A Tasting

I am having trouble getting back into the sewing groove. I think finishing quilts for the quilt show did me in. So all I have today is a tasting of microspools.

Yesterday at the Gathering of the Guilds, a young girl with her mother stropped by at our table. The girl was wearing a Hello Kitty shirt, and now she has a reason to learn how to sew.

Tiny Tuesday collection

Here are my Tiny Tuesday blocks so far. Or should I say these are the ones I found. They tend to get scattered about. It may have something to do with my making them on Wee Wednesday. In any case, if you would like to dive into some cool aqua, head over to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

Meanwhile I am preparing for the last day of "The Gathering of the Guilds." The Northwest Quilters' Guild has demonstrations in the lobby while the main event is held inside the Convention Center. The Gathering is sponsored by the Woodworking Guild, the Pottery Guild, the Weavers' Guild, the Bead Guild and the Metalcrafting Guild.

I'm taking my best Janome machine and will show foundation piecing...making spiderweb blocks. This will allow for anyone to participate because it won't really matter if the seams vary or are wonky. I was going to demonstrate how to rotary cut strips with a cat laying on the cutting mat, but I couldn't find any cat volunteers. I'm disappointed because only quilters appreciate what a danger sport it really is.

Tending the Garden

Here's a small dogwood tree in my backyard. I have been trying to catch up with spring and thought I should stop long enough to enjoy the flower show.

And yes, the azaleas are in full froth.

And here was a hummingbird that stopped by while I had my camera in hand. Do you think he's wearing pink to match the garden?

Wee Wednesday

So, no kidding. I was thinking it was Thursday and then I was trying to think back to the block I made on Tiny Tuesday. And I didn't make one because I forgot and it wasn't all that bad because it turns out its Wednesday. Whew!

Today's Tiny Tuesday is a spinning star presented by Zana's Ninis. Tiny Tuesday is sponsored by Angela at SoScrappy, home of the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

Meanwhile, I got the second I-spy quilt laid out. I informed both Buddy and Molly that the window for their input was closed. And just to make sure, I took them to a different room to play lazer mouse so their would be no gratuitous sliding through the design floor.

And here's Molly in the same bed that Buddy filled out. So yes, Molly rightfully retains her kitten status. Unfortunately, Buddy is becoming quite full of himself and seems to be enjoying his new status as "Fat Cat."

Molly and Spiderwebs

Just because Buddy is the elephant in the room, we shouldn't forget about Molly Kitten. And yes, we did have the discussion about whether being four years old qualifies as "kitten" but Molly had me look up her adoption papers and it does say that I adopted a kitten. Molly says she is upholding her end of the bargain and then itemized many ways in which I have violated the agreement such as taking her across state lines without authorization. So nevermind.

I was thinking that maybe it was time to layer this quilt and finish it. But yikes, it looks huge. What was I thinking. First, I will rummage around in my "backing" fabrics and see what speaks to me.

Sewing?

Buddy and I couldn't agree on a layout, so Molly suggested I make more blocks, preferably with kittens or some wool. In most of the previous blocks, I tend to match the frames a bit to much to the i-spy picture. These are a bit off, so I'm hoping they will be easier to fit in with the earlier blocks.

And yes, it never hurts to make a few spools. Otherwise, I have started on seahorse tails for the border...but I don't have anything to show there yet.

Meanwhile, Buddy took over Molly's bed. Because I unplugged the bed, Molly has been using me as her heated bed instead and goes for the front window spot when the sun shines in.

I-spy continued

I have one of the I-spy quilts sewn together.

For this quilt, I let some of the blocks decide their placement. For example, Teddy wants to be a pirate when he grows up.

The second I-spy layout is taking longer to come together because Buddy and I are having artistic differences.

And for those of you who are Buddy fans, this youtube video captures the true essence of Buddy to the depths of his soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LJuE6t1-8o

Out in the garden

The tulips in the front yard are about to wind down. The sun came out so I thought I should acknowledge their presence.

And the pink rhododendron is showing off in the back yard. I passed it on the way to combat with a large patch of English Ivy. I filled a bin but I don't think the patch even noticed I had been there.

Tiny Tuesday and Language Precision

It's Tiny Tuesday and here is the Spinner block from the Academic Quilter who provided today's tutorial.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 (Molly's assessment of the blog post so far). 

Here is one of the I-spy quilts. It helps to take a photo so I can see the big wad of red and dark in the second and third row.

Here is the second I-spy quilt. Again, I will need to redistribute the reds.

