Feline Friday - 12/30/16

Zorro was being a slacker so I decided to help Momma with the taxes this week. I mean there were all those boxes on the dining room table! What's a mancat supposed to do but make sure they don't move!!

Momma sometimes calls me Fluffernutter. I'm sure she's only referring to my long luscious fur, but today I used my heft for the greater good of the universe and those. boxes. did. not. move. Mission accomplished!

Later, I decided she needed a break so I decided to sit real close while she was attempting to seal envelopes. I got a few scritches for my efforts but I didn't stay long cuz I could tell she still had a lot of work to do...

See all y'all next year!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Feline Friday - 12/23/16

From our family to yours...We wish you a Very Merry Catmas...
Love Sarah, Zorro and Bleu!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Santa Sack Swap reveal

This was my second year participating in the Santa Sack Swap. And I again had a great time. All participants are paired with someone to swap with. We are paired in the summer and we have until November 25th to put together our pressies. Each person is to make a stocking or sack and fill it with at least 5 gifts, the majority of which should be handmade.

This year I swapped with Kim of Wisdom with Needle and Thread. Kim is quite a talented doll maker and oh those stitcheries! Both skills that are no where near my tool box.

Part of the SSS process is to stalk each other's blogs and get a sense of who that person is and what they would like. You'll see in a moment that Kim nailed it for me. LOL.

I had planned to open one package a day until Christmas but it was exciting to get an email from Kim regarding the gifts I sent her so I caved. Can you believe I forgot to photo the gifts I sent her? I'll link to Kim's post when it goes live...

I forgot to photo the card but I believe it said Meowy Christmas with a note inside that she thinks I like cats. Appropriate, no?

Next up was a very generously cut yard of this adorable cat fabric

A normal person would have caught on to the theme but I was enjoying the moment too much to notice, even as I continued to unwrap each gift.

I think next I opened the notebook with the kitten on the cover.
Then the scissors with the sparkly purple fob.
Then the black Christmas cat ornament - OK - now I'm catching on.
Then the tree shaped Merry Stitchmas ornament
And Finally the larger Halloween pillow.
And lets not forget the cocoa mixes and choco bar.

Kim's stitching is exquisite in such fine threads. I'm in awe!

Thank you so much Kim  - you definitely are correct, I do have a thing for cats and all the gifts were spot on. Merry Christmas!!!

HeLP for Hexie-aholics, DWM and Mystery Monday

Hello all and welcome to today's trifecta of linky parties!!

Let's begin with the easy one ... Mystery Monday Link-up #4.

As you will recall ... I'm making a smaller quilt so I've cut enough neutral "tri's" to make 42 tri-recs. I'll need to cut some more purple "recs" but that's ok cuz I spent an hour or so trimming scraps and found some nice dark purples in the pile that I can use right away.

 And since that was the boringest photo ever, how about a little entertainment?

Attack!!!!!

This was taken shortly after Cookie Day baking finished, while Bleu was still hiding under the bed. And you're right, there are no ornaments on the bottom 2 feet of the tree for a reason...

The rest of the week/end was spent working on the owl quilt, which I am thrilled to say now has the penultimate row of the neutral batik attached to the top and bottom!! Woo Hoo!!!

Next up was deciding how to fill in the top and bottom notches so the neutral was "straight" before adding the blue border.

Given how little neutral was left I thought it would be easier to sew a strip of blue and neutral together in a pieced hexie fashion instead of making 2 half hexies to sew together later. I also added a strip of blue to the other side so I could get the most use of the neutral. I needed 22 of these split hexies which left a very small, goofy shaped piece of neutral. You can thank me later for forgetting to take a picture of that small piece of fabric.

You can see how the split hexies fill in to give some separation between the rose stars and the blue border. Phew! My idea worked!

You can also see how someone learned how to rearrange quilt blocks. Given that I had to encourage him to even sit on the quilt the last time I had it on the floor, he certainly has upped his QCO skills pretty quickly.

Sew... I've linked to Design Wall Monday and Mystery Monday but now I want all my hexie friends to join my Hexie Linky Party (HeLP).

