Rip Van Piwinkle

I settled down for a cozy catnap only to wake up 14 months later, which is about 8 years in feline time..and no other kind of time matters.

While I was sleeping Momcat kept up with several quilting projects, some of which are pictured below.

 From Atkinson's Designs Let's Do Lunch, Taco Salad table mat using batiks.

 Quilt made for a co-worker. Momcat called it "Moroccan Breeze" in honor of her friend, Mouna.

 Apparently Sundance took over my quality control duties in my absence.

 Hot pads for 2011 Pay-It-Forward gifts.
  

Hexing Around block for Friendship Swap exchange.

Very country hot pad for one of Momcat's co-workers.

Momcat also managed to stop working two jobs and paint the kitchen. Future decorating post will come.

Even I was sad to hear that my little brother Butch passed away quite suddenly. He was not yet two so we lost him far too soon to a mass on his kidneys. RIP little Butchie. I'll see you when it's my turn to cross over the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm overdo for some kibble and scritches.

Purrs, Piwacket

A Thousand Words Thursday

A Thousand Words Thursday

The Holly Bandana Pattern

My friend, Jen, the Cre8tive Quilter, developed a great bandana pattern for her big girl, Holly. I'm now using this pattern to make Maggie's bandanas. The plus is that they slip easily over the collar, are very durable, and are super simple to make. Here's a link to Jen's pattern:  Holly Bandanas by the Cre8tive Quilter.

Maggie is wearing her new patriotic bandana, red covered in white stars.

She just saw her reflection in the sliding glass door. Look at that tail going!

She's bringing momma her dragon. She's quite the dragon slayer. This is her very favorite toy.

All tuckered out.

Three more bandanas for different seasons. Watermelon, fall flowers, and winter are ready to go.  I also made a duplicate red starred bandana for Kim's vizsla, Scout.

Butch and Sundance, my support staff.


BFF KIM and HANNAH

Kim and I have been best friends for years and years. I now get to share her granddaughter with her. Being Auntie Linda is loads of fun, especially when Hannah is so adorable.  Yesterday we grabbed some Wendy's and headed to Winton Woods for a picnic and walk around the lake. Weather was a glorious 85 degrees with a breeze.

Just like her Nana, Hannah thinks I'm pretty funny.  She is such a happy baby.

The Canadian Geese and ducks were abundant. Especially once they found out we had French Fries to share.

Hannah was fascinated, and despite her love of food (this little one can EAT!) she was attempting to throw her Cheerio at them after she saw me throw my French Fries.

Nana Kim and Hannah watching the fowl.

After we left the park we headed to the Greenhills Creamy Whip. Just look at this beautiful heirloom quilt from Kim's family. It's so soft and perfect for the baby to roll around on. I'm tellin' ya, a lovely summer day under the shade of a tree on a quilt with your best friend, a baby, and some ice cream. Can it get any better than that?

Kim's quilt. Yeah, I'm jealous.

Just look at that smile. Nana's got some yummy vanilla creamy whip to share.

I'd like you to notice the bench in the background. This is in memory of the daughter of one of my teacher friends. Jeni Miley died tragically from a fall and a seizure a few years ago shortly before she was to be married. Her mom, Linda, has turned her death into a legacy of compassion and giving. The Hugs from Jeni Foundation supports animal welfare, education, and children....all the things that Jeni loved. I didn't realize that I'd captured the bench in this picture until I started to edit. It makes a perfect day even better to be able to send Linda this picture and let her know what an inspiration she is to all of us.

Purrs and hugs,

Momcat Linda

We're Right On Point

Momcat's been working on the Yellow Brick Road sample for the shop. Today we finished the corner and setting triangles. It's looking pretty good!

Before you say anything, yes, this was taken on Manchild's bed and yes, his room is a mess.

A tip to pass along when you don't have a design wall is to be sure to take a picture of your quilt when you have it laid out the way you want. This is especially true when you're dealing with blocks that have a specific orientation and you're setting them on point.

For instance, in a previous post I showed you the design wall picture.  When I was ready to start working on the rows and triangles, I printed out a copy on regular paper.

 You can see how I simply took a fine Sharpie and marked my blocks, drew lines to represent the outside edge of the quilt, and labeled my corner and setting triangles.  (Even with this, I confess, I sewed two setting triangles the wrong way before I caught myself.)

How do you know what size to make your setting and corner triangles when you want to create an on point design?  There's a pretty easy formula, and there's a great quilt calculator, but truthfully Bonnie Hunter has done all the work for us.

