Worth the wait

So, I know you have been wondering.  You want to know how it went and were my boys excited.

John and Coco hit it off!

Ben and Jack taking a snooze together.

Jack meeting Rae.  Um he was NOT impressed.

 

Jack after a day of meeting and greeting.

 

 

"Good morning!"  Jack ready for round 2.

Coco has decided that this is her favorite spot.

 

 

As expected we are all in love with the new kitties.  I hadn't expected them to hit it off so famously with my Took, but I am pleased as punch that they did.  He was beside himself and chortled for two days.  I don't ever remember him being so at peace.

 

The dogs....well....they are very excited about the new additions.  Jack, being a fearless little fellow, has them under control.  One squeak from his mighty .8 pound frame and, tails tucked, they make a hasty retreat.  (Very funny to watch).  Coco on the other hand had the sad misfortune of being cornered by the beasts on her first foray out of the master bath.  Until this is rectified the dogs are banished to the library where they pine away their evenings on an old leather couch.  Coco is quite pleased to have claimed Rae's favorite snoozing spot.

 

On the quilting front....I've been catching up on my work.  This is the first time in months that I can actually see the bottom and back of the work to be done shelf. 

 

 

I've been doing some hand work....

 



....more on that later.



Not much quilting going on...

Although I did receive this lovely mini in the mail from Mamacjt as part of the latest Little Quilt- Sew, Vote, Swap on Flickr. It is fantastic....way better in person than in this photo. It is a much needed bright spot in my home.

My time has been spent trying to love on my boys...

the human and the fuzzy...

as we process the loss of our sweet Button kitty. My Tookie cat has been stuck to me like a big purring chunk of velcro.

Turns out God knew we would need some extra kitty loving long before we did and arranged for these babies to be born.

Meet Coco....as in the perfume...not the food group.

She is 11 months old and the daughter of Cashmire Mist and a handsome fellow named Velcro. (This might be an omen.)

Isn't she sweet? Turns out she has a scamp of a baby brother that also needed a forever home.

He is 3 months old. That funny little brown nose stole my heart.

They are both from the QT-Tonks Cattery in Groves, TX....5.5 hours south of where I live. Sounds like a good excuse for a road trip doesn't it. There is no way I can pick them up any time soon. It will be at least a couple of weeks before I have enough time to drive down and back. BUT remember how I told you that God had it all planned? Well the owners of QT-Tonks had been planning a road trip to Denver, CO. They left this morning...and are driving right through Dallas...in fact right by one of my favorite quilt shops not 20 minutes from my home. Oh yeah, my God is that good! The kittens are enroute as I type this. My boys don't know and I am just too excited to stand myself.

I was going to wait and share pictures of the babies in my own home....but I am giddy....I cant hardly wait to feel their yummy soft little selves and see the looks on my boys faces when they get home from school.

I don't have words to describe how awed I am feeling. I was given 11 years with the most extraordinary cat I have ever met. Cat is really too tiny a word to explain how large 9 pounds of fur and whiskers can be. Now I sit on the precipice of a new adventure, designed by God just for me and my family....

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

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Some Buttons are better than the rest....

 

It is with great sadness that I take a moment to say good by to an extrodinary cat.

Button was born on September 11, 2001. A day that for many people brings memories of infamy, to me brings a sense of calm and peace....all because of a little brown cat.

Everything about Button was geared toward comforting the people around her. She seemed to have a 6th sense regarding the state of our hearts and gravitated toward the person in greatest need. She sat patiently and let us polka dot her fur with our salty tears. She went willingly with my toddler to complete his bedtime ritual...and stayed tightly clutched in his chubby arms until he relaxed and fell asleep. She edured countless forrays into the t-shirts and hoodies of my boys....never once scratching or snarling at them....as well as trips in backpacks and dresser drawers. She didn't seem to care what was done to her as long as she could be with people.

