I Like Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving

Lots going on, lots to like this month, not a lot to share.

We had a pretty sunset a few weeks ago - lots of blue and purple.  There is a crescent moon hiding between the trees in there somewhere, too.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, with good food and family love.  It will be quiet this year - just my mom coming over.  But I'll be grateful all the same - there's a lot of good in my life. 

Quilt Prep

Next up on my project list is a black and white king.  Sometimes the biggest hurdle in starting a new quilt is all in my head.  What if I make mistakes?  What if I don't like how it turns out?  Am I ready to put in the focus it takes?  Ugh.

So I start in small pieces, slowly.  First up, wash the fabric.  For this quilt, that was a project all on its own.  Just look at the pile of it on my ironing board!  Ironing all that took over two hours.  It gave me a chance to know the fabric - feel the weight and the texture, see how well it behaves.  Now it's flat and folded and ready for the next step. 

Most of my quilts are inspired by other quilts or entirely my own design.  Usually I jump straight to cutting and sewing blocks once the fabric is prepped.  Midnight Garden has instructions.  On a quilt this size, I need a test block to ensure I'm cutting all the pieces the right size and that they'll fit together.  Nothing worse that cutting large amounts of fabric and discover it's the wrong size (especially if the pieces are too small!).

  I bought the fabrics having an idea of the grayscale values in the pattern and a guess of how it will all look together.  Sometimes what looks good next to each other doesn't look right when pieced. 

Powerpuff Piggies

 

The foster guinea pigs from Dakin Humane have learned to rule the roost.  Ah, yes, the good life. 

Blossom (the one with the black and tan butt) is amazingly insistent whenever anyone is in the kitchen.  We are there only to serve her goodies - there is no other option.  In contrast, she's also still the most timid of the trio, almost always bolting when I come near the cage (unless, of course, I have food in hand - not sure how she knows that).

Playing with Buttons

I wanted to decorate some hair combs to go with my dancing outfits - I was in need of something blue.  I enjoyed making the fabric flowers; now I wanted to play with buttons.  I wasn't happy with the buttons I had, so I found some blue and green (and unexpected gold) buttons at Swanson's.  The blues and greens are not as vibrant as I wanted, but I think they will look nice.  I fell in love with the golden-brown buttons and bought them without any specific plans.  They fit on a comb nicely and I can already think of at least one outfit that will go with.  

It was a quick evening project to wire them together with a bit of florist wire.  

Sharing with:
Quilt Schmilt - To Do Tuesday
My Quilt Infatuation - Needle & Thread Thursday

Being Blobby Between Beggings

The Powerpuff Girls (my current fosters from Dakin Humane) are settling in.  Blossom is still terribly shy, but also happens to be the wheekiest of the bunch.  

Buttercup has learned that scritches are good - she doesn't run away quite so often and leans into me when I scritch her head and shoulders.  Oh, yeah, right there is good.

I often find these two hanging out on the third level.  Blossom is always in the cozy and Buttercup camps out as close as she can to the cozy, but never in it.  

Halloween Happenings

We had unseasonably warm weather on Thursday for Halloween.  I thought I would be going on a solo mission to the town center.  But last minute, my sister was able to come with her partner and brought our mom.  I also convinced Rob to come, so we were a crowd!  

I'm always so impressed with the decorations.  This buffet was my favorite.  A ghostly twisted Mad Hatter tea?  Down the street from them is a rocking graveyard which is always fun to see. 

I Like Thursday: October Is Not Quite Done Yet

One more I Like Thursday post this month.  Crazy, right?

Ooh - what do you think of this crazy-elegant Halloween lady with her pearls.  Totally styling, right? 

Mmm... black and white.  I spent Saturday buying yards and yards of black, white and grey fabric for a king sized quilt I'll be making.  How appropriate for October - I'm terrified to tackle this project and yet I can't wait to start working on it! 

Big Step, Little Step

My next project, by request, will be a black-and-white (I guess technically grey scale) king sized quilt (with 14" drop).  I offered the recipient a half dozen or so patterns I was willing to do, and they picked a quilt pattern named Midnight Garden.  The pattern is for a throw quilt - I'm keeping the block size and adding more blocks  and will skip adding the borders.  

I planned out the quilt, crunched the numbers and triple checked the yardage (I'm notorious for not getting quite enough).  I usually linger over that step of planning for a while, coming back several times to review my work with a fresh head.  On Saturday I was ready to take the plunge and buy the fabric... and came home with nine pounds!