Headboard Layouts

I've finished my two color mystery blocks from Canuck Quilter's Two Colour Mystery.  I originally made six blocks, but I really needed eight.  The last two blocks were surprisingly difficult.  Not sure why.  I'm pretty sure I stitched them together the same way as the others.  It would have been better if I made them with the rest.  They're done now!

These blocks are pretty neat.  I've been playing with layouts.  So many combinations.  I need the quilt to be slightly wider than four blocks.  I will either add borders or sashing.  Ha!  Before I posted this, my mother has selected layout #4.  Hmm... I could still do a border or sashing with that.

I Like Thursday: April Foolin’ Around

April! It's been another full-throttle month.  Whew!  Let's see what I liked best...

It kicked off with April Fools Day.  My local librarian celebrated the holiday with a sign that said "Please excuse the mess while I reorganize the collection by color!"  Indeed, the first shelf is red, orange, green, white, blue and black.  If you flipped the paper over it said "April Fools!"  

The eclipse was pretty cool - no fooling!  We chose not to drive up to Vermont to see the total eclipse, but instead hung out on our front steps to witness the 95% coverage.  We played with the colander, marveled at the strange shadows and the drop in temperature (about 10℉). 

We wished there had been more leaves on the tree to better see the funny crescent shadows the sun produced.  The pine trees gave us a bit of little taste of it.  And I had eclipse glasses, so we could look at the sun.  It reminded me of the Cheshire Cat as the slice of the sun got bigger (a grin without a cat).

Moving Along

This week's clue for the two color mystery quilt was the block layout.  It's a cool looking block.  But boy, it was a struggle putting it together.  Even when I had the pieces put the right direction, I still felt like I was doing it wrong.  Lots of points.  Matching point to point was straightforward, but some pieces aligned a straight edge with an angle.  Those were trickier and it took me stitching (and ripping apart) a few pieces before I got the hang of it. 

I'll leave that on the wall as contemplate layouts.  I made the baby quilt size, but this is to become a headboard for my mother's full sized bed.  I may need to make two more blocks to gain the width I want, which I'm sure would also change the layout.

Sidetracked

Just as I was all set to start some serious work on my sweatshirt jacket, a few things jumped ahead in priority.

Years ago I some amazing paper-pieced greeting cards; I wanted to try making some myself.  So I bought windowed cards but never got around to piecing fabric to go in them.  Then I made a handful of postcards (most of them during this year's Project Quilting).  They're a bit bulky for the cards, but I can squeeze them in.  This lets me send the card with a personal note, then allows the recipient remove and keep the artwork, or pass it along to someone else.  I've added a sticker to the card:  Mini quilt is a postcard.  Keep it! Regift it!  Extra envelope provided.  Now I need to start sending them to people!

Rick Rack Ripples

I'm riding a wave of finishes - and this was the quilt that kicked it off.  I'm late to post about it, though, because it was only recently sent.  (The package needed some Easter candy for ballast.)

This is called Rick Rack Ripples.  My cousin asked for blue, green and yellow.  I love the color combination. 

In the Works

Busy weekend.  Glad I took Monday off to catch my breath!

I worked on my Two-Colour Mystery quilt.  Week five consisted of mitered blocks.  Following the assembly instructions produced a small stack of triangles, so I made a tiny stack of 1¾-inch squares.  Don't know what I'll do with them, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Easter Candy!  This year I swapped out toffee (I've been struggling with the recipe lately) for caramels (some with pecans, some plain).  Last year I tested out chai spiced cookie dough truffles as well as coffee buttercreams.  Both were such a hit I kept them this year.  I overdid the amount of chai in them this year (oops) but the coffee was perfect. 

Bye Bye Babies

One last post of the Rice Crispy boys:  the trio of guinea pig baby fosters from Dakin Humane.

The morning that Crackle and Laylla went to back to Dakin I found the three boys stuffed into the tunnel.  I was sorry to break them up, but I was thrilled that the two singletons (Laylla and Crackle) were going to a new home to live with another guinea pig.  