Click here for a link to Bonnie's "Math for On-Point Quilts."  Be sure to visit Quiltville's other pages as well as Bonnie's blog. She's a gem!

The next step for this particular quilt is to trim the edges, put on the inside border and then an outside border. I hope to have all of it finished to show you by this weekend.


WHAT DO THIS BEANIE BABY BEAR AND A PINCUSHION HAVE IN COMMON?

They both mysteriously disappeared from the sewing room and were discovered on top of the stove, in close proximity to one another.  And lurking nearby was none other than......

BUTCH!  You have to admit he looks pretty smug. I wonder if he had plans to demand a ransom?  Momcat foiled this caper for sure.

I think I'll Skype about it. I was going to groom, but, awww, we all know I'm always gorgeous.

Creatively yours,
Piwacket

Momcat's Home...With a Dead Camera

I was really looking forward to seeing all the pictures that Momcat bragged about. Her sewing station right next to the patio door leading to the beach, projects completed, pictures from her mom and dad's home, photos from the quilt show. But I've just heard her mutter some bad words at the computer. All the pictures were lost during the upload process. They're not on the computer or on the camera. She is attempting to recreate some scenes in diorama using thimbles, seam rippers, and bits of cat litter. It isn't pretty.

THANK YOU PAT SLOAN!

Right before Momcat left we received news from Pat Sloan that we won three spools of Aurifil thread from a random drawing on Pat's Facebook fan page. So cool!

(Amazing what loading new batteries in the digital camera can do.)  Butch is inspecting Pat's pattern, the spools of thread and the cute lime green rickrack.

How fun to come home to a waiting package!

Time for another cuddle or two,
Piwacket

I Paid It Forward. And Received More!

I owed three pay-it-forward (PIF) gifts to some blogger friends. Regina (bitnbyaquiltingbug), Beth (the quilt ladies book collection) and Linda (hand quilting nana) should receive their gifts in the next couple of days if the post office hasn't already delivered them.

In the past couple of weeks, I've been lucky enough to be the recipient of even more PIF gifts.

This darling candle mat was made by Cathy (Cat in the Sewing Room). I wasn't allowed to post a picture of it for awhile because her other recipients are out-of-town. Momcat was lucky enough to receive this one when she and Cathy spent a much-needed girls' day out together.  Say "Hi" to Smudge for me, Cathy!

Next I received this from Shellie (Shell Creations).

Naturally, when Momcat opened the envelope I assumed it was something for me. I love yarn and thread, and I eagerly started to think of all kinds of cool things I could do with this lacy crocheted piece.  I started dragging it away. And then, you won't believe what happened......


....are you ready?


Momcat tapped my nose and said, "NO! NO! NO! Piwacket, that bookmark belongs to me. We don't play with gorgeous handmade pieces like this!"

Well, excuuuuuuuse me! 

You know, that kind of abuse just made me so upset I had to take it out on someone. Butch was in the crow's nest of the kitty condo. MY crow's nest. Time to teach him a lesson about usurping the queen.

As everyone knows who has ever eaten a chocolate Easter bunny, it's best to start with the ears. Butch's taste just like chicken.

Once I'm done with my snack, I have SIX PIFs to create. Stay-tuned for the announcement and a reminder of the rules. Link back to this post and encourage your friends to visit here often. 

Testily yours,
Piwacket

Fiddlesticks Quilting

As you know, Butch and Sundance were holding Momcat's place at the sewing machine for when she felt like going back to do some more quilting on Fiddlesticks.

I thought I'd take you through an easy quilting technique. Experienced quilters will already know this trick, but some of you beginners may appreciate this.  It's especially helpful to those of us who do not use a long-arm machine. All piecing and quilting here is done on a Janome 6260QC.

For this quilt I wanted very simple quilting and at an angle to add interest to all the squares and rectangles in the piecing.

I decided to quilt at a 60 degree angle from the top and bottom borders.  First I found the 60 degree line on my ruler and laid that line on top of the border where I wanted to begin my quilting.

The secret tool is 1-inch wide masking tape. Blue painters' tape works great, too. I placed the tape at either side of the ruler, which happens to be 6" wide.

I followed that line all the way up to the next border area.



Now I'll sew on either side of the masking tape. The inner lines will be 6" apart, just as the ruler is. Here's how it looks after it's sewn and the masking tape is removed. TIP: Try not to sew on the tape itself. From experience I can tell you that trying to tweeze the tape out of those stitches is a real pain.