Any paper shape and any vintage project is more than welcome. We look forward to seeing your hexie projects!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Woopsie!

Due to lack of planning on my part ... I didn't realize that the 17th fell on the weekend until I got to work Thursday and then had Friday off. With no internet at home, my only alternative was to schedule this post for the 17th...

I'm postponing HeLP until Monday, 12/19/16, when I think I'll have some pretty exciting pictures to share. OK - I think it's exciting progress but that's just me...

Well ... it's my blog ... so there! It's exciting!

Have a great weekend!

Feline Friday - 12/16/16

So. Let me just tell you...last weekend was TORTURE!!

First, Grandpoppa came over on Saturday to put in that fancy electrical socket that my uncle Tommy doesn't have. I did my best low-volume growl at him to no avail. I can look crossed eye (it comes natural) at Zorro to easily freak him out but crossed eyed plus growling didn't freak out Grandpoppa one teeny kibble. I knew I was in trouble then...

Can you believe that Momma closed the door to the stairs and I was stuck downstairs with both of them? With someone other than Momma? Other than Zorro? For more than an hour? O.M.G. It was horrible!

I fretted and fretted and looked for places to hide while Momma helped Grandpoppa. I tried the quilt lab but they were working in there. I tried behind the living room entertainment center (an old dresser) but Momma kept looking at me so I squished my way back out of there. There was no place to hide in the dining room or in the little bathroom so that just left me to pace in the kitchen. Momma calls the kitchen the north wing and they were working in the south wing so I was kinda safe.

I finally found a place to hide but Momma couldn't find me - even tho she searched the whole downstairs three times. It was kinda funny to see her looking for me. She looked in things and under things but she never looked on things. Silly Momma.

Two minutes after Grandpoppa left, Momma heard me land on the floor in the kitchen but she still didn't figure out where I had been hiding. Good, cuz I can use that spot again.

And then Sunday rolled around. Everything was fine until she picked me up and closed the door to the stairs again. What the dingle berries is this? Again? Some lady named Kristen came inside for some party. I growled at her too but she cooed back at me. What is with these people?

Momma said she wanted the first party guest to meet me and Kristen is a cat lady but I really didn't care so I quickly wriggled out of Momma's arms and paced the living room and quilt lab again.

Eventually I was able to run around them to the kitchen where I immediately jumped on the counter to hide in the corner. I was a little easier today cuz Momma had the mixer out to make banana bread. 

Momma laughed at me but ran for the camera before scooping me off the counter and letting me finally hide upstairs. 

When all those ladies finally left, I eventually came downstairs and had to sleep the rest of the day away (and I mean the. rest. of. the. day.) on the ottoman just to recover from the trauma. Zorro was Mr. Sociable while I was down for the count but I just didn't care. It was hard work hiding under the bed for 4 hours.

I think I heard Momma say that some jolly old fat man is coming over never weekend...what is with all these strangers in MY house??!! I. Just. Don't. Think. so...

An InLinkz Link-up

Design Wall Monday - 12/12/16

I survived the party at my house yesterday! Barely, since I have another cold/sinus/asthma thing going on, but it was lots of fun, with lotsa good food and now I can relax for 2 weeks before the big day.

Did Zorrro survive? Yipp! Who knew he could be a social butterfly?! He did got outside when the 2nd friend arrived but he came back inside soon after and stayed close by for attention from everyone. I have a feeling it's cuz he's on the injured list *again* but lets not look a gift horse in the mouth...

What about Bleu? Not so much but he'll tell you about it on Friday...

Can you spot Babar?

The girls stayed longer than usual so I didn't get as much sewing done as expected but that's ok...cuz I still managed to finish my magenta/neutral tri-recs from clue #2. As you will recall, I'm making a smaller quilt so I stopped when I got to 48.

I was a little surprised to hear that this is the only step with the magenta. Why I thought I needed to buy a "little" extra magenta when I'm making a smaller quilt eludes me but I've got plenty for binding/backing/???



The other "excitement" at my house this weekend was Dad coming over to replace/switch out a couple outlets in the quilt lab and living room from when Zorro tried to burn the house down. Woohoo! Now I can plug my sewing machine and iron in without running extension cords to the next room!

