2016 Pets on Quilts!!!

It's finally here!!!

One of my favorite parties all year long!

 - and I'm so excited to share my new love with all of you 

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Many of you have already met Rocky through previous posts, but let me take a minute to introduce him to our new readers who are visiting today.

Rocky is so excited about being entered into the 2016 Pets on Quilts competition in the Cat on Quilt category!  After all, he just LOVES quilts!!!  When I told him we were going to enter him, he was quite shocked.  He had no idea that he was a beautiful cat or that other people would enjoy seeing him.  He's just a sweet, humble little guy, born in the rough and tumble (and dangerous!) mountains of North Carolina.  He was about 3 years old when I first saw him trembling in the snow on my mom's doorstep in April, fell in love with him on the spot, and brought him home to Nashville with me.

He had a home with lots of other cats, but he was small and gentle, so I think he got bullied by the older males and chose to spend his days outside, usually at my mom's house begging to be let in - but she couldn't because her cat Gus is a one-cat kinda guy.  Unfortunately for Rocky, "outside" was a pretty dangerous place to be - the families in the area had lost quite a few cats to the coyotes in recent months, and Rocky's mother and several siblings were among them.

I fell in love with his sweet fat cheeks at first glance!  I mean, just look at this face .... could you walk away from him and leave him to the coyotes?  Nope, me neither!!!  He took to me right away too, curling up in my arms and purring like a locomotive.  I was thrilled when his mom said I could bring him home with me.

First cuddle - I just love that dirty little nose!!!

Since moving in with us, Rocky has found that he is a true Quilter's Kitty!  He has found his calling!!!  He loves absolutely anything and everything to do with quilts!!!  The moment I walk into my studio, he is right there at my heels.  "What are we gonna do today, Mom?"  He's such a big help....

"Hmmm .... wonder if quilts taste as good as they cuddle ...."

He loves to sit on quilts .... this picture was taken his first night at our house - he headed straight for the first quilt he saw and made himself at home!  Needless to say, I was charmed =^..^=

The first quilt he claimed as "his" was Montego Bay.  I had made the strips for binding it and sat them near the quilt on my machine.  I stepped away for one minute to use the restroom before starting, and came back to this ...

He actually insisted on sitting on this quilt while I was binding it, just cuddled himself right in there and refused to budge.  I found I just couldn't say no - I mean, again, just look at that sweet face!!!  Can't you hear him begging, "aw please Mom!"  He rode that quilt all the way around as I sewed on the binding.  It was too funny!  I really should have made a video of it =^..^=

He also loves to Sleep on quilts .... one of his favorite things to do is nap on my Pineapple Blossom quilt in the studio while I am sewing  =^..^=  He never likes to be very far away from where I am in the house.

The next quilt he claimed was my Blooming Nine Patch.  I think he is especially attracted to the way the quilts feel between the sandwiching and quilting stages for some reason.

He was insistent on sitting on the quilt while I was working on it, but I just couldn't wrestle with free-motion quilting this big quilt with him on it!  The only way to keep him off of it was to cuddle him up on my flannel blue-and-white rag quilt - he was happy so long as he was on a quilt and right next to me!

When I had to set the quilt aside for a while to work on other projects, he made it his special spot - daring me to move him!  He tried to tell me he was just keeping an eye on it for me, but by then I was becoming wise to his addiction =^..^=

He especially enjoys helping me choose fabrics for "our" projects ...

"I don't think you need any of these Mom - I'll just keep them safe for you until you do...."

If there is fabric laying around in the studio, you can bet your bottom dollar that Rocky can be found laying on top of it!!!

"Here Mom, I think this is the one you want ..."



It can be exhausting work....

And the studio is a place of many diversions and exciting adventures!

King of the Hill!

And Hide-n-Seek!

Being a Quilting Kitty is a very demanding job with lots of roles to fill, but Rocky feels he is well up to the challenge!  He even tried to fill in for my machine when it went in for service LOL!!!

Now that's dedication!!!

So have you fallen in love with Rocky as much as we have?  If so, he would sure appreciate your vote for him in the Pets on Quilts contest - the Cat on Quilt category!  Maybe then he will believe me when I tell him what a beautiful and wonderful little boy he is!  Click - HERE - and vote for #2 - Rocky Quilter!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa & Rocky

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If You give a Mouse a File .....

