This week’s prompt was “Checkerboards” and I was quite thrilled with that because they day I had free to work on it, I also woke up with a mild migraine.

The migraine should have been a hint to take the day off, but some caffeine and Advil was keeping it mostly at bay… and I figured checkerboards aren’t complicated… I can totally handle this!

Can you feel the hubris already?

It didn’t start out too badly. I wanted a “scrappy” looking checkerboard, and I figured out pretty quickly that I’d need two different nine-patch blocks to accomplish this. And my quilt so far was 36.5 inches, so if I made my nine-patches 9.5 inches, everything should just work out peachy.

And at first, it did.

I made two of each of these nine-patches and sewed them together for the first side (I decided to tackle it one side at a time, just incase my headache got too bad, I could pack up quickly). Easy peasy. But… then I went to sew that side.

Even from the other side of the design bed, Burton could tell something was wrong (though he didn’t seem too concerned).

My border was almost an inch too long. My math was technically right, but apparently my sewing precision was not. This is not totally unusual… being off by even a 1/16th of an inch in your sewing can add up over time. It’s totally conceivable that I’ve been off a little in each round, and it’s added up to almost an inch.

No biggie, I can add a coping border. I thought this might look nice with a little plain fabric in-between this and the last round anyway. So I did a little more math and added a thin plain border all the way around.

I line up my checkerboard again…

WTF???? My head was really starting to pound now, but I didn’t want to throw in the towel just yet. Then Mr. Smug looked up from the bed …

and reminded me that I need to HALF the measurement I was short, and add that (plus seam allowance) to each side… not the whole thing – that would double my trouble. Duh!

Thats ok… too big is definitely better than too small. I just needed to trim a bit. However, I’m severely limited on space – my cutting table has just enough room for my 18″ x 24″ mat. And this thing was around 36″…. Cutting it on the table was not an option. Luckily, I’d rearranged my bedroom on the weekend and there was just enough floor space to lay it out.

My knees and back weren’t happy about it, but I got it trimmed. I lined the border up, and it was only a touch short this time so I decided just to fudge it a bit. (More hubris)

I decided I could live with it, and got moving on the second side. For some reason, I kept making silly mistakes on my nine patches. It was probably the universe telling me to walk away. But I couldn’t hear it over my migraine, which was naturally, intensifying.

Still, I got them all done, and sewn together. And wouldn’t you know it… the second side was now just under 1/2″ too short. Well… that first side was fudged anyway. I really should rip it out, trim some more and get it right. So I did. By this point, Burton had given up on “helping” and retired to his cat tree.

I should have followed his lead. But… after much swearing, bruised knees, stabbing pains in my spine and a screaming headache… I had the second side on…

… and it looked pretty good.

Now it was getting close to dinner time, and I really should have put it away. My head was throbbing, and I still had to cook…. but I REALLY wanted to get the whole thing done. Dave was working all evening, and would be re-heating whatever I made. It wouldn’t make a difference if dinner was late.

I’m happy to say, the third side went together with only minor hiccups (a few mis-sewn pieces, easily fixed), but went on the quilt with nary a hiccup!

Wow… it is dramatic!

Now it was well into the dinner hour, my body was screeching at me to stop… but I REALLY wanted to get that last side on. I returned to the cutting table…. and promptly ran out of my solid cream fabric! The universe was obviously giving me a swift kick in the butt for not listening.

It was all good though. We’ve got a whole bolt of it at Mom’s and she promised to bring me some more after work the next day. So, I packed up my stuff, said screw dinner, and ordered chicken wings!

The next morning, I was feeling much better (I’m pretty sure the chicken wings cured my migraine, because they frequently last two days). Mom showed up by noon with more fabric. I got my day job done early, and set to work finishing that last row.

It went together quickly, and then zipped on the top like a breeze!

It’s now 54″ square, so I have to decide if I want to keep going around, or just add to top and bottom. But I think I’ll wait for Monday’s prompt before deciding.

Burton says, “I knew all along it would all work out!”

The owl baby quilt is done and dusted!

It wasn’t planned, but this one ended up being a bit of a collaboration between Mom and me. As soon as she she saw that centre owl, she was determined that I let her quilt it. So I did my usually loops all over the rest of the quilt, but left the owl blank. Then I handed the machine over to her.

