Tuscany Silk

I've been itching to try Hobbs Tuscany Silk Batting and was thrilled when Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium received a shipment.  Yay, Mrs. P! (she does mail orders if you can't visit in person!)

It's a lovely light-weight batting which shows the relief of the stitches very nicely.  I will definitely be using this silk batting again.  Even this small, heavily stitched piece drapes beautifully;  it would be a dream on a bed quilt.

I stitched this sample of our project for our upcoming Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Terrified workshop using gold metallic thread but there isn't much sparkle showing in these pictures.

It's a dark and overcast day here so I took the little quilt outside to photograph to capture as much light as possible.

I ended up planting the hanger on top of a bean pole in our garden.  It seemed a safe spot, as I had helpers in attendance.

Maddie sat at one end of the row pondering how to climb that bean pole...

...while Polly surveyed the situation from the other end.

Maddie got bored and decided there was other trouble he could pursue.  Oh, oh...look out Polly, he is slowly stalking you!

We know what happened next.  I didn't get a picture of the rumble as I was hurrying to get the quilt safely inside.  No silk was harmed in the photographing of the quilt.  

A Scattered Week

The wind is blowing a gale outside and with two cats in the house, I knew that even before I opened my eyelids this morning.  Gram always said the cats go crazy when there is wind and Polly is a wild woman today... she`s been into everything. 

Perhaps the wind scattered my week as well as it's certainly been off in many directions.  I had a great time at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium on Wednesday;  it was her first drop-in sewing day and it was a roaring success. I expect that will become a regular event as everyone had a very fun time.  (Linda S., thank you for the reminder to take my camera;  I did...but do you think I remembered to take any pictures?!) Yesterday I spent way too much time tracking down the perfect box in which to ship quilts and patterns...but I found it!  I am beyond delighted to say that my Quilt Of Learning and Rhythmic are both headed to Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh.  Both were made using Stof fabrics and they will be displayed in the Stof booth at Market. These are the two quilts:

It`s no small honour to have my quilts go and I am really pleased that there was opportunity to show both of them first here in Amherst, Nova Scotia.  They've been on display for the past month at Mrs. Pugsley`s Emporium.

I am home today waiting for UPS to come pick up the box.

While I wait, I will stitch on the latest design.  This will be the last I can show of it for awhile as I am pleased to say it will appear in the fall issue of Quilter`s Connection magazine, Canada`s premier quilting publication.

Look at Polly:  ears up, eyes intently focused, killer instinct engaged.. Be careful Maddie, I think she`s ready for another round!

Copy Cats

In my previous post, I mentioned we were away a few days;  the cats were left in the care of our eldest son whom both cats adore.  When we returned, Maddie was sitting in the big front window watching for us. After time for greeting both he and Polly, we checked the phone messages and found one from our cat-loving neighbour, quite late the previous night, saying that Maddie was crying at her back door and she wondered if we knew he was out.  She had tried several times to get him to come inside (because it was -20) but he wouldn't.  This sounded odd for a couple of reasons (one of which is that Maddie never cries, he is a silent cat.). I contacted my son to ask if Maddie had escaped one night but he assured me neither cat had been outside the whole time we were away.  We knew immediately what was going on!

For the last little bit there has been a Maddie look alike hanging around.  We've seen him outside and tried to call him in thinking he was our cat, only to look down to find Maddie at our feet.  They look so much alike, it's hard for us to recognize our own child!  Here are the two of them together.

Their tuxedos must have been made by the same tailor as the cut and colouring is almost an exact copy. They have the same bouncy gait.  Impostor Maddie even has the same sleek, shiny, thick fur as our Maddie.

We know he has a home - he is very well cared for - not far from here.  We do wonder if they are brothers?

The only difference is their nose.  This is Impostor Maddie:

This is the real Maddie:

We think it's very funny.  And yes, we have great neighbours!

Christmas Inside/Out...

It feels like we're in a  bit of a time warp.  Outside it looks like Christmas...we've had so much snow this week it's unreal.  Can you see my neighbour's black cap near the top of this photo?

