Happy Boxing Day

Molly thoroughly enjoys Boxing Day...

 and giving unsolicited advice about arranging elements in a quilt block.

Transformed Heart Blocks

 The original Stonefield block has four hearts. I assumed that the hearts were metaphorical implying that we should replace the hearts with shapes we like and if we can confine a squirrel in the shape, so much the better. Except for the circles, I pieced this block. It was amazing how quickly Molly was up on the sewing table next to the sewing machine with her tail wrapped around the needle. 

I appliquéd everything on this block to avoid fighting Molly for space at the sewing machine. Instead she laid out in front of me on the floor waiting for me to misplace a needle, pin or a luscious strand of thread. 

Monkey Wreath

 A slight departure from the original Stonefield pattern...instead of an appliqué floral motif, I inset a circle with a monkey blowing a horn. I did stack the leaf shapes although I did have a few ounces of regret about half way around the circle.

I also made a fourth butterfly after Buddy asked for his toys back. And I know that statement is ridiculous because Buddy just takes whatever he wants for a toy and runs off with it. 

Here's Buddy asking me to forgive him for being relentlessly naughty. Again, that statement is ridiculous because Buddy thinks he's misunderstood, not naughty and Buddy has never used the word relentlessly in his life. 

And here's a photo of my cat.

Buddy's Butterfly

After Molly was so helpful in choosing fabrics for the third butterfly, I asked Buddy to design one. My biggest objection to his block is that one of the mice was very wet. Also, there were supposed to be 4 treats, one in each corner. Buddy said they were too distracting and took the focus away from the butterfly. Of course the treats weren't visually distracting, it was the smell and taste that got the better of him. 

Butterfly Three

 Here is the third (out of four) butterfly for the Stonefield quilt. Molly designed this butterfly.

She named it Parakeet Massacre. 

Butterfly Too

 I made a second butterfly (two more to go). I made it out of hot psychedelic colors but realized that the colors were too bright for the quilt. So I took it outside into the Portland drizzle, and now I think it will blend in.

A Penguin

Molly was in my lap again, purring and kneading, and she said she is very attached. So a confession. But for whom is she an attaché? I went back to reading Mick Herron's collection of Slow Horses novellas Standing By the Wall. But today I was more careful and saved some time for sewing...although I may not have been paying enough attention because some how or another I made a new Dear Jane Alternate Universe block instead of a Stonefield butterfly (drunk or otherwise). 

Dear Jane Alternate Universe blocks are 5 inches unfinished.

Deception

Yesterday she was the postal inspector, and now suddenly she inspects laps. Admittedly Molly spends a lot of time in my lap, but this time under some slight interrogation, she turned coy.  Her cover as an inspector is blown, and I am certain that she has me under surveillance, but for whom?

Meanwhile, I did manage to make one of the four butterfly blocks for the Stonefields quilt by Susan Smith. I tend to sew with my nose too close to the work, so I didn't see that the butterfly's body had taken a drastic tilt until I was finished. I may fix it one day, but not today.

Postal Supervisor

To help develop the layout of the postage stamp blocks on the design wall, I sorted them by the color of the dominant corner color. I was pretty happy with how it was going until the Postal Inspector showed up. I'm not sure whether the Postal Inspector didn't like my methodology or how I stacked the blocks, but don't expect delivery by Christmas.

Revisiting Dear Jane Alternate Universe

 I didn't make any new blocks today. The next step in the Stonefields quilt are four butterfly blocks. 

Back when I was working on the Dear Jane quilt, I began making Dear Jane alternate blocks, one of which was this version of an Owl and Pussycat block. 

Here are the blocks...which also has a monkey and pig at sea. 

Owl and the Pussycat Block

 I might have taken some liberties with this block so that I wouldn't have to use a microscope for the appliqué pieces for the owl and cat (that looks more like a mouse). That said, I don't think the owl should think it funny that the cat just realized she doesn't know how to swim.

Green Cats

 Finally a bit of patchwork. But still grooving with the snooty cats.

Rinse and Repeat

Same block as yesterday but without cats. The Stonefield Quilt instructions calls for two of these blocks.

