Finishing up those last snowballed blocks for the Leader & Ender quilt went much quicker than I expected. I’m now at the stage when I need to sew each of those snowball blocks to a four patch.
I’ll continue pairing them us as L&Es, but I couldn’t resist taking a few to create one finished block.
Two of those pairs come together like this…
Then you take two of those, to create this:
And then two of those pair to make the final block
And it’s a big one! 16 inches finished! If I’ve done my math right, I should end up with 30 of these. It’s going to be a nice, big quilt… eventually. I’ve still got a lot of seams to sew before I get there!
The days are sliding away (less than a month until Christmas!) but I’ve got another present marked off my list.
Dave’s grandma adores poodles. Up until her last one, Mandy, passed a few years ago, she’s always had at least one poodle (always toy-size). Now she had a Sheltie named Ella, but she still talks about her poodles all the time. So when I came across this block, I knew it would it would be perfect for her.
I didn’t have the time (or patience!) to make an entire quilt of poodles, but I thought a pillow would be a good substitute. Who doesn’t love a cute throw pillow?
When I started, I planned on sticking to a more traditional poodle colours – ideally a dark and a light grey. But it turns out I didn’t have that much grey in my stash – most were either too busy, or didn’t have enough contrast.
When I first pulled out this grey floral piece I discounted it and set it aside…
But where it landed was right beside that orange fabric. One glance and I knew that was the ticket. It’s not exactly traditional, but it is striking! (And fun!)
I found another grey floral for the back, and tried something new…
I made it envelope style so it’s easy to take off and wash when needed.
I do need to make a slightly larger pillow form so it fits better, but I’ve got this present checked off the Christmas list, and it feels so good!
Before the Relic debacle, I decided he needed a new collar. I don’t bother with the other two, but with Relic, I like people to know he’s not a stray.
His old one had skull and crossbones in a reflective print, but most of it had been worn away by him scratching.
So I hopped on Amazon and found a four-pack of these cute bowtie collars. Relic has lost a collar or two, and the price per collar was ideal. Plus, I’d have a few back ups.
The annoyed face is not from the bow tie, but rather the camera I was shoving in his face.
Doesn’t he look so dapper?
While I was fitting Relic with his new duds, Burton came over to be nosy, so I decided to see if he’d like a new look.
It was a little harder to see and get pics with all that floof, but he’s just as stylin’.
Definitely worth the $20!
If you’re wondering why I didn’t try one on Rupert… I value my skin too much… that boy has razor mitts, and is not nearly as cooperative as these two.
I should have had a finished flannel quilt to show you today. Quilting Flannel Adventures was my plan for the weekend before Relic pulled his little disappearing act.
But then Saturday I spent stressing out until he got home, and Sunday, I was just too wiped from all that emotion. So instead, I focused on something new.
One of the things I love about the blogsphere is the inspiration I get from all my bloggy friends. Nancy of Wyoming Breezes makes some wonderful quilts. A few times, she’s flashed a quilt with Friendship Stars. You know I love stars… how is it I’ve never made that block before? And it’s such a simple one.
I had a charm pack that was just perfect for them
So I made 12.
Now 12 stars wasn’t enough for a baby quilt, so I dug in the stash and pulled out some sweet (tweet?) little bird fabric and made a pile of nine patches to go with them.
Can you see where this is going?
They still need to be sewn together into a top, but it was a good day’s work!
And the charm pack was called My Imagination, so I’m calling this one Imaginary Friends!
I did indeed finish the second sleeve on Rowan’s Christmas cardi, but it was not under good circumstances.
The majority of it was knit between midnight and 5:30. on Saturday morning as I waited for Relic to come home. He had gone out at 3 on Friday afternoon and hadn’t come home for dinner on that evening(he’s a very scheduled cat, so I was already on alert). Then. he didn’t show his face at all Friday night. When midnight hit, and as the hours ticked by, I sat staring at the back door, trying not to panic, while the needles went click, click, click.
Relic is a very street-wise cat. He knows where he lives, so if he wasn’t coming home, something had happened. Either something fatal had happened (I wasn’t too worried about this, as I said, he’s very street-wise), someone had taken him in (unlikely, he’s wary of strangers), or he’d gotten stuck in someone’s shed or garage.
By 5:30 a.m., I was casting off, but there was still no Relic. I managed to catch a couple hours sleep, but was up again at 7:30, posting to lost pet groups, notifying the microchip company, and checking the local shelter’s intake list. Still no Relic.