Here's a close-up, you can see his cap to the right and top of the picture below.  That's how high our snowbanks are!

 It isn't very safe for little kitties to be outside so ours are only allowed out with an adult present.

 Maddie wasn't sure what to make of these snow mountains!

 Inside, it's been feeling like Christmas as well with all these gorgeous seasonal Hoffman prints on my table.

Yesterday I watched the women's hockey game between Canada and the U.S. and in the excitement sewed so fast I got my blocks all done.  Yay Canada, a great game and a well deserved gold medal!

This afternoon our men's hockey team plays the U.S. in the semi-finals;  if the pace is as lively as yesterday I am hoping the blocks will be joined together by games end.  The coach's good advice to his team today? :

I get by with a little * from my friends...

This morning I had a printer jam - and a jam in a wide format printer is a pain.  I needed to consult a technician for help. Luckily, I have in-house staff who handle such emergencies.

 It didn't take long to find the source of the problem.

After a thorough investigation (including climbing inside to check out the print heads) the technician decided to call for back-up.

 A second opinion was offered quickly.

 Success!  The jam is cleared and the paper is feeding freely again.

What would I do without such helpful staff?

Kitty Kiddies

This is a post for all the cat lovers out there,  pictures of Polly and Maddie being cute.

I've shown this first picture before.  It's Polly when she was very young, snuggling with the stuffed cat (named Catee) on the back of the couch.  Each time Polly had a nap attack, she would seek out Catee to curl up with.  We eventually moved Catee to our bed and Polly continues to seek her company.

When Maddie arrived on the scene last fall, Polly was fine sharing her little stuffed duck and leopard Beanie Baby, but did not like Maddie coming near Catee.  (BTW, the long grey and white strip in the picture is a length of fake fur and lambswool in which both cats love to knead their paws.)

We looked around to find a soft stuffed cat for Maddie and found one just before Christmas.This tuxedo Jelly Belly was perfect, and unbelievably soft...like Maddie.  The stuffed cat got named Charlie.

Maddie took to him right away;  maybe he figures it is his long lost brother?

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and here's Maddie curled up for a nap with Charlie.

It's enough to make a cat-mama go, "aaaawwww" :)  Maddie awoke and left, and not 5 minutes later...

Polly arrived in the same spot for her afternoon siesta.

Between the pair, they have almost as many stuffed toys as our two boys did...and play with them way more.  Whoever coined the term "Fur-babies" got it right.

Backyard Antics

I am forever astounded at the pile of work that never seems to get any smaller despite the many hours devoted to its eradication...I am beginning to believe that the pile grows on its own overnight...
The Mirror Ball Dot assignment is almost finished, so I took a break to bring some other deadlines closer to their mark.  Six quilts were ready to photograph (yikes!) so I set up some inside shots and then headed to the backyard to take advantage of the natural light.  Naturally...I had company.  It's hard to do anything without Polly's assistance.  She scouts the area for any distractions.

 Oh, oh...she has spotted something.

 She's giving the intruder the evil eye.

Maddie!!!  Look out - Polly is about to pounce!

Maddie is not very brave with heights - he likes his feet firmly planted on solid ground.Polly joins him for a good chase around the yard.

At this point, it began to snow so looks like we will try for those pictures another day...

Cattheatrics

Our kitties came out to help shovel.  Maddie didn't seem quite so taken aback by the snow this time - perhaps he is getting used to the idea.  Polly was her usual into-everything-with-gusto self.

She waited for the scoop to be empty and then hopped on as it passed by.

We decided to see what Maddie thought of this, and headed the scoop towards him.  Take note of Polly's ears as we get closer and closer to Maddie:

The ears are starting to flatten...

Oh, oh...look out Maddie - this isn't looking good for you...

A lunge and a swat to protect her cherished scoop - Polly is NOT sharing!

At this point the camera batteries died, otherwise you would have seen that once the scoop was out of the picture, the kitties were fine again - running and playing together.  Boundaries have been established and recognized so all is well.  Good thing we have two snow scoops...one for each cat!