Laylla was very curious when she went in the carrier.  Crackle was hiding behind her.  So at least they got the drive back to Dakin together.

I Like Thursday: Marching On

Wow - I've blown through March.  I suspect I'll be spending part of April just catching up!  Lots of likes to share with LeeAnna's I Like Thursday. 

Ducks!  There's a farm near the bottom of our street, and a sanctuary appropriately named Duck World.  So often I need to stop and wait for assorted fowl to cross the road, but this time I managed to get evidence.  The chickens usually hustle across but the ducks take their sweet time and there are always stragglers.  The turkey and the geese are the worst, though.  They'll stay put and stare you down, daring you to get by them.  Always a chuckle!

Floor Time and Zoomies

We returned the last of our foster guinea pigs to Dakin on Saturday.  It was sad.  I keep hearing wheeking whenever I walk into the kitchen.  They had me trained well.

But fear not!  I have two more posts of photos and videos of my adventures with Laylla, Snap, Crackle and Pop.

The babies were still two weeks old when these were shot.  It's amazing how tiny they are, yet how much they had grown in such a short time.

I loved watching how Snap, Crackle and Pop would swarm together, sometimes following mama, and sometimes going out on their own.  And SO much talking!  Burble-burble.

Project Quilting 15.6 - Irish Chain Postcard

The last Project Quilting challenge of the season looked so easy on the surface:  create a quilt using or inspired by an Irish Chain pattern.  The buck-basic chain pattern is nothing more than 9-patch squares.  So I dug through my square scraps, looked at my project list, and decided to tackle a sweatshirt jacket I've been wanting to do.  All the jacket examples on Pinterest were overwhelming, so this seemed as good a choice as any other.  

I calculated yardage, cut apart a sweatshirt and figured my basic layout. It was a somewhat ambitious project to finish in a week.  I focused on making the blocks first so if I was running out of time I could switch to making a baby quilt.  Excellent.  No problem.

Right.  I'd like to point out that the title of this blog post contains neither the word "jacket" nor "baby".

Two Kinds of Marmalade

I'm calling this quilt Marmalade, since it was created with my Citrus Quilt leftovers.  It's a smallish quilt, roughly 16x24" - perfect for hanging on the wall or the front door.  I found a nice piece of blue just the right size for the background.  The layout left a lot of empty blue in the upper right corner that begged to be filled.  Perhaps some appliqued circles?  Naw - needed more squiggles.  

I have often admired quilts that continue the pattern of the piecing or applique into the quilting.  I've always wanted to try that - and this was my opportunity.  I found some yellow, green and orange thread, drew a rough outline of what I wanted and started quilting. 

What do you think?  Really fun.  It looks better in person.

In Progress and Reworked

I finished the weekly clue for the two color mystery quilt.  One of a few finishes this week.  I'll be curious what comes next!

Growing Boys

We've enjoyed another week of antics with our three baby foster guinea pigs, Snap, Crackle and Pop.  They're growing up so fast!

We did another photo shoot with the boys over the weekend.  I wanted some more coffee cup photos as well as some "head shots" for their Dakin adoption page.  It took several minutes before they boys finally sat still.  Good grief, they're adorable.  

The amazing thing is how much they've grown in one week.  They pretty much tripled in size since they were born.  Wow!  They jump up and down to the second level with ease.  They move so fast it looks like they magically transport themselves from one floor to the next.

QAL and Projects

I've finished the rick rack baby quilt (photos soon) as well as the latest Project Quilting challenge.  Time for some cleanup projects:   straightening out my sewing room, figuring out why my quarter inch foot doesn't like my Singer 201, even organized my fabric stash by color.  You know - the odds and ends before picking up the next big project.

I also joined a mystery quilt-a-long hosted by Canuck Quilter.  I've eyeballed several mystery QAL over the years, but haven't been willing to take the plunge.  No time.  Too many other projects.  And what if I hate the blocks when I'm done?  But a two-color mystery quilt?  Seems pretty hard to go wrong with that.  