Was this USB/outlet combo a little pricey? Yes

Is it convenient to have the USB port next to my stitching chair to charge my iPhone? Yes

Does my brother, the electrician who has everything, have one? Hell No!!!!

Worth it? Oh Yeah!


Linking to Design Wall Monday and Mystery Monday Link up #3

Feline Friday - 12/9/16

Momma's been cleaning and decorating Casa Grande - she says there is going to be a party on Sunday!! I hope it won't be too cold cuz I am gonna ring that bell to go outside as soon as the first lady gets here! You can bet your Friskies on it!

This morning Momma was "cleaning" the quilt lab. I guess that's what you call it when you put all the random piles of stuff on the central cutting table and then slowly file or trash it all. The ladies like to see Momma's projects so there is no need to have the lab "'perfect."

The sewing table only has her 3 current projects and 2 gifts. She even added a cat bed just for me cuz I was having a bad morning (that fluffernutter is getting coal for Christmas!!). I like this bed best cuz it's lined with cozy sheep stuff and has a thin coating of catnip!

I know you are wondering why the old cutting mat is on the SEWING table! Well - she felt the need to work on her mystery quilt for just 5 minutes - she hasn't done any stitching all week. Poor Momma! I'll forgive her as long as she puts it away tonight. I like having a clean table to lounge on...

An InLinkz Link-up

Not much to share this week...

There hasn't been much crafting going on at my house lately...I had a craft sale on Monday and since then I've been putzing around, trying not to get sick again and preparing for the annual party at my house this weekend.

I completed 3 more tatted snowflakes. Today I was even asked to teach a tatting class at the "Fiber Flurry" in March, a local event now in it's third year. I'm excited!

I've spent a little time on my En Provence mystery quilt. I went to a non-LQS last weekend and finally picked out the "frame" of my colors - now I'll pull from my stash to fill out the scrappy variety that I adore. When I go up to the city (and another non-LQS) next week, I'll fill in more.

I'm still planning on making a smaller version of the quilt so I shouldn't need to purchase a lot more. Bwahaha - who am I kidding??!! I go to the city store once a year - I'll buy what ever jumps in my shopping basket!

You can see, in the front, that I cut out my magenta tri-recs - I still need to cut the neutral section. I'll do that Sunday after my party. I think it will be a nice way to relax after the stress of party prep (cleaning, decorating, gift wrapping). Any excuse, right? Especially since there will be another clue out tomorrow to play with...

Linking to Bonnie's Mystery Linky Party.

The Bibliophile Files - 12/6/16

Hello all and Welcome to the December edition of The Bibliophile Files - my monthly book report :)

Goodreads says I have now finished 83 books this year, just one short of my goal. I've got some good audiobooks lined up at home so I don't think it will be difficult to surpass that goal before the end of the year. Woohoo!

Finished -
     Memory Man
     Bad Blood
     The Vendetta Defense - great book/series which I just heard actually morphed into another series - meaning the fun continues.
     Pennies for Hitler - I never did figure out where the title came from but this was about a German boy who must hide his identity while he is "hidden" in England and then Australia during WWII.
     Rose Under Fire  - another WWII book about lady pilots
     Tricky 22
     Burn Baby Burn - a coming of age story during the Son of Sam killing spree (which I found to be a very weak part of the story)
     Left to Die - a lot of great twists in this first book of a great series (and I know cuz I started mid-series. LOL)
     Bride of New France - a slow starter but a great historical look at the life of a poor woman moving to a new country and making a new life. Loved the historical info at the end.

In Progress -
     On my stereo - Among the Wicked - nothing new here - I found a new series by starting in the middle of the series
     On my iPhone - Divine Collision - a kinda long book with a religious spin (ie not my usual topic) but it spends a lot of time of the severely lacking judicial system in Uganda

And now it's your turn...what did you read in the last month?  Was it a novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box? Do tell!!!

Feline Friday - 12/2/16

Naughty!!

and Nice!!

An InLinkz Link-up