And if that Mouse lives in my house....She will probably make a Quilted File Folder!

I look pretty happy here with my first retreat finish, don't I?

Last week I promised you in THIS post that I was planning something fun and happy with my little Mouse so I could join in on The Tartankiwi's fun Woodland Bundle Quiltalong.  Well, I packed up all my supplies ....

Zipper was recycled from an old beach bag!
It's been hanging around for years waiting for me to put it to use.
I love it!!!!

... along with this pattern/tutorial I've been hoarding for ages by Modern Handcraft (you can find the free tutorial HERE) ....

and chose it for my first project while at retreat at Becky's Barn with a couple of my favorite crazy fun friends.  This was a really fun project to do, and perfect for my first project because it went together quickly.  The instructions in the tutorial are clear and easy to follow :*)

First, I had to remove all the old faded pink fabric from around my recycled zipper....

And voila! - Good as new!!!

I love that it is a heavy-duty zipper, perfect for a folder that will get lots of use!

Before long, I had surrounded my little Mouse with a 1/4"hot pink border and then finished out the bottom front with that gorgeous bright blue.  It reminds me of a night at the fair while the fireworks are going off!

Next I added the layers of fabrics I had chosen for the top section ....  The topmost piece here is my inner lining.

Kinda wishing now I hadn't put the white at the top - it will get lots of touches and will be impossible to keep clean.  *sigh*

I proudly hung my new Mouse File Folder on the light over my machine where I sewed at retreat to spur me on to finish even more projects.  On the last day of the retreat, we were all packed up and ready to leave when Sheila comes strolling over to my station with her hands behind her back ... When she brought her hands to the front, she was holding my file folder!  ..... which she had stolen the day before .... and I hadn't even noticed!!!!  What can I say?  By that time I had shifted my focus to work on Moon Over Meowmi and forgot all about my poor little Mouse...

Now that I'm home, my folder has already been put to good use!

And at our Guild meeting this week, it held my new On-The-Go Project Bag patterns for those who ordered one :*)

FYI - I'm working on getting these available on the blog, but if you're interested in the meantime, drop me an email and I'll send you a PDF copy for just $6.00!

My next Woodland Bundle project is going to be very similar .... If my Mom is reading this, then she will know she is about to get a fun new gift :*)

Are you sewing along in the Woodland Bundle QAL?  Juliet at The Tartankiwi is so talented, and her patterns are always so well done.  You don't have to worry about running into problems - they sew up like butter!  And if you go over to her Etsy shop now, you can get the entire set of ALL FOUR Woodland creatures - in FOUR different sizes! - for SALE during the duration of the QAL!  Then you can join in to win some fun prizes!!!

I think my Bunny will be next to come out to play after the Squirrel - he's too darn adorable to sit alone for long!  

But to be honest, I can't be totally sure what my plan will be, because someone has taken control of my planning calendar ....

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Linking up with the following fun parties:

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

August Hopes and Dreams .....

Since life has been so busy lately, I'm leaning toward calling my plans for August more like hopes and dreams LOL!  We have a trip to Carolina planned this month for our niece's wedding and a nice visit with the kids and grandkids (and my sweet Mom!), which will carve out a good chunk of the month.

I did manage to finish up my July OMG - "Moon Over Meowmi" - but failed to find the time to write up a blog post so I could join the linky party :(  Oh well, I guess I would rather have the finish than the blog post, right?  Always look on the positive!!!

Of course, "finished" is a relative term, since this is only to the flimsy stage, which is all the farther I was prepared to take it for now.  There are already several quilting projects in process, and they have to be cleared before I can do this one.  As I said HERE when I posted the project as my July OMG, this project was begun way back in 2013, almost to the day, so to have it this far after sitting for 3 years is a WIN in my book!

I got down to business with this project at a quilt retreat last week.  The background fabric is a hand-dye by Colorways by Vicki Welsh.  I purchased both the pattern and that piece of fabric from Vicki.  The next piece that I thought would be critical to the success of Meowmi was the black.  Did I want a solid, flat black, or maybe a fun and funky print?  I never dreamed I would end up going with a slinky, shiny, glossy black that is anything but cotton!  Can you see the shiny black pattern fabric in this picture below?  It is a glorious fabric!!!  I have absolutely no idea what kind of material it is.