Project Quilting 15.5 - Water Bottle Holder

The latest Project Quilting challenge was called Wearables - the piece should either be something to wear or made from clothing or inspired by clothing.  The rules stated a bag could be worn ... so I figure water bottle holders count, too.

I have been wanting to make a water bottle holder for years - so long that one of the tutorials I had bookmarked popped up with a 404 error when I accessed it (yay for Wayback Machine!).  This was a great opportunity to use up the fabric I made from a stack of ¾-inch strips.  And then there's the satisfaction of crossing this project off my list.

I find the blues and greens so calming.  I really loved the fabric I used for the strap.  Unfortunately it was just a little too short - but I found another batik almost the same shade of blue.  The difference is hardly noticeable!

I added a lining, which made for a smooth top edge.  The bottom inside, though, has raw edges.  I wanted to make sure the lining didn't stick to a wet bottle and pull out.  I figure no one will ever see it. 

Here, There and Everywhere

The continuing saga of my foster guinea pigs from Dakin Humane - Mama Laylla with babies Snap, Crackle and Pop. 

The three pups all doubled in weight by Sunday.  It's crazy how much bigger they are (and yet they're still so tiny).  The big news of the week is that Crackle has a forever home lined up with a single boar as soon as he's old enough to leave mama.  Baby boars need to be separated from all sows (including Mom) at 21 days old.  Amazing they can possibly be fertile that young.  

So I have another week with the full set of piggies.  I'll enjoy it while I can!

Crackle gave us a demonstration of his zoomies.

Tempest in a Teapot

Or maybe I should say chaos in coffee cups?  We decided to have a little photo shoot with Snap, Crackle and Pop for some glamor shots for their adoption write ups.  I decided it might be easier if they were contained in something.  So I put them in my little coffee cups.  What do you think?

Are they cute or what?

So Close!

A post not about baby guinea pigs?!?  Yup - let's briefly go back to the Crafts portion of my blog.  In between watching Snap, Crackle and Pop's goofy antics, I'm trying to finish up some projects as the next Project Quilting challenge drops.

My favorite second-to-last step of a quilt is cutting off the edges after machine stitching the binding.  Oh, look at those clean edges!  The only thing that looks cleaner is a fully bound quilt!  The recipient arrived into this world last week - so it's time to get this done and delivered!

Growing Like Weeds

I can't keep up!  I've been gathering photos and video of Laylla and her pups faster than I can edit and post them.  The dynamic changes every day.  Even as I type, the boys are chasing each other around the cage making so much noise!  

So here's a quick dump of what's gone on in the last week with foster guinea pigs Laylla, Snap, Crackle and Pop. 

We have confirmed that the trio of pups are all boys.  We're a little disappointed with that because both the folks at Dakin and I had hoped Laylla would keep a child as a companion.  Plus it is unlikely all three boars will be able to live together as they hit adulthood (personality conflicts).

I Like Thursday: Leaping Into March

Happy Leap Year Day (is that a thing?).  It's time for me to link up with LeeAnna's I Like Thursday.  

Top of the list of my likes is guinea pigs (and I'm sure you'll agree).  We're fostering again and it turned out Laylla was pregnant.  Last week she had three beautiful little babies!  I'll get to keep them until at least the middle of March - but I'm sure they'll be adopted quickly after that.

It's been a hoot.  We have hosted a pregnant guinea pig before, but she had only one pup that lived with three older sows.  This time around we have a solo sow with three little pups.  It's a very different dynamic this time around.

Stink Eye and Accomplishments

Foster guinea pig Laylla's pups continue to entertain.  

Crackle has so much attitude in such a small package.  He's also an expert at giving me the stink-eye.  He's the biggest of the trio, weighing in at a whopping 150g.  So strong and wriggly, too, considering he can fit in the palm of my hand.

