Bunnies and seahorses and cats

Here are the seahorses pinned to the design wall waiting for seven right facing seahorses. I am going with this staggered layout...and currently I am thinking of a crowded ocean with no sashing. This also means touching noses and back fins.

 I also finished the first round of machine quilting on the bounding bunnies. I pin the quilt top to the batting (as if making a reversible quilt) and do an allover pattern of stitching in the ditch...in this case along the horizontal sashing. Next, I will repin to the backing and finish quilting. I discovered I really liked this process when I made the first I-spy quilt because machine quilting the top and batting is such a breeze.  Also, I can layer the quilt without any wrinkles or puckers.

Okay, so there is a major wad of mess in the right corner. I was hoping you wouldn't notice.

My house is infested.

After a while, you almost get used to it.

Meanwhile, Molly and Buddy are enjoying Smitty's antics over at Cat Patches.  Here's Buddy doing an impression of Smitty hard at work.

Here is Buddy's impression of Molly when she is working.

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I-Spy (Levi edition) Finished

The I-spy quilt for my great (grand) nephew Levi is completed. I made one for his brother a couple of  years ago.

 The quilt is reversible. This is the back.

Happily the direction of the tilted blocks allows the machine quilting zig zag to work for both sides.

Here is a detail of the quilt.

Here is another detail. Levi's quilt has more transportation blocks featuring motorcycles, trucks and racing cars.

Meanwhile, I am sure that you have already read the sad tail of woe where Smitty at Cat Patches was locked away in the clubhouse over night. (Molly says the clubhouse is probably really a doghouse.)
Here, Molly is striking a pensive pose as she reflects on Smitty's pensive pose.

And here's Molly with her reassured look knowing that that you can't "accidentally" lock up the center of the universe.

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What's Next

I have so many quilt tops that are quite close to completion. I pulled out the seahorses and started to lay them out. I only need to make seven more. If you look at the bottom right corner, you can see Molly wants to help me take the seahorses down. However, I'm using pins because, frankly, I don't want her help.

I also have quilt tops ready to be layered. I think this one is next.

I also have quilts that are layered and waiting for quilting. Having a time out between layering and quilting is never a good idea because of the inevitable wrinkles. So yes, I spent quite a bit of time going over this quilt with a small steam iron.

Of course I had help.

Then here comes Photobombing Buddy to the rescue!

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Look back

I did manage to machine sew one side of the binding to the I-spy quilt. But that's about it. So I thought I would look back to what I was doing a year ago. It's only been a year, but I've almost completely forgotten about our time in the apartment--our temporary way station. I remember I was so worried about Molly and Buddy, but they adapted better than I did. There was a group of kids that played right outside our unit...and Molly was fascinated. Buddy would sometimes have to go run and hide if they got too loud, but Molly just turned her ears back to buffer the sound and soaked it all in.

A year ago, Buddy looks downright tiny. He was probably still in his dog phase and had not grown into his pony phase yet. I have been slow to find Molly and Buddy a new vet.  And now I realize Buddy is probably going to need a larger carrier. He definitely would not be able to fit into the airline approved carrier anymore...and maybe that's been his strategy all along.

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Machine quilting I-Spy

I finished machine quilting the I-spy quilt. I used a zig zag pattern that allows for some misalignment to the two-sides of this reversible quilt. Molly is assessing the machine quilting by feel...putting the princess and the pea to shame.

Here's a Molly-free look at the quilt and quilting. Along the right side is the fabric I plan to use for the binding.

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Vintage Butterfly Quilt Top

Okay, the vintage butterfly quilt has its borders so it is officially a quilt top. And as a bonus, I found the information about its inspiration and other good stuff. Needless to say, I originally found the pattern over at Cathy's Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting blog where she displayed her beautiful blue version.   She also gave a link to her original inspiration (and mine) over at Nostalgic Cafe...a vintage quilt featuring the butterflies on a very light background. The folks over at Quilt Inspiration liked both versions of her butterflies and provided patterns for each. Plus there is some history including other names such as Beggar Block and Cats and Mice. Huh? Anyway, I'm sticking with calling it vintage butterflies.

My slight departure from the original will be using a black binding. I have another quilt top that I'm making using the same background fabric and I don't want to run out using it as a binding. (I may still run out, of course...)

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Vintage butterflies

I did get the first set of vintage butterfly blocks sewn together. I still have to decide whether or not to add a border.

I also managed to get out to the Mt. Hood River area known as the fruit loop (because of all of the orchards and fruit stands.) I was enjoying the "cut your own" flower garden when I looked up and saw the elephant in the room.

Also, with all of the kerfurrfle over cat poses, Buddy thought he would give it a try. Please don't laugh.

Meanwhile, Molly is in big trouble. Buddy came to show me his brand new mouse toy. Because I'm a wet blanket, I informed him that it was a birthday present and should still be enclosed in a package. Of course, the package was missing. And yes, I finally found it...Molly was literally
lounging on top of the package...an assortment of mice and package remnant.

Because I did not see Molly steal the package and open it, I could not convict her of stealing, but she is certainly guilty of the cover up.

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