• 

• 

She did a little free-hand work and I think it’s pretty spectacular!

As mentioned in my last post about it, I used the pretty purple floral flannel for the back, and the purple plaid for the binding. Like Mom’s quilting, they are just perfect!

This one is now in the shop and ready to fly to a new home!

I really truly expected to have Dave’s completed Valentine’s socks to show you today. The first one went so well. But then I cast on for the second one, and well…. then I just seemed to get into a funk

I’ve gotten the leg done, and just a bare few rows to start off the heel. But I really should be farther along.

It’s not that I haven’t had the time. It’s just that every time I’ve had time to pick up the needles, I’ve mostly chosen to do something else. Usually something non-productive.

And when I do pick it up, it’s a chore to stick with it. It’s not the yarn, that’s soft and lovely. It’s not the pattern – it goes along smooth enough.

I dunno… maybe it’s the colour. Maybe it’s just too blue and sad for these bone-chilling winter days we’re having?

Still. I must focus. I have until Saturday night to finish it. I have a little bag put together with cards and a treat for him, so I’d really like these to finished to put in there too.

That’s five nights of knitting! I can surely finish a heel and a foot in just five nights!

Although it feels like I haven’t been sewing as much as I would like, I’ve still managed to blast through the scraps I had set aside for my Leader & Ender quilt.

In fact, the basket of HSTs was starting to overflow.

So I decided to lay them out and see how big it would be, so I could get an idea of how many more to make.

I got 100 of the laid out, got tired of it, and decided just to count the rest. I have 180!!! I’m not sure how many more I’ll do. 196 will give me a nice lap-sized quilt, but I may keep going.

And remember these blocks?

Well I almost forgot about them. But they popped into my brain the other day, and I decided I better get back to them. Everything is cut, so they go together pretty fast. I banged out six of them in a short window between work meetings the other day.

Now I have 10 in total

I cut enough for 25 blocks total, which will, again, make a nice lap sized quilt once there’s some sashing and borders added.

Here’s where all my other quilts are at:

• Cluckin’ Eh! – Eight more hens to go
• Shave and a Haircut – Sewing strips, making blocks
• Homecoming quilt – Third round done -waiting for round 4!
• Black and White and Green All Over – More details coming soon!
• Spinwheel – As you see above
• L&E quilt – As you see above

I know it’s been a while since I posted about Squirrelington’s, but don’t worry. It’s been a going concern all winter. I also added another feeder or two to the yard, so now my feathered and furry friends are treated to a buffet of peanuts, walnuts, black oil sunflower seeds, regular bird mix (no corn), and nyjer seed on a daily basis.

We have sparrows, juncos, cardinals, blue jays, house finches, mourning doves, chickadees, red-breasted nut hatches, downy woodpeckers, and of course, our beloved squirrels.

While the squirrels get regular feedings of peanuts in the shell, along with “treats” of walnuts in the shell, I’ve really wanted to get them some almonds in the shell. Mom always used to get them for us at Christmas time, (along with other in-shell nuts) and we’d all sit around cracking nuts, and making a great mess. (Now I understand why I love the squirrels so much – we are kindred spirits!). But Christmas came and went, and the grocery store never got any in-shell almonds in.

But last grocery day, they did have shelled almonds on sale in the bulk aisle. I’ll admit, I wasn’t thinking about the squirrels when I bought them. Both Dave and I have made a commitment to better our diet, and I figured they’d be good to sub in for chips when we got the after dinner munchies!

But the other day, I decided to throw a pile on the table outside to see what happened.

They’d already had their peanut breakfast when I put this out, so I wasn’t sure if they’d be back right away. Some days, they spend all day in the yard (regardless if Squirrelington’s is serving or not), and other days I don’t see them past noon.

But it didn’t take long…

After this picture, I decided I better clean the glass on the sliding door… but I just love the look on her face, and those nuts sticking out!!! The almonds are MUCH easier to carry multiples than the peanuts.

• 

• 

Soon enough, other’s took notice and things got quite busy. Even the jays stopped in for a bite.

