On the brink of a new week.  Time goes so quickly and summer is passing too fast.  It was not an especially great week weather wise so I was not very productive.  On the plus side I did finish a 1,000 piece puzzle and managed to lose only one piece.  

Regarding Boo and MK, I inadvertently closed them both in the den Tuesday night.  When I realized that that may have happened I was too tired to go back downstairs to check.  The next morning when I opened the den door they both dashed out and seem to have a little better respect for each other.  Overall, they seem to be tolerating one another a little better but I’m not sure they’ll ever play with each  other.  Any close interaction is taken as a threat.  By themselves, they love to play and are pretty funny to watch.

I’m still working on bringing order to my kitchen by trying to think like I’m having to move and what would I need in a new life in a smaller living situation.  All the fancy non-wheat flours and fake sweeteners are gone.  It was amazing how many had expired “best used by” dates.  Next I can sort through baking pans like loaf pans, angel cake pan, and muffin tins.  Beth and I talked about having Amanda’s kids come up and take what they would need if they were to ever leave home and set up housekeeping on their own.  The Cuisinart ice cream maker and a waffle iron already went that way.

Amanda and Jordan brought a twin size sleigh bed up to me for the den.  There are nights when the weather is really bad with high winds and I’d prefer to not be on the second floor so close to the trees that might fall over and kill me instantly.  I ordered and got some pink gingham sheets for it but I still have to get out and buy a mattress and box spring.  MK likes to walk around on the bed slats.  

I still have more stuff to get down to the basement.  If I haven’t needed it or even looked at it in years why do I have to have it on a table in the middle of the room?  I switched the wingback chair from the den with the wicker one that was in the dining room and I like it.  The wicker one in the den gives me better access to the window for opening and closing.

No sewing this past week but that had more to do with a puzzle occupying the table than with lack of interest.  Next puzzle will be set up in the den.

I’ll try to make this next week more interesting so that I’ll have some subject matter to report  but the weather report is sounding like it’s going to be another stay inside week.

 Hello blog.  It’s been a long time.  A lot has happened and one of the things that happened presented an ideal opportunity to do some writing.  It was also a great time to declutter, finish projects, learn a new language, and all kinds of things that I always think I don’t have time for.  It was the year of the Covid-19 pandemic.  It isn’t over but I don’t feel as jumpy as I did a year ago.  I spent most of the year at home with outings to Market Basket (MB from now on), Quilted Threads (QT from now on), and fully protected gatherings with some of the quilters who were also being careful with social interactions.  

Of course I did nothing and was dismayed to discover that my house was going to look worse when we were allowed back out into the world.  I was relieved to know that it was a universal plight.

I made masks for friends and family.  It was my service for those who may have not had a source for protection as well as an opportunity to make some fun and/or pretty face coverings.  In the beginning there was a shortage of everything that could help with protecting us from being infected by this disease that we knew so little about.

This post will skip around as I think of events to write about.  Time lines have never been my strong suit.

My sweet Kya had to be put down on July 20, 2020.  It was very hard to have an ailing kitty during the pandemic because I was not allowed to accompany her into the building for her appointments.  The tech would come out and grab the carrier and run back inside.  It was horrible.  Some things could have been better if I could have talked with the vet while she was being examined.  It’s still too painful to write about.

My being catless made me available to take care of Amanda’s cats when she and her family made their move back here from the west coast.  John was taking a transfer back to Massachusetts which would take effect beginning in January.  He and Amanda flew here at the end of October to start looking for a house to buy.  They were worried about getting all their animals here and decided to bring two of the cats, the smaller ones who fit in carriers that could travel in the main cabin of the plane with them.  I said I would be happy to take care of them until they found a house because it was looking like they were going to have to rent a place for a while and rentals wouldn’t accept cats.  

At the end of October Piper and Pip were dropped off in N. Sutton.  California cats in a winter landscape.  Piper and Pip were mother and son, a bonded pair of tuxedo kitties.  They were totally charming and funny and I became very attached.

To shorten the story somewhat, the rest of the family, four kids, two dogs, two more cats made their way east over Christmas to the new year and Asher and Hunter were brought to N. Sutton.  They were pretty unsettled over the change in their lives and spent a lot of time hiding.  I spent a lot of time looking for them and crying when I couldn’t find them for the greater part of a day.  I have to say they were very inventive in the places they found for hiding.  Most of their time was spent in the den where they could be protected from the wrath of Piper.  While my house is really too big for one person it definitely is too small for four cats and one person is not enough for four cats. 

