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.  

Antependia Interruptus

It's raining outside, the hubby is home, the cats are restless...and I have an antependium to make.  This is a wedding parament and the design will be very traditional.  I've had my sketches drawn since November and bought the silk in January...and that's as far as I got.

I've been dragging my feet on this project for no good reason;  I just can't seem to get started.  To help nudge me along, I printed out my sketch full-sized thinking that might provide impetus.  It took 16 tabloid sheets which I taped together and then laid on the floor to measure.  The few minutes of attention that the paper got didn't sit well with Polly, who immediately claimed the paper as hers.  Squatter's Rights.  She was guarding her new territory fiercely when her tail started giving her grief.  Oh oh.  We knew what was coming, so I went for the camera...

 

(Don't be alarmed by the sirens, hubby is watching TV)

After a full 10 minutes of this, there isn't much left of my pattern.  Sigh...I hope it stops raining soon so the cats can go outside...

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!

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?

What's In The Box?

The UPS man delivered a big box of gorgeous Hoffman fabrics on Friday.  Even though I knew what was coming it knocked me off my game a bit to hold the actual fabrics in my hand.  What bliss!  I am sure one fabric is made of quicksilver...it is so fluid as it moves and catches the light.  I marvel at how silver threads can be woven in with plain cotton to achieve such effect.  It was a couple of hours before I could settle down to sew as after I felt each hand, admired the colours and prints, rubbed them on my cheek and inhaled their cottony goodness, I also had to iron each and every piece. I like to get to know my fabrics before I release their magic in patchwork.  While I cannot show you what was in the box when it arrived...

I can show you what's in it now.  Polly!  She was so determined to get inside that box, so I put in a bit of wool batting scraps and let her enjoy.  You can see her paws kneading the wool;  my Gram always called this "mixing bread".

Polly got as much pleasure from her favourite material as I did from mine.

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...

Dot To Dot

With lots going on to keep us busy, progress has been slow (but sure) on the Mirror Ball Dot challenge.   Although it turned out very different from our original vision (doesn't it always?!) it went together well.  We had some squares left over, and Polly insisted we use these up.  She isn't one for waste.

We used the leftover piece from the hanging sleeve...

 ...to add a mitred border on one side of the second project.  From dot to dot.

We still have a few, small leftover pieces; we'll see if Polly has ideas for those.

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!

X Games For Kitties

We had a beautiful snowfall overnight - the soft, fluffy kind that you love to play in...and even enjoy shoveling.  Schools are closed today so I expect there will be lots of snowmen appearing in front yards.  I might even build one myself :) 

Maddie doesn't much care for snow;  he walks through it gingerly, and with disdain on his face.

Polly, on the other hand, delights in the white stuff and can't wait to get out and play in it.  She loves to dig tunnels and bat the snow with her paws. She chased Maddie at high-speed around and around the yard.  See how high he is lifting his back legs to get over that snow!  Finally he went and hid under the front step, away from Polly-the-wildcat.

Polly then did a bit of scoop surfing, her favourite winter sport.

 When Polly visited the vet last August, we met a neighbour from our street there with his dog.  He greeted Polly with "I see you riding in the snow shovel in the winter!"  We wondered if he was watching her antics this morning;  she put on quite a show!