Today’s Friday Felines has gone to the dogs….

As mentioned several times this week, I spent last Saturday keeping these two company. It’s not hard work by any means. They are good puppers.

Chevy likes to play fetch. And like Double Stuff the squirrel, he’s all about two. TWO BALLS at all times. Usually both are in his mouth. If you are lucky, he’ll drop one for you to throw. But most of the time, he wants you to pick up a THIRD ball and throw it. He’ll chase after it, but he can’t get three balls in his mouth (believe me, he’s tried), so instead he stands there and looks at you. Then you have to walk over, pick it up, and throw it again. And again, and again….

Jem doesn’t play fetch. Oh she’ll run after a ball now and again, but don’t expect her to bring it back. She prefers tug-o-war with a rope or stuffie. There’s no pictures of that because I needed both hands to play. She is one strong dog. I have to make sure I have a good, steady wide stance, because she’s strong enough to pull me off my feet.

And I suppose we can’t let Friday go by without at least one feline…

Even if (or simply because) she’s taken over the dog crate as her own personal palace.

The family wedding is creeping up in just a few weeks, so while I had a spare afternoon, I wanted to get the top together and ready for quilting.

Nothing fancy for the layout, just some simple thin sashing like I did on the Bumbleberry Sampler. When you’ve got a lot going on with busy blocks like this, I think simple it better.

And simple for the border too…

I had just enough of this pretty brown ditsy print to do a three inch border all around. I love it because of those red circles, which tie it back in with all the red throughout the blocks.

The sashing and the borders brought the final size out to 76″ x 90″. A nice substantial size.

And as you can see from these pictures, the whole process was absolutely exhausting for my snoopervisor.

Life is just sooooo hard!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on both mine, and Paisley’s quilts!

But it’s not just quilting around here – occasionally, I do still knit! I knew Royal Stars wouldn’t take me long to quilt on the long-arm, so I also packed some knitting.

After quilting, lunch, a couple games of fetch (Chevy) and tug-o-war (Jem), and brief break…

I still had a couple of hours left to knit.  So I put on a good movie and got to it!

By the time I was ready to pack up, I had the leg of the funky man-sock finished.

Now it’s onto the heel and down the foot to victory!

…

P.S.: I find it odd that both my knitting and quilting project matched that day…

As I mentioned yesterday, the girls  went back home on Saturday, but Miss Pee did manage to finish her quilt before they left.

It’s not her first quilt – she made a lap sized rail fence quilt a couple years ago – but it is her biggest. I believe they said it’s 76″ x 90″. That’s a big quilt for just a week.

Paisley was too nervous to use the long arm, so Mom did the quilting – nothing fancy, because they only had a day left, but the thread is variegated purple, so there’s a little extra pop on those black triangles.

The back is this pretty charcoal scroll print. And some purple “confetti” bound it all together.

 

On Saturday,  the Mom returned the munchkins to Oz. Normally, I keep her company for the trip, but  this time, Dad wanted to go.  It’s 3 hours one way and with visiting time thrown in, it’s a full-day excursion.  That meant someone needed to stay with his puppers, feed them, love them, and let them out for pee breaks.

I figured if I was going to be stuck there all day, I might as well make good use of the time. Naturally, that means quilting… so I give you…

Royal Stars!

To refresh your memory, I finished the top back in March, just as all the COVID fun started heating up.  That meant no visiting Mom to get it quilted. But that was fine because I didn’t have a back for it.

Well when Dad asked me to dog-sit, I still didn’t have a back for it, but it was the only top I had done and ready to quilt. So off to Lens I went…

Nothing fancy, just a nice, rich red with some simple cross-hatching. I paid more than I am used to for a back (especially for a lap quilt), but the clearance table where I get my sweet deals was pretty well wiped out. Still I saved 20% (it was on sale), and I have a good chunk left, as the piece was 108″ wide (specifically made for quilt backing).

The binding was leftover from the back of Crosstown Traffic, and it’s pretty beige and gold tones highlight the neutrals throughout the quilt.

The border and sashing stars were leftover bits from the back ofSewing on my Back Porch.

And the patchwork stars were made from a Craftsy charm pack I got on clearance.

I love how all those different elements came together to make a pretty little lap quilt!

 

 

Another day… another buffet…

Despite the regular peanut offering at Squirrelington’s those little tree rats still love raiding the bird feeders. So, I added some black oil sunflower seeds to our offerings.

It’s been a hit.

Little Mama loves the seeds the most. She even sticks around to eat them, instead of just running off like she does with the peanuts.

Mr. Double Stuff still prefers the big nuts.

What a guy!

The ripening of the tomatoes has finally begun!

These are San Marzano tomatoes. They are about the size of a plum tomato, and are apparently good for making sauces. Dave had the first one sliced up on his falafel wrap the other day. He said they were great. I’ll take his word for it – tomatoes aren’t my thing, as much as I love to grow them.

My real love likes with my flowers!

I think my yard needs more Susans – they are the best bloomer for this time of year!

White Lightning is blooming again. This definitely is my most favourite rose. Classic, beautiful and amazing smelling.

I finally managed to produce some Teddy Bear Sunflowers from seed (this is my third try)

So fuzzy! Definitely going to grow them again!

I had to stop in at Home Depot the other day, and they had some plants on clearance.

I picked up this pretty pink sage to go with my purple one when I revamp the gardens.

And I got this gorgeous hibiscus

It will have to come in come winter, so I’m going to put it in a pretty pot.

What’s ripe in your world?

Day dream believer…

As is tradition, Mom has the munchkins for a week…

Although they aren’t  really munchkins any more (12 and 16 now! How did THAT happen???)

As usual, there’s lots of crafts flying about – beading, jewellery making, diamond painting…

And sewing.

Paisley is making herself a quilt. She hopes to have it done before they leave on Saturday, so hopefully I’ll have pictures of an FO for you next week.

Miss Winnie is doing her best to help.

Rowan has been making scrunchies….

… with matching face masks! (Who ever thought that’s a sentence we’d hear?! ) This one  just needs it’s elastic added.

And, as is tradition, Mom also took the girls to the salon for a trim. I was in bad need of a trim myself, so I joined them.

Just  had the bottom 7 or 8 inches trimmed off! It’s nice to have something fresh!

Last week, I completed block 30 in the Moda Blockhead quilt-along. It’s hard to believe that 30 weeks have passed since it started.

And as fun as the quilt-along is, I admit to a little bit of participation fatigue. I don’t like it when my projects linger on to long.

Happily, since I did 12 inch blocks, 30 will give me enough for a decent size quilt.

Once I get the sashing and borders on, this one will be very close to a queen size quilt.

And as it happens, we have a family wedding coming up in early September. This quilt, with it’s hearts, flowers, and houses, will make a ideal wedding quilt I think.

I just have to get it all together, and get some backing fabric.

And I’m not giving up on the blockheads – there’s still more than 20 blocks left this year. I’ll just be starting fresh with a new fabric collection – Stay tuned!