Feline Friday - 2/28/20

I'm sexy and I **know** it!

Dang nab it!
Woah. Did I say that out loud??!!
This is going to ruin my campaign...

Thursday Weather Report #145 - 2/27/20

Hello! Here I am, a day late and a dollar short! I have yet to figure out why, but I have been off a day all week. So much so that it wasn't until almost noon yesterday that it dawned on me that it was a Wednesday and I needed to do a weather report when my hexies were at home. And yet, life moves on...

Today's big weather news is that we are in a Blizzard Warning through tomorrow afternoon, with snow continuing through Saturday. For anyone who is unsure, a blizzard is defined as a severe snowstorm with sustained 35+ mph winds for a minimum of 3 hours. It's been blowing on and off all day so I don't know if we met the 3 hour criteria. Of course, my office is in a valley so I'm often oblivious to weather conditions outside of my immediate block. I can tell you, no question tho, that the drive to work this morning was pretty sketchy. Eek!

February 19 - 25, 2020
27 - 20 - 29 - 38 - 50 - 52 - 35 F

I've made some progress on my Underground Rail Road blocks!

The last log is finally attached which means I'm back to working on my Carpenter's Wheel:

This block has been the bane of my existence with 100 pieces total. At first I thought it was the smallness of the pieces that bothered me but I've now decided it was just the slowness of putting the small pieces together. Now that I can see the end of the block it's coming together much, much faster.

The picture shows the block 3/4 done but I am happy to say that as of today's lunch hour, I now have the final quarter also 3/4 done. Woot! I feel confident that this block will be finished by the end of the month. LOL.

With just 2 blocks left I am not sure if I want to tackle the 16-piece block (with curves), or the block that I don't seem to have enough papers for in my kit.

I've also finished another dozen of these little beauties. I've started playing with the design in EQ7 but I haven't been able to pick a design yet. I wanted to make the quilt a touch bigger so I bought a panel that consisted of 6 mini-panels. I was trying to design a layout to use 3 to 5 of the mini-panels but none of them are grabbing me from the computer screen. I have a feeling I will have to start putting some shoofly blocks and green squares together so I can lay it out on the design floor to see how it looks IRL.

I also participated in an 8 week Irish Chain sew-a-long. This week is the last clue which means we are putting the blocks together into a quilt top. First I need to trim up some of the blocks and second I need to decide if I want the quilt a touch bigger to better fit my bed. Only then can I put them all together.

My brain is hurting from all these decisions...

Feline Friday - 2/21/20

Good Morning and warm greetings to my fellow A-mew-icans!!

My name is Zorro and I would like to take a moment of your time 

to announce that I am running for president.

While I made this announcement locally some time ago, my fellow A-mew-icans are probably not aware of this as I was not allowed to participate in the recent debates. Something about being an Independent Cat.

In any case, I urge you to now participate in my campaign by sporting my campaign socks and window cling, available here or here.

Stay tuned...I'll be back soon to present my presidential platform!

And don't forget, come November, that a vote for Z is a vote for all cat-kind!





***Momma says I have to tell you there is no real affiliation with Socksmith but she thinks it would be hilarious if you really order a pair to put "Zorro sent me" and today's blog link in the comments. Let us know if you do! 
For a limited time, enter "cat" in the code box for a DI$COUNT!

Wednesday Weather Report #144 - 2/19/20

The weather app said we wouldn't have any snow for the next 2 weeks. And yet it's been snowing on and off all day. As a friend said - the weather peeps might want to look out a window.

Luckily it was sunny and bright today with big, fluffy flakes that didn't accumulate. Gorgeous! It was very much like shaking a snow globe.

February 12-18, 2020
36 - 32 - 11 - 27 - 37 - 33 - 43 F

Last weekend I spent a couple hours each on 3 different projects. I made a decent amount of progress but never thought to photograph any of those 3 - just my progress on this next Underground Railroad block. I spent all day Sunday in my jammies, on the couch watching DVDs and stitching this block. There were lots of kitty cuddles and it was divine to just enjoy the day.

The teal is a lot brighter than I expected with the block almost finished. Funny how cutting a piece from a FQ can actually change how a batik looks. I'm not worried about it because I like how the block looks and it will work great with the other bright blocks.

