Quilt Testers In Action

Quilt Testers In Action

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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Little Under The Weather

Hi, everybun! We haven't been around the 'net much lately. I haven't been feeling too good, and Mom's spending all her time squirting yucky tasting stuff into me. I tried taking my buddy Mickey's advice, and only opening my mouth for banana flavored stuff, but Mom's bigger than me, so she won. Mom says that we are going back to the vet tomorrow afternoon for more tests. I know that one thing I'm sick of is tests!



Maybe everybun out there could send me some good vibes, so I can start to feel better. Then maybe Mom would stop with the yucky stuff!


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Have You Seen My Dinner?

Have you seen my dinner? I can't seem to find it.


I knew it was just about dinnertime, so  I washed up my face and paws.


But now I can't find my dinner anywhere. It's not over here.


I checked in here, but it's not here either.


Did you eat my dinner?


I disapprove of late dinners.

(Mom's note: Dinner arrived very quickly after this.)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Surprise In The Mail

Recently, I received an unexpected package in the mail. I got pretty excited when I saw that it was from Gina of Clay and Fiber, because I have admired her work for quite a while now. Inside, I found some of both (both clay and fiber, that is).

First, there was this beautiful ATC. It has a very delicate look to it, perfect for (almost) Spring.


And then I opened a handmade card to find these wonderful clay pieces. The three squares at the bottom are buttons. They have a nice heft to them, and they feel good in your hand. The pendants at the top, and the s-shaped piece have terrific texture. I particularly love the pendant with the spiral.


I'm going to take my time finding exactly the right projects for these. Thank you so much, Gina. Your generosity really brightened my day!

Gina showed some new work on her blog recently. The bowls are spectacular, and so funky with the fiber elements added. You can find some of them in her shop.here.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Second UFO

Last Thursday at our guild meeting, we got this month's UFO assignment. It was UFO Number 2 from my list.  This would be the cat/koi quilt. In the distant past, I had already started quilting this one. And looking at it, what I had quilted wasn't done very well. Also, I probably wouldn't quilt it with the same patterns now. I was actually thinking about ripping out the quilting that I had already done, but a friend talked me out of it. Instead, it will be my record of how much my quilting has improved (if all goes well). Here it is, currently under the needle.



I have some decisions to make about the background of the central panel.This indecision stopped me from finishing this one in the first place. Now it's time to stop waffling!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

First UFO Done!

Well, all done except a wash to remove the last of the chalk markings from the grid in the outer border. It grew a bit from the original square. I added everything starting with the yellow borders, to make it  larger and  rectangular.


 I quilted the yellow center pretty densely, to make the butterflies and flowers pop. This meant I ended up putting more quilting into the entire piece than I had originally intended, so that it would keep its shape. I used a variegated thread in the triangles around the yellow center, which helped the light and dark of the fabric blend better.


 I wanted  some extra leaves in the black triangles . Instead of using fabric, I decided just to quilt them in, which gave a lighter effect. For the inner horizontal yellow border I added a center flower based on the flowers in the black triangles, with feathers on either side.


 I used the variegated thread on feathers of the yellow border, which I quilted in a continuous line around the quilt. If I use this motif again, I will use a solid thread, as the light portion of the thread disappears against the yellow background, even though it is a different color. I didn't pay enough attention to that all important consideration of color value.


I can't believe how much I like this quilt, which I might never have finished without this Guild Challenge. The romantic look of it was perfect for February. Tonight I get to show it off at the guild meeting, and then they pick the number of the UFO we will work on next. I wonder which one it will be?

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Weasley On Wednesday

Sometimes I like to hide Weasley's treats, and make him work a little to get them. It's either good for his brain to work a little, or I just like messing with small furry animals. You decide.

Today I hid a veggie treat in his basket, under a bunch of sticks, toys, and the remnant of a grass mat. It didn't take him long to come in from the kitchen, and sniff out the goods. He usually empties the basket item by item, but not this time. He almost always finishes up by tugging on his towel (I mean that literally, it's not a euphemism), and then  turns his back on me. Do you think that's him letting me know that I was a bit miserly with the treats?


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Like Most Rabbits

I'm really good at making rabbit ear shadows, and I don't have to use my hands to do it. I'm so good, I can even do impressions. For example, this is my impression of Harrington.


Do you see it? Isn't it good?


If I weren't so tired after our recent adventures, I'd show you my impression of Biff, too. Full lops are hard, though, and I need a nap first.

When Mom took these shadow pictures, I was sticking close, 'cause she was listening to a horror program on NPR. It was about how Burmese Pythons are taking over the Florida Everglades, and eating all the small mammals, and some large ones too, like adult deer.  That's pretty terrifying. Can you imagine the Everglades (or anywhere else, for that matter) with no rabbits? Darn Slytherins!

