Scrappy Fleece Projects

I recently decided to replace Cannoli and Boadicea's fleece hay rack.  As I dug through my pile of fleece scraps, I figured I could make a few other items for the pigs.  We're down a hammock since Noli snipped most of the seams from one of them.  And I've been wanting to make little pig pillows since I saw this post on Cali Cavy Collective.

The new hay rack is a little smaller than others I've made.  I didn't pay attention and cut the straps along the non-stretchy grain of the fleece, which makes stuffing it with hay a bit more difficult.  I may need to make note of that in the instructions.

I think the hammock looks great.  The flamingo fleece was very thin, so I added a layer of batting to give the hammock a bit more padding.  I'm happy with the pillows, although I'm not sure how popular they will be.  I put the flamingo pillow in the cage last week.  It has traveled around the cage but I haven't seen any pig snuggled up with it.  I guess I'll give it some time and see what happens.

Anita's Arrowhead

I'm still on my throw pillow kick.  They're fun little projects that I get to keep (because I have a place for them).  Plus I get to try out new patterns.

The latest one is called Anita's Arrowhead.  It starts with two 8" squares and voila!  you end up with a two-toned X block.  They're so easy and quick.  I think I did six blocks in less time than it took to do a single herringbone block.  I've been been thinking of making a new quilt for my bed.  I've been looking at several different patterns and this one has just entered the running.

I may have to try some more of these sew-together-and-cut-apart kind of blocks.  This was fun.

I'm linking up with Freemotion by the River.

Grow Your Blog

Today I am participating in the Grow Your Blog blog party.  Welcome to Crafts, Cavies and Cooking!  (And if you notice the URL, it used to be Contra dancing.)  I realize it's a somewhat eclectic mix.  But hey, it's what I enjoy!  I hope you do, too.

2014 quilting projects

Perpetual Motion

Good pigs, sharing pellets

Boadicea has lost a little weight since she's been here.  I haven't seen any sign that Cannoli is guarding the food.  In fact, they're often at the hay rack or the pellet dish together.  I think Boadicea has a touch of ADHD.  She starts eating food, then something catches her interest and she goes off to investigate.  She'll come back and take a few more nibbles, then get distracted again.  If she's unlucky, Cannoli will have polished off whatever she left behind.  Noli has never been a fast eater for a guinea pig, but she's consistent.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Boadicea is interested in everything, including a clean cage.  She checks out the corners and the grids, and ooh!  Is someone in the kitchen with treats?  Talk about fearless - I've never seen any other pig leap off the ramp to the first level.

Cozy Conflict

Cannoli in the cozy and Boadicea is left out

Cannoli and Boadicea have been getting a little heated over the third floor cozy.  When I glance over at the cage, one or the other is usually occupying that cozy.  The third level itself is a popular place to hang out.  Pinniped and Cannoli regularly slept overnight up there, and I find Noli and Boadi up there, too.

The loudest whining occurs when Noli is in the cozy and Boadi is looking to get in, too.  I realize that Noli makes things sound more dire than they are.  On the other hand, I'm beginning to think that Boadicea enjoys inciting a fuss.  She looks sweet and innocent, and all she wants is to be near Cannoli.  That may have been the case in the beginning.  I'm not convinced.  She's a devious rodent.

Chance of Flurries

I spent Sunday evening watching the Patriots while printing and preparing snowflake patterns.  (You can find the series of patterns on Craftsy.)  I printed out the freezer paper for snowflakes 1, 3 and 4. (I had already printed snowflake #7.)

They all look alike!  Before I cut apart the pieces, I labeled them with their snowflake number.  Then I printed out each snowflake's cutting table, folded them in half and stapled the sides.  Voila!  Envelopes to hold the pieces when they're not in use.

I'm ready to go!  I'm hoping to get sewing by the weekend.

Strutting Her Stuff

A clean cage is always something to get excited about.  New fleece is an excuse to check out every corner.  Cannoli decided it was the perfect time to reestablish her dominance.

I'm not sure how successful it was.  In Cannoli's mind, she did a bang-up job.  She clearly rumblestruts over every level of the cage.  However, I don't think it made any impression on Boadicea.  She blithely checked out the whole cage and pretty much ignored Cannoli. 

I particularly like Noli's ending popcorn bounce.  See?  All mine.  I did a good job.

We Interrupt This Cage Cleaning...

Boadicea inspecting my cage-cleaning progress

Things have settled quite a bit between Cannoli and Boadicea in the last three weeks.  Holy Moses, they've been funny.  I wish I could have captured their goofiness.  You'll just have to take my word on it.

Cannoli makes a ruckus every day.  I don't want to share!  It's my cozy!  It's my lettuce.  Go away!  Noli rumblestruts over the 3rd level cozy; oh, such a big scary pig!  <ahem>  NOT.  Boadicea ignores Noli's demonstrations.  Reminds me a lot of Cannoli's first weeks home - she largely tuned out Pinniped's efforts to be dominant.