Feline Friday - 12/28/18

A Serious Update

(My usual photo editor has "upgraded" and I'm not happy with the software changes let alone how much harder it is to edit photos on my phone or laptop but I am out of time for tweaking these more today and need to just post them.)

I hit two Serious milestones this week:

The first milestone was to finish the red section!
The hexie next to my thumb was the last of 553 red hexies. Now THAT feels good :)

I also hit the bottom left corner with this brown hexie!

Since hitting these milestones I've started on the blacks for the face in the middle of the quilt. I was taking it a bit slow as it's hard to see the individual hexies on my master color map when they are black hexies and the hexie outline is also black. I've been printing small sections of the overall project so that I can black out individual hexies as I stitch them. I solved the black on black problem today by changing anything black to blue and reprinting the face section. I'll find out tonight if it works well enough.

I've also continued adding more brown. You can see an empty moon shaped section on the right side of the browns and that indicates that I need to get a move on with cutting the whites and creams to start working on the body/paws section of the quilt.

I know I promised to share the yellow after I finished the reds but I forgot to take a photo this morning. Sorry! I'll post it soon.

I haven't done an overall count in quite a while but I have to guess we are gaining on 800 hexies at this point. Once I get some of the black face filled in so that columns are about the same length I'll give it a serious count. That or Janet, who prefers counting hexies over stitching hexies, can pop over to count for me. LOL.

Wednesday Weather Report #84 - 12/26/18

Ho Ho Ho and Happy Boxing Day!!

December 19 - 25, 2018
43 - 44 - 55 - 31 - 34 - 34 - 30 F

Luckily we had the most beautiful snowfall of big fluffy flakes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to make it the perfect White Christmas!  Not too much to make for dangerous driving but pretty enough to ooh and ahh over.

December 1-25, 2018

How has your weather been?

Are you looking to start making a Weather Quilt any time soon? What info would you like to know before starting? If you are looking for anything specific before starting, let me know!

An InLinkz Link-up

Meowy Christmas!!

Love Z and Momma!

Feline Friday - 12/21/18

Look what Momma made me!!!
She says every tuxedo needs a bowtie.

I must admit -- it looks guud! and I don't mind wearing it all. day. long. Nighttime too!
Momma says I can even wear it outside on Christmas to give the neighbors a little good cheer.

Happy Winter Solstice from the land of the snowy rainy north where it's currently 55 F! Yuck.

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #83 - 12/19/18

Maybe this is why people are so "blue" in December? I already need to cut more blues. But no rush quite yet at the next 3 days will be 40s and 50s! I'm not holding my breath for a White Christmas...sniffle, sniffle.

December 12-18, 2018
31 - 39 - 45 - 39 - 36 - 34 - 25F

December 1-18, 2018

I do hope you are considering making your own weather quilt come the new year!
Don't dilly dally, tho, as you've got just 12 days to get your project sorted.

It doesn't have to be an EPP project, any smallish unit would work as long as you don't mind making 365 of the same unit :)

Between now and the end of the year, I'm finally hoping to get a tab together with info on my project. I plan to include my color scale as well as the current status of my 2 weather quilts so far. If anyone that has participated would like to send me a link to their finished project from last year, or even the label from their blog, I would love to add you to an inspiration list.

===============
I'm thrilled to have an ear completed on Mr Serious and can't wait to see what adding long grey stitching for ear fur will do to complement the hexies.

The white arrows mark the centers of width and height!!

I have four more diagonal brown rows to hit the bottom left corner. The brown is for my dining room table. I also have to do two more red vertical rows to finish out the red, which represents my built in china cupboard. In true life the color is called something bangkok. We jokingly call the yellow walls I can't believe it's not butter (instead of Pismo Dunes) and the red woodwork is ketchup. It seems every paint color I have chosen has a food name. Maybe I shouldn't go to Lowe's/Home Depot on an empty stomach?!

What I was leading to is Grunge isn't available locally in great "butter" colors. However, I think I have finally chosen a yellow Grunge and I'll share it with you after 2 more red rows. Wink!

Be sure to check out the original picture I'm using for this project.

An InLinkz Link-up

Feline Friday - 12/14/18

Santy Paws here...

It's my favorite time of the year when I get to guard the boxed gifts for my favorite human cousins.

Do you think I'll get to keep the boxes when they are unwrapped?

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #82 - 12/12/18

December 5-10, 2018
31 - 34 - 23 - 23 - 32 -32 - 28 F

December 1-10, 2018

I'm pretty sure these are going to be the standard temps/colors for the next few months!

An InLinkz Link-up

You've got to be Serious

Ever so slowly, Mr Serious is growing!!!

