With a Little Help from a Black Cat

Yesterday, Remy and I finished up the borders on my "Bounce" quilt.  I did the sewing while Remy did the supervising and the unnecessary application of cat hair (ahem!) 

I left the room for two minutes....

and Remy decided to roll around and wrinkle up the quilt....

It's a good thing he is so cute.

Lint rollers are another good thing.....

early morning light--wrinkles by Remy

Despite Remy's help, I finished up the quilt top and decided to photograph it on the fence this morning to avoid any cat assistance. I used a layer cake of Kate Spain's Cuzco, Moda Bella Solid in Tranquil Aqua, and was inspired by Thelma's version for the border.

This pattern was so much fun to make and would work well with any type/pattern of fabric.  I was really pleased that you could use a layer cake so there aren't scraps left over (I seriously have a scrap basket problem but that is for another day).

I think it took longer to lay out the blocks and decide how to cut them than piece the blocks.  The instructions are clear and it all pieced together perfectly.  There are a couple of different versions included in the pattern. I used version 2 for the star blocks (solid stars instead of pieced center blocks).  My version has two different size stars.  For the pieced border, I cut the strips the same width and grouped the strips by color (similar to Thelma's version).  I can't wait to get this one to a longarm quilter to finish up.

A Finish for March

Finally finished the top for the French General quilt I worked on last month.
I just love this quilt and I'm waiting for some backing fabric to arrive to finish it up.  It's always windy in Santa Fe so it's difficult to get a good photo (if you look close Mr. SBQ's toes are peeking out but don't tell him. Also it was warm enough for bare feet here yesterday and I am sorry if it is cold where you are still).

With the arrival of spring, my quilting mojo is back and I am ready to work on a zillion projects at one time! I should be able to catch up with the Stars in a Time Warp blocks by tomorrow and will post those soon.

 We went for a walk yesterday and saw these blooming trees peeking out over a fence. 

 I opened a couple of windows to air out the house and the cats all crowded in to see what was going on outside.  (Rather unflattering view of Edgar and Stella looks like they need some running around the house time).

If Spring hasn't found you yet, I hope it does soon!

Post Edit:  I just discovered that I haven't been receiving all your comments via my email.  Deepest apologies if I haven't responded to your comments!!!!!!  I appreciate each and every comment. Thank you!!!! I hope I fixed the problem and will keep an eye out.  

Summertime and Blogging has Fallen by the Wayside

I was doing so well with blogging for a short time and then it turned summer and who know what happened.

The cats have been doing a lot of this with the warming temperatures.

Still Life:  Melted Remy

Looking like "melted" cats on the cool wood and tile floors.

And yes, Remy is a very loooooooong cat.

Here is the short version of what we've been up to this month:

We have been watching the World Cup.

Work at Starbucks has been busy with the tourists and seasonal residents flowing into town.

Saturday farmer's market visits, walks downtown, hiking and being outside as much as possible.

I've been sewing as much as possible on my days off.



Here's my most recent finish.  A just-for-fun quilt.  I bought the fabric for this a year or so ago at Intown Quilters in Atlanta.  I fell in love with Birch Fabrics Scamper line with the raccoons and foxes at the shop and found the gray, blue and white square confetti dot fabric by Michael Miller that matched perfectly.  The pattern is Radio Flyer by Jaybird Quilts and I added some fat quarters from my stash. Photos don't so the fabric justice.  It is much cuter in real life.

This is the second quilt I've made recently that is out-of-my-usual-box.  I hope to get backings for this and the Daydreams quilt on my next visit to ThreadBear fabrics in Las Vegas.

Hope everyone is enjoying these last few days of June.  Didn't this month fly by?!?!

Sewing with Cat Assistants

 I enjoyed my day off of work by finishing the Charm Pack Cherry baby quilt today with LOTS of assistance from the cats.  They must have missed quilting during the time we were moving as much as I did.

Even if you do not have cat assistants, this is a super fun and super fast quilt to make.

In fact, it may be quicker to make without cat help.

Edgar Poe is alway a big help. Check out this post for his tutorial on pin basting a quilt. 

In this photo, he has all the pinned blocks stacked up and ready for me to sew.

