Cats & Quilts - a match made in heaven... (except maybe those stubborn little clouds of fur that latch on to the fabric!)

Kitty Quote of the Day

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul. - Jean Cocteau

Sunday, July 31, 2011

My Mission for this week....

My mission, this week, should I choose to accept it - is to learn needleturn applique.

I am nearly half way with my Life is Beautiful blocks & some of them have applique as well as stitchery so it's time to try this and finish these blocks.


I'm a jet at blanket stitch applique but needleturn looks like doing grown up applique so has been avoided to date. Now, armed with a DVD