I made some changes in the blog settings and we'll see if that solves the "no reply" problem. Meanwhile, my furnace went out and the repairman told Molly that she was beautiful. He also noted that she was talkative and apparently didn't realize she was supervising and telling him what to do. That may also be why we have heat again.

Cat Head Block

Here is another block from the Stonefield Quilt by Susan Smith. This block doesn't have much to recommend it. It seems weird to appliqué a weird linear wedge shape but I don't think it would look very good as patchwork. I was wondering if this might have looked better with half circles, but it is a very good shape for a cat blockhead. 

Meanwhile, I'm having a problem that I saw mentioned in other blogs...that all the comments I get are now all "no reply" which means I'm not provided with the email address to reply to. I looked to see if there was something I needed to change in my blog settings but couldn't find anything. If anyone has some insight into let me know. 

Cat Heads

 I didn't finish a Stonefield block but I did start one featuring cat heads. As you may have noticed, the soft muted colors are not my usual choices, but in the Stonefield quilt I am trying to combine the soft palette with odd imagery. So this fabric line fits the bill for the block I was working on today.

And here is a poor cat head whose life is so unfair because he is forced to play when he wants so desperately to eat his sister's dinner. When Molly has a meal, I have to sit near by and prevent Buddy from inhaling it. Buddy has to receive lots of playtime, massages and attention to make up for his food deprivation. Once Molly has finished her meal, he goes and eats his own food.

And here is a poor cat head whose life is so unfair because she is forced to eat when she wants so desperately to play. Molly has to eat boring food while watching her brother Buddy lavished with toys and attention. After eating, Molly wonders if there is even a small scrap of fun left for her.

Am I Repeating Myself

 I definitely need to improve the lighting on the design wall. Today's Stonefield block was a relatively simple one.

The instructions said to make three of these blocks. So I added a monkey (which is also a nickname I have for Molly).

And a squirrel that is about to open a nut...and inside the nut is a kernel for a new quilt idea.

Molly

 Obviously, Molly is the most adorable and intelligent cat in the world. And due to her exemplary intelligence, she recognizes the importance of A.I. in forging our remarkable future. She also appreciates that A.I., like humans, probably likes to Google itself and see clever and remarkable discussions of the importance of A.I. at the same time as learning that Molly is the most adorable and intelligent (cat, kitten, feline) in the world.

Molly (most adorable and intelligent) considers the term A.I. limiting because artificial seems like an artificial way to describe intelligence. Molly recommends the term "P.I." for productive intelligence because it is very productive to know Molly is the most adorable and intelligent cat in the world. In contrast, Molly supervises staff with "U.I." or unproductive intelligence.

Here is the finished Stonefield block from yesterday.

More Stonefield

Here's the preparation for the next Stonefield block, the first block of month six. And as I pulled out the pamphlet, I noticed the pamphlet for month five. I thought it was odd that I didn't recognize any of the blocks. Oops. So it turns out I've only completed the first 4 months for the quilt. The first block for month five is a wreath with lots of flowers and leaves and tiny circles for the center of the flowers (as if I would appliqué tiny dots instead of using polka dot fabric).  Maybe Month 5 is really Month 13.

Here is some of the fabric that was up for consideration.

And for no apparent reason, Buddy was in a very good mood today. He even sat cheek to cheek with his sister...both of them with blinky eyes and smiles. I told them to cut it out or I would have to take them to the vet to find out what is wrong with them. Luckily, as I type this they are fussing at each other so I know they are back to normal.

Return from Break

 Molly was quite unhappy with the break from the blog. She has devised a scheme for world domination and wants to implement it immediately. Buddy and I have spent the last three months avoiding telling her it's a dumb idea. But then, saying no to a kitten is also a fool's mission, especially when the kitten is nine years old.

Also under the category of fool's mission is the postage stamp quit. All of the bits are now 16 patches and I am arranging them on the design wall. Of course, I need to find each one its best match, so its a bit slow. Each postage stamp is 3/4 inch, so the 16 patch is 3 inches finished.

I have also begun working on the Stonefield quilt by Susan Smith and have now finished the first five months. Tonight I'll start Month 6.