Family Time

The continuing adventures of Laylla and pups - my foster guinea pigs from Dakin Humane Society.

I don't know if it was because I knew Laylla was pregnant (so I was anticipating the babies) or because Laylla had three of pups, but I am spending way more time watching them than I did watching Banzai a few years ago.  I've actually pulled a chair next to the cage so I can sit and watch.  And they are entertaining!

I'm currently calling the trio Snap (Baby One), Crackle (Baby Three) and Pop (Baby Two).  Crackle is the biggest and has the most attitude - which is why he got the biggest name.  Snap is quick and smart, and Pop is noisy.  

Nothing brings guinea pigs together like food!  The pups are often packed under Laylla and have also been digging into the hay and pellets (which is best eaten from inside the bowl).  Snap has had a fascination with ceramic for a day or two - I'd often hear his teeth clinking on the sides of the bowl.

The pups have been very interested in Laylla's lettuce and have tried nibbling a bit of that, too.

I will often find them all snuggled up together.  They hay rack is a favorite spot.  And I can't find any of the pups, they'll be piled together in the tunnel.

They're adorable all together, aren't they?

Our First Day

It's hard to believe it has been nearly three years since we fostered baby Buckaroo Banzai with his mom Bolt and Aunties Bear and Browny.  Banzai had been a total surprise, because Bolt hardly looked pregnant, let alone ready to give birth.  I loved watching Banzai follow his aunties around, hanging out with the big girls.

What a different dynamic compared to the current foster situation of three baby guinea pigs and a single mom.   

Project Quilting 15.4 - Time Flying Postcard

I made another postcard for Project Quilting's 15.4 challenge - Hourglass.  The challenge required an hourglass shape.  The first thing that popped into mind was an hourglass with wings.  Sure - I'll roll with that.

My first idea was to make it symmetrical with the wings on either side, but I had a hard time fitting everything on a 4x6" card.  This is what I came up with.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Sharing with:
Persimon Dreams - Project Quilting 15.4

Three Little Pigs

Foster guinea pig Laylla had her babies! Rob stopped at my office door to say Laylla was making odd noises.  I got over there to find her cleaning off baby number 1.  I was in the middle of an upgrade at work that was (luckily) taking forever - so I spent 40 minutes running back and forth between the computer and the big event.  I was trying to take photos, email Dakin and texting my sister all at once.

Then bloop!  There was baby two.  I need to upload the video - but that piggy complained loudly as mama cleaned them up.  At this point I was sure there had to be at least a third, and voila! suddenly pup three appeared.  That one looked like it was struggling the most, but seems to have sprung back the fastest.

Anticipation

Laylla on Monday - she's even bigger now

Foster guinea pig Laylla and I are in a race to see who will lose their mind first.  It's a pretty close thing; I fully expected Laylla to give birth on Monday and I'm still waiting.  Meanwhile, she's a needy, uncomfortable piggy.  She rushes to the side of the cage any time I pass by, constantly begging for treats and accepting being patted.  She's so blobby when she rests, but I can't get a good photo because she jumps up as soon as I approach.  She is wound up and restless and won't sit in one place for long.  She's drinking so much water - which I guess is good for flushing those kidneys!  Oof.

Rob tells me a watched pig doesn't pop... but she has to at some point!  I read that you can hear the unborn pups grind their teeth a week or so before delivery.  You can!  Sounded like a little ticking timer.  Wild.

I know there's at least two pups, but now I'm thinking there's more than that.  I'd love to weigh her to see how much she's gained, however she does not want to be picked up, and doing so would stress her out and possibly injure her or the pups.  Laylla is still lightning fast and agile even carrying that unwieldy bulk.

When she stretches out, you can see how narrow her shoulders are to the lower half of her body.  And when she walks, there's this tiny little butt on the end of that huge belly.  

It's gotta be soon, but those pups are taking their own sweet time.  We will all be happier when Laylla delivers.

