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

Not quite Wordless Wednesday

The big tree went up yesterday.
No ornaments until I'm sure Bleu is going to be a good boy!

The tree was still standing this morning...

Design Wall Monday - 11/28/16

(Once again, pixler isn't working to edit my photos...when it feels like working I'll replace these large photos and remove this note)

Other than a killer sore throat (like lets not even thinking of eating or drinking or swallowing) on Thanksgiving day, I had an excellent long weekend. I can't say that I accomplished much but I had fun cleaning up the quilt lab, prepping cookie dough for cookie day and whipStitchin'.

This was where I spent a good deal of time. I'm putting the fillers on the sides and the quilt is just too big to handle in my lap, especially since a certain FlufferNutter would prefer to be occupying my lap instead of any quilt. The cats don't bother the table so I can leave it set up for the next time I have a few extra minutes. I've got both the filler pieces on the right side done. Tonight I'll start the left side.

Hexie Club is Friday night where we will reveal our UFO challenge projects so the pressure is on. There is still a lot to do to consider my project "finished" but since I still needed to make 6 out of 23 stars back when the challenge was thrown down in June/July and it's now it's almost in one piece with just the pieced borders to go, I'm considering this a win!

I decided to make Bonnie's Mystery Quilt this year! The colors are right up my alley so I'm all geared up to do another mystery. I'm not soooo geared up that I actually have fabrics pulled but the mystery uses my 3 favorite colors so it was a no brainer to join in. That and I love her mystery style of making all of each unit (4patch, 9patch, HST, etc) at once.

Can you guess how many 4patches I had done when I took this picture?

It just so happens that my 2" strip bin had a ton of neutrals already cut so it was easy to whip up 93 4patches. I'm making a smaller version of her quilt so this will be enough for now.

I also received 2 squishies recently!!!

LOVE the bowtie selvage!

Sharon surprised me with a box of selvages - my January honeyDo list includes playing with selvages.

She also included this great hexie fabric. Yes - the search for new hexie fabrics continues - if you find one at your LQS I would love to hear about it!

I also won this great pair of tea socks from a new to me tea blog: http://www.friendshiptea.net/. Thanks Linda!!! I've got them on today but I just couldn't finagle a decent photo.

Joining Design Wall Monday and Mystery Monday Link up #1

Feline Friday - 11/25/16

Momma has been a lazy blogger this week - we're not sure if it's cuz Zorro tried to burn the house down last Friday or cuz yesterday was Turkey Day and she was looking forward to a few days off. We guess what we are saying is we're lucky that she helped up blog today...

Doesn't the neighbor's new blue siding look fantastic??!!

It snowed last weekend which made Casa Grande look pretty, especially since the pear tree finally changed from green to gold. Momma is still looking for a partridge so if anyone sees one we want to get it for her!!

We think Momma's purple petunia has probably had it but, then again, it made it through several frosts ok and it rained yesterday so maybe it will thaw out...

Bleu is very good at ringing the bell to go outside but has very little follow through when the door is opened for him. Eventually Momma boosted him out the window so he could play in the snow but all he did was sit there. He didn't even want to come back inside. I mean Momma had to drag him back in through the window. That dude cannot make up his mind...

Me? I'll just take it easy right here by the window with a view...

An InLinkz Link-up

Feline Friday - 11/18/16

Hey lady - I can help you strip these dried catnip stalks!

Ahhh Dude - that was sooooo worth turning in my 1 year NA chip.
Got any snacks?

Awesomesauce - it's stuck in my fur so I can take it with me all day!

O! M! G!
It's catnip toy making season!!!

Nope - I didn't even think of inhaling

Momma missed a little at the bottom

Mission Accomplished!

NA = 'Nipheads Anonymous. Of course!!!

No felines were harmed in the making of this 'Nip-umentary...

An InLinkz Link-up

HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 11/17/16

Hello and welcome to our monthly Hexie Linky Party for Hexie-aholics!!

I can't say that I've made much progress on my owl project recently but that's due to some priorities that will be done by next weekend.

I'd really like to get the 4 side pieces attached to the mothership by our next hexie club meeting on 12/2/16...which is when we are supposed to have our UFOs "done". Wish me luck as I wade through all the holiday obligations.

