Cats and Deadlines

There I was, making good quilting progress on my Faceted Jewels quilt when along came Jasper.

He plopped himself right on top of my quilt and rested his head on the side of the machine.  

What is up with this crazy cat.  Doesn't he know I am on a deadline...

Or perhaps he knew I had been at the machine for a couple hours and that I needed a break.

Yeah, I think that was it.

Cats are smart like that.

=^..^=

A day of Cutting

I didn't do any sewing today.  Instead I took a break from the machine and spent it with my rotary cutter.

First I cut out the Baby Cakes kit I ordered from Connecting Threads.
I had it on my wish list for awhile and finally snatched it up as soon as it went on sale.  

The fabric is from their Wild Ones line and is all flannel.  

After I grouped up all the Baby Cake squares and rectangles, I got out my Reunion fabric for my Strip Tube Quilt. I cut the 4.5 inch strips I need to finish up the tube.

The last thing I cut up was another kit from Connecting Threads.  This one is their Wild Thing Kit with their Urban Odyssey line, one of my favorites from them. Its also the same fabric I used for my Bibelot quilt. 

 Can you see the gray in the top right corner?  It is Sheen again. 

He didn't hop up on the cutting table until I pulled out this last kit.  

He must like this fabric line as much as me.

 With all this cutting done, I will have plenty of projects to choose from for those nights when I just want to piece something on the machine.

=^..^=

T is for Turtle

I have finished this months "Another Year of Schnibbles" all the way down to the hand stitched binding.

The official name for the pattern is Bibelot, but I think I will call mine "T is for Turtles".

The fabrics remind me of green and brown turtle shells swimming in blue water.  

I picked a blue and green paisly-ish fabric from my stash for the back.

I had planned to do some fancy swirly stuff in all the T's but I thought that would take too long, so I decided to stitch in the ditch around EVERYTHING, which ended up taking as long as my previous plan.

Either way I Love It!!

 I am going to put it in the family room so it can keep little legs warm while watching tv.

I love this stripe binding.  

oh, and it is definitely cat approved.

This time Jasper had to take a turn sitting on it while I was adding the binding.

He rubbed his head all over the machine,

then stretched out and got comfy

This makes finish #10 for the year!

=^..^=

Sheen

So there I am, minding my own business, trying to baste a couple quilts in the quiet hours of the night...

and along comes Sheen,  He let me baste one quilt no problem,
but as soon as my Bibelot top came out he had to lay all over it.

What should have been a 20 minute process took almost 45.
He did let me rub his belly though and that made it all worth it.  

=^..^=

Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along - Top Done

After a slight obstacle named Sheen, I was able get my top together just in time for the FQSQA picture deadline.

He usuallly sneaks on the stuff I am working on when I get up to iron, but this time he plopped himself right on my block when I was right in the middle of sewing.  He was definitely telling me I had been at the sewing machine too long.  So I took a break and played with him for a bit.  Then I ate a little lunch before going back to the machine.

I finished right around 5 and that is the evening sun shining through the slats in the fence.

If I can find some yardage of one of these fat quarter fabrics I might add another border.

If not I will quilt it the way it is and add a slightly thicker binding when the time comes.

=^..^=

Christmas Quilt

I may actually get this quilt done by Christmas if I can get the cats off it.

I basted some other projects tonight too, but those need to be kept secret just a little bit longer.

=^..^=

Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along

I am participating in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along and have picked out my 16 fat quarters.

Block instructions start on the 27 and will be announced every other Tuesday.

Hopefully I can keep on track with this one.  :)

I had a hard time getting this photo without cat legs in the picture.

Below you can see why.

The curtains pulled up and a nice pile of fabric were too hard for Sheen to resist.

=^..^=

3 Quilts Basted

This weekend I didn't have my internet connection.  I was busy for most of the weekend, so I didn't miss it for  much of the day, but in the evening when I read the quilting blogs, play games, and catch up on my shows I really started going through withdrawals.  After staring at my monitor for about and hour willing the internet to work, I decided I better do something else.  I have a nice to do list of quilt related items that need to get done, and one would think this was the perfect time to get those done, but instead I decided to do work on quilts not even on the list. They don't have deadlines and they aren't for other people,  I pulled three tops from my UFO pile and decided it was time to play with them for awhile.  I was going to baste all the quilts on the pile, there are 4 more, but I remembered I needed to save my pins for a customer quilt that I need to work on this week.  So I stopped at three.