 

 

Lots of Little Leftovers

Lots of little leftovers from two recent quilting projects.  First are my small citrus sections from the Project Quilting challenge.  I'm thinking of making another small wall hanging with it.  Right now these layouts measure about 14" across and 25" long.  I think 1, 3 and 6 are my favorites.  A couple of those layouts remind me of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

The other leftovers are from the rick-rack quilt.  I was left with a pile of ¾-inch strips from trimming down the fabric rejects to make the squares I used in the backing.  The colors went together so nice on the backing, I decided not to throw the scrap away, but sew it all together.

Lovely Lumpy Laylla

Oh, Laylla, will you be my Valentine? 

Laylla is a love!  She also such a fatso (I tell her that all the time - I hope it doesn't hurt her feelings).  She has a tiny butt, a smallish head, and this massive middle.  Oof.

She's active and curious - any time I approach the cage she runs to me (rather than running away to hide).  Of course, that's because she's hoping I have treats.  She reminds me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.  Feed me! 

There's not usually a ramp to the second floor in my cage.  I added it because I didn't want Laylla to hurt herself if she couldn't leap up there.  Guinea pigs are amazing - Laylla usually skips the ramp and leaps up and down anyway!  I don't try to pick her up often but when I do, she can sprint like a much thinner guinea pig.  Zoom!

Project Quilting 15.3 - Citrus Banner

My entry for Project Quilting's 15.3 challenge - Inside Out is a wall hanging /door banner featuring the insides of a lemon, orange, grapefruit and lime.  It ended up being a five hour marathon on Saturday to complete.  Not how I like to work.  

I landed on the citrus slices idea while admiring the mini lemons produced by my mother's lemon tree.  Ooh - and maybe use my Dresden plate ruler?  I wanted to do something pieced, and my idea required something bigger than a post card. 

I spent a chunk of time cutting and assembling pieces before I realized I had measured something wrong.  The pieces were too narrow and weren't coming full circle.  (I now have a ton of little pieces that are begging for another project.)  My second attempt was more successful (but if you look closely at the lemon, I had to jam in one of the little pieces to get it a full circle).  So I lost what little time I had to work on this on Friday experimenting.

The whole design and assembly was on-the-fly with some vague ideas of what should work, and then doing and redoing things as I went along.  Not conducive for a deadline (I had to be done by 5pm on Saturday because of other commitments).  The quilt ended up with minimum quilting, a machine sewn binding and a few more mistakes than usual.

Laylla and Negrita

 

We're fostering again!  Two girl guinea pigs from Dakin Humane named Laylla and Negrita.  We picked them up yesterday.  They're settling in quite quickly - much faster than our last pair of piggies.

Laylla has very round eyes that make her look like she's constantly surprised.  She seems very sweet.  She also appears very pregnant.  Adult pigs can be bulgy, but she bulges in an odd way and she's gained over 2 ounces in two days.  Could be stress eating... but we'll see.  I'm kinda hoping she stays with us at least a few weeks. 

I Like Thursday: Into 2024

I missed writing an I Like Thursday post in January.  Lots to like - just no time to write about it.

We got snow in January - but on New Year's there was not a snowflake to be seen.  I went walking with my mother and we came across this creative wooden snowman.  He was big!  Must have been heavy, too. 

I came across a Scottish word this last week:  hurkle-durkle.  It means to lie in bed, or to lounge after it is time to get up or go to work.  Lots of overcast days this month - I'd much rather snuggle warmly under the covers curled up with a good book than face the day.  So I've been doing a lot of hurkle-durkling. 

Project Quilting 15.2 - Milky Way Postcard

My second Project Quilting challenge is complete!  I made another postcard.  This week's challenge was Sky Color - the twist was to not use more than 10% of typical "sky" blue.  My first thought was an evening star at sunset; I was thinking reds and blues.  Then Rob suggested the Milky Way.  Hmmm... that had potential.  Last September I stood with a friend at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, admiring the stars in the Milky Way.  That's what popped into my head. 

