Scrappy

Today I went down to the Willamette Valley Quilt show and while there I ran into Cynthia Brunz, the infamous quilter who blogs at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.  She described how she likes to dump scraps on her floor and then let the scraps "speak to her" and give her the idea of the quilt they would like to become. So when I got home I decided to give it a try...but it must be a very special skill because all I see is a big pile of scraps.

Penguin Puppet

Let me introduce Penguin Puppet. He agrees that one could easily spend a whole year on penguins. However, at the end of last year I chose the twelve birds that would change monthly for the "Put a Bird On It" daily challenge. He also thinks you should know that you can get a pattern to make penguin puppet at The Tucson Puppet Lady.

Mr. Vulture would like to remind you of the remaining bird possibilities (and yes, the dead possum is filling in for a fabric image of a vulture.)

Molly is a bit worried that there may be concerns about the integrity of the random drawing process, so she has brought in expert assistance. She also knows that a picture of an adorable kitten is soothing.

Here is Misha the mascot from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He will be verifying the results. The selection hexies are stored in the penguin ice bucket.

And the winner for February is Parrot. I did do a bit of research and discovered that this covers not only the Macaw, but the cockatoo, parakeets and love birds. So wow. And its a short month. And P.S., the Tucson Puppet Lady also has a pattern for a vulture puppet (not shown).

Keeping it simple

On a recent trip to the hardware store, I saw small hexagon bathroom tiles...in black and white. Of course, I thought penguins! But no, I didn't want to get tile hexies just to make a penguin...especially when I have so much fabric at home. Then I kept thinking about it...with the tile hexies, it would have been just a quick arrangement of the tiles...and did I really want to make black and white hexies just to make another version of a pixelated penguin. Hexie No! Did I want to rummage around in my fabric to find all the versions of penguins I have...sure...but I too am surprised at how few I have.

However, the hexie penguins are appropriate for another reason...tomorrow is the day for picking the next bird of the month. I will continue with penguins until the end of January, but I did want to give my brain a bit of advanced notice of what is to come for February...

Tacky Penguin

Today I present a tacky penguin.

And yes, I thought that I should introduce the felted penguin to the felted animal formerly known as owl.

Wool Applique Penguin

Here is a wool applique penguin. Unfortunately, felted penguin is quite distressed to see a penguin that has been run over by a truck or whatever other bad thing that can happen to a wool penguin to make it so flat. Felted penguin has not yet met Molly Kitten so his concern for others is heart warming but sadly naive.

Team Storm Quilt Top

Here is the Team Storm quilt top. I didn't meet the Project Quilting deadline, but I'm fine with that. I like how this quilt turned out and this lets me take some time finishing it. The challenge for this week was to pick team colors and make a quilt based on that. I chose the colors of Team Storm, three kittens that I fostered back in Virginia. In fact, they were the last kittens I fostered...

I thought Molly approved of the quilt and said "Taupe is dope" but she was really saying "That taupe cat is a dope."

And here is a felted penguin...a baby emperor penguin. It really is amazing how cute emperor penguin babies are. At the end of March of the Penguin II, they show the babies after their first year heading off to the water for the first time. Along the way, they are losing their baby fluff.

If you still haven't had enough of penguins...you can see Handmade Dalae make a Pengsoo purse on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ohlNgETq2Q.

It is always amazing to watch her make things...and this was how I learned that South Korea has a celebrity penguin called Pengsoo.

Loose bead penguin

At this point I feel like I have a few loose beads...so I used them to make a penguin. And yes, you would be correct if you noticed that most of the loose beads seem a bit too cat-like. Meanwhile, I am crashing on the Team Storm quilt, and you'll either see it tomorrow or not.