Here he is listening to the gentle hum of my featherweight, or contemplating a snack, or getting ready for a snooze, or getting ready to pounce on something.  It could be any of these.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Zen sewing kitty













The second part of the pattern required Gomez's assistance.  Here he is supervising cutting the blocks are resewing them together.

Gomez excels at supervision. With his assistance, I successfully sewed all the blocks together without any duplicate patterns touching and with the castles and sailing ships right-side-up.

Looked who showed back up to take all the credit for the finished quilt.  It seems as though we may have another interloper assistant making an appearance.

Remy and Edgar are carefully checking out the seam allowance and making sure the edge stay-stitching is adequate.













One last photo before the whole gang jumps on the quilt.  I changed the pattern a little from the original.  I reversed the blocks in rows 2 and 4 so the motifs would be right-side-up.  I ordered the backing and binding so I could quilt this up soon and be ready way ahead of the August due date..  Another adventure with the cats, I am sure.

Square One

I discouragingly report that it is back to square one with the house sale.  The contract fell through on New Year's Eve and I was too disappointed to report about it here until now.  I am leaving all the messy details on this whole house-selling business off of my blog in the interest of keeping kvetching at a minimum level but suffice to say--I think I'd rather go through my horribly painful puffy-face wisdom teeth surgery from 2012 all over again than deal with dealing with this.

Moving on.....

Literally.

I am moving on to Santa Fe in about 3 weeks.  The holidays have passed and it is a good time to transfer to a Starbucks in Santa Fe, so it is time to gather up the rest of my belongings and head west to my husband and cats.  I have more potential buyers coming to see the house this week so hopefully my real estate agent can sell the house soon and we can be D.O.N.E. with the house sale.

It is definitely time to be with Mr. SBQ and the cats and get on with this new life of ours. Besides I'm also missing lots of napping in the Santa Fe sunshine time with this little guy

Remy enjoying a sunbeam on the kitchen table, where he is not supposed to be

In between cleaning out the attic and keeping the fancy towels out, I am working on a gift quilt for one of my dearest friends.  I had the top made for a long time and decided to get it quilted and finished for a special coworker. The pattern is "Minnesota Hot Dish" by Atkinson Designs and the fabric is a Sandy Gervais Moda line from a long time ago (I don't remember the name).  Here is an in-progress photo and I hope to get the quilting and binding finished in the next couple of days.

Mr. SBQ, as you can imagine, is over-the-top happy that I have a moving date.  He sends me photos via text to remind me of how beautiful it is in New Mexico.  This is from one of his weekend hikes on a mountain overlooking Los Alamos.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at the wide open blue sky.

New Year's Eve and a Last Finish for 2013

I finally finished sewing the rows of "Long Road Home" together today while watching The Walking Dead marathon.

I love this quilt (a swap with my quilting buddies) and I can't wait to get the backing sorted out and get it quilted.  I think I'll quilt it myself with diagonal lines so I can use it in the new year. I have more packing to do before that luxury though.  My plan is still to get to Santa Fe by the end of January/beginning of February so I best get a move on the remaining things (mostly the dreaded cleaning out the attic).

No plans for tonight--well except for the zombie watching and Skype-ing with the family in Michigan and Mr. SBQ and the cats in Santa Fe.

For all those Remy fans out there (especially Nancy), here's a Remy photo to take you into the new year.

Happy New Year to all and Happy Quilting in 2014!

"I'm not supposed to be on the table....but I'm too cute to move."

It Snowed in Santa Fe without Me

I think we're going to need a snow shovel.

Yesterday, Mr. Stella Bella Quilts texted me this photo of the overnight snowfall in Santa Fe!  They received 6-8" of snow. WOW!

I was so envious because that looks like so much fun....
....for about a day.

Mr. SBQ and the cats were snug as Southwestern bugs in the house. I think Remy stayed curled up in bed all day and just ventured out to the kitchen for food.



Not only do I not have clothes for this kind of weather anymore, my friend Pat reminded me that I'm going to need some BOOTS!

On this side of the south, I finished "Second Hand Clothes."  This was a quick, easy, and big quilt to finish up.  I am enjoying all the floor space in my cleaned-out, minimal-furniture living room.  I did lay out all the blocks and rows so the colors and patterns were evenly distributed throughout the quilt.  There are some less-than-lovely fabrics in this kit in my opinion but I think it all plays well together.  I sewed up the solid red binding and will get the backed pieced this week.

