Where Is She?

I'm sorry I've been a little sparse in blogging this past week.   My sister, Sally,  is here for a wonderful 10 day visit and we've been very busy "playing".   

We came home from one of our 'playing'  days yesterday and I couldn't find Roxie, and was looking everywhere.  She loves to hide to take her naps.  Where is she?

My sewing room is sometimes left AS IS and all I do is shut the door, so the cats can't get in there......but guess we were in a hurry yesterday and I didn't close the door.

Here's  what I saw when I looked in the sewing room.

She didn't like it when I woke her up.......either.

"GO away, Mom, and let me sleep".

Guess I'd better remember to close the sewing room today when my sis and I GO
"Run and Play".

Thanks for visiting.

My Entry Pets on Quilts 2011 Contest

If you  are a follower of my blog, you know that I'm a cat lover, cat(s) owner, feral cat colony manager.  So, it was only natural that I wanted to enter Sew Cal Gal's 2011 Pets on Quilts Contest. 

 This is Roxie ....and oh, how she loves to eat.  She's sneaky too....and I hear her crunching in the night when I leave food in her bowl.  I raised her by bottle after her Mama abandoned her at 4 days old.  This particular quilt was made by my daughter as a gift to me after we had been to the International Quilt  Show in Houston.   It says "We went to the quilt show and all we got was everything!"

Here's a couple close ups of the details.....beads on the shoes, ribbon, threads, ribbons, buttons for the eyes....on the 3 Cats who went shopping at the Quilt Show.

Roxie was posing so well for me, I got another Kitty Quilt for her to "inspect".  You do know she's one of my "quilt supervisors", don't you?

This one is called Beach Kitties and I used it for a quilt class in applique that I was teaching. 

I hope you can see the fabric in the background of these blocks, as it's fish underwater. 

My other two cats, Braveheart (the KING)  and his sister, Princess, were getting jealous of all the attention Roxie was getting during our photo session, so here's  Kitty City.  I think this is my favorite quilt of all time that I've made, except for my King Size 1000 Pyramids quilt.

Each block depicts a different cat in a different profession; artist, beauty pageant winner, fireman, Dr., bird watcher, Sheriff, Chef, Pirate, Carmen Miranda, Amelia Earhart, etc.  I bordered it with dimensional prairie points and cat paw fabrics.

Sorry, they're a bit blurry 'cause I was paying attention to the cats....not on my picture taking.  Besides, I have to hurry and get this blog post finished to have time to enter it in Sew Cal Gal's contest...yikes! 

Here's a few close up  pictures of the Kitty City blocks.

Miss Kitty USA

Pierre' the Chef

The Sheriff.



The Bird Watcher

If I haven't bored you senseless .......YET, .....there's more to this Kitty City quilt than meets the eye. 

Did you notice the fruit bowl in the Carmen Miranda block? 

Well, after I was finished with all the detailed quilting (you can see some of the different background quilting in the close up photos) when I was trimming some threads, I cut a small 'v' shaped  hole in the sashing on the bottom of that block.   I was just heartsick, 'cause I was entering it in a Quilt Show that next week. 

I called my sister, told her what happened, and was almost in tears.  She came right over (we live about 1/2 block from each other) and took a look at it, and said......"well, looks like Carmen's fruit bowl spilled some fruit"   She told me to think "outside the box" and I did. 

The fruit appliques falling from her hat and underneath the block were added to cover up the small hole. 

 I added a fish bowl to the Chef's block, a bird's nest to the Bird Watcher.....etc., and what started out as a BIG boo boo, ended up  adding more interest and uniqueness to my Kitty City Quilt.

I was even more pleased when it won a 2nd place ribbon in the Quilt Show.

If I had a glass of wine, I'd  toast to everyone reading this blog....."Here's to quilting, here's to our beloved pets, and here's to winning a prize in the contest, but most of all ....here's to Sew Cal Gal for doing such a great job organizing this"! 