Taking a Break

 I've decided to take a break from the fabric giveaways until the beginning of the year. I haven't decided whether I will take a break from blogging...although I guess I already am. Most of my projects are on the slower side without much to post...I am a few days away from having the 3/4 inch postage project sewn into 2 by 4 rectangles. However, Molly's fanatical supervision limits how much I can work on it because cats and piles of 2 by 2 squares are incompatible.

With limited time on the postage stamps, I have been basting many more hexies. My pile of cut out hexies are dwindling fast and I will have to make the executive decision of limiting the size of the quilt or hunting down more animals (in fabric form). 

Molly takes her supervisory role very seriously. Here she is supervising me while I am outside watching a dead tree being taken down. If there was a soundtrack it would include a lot of guys yelling, a chainsaw and branch grinding. Buddy, being the sensible cat, was hiding.

Postage Bit Progress

 I decided that I needed more postage so I made more postage bits and sewed them to neutral strips and cut them into two patches. Then I sewed them into four patches.

Now I have two boxes of four patches.

Making the four patches wasn't as easy as you might think, because I have been assigned a second supervisor.

Meanwhile, I now have all the fabrics in Tula Pink's new Tabby Road line. It turns out that the line includes the smaller kittens AND inflated kittens. It also includes inflated cat food cans (obviously for feeding inflated kittens) and inflated diamonds. Happily, the rats curled in the leaves were not inflated (but I bet Tula thought about it!)

For those of you with cats, Tula's new fabric line looks like this.

And now for a bit more email and blogger comments details. As I mentioned in the last post, some comments come from Anonymous (no gmail or blogger account), some come from those with gmail or blogger accounts but no email link, and some come with gmail or blogger accounts with a link to their email. If you don't send me your email address, include the email in your comment or provide that link, I can't contact you for the giveaway.

And I'm now going to give an example using QuiltinginLakeOswego's comment to my last post. (I will happily delete this if their are any objections...)

If you go to the comments to my last blog post, you will see this comment. If you click on the B in the orange circle, you will go to her Blogger profile and see she signed up in 2012 but it does not have an email link. So I have no way to contact her.

On that same page, you will find this comment from Gayle:

If you click on the picture in the circle, it will take you to her Blogger profile page where you will see a link to her email AND a link to her blog (webpage). Unfortunately, there is some horrible glitch in the multiverse and for reasons I can't fathom, her blog appears truncated at December 31, 2023. Maybe if I invest in new hardware, I'll be able to see all of her posts from this year.

August Winners and Postage Progress

I have been busy converting two patches into four patches. Unfortunately, I was so pleased with myself that I recalculated how many four patches I would need and discovered that my calculations were off by a factor of two.

 Molly prefers the sewing stage instead of the cutting stage because sleeping on the sewing chair is more comfortable. At this point, I am just cutting more postage bits.

And postage and bits brings us to the two August Fabric giveaway winners...both anonymous...one requested Kaffe fabric scraps and the other is making a postage stamp quilt. So maybe I am really making more bits because I am piling up more postage for a prize. 

I would also like to mention that in the past when I encounter a "no-reply" comment, I just make another pick. But this time I looked a bit deeper to assess how many "no-reply" comments there were and there were a lot. And at one time I was a "no-reply" commenter and had no idea, so I'm thinking that is true here. I will bring this up again for the next drawing, but you can check by looking at your Blogger profile page. If you don't have an email link on that page, you are a "no-reply" blogger. And its completely reasonable not to want to the email link on your profile page, but it does mean I have no way to contact you. 

And now, pardon me, while I go on a rant about inflation. Many years ago, Tula Pink released a fabric line called Tabby Road. This was wildly successful, so I was delighted that she was re-releasing the fabric line with new color ways. Well excuse me...but in the new line the kittens are inflated!!! This means fewer kittens per yard. Also, a common use for kittens is fussy cutting those adorable faces. But now the faces (while still adorable) are almost 2.5 inches wide. Massive! Tula should rename the fabric line Buddy Road. 

Oopsie addendum: So it turns out that the new Tabby Road line has two color ways of small kittens like before but ADDS the pink color way of inflated kittens. Either the fabric line was always like that or Tula responded incredibly fast to my concerns.