Back to stitching

Finally, all is quiet on the pet front.  I can get back to stitching.

I saw this quilt over at a friends.  There is a long story behind it but suffice to say her Mom was hoping to be able to repair if for a family friends.  This would be a huge project and potentially could do more harm than good.  It is an interesting quilts. though.

Nice sashing/pieced cornerstones and interesting quilting.

I'm working on a large applique piece...nothing really to show and it is slow going so I allowed myself a few minutes of "play" to try piecing a new block.  I really like it!  Pulled more fabrics to make a couple more...

I also got the post-office and mailed off a bunch of boxes and some appraisals.  phew...nice to get a big check mark on the to-do list!  To celebrate I made two loaves of banana bread...

Life is getting back to normal...still miss Mac though...checked out the Scotty dog rescue sites...still a bit too soon.

Cleaning day...

First the good news...Dobby is mellowing out.  He no longer is howling, batting glassware off the counters or ripping up pillows.  It took a week but he is almost back to being himself.  Here he is in his regular spot on the couch checking out the shirt-strings...

Now the not so great...I have to spend the next two days getting my house ready for a quilt bee on Friday...I love having quilt friends over the house but I have to admit the quilt room has expanded to every room on the house.  There are vintage blocks soaking in the guest bathroom, fabric on the dining room table, projects piled in boxes in the corner of the hallway, applique bits and pieces on the coffee-table, and a stack of "stuff to take to the bee" in bags in the front entryway.  And that friends is only the half of it!

So time to buckle under and get organizing...which is difficult because I have projects like this ocean waves that I am making using an antique one (it is underneath the new patches) as inspiration that is begging for me to get back to work on it!

There are some good things that happen when you clean...I gave a stack of orphan blocks to my friend Angie and she made this little quilt in the photo above!  Sometimes it is more fun to let go of the blocks and let other folks finish them!  This is going to be in the Guild's silent auction in October...

Sigh...must be strong and at least get the dining room cleared out....

Quilt-y visit...

A few more photos from the whirlwind visit by Tonya this week.

Rachel and Tonya inspecting a vintage liberated quilt

Got to meet up with lots of the local quilters who either knew Tonya when she lived in Georgia or knew her through the internet...

Brownie blends into the quilt a bit too much!

Seems like quilts were the focus of the week.  Every photo I took has at least one in it!  And most have a cat as well...this is Brownie posing on a pile of Orphan blocks and scraps that Tonya gathered around the house.  You can tell I had a real Moda red and green phase!  (funny I like this better in the photo than I did in real life!)

And a few more vintage blocks from the guild bag yesterday.  These sailboat blocks all have names on them but only 5 of the 9 have the names embroidered.

 I hadn't seen this block used as a siggy block before.  Would make a cute child's quilt.  I did get a chucke out of this block...who knew my cat had a last name!?  And so Southern sounding...

Sewing Bee and vintage blocks

A member of my Quilt Guild was clearing out some vintage quilt pieces so we met up at the sewing bee today.

We "traded" a bundle of batiks for a bundle of vintage!  Works for both of us...

This is a partial quilt top.  The pattern is called Golden Wedding Ring.  It is very difficult pattern and not seen often.

The pale yellow in the star above is corduroy!

And this hand-pieced quilt top is made from double knit polyester!  (I will find a good home for this one!)

There were some embroidery pieces too, like this summer spread with a basket and flowers.  Most likely from a kit.

And these unfinished blocks that still have the blue marking showing where to do the quilting.

Some fun pieces.

Orphan block mayhem...

I've been trying to keep busy the past few days.  Lots of changes has made life a bit stressful of late...

One good thing was a visit by my friend Tonya!  She totally spoiled Brownie...this cat will be impossible for the next few days...totally expects me to sit around and pat her all day!

Tonya spent a good part of the visit scrounging up old projects and lots of orphan blocks from every corner of the house!  (trust me there were a lot of blocks!)  She is trying very hard to convince me to be more "liberated" and adventurous in my mixing of fabrics.  I am much more adventurous than say, 4-5 years ago but still not able to totally cut loose.  Tonya tried mixing my repro crumb blocks with some Moda reds and greens with some brights and Kaffe...I felt like one of the martian in the movie Mars Attacks when their brains explode!!!