When I'm done following this part of the plan I'll then center a piece of masking tape at 3", precisely between the 6" space left open. Therefore, my overall quilting plan will be two lines 1" apart every 2.5".

Too much math for you? Don't worry about that part then. Just know that masking tape and a ruler will give you a perfect quilting line to follow without dealing with pencils, chalk or the quilting bar on your sewing machine.

Looks like Butch is ready to hold down some more tape.

Happy creating!

Piwacket

Stash Report Sunday - January 24, 2010

Used this Week:     0 yards
Used year to Date:  24 yards
Added this Week:    11.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 29.5 yards
Net Used for 2010:  + 5.5 yards

 It's all Momcat's fault. I mewed. I cajoled. I wrapped myself around her legs and gave her gentle headbutts. When playing nice didn't work I said "Ack!" and threatened to poop in her shoe.

But I just couldn't get Momcat to complete anything this week. She'd get home from work and either have to go back out or crash on the couch. Slacker, I tell you!


I'm hoping that the Pillowcase Team of myself, Butch and Trouble can convince her to turn this mountain of fabric on the kitchen table into completed UFOs.

Take a look at Judy's blog to see how she and everyone else did this week. I have a whip to crack.

Pi

Butch

What do you mean there's nothing good on TV?

(s)Crappy Christmas Quilt - Part Deux

I'd like to thank you all for your advice and words of encouragement about the (s)Crappy Christmas Quilt. As you can see, my team has been working to make it salvageable. But alas, I think it's a lost cause.


Butch and Sundance just aren't big enough to cover it up as much as it needs to be. They did manage to run away and play with some of the blocks, but Momcat retrieved them and put them in the wrong place. By that point she'd lost heart so much that she didn't even change them back.

Tried two borders. Yuck. Tried one black border at 4.5" which is what the pattern calls for. Yuck. Think we're sticking with the current 2.5" black border.

I'm doubtful that this quilt will find its way onto the shop's wall. Momcat was considering donating it to Project Linus but then thought, haven't those kids suffered enough? Perhaps a home for the blind???

This quilt can best be viewed from a hill in Missouri if you're standing in Finland.

Momcat and I have been mewling about what to call it. As in the previous post, Figgy Pudding Explosion is one thought. Here's a few more:

• Yuletide Muckabout
• Christmas Gone Awry
• Was I Bad?
• Santa's Angry
• When Elves Go Wrong
• Noel NOOOOOO!
• Cruel Yule
• You'll Poke Your Eye Out!
• Clean Up in Aisle Four
  

Feel free to submit some of your own labels for it here. I think it would be some fun reading!

I took a close-up of Butch and Sundance using the Pi-cam. Butch's ears are laid back. He just can't rest on a quilt this ugly.



Yours,
Piwacket

A Successful Weekend

It's been a busy weekend and Momcat is heading into a hectic week. She'll work six days this week; three teaching, two at the quilt shop, and one at a quilt show.

Saturday, while working at the shop, she selected this pattern to make as a sample. The pattern includes instructions for a tablerunner, table topper, and placemats. They all use the same basic pumpkin shape, and it's up to the individual whether or not to make them into jack-0'lanterns. Momcat has three weeks to finish it. It's so cute that I hope to convince her to keep it when she's done.


What else did we do?

1. Set up a success/fail tally sheet for Maggie's housetraining. Can you guess which has more tick marks?
2. Did six loads of laundry.
3. Made the binding for a Christmas tablerunner.
4. Dug up some weeds and rocks.
5. Has the dubious honor of being crowned Queen of UFOs this week on Stashbusters.
6. Made plans to go out today after work to lease a new car, giving her old one to Philip.
7. Finalized plans for her trip to French Lick, Indiana.
8. Realized that she's lost 1.5 pounds since Maggie joined the family. Walks are helping!
9. Got the new air conditioner installed just in time for Cincinnati's muggy summers.
   

A couple of weeks ago Momcat came across a very pretty Treenware bowl and bought it for the living room coffee table. I don't think this is quite what she had in mind when she got it.


Butch and I think it's just the right size for us to curl up in. Not together, of course.


Weekly Stash Report:

Yards In: 0
Yards Out: 0


Hope the beginning of your week finds you in a comfy spot,
Pi

And Away We Go!

