Another Car Ride for Morpheus

Morpheus and I had an uneventful ride to the vet today (which now means we didn't get pulled over by Gwinnett's finest.) I didn't sleep well last night and was worried about him all day today. I haven't slept well in about a week. I think it's the blasted weather...

He needed his teeth cleaned and there is always a slight risk with anesthesia and older cats (he is a spry 17!). The vet called mid-afternoon and Morph was fine. Morph did have to have one of his teeth pulled (I hope Morph wasn't counting on the tooth fairy coming because we didn't save his tooth!) Morph has a stylin' lime green bandage from his IV.

Cats are funny when they are groggy because they won't just lay down and go to sleep. They stumble around all drugged and woozy.


I spent awhile redoing my blog. I haven't decided if I like it or if I might change it again.

Red Nine-Patches and Yellow Tomatoes

Along with complaining about the heat and humidity resulting in heat indexed of 100-110F all weekend, I sewed the 899,000,000 little bitty nine-patches I had left from this post. I am determined to finish Scrappy Nines so I can start on a new project. I nearly finished sewing all those nine-patches (actually I have 24 left to go. Somehow I just decided to stop after 899,898,976), squared all those bad boys up, and started sewing the blocks.

With help of course... Mr. Gomez is looking too cute for words!

Here's a stack of blocks.

I also spent a large part of the weekend finding recipes for fresh tomatoes. Stella Bella Organics heirloom tomatoes are everywhere in the kitchen! Romas, Cherokee Purple, and some kind of yellow tomato that I can't remember what is the name. We are having tomatoes in everything. Example #1: homemade free-form thin crust pizza with fresh basil and tomatoes (from the garden) and fresh mozzarella (from the store!) I don't have an "after" baking photo because this was g-o-n-e in about 2 seconds YUMMY!

Dear Summer:

Dear Summer:

Unfortunately, I must inform you that you have overstayed your welcome. It is nothing against you in particular. I do believe that you are under the influence of some very bad companions and have lost your way. Since you arrived in June bringing along Misters High Heat and Humidity, your annual friends Afternoon Showers and Balmy Nights have left and decided to spend these past several weeks on the west coast.

The situation, really, has become intolerable and is bringing even more unwelcome guests such as Sir Cabin Fever, Lord Outrageous Energy Bill, and the twins Ms. Crankiness and Mr. Grumpybutt.

Therefore, you are hereby being evicted from the eastern and southern US. Please remove yourself and your loitering friends. We have decided to accept Ms. Autumn early admittance application.

Sincerely yours,

metro atlanta

Hocuspocusville Third Block

Here's my latest Hocuspocusville block. It's block number 9 but the third one I've completed. This quilt is just too much fun to do.

If you are wondering where are the French knots on the sign???...you are looking too close....
No, really, I am saving the French knots on all the blocks until the end, when I remember how to make them! I am French-knot challenged. Is anyone else out there?

My friend Brenda (quilting cowgirl) recently finished her Hocuspocusville quilt and you can see it on this post. It looks fabulous Brenda!

Maybe she is missing doing stitchery already. Maybe she wants to do my French knots for me?!?

Update from this post: Morph and I are all set to venture out to the vet's office next week. I replaced the burned out tail light on Xena.

Sleeping on the Job

At my sewing group Saturday, I finished the blocks for my latest Schnibbles quilt (the pattern is "Rooibos" for you Schnibble fans out there). I told Karin I had to wait to finish it so I could lay it out on the floor (my quilt helpers like to help arrange blocks).

The cats have been rather lethargic in the hot weather. Case in point: Edgar Poe.
No way was he getting up from his sink hole on the back of the sofa.

The ever-helpful Morpheus gave a half-hearted attempt before he, too, crashed. Do you think he is dreaming of quilt blocks or kitty treats?

Gomez and Stella were no shows.

Morph says "This block stays here. Now let me get back to my nap." Guess I'll have to lay out the quilt myself.

An Adventure for Morph and A Quilty Weekend for Me

I thought I'd start off this weekend wrap-up post with a funny story from Friday. I had to take Morph to the vet to get some blood work checked. My cats all hate going to the vet. They hate being tricked into getting in the cat carrier and they hate riding in the car and protest all the way. By the time we get there, me and whichever cat is going along is pretty frazzled. Morph meows at the top of his lungs all the way there. On a scale of 1 to 10, Morph's going-to-the-vet meow is 11.

As I drive to the vet, I try to calm him down by talking softly, singing a shhhh it's OK song, listening to BBC podcasts and anything else I can think of. On Friday, there were lots of Gwinnett Co. police out, so as I was trying to calm Morph down and stay calm myself, I also wanted to make sure I wasn't speeding (aka trying to get to the vet quicker). About a mile from the vet's office, the blue lights came on behind me.

Oh good grief! This is not what I need right now with Morph meowing at volume 11 and me frazzled and British historian David Cannadine lecturing on my iPod. I pulled into a parking lot and told Morph "we just got pulled over by the cops, please be quiet so I don't have to explain why you are meowing so loud, please, pretty please." Morph said "Meow?"