The first was my Le Petite project from last November - Butter Churn Shcnibbles.  I used Christmas fabrics for mine and displayed it during the holidays last year just as a top.  This year I want it to be a finished quilt when I put it on the coffee table.

Next was my Brocante top, which was also part of the Le Petite project.  I picked this one to baste because it fit perfect with a leftover piece of batting I had.

The last one I basted was my two tone purple quilt.  I started this quilt at the end of 2009 and finished the top in the summer of 2010.  

After basting, I started quilting the purple one.  I was on a roll and making great progress till I had to get up and help one of the kids with something.  When I came back, Jasper had decided I needed a longer break and took up residence right on my quilt.

I left him to his nap.

=^..^=

Pets On Quilts - 2011

SewCalGal is holding a virtual "Pets on Quilts" Show for 2011.  Anyone can enter photos for the show. To enter a photo and see the rules click here.  




Now on to my entry...

This is my lovely cat Sheen..At first glance he appears quite content watching me quilt but then...

He gets distracted by the shinny pins and tries to eat them....

 In his effort to get at the safety pins, he becomes an extreme sewing obstacle.

 After giving up on trying to get the pins I thought he would get up and go about his business.

 But his business appears to be getting comfortable on my quilt and sewing machine...

and taking a nap.  Needless to say, I was done quilting for the rest of the afternoon.

=^..^=

Side Tracked with The Abbey Bag

I got the new Connecting Threads catalogue in the mail the other day and saw this cute scrap bag kit.  It is The Abbey Bag pattern and uses their new line of sewing themed fabrics.  I thought they looked really cute and ordered myself a kit.  It came in the mail Saturday and I started on it right away.  I finished them both up Sunday afternoon and can't decide which one I like best. I suppose I could keep one at my cutting table and one at the sewing machine.  :)

Very seldom do my two cats sit by each other, they usually prefer opposite couches, but this morning I guess the sun coming in the window and the soft quilt made them both want to relax in the same place.

Jasper and Sheen

=^..^=

Cat Nap

Of all the quilts to sit on in the room, I wonder why my cat, Jasper, always likes to sleep on the one I am working on.   I am halfway done with this pink Zig Zag quilt, but Jasper is sleeping so sound I will have finish it once his cat nap is over.

=^..^=

Trying To Bind...

I am still working on my table runner.  I will show a finished picture of it later on in the week.  I don't want to show it all now because it is a surprise for someone.  :)

It would have been finished last night if it hadn't been for my grey cat, Sheen.  He could have just sat next to me on the table and I would have been fine, but he had an itchin' to play and he wanted to play with my table runner.  He just had to...

Play with my thread....

Bite the pins and pull them out...

And try to eat my needle.

Since it was already late, and I was tired, I decided to put it away.  Sometimes I leave my work out on this table, but with Sheen being in the mood that he was in I decided I better hide the pins.

Break Time

My kitties obviously don't want me to sew today.  Usually Jasper sits beside me, but this time he wanted to be like Sheen and sit on the quilt I am working on.  They must be tag teaming me today, taking turns hopping up next to me.  So I decided to take a break and post my newest finish.

This quilt below is another quilt being donated to the Boys Home.  It was made by one of the ladies in my quilt guild and I offered to quilt it for her. It is made of all flannel and she didn't want any batting.  I decided to go with some straight line quilting for this one.  It turned out to be exactly what this quilt needed.

He's at it again...

Here is my kitty Sheen.  You may think he is just watching me sew this fabric bowl, but no, he is waiting for his chance to attack the cord hanging down ....

Caught in the act!

He makes my sewing come to a complete halt on more than one occasion since I don't want to risk getting his paw with my needle.  After a few minutes of letting him play with the cord, I sent him on his way so I could finish my project.