feline memories . . .

Sarah, over at sarah did it!, dedicated her post-Thanksgiving Feline Friday post to "all the cats I've loved before."  I've loved a few!

Starting with my very first cat . . . 

Batman. I got him as a kitten from my grandma's house; I must have been around nine.  I adored him and he was so handsome. My first B&W!

We had cats in and out of the house growing up ... family cats. But the next cat the came along that was all mine was Pooka.  I hope to add a photo of Pooka later . . . he was a darling pure-bred Persian. Only he had no voice. His meow was a tiny little whisper, which meant I got him for free (and without papers). He was an all white kitty (with a tiny patch of black hairs on his forehead) ... and Pooka was quite the appropriate name for him!  Ever watch Jimmy Stewart's Harvey?

Then, along came Gwenevere.  She was a barn rescue and my second B&W! She was full of cattitude and had BIG personality!

Lots of stories I could share about this sassy cat.  She lived into her late teens and in spite of her sassiness was such a sweet companion. I still miss her very much.

Gwenevere made the move from Maryland to Alabama with me.  Once here, I decided she needed a companion and Todd gifted me with Merlin for my second birthday in Alabama . . . 

Merlin was a rescue, too.  And such a funny little boy.  He wanted to love on Gwenevere, but it took her a LONG time to warm up to him.  He went to live with James when we made the full time move to the RV, and lived to the ripe old age of seventeen.  I miss him, too ... he was a real lovey-dovey cat. This sweet boy was all black ... with the exception of a tiny white patch of fur on his chest (just opposite of Pooka).

So there's my tribute! Isn't it funny that my four favorites have all been black and/or white?! There've been other cats in my life . . . but these four held my heart!  What felines have held yours?

:)

multifarious mug rugs . . .

This week has been a bit topsy turvy with a lot of personal stuff I won't go into (you're welcome). But I *did* manage to stitch up two more little acorn mug rugs . . .

I think I learned lessons from the first one and I was most pleased with the construction process the second go'round. These two still need to be quilted, and I'll get to that this weekend (the good Lord willing).

I got my hexie pumpkin mug rug sandwiched and started hand quilting on it . . .

I still have a ways to go, but again, there's this weekend.

Evey had a terrific birthday and enjoyed all of her presents . . .

She's so precious!! She really enjoyed her "Ella" topper. After she opened her gift and thanked me, Ellie sidled over to me and whispered, "Will you make me a special topper?" Bless her heart! Of course I will! :)

I decided that I needed something on which to display our sample mug rugs at next week's guild meeting. I got a blank canvas frame and a cheap price-reduced, flannel backed tablecloth.

Cut and stretched the tablecloth, flannel side up, over the canvas frame and stapled to the back.

It makes the perfect table top display!  I'll do another one (because I've got more mug rugs to display), but I think this will fit the bill perfectly. Yes?  And makes a great personal small quilt design board, to boot!

I got a little happy in the mail . . . but it deserves a post of its own, so I'll just give you a little sneak peek . . . 

Ooooh!  English paper pieces!!  What could it be?!  Hahaha!

The autumn season has finally made it's way to my office space . . .

Up until yesterday, I still had red, white and blue up and about. I celebrated with a pumpkin spice latte. A venti, even. Whoa!

I'm going to let Leia do my goodbyes today . . . 

I love how she drapes herself over the steps. I think she knows precisely what a step hazard she is! Leia the neck-breaker. Linking her up to sarah did it! and Feline Friday! And on that note . . .

Enjoy the week's end!

:)

this, that and the cat . . .

Our guild's year-end party was quite fun and we had a good crowd! 

My offering for our potluck was two dozen mini Gigi's cupcakes.  Served on fine china, of course! Unfortunately, the serving plate only held 23 cupcakes . . . 

No telling where that 24th cupcake went. LOL!  It's also at this meeting that the incoming president announces her board:

We're a good looking group of ladies if I do say so myself! I'm on the board as a co-chair of a newly created committee, the QIC.

I'm pretty proud of that logo, too! :) We'll be in charge of Secret Stitchers, a mystery quilt, and a seasonal, bi-monthly mug rug swap.  Fun stuff!

I've been slowly, steadily working away at my hexi basting.

