Pets on Quilts 2013

Boy oh boy, am I coming late to the party!  But I just couldn't let the Pets on Quilts party slide by without joining in, could I?  Not with a beautiful kitty like Gypsy to share, right?

Gypsy is 17 years old this week - lookin' pretty good for an 'old lady' isn't she?

In these first pictures, she is sitting on "her" quilt.  This is a quilt that I found at a yard sale.  It was very dirty and all wadded up, half in and half out of a black plastic trash bag, lying in the dirt!!!  I was so offended, I huffed out loud and grabbed it up immediately.  I asked the lady how much she wanted for it before I even looked at it.  I wanted to take it home and nurse it back to health!  Imagine my shock when she said, "Well, is $3.00 too much?"  Trying very hard not to appear too eager, I paid her quickly and left.  I was even more surprised when I got it home and found that even though it was pretty dirty, it was unstained and in great shape, and it was even custom quilted!!!

"What are you up to now, Mom?  Can't you see I'm trying to take a nap?"

True story.... I took this quilt to my Guild meeting that month and told the story of finding it in the dirt.  When I unfolded it to show the group, one girl on the front row blurted out, "I think I made that quilt!"  Sure enough, after looking it over up close she remembered making it for a raffle several years earlier and never knew what had happened to it.  Needless to say, we were all amazed at that coincidence!!!

"Uh-oh!  There's that flashy box again!!!  Don't you have any business of your own to get into?"

The quilt was given a home on our sofa in the living room, and before long Gypsy had claimed it as "hers."  Being a long-hair cat, she sheds like crazy, so I'm delighted to have something catch that hair besides my wine-colored sofa!!!  Gypsy's quilt goes with us when we travel and helps her feel comfortable even in a strange environment.  She is a true quilter's kitty and loves her quilt!

"Okay, you can play with that flashy box all you want - I'm taking my nap!!!"

In the evenings, after hubby has gone to bed and I'm ready to relax, I have recently begun sitting in my recliner upstairs in my sewing room, watching taped TV, and working on whatever knitting project happens to be current.  It's soothing and helps me relax enough to get sleepy - something that gets harder and harder to do the older I get LOL!!!  Gypsy has caught on to my routine and loves to come sit in my lap and catch a few zzzzz's.  The minute she hears the TV come on, she shows up at the foot of the chair, ready to jump aboard.

If you look very closely, you can see that I snuggle up under my blue-and-white flannel rag quilt, My Blue Heaven

Sometimes she gets aggravated with me though when the knitting yarn "tickles" the hair on her back, or if I move around for some reason and poke her with one of the needles LOL!!!  Can you tell she was not particularly happy with me because I was trying to take her picture?  Yes, her face is very expressive :*D  If she were human, she would be Sophia on The Golden Girls LOL!!!

Here she has chosen to sit in the other recliner in my sewing room while I was sewing.  This is my Blue Pineapple Blossoms quilt, a Bonnie Hunter design.  Just in case you can't read kitty expressions, she is very snarkily sweetly telling you all to have a wonderful week and to leave her alone now so she can take a nap!!!

I think at her age I'll take a lot of naps too!  

I just hope I have beautiful quilts to snuggle up with like she does =^..^=
Sleep tight, my friends!!!

Check out all the wonderful Pets on Quilts link-ups HERE

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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The Stash & Stitch Report - 1/6/13

I have decided that this year I will post a "Stash & Stitch Report" on Sundays, which will include my Stash Enhancement Report to link up with Judy over at Patchwork Times, as well as any progress made on my Slow Stitching projects which I enjoy linking up at Kathy's Quilts.

For the "Stash" part of each report, I will continue to share fabric additions and finishes - don't we all love eye candy! - but I will no longer post yardages purchased versus used etc.  This girl just wants to have fun and not feel guilty about whether I'm adding too much or not using enough stash :*D

I don't have any additions this week, so that part of today's post is pretty darn easy.

But I do have a finish!

This is an older picture in different lighting so the colors look different....

My poor Blue Pineapple Blossoms quilt has been folded up in my sewing room ready for its binding since March.  And today I got busy and got 'er done!  You can read more about this fun quilt HERE if you are interested.  This was a class taken with Bonnie Hunter in Alabama several years ago.  What fun that was!  We are looking forward to Bonnie coming to the Music City Guild this spring.

I'm really late in joining up with Judy for her Get It Done party for January!  Here is my list:
1.     Binding on Pineapple Blossoms - DONE!
2.     Complete piecing Easy Street mystery top
3.     Complete writing up the pattern for my Stitchery Keeper
4.     Dresden Blog Hop project

I've also been busy doing a little Slow Stitching this week.  My current Promises and Borders block got some attention while watching tv a few nights this week ....

And  I made a couple of luggage tags with these cute little paper-pieced sewing machines - 

I hand embroidered some names at the top (shhh!  it's a secret!) as well as all the little details on the machines.....

Aren't they just the cutest little things!!!  I found the pattern on Pinterest.  It is designed by Megan at Monkey Beans blog, and she is sharing the pattern free for the sewing machine if you would like to make one too :*D

And I also stitched down this gorgeous plate on the next Blue Collection block...

It fits in between the bowl of peaches and this yummy aqua vase, which will be next to go under the needle.  The vase has much more aqua in it than it shows here.

I really enjoyed preparing the pieces for this block using my new favorite method - the starch method!  You can read about how I fell in love HERE if you want to know more about it.  I also wanted to show you the iron stand I picked up in Gatlinburg for the little applique iron.

I was having a hard time keeping the iron in a safe place and off the floor.  But this stand works perfectly - it made the whole process just that much more enjoyable :*)

In other news, Gypsy wanted me to be sure to let you all know that she is feeling much more herself and happy to be on the mend!  She thanks you all SO much for your kind thoughts and prayers =^..^=

Here she is back to one of her favorite habits - drinking from a slow stream of water in the bathtub.
Can you tell that she is a little miffed that I am taking a picture instead of turning on her water????

And last - but certainly not least! - did you notice my new blog header picture?  Well, that was painted by none other than MY MOM!  She was so surprised when she saw that I had made it my header LOL!  I'm thinking she's pretty talented with a brush, right?  That's a bird with personality!  Mom knows that I love cardinals, and she told me I can have this picture if I promise to make her a small quilt just like it for her standing frame - I told her "Heck yeah!  It's a Deal!!!!"

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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