And now I would like to show you Buddy's ear...and yes, you can call it a Bud Ear.

These are earbuds trampled by a pony. Oh wait, there is only one ear bud. My mystery for the last couple of days was...where is the second ear bud? The destruction took place in the bedroom...and so my first question was "Is the earbud in Buddy or out?"

Whew. I found it in Buddy's toy pile in the living room.

Aqua bitcoins and more I-spy

Here are the bitcoin blocks (truncated) in aqua...my offering to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

I also added to a growing pile of I-spy blocks.

But first I had to play "I spy" the end of the thread. I forgot to cover the sewing machine making the sewing room an unsafe space for kittens. To teach me a lesson, Molly grabbed the thread off the spool and dragged it across the sewing room. 

I-spy blocks

I forgot how much fun these blocks are to make. I think I was a bit heavy handed with the yellow and orange, so I think I need to add new tilted triangle colors. I think I already have enough i-spy blocks for three infant-sized quilts (36 inch square).

Return of I-Spy

I spy a new I-spy quilt in the making.

And what does Majestic Thunder spy? Not much. But his superpower allows him to sense Molly receiving a treat even when he's fast asleep.

Tiny Tuesday on Wednesday

Here's my Tiny Tuesday Courthouse steps from yesterday's Tiny Tuesday #14. This tutorial was presented by Angela at SoScrappy, sponsor of Tiny Tuesdays and the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

And here is another set of microspools. And yes, I was going to put them away for awhile, except we had another quilt guild meeting. So these are some of the fabrics that I harvested from the free table.

This is an illustration of Bonnie Hunter's concept that if a fabric seems ugly, just cut it smaller.

I can also grab the smaller bits of fabric. In the case of the pony bead fabrics, I only had enough to make one microspool. 

One Paw Forward

There's nothing like a deadline. Outgoing Presidents of our Quilt Guild receive quilt blocks...they request the pattern and colors...so I made mine so I could take it to the meeting tonight. Molly was so excited to see me back at the sewing machine, she came and tried to chew through the thread no less than four times. She would sit by the spool with an innocent look, and if I looked away she would grab it in her mouth. Of course, its not the kind of thing a cat (ahem, kitten) can ungrab.

I also finished a handful of microspools. I think I will put them away for awhile so I can work on some other projects. It's hard to have these little bits mixed up with other projects. So far I have roughly 400 of these spools, about one quarter of the total.

Topsy Turvy

This is way too much responsibility for a kitten. If you have received email from "Majestic Thunder," please disregard. Gayle at Mangofeet mentioned a "cat horse" and now Buddy is having stallion fantasies.

Meanwhile, staff has taken a shovel to our hovel. Despite this, she is still trying to find nooks and crannies for "temporary" fabric overflow. I would be happy with a half day of temporary sanity with a return to quilt supervision and tenderizing thread off the spool.

Respectfully,

Molly Kitten

Seahorse Reset

There are three background fabrics shown. The seahorses are swimming in a Northwoods 4 glacier blue. I ran out but found the fabric on the left side border. As I made the tails for the border, it just seemed too dark and gray. Then I found the lighter blue on the right side border. It's much closer to the original fabric. So now I'm regrouping and will make a gazillion seahorse tails until I figure out the next step.

Here Buddy is showing me his best publicity pose. Molly calls it "Before."

Tiny Tuesday On Time

Tiny Tuesday reminds me a lot of working on Dear Jane where the goal of the day is to make one block. One step at a time. And today's tutorial is provided by Beaquilter. The Rainbow Scrappy Challenge has moved into aqua. Both Tiny Tuesday and the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge are hosted by Angela at SoScrappy.

Meanwhile, I had plans of consolidating two shelving units into one but encountered the expansion principal. When I worked as a librarian back in VA, books that were no longer being checked out would be removed (and sold at the library book sale) to make room for new books. In theory, one would think if you removed ten books, you could add ten books. But when you take out one, the others suck in air, and there is no room for a book. Same with fabric.

After filling the large shelving unit, this is what I had left. I then went through and found children's fabric to donate to Sew Teach Me in Bend, Oregon. This nonprofit teaches kids to sew (not just quilts). This opened up more space...but not quite enough so I had to put a pile of fabric in the area that is supposed to be a new sleeping area for Molly. And yes, she has been known to knock whole piles of fabrics off the top of shelves, because Molly loves the science of gravity...or watching her brother run to get out of the way.

And yes, here are more micro spools. After moving around piles of fabric, I realize I should be making macro-spools. Maybe something in the range of 36 inches.