We have an ear there on the right.

Once I finish 5 more red hexies of the row on the top right we will be to the midline of the width, leaving just 3 or 4 more rows with red. I plan to finish the red and then start working on the face.

The brown/table section is still quite portable and now down into the 4th floor tile, with just 7 more rows to hit the bottom left corner.

Overall I am more than a quarter done, which is pretty good since I have been working on it for just 93 days. I'm pretty sure I am behind schedule but now that job #2 and Christmas bazaars are done I have some more "me" time. There is still a pretty good chance I can get back on schedule, which is good because it HAS to be done in 263 days. Eek!

Be sure to check out the tab up above for the original photo, overall color map and all of the progress photos.

Feline Friday - 12/7/18

Momma wishes I would tuck myself in.
She thinks it would be "cute".

Truth is...I prefer when Momma does the tucking...

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #81 - 12/5/18

Well... I've been hoping NOT to do this ever since I started temperature quilt #2:

Luckily it was easy enough to fix:

November 28-30, 2018: 32 - 31 - 34 F
December 1-4, 2018: 35 - 52 - 37 - 26 F

And those 3 blues on the left, my friends, completes the first 6 months to Temp Quilt #2!!! Woohoo!!

I bought a (non-Grunge) solid black to use for the background so as soon as I feel confident in what I'm doing I'll applique the first 6 columns onto the black and include it in one of our weekly updates.

I've also been working on clue #2 for the 2018 Quiltville Mystery Quilt:

You will recall that I am making roughly half of each clue to make a smaller quilt. I figure I can always make more later. "Half" is often the same as I'll make units until I run out of precut strips in the color we are using, which is how I ended up with 72 blue/neutral HSTs. I just need to trim all those dog ears. Be sure to check out the linky party for clue #2!


And now, for anyone making a temperature quilt (hexie or otherwise) - we are looking forward to seeing your weather for the last week! Feel free to leave a comment about your weather if you are not making a quilt. And really, why are you not making a quilt? It doesn't have to be hexies, any of your favorite blocks should work.

An InLinkz Link-up

The Bibliophile Files - 12/4/18

Here I am, plugging along with books as the year draws to a close. How DID it get to be December already?!? While Goodreads.com says I have finished a respectable 71 books already this year, I will admit to looking for some shorter books for the next few weeks. After reading numerous looooong books it will be nice to jam through some shorter ones.

FINISHED
     Murder in Paradise  - 3 short stories. They were just OK as a quick read but too short to be invested in any of the characters and some of the stories seemed to leave out crucial details to keep it short - like a beginning and ending.
     After the Storm - another Amish murder mystery. Love the way they are written but, really!?, how many Amish citizens can be murdered in a small town?
     Gideon's Sword
     The Magician's Lie -The backstory about illusionists was educational. I kind of suspected the twist and I was happy with the ending but I'm not telling you what it is :)
     Before We Were Yours - an AMAZING book based on a horribly true adoption scandal in Tennessee

IN PROGRESS
     On my home stereo - The Night Circus
     On my iPhone - Murder, Interrupted - 2 shorter, true crime stories
     On my car stereo - Whiskey Sour - Erin the Librarian asked me to vet this book before she reads it. Something about blood and guts? As an mp3 file, it's the prefect book for running around in the car...

And now it's your turn to link up or leave a comment. Tell us what you are reading whether it be a novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box!

Feline Friday - 11/30/18

Ahhhh.....heat!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Well-nigh Wordless Wednesday Weather Report #80 - 11/28/18

November 21-27, 2018
27 - 16 - 30 - 35-  42 - 43 - 32 F

November 21-27, 2018

Mr Serious

Mr Serious is moving right along!!

 The project is currently in 2 pieces:

The brown at the bottom (for the table) is much more portable so I've been taking that piece with me for my lunch hour.

The top part is easier to work on at home and you'll see that I've started adding in the ear on the top right. It's a little scary, hoping that the pixelation and grays for shading will work on this large scale. The goal is to finish the ear and the red to the right of it (about 9 rows or 2-3 weeks depending on how often I ignore household chores) before working on the face.

For the color map and weekly photos since the project began back in September, be sure to check out the Mr Serious tab at the top of my blog..

Turkey & Mystery Clue #1

I own 5 Christmas cactuses (cacti?) between home and work. Don't ask! Each one is a different color and they all blossom 2 to 3 times per year. We've had our first blossoming but this one is my favorite:

We went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving. There was just enough space amongst all the serving dishes for our plates and drinks!