She loved to be held. Button conformed to the arms and body of whomever was lucky enough to be her chosen one as if she had melted into them....becoming one. And though I tease that she suffered from Stolkhome Syndrome I do believe that she loved my youngest son with a love that was rare beautiful and matched only by the love he felt for her in return. I've never cried so hard for the pain I knew was about to befall someone else...until I anticipated having to tell Ben that she had died last Friday.

She went very quickly. There was nothing that could have been done to save her, nothing I wouldn't have done if there had been a way. Life is like that. It comes to an end....at least this side of heaven. I have no idea what happens to the soul of a cat....if a cat has a soul....but I like to think that there is something eternal about critters, just as there is about men, and that she is with my Dad, and our Sophie enjoying a day of fishing by the Chrystal Sea.

Thank You God for lending her to us for a little while.

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A Special Welcome & The Anatomy of a Long Arm

Hello,

I'm glad you could stop by this morning. What a treat it is to have visitors from The Tulip Patch.

Today is the first in a series of Saturdays when Mary of The Tulip Patch is hosting "Shout Out Saturday". I am her first guest. How awesome is that?! Thank you Mary for having me. If you haven't been there already, take a moment to go visit her. You can learn a little about me....and get some tips on long arm quilters. As an addendum to that information I've created a little, minuscule, pictorial tutorial on what it is those mystical beings do to your quilts.

It all starts here. This is my long arm machine....it is a Gammell Optimum with a Statler Stitcher. I call it Waldorf. All long arm machines are basically long necked sewing machines. They work the same way a domestic machine does. What is different is the way the fabric gets moved through it.

When you free motion quilt on a domestic sewing machine (a skill I do not possess) you move the fabric. The machine sits just where it always does and you do the work normally done by the feed dogs. The quilt has to be basted before hand and rolled or folded so that it will fit through the neck of the machine so you can work on the middle of the quilt.

On a long arm the pieces of the quilt are secured on a big table and the machine is moved around.

Tables are usually between 10 and 14 feet long. Mine is 12. The length of the table limits the size of the quilt that can be quilted on it. The shortest side of a quilt has to be less than the length of the table in order to mount the top. This isn't usually a problem....a king sized quilt is approximately 108"x95". A twelve foot table is 144".

Every table has three winding rods. There is one to hold the quilt's top; one to hold the backing; and one to hold the completed quilt as it is taken up. The top and the backing are attached to fabric leaders that are attached to the rods.

At the front of every table is a bar. This is the front most edge. The top, back, and batting all pass over it before they are quilted. The "belly bar" serves as a fixed, and straight reference point for the long arm quilter. It also keeps everything nice and flat.

Quilts are also secured at the sides. Long, straps of velcro extend from the sides of the table to the backing material. These straps have big clips on the end of them. The clips are fastened to the backing and batting and keep it taught from side to side.

When a quilt is properly mounted on the table it isn't going to go anywhere. It is taut, but not so tight that you could bounce coins off of it. My cats think it makes a lovely hammock, and it probably does if you only weigh 7 pounds. I discourage their use of customer quilts in this manner.

Sometimes they sneak past me.

Thanks for stopping by....and have a great day.

STUDly Day

It was a red letter day all around.

First the mail....

A package with taunting messages on it.

Oh so inviting on the inside.

Goodies began to appear the moment I opened it.

Eek! So much fun...

"Pumpkin!" was made for me by SewGentle, my partner for the Sept./Oct STUD Halloween swap. Her workmanship is stunning. This little quilt is hand appliquéd and quilted.

A close up of her applique. These little birds remind me of the finches I used to have.

Her embroidery is beautiful...ribbons and floss and bits of wool. This is a fantastic quilt.

Thank you sweet new friend. I wish we lived closer so that we could run off on a quilty adventure together.

Then a special delivery...

Our guild had a garage sale last night. There were lots of lovely sewing room cast offs. A stunning raffle quilt from the guild in the next city over. Pecan and cookbook sales. It was quite a gala. But the best part was the delivery of my other Sept/Oct STUD quilty. My friend Martha recently joined STUD and was paired with me for her first Anything Goes swap. This is the quilt she made for me.