I'm down to two colors left to baste and then I can start whipping flowers together. My plan is to whip the individual flowers together and then to lay them out to join together. It will be easy to mess up, so I want to take it slow. The only problem is, the deadline for entering quilts in our guild's show is less than a year away now!  Yikes!

I've been sitting looking at this lovely piece of fabric for several months.  

It was gifted to me and I left it up as a backdrop to my laptop because (1) it was patriotic, which covers May, June and July (for me), and (2) I wanted it to tell me what it wanted to be.

It finally did . . .

Something hexi-ish, of course! Which seems only fitting, given that the gifter was Sarah, from Sarah Did It!

I love table mats and this lends itself quite nicely, with a little fussy cutting, to show off those stars! 

EQ to the rescue again, to help me visualize my thought process. I couldn't get the fabric to quite get to the dimension I needed it to be, but close enough. I'll use something a little more subtle for the blue and red, but again, you (and I) get the idea. Maybe I can whip this up really quick and have it ready for Veteran's Day.  :)

Lastly, just wanted to share a little glimpse into the life of Leia, who started life as a two-human cat, and now is a five-human cat . . . 

Three of whom are little girls.  Leia will be ten this year -- and still playing with dolls!! And the only little people she tolerates are *her* little people. As is evidenced above.

Linking up with Sarah Did It's linky-versary for her HeLP (and for Feline Friday)!  I was there for the first one and I thought I should be there for this special anniversary, too!  Plus she's having a giveaway, so you should definitely hop over!  Also linking up to Kathy's Quilts slow Sunday stitching post.

Have a great finish to your weekend!

:)

words and photos . . .

Great news:  I finished my challenge piece! I did work out a solution, but I can't really say what it was until *after* the challenge show (which isn't for another 25 days). I'm dying to share this piece, because I've really loved working on it, from conception to finish (with the exception of that pesky trimming-it-too-short business).  Anyway, it is DONE.  Whew!

Thursday's program with Meg Cox, and yesterday's workshop were fantastic!  She's a fun, quirky speaker and talked about creating 'rituals' to mark special moments or milestones, and how to incorporate quilting into those rituals.  In Friday's workshop, they made word quilts. Here's Meg with hers beautiful piece nearly finished . . .

Joy is her word for the year! I thought that was so awesome, especially since it's a huge part of my life verse (James 1:2-4). I'd have liked to have taken both days, but I could only manage one.  I think, though, if I'd done a word (and I *might* just have time to do one this afternoon), I'd have chosen "HEAL".  Nevertheless, Saturday's group was small but a blast!

We spent the morning pouring through magazines, cutting out pictures and phrases, and then put together vision boards.  

I enjoyed this exercise and am quite pleased with the result!

In the afternoon we made small photo quilts. This was SUCH fun!  I opted to not bring my sewing machine and enjoyed an afternoon of hand piecing my little quilt:

It's my cat Gwenevere, who died in 2009. This girl put the 'cat' in 'cattitude' and she's gone but not forgotten. I've shared this digitized photo of her before; putting in fabric seemed appropriate. It kinda looks like she's peeking through the flowers! I borrowed a friend's machine to put it together, pillowcase style.  Now it just needs to be quilted.  By hand. Today's handwork project, perhaps.

After the workshop was over, a group of us to Meg to dinner (she flew out early this morning) at Greenbrier, a local catfish/bbq establishment that's kinda legendary.  They are known far and wide for their hushpuppies!

It was a lot of fun ... the perfect ending to a great day!

Linking up with Sarah's Feline Friday and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Y'all have a great day!

:)

introducing edith rose . . .

The past week has been crazy! Wednesday night I headed to Joc's house to stay with the girls, so Joc and Jason could head to the hospital.  It was time for a new baby!

Edith Rose was born on Thursday, April 20, at 3:31 a.m.  And she's so beautiful!

The girls took to their new sister right away . . .

So did Neesey!

Gosh, what a beautiful bunch of sweet babies this family has!! Ellie is going to be a *terrific* little helper/mama.  :)

Leia, on the other hand, is not real taken . . .

Her attitude screams, "What? Another baby???"

There weren't many other pics taken. That Evey is a handful!  I managed to capture this one . . .

And this one . . . 

And the easiest pic of the long weekend . . .

Hahaha!  I think that's what they call "ninety to nothing"!

We have babies at the camp, too . . .