Tom, Rex, Ron, Denise, Tyler, Kristie, Ryan

And what does one do after supper when the triptophan coma starts to kick in?
Spoon with your favorite dog of course!!

Scooby, Shaggy, Ryan

Friday was all about the new Quiltville Mystery Quilt!! Woohoo for Clue #1. Once again I'll be making abut half of each clue until we get to the big reveal when I see if I need more or less units. Half also equates to "this is close enuf because I have used all the scraps currently available" in that size which is what happened with this clue.

Two of the above are not like the others! Guess I didn't finish quite as many as I thought...I set them aside for now and I'll fix them if I need them.

Clue 1 is done and dusted!!

Linking to the Mystery Monday Linky...

Feline Friday Special Edition - 11/23/18

Today is a very special Thanksgiving edition of Feline Friday! I'm going to share all the cats in my life that I've been thankful for and I hope that a lot of people will be joining in with blog posts or comments on their furry children.

I've had 8 cats in my life and that's not counting the friendly strays or cats of friends and neighbors. Be sure to check the links for more pictures and gotcha stories on each cat.

My first cat, Fluffy, was dumped off at the end of our driveway when I was a kid. We lived in the country and sadly this seemed to be a normal occurrence. Fluffy, a long haired calico, was named by my little brother and she gave birth to tiny kittens in the attic just a couple days later. We found homes for the kittens (I cried) and then eventually had to find a home for Fluffy as my brother was allergic. I don't have any pictures of Fluffy given that most of my parent's photos are on slides!

Marbles

My next cat was as a 20-something living in Miami. We had just moved there and this friendly black & white cat was hanging around our apartment building. I eventually brought her inside and later learned that she had "ran" out of a neighbors apartment and they had never tried to bring her back inside. They gave me "permission" to adopt her - as if I was gonna give her back. I named her Marbles because she was mostly white with a few random black spots and I couldn't very well call a cat Spot  - that was too dog like.

Tula
8/12/02 - 5/15/10

Pepper
8/12/02 - 9/9/13

My next cats came as a mother and son pair. I worked at the University of Miami at the time and when we came in to work Monday morning someone had dropped them off overnight. I quickly convinced my roommate to let me adopt them and brought Tula and Pepper home. Pepper was still nursing and still had tiny little blue eyes. Tula was a Main Coon mix and Pepper was a Main Coon mix mix. They were both large cats with gorgeous long fur. I jokingly talked to them in Spanish instead of English - it was a Miami thing. They both moved with me to NY where we didn't have quite as much sun to sit in but I think they liked it.

Squeaky
2008? - 5/19/16
Gotcha Day: 11/23/10

Squeaky was my first NY cat. She was a stray that was fed by the liquor store owner next to my office. I would often sit on the back steps and talk with her at lunch - she squeaked instead of meowed. She had a couple litters of kittens over the course of a year and eventually disappeared. I asked the lady if she had seen her and found out that Squeaky had been spayed and given to the upstairs tenants. I randomly said if they ever changed their mind, I would take her. In less than 2 weeks there was a note on my windshield that I could have her - they hadn't even named her yet. She was very appreciative as she always had to sit in my lap or be near me no matter what I was doing. Squeaky wouldn't bother quilts I had layed out on the floor over night - she waited until morning so I could watch her take a running leap with a twist to rearrange my blocks. The doll bed was purchased with Squeaky in mind - it needed to be sturdy and low to the ground for my fat Dolly.

Midgie
9/14/99 - 9/22/15

One year my brother's family was going to Disney for a couple of weeks and asked if I could take their cat while they were gone. They came home from Florida but never asked for their cat and I never offered her back - it took forever for the boys to even notice she was gone. I eventually changed her name to Midgie - what else do you call a tiny 6 pound cat? Midgie also had to be every where I was and could talk a blue streak. It would get a little crowded on the couch with Squeaky and Midgie both vying for lap space. Luckily Pepper was more of a floor kind of guy.

Zorro
Gotcha Day: September 2013

Zorro took his time before adopting me. He was a stray in the neighborhood for an entire summer. He became friendlier and would sit in my lap. As winter approached I decided to bring him inside, except he did not want to be inside only as my other cats were. It was a long battle but we soon worked out a truce that he would be an innie-outie kitty and we trained each other so that he rings a bell when he wants out. He's quite smart - too smart if we are being honest. Over the last 5 years he has become increasingly friendlier, even enjoying sitting on my lap every day for the last few weeks. He seems to be happiest as an only child.