After about a month and a half Asher and Hunter started spending more time out of the den and every night in time for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy we would all be occupying all available seating in the living room.  Treats were my way of maintaining order and we had them on auto delivery from Chewy.

In the meantime Amanda and John were looking for a house and found one in Marshfield, MA with the closing scheduled for April 15, 2021.  I started to dread having to give up Piper and Pip and did an emotional downward spiral at the thought of the kitties leaving me.  

Fast forward to the last day of April and the kitties leave.  They all adapted to their new home and I started adapting to being catless again until one day in June I got a call from Amanda that she had found a bonded pair of tuxedo kitties that needed a home because the owner was relocating.  They are a aunt and nephew and are so like Piper and Pip in that she is older and short haired and he is the younger and shaggy haired. Amanda and Sabrina picked them up from the owner in Taunton, MA on Thursday evening and Beth drove me to Amanda’s on Friday, June 11, to pick them up.

And here we are on July 11, one month into this adventure of bonded kitties who don’t really seem to be but we’re working on it.  Boo, the male, has a somewhat safe house in the den.  MK, for Miss Kitty, is a bit of a tyrant to Boo but sweet as can be to me.

A side bar here, July 11, 2021 marks 27 years since Dad died.  I remember that day so well.  I wish he had known that he had a half sister out in CA.

December 18, 2018

December 18, 2018

It's been a year of a lot of sewing.  I had a good inventory of bowl cozies, key fobs, and hair scrunchies for the Starry, Starry Weekend sale.  I did well, sold out of bowls with people asking for more.

Dale introduced me to key fobs and it was a lot of fun to source the supplies and to pair up the webbing with the embroidered ribbons.  I think these would be a good thing to have on hand.

Scrunchies were revived because Amanda asked me to make one for Sabrina.  Not really interested in making a lot of those again.

Bowl cozies continue to be popular so I should whip up some more to have on hand for quick gifts/sales.

My Sunshine Stars quilt is complete.  The binding was the holdup because I couldn't decide what worked and was trying too hard to make it a coordinated match.  When I decided what the heck" and went with the KFC dot in the storm color way it just almost finished itself.  hahaha.  Making it a bias binding created a spiraling effect around the perimeter of the quilt.

None of the other pieces I made are any further along than when I wrote about them last.  Some things are not meant to be finished.

I find myself wanting to make some doll clothes again for my 18" dolls.  A few might be good to offer at the SSW sale next year.  I do need some different products to keep things interesting.

I've been thinking about doing a challenge to help me move forward in original thinking.  I have to come up with guidelines.  So far, I think it should be either 6" square or 16" square.  Big difference, I know.  I want to be able to use the wonderful beads, buttons, ribbons, and other things I have stashed all over.  I have all these wonderful things but never get to see them so by making a mini quilt wall hanging I can have the pleasure of seeing these things.  I am trying to decide if I should do them by color or by theme.  Maybe I should just get started and let the materials dictate how they would like to show off.

Another year and then some since my last post.  The Sunshine Stars quilt is complete except for the binding which is going to be prepared soon.  I've been practicing half-square triangles, the creation of them and then setting them in different settings.  I did a chevron pattern with blue batiks.  I relieved the blueness with a deep red batik one inch border and a wider border of a complimentary blue gray fabric.

I did another method of making half-squares in citrus colors and set them in a slanted pattern.  I haven't added borders yet.  In the same week I cut up some chili pepper fabric in each of the four colors I have and made another small piece.  The squares were smaller, 5 inches, so it took many to make a small piece.  I set them in what would be called straight furrows.  No borders on that one yet either. 

I'm also working on a Kaffe Fassett Mystery quilt.  I've received three of the "clues".  It isn't a block of the month because the assignment has been different numbers of blocks with each clue.  It's going to be fun to see what the final result will be.  His quilts are so about color.

I've decided to make another Sunshine Star quilt.  I enjoyed making the first one and love the result and had been thinking that I'd like to do it again. 

That seems to be it for tonight.  I'll post some pictures when I manage to get some good ones.

January 15, 2017

Long time no posting.  It's been a year of getting back to quilting and other fabric projects.  A couple weeks ago I started a quilt for myself.  I have twelve blocks pieced and am posting a picture to record my progress.

Dragon pillowcases

one of the pair of dragon pillowcases I just finished

What I've been doing this year. Pieced a small wall hanging, zipper bags, and pillowcases.