Boxing: April 2018

More I-spy

Here is another handful of I-spy blocks. I'm almost out of the i-spy 3.5 inch squares, but still have quite a few of the rectangles that I cut into wedges. And I still enjoy piecing these blocks. So I may have to make a few lap size versions for donation quilts...but I don't think I will make them reversible.

I have finished machine quilting the Dandy Lions and have begun to machine quilt the Owls. I find I don't have enough strength to move the quilts easily because they are so heavy. And it doesn't help that Molly just stares at me and says "This is the slowest, dumbest ride ever."

It was also certainly an accident if a nosy cat found herself buried under the owl quilt.

Yellow Kittens

Here's a litter of yellow kittens. Hopefully, none of them will grow up to be a horse like Buddy. If you would like to watch the sunset for yellow in April, gallop over to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

Recently I showed an azalea blooming in the front yard. This is the azalea mashup that's going on in the backyard.

More surgery

For all the supervision I have to endure, there is no excuse for a serious error to be found at this late date. Please note that the 4th of July owl ate a bit too much at the picnic, and his body is a sharp edged rectangle. Time for surgery.

Now the owl has a nice trim body. And yes, while I am a big fan of flip triangles, sewing them in by hand is not much fun.

As I was sewing, Buddy came and did a great imitation of a beached whale. I prefer this to when he puts his front paws on me so I'll lift him up and hold him.

Molly is up on the top of the shelving towering over the riff-raff.

Not much help

The owls were complaining about waffles...not the breakfast kind, but the border kind. I decided to take the time to fix it with hand sewing. Buddy wanted to help.

I suggested that it would be more helpful if he would pose for me.

Molly thought I should provide a photo for people who prefer cats.

I moved into this house last summer, so this spring I'm discovering more about the landscaping. I knew one of the trees in the backyard was a dogwood, and it turns out to be pink. This is not too surprising given the kitchen has raspberry counters. I also realized that an anonymous plant by the side of the house is a peony, and it is preparing to bloom.

An azalea along the front walk is in full froth.

Look Back

Today I machine quilted on the Dandy Lions quilt so I don't have much to show. I thought I would look back and see what I was up to a year ago...and at this time last year we had an offer on our house in Virginia so there was more cleaning than usual.

And it was TWO years ago that I finished the binding for the Plaid Bunny quilt. I hadn't yet started the hand quilting.

And here's a blurry photo of Typhoon (then Buddy, now Hoss) from two years ago. He seems to be well into his puppy phase.

And yikes, if I go back THREE years, that was when I first put the Virginia house on the market. This is the sewing room all cleaned up for the real estate listing and showings. The house didn't sell that year, but the massive cleanup meant that I could foster kittens for the local shelter. I definitely had no plans to adopt cats because that would mean trying to move them across the country!

As for quilting, this was the year I was making the owl blocks for the RSC, and the color for April 2015 was purple. And now three years later, the owl quilt is the next quilt in line for machine quilting.

Compromise

Here is the yellow squirrel after his jaw surgery.

And here are the I-spy blocks I made today.

I also spent some time hand quilting the plaid bunnies. However, my top priority was to finish machine quilting the Dandy Lions quilt. Unfortunately, this has become Molly's favorite napping spot. I have even covered it with white felt to protect the quilt from too much sunlight and cat fur.

I did notice that over at Cat Patches there are discussions of "negotiations" where the cat is always persuaded to move to a different location.

Here is Molly after our negotiations except you are missing the part where I am apologizing and promising not to disturb her again with my nonsense.

And Buddy wanted to retest the Barcalounger so he could review it and give it five stars. I asked him if he realized that Molly had set him up to use "Bark" in a sentence for more dog jokes. Then I asked him to get off of me because he was crushing my spine.

Yellow Squirrel

Here's a yellow squirrel. And wouldn't you know it, he has the same deformed jaw as his green brother. So now its yellow squirrel's turn for some cosmetic surgery.

Happily, he will have lots of company and nuts as he recuperates. If you would like to enjoy a plentiful rainbow of company and nuts, visit the Rainbow Scrappy challenge.

