Skin & Bones

Look who was hiding under the step this morning... my 2 very well fed stray cats were hissing and growling and carrying on... so I had to investigate.
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I shoo-ed the protesting cats away and coaxed the poor thing out. He is actually VERY friendly, which is something I can't really say about those other 2 goofball cats I have - although they are good mousers and think that they are dogs - trotting back and forth to the school bus stop daily. Sadly he is all skin and bones, skinny as could be with bones protruding everywhere - his head seemingly huge compared with the rest of him. Really, I have never ever seen such a starved animal before and I thought my other 2 cats were 1/2 starved when they made their appearance last August. I gave him food and drink and he has been out on the side porch all day, slowly eating and drinking and napping in between - right next to the bowls. That cat isn't going to leave a good thing.
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Everytime I go out the door he staggers up with a little meow and wraps himself around my feet. Probably he belonged to one of the many families that have moved away the past year... fishing has been bad, there are no jobs and people are moving out in droves leaving boarded up houses and abandoned pets behind.

I wasn't looking for another cat, but he found me. Wonder how long it will take for him to fill out and regain his strength? Oh, and doesn't he have tiny, little ears? In case you are wondering - that is the stray cat insulated cat house behind him in the photo below!

I Need Fabric

I NEED fabric. Oh sure, I have several totes just filled with beautiful, lovely fabrics, but nothing that I need. Call those totes the starter for sour dough bread if you will (those totes are small yardages), what I really need now is the flour (yardage).

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Interestingly enough, it seems like I need a lot of BLUE fabric.

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It looks like I actually might be near a fabric store tomorrow... and I am going with a list in hand. Because I would really be very happy if I had fabric to finish these quilts. First off, I need some dark blue for the final border/binding for that blue quilt. It isn't my favorite, but I just know I am going to love it as soon as it is quilted, so definitely worth finishing.

And then my star blocks... I am thinking a dark blue narrow sashing and setting triangles - the final borders will repeat the star fabric - which is light. Not sure how I am going to like light borders, but I have plenty of that fabric for borders. I think the darker blue will give it all a bit of definition and if I use the same blue for the binding... it is going to be nice. Anyone else have that mauve fabric in their stash from the 1980's?!

And then I have these heart blocks... I want blue sashing/inner border. I have yellow to make friendship star blocks in the sashings. Outer border can be red or something patriotic (the hearts have patriotic fabric and 1 strip of fabric has the Pledge of Allegiance written on it). So add red to the list too.

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If the store doesn't have any blue (or red)... I have a back-up plan...
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These heart blocks I made LAST February from lovely fabric Susan sent to me. I think a green batik will be perfect for the sashing and border, but really - all the stores I have been to have very expensive batiks so there sit my blocks... just waiting. I am thinking that if I see a nice green tone on tone while shopping, it is coming home with me. The hearts are all batiks with a solid, pale yellow background so maybe a tone on tone will be a perfect compliment.



Then there is this top (this is an old photo - it has been finished for ages - just waiting on borders). This is a Trip Around The World from a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter at http://www.quiltville.com/ - It is the perfect, perfect pattern for using 1 yard cuts of fabric. My husband really likes the fabrics in this quilt and I would be very happy to finish it... I already bought a border fabric for it once - and when I got it home, it did NOT match! Yikes! That fabric was turned into lining for some bags I made. So, I still need border fabric for this top. The top is coming to the store with me this time around! Inner border of narrow black, outer border - probably a brown. Buy extra black for the binding.

Soooo - as you can see, I really do NEED fabric. I haven't purchased any quilting fabric yet in 2009 (other than 1 fat quarter for someone else). I am hoping that come next Sunday's stash-busting report I will have purchased fabric to finish as least one of these quilts! Fingers crossed that the store has something suitable. Blue, Red, Green, Black, Brown... hopefully being flexible will be helpful. And if I don't get to the store afterall... I will just keep making blocks - I've got plenty of fabrics to make blocks!

Courthouse Steps Quilt Blocks... Progress

I am still plugging along on my Courthouse Steps blocks. Only 8 more blocks left to go - I still need to color 1 box in on my chart. I am hoping that over the next 2 weeks the blocks will be completed and then I can move on to setting them together. Those 1 1/2" strips sure do take ALOT of sewing to get a block done.

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Some of the blocks are missing the final strip - I ran out of fabric for those so will have to look to see what I have that sort-ov matches. It's only 2-3 blocks and I guess it will just add interest to the finished quilt.

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With warmer weather on the horizon, I re-arranged the living room this week, taking out my sewing corner and moving it back over to the corner in the kitchen - or what will be the kitchen after renovations are finished. It was too cold over there in the winter, but I really prefer to sew in that area, so I am happy. Now, just have to address the issue of lighting at night...

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The living room looks so much better re-arranged. It isn't a large room and has a funny L shape, but the new layout is perfect. We now have a separate tv area, sitting/computer area (with great lighting/seating for knitting/reading!), large play area for my son... because of course he wants to be right underfoot no matter where I am, so we might as well just plan accordingly and make everything work. Right on the other side of his play area is my sewing corner.

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A knitting note: I love handknit face cloths. Seems most people use them as dishclothes around here, but I like them in the shower. I buy them at the Farmer's Market. Two weeks ago I decided to try knitting my own ... mine is on the right - much too big! Guess I will have to try again with a smaller needle. So, while it isn't the perfect facecloth, it does look to be just about perfect for a dishcloth afterall! And, one of my friends at quilting group took pity on me and knit me the correct scale face cloth I was trying to make myself - that's hers on the left. Wasn't that sweet!

I was going to a business thing this weekend, but have a cold and just couldn't seem to muster up the energy to go. Besides the fact that it is a long-ish trip and that area just got hammered with snow 2 days ago. Guess I will stay home and work on closing out my books for the quarter instead, yuck! But, it will be good to get that accomplished so I might as well take advantage of the time I have in my schedule.