Little Boy Bleu
2010? - 3/18/17
Gotcha Day: September 2016

Little Boy Bleu was another stray in the neighborhood. He was very shy and it took an entire summer before I even got a good look at his beautiful face as he was always slinking away along the property lines. We finally decided he was a Mitted Seal Point Ragdoll! A gorgeous boy who sadly only lived with me for a few months. He was another grateful kitty who loved to be in my lap and wasn't bothered by whatever hexie project I was working on over the top of him.

Have you picked up that all my cats have found me? Picked me?
And for that I am forever thankful!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #79 - 11/21/18

Today is going to be another purple! Wonder if that's going to become a Wednesday thing?

Tomorrow I am expecting we will need to add another new color as our expected high is only 18F. Well shiver me timbers!

November 14 - 20, 2018
28 - 30 - 36 - 34 - 33 - 37 - 30F

We were expecting another "big" storm today according to the weather people. Sadly the snow I photographed this on was just about everything we got...

November 1 - 20, 2018

An InLinkz Link-up

PS - Don't forget a very special Feline Friday this week - I hope you'll join in with all the cats in your life that you are thankful for!

HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 11/19/18

Yikes - I've really been off my blogging game lately. It was yesterday, mid-morning, before I realized that I had missed our monthly HeLP post on Saturday. I'm 99% done with job#2 and I only have one more Christmas Bazaar so maybe life can get back to normal now...whatever "'normal" is.

The arrow is the mid height point

Can you believe we have been doing HeLP for over 6 years now? Me either but we had the first help back in August of 2012. Time flies when you are having fun!

On the one hand, I took some time off Mr Serious to work on one of my other hexie projects for a week so it's been a while since I posted a picture. On the other hand I've gotten a decent bit of work done and I just haven't had time to post a picture.

I'm thrilled to say that not only did I reach the top left corner of the project but I've now begun stitching my way across the top. The project is getting a little big to work on anywhere off my couch or someplace with a table but I've got some ways to work around that.

Since job#2 is just about over I now have my lunch hours back and I'll be working on the brown section which is easy enough to transport in a tiny box. My ultimate goal is to work down towards the bottom left corner. Once I've got a good chunk of the brown section completed I will attach it to the catship (haha, instead of mothership) so I can see the full height of the project. At the same time, while at home on the couch, I can continue to work along the top right of the catship, adding fur (2 greys, 1 black, 4 creams/whites) and continuing with the red at the top.

My other work around is a new box to store all my supplies for the project.

Above is the 6-compartment box I've been using - it's part of a 3-box-stack. The stack only has one lid which is awkward when you only need one box, leaving the rest of the stack open.

I think a little jerry-rigging will make the lid removable.
The green/black rosettes on the right are eyes!

The new box above comes with the 6-compartment box to further sort out my fabric but also has the 2 long boxes. Even better they are all movable so I can put two 6-compartment boxes in or just one leaving blank space or whatever combo I need. Tonight I'll be expanding the black/greys that are currently crammed in to  one compartment.

I also like that the color "map" of the project will fit in the box. I was carrying the small lidded box, a clipboard with the map, the sharpies were loose plus the catship. Now it's just the catship and the big box. Woohoo!

And now it's your turn to share an EPP project. We look forward to any paper shape and any vintage project whether it's a UFO, WIP or dream. I can't wait to see your projects!

An InLinkz Link-up

Feline Friday - 11/16/18

We got a wee bit of snow last night...

I like to hide under the car while Momma shovels but I wasn't sure we still had a car at first.

Eventually she found the car...but it was hard getting the door open to push the snow out of the way!

It's too bad Momma can't shovel straight

But eventually she gotter done!

Yippers - the pear tree still has every single green leaf

And where was I snoopervising from?

Well, right here, inside this window, of course. I ain't no dummy!!

PS - Don't forget that a week from today will be a special Feline Friday for all the cats in our lives that we've been thankful for. I hope you have been finding pictures to join in the linky party!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather #78 - 11/14/18

This week's weather was pretty standard for fall winter: cold but with a good snow storm tossed in on Saturday. It doesn't happen often that the first snow storm is a goody but this one was! I topped out with about 7" of snow after 4 or 5 hours of lake effect snow and white out conditions. It was an excellent day to stay home and sew!!!

Most people and municipalities didn't have the plows ready yet as we were still mowing and raking leaves through Thursday. That meant the plows, normally by my house at 7am, didn't make an appearance until nearly 10am.

November 7 - 13, 2018
49 - 40 - 32 - 30 - 35 - 40 - 35 F

November 1 - 13, 2018

Today is a whole 'nother story as we introduce purple to the family!!

I looked up last year's temp on this date and it was 46F compared to today's 28F. Is this still considered global warming? At least it's not raining!!

An InLinkz Link-up