Mess and Masks

The living room floor is a mess.  There's bits of my nephew's carry case, a baggie of 1½" HST, and a lot of fabric I'm hoping to make into a twin-sized quilt.

I lost far too much of Saturday afternoon researching how to use this fabric my mother gave me a while back.

I had intended to make stack and whack hexies or something along those lines.  But in the end was not happy with any thing I came up with.  I changed gears: let's try a braided quilt.  This quilt has interesting color placement.  My current plan is to make braids of blue, red-brown and beige, picking up the colors of the screen print designs (which are blue, gold and red).  I'm thinking a blue braid down the middle, flanked by the beige, then red.  Or vice versa?  I guess I'll figure that out as I start cutting fabric.

Fast Learners

It's been a long time since I've brought home a pair of guinea pigs.  Bugsy and Pumpkin Spice have adjusted amazingly fast.  They discovered how to get to the second level of the cage their first night over (evidenced by the plethora of poo left behind).  They figured out that I couldn't be all bad by the end of the second day, because I brought treats.  By Friday afternoon, they knew where the kitchen was and started wheeking for treats.

I am in so much trouble.

Singer Cover

I received a kit for a sewing machine cover at Christmas.  It's for a Singer Featherweight, which I don't have.  But I could really use one for my Singer 15-91.  I rarely fold it into its cabinet.  But a cover?  I'd be more likely to throw that on the machine in between projects.  (For the few times it sits still long enough to collect dust.)

I Like Thursday: Bad Pig Stew

This has actually been a good week for me, as long as I don't go down the rabbit hole of politics, economy or social anxiety.  Let me share some of the fun stuff.

My calendar this month has a photo of Willow, Pippin and Bertie - the trio that really got me started with blogging.  The photo comes from the story of Bad Pig Stew.

Speaking of piggies - I'm fostering a pair of boars I picked up on Monday afternoon.  They are cute!  I've pulled out the tripod to see if I can get some good videos of their goofiness.  And I've already threatened them with said stew pot. 

Guess Who Came to Dinner?

And stayed.  And will continue to stay for at least four weeks. 

Meet Bugsy and Pumpkin Spice.  They're a pair of 7-month-old boars.  Goodness, I'm fostering boars.  And teenagers.  Eek!  They better behave or into the stew pot!  I do not want to be dealing with two cages.

Dakin asked for fosters as they're shutting down due to the coronavirus.  I volunteered days ago and really wasn't sure if I'd get asked to help out.  But just before 1:30pm yesterday, I got the call.  Could I come in to pick up a single guinea pig?  I was in the middle of a work meeting, but promised to come in soon after.  By the time we got on the road, they had contacted me again and said it wasn't one but two guinea pigs.

Gearing up

Next project up is an IOU Christmas present.  Yeah - late start.  My dates are still out of whack from my sister's quilt.  But it's the last of my promised projects.

It doesn't look like much, but this is a real start.  I've taken dimensions of my nephew's Switch stuff.  I found the leftover foam padding from a laptop bag I made myself.  My sister gave me an old camcorder case.  I've been pulling apart it for hardware (buckles, hooks, strap, handle, mesh, zippers) as well as understanding the construction.  I originally wanted to use the outer zipper pocket, too, but it clashes with the fabric we've picked.

I'm always surprised how much yardage a small basket, bag or pouch takes up.  I had my nephew pick colors he liked, just for an idea of what to make it.  He really latched onto some blue and red fat quarters.  He wanted a gold interior but wasn't as attached to this fabric (he liked the boxes but could do without the flowers).  Turns out three quarters of a yard isn't nearly enough. 

I Like Thursday: Hunkering Down

I would say my attempts at social distancing were... well... a step in the right direction.  Succeeded in some places, failed in others.  I think we've ironed things out.  For a large part, it's life as usual, since I work at home.  The lack of dancing (after having isolated myself weeks before surgery as well) is the worst bit.  I miss the people and the music.

But there's been plenty this week that have made me happy and grateful.

I visited my sister on Sunday to get final dimensions for my next project.  She handed me a surprise get well gift of chocolate and flowers.  A friend of mine contacted my sister asking her to deliver these the next time we met (along with a big hug).  The chocolates are now long gone, but I hope to enjoy the flowers for some time yet.  I've said before - I have the best friends.

Ooh - and once again I got to see Golden Orrery on her bed in the sunshine.  Always a treat!

Yet Another Name Tag

I really like my fabric name tag, but it turns out the pink and grey don't have a lot of contrast and can be hard to read.  I love how my latest Sculpey name tag turned out, but it's a pin, and I really miss having a magnetized name tag.  Time to make another one!

This time I made sure there was strong contrast between the name and the background.  I picked a bunch of fabrics for the background, then narrowed down the color for the letters.  This time, I took photos of the fabrics in black-and-white before assembling it, to make sure the letters would stand out.

Mortimer & Friends

The turtle quilt is finished.  The best part is - I get to enjoy it on my wall for a while before delivering it to my aunt.  Bonus!  It looks quite nice on my wall....

I Like Thursday: Sugaring and Squawking

It's sugaring time.  Out here, the evidence is everywhere.  Buckets have suddenly sprouted on the maples in our neighborhood (in addition to the permanent tubing on some of the trees).

A neighbor down the street makes maple syrup.  His old sugar house fell apart last spring (I was told the table collapsed as he finished off his last batch).  He'd spent the summer/fall building a new one.  I saw it fired up for the first time last week - huge billows of steam rising from the roof.  Pretty cool.

Turtle Trouble

Wow.  This quilt has fought so hard against being quilted.  It's not that big!  But it tried to be big trouble.

I snapped the bobbin thread three times in a 10" stretch of seaweed.  The rest of it stitched up fine.  Well, until I flipped it over.

I Like Thursday: Getting Better

A little of this and that for this week's likes.

I have great friends.  Several cards arrived (the birds on the far left are stitched thread!).  One showed up in a box with banana bread.  Recuperating has some perks.  (Thanks, all!)

Speaking of that - every day I'm getting better.  The tape is off.  I'm amusing myself by saying I escaped being killed on Midsomer Murders (DS Ben Jones can save me anytime).  Wanna see what I look like?

I have even started walking.  I can't wait until I can get back in my old routine.

Turtle Sandwich

Borders are on!  I've basted the outside edge, stitched in the ditch around the inside border and stitched around the turtles.  I'm hoping to put on the freemotion foot and quilt more today.  I even have the binding selected.

But I'm not sure how I to quilt the borders. 

I was going to do something seaweedy, but didn't like my original designs.  I keep toying with these wavy designs that I'm not sure I like, but can't seem let go of.  I will be playing with more seaweed designs.  Hmmm... or maybe just do something on the inside border and leave the outside unquilted.

Always an adventure.

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Love Laugh Quilt - Monday Making