Feline Friday - 7/31/20

Momma inherited an antique rocking chair from GrandMomma.

This is what it looks like when Momma tries to make me sit in her childhood chair.

This is what it looks like when I choose to sit in the my chair.

=^..^=

Wednesday Weather Report #167 - 7/29/20

I would say this is pretty typical weather for July. It's rained a few times but I've also taken advantage of waking up early (no alarm?!) to get a few walks in while the sun is rising and the weather is still on the cool side. 

That's not to say the humidity isn't already 94% at 6am but it was only 67F so it was "tolerable". That and getting sweaty on a walk makes me feel like I accomplished something, even after a short walk while my foot continues to heal.

July 22 - 28, 2019
73 - 79 - 78 - 80 - 85 - 86 - 79 F

Feline Friday - 7/24/20

Hi Momma!!!! Welcome home from your camping trip!!!

Lemme help you unload my your car ...

Snoopervising is hard work ... maybe it's time for a nap.

As your reward, I will allow you to look at the belly furs!

Wednesday Weather Report #166 - 7/22/20

July 15 - 21, 2020
78 - 74 - 73 - 82 - 90 - 80 - 78 F

It was another crazy week with lots of comfortable temps around a really hot Sunday. It was 90 at 1pm but I also saw it get as hot as 98F before driving through a storm that immediately dropped it to 76F. I hate driving through those kinds of storms but it was a much better temp to arrive home to.

Feline Friday and Birthday Cake - 7/17/20

It's a big day here at Casa Grande!!

 Not only did I finally get rid of that toe jam but it's also just 6 months until Momma has one of those "zero" birthdays, one that rhymes with nifty. Momma is hoping you can help her celebrate by making a block or two to help her make a birthday quilt!! She also hopes you will sign your Name/City/Sate/Country in the middle of the cake.

Momma knows the blocks are kinda small but they are just so darn cute. Truth be told she tried to make the block bigger for all y'all but the cutting sizes made for lots of naughty words so she stuck with the cute size. You're welcome.

Please know that Momma got the idea from Temecula Quilt Company who got the idea from an antique quilt.

Momma says you will need the following fabrics:

• Light (1.25" x 17" strip) - please use any White on White (WOW) fabric. You may wish to use a different or plain white for the center so that you can sign your name more easily.
• Dark (1.25" x 13" strip) - any fabric will do as this will be a scrappy quilt but if you must know - Momma's favorite color is purple and she really loves Grunge, batiks, Tula and hexies. But really, anything goes!

From the WOW strip cut:
(2) 7/8" squares
(2) 2" rectangles
(2) 1.75" rectangles
(2) 1.25" rectangles
(2) 1" rectangles and (1) 2.25" rectangle

From the dark strip cut:
(1) 1.25" rectangle
(1) 1.75" rectangle
(1) 2.75" rectangle
(2) 1" rectangles
(1) 4.25" rectangle

Use the tiny WOW squares to snowball the top of the cake.
I found I had to trim the block to 1.25" again after snowballing.

 

Assemble each row, pressing the snowball towards
the white,
 but all other rows towards the dark.

The block should be 4.25" unfinished.

Momma will share more blocks as the nifty day gets closer. She plans to make some extras for her non-quilting family & friends to sign. She's already got 3 cakes made and hasn't shared a one! Please let her know if you have questions.

Blocks can be sent to Sarah's Birthday Cakes, PO Box 26, Castile, NY 14427-0026.

Thank you!!!

PS - Can someone tell me how to attach a pdf? I will email it to anyone who asks...

Wednesday Weather Report #165 - 7/15/20

It’s been another week of extremes, hot on the heels of last weeks hot temps. Luckily we’ve come back down to more normal July temps - I guess that’s what a “little” rain will do for you. 3.2” in 4 days with 2.6” in the first 24 hours. Yikes. I’m not sure which is worse - the hot temps or the downpours...