The cop wanted to let me know that I had a tail light out and went back to his car with my license. Morph said "Meow?" I said "Hang on the cop is coming back." I got my license back and promised to get my tail light fixed and was let on our merry way. Morph continued meowing at volume 11 the last mile, into the vet's office, in the exam room, and in the back throughout his blood draw. I had the vet check Morph's teeth because and sure enough Morph needs to go back and get his teeth cleaned and perhaps one pulled. I better get that tail light fixed before we venture out again....
Morph needed a nap after his big day.
On to quilting--

It was Thimbles weekend and I had fun sewing with the gang on Saturday. I worked on another Schnibble and some more little nine-patches for Scrappy Nines. I sewed some more after I got home and then all day today. Here's a hodge-podge of things. Two more blocks done for the Moose on the Porch jelly roll quilt sampler.
Blocks 9 and 10.
Here is the latest block from the Quilt Room jelly roll BOM sampler
Block 5. I am really loving this quilt! And am anxiously awaiting a new book from those fab Lintott ladies. I hope Bad Melisa has my name on one :)

Speaking of Bad Melisa's, here is the Schnibble I worked on last weekend at Sweet Home. It's "Cindy Lou Who" made in the new Moda line "Park Avenue." Charm packs and pattern bought at Sweet Home.

I'm trying to decide whether to add an outer border or not. I'll let it age a week or so and decide then.

Between Friends Quilt Along Finis

Ta da! Here is my "Between Charming Friends Quilt Along" quilt top all done. Big thanks to Kelly and Darlene for this fun quilt along. I can't wait to see everyone's quilts.

Michigan Report: Part 1

Finally got the photos downloaded and organized from my Michigan trip. So here's a little recap of my visit the first week of July. Most of the trip was spent entertaining Ms. Mackenzie who turned 4 months old and is as cute as she can be!
She loves going places and gets bored rather easily so I called her "miss high maintenance!". She likes to go go go and didn't want to take her naps or go to bed because she might miss something. We kept her so busy and entertained that she slept 11 hours straight after we left. Whew! I was exhausted too!

I also spent lots of quality time with nephew dog Jack who is doing a great job getting used to having Mackenzie as a baby sister. I always bring Jack extra-special dog treats when I visit. He likes pumpkin-flavored organic treats and will "talk" to me with little howls and barks until I get up and get him treats (not that his aunt Gretchen spoils him or anything....).
And we cannot forget the Princess Shiloh, my parents' dog (AKA my adopted half-sister) Shiloh is one of the calmest, most laid back dogs ever. She even likes to sleep late in the AM! (Wish the cats liked to sleep in some days...) Shiloh gets treats too don't worry about that!)

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know my mom, SIL, and me always go on mini-shop hops around the area (not that we need more fabric but we like to help out the Michigan economy). I didn't do anything to help the MI economy this time though! We went to Mabelena's and I didn't buy a thing. How terrible! (I'm very happy they have a website, twitter, & facebook pages now so y'all can visit them too!)

We also took a day trip to Bay City and went to some of the best antique stores I've been to in a long long time. Everyone else bought stuff; I didn't buy anything. We even found this super fantastic historic building with a quilt store
I LOVE this building! It even has its original display windows. Gorgeous! You can visit Fabric Fair online too. I didn't buy anything here either... I feel like such a bad quilter...

I did find a great linen tablecloth at a yard sale for $3 though. Does that count?

Some Days are Like a Dilbert Cartoon

Day job has been exceedingly busy lately (maybe because we have lost nearly a third of our staff since the Great Recession....). I seem to spend more and more of my time in meetings.

Today I went to a meeting at 10AM. As the meeting went along, I lost track of all sense of time, which was easy since I didn't have a watch. The meeting went on and on and on. The discussion topics moved along incrementally at a nearly imperceptible pace.

I knew it had to be at least 2:30.

Maybe even 3:00.

Did this meeting start before or after lunch?

Finally! Done with meeting.

I bet it's nearly time to go home.

It was only 11:30AM...

On the same day...

Sewing at Sweet Home

Some friends and I had reserved the upstairs classroom at Sweet Home Quilt Co. for a sewing day. Karin and Cindi arrived before I did and were busy checking out all the new fabrics and bringing in their stuff. Becky and Kristie had to miss out this time :( Melisa had rearranged the store and Mr. Brown Truck had brought lots of goodies since the last time I was there.
. Melisa had the store decorated for Teddy Bear Picnic Day. How great is that huge bear? It was a fun sewing day. We alternately worked on projects and went downstairs to check out the shop. I nearly finished a Schnibble top; I'll post it tomorrow. Karin was working on a Christmas quilt and Cindi was finishing up a quilt for her nephew.
I was so busy I forget to take more photos except for a display of fabrics coming soon to Sweet Home.
Looks like Moda man is bringing some great new lines soon!!

In sports now--is everyone ready for the World Cup finals? I'll be cheering on the Netherlands, sewing, and getting photos and posts together from my trip to Michigan.

Back from Michigan

Hey everyone! I'm back from a week long trip to Michigan to visit family and escape the heat and humidity of Atlanta. I need to catch up on everyone's blogs and find out what's been going on in the world. I do know that the Netherlands are going to the World Cup finals. GOOOOOO Orange! Photos and trip details soon....

Summer Reading

Here are two books I highly recommend for your summer reading pleasure. (note: if you like light, beach reads for summer these are not it!)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is an amazing book. It's a true story. I don't know where to begin with how this book affected me. Here's the New York Times review. Read it and understand a little more.

The second book is My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliviera. A novel about a 19th-century
midwife who is refused a medical education and takes it upon herself to serve as a nurse during the Civil War. If you liked Widow of the South, you'll like this one too.

Anyone else read anything good?

I've Been Remiss...

In posting this great giveaway I won from Mary's Cottage Quilts!

That's what I get for not going through those piles on the table more often.....

Mary has some wonderful patterns and I love her blog. A BIG belated thanks Mary!!!