She made the folded petal flowers on pins so that they can be moved around, or worn.

She told me that the backing doesn't the rest of the quilt, but it did remind her of my kitties. I think it is purr-fect!

All of that and this passel of goodies. Clips and coasters, a set of alphabet stamps, and the most beautifully crafted letter I've read in a very long time. Any knuckle smacking Nun would hold it up as a stunning example of epistlery. You like that word? I just made it up. Martha's letter was so beautiful that it deserves a fancy word to describe it.

Thank you friend!

I hope your day was as studly.

Laziness and Love at First Sight

How perverse am I?

I've been waiting for a package from my STUD partner in Alaska. I know she sent it earlier this week.

I've been waiting for a new book to come. My favorite author has a new one coming out this month.

I saw the mail man come to my door, saw her walk right up to it with a parcel in her hands, and I didn't budge. I just left it there sitting on my stoop while I edited an article. Poor little package alone on the door step.

Maybe I was enjoying the anticipation, or maybe I was too engrossed in what I was doing. Most likely I was just too lazy to get up off my bum and go to the door. Silly me.

Look what I found inside! Something wonderful, all safely sealed in plastic wrap, came all the way to my door from North Pole, Alaska...and it isn't even Christmas.

Design sketches and post cards. Someday I will have to visit the frozen north. I think I would love it. Unfortunately, my husband has water running through his veins. He hates the cold...that would be anything below 70 degrees. The sketches are amazing. Check out my attempt at the same subject.

And, the part you've all been waiting for...just look at this little quilt! It is amazing, and so much like my kitty. (oomph, he is pacing around my work table right now, trying to find a place to sit in my arms.)

I'm back now. Can you tell that the ribbon, feather, and bell are all 3D? Playing chase is one of my dear little friend's favorite things, but I have to tell you he is never this composed and handsome about it. My kitty is a klutz! That is why his name is Took. He is a "fool of a took" just like J.R.R.Tolken's character from "Lord of the Rings". Think, Gilligan's Island meets James Bond and you will have a good idea of his temperament. He won me over in the first few seconds of our acquaintance.

This quilt touched my heart just as quickly. THANK YOU CRAZYPOODLEGIRL!

Happy Birthday to Me - The Day I Turned 48

I celebrated my 48th birthday on Sunday, April 10.  It was a quiet day.





Flowers received from my Mom.



We went to church in the morning.  It is always a joy to see out friends and praise God together.  I realized that our new building has three different colors of upholstery.  That made me think.  Wouldn't it be a fun prank to play on our dear pastor....I cornered the youth (three of which belong to me) and suggested rearranging the chairs to leave a message for him.  We had fun speculating about what could be written.

While the boys were at youth activities Gilbert and I indulged in a level or two of Lego Harry Potter on the Wii.  I love Lego games.  Their creativity never ceases to amaze me.  Besides that, smashing things can be very cathartic.  By the time the boys got home we were sufficiently stuck and needed their help to continue the game.

We discovered birds nesting in our dryer vent.  Our laundry is on the second floor and the hoses exit from the house provides a nice, although inappropriate, house for neighborhood birds.  As I write I can hear them scratching and hopping about.  It is driving my little cat nuts!  Yesterday he sat by the hose in the laundry - I could see his feral nature churning.  He knew they were there, but hadn't a clue how to get to them.  Today he is streaking across the room every time he hears them.   It is very fun to see my usually quite kitty stirred up a bit.

Sprinkles brand Red Velvet Cupcakes

In the evening we celebrated my day with a plate of Red Velvet Cup Cakes.  My sweet husband made them for me.  He says the dots are a trade mark of the company that produced the mix.  Very fun.  I think there is one left if you can get here before the boys come home from school.  If not, then I'm afraid you will be out of luck.

The best part of the day...hearing my iphone chime everytime someone left a salutation for many happy returns of the day on my Face Book account.  It was like a giant, global hug.

Thanks for sharing the day with me....oh there go the birds again...and there goes the cat!  LOL