Almost, but not quite...

I have the first two borders on the quilt, one more to go and it will be ready to go to the quilter. The third border will be 5" of the large pink and yellow floral. I hope to finish it tomorrow.



Here is the fabric for the latest Kaffe Fasset mystery block...it is a flying geese pattern.


And Cabbage Rose has started another mystery block of the month, on the 3rd Saturdays. These are the fabrics for the first block.


Today was another one in the triple digits, with no rain in sight. Guess these are what they call the dog days of summer...but don't tell Purrkins. Nothing he likes better than sleeping out in the screen porch where it's only 95º.

Just as I promised...

Gosh, I don't know how it got to be the middle of March already...I don't even know what happened to February! We got our latest delivery from Jolie Vue Farms on March 1st. Yes, those are marrow bones! I think I will just roast them for myself...Mike doesn't go crazy over marrow like I do. Somehow, taking pictures of a bunch of frozen meat seems silly, not like the pretty pictures people take of their CSA vegetables.

Of course, I can always liven things up with a cute picture of my cats. Purrkins was checking out the empty cooler that the meat came in. Graycie was probably looking for something to jump up and break.

I do have a produce picture for you, though. I picked this tomato on March 1st as well. I had planted one tomato plant last September. It survived Hurricane Ike and has continued to grow all winter. We never had a hard frost, and somehow it managed to produce this one poor little malformed tomato (which was quite tasty, by the way). It is covered with blossoms now, so maybe my tomato growing luck has changed.

This is my latest quilting project, made from April Cornell charm packs I bought at the Quilt Festival in 2007. It is off to be quilted as we speak. I plan to use it on the foot of our bed, picking up on the brown and aqua theme I have going.

We were in Fort Worth last weekend for the Texas Radiological Society meeting, so of course I had to stop at Cabbage Rose. I did buy some fabric, but it is for a surprise for someone who might read this blog, so I will have to wait to share it with you as well. I am scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery (ugh!) on April 3rd, so I need to get as much done as possible before then. Fortunately, I will still be able to type with my left hand and play Facebook Scrabble!

This isn't a photography blog...

...but sometimes there are things I photograph for no particular reason that I want share. Like this rare Houston sunset last week. For whatever reason, we seldom get pretty sunsets here. When I saw this I just had to take some pictures.




As well as this one. Cats rarely pose for the camera, so when they do you must act quickly!

Happy Christmas to all...

...and to all a good night!

Time flies, whether you're having fun or not!

Actually, I have been having fun, at least for the most part, aside from a couple of days from hell at work. But I won't bore you with the details of how I love what I do but hate my job because of the lack of effective management. I can't believe we are into November already. I guess I lived in Wisconsin so long that I need the seasonal weather cues. Somehow 80º just doesn't say fall to me.

I had a great time at the International Quilt Festival. A few friends came into town to join me. Here is my friend Nancy with the Charm Party Tote she made using the new Mary Engelbreit Recipe for Friendship fabric from Moda. It really turned out cute!

After that I was really itching to sew. I did buy a few things at the show, which I'll show you later. What I decided to sew was the Cabbage Rose Quilting Kaffe Fassett & Friends Mystery BOM block kits I had. I hadn't really looked at them and was kind of put off by the fabrics...not anything I would have ever chosen (orange and purple?)

These remind me of some old slipcovers my grandmother had, and not in a good way.

But I decide to go ahead with them anyway since I have made the investment. It will be interesting to see what future months hold. Purrkins seemed to like the choices and decided that he needed to "help" me.

And he definitely approved of the finished blocks...

One down, 99 to go...

Works in progress that is. I was glad when the lights (and A/C) came back on so I could get back to some projects. I don't really have 99 things in the works...but at least 9, and fabric/yarn/embroidery kits for at least 90 more. I finally finished putting the binding on this quilt. I wanted to use my usual technique of hanging it on the clothesline to photograph, but wait, I don't have a clothesline since the maple tree is gone. So here it is on the kitchen table.

The problem with quilts on the table (other than the whole spillage issue) is cats on the table. They think that any place with a quilt is a place for a cat.


I sewed one of my cute labels into the binding. I know...I am so easily amused :-)


Speaking of the labels, I received this email from them today...20% off everything!

Go to www.namemaker.com to take 20% off all items in the store.

Use the coupon code octobersale on the final summary page when you check out. Make sure you enter it in all lowercase letters.

This coupon expires Friday, October 10, 2008 at midnight EST. This coupon can only be used once per customer. Coupon can not be used retroactively for orders purchased prior to this sale. Coupon is only valid for web orders and can not be used over the phone or by mail.

For questions, Please call us at 800-241-2890

Thank you...

...to everyone for your concern and kind comments. We are still without phone or electricity. Mike left yesterday to go to Boston for the ASTRO meeting. I was originally supposed to go with him, but thought better of leaving the house with no power and this tree on our roof.


He left me his laptop so I am enjoying the A/C and WiFi at Barnes and Noble, and feeling better that some nice men from New York and North Carolina came and cut down the tree this morning. Our backyard looks a lot different than it did here. I am hoping to replace the maple tree with a large Meyer lemon. We'll see what the insurance covers.

