Blog Relaunch

Here are two new postage stamp blocks. Long time ago I started a quilt that borrows from Klein Meisje Quilts blog, where Lynn is making a boat load of quilts that contrast solids and prints. Wanda at Exuberant Color is also taking this journey. I am so far constraining myself to the postage stamp quilt and the zipper quilt. Although I love the concept, I couldn't bring myself to go all the way to solids, so I am using Spotted by Zen Chic instead.

Now you may be wondering what I meant by relaunching the blog. It's really more that I am adding a new blog post, but to do that, I had to relaunch myself into a vertical position. This was instigated by a nasty note I received from Smitty from Three Cat Ranch. He was posing as Barbara, and we know just how well he poses! The threatening and ominous note said "Everything okay? Haven't heard from you for a while. Just checking in. Hope you're okay."

In my head, this translates into: "Are you really going to let yourself devolve into a gelatinous puddle topped with two parasitic fat cats? It's okay to be weird, but we frown on pathetic. Although you have no self-respect. pretend you do. You're burning daylight--a very rare commodity in Portland."

The top two blocks are two new zipper blocks that I added to the other three I made some time in the distant past.

These four measly blocks took quite a bit of effort because I am quite out of practice and I had to dig my sewing machine out of layers of fabric I used to keep Molly away from the thread. Yesterday, I was only able to sew for a few hours because soon Molly had moved in front of the machine and then placed herself in my arms so I could only hold her...for the rest of the day.

So this morning, in a fit of brilliance, I turned Molly's heated bed back on and now we can both resume our lives...which has always pretty much looked like a pandemic lock down.

Not all of my time has been spent supine. I did put a new cat tree together for Molly so that she can get to the top of the fabric shelving.

This is how Molly supervised the construction. At first she did not approve. She likes to scale piles of fabric and doesn't approve of weird new contraptions that don't smell like cat.

Daytime Theft

So today I was minding my own business, and poof, my day was stolen right from under me. The only bits that I have left is this photo of Molly cleaning the vulture off of Buddy. And yes, Buddy and Molly are not fans of social distancing...except maybe for UPS trucks.

And in case Molly's look is too subtle...I think it's a combination of "mind your own business" and "get your own life." Meanwhile, I don't know whether to find some more remnants of this day...maybe a few scraps...or just wait and see if I get another one tomorrow.

Delusions

Here is one of those famous illusory photos where you just can't quite figure out if its a vulture or Buddy the cat. Molly notes that in Virginia, turkey vultures are quite common. Also, Buddy was born in Virginia. Ipsy Ditsy, this means Buddy is a turkey.

Vulture tracks...

or maybe not. This is really my finished panel for the 25 million stitches project. I was able to finish the entire panel after all...with cool colors running one direction and warm colors running in the other direction...forming sewing circles. My stitch estimate for the panel is 16,000 (counting only the top stitches).  You can find out more about the project here: https://www.25millionstitches.com

Time to Clean Out the Sock Drawer!

It's definitely time to clean out the sock drawer when you find a vulture digging around in it.

Perler Vulture

Here is the perler vulture. The stuffed toy vulture was very nice to pose for the portrait.

Meanwhile, Buddy and Molly are auditioning backdrops for all of their Zoom conference calls.

As you can see, Molly is sporting her pandemic beard.

Welcome to May

Molly hopes you are enjoying social isolation as much as she does.

But Molly's rules for social distancing do not include staff, unfortunately. This is pretty much what my day looks like.

At the same time, my backyard is showing off its best finery.

And I finished the half way mark on my 25 million stitches project. However, since its due in a few days, I am not going to be able to fill it in completely with rings...so it has all the diagonal lines in one direction, and will only have bands of diagonals in the other direction. I have been burying the threads to allow the panel to be seen from both sides given I don't know how the final installation works. And yes, this is very hard to photograph. I am showing both sides so you can see it with and without the design markings.

Meanwhile, given this is the beginning of the month, I did pick a new bird for the month, pretending the project is still ongoing. And yes, as you might expect...the bird for May is Vulture!