And I really like how it came out.  I started with black fabric, added some dark blue, then indigo.  I bound it in a very dark purple.

It's quilted in shiny grey and flat black.  Then I embroidered a bunch of french knots and some running stitch with white, cream and pastel pink and blue thread entwined with sparkly thread of purple, blue and white.  It twinkles quite nicely in the sunlight.

This Way and That

The rick-rack quilt top is done.  I'm pleased with the result.  Very cheerful.  Time to brainstorm on quilting designs!  

I ended up ripping out a few blocks to line up the two blues together so the bottom half zigged and zagged like the top.  It was worth the extra work.

Rick-Rack Layouts

 

Isn't it interesting how a little bit of rearranging can change how a quilt looks?  I kind of like the ovals in the middle.  I'm starting to sew the rows together - I'll have to pick one soon! 

I've started to work on the backing, too.  It's a good way to use the discarded squares I cut for my first design. 

 

Got My Wiggle On

Did a lot of work on this the last two days!  An hour or two of cutting, then several hours of sewing drunkard's path blocks and assembling some squares.  I'm loving how it looks!  I'm debating about doing Green-Yellow-Blue-White-Green-Yellow-Blue or GYBWBYG or BYGWGYB.  I'll rearrange and take photos once I get them all the drunkard's path blocks sewn.  (Although now I realize with how much I've sewn together, some of the crests and troughs may not be easily interchangeable.)  Regardless, I think I may move the light patch of color to the top. 

At this rate, I should have a flimsy by the weekend - just in time to start thinking about backing and start work on the next Project Quilting challenge. 

Sharing with:
Quilt Schmilt - To-Do Tuesday

Around the Bend

I had pulled fabrics for the rick-rack quilt, but I didn't like how it looked on the design wall.  Time to scrap the scrappy look and go for solid strips.  At least I hadn't yet cut the curves, so the squares can merge into my growing bags of square scraps.

However, my stash didn't have enough half-yard chunks of the right colors.  Back to the shop.  I bought a light blue, a dark green, some more yellow and white.  I could finally start cutting again.  Since I had already cut some light green and yellow, I finished up those (and confirmed I do indeed have enough yardage).

Project Quilting 15.1 - Birdhouse Postcard

A new season of Project Quilting!  This is my fourth year of participating.  The challenge:  a quilt inspired by bird houses.  

These challenges are so much fun.  I never know where they'll take me.  My first thought was to piece together a mug rug.  I even had the design in my head.  But as I hit the sewing room, I discarded that in favor of an appliqued postcard.  I dug through my scraps until the right color combo came along.  It seemed too plain, so I fussy cut some leaves and flowers.  

My prior postcards have had square set binding.  I decided to try mitered corners on this one.  Would you look at that?  They came out nearly perfect.  I wish my normal-sized quilts came out so square!  (Although I'm not showing you the back - the corners are not so pretty.)  

I love it!

Sharing with:
Persimon Dreams - Project Quilting 15.1
My Quilt Infatuation - Needle and Thread Thursday

A Short Stay

Our two guinea pig foster boys from Dakin didn't stay long.  They were just getting getting into the swing of things around the house.  Lots of wheeking.  Not a lot of begging.  They had strange names:  Boov and Oh! (yes, including the exclamation point).  Boov hid most of the time but was a good boy when picked up and snuggled.  Oh! was very excitable, made most of the noise of the two.  He had no fear and loved running laps.

Playing with Rick-Rack

I'm working on a couple of projects right now, including a new baby quilt.  I'm doing curves again!  This will be a variation on drunken path - it will look like rick-rack.  I'm working with green, yellow and blue.  

So far it looks like a mess!  I'm cutting the squares for now - I haven't added the curves yet.  The colors look different up on the wall than they did bundled up on the table.  I think there needs to be more of a division between the colors.  Well, it's up where I can see it during the day; I can mull over it while at work.  It will be interesting to see how this progresses.