On a happier note, my oldest (emphasis on oldest) Sister is having a Birthday today. She is 24 years old. People call me old, and I'm only 9 years old. She is ancient! Mom and I got her this cake thing. It's pretty ugly, it's not made of carrot, and she wouldn't let me set it on fire.


But boy, it tastes good. This last picture is blurry, 'cause Mom was grabbing me to keep me from eating too much. Hah! I can still move faster than her when I want to!


So that's it for today, except, if you were wondering, that's Mom's UFO in progress that I'm sitting on. She's been alternating between working on it, and saying "interesting" words. You know the ones I mean. Have a great day, every bun. And to you , Sister,
Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Safe At Home

I know you were all worrying, so I wanted to let you know that we have returned home safely. It was touch and go for awhile though. Jail is no fun!

Getting out was a bit tricky. My Mom (and do you know how embarrassing it is to call your Mom in front of the other guys in jail?) said "you buns got yourself into this situation, now get yourselves out.". Harsh.

Next, Mickey tried calling Jade, and she told him " I would suggest calling “The Law Firm” himself, aka BenJarvus Green-Ellis to bail you out, and have all return travel arranged by LMFAO to make up for getting you guys in trouble in the first place." That sounded like a really cool idea, but when Mickey pulled the "cute" act to get a couple more phone calls, their representatives said they were not available. While we understand why Green-Ellis is hiding out, we sure won't be downloading anymore LMFAO. They can't be too busy.

Harrington and Biff had a little more luck. Soft-hearted shell bailed us all out, and Lisa got our cases dismissed. That was quite an operation. She stormed into the court room, and started chanting legal stuff like "Miranda rights", "due process", "jurisprudence", and "Bill of Rights". The whole time she was waving this wooden gavel around, and the air was crackling with electricity. Then she slammed it down on the Judge's bench, and yelled "Ipsofacto"! That must be something like "Abracadabra", because there was a loud boom, and a flash. The Judge, who looked a little shaken said "You two women get these Bunnies out of here. I don't want to see them in front of me ever again"! And just like that, we were free. I really wish I had pictures of Lisa in action. It was quite a sight.

After that shell took Harrington home, and Lisa brought the rest of us (including Sogna) back to NYC. Mom and Jade made Mickey and me take the bus the rest of the way. We met some interesting characters on that ride, but that's a story for another time. Now we are all safe at home. Things are back to normal at the Raspberry Rabbits. Hannah is giving Harrington a bit of a hard time, but I think she is happy to see him.


 Sogna is happy to be back home in the Big City with Biff. She is even sharing her kale with him. Biff quite likes Sogna's new nose, but he told her he loves the old one, too. So everything will be OK there, even when the dye job grows out. 


I'm here at home, chasing the sunspots, and dreaming about what a fun time I had. Jade, I wanted to say, yet again, how sorry I am about the lawnmower. We really have no idea what happened to it. Although, those pictures of Madonna that I saw when Mom was watching Inside Edition might give us a clue.


The important thing is that Mickey is very happy with the replacement lawn mower. It's really got potential. He says that he has a plan.


It seems that Wesley wanted to be in on our adventure. That would have been so much fun. And the Olympics are coming up in London.... I wonder if Mickey can get this thing to float? I wouldn't bet against him. So Jade, while your fingers are flying on your crochet projects, you might want to keep an eye on him, too.

Thanks for joining in on our adventure, everyone. It's been a massive amount of fun!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday Morning Blues

 If you somehow missed the half-time show, like my silly Mom, you can see the photos here, at Mickey's place. Then come back here, to see how we got where we are now, OK? And next time, don't use the bathroom or hang out with the dishwasher at half-time!

Well, we didn't want to tell this part of the story, but every joker out there with a camera in their phone is a budding paparazzi these days. We figured we'd better give our version of these events.

See, after the game, Mickey and I felt the need to drown our sorrows in more Carrot Brew. Biff felt the need to celebrate, which made us think we might need something stronger than Carrot Brew. And Mickey? Well, he just wanted to party with his new friends.

We started out trying to party responsibly, I'm pretty sure about that. But then we hit this joint. Let me tell you, no rabbit in the world could resist this place. I've never seen so many greens in one place. And then, one of Mickey's friends ordered a round of Banana Pineapple Daqui-whozits. Things get a bit hazy after that. There may have been some Papaya tablets involved at some point, but they were not our idea.

 So you see, this  wasn't our fault. Really. I think.


I don't think this guy believed our story. In fact, I'm sure he didn't.



Anybunny know a good lawyer?

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Weasley

When I managed to bumble find my way into the Patriot's huddle, I discovered that they were, as I had suspected, in need of a little "Bunny Magic". With my assistance, Tom (I call him Tom, you can call him "Mr. Brady") quickly came up with a new play. I was sure that this play would confuse the Giant's defense. It would be up to the Patriots to take advantage of the confusion.