I came across it in my Miscellaneous Fabrics drawer while looking for the iridescent gauze remnant I had picked up several years ago and put back for the moon.  I keep things like Minkee and rayons, etc, in that drawer, fabrics I don't ever look for but sometimes happen upon in a remnant sale or at Goodwill - like a magpie, if it shines and glitters I'm hooked LOL!  I ended up falling hard for the black for my cats.  I even love that it frays a little on the edges making it look more like fur!

I really wanted a piece of white fake fur for the bellies, but didn't have time to shop before going off to retreat.  I was lamenting about this when Carole pops up and says did you say white fake fur?  I don't have fake fur, but I do have a nice while fluffy fabric with lots of texture - would that work?  Would it ever!

This white is just fluffy enough against the slick black - it's perfect!  We were all pretty amazed that someone "happened" to have the exact fabric I needed for my project - and enough of it that she could share with me :)  That was fun!!!

The iridescent gauze I had saved ended up working well for the moon, but I had to add a shiny silver behind it to make it show up enough.  It still needs a good trim, but I want to quilt it first.  See how sparkly and moon-like it is?

I also found this AMAZING piece of blue-green slinky fabric that I had picked up thinking I might make an infinity scarf out of it.  It worked perfectly for the bowl the cats are sitting on....  and who needs a silly old scarf when you can create an amazing bowl for cats to sit on?  Am I right?

I had a terrible time deciding what to use for the rim of the bowl.  I originally had a sparkly brick red piece, but I melted it on the iron - the retreat's iron!  Thankfully it came off okay :*)  I finally went with a wonderful blue grunge that looks a little like pottery. Everyone says the swirls in the bowl fabric look like fish figures :*)

As for the leaves, I decided to go with a variety of green cotton prints and batiks to change up the texture.  The tree is a gorgeous brown/black batik, so I think it all works well together.  The leaves will be 3D and will branch out beyond the binding when the quilt is done.

For someone who is not an art quilter, this quilt was a fun challenge for me!

This was my first retreat away from home since Rocky came to live with us, and I was a little worried about how he would handle it.  He's used to me being in and out all day, and tagging along at my heels wherever I am in the house.  As luck would have it, My Guy also had business meetings several nights that week, so Rocky spent two days alone from 6am to about 10pm.  My Guy said he almost attacked him when he walked in the door in the evenings LOL!!!  Here he is begging him not to leave him again ....

I was curious to see how he would treat me when I came home.  Gypsy used to very pointedly ignore me for a day or two just to make sure I knew how displeased she was with my deplorable behavior.  But Rocky's sweet nature doesn't seem to have space for such airs and punishments... he was delighted to see me!  For the next two days, he barely let me out of his sight....

I couldn't even read without him right there demanding my complete attention!  What a little sweetheart he is :*)

So that was it for July - wow did it ever go by at the speed of light, right?  As for August, my Guild UFO number this month is #3, and that means that my August OMG project will be my Patchwork Snowman Table Runner kit by Shabby Fabrics. 

I love that this is a new project - not even pulled out of the bag yet!  I realize that some don't consider an unstarted project a UFO, but for me if it has been sitting on my shelf kitted up (by me or someone else), then it is a UFO and needs to get DONE!

I love the colors in this kit and look forward to having a Christmas finish this early in the year :*)

There's also a bonus project I'd like to finish - it's one of those that I mentioned clogging up the quilting queue ....

This is my August Calendar Quilt - it's only been in the works for a couple of years LOL!  I got it appliqued and fused down last July, and had every hope of getting it quilted this July but that obviously didn't happen.  This is as far as I've gotten...

These quilts designed by Kim Schaefer have the cutest little details!  This little bee will have to be quilted in a light color so his head will show up :*)

I'd love to finish it this week if possible so I can enjoy it on the wall for a while this year.  And since the September quilt hasn't even been started, it might get to stay on the wall until October :*)  After this one, the Blooming Nine Patch (BNP) is next in the queue for quilting.  I want to finish that one SO badly!!!!

I'm linking up with Quilting is More Fun than Housework for this week's Oh Scrap! party!

Julie over at The Crafty Quilter also has a fun UFO linkup party ....

And I'm also going on over to Red Letter Quilts to join the linky fun there!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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