It took some coaxing but, yes, I think Bleu now understands his modeling obligations.

Did I tell you "we" changed his name from Blue to Bleu?
Well, in reality, it's Little Boy Blue to Little Boy Bleu.
Auntie Denise felt he was a little bit French...now he just needs a beret.

I had originally hoped to find more of that great cream batik to extend out the borders but after visiting several stores I've come up empty handed. One store even ordered what we thought it was - the new bolt was pretty close in color but it didn't have the "artifacts" of my original fabric.

I did come across this great blue batik and snatched up 3 yards cuz it was on sale! I'll be able to hit up 2 or 3 more stores while I'm out Christmas shopping in the next few weeks so I'll keep my eye out for the cream but I think the blue will work just fine. What do you think??

And now it's YOUR turn!!! What EPP project have you worked on or dreamed up recently? Any paper shape or vintage project is welcome to join in.

An InLinkz Link-up

Workin' Wednesday

I don't know what software all y'all use to edit photos before posting but the online software I use has been crashed for several days. Very frustrating.

These are the zipper bags I've made recently.  They are always fun to use up scraps of this and that. There are others that are currently on display at the LQS - I'll be picking them up tomorrow before a bazaar on Saturday.

I've finishing mugrugs, catnip toys, and a few random gifts this week around several meetings. This week's meetings all seem to include food so I just consider them dinner breaks and work in the "sweatshop" before and after the meetings. LOL.

See ya tomorrow for HeLP!!!

Feline Friday - 11/11/16

Momma says we are BOTH on the litter box list today...

Momma says *I* attacked Zorro when he tried to get on the bed with her and tore her new sheets. How does she know I attacked him and not vice versa? I mean she was asleep with her eyes closed and everything!

When Momma got up to feed us, she blamed me for ruining some vintage thingy when I was trying to help myself to a a little extra food. It's not my fault that stuff was in the way - er - I mean how does she know *I* did it if she was asleep in a different room with her eyes closed and everything?

We've both tried to kiss up (literally!!) but it doesn't seem to be working - any hints on how to get off the litter box list??

PS - Thank you to all the vets for their service - especially our favorite Auntie Denise!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Niagara Falls Road Trip

So...as I said earlier this week...Last Saturday I had an all day EMT training on cardiac issues in Niagara Falls. It just so happened to be at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino!

Valet entrance.
The top is black due to the curved roof.

We had to walk through the center of the casino for lunch time.

Ka-ching!

After the conference was over I drove 5 miles to a small quilt store and then 5 miles back to the Falls where I almost took a wrong turn onto the Rainbow Bridge to Canada but eventually found parking so I could take a "little" walk through NF State Park. I didn't find the map until I was ready to leave or I would have planned my hike a bit better.

I started on the left and walked down to the gorge (red) and the American Falls.

Then I continued up river which really showed how quickly the water was moving down stream.

Then I walked over the pedestrian bridge towards Goat Island.

Then I walked down to Luna Island which was basically at water level!

Then I walked back up towards the Canadian falls (green line)

looking one more time towards the American falls -
the group of people is down on Luna Island

stairs down to the Canadian Falls.
This is when my phone was going wild  -
I must have wandered into a Canadian cell service zone

Check out that mist!
Lets just say I wasn't making any impressions with my sopping wet hair

Next I wandered back (blue line) over the pedestrian bridge and around the center of the park, heading towards the Hard Rock to pick up a cordial glass for my collection and then to get Indian food for dinner at the food court.

I took my dinner back over to the park but I never found a picnic table. What kind of park doesn't have picnic tables???

The lights coming on across the river on the Canadian side were fun to watch

It didn't photo well but there are blue and red lights on the falls at dusk

That leaves me at the purple line to try to get back to my car before it was too dark in the park. Luckily if you left after 6, parking was free. Whoo hoo for me.

Now that I have the park map I hope I can go back and hike the rest of it some day as this was a pretty quickly paced hike before it got dark. I'm still going to hedge that it was a good 3 or 4 miles. Smart people would have logged it on their Fitbit...