I think I only have 2.5 more blocks to finish. They are all kitted but the half finished 100-piece Carpenters Wheel is a slowly progressing block for me - partly cuz I keep prioritizing other hexie projects in order to ignore the tiny pieces. I'm excited about my triple sashing idea but I'm trying to force myself to finish the blocks first. One bite of the elephant at a time, right?

Feline Friday - 2/14/20

She's still making kissy faces, ain't she?

There appears to be some wack-a-doo holiday today forcing her to make these faces and say how much she loves me. GAH!!! I've been trying to ignore her but it doesn't seem to work.

I also have to share the mess Momma has made in the quilt lab:

This is also related to the same wack-a-doo holiday yet all she has made are these 4 itsy bitsy blocks:

They are so tiny that I could easily cover them up with my furry booty if I was allowed to sit on the ironing board. I'm not allowed tho. I would never even try it. Never. Not. Ever. Ever.

Wednesday Weather Report #143 - 2/12/20

February 5 - 11, 2020
26 - 27 - 23 - 19 - 34 - 36 - 33 F

Not much to report, weather wise, in these here parts. We are expecting another snow & ice "storm" tonight which will be followed by some pretty cold weather. In fact, we might have a new color on Friday (woot!). Keep you fingers crossed that it's a pink day (single digits) for Valentines' Day!

Feline Friday - 2/7/20

Hey Momma - can you shovel a little faster?!

My food bowl is empty and I'm beginning to feel a little weak.

I think I'll just sit down for a while until you come feed me again...

Wednesday Weather Report #142 - 2/5/20

We are still in a winter-ish weather pattern and it looks like we might get another ice/snow storm tonight through this weekend. :)

Today is sunny making it look warm out the office windows. The windchill of 19F, however, quickly puts you in the right frame of mind when stepping out the door. I do so enjoy a brisk day with the right clothing and no snow to slog through.

January 29 - 31, 2020 :: 25 - 27 - 30 F
February 1 - 4, 2020 :: 31 - 33 - 43 - 33 F

Remember the Tiny Tree quilts I made for Christmas? I tried to look up a pic of a finished quilt on my blog but apparently I didn't do that so I'll add a better pic next time.

my tiny tree is on the right

Temecula Quilt Co felt that everyone enjoyed the Tiny Trees enough that they came out with a Valentine's heart layout using the same 2.25" finished blocks. As much as I love V-Day (yuck) I did enjoy the tiny blocks and finally picked these pink and purple fabrics as my starting point. Hopefully this weekend I can get some blocks made. Will this be done for V-Day? Not even close. Will I have fun accomplishing what I can get done before V-Day? Yipp!!

The Bibliophile Files - 2/4/20

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I forgot to do a book report back in January. I'm happy to report that I surpassed my 2019 reading goal by reading 4 extra books for a total of 94!! Unfortunately I had already tossed the sticky note with my December book list on it and I'm just too darn lazy to figure it out from my Goodreads account. #sorrynotsorry.

This year I have again set a goal of 90 books by the end of the year. To help me accomplish that, I have 2 subgoals that help me pick books. Not that I don't have an excellent library system to pick books from but sometimes it's just nice to have a nudge in one direction or the other.

My first goal is what I'm calling "Spell that Place." I stole the idea from a website but the gist is that I have this place in South Africa that has 44 letters in it's name. I am going to read books where one of the words in the title starts with one of those letters. For instance, below, The One Man is being used as an O and The Never Game is an N. I am happy to create a separate tab with the place name spelled out and my chosen books if anyone is interested.

My other goal is based on a list my librarian/friend sent me with just one theme a month. January was to have a color in the title (book chosen but not finished yet) and February is a book that's also a movie.

FINISHED
     The One Man
     The Never Game - A good story but the title didn't seem to have anything to do with the game being played by the characters. I'm sorry but a bum title can throw off my enjoyment of a book as I am trying to figure out a title the whole time.
     Educated - once a year a social group I belong to reads a book together. I'm expecting this to be a hot discussion as there were many things in this memoir that angered me.
     The Guardians - about a group of innocence lawyers working cases to free men on death row
     The Escape Artist
     Dust - Once again, a good (but snarky) book in this series but I have no idea where the title came from.

IN PROGRESS
     on my iPhone - Liar Liar
     on my home stereo - The Fifth Witness

So - what have you read lately? Don't forget almost anything counts - novel, magazine, quilt pattern or cereal box. Have you set any reading goals? Do you follow any challenges?