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).