• 

• 

They really seemed to like the almonds, because they could get four or five at at time before flying off.

They weren’t quite as thrilled about the other patrons, but that’s what you deal with when a place gets popular!

I still want to see how they do with in-shell almonds though, so I’ll keep searching!

A few weeks back, a friend on Facebook sent me this picture.

Cats? Plants? You know I just HAD to have it. I immediately started scouring the interwebs to find where I could buy them. Good ol’ Amazon came to the rescue.

They arrived the other day in the most hilarious box.

(Don’t tell kitty he’s in the slightly less mysterious and less passionate Canada). I decided they looked better without the scarves (which are removable), and I didn’t have any cool tail-like cacti to plant in them, but I did have some Sansevieria Cylindrica (Cylindrical Snake plant) that would work just as well.

Ahahahah – they crack me up every time I look at them.

“Mom…. Dad stole my nap spot. Make him get out of the bed. I don’t want to share!!!”

Here’s the back story. I’ve mentioned before that Rupert is a cat of routine. And he doesn’t like his routine broken. A general day goes like this:

While he always sleeps with us, around sunrise he abandons the bed to watch the birds until Dave gets up to feed the other cats. He doesn’t always eat, but he makes sure to get in the way of feeding as much as possible. Then he runs to the couch, and rolls and flops while Dave has his coffee and pets him.

After his petting session, he comes back upstairs where I am usually still sleeping (I am not an early riser). He usually sits on the end of the bed and waits for me to get up, so he can steal the warm spot. If I’m not out of bed by 9:30, he’ll start pacing and yelling at me to get up – he wants that warm spot! On occasion, he’ll give up and snuggle up on me (almost as good as the warm spot, but he’d rather not share).

Once I’m out of bed, and he’s curled up in the warm spot, he doesn’t budge. He’ll spend the ENTIRE day in bed. Sometimes he’ll come down around dinner time, but most times we don’t see him until after 9 p.m. Then we have to have cat nip, play with the laser light, harass Relic, and just generally be a pain until it’s time for Dave and I to go to bed. Then the whole thing starts all over again.

So it’s very rare to see Rupert in daylight… except when Dave decides to take an afternoon nap. Then I’m subjected to looks from Rupert, as above.

Because apparently a 6lb kitty can’t share a queen-sized bed….

This weeks prompt for the Round Robin quilt was geese, and unlike last week, I had no trouble with it. The hardest part was determining direction I wanted my geese to go.

It also gave me a chance to try the no-waste geese method.

I do need a little more practice with it, but it was a pretty efficient way to make the geese. It’s ideal when you need a lot of geese.

Once my geese were made, it was just a matter of sewing them together and sewing them onto the quilt… easy peasy!

Because I used a pattern fabric for the background of my geese, they don’t pop as much as they could… but I kind of like the more subtle look for this border.

And those corners….

Aren’t quite the same fabric. I ran out of the same stuff, and didn’t have enough for the corners. But that’s the neat thing about this bundle… several of the floral patterns are VERY close…. from a few feet back, they are almost interchangeable.

And now we wait for prompt four! This is so much fun!

Since Saturday was taken up with the owl quilt Sunday was reserved for the chickens! I added five more ladies to my little brood.

That gives me eight total so far.

I’ve got enough cut for 16 blocks, so I’m halfway to a full coop.

I just love these chicks! I’m not sure someone else is as delighted as I am with them ,though…

The last week at work has had me insanly busy, so other than putting the “plus” border on my Round Robin quilt, I did’t have time to sew a stitch.

By the time Saturday came, I was ready to sew, sew, sew. As I mentioned yesterday, we got lots of cold and snow now, so I needed something cheerful. My baby owl quilt was just the thing. Everything was cut, so it didn’t take very long to finish up the remaining pinwheel flowers.

They got sewn around the owl, and a border added… and boom…

And adorable, colourful quilt top ready for quilting.

As alway, I have the perfect chunk of flannel for the back…

And the purple plaid leftover from Queen of the Crossroads will make excellent binding. If the weather isn’t too bad this weekend (there’s a possibility of a snowstorm), I’ll get it quilted and ready for the shop.

“This owl is NOT cuter than me…. right????”