On to the next UFO!

Sunnyside for an Overcast Day

I'm so excited to start off the month with a completed quilt top! I finished sewing the rows together this afternoon.

The pattern is "Sunnyside" from Pat Wys' book Spotlight on Neutrals: Quilts and More for Any Decor. 

I used my hoarded stash of Denise Schmidt Flea Market Fancy and Hope Valley fabrics with Moda Bella Solid in Zen Gray for the background.

I wish the lighting was better but it's been overcast on and off all day.   The colors are not true in this image and this photo doesn't do justice to the saturated colors of the fabrics.  There is no chance for an outdoor photo today as everything is still damp from the two weeks of a rain-storm-a-day weather. I'll try to get one when S. is home to be Mr. Quilt Holder.

Remy I started planning this quilt back in January and it went together quickly once I decided on the fabrics.  The directions were very thorough and it was easier to piece than it looks.

Here is a detail of the stars. This is a perfect pattern to highlight some of your treasured fabrics that you've been saving for "just the right quilt".  I particularly like the outer setting with the large and small triangles (or as I called it "the mountain range around the edge").

The original quilt in neutrals can be seen on Pat's blog. I think it would also look amazing in batiks.








I thought I would add an outtake of my attempts at trying to photograph this quilt today.
Count them.  Three.  Three cats in the middle of the photo.  From the top: Remy cleaning his toes, Gomez staring off into space and not willing to move an inch, and Stella wandering around back and forth in and out of the frame.  Edgar Poe (the fourth cat) was guarding the sewing machine.  Never a dull moment around here.

Also, we all would like to wish a Happy Canada Day to our fellow quilters and bloggers and quilt-blog kitties to the North.  Hope you have a wonderful holiday!!

A Quilt for S.

Thank you everyone who sent get-better wishes to me and my hurt foot.  Foot is better and I figured out a couple of things I need to watch out for when standing for 8+ hours a day.

A while ago (last year maybe?), I started a quilt for S. nicknamed "S.'s Mad Men quilt."  When David Butler aka Parson Gray aka Mr. Amy Butler came out with his first line of fabric "Curious Nature",  I knew it would be a perfect quilt for S., who admires modern design.  We are big Mad Men fans and this line reminded me of the hip 1960s designs from the show.

I finished the 63 (!) blocks (last year?) and they sat around for awhile.  After getting Cameron's quilt together, I decided it was high time to finish up S.'s quilt.

Last week, I laid out the blocks and for the first time successfully "stacked" a quilt and sewed it all together without getting the blocks out of order.  Pat is going to be so proud of me!  Am I the only one that has problems with this?  Do y'all "stack" quilts after laying them out?  I know most of my sewing buddies at Silver Thimble Club do.  Maybe there is another term for it, but basically you sew all the blocks together (this is for not-on-point quilts) in rows vertically without cutting threads and you end up with the quilt blocks all sewn together. You then sew the horizontal rows.  And voila, a quilt top.  I will post a tutorial if y'all haven't tried it.

One great thing about "stacking" a quilt is when you have cats that want to rearrange your quilt blocks, like so:

The blocks are sewn together and rows are in order so Edgar Poe is foiled in his attempt to rearrange this quilt.  Thank you Edgar Poe for the demonstration.

Here is the finished quilt top.

The pattern is "Snapshots" by Atkinson Designs from the book Happy Hour. I made the twin size, which fits the guest room/S.'s sanctuary perfectly.  It's a bit too big for me to quilt at home, so it will sit for a little while more until I can get it long-armed.  S. loves the quilt--the design and fabric.  Maybe I'll get it finished in time for the next season of Mad Men to start this spring.

Quick photo & post

Very quick photo and post of a top I finished up this weekend.  Better photo and details tomorrow.

Done in a Day

I received two charm square patterns in the mail and I just had to make them.

Like right now this minute had to make them. I have a basket full of charm packs and these patterns are just too cool.

Here's what I did today after getting home from doing some major damage at Sweet Home. Take one Fig Tree Allspice Tapestry charm pack, add tone-on-tone fabric and border fabric bought at Sweet Home today, plus one helper kitty....

(That's Edgar helping measure for borders just like Pat taught us)

And voila,

(the blue painters tape really makes this quilt doesn't it?)

Love this quilt!!! I think I'll make another one sometime soon.