the day. So today, Molly left me alone in the sewing room while she slept on top of the bed Typhoon was under.

Molly takes all of her roles seriously. Because she had left me alone so much of today, she had a spirited burst in the sewing room where she climbed the design wall to scatter blocks and used her teeth to pull at one block I had pinned. Then she almost toppled the ironing board, and knocked offending items off the cutting table. But much of her time is spent making up lost time with Typhoon and showing him around the place at a gallop.

Typhoon developed a complete nocturnal schedule while at the shelter, so he sleeps all day and then purrs and rubs against my head all night. While he actually looks like a convict in this photo, he's really just trying to figure out the camera with the flashing light. Although he is still very skittish, he seems especially happy to be reunited with his bossy sister.

Spiderweb Layout

Here's my progress so far on the spider web quilt. It's roughly 56 by 46. It's a lot of fun to construct so I will definitely make it bigger. How big I don't know yet. In any case, its time to cut more blue wedges and telephone book page triangles. To enjoy other scrap quilts, make sure to check out February's Scraptastic Tuesday.

And given Molly's fascination with the ironing board, I thought I should get an iron that is a bit more kitten friendly. I think she might also be interested in the ironing board because its the tallest location and its in the middle of the room. So it might help to have a tall cat roosting spot available in the sewing room. I welcome any suggestions you might use to safeguard your cat from your iron.

Meanwhile, Molly has also developed a fascination with the design wall and gave a pretty stern review of the spiderweb. I don't know whether she doesn't like the choice of quilt block or just thought I should rethink the block placement. And mind you, she is maintaining her sewing room duties along with her new duties as Warden Molly which includes playing pawsies with Typhoon under the door.