Fifteen to be exact (so far)!  Todd's building a special "nursery sanctuary" for them . . .

We do love our turtles.  

Ummmm, especially Evey!

Needless to say, not a ton of work done on any of my projects.  In fact, I think these two look exactly the same as they did when I shared them last week!

Maybe this evening?

Linking up my slow stitching with Kathy's Quilts and with sarah did it! for Feline Friday. Have a great rest of the weekend!

:)

winging its way . . .

Spring, that is.  To the interior of the RV, that is.

Besides all the crafty little projects that got my attention this past weekend, I also [finally] felt compelled to remove the reds and pinks and hearts and put out the "SPRING"! So, for your viewing pleasure (hahaha!), here are my little Spring vignettes . . .

I got the eggs ... they're multiplying ... and I'm losing control!
#truestory

Spring banner printable courtesy of On Sutton Place.

I adore that yellow fluted vase.  It was my Grandma Willie's (and it's older than me).

This may be one of my very favorite wool pieces, ever.

Those Easter eggs are REAL eggs that I blew and decorated 15 years ago!
I did a dozen and Joc did one.  There are five of mine and Joc's one, left. They're almost vintage.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Which is which?!

Wednesday I woke up feeling not-so-great. A quick trip to the doc revealed a case of bronchitis. Nice. Thank you spring allergies. Ah well, a dose of steroids and antibiotics and we'll clear it all up. Hopefully I'm miraculously all better tomorrow.  I'm watching these sweet girls on Friday and Saturday . . . 

Aren't they precious? This photo was taken during the family maternity shoot. Baby Merkel is due in the next three weeks or so! 

Isn't Baby Merkel's mommy just beautiful? She's glowingly gorgeous!

Time with the Merkel girls means time with the Merkel cat.

Oh Leia, how I've missed you! She almost looks sweet and cuddly in this photo, doesn't she? We'll see just how sweet and cuddly she is come Saturday afternoon.

And with that, I bid you happy Friday, happy weekend!  (and Happy Feline Friday!)

:)

a birthday and busyness . . .

Todd and I rang in the New Year sick and have pretty much stayed that way the entire first week of 2017.  BLAH! Oh, you know ... not seriously ill, just icky.  I made it to work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (my worst day was Monday), and Todd was about two days behind me.  I'll be glad when we're BOTH feeling better!

Our last day at Wears was sweet and I took selfies with all my gals and a few of the fellows . . .

And they did a presentation at the end of the service and gifted us with roses. 

Aren't they just beautiful? I will sure miss that sweet church family.

Ellie celebrated her 5th birthday a little early.  We went over there for a birthday dinner, cake and presents.  She elected to wear her "Cinderella" dress . . .

She's so precious! She wanted a pink cake with flowers . . .

Huntsville has a new bakery (Edgar's) and I'd say they did a marvelous job! Evey was also very excited about the cake . . .

I've never seen her (or Ellie, for that matter) clean her plate so quickly!

Even Leia was sociable. Fancy that!

I managed to complete my little wool project:

I love how this finished! It was a bright, happy spot of color during this cold, grey week!

Speaking of grey, I also started a new project . . .

The hexies are almost finished.  I'll continue whipping them together as part of Sunday's slow stitching. Then it will be on to part two of the project which involves wool and more hand work.

And I've been playing around with bullion knots.  Bullion bunnies.  

For a potential project that involves a line of children's clothing.  Have mercy.

And last but not least, I also stitched up a quick pair of lounge pants for Ellie's bitty baby:

The pattern calls for knit, but I used cotton, hoping it would fit okay.  It does. (Whew!) There's a story here, but I'll share it for a later post.

My stash report was going to have changes, but Todd needed to go out last Saturday afternoon, so I went with him and went into Hobby Lobby.  They had exactly the fabric I needed (for the grey hexies), so I went ahead and got it instead of waiting until Monday (when I was too sick to have gone anyway). But stash had already been reported for 2016 and since 2017 starts a fresh slate, it just goes unreported . . . until I use it!  Bwaaahahaaha!!

Needless to say, my report is unchanged. -wink, wink-

Linking up with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts and the Feline Friday post at Sarah Did It!

Happy Sunday -- this is the day that the Lord has made!  Rejoice and be GLAD in it!!

:)