I have been going to sleep and waking up early. It has been unseasonably cool, but that is coming to an end. Fortunately it has been cooling off at night, so I can open the windows and cool down the house. Then I close it up in the morning and it stays tolerable downstairs. Upstairs is another story. Thank goodness for our downstairs guest room. I have been doing a bit of knitting and a little stitching, although the lack of good light is not very conducive to that. The cats are fine. They don't mind the heat, don't miss the internet or the sewing machine and they can see in the dark!

Who says cats don't do tricks?

Purrkins is an expert at "playing dead."

Sunday morning with the grandkids, I mean kitties

Kate and Kyle had to work this morning, so Sam and Rosie and I spent some quality time on the screen porch, them watching the birds, me reading the Star Tribune. It was great to be outside in the fresh air. I will get to do this in Houston some time in October.

I had their attention for a moment...


...but the birds won out!

It's a cat's life

It's really hard work trying to find a pool of sunshine, especially when Mom keeps the blinds drawn to keep the house cool.

But that's okay...when I do find one, it's the perfect place for a catnap.

=^..^=

Birthday goodies

I hinted, well more than hinted, that I wanted a new iPhone for my birthday, the day after it was released. I must give Mike credit for even trying to get me one. He went to the Apple Store in the Galleria, but said that the wait in line was 4 hours. The next day he went to an AT&T store where they had 16 phones for the 25+ people in line. I guess I will be buying my own when all the hype dies down. He did bring me these gorgeous star gazer lilies, one of my favorites.

And while he was at the Galleria he bought me some more of my new dishes, so I now have 8 dinner plates, 8 salad plates and 6 pasta/soup bowls. I thought it would be easier to take a picture of them on the floor. The cats were interested, wondering why there were empty dishes on the floor.

Marjorie, my dear friend of 40+ years, sent me these delights. Her very talented husband Peter made the ladybug house. It is just too cute! I told her that I can't actually use it, because the sun down here would fade the paint, but I am going to find a shady spot for it on my screen porch. And look at those cherry boots...I can't wait for it to rain!

She is very artistic and talented as well. She made these adorable earrings for me.

No iPhone, but lots of other treasures!

My latest project, and a few hints for Heloise

First a few tips from my own personal experience. When I was working on Kate's wedding quilt I talked about tilting your sewing machine so that you can look down on your work without leaning over it. There are some expensive devices out there that accomplish this, but a couple of rubber doorstops from Lowe's work just as well.

I did garment construction for close to 40 years before I started quilting. This is a little trick I have never seen anyone use in any of the quilting classes I have taken, but it works very well to get your seams to lay flat when pressing. In this block I have seams going both ways. (Don't forget to click on the photo to see the detail up close.)

So in the middle I clipped the seam allowance to the seam and was able to press half the seam one way and half the other way. It makes for a much sharper pressing.

This was such a fun pattern, and quick to do, especially using the jelly roll. These are my finished blocks.

And this is the finished quilt top! The weather was so nasty today...90º and rainy...that I just stayed inside and sewed.


Now I am anxious to get it quilted . I hope to take it out to the quilt shop tomorrow. I didn't buy fabric for the backing, but I think I will just use this older Mary Engelbreit fabric from my stash. It doesn't match exactly, but well enough for the backing, I think.
Graycie was comfy sleeping on this work-in-progress, another ME quilt that is all sandwiched and pinned. I am going to machine quilt this one myself, soon!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Still a bad blogger

It seems that I have been behind ever since I got home from my parents' a week ago. I have had something going on everyday except Sunday (including four 12 hour shifts at work) and it seems that I am just now getting caught up with everything that needs to be done. I am hoping to take some "urban wildflower" photos...just need to remember to take camera with me when I go out.

Upon the recommendation of the vet (Graycie is getting a little pudgy), the cats are now on a diet. Well, not really a diet, just not unlimited grazing at the self feeder. They actually eat less than I thought. I have been giving them one cup of food (Science Diet dry) a day to share, which is actually less than the recommended amount and they don't even finish it. So maybe what they really need is more exercise (don't we all?). I found this really CUTE food bowl at Petsmart, on clearance for 50% off. Very Mary Engelbreitish, don' t you think?

Happy Easter, bunny!

This was a candid shot, I promise! If you have cats, you know that they don't pose...

Mystery project

I decided a bit late in the game that I wanted to make a quilt to give to my brother for his 5oth birthday, which is today. (So if you do read this, Happy Birthday, Jeff!) My initial thought was to make this one I saw at the Quilt Festival. It is made from April Cornell charm packs, which I had conveniently bought at the Quilt Festival.

But I thought that it might be too girly and decided to make a Texas themed quilt. He's not a native Texan, but has been here for almost 40 years, and I thought it would go well with his decor...who else do you know that has had a longhorn skull hanging over their mantel? I used the Yellow Brick Road pattern, which conveniently I also had...imagine that! With the help of the friendly ladies at Quilt 'n Sew in Katy, I picked out these fabrics. The ones on the left I used for the blocks, the ones on the right for the border and backing.

Graycie helped me with the sandwiching.

And while Purrkins normally wouldn't THINK of getting on the dining room table, he couldn't resist a nap on a folded up quilt, even though it didn't have a binding yet.

Time constraints what they were, I just did a simple diagonal machine quilting stitch.

This is what the back looks like.

And the heartfelt sentiment...