And, well, I'm sure you know what happened next. You must have already seen it a hundred times on the televised broadcast. We can talk more about it later. I need to find the trainer, and get some ice for my backside.

Harrington

Harrington, being the friendly, gregarious kind of guy that he is, decided that he wanted to make some new friends. Of course, it didn't take very long. A couple twitches of that ear of his, and a few bats of the eyelash (Bunny Lashes are one of our secret weapons), and he had all the cheerleaders in love with him. It wasn't too long before the whole crowd was cheering for him.If you watched the game at all, I'm sure you saw this.


I left him to it, as he was clearly enjoying himself, and continued on my mission to assist the Patriots in their game plan.

Mickey And Biff

Well, as it turns out, we didn't stay too long in Mr. Kraft's "box". Really, you could hardly call it a box. There was no hay anywhere! There was also a serious lack of green, leafy vegetables. And since Biff (in his Giants jersey), and Harrington (in his Panthers jersey), were feeling a bit uncomfortable, we decided to find some other seats.

After a little scouting, and careful application of some cuteness, followed by generous use of the duct tape that Mickey had wisely brought along, we had our seats. Front row, right on the 50-yard line. Did you catch us on TV? It was great.



Mickey and Biff settled in for the game, and quickly consumed several plates of Banana Chip Nachos. Have you ever tried them? They are sooo good. I'm going to have to get Mom to make some at home. If I can remember the recipe....

It wasn't too long before Harrington began to feel a bit antsy, and I was thinking maybe the Patriots might need a little help from some "Bunny Magic", so we left Biff and Mickey with the nachos, and went find some action. Can you believe those two ate ALL the nachos while we were gone?

Saturday, February 4, 2012

The Plan That Didn't Work

Biff and I were a little tired of Mickey coming up with all the good plans, so we decided to try one of our own for getting into the Stadium. It might have worked, too, if some bunny had been able to keep his ear under control. As it was, we didn't even make it in the door.


We had to use a few well aimed "Foot Flicks of Disgust" and a couple of "Withering Glares of Disapproval" to get away. After a few Carrot Brews to recover, Mickey placed a phone call to Jade for some information, and then we let him devise our new plan. You can see some pictures of how that went right here on Mickey's home base (I know, wrong sport). Check them out. I'll just tell you that we made Media Day a much more interesting event.

Friday, February 3, 2012

We Have A Failure Of Cuteness

Can you believe it? The humans here must be more blind than I am. I have no other explanation for why our dazzling collective cuteness did not immediately get us the best seats in the house.


It's a good thing Mickey is so smart. I know he'll get us in somehow.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Promised Land

Or Indianapolis. Whatever you want to call it. Anyway, we are here at last. I never could convince Mickey to let me use the turbo, so I finally let him finish up the driving.



This town is like one giant big party right now. Does and Carrot Brews everywhere. Not that Harrington and Biff are noticing the does, but remember, Mickey and I are single guys. OK, that's probably enough about that!

Mickey says we need to go find a parking spot for our wheels. He doesn't want to keep driving in circles. For some reason, Biff has started repeating "Big Ben, Parliament, Big Ben, Parliament". What's up with that?



Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Have I Ever Told You

that my Mom is stone cold crazy? I mean, she's really gone off the deep end this time hasn't she? Or around the bend, or something!


I don't know what I'm going to do about her. Hey, Bunny Buddies! Got any ideas?

Leaving Bunnyville, Reluctantly

Hi, everybun! Well, we are on the road again. We were thinking maybe we would just stay in Bunnyville (it's pretty cushy there), but then we decided we needed to finish this adventure. Shell wasn't too happy with Biff. He kept getting tangled up in the Valdani floss. And Harrington wasn't too happy with me getting cozy with Hannah. Actually, Sogna wasn't too happy with that, either. I don't get it.

It's fun having Harrington along, but I'm a little worried about him. He keeps saying the Panthers are going to win the Big Game.... But, he did hook us up with some Carrot Shine! Yum!

Anyway, we have departed from North Carolina, and are headed North. It would be a faster trip if Mickey would show me how to work the Turbo. He keeps saying I shouldn't outdrive the distance ahead that I can see, and snickering. He's forgetting about my awesome sense of smell, I guess.


You can see that Mickey has gotten himself some goggles like mine. He used this flat plastic thing to get them. It's the same thing he puts in the pump when we fill this baby up with fuel, and it works at the grocery store, too. He got it from The Boy. I need to get one of those (flat plastic things, that is, not a boy).

Next time you see us, we should be in Indianapolis, I hope. Hey, Mick! About that Turbo....

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OOOPS! I almost forgot to mention. The Does decided to stay with shell. Shell and Hannah are going to help Sogna dye her nose to look likes Hannah's. Does are weird!
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