There were some less stressful projects like these Carolina Crossroad blocks that ended up in a mislabeled box when we moved back from England.  (Yes I still have some boxes I haven't unpacked....)

And these Cowgirl Sampler blocks from when I taught some new quilters...

We also went through some fabric scrap boxes...why I thought  needed to save these "strings" I'm not sure!

Now a question for you cat experts out there.  Since my dog Mac passed away last week my male cat, Dobby, has been a mess.  He is chasing the two older cats around the house, he will not allow me to pet him, an he is just being really aggressive and "confused."  He and Mac were really close.  When Dobby came into the house 2-1/2 years ago the other two cats wanted nothing to do with him. Mac on the other hand, cleaned him, played with him and kept the peace when the cat fights began.   Is there any way to hasten this adjustment of "power" in the house?  Today for the first time Dobby destroyed a pillow...he is getting out of control!

Keeping busy...

Working on clearing up a lot of half finished project this weekend but couldn't resist starting something new...

I go this crib quilt a week or so ago.  It is in poor condition but I like the general layout and since the piecing is fairly easy thought it would be a good one to reproduce.

So far so good...the first decision: to make it how it may have looked originally or to use neutral fabrics and go up no more than a shade than it is now.  The latter was very tempting - I was thinkin g of how cool this could look made up with some double shot cottons and some of the new grays.  As expected however I decide to try to use repro fabrics circa 1870...or earlier.

The cats have been a bit uneasy without Macbeth...Brownie waited by the front door all night.  I've never had a cat "grieve" before...hopefully she will recover soon.

RIP MacBeth

Some sad news.  MacBeth crossed the rainbow bridge this morning.  He had liver cancer and it had spread too far.  Thanks for all the encouraging comments the past few days.








Mac has been a great dog.  He loved people and other animals (yes, even cats!)  He was my companion as I navigated my way through living with MS.  I'm sure I wouldn't have regained so much mobility if it hadn't been for him encouraging (throwing his body against the bed!) me to walk him twice day...every day...at almost the exact same time.  That is a Scottie!

 Mac the quilt inspector

 The quilt tester...

 Covered in Spring pollen...

 The "sure it will only be another minute until we walk" look....

 The arm of the sofa gave him a great view out the front window...

Mac with Dobby...the inspector in training...

Mac off for a walk in Prestbury...

He loved to travel and meet new folks.  Nothing was better in his book than a walk across the fields to the pub for a visit with everyone in the village.  He loved living in England!

Macbeth update...

Looks like Macbeth will have to have surgery on Friday.  Which means a few more days of my being a wreck!

It is so hard to see him get so weak.  I had friend over to day to stitch and Mac just sort of wobbled in to great them then sacked out in his corner under the coffee table.

Not sure if I posted this pillow I got from Edinburgh a couple of months ago (made by Crafty Thinks in Scotland)...when you have a Scottie you find there are lots of Scottie "things" that you start collecting.  I have a small bathroom with all the Scottie stuff...my Dh refers to it as the dog shrine....TMI?  sorry...

I have gotten a bit of stitching done...nothing complicated.  I put a little wool chicken on some dotted linen...at first I planned to make a pillow

but now I think I'll make another chicken on the other end and make a table runner...I'll use the wool circles for some tongues on the ends.

stress stitching (or not)

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you know my Scottie dog, Macbeth.  Well, he hasn't been feeling well lately and today is at the vet's for an entire day of tests.

So of course I am stressed and having problems focusing.  I have several appraisals to do final edits on...not a good day for that.  I have a stack of applique blocks to work on...not a good day for that.  I have fabric piled on my table to cut for a new quilt...not a good day for that.  The list goes on.

I've gone out and taken photos of the garden...this is the first year my Hydrangea has bloomed.

And it looks like a bird thought about using my birdhouse but found it too small...

And I played with layouts for a Quilt of Valor using blocks donated by members of my quilt guild.

Until the doctor calls with news on Mac I guess I'll just continue to "putter..."