Meanwhile, Buddy and Molly were devastated that their Play Station was broken and on a Saturday morning! However, I really wanted to work on the yellow squirrel.

Another handful

Here's another set of I-spy blocks for my grand-nephew's quilt.

Molly asked me to take a picture of her nestled on her cat couch, and I told her to quit calling me a couch.

I Spy Tormentor

Here's another handful of I-spy blocks.

And here's a bit of progress on the Tormentor quilt.

I have (for the most part) cut all of the rectangles I need--half with a light square and half with a dark square. Next they get sewn together along the long side with the squares at either end. Then each "four patch" is cut into two triangles. And finally, a triangle with a light square is sewn to a triangle with a dark square. And these are the base units for the Tormentor quilt.

Yes, I did consider making this with half square triangles, except that that method requires precision sewing...not a particular strength on mine. Using this strip piecing approach, I can keep my points neat despite a couple of furry distractions by the sewing machine.

I spy progress

Here are the most recent additions to the I spy quilt.

Here are a close-up of three of the blocks.

I spy Molly.

Random bits

Here are some more I-spy blocks. I'm making a two-sided quilt. At one point, I estimated that I needed 598 or some other ridiculous number. I was way off. Each side needs 99 blocks so I only need 198 blocks. Its nice to miscalculate when it turns out that you have to make a lot fewer than you thought.

Meanwhile, a clump of tulips decided to show-off in the front yard.

And yes, Buddy believes everything that Molly tells him.

Yellow Postage

Here is my yellow postage block for April's contribution to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge. I get very excited to make this block each month...until I'm about 90 percent done. Happily, I have a month to forget the feeling from that last 10 percent.

Scrappy Spools

Monday night was the meeting for my quilt guild which includes a visit to the free table. My rule is to leave more fabric than I take. And for the most part I'm looking for weird bits that I can use to make these spools. And by weird bits, I mean fabric that I wouldn't typically buy--even a fat quarter.

Bonnie Hunter says that if you don't like a fabric, you haven't cut it up small enough. So yes, I do appreciate these fabrics much more in smaller bits.

And for some of these fabrics, I'm taking home very small bits. For example, the scrap of green grid background fabric in the right hand lower corner was only big enough to cut two 1.5 by 3.5 inch strips.

And here is a rhododendron blooming in my backyard. I moved into this house last summer, so this spring I am learning more about the colors of the landscaping.

You are also seeing a picture of a flower because BOTH the cat and the horse are in the dog house. Molly climbed a screen today. And last night as I was drinking, Buddy ran and jumped on me with the exuberance of a puppy, then took his horsey head and butted it up against the glass transferring the glass contents to my face and front. I am still waiting for their apologies.

Patchwork Piles

Some time ago, Gayle enticed me into starting this dementor quilt, and I decided to use strip piecing instead of HSTs. I have become used to making quilts block by block for the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge. While processing all the base units together is probably more productive and consistent, I find it more tedious.

So I was quite happy to finish the slicing and dicing. For the next step, I will be sewing these rectangles together and then cutting them along the diagonal to get a square with wings.

Having Hoss (aka Buddy (aka Typhoon)) sprawled out on the cutting table was negative helpful.

I am making progress on the hand quilting for the plaid bunny quilt. Each of the bunnies is outlined with stitching and most of them details on the tail, arm, eye and ear. Only fourteen bunnies are waiting for their details.

I-spy Cats!

With the i-spy blocks and borders cut, assembling each block is such a delight. I can count on them to give me a sense of progress, especially when most of my day was spent hand quilting the plaid bunny quilt. And apparently, when I'm hand quilting, I look exactly like a cat couch.

I did spend some time playing with Buddy...and taking his picture.

But then there was a less than subtle photobomb.

You're welcome.

Yellow Coins

Six panels of yellow coins to ease into a yellow April for the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.

And I couldn't resist checking my progress toward the 2018 rainbow.

Fur Update

My sister and I spent the day at the Clark County Quilt show. I didn't have time to sew today, so Molly and her horse Buddy posed for a photo this morning. I took the photo with my iPod so its a bit fussy.

And here's Buddy resting in his stable.