Today is the day that we join some of our quilting friends at the St. Jude Retreat in Palestine, Ohio. We're staying at the Golden Eagle Retreat Center. I can hardly wait to meet some of the buddies that we know only through online groups. It's our very first retreat ever, and it supports St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. How cool is that!

http://www.christianlifeoutreach.org/golden/index.htm

Momcat is busy getting the sewing machine and snacks together. So Butch, Trouble and I are packing the suitcase.


Trouble, don't forget our toy alligator! It's in the hallway behind you.

What's that Momcat? Did you say something?

"Yes, I did, Piwacket. You and the other kitties can't go. The retreat is only for human beings. CatDaddy is going to come over and take care of you while I'm gone for the weekend. So you be nice puddytats and don't get into too much mischief."

I'M NOT GOING???????

Why do only beans get to go? I can be a big help. I can understand leaving Butch at home, but ME??????

"I'm sorry, Pi, that's just the way it is. Now I have to go. Love you lots and lots!"

And out the door she went. Just like that. Didn't even look back.

Well, don't worry about me. I'll just sit alone in the dark in my laundry basket until Sunday night. See if I care!




Miffed,
Pi

Great Weekend

We put that balance of "Mary and Martha" into practice over the weekend. Plenty of productivity, relationship work, reflection and joy.

First of all, another project is being readied for the St. Jude's retreat, which is now less than two weeks away. Portugal is a fabric line by Moda and Linda purchased this as a kit while vacationing last fall in Myrtle Beach, SC with bff Kim.


That's now a total of four projects going to retreat. There's no way that they will all get done, but what a great way to get some chain piecing done!

Linda's also been programming her IPOD with music and books (currently listening to Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs).

Friday morning Linda met dear friend Monica at Panera's to catch up. (Friends for over 25 years are worth celebrating!) Friday evening Butch and Sundance rejoined our household. They went for a visitation to CatDaddy's apartment. It's been quite an adjustment to have them back. Trouble, their nurturing mother-like cat, has been hissing and swatting at them for days. I'll be glad when things get back to normal and we can just ignore each other again.

Friday evening Linda and CatDaddy attended Philip's concert at Miami University. The Cheezies were magnificent!

Saturday morning Linda puttered, kind of tired and still coughing. Saturday evening Pal Judy came over for pizza and a movie. They had such a good time talking and looking through quilting books that the movie never was played.

Philip came home for Easter Sunday and returned to school today. Always good to have him here.

Linda's over pneumonia. We've heard of three other people who have had it this past week. Strains that are growing resistant to antibiotics, perhaps?

The grass had its first cutting of the season yesterday, just in time for the downpours here today. It was important for Linda to see that she can manage the house by herself. It was a glorious sunny day!

Trouble

This is Trouble. Trouble is 17 months old, but even this picture, taken when she was much younger, shows that she was going to be a whiz at quilting quality control. This is a baptism quilt that Linda made. Wonderful warm flannel and cheerful kitten design. Trouble gave her approval and off it went to church.
Trouble came to live with us when she was eight weeks old. She and her mother had been dumped at a shelter when Trouble was still nursing. No idea what may have happened to the other kitties in her litter. Naturally, she was too young to remember. Anyway, Linda just brought her home one day much to the surprise of the entire four-legged and two-legged family members. Amazingly, she fit right in. I liked her right away, as did Logan. The picture below proves it. We all like to share the kitty condo.

That's me on me throne, Trouble on the shelf below me and Logan on the next shelf. The three of us get along great and always have.

Trouble is a huge help to Linda in so many ways. Not only is she a terrific quilting apprentice, but she is also Linda's companion when it's time to cross-stitch. Linda doesn't like it when I try to critique her needlework. I am insistent that I can thread the needle, separate the floss, or stitch better than she can. Trouble, on the other hand, likes to just snuggle and watch. She always approves of what Linda is doing. These humans and their need for validation. Sheesh!

Trouble also likes the new babies in our house. Butch and Sundance were rescued the day after Thanksgiving when they were only six weeks old. They were really hard to catch and came out of a hole in the wall. Butch is the orange tabby and Sundance is another dark beauty like me.

Logan and I are not too crazy about sharing our home with kittens, although we're starting to get used to them. Butch has an especially winning personality and one does have to feel a bit sorry for him since he's the only boy. But look how Trouble treats them! Not only does she care for them as if she were their mother, but she's shown them to the pinnacle of the crow's nest and sleeps with them there. That is just not right! That's my throne and I really don't like sharing it with these young whipper-snappers.

So excuse me. I need to give Trouble a talking-to immediately.