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!

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.)

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.

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!

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?