By 10 a.m., I had a pile of posters and was hitting the road around the neighbourhood.
When I returned home, I sat by the door and picked up the cardigan again, this time picking up the hood. Obsessively checking in with the facebook groups, my email, and messenger, I only got an inch or so done. The hours dragged by, still no Relic.
Running on two hours sleep, I tried to get a little shut eye on the couch. But of course, I kept opening my eyes just incase Relic showed his face at the door.
Around 7 pm, Rupert woke up from his 16-hour nap and came downstairs. He took up residence on my footstool, which faces the door.
Dave was at the computer, and I said to him that I could probably finally get some sleep because we now had a perimeter alarm set up. Rupert would let me know if Relic came into the yard.
About five minutes later, I was just starting to drift off, when I was pulled back to wakefulness by a loud “mrrrrrroooooooooooooow!” (Rupert is a small cat, with a big voice). I sat up, and there was that sweet, unrepentant Relic face staring back at me through the door!
I opened it, and he booted in and went straight for the food dish, confirming my theory he got locked in somewhere. If someone had taken him in, he wouldn’t have been so hungry.
He filled his belly, then immediately took over the couch.
I’m happy to have those sleeves done, but I’m even happier to have my couch hog back where he belongs!
Is any one else having a crazy November… weatherwise? It’s been an absolute rollercoaster here – two days freezing, three days warm, three days freezing, one day warm… and today we are supposed to get an inch of snow.
I don’t know what to think any more. And neither do the gardens.
The catnip has started to bloom again.
My newest mum has pushed out one, small, bright bloom.
And I introduced you to my reblooming iris last year. It bloomed at the end of October last year. This year, it was freezing at that time, so I didn’t think I’d see any flowers on it. But this rollercoaster month has it very confused.
Although I’m not sewing a much as I would like, the snowballed blocks for my Leader/Ender quilt are still stacking up.
I have a little over 40 left to make. Once they are done, they will be paired with the four patches already completed.
I’d love to have this one a completed top by the end of the year, but we’ll have to see how things go. There’s still lots of work to be done until it’s ready to be sewn together.
Here’s where everything else in my quilting world is at:
Blockheads: Burton and I are still banging out a block every week. Just a few more to go
Rosey Posey II: Just have to sew those pretty petals into a top.
Leader & Ender : Just 47 snowballed blocks to make!
I know… that’s not much on the go – especially for me. As I said earlier this week, work has been keeping me hopping. (A good problem to have because it means I still have a job!)
I do want to get moving on re-stocking the store, but I have some small Christmas gifts to make. Most are one-day projects, so I hope to get them done in the next few weeks. Then I can really ramp up the production line!
In my younger days, I was never much worried about making the bed. But now that I make quilts, I make the bed much more often. What’s the point in having a beautiful quilt, if you’re never going to see it because it’s all bunched up in a pile?
So… now, most days, I make the bed at some point during the day (it’s not always first thing in the morning… I’m not THAT crazy). On these days, we almost always end up playing a little game I like to call, “Where’s Rupert?”
Can you guess? It’s kind of like playing Where’s Waldo, but way easier.
As you know, he loves to nest. But that’s hard to do when the bed is made. So now, he waits until I leave the room. Then he pulls the edge of the blanket down over himself to make his own little hidey hole!
As you know, on Saturday, Mom and I had a bit of a drive to deliver our quilts. Three-hours round trip, to be exact. Since Mom was driving, I decided to make good use of the time and get some work done on Dave’s Christmas socks. I’d been focusing on Rowan’s cardigan, so they hadn’t seen much love.
The drive was very productive and I got through to leg, heel and gusset decreases.
I took the above picture and figured that would be that for a while, as I had to get back to the second sleeve on Rowan’s cardi.
As you know, I spent a chunk of Sunday sewing the flannel quilt, and the bam – the power went off. Because it was so stormy, it was pretty dark outside, despite only being 2:30 in the afternoon.
There was still enough light to knit by, though
The picture makes it look brighter than it really was. Because the light was dim, I figured working on the sock would be easier than the cardigan, which involved counting rows, and switching colours.
We figured the power would be back on in an hour or so, but the hours passed, night fell, candles were lit, and I just kept knitting…
I had lots of blankets and furry companions to keep me warm, since there was no heat. As the hours ticked by, we realized the power was unlikely to come back on before bedtime. So I just kept knitting…
And, when I got up in the morning….
All that was left to do is to close the toe! So that’s one sock done… one more to go!
Wandering Cat Studio 