When it's time to vote on

Sew Cal Gal's blog, I hope you'll vote for me.  Thanks.

Thanks for visiting.

I'm Trained!

Most of my life I was a "dog person".  When I was raising my family, all three of my kids were allergic to cats, so we had dogs.  

When I retired and moved to Texas, my niece's cat was going to have kittens.  I lived alone and thought.....mmmmh!  Maybe I should adopt one of the kittens when they are old enough.   

Well........I did........and this redwork embroidery piece I embroidered 13 years ago.....sums it up perfectly. 

My 3 furry roomates have me totally trained.........

This is Braveheart..and he's the King of the house.  He wasn't very perky in this picture, and I had a difficult time getting him to look at me and keep his eyes open.

This is Princess.....and is Braveheart's litter mate sister.  She is so sweet, loving, no trouble.......and purrs real loud.

]

This is Roxie......and yes, I know she's a fatty.  Her feral Mama  dropped her at my feet out on the front porch when she was about 4 days old, and her eyes weren't even fully opened.  I bottle fed her and she still likes to be in my arms, way up under my chin(s) and cuddle.  Braveheart & Princess only tolerate her and they don't play together.

And.......this is Cinderella.  She's my tame feral cat, outside only....and is responsible for all the feral ones I feed and care for outside.  You can't have an outside cat and feed her on your porch without others in the neighborhood  coming for dinner.

Now don't misunderstand me, I love my furry roomates, but when I went to visit a friend over the weekend, her chocolate lab, Cocoa,  grabbed my heart.  She's a sweetie and made me question........am I really a "cat person"??

Guess I just like "furry, hairy" roomates........sigh!  Which are you?  A cat person, or a dog person?


Thanks for visiting.

Supervisors At It Again!

Are you a quilter who hears the Quilt Police Sirens??  

I'm not even sure with today's quilters, and all the art quilts, raggy quilts, raw edged applique, simple square/rectangle patterns, and computerized long arm stitch designs, that they are even around anymore!   When they try to sneak up on me, I shoo them away and continue to quilt "My Way".

BUT...(and I hope you noticed...that's a big BUT)...there are 3 Supervisors who live with me who are constantly over-looking everything I do and especially my sewing/quilting. 

There's a  small raggedy flannel blanket that stays at the back of my small sewing table in my sewing room in front of the window.  The problem is..........there's only room for one "supervisor" at a time.

It's kinda like 'first dibs, first gets' around here.

Princess was the first one this time, and is a great " quilt supervisor".  She goes to the "office" with the outside window and stays there. 

  

Until Roxie shows up......that is.

  

Roxie  thinks she is the "Chief" Supervisor and that is her place.  She's the fatty one among the supervisors and insists that's her raggy blanket office with the window view.  Look at the look on her face....she is NOT a happy camper.

Roxie is the feral cat I rescued when her Mama dropped this 3-4 day old little fuzzy thing on my porch and ran away.  Her eyes were still closed and she couldn't walk yet, just wiggle.   I bottle fed her every 3-4 hours, made her a special little fleece/flannel "sleeping bag" and her bed was in a pet carrier on the floor beside my bed.

Consequently.....she follows me around the house all the time, and is always in the same room where I am and sometimes she causes problems. 

Sorry......I don't have a picture of what happened next.   Let's just say it got a little noisy and it sure interrupted the "quilting factory worker" from finishing that quilt.


Do you have any quilt "supervisors" in your sewing room?




Thanks for visiting.

What a Life!

What a life!..................just hanging around.

I like to change my quilts and home decor items for the different holidays, so I have my Valentine - Heart ones out right now.  

Roxie's (she's the cat that the Mama dropped at my feet when she was 4 days old, and I bottle fed her) place of honor is always on the back of my recliner chair, so I keep a small quilt there for her to claim as her own.  It has to be one that I can wash frequently.  

I'll share some better/prettier Valentine quilts than this one in the next couple days, so hope you come back again.

What are your special home decor items you use for the different holidays?






Thanks for visiting.