July 8-14, 2020
87 - 92 - 89 - 74 - 73 - 68 - 69 F

Kaleidoscope dolly quilt update

One of the projects I pulled out during lockdown was my kaleidoscope swap blocks from hexie club. I think this was from 2018 but I could be wrong. Anyway, during each member's birth month, the other members gifted you enough colored parts to make 2 kaleidoscope blocks in the giftee's favorite color. You then added your own neutral to make the quilt cohesive.

I finally got a bee in my bonnet to gitterdone and while this pic reflects that I just had one long seam left to go, it is now in one piece!!! You can also see the fan that kept me partially sane in this heat. Partial is the key word...

I ended up with 24 blocks and my design needed 25 so I made the center completely out of the neutral fabric so that the "lines" of the kaleidoscope continued. I can either leave it blank or write on it about the swap. I haven't decided yet as I still need to pull the papers, open the outer edges, find a backing, quilt and bind this. In other words -- It's going to be a while before that all happens. LOL.

Feline Friday - 7/10/20

Momma still gets to work from home periodically. She likes to use a cardboard box to corral the stuff that then has to go back to work. She calls it her outbox.

I call it mine.

Wednesday Weather Report #164 - 7/8/20

While July started off nice enough there is only one word left for the current weather:

HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!

July 1 - 7,  2020
75 - 86 - 84 - 82 - 86 - 88 - 93 F

The Bibliophile Files - 7/7/20

Hello and welcome to a twofer since I bailed on posting my monthly reading list, or anything else, for the entire month of June.

A lot of this was accomplished while working at home periodically during lockdown - no phone or customers requiring me to start/stop the audiobook just hours of listening while I got a lot done. I have to tell you, as a periodic treat, working at home ain't so bad!

I have just 5 books left to finish my reading challenge** for the year. I enjoy a good challenge but now I'm looking forward to reading whatever I come across.


FINISHED
     Force of Nature
     Wolf Pack
     The Rising Sea
     Escape Clause
     'O' is for Outlaw
     Out of the Deep I Cry
     Exposed
     The Sentence is Death
     Everland - a different spin on Peter Pan and there are a few more in the series to check out.
     Death Qualified
     On Borrowed Time
     Orange is the New Black - it's surprising how close the tv show was to the book
     Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
     All We Ever Wanted
     Oona Out of Order - Oona is living her life out of order so not everything makes sense at the time. It's a neat idea for explaining how actions affect the rest of our life no matter how much we try to change them.
     The Escape - this is getting a little weird...by happenstance this is the second book I've read during lockdown that ends up dealing with some kind of virus similar to current real life.

IN PROGRESS
   The 57 Bus


**For my challenge I read 44 books that had a word in the title that started with one of the letters in the following South African city: Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein. I've now started looking for another long-named city for next year (hopefully not a city with so many E's!!) but I'm open for suggestions!

And now it's your turn to share the books you have read in the past 2 months. Anything counts: novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box!

Feline Friday - 7/3/20

Having a rough day?

Sometimes a new perspective helps!

It might also get you some extra scritches from Momma...
Hint! Hint!

Wednesday Weather Reports #159 to 163 - 7/1/20

I'm back!!!! Did you miss me? I heard several people missed Z's antics. So did I! He was not a very good nurse - I'm not sure if it's the summer weather or he was scared of the loud noises the boot on the floors but he spent most of his time outside.

Luckily I had time to get lots of sewing done. I didn't take many pictures but I did learn to use the on/off button on my Bernina since I couldn't use the foot pedal with my customary right foot.

So - let's catch up on the weather and keep our fingers crossed that life is getting back to normal.

#159
May 27 - 31, 2020 :: 82, 78, 75, 66, 54, F
June 1-2, 2020 :: 63, 65 F

#160
June 3 - 9, 2020
71, 82, 80, 74, 66, 70, 84 F

#161
June 10 - 16, 2020
87, 71, 67, 57, 62, 67, 74 F

#162
June 17 - 23, 2020
79, 83, 79, 82, 82, 86, 82 F

#163
June 24 - 30, 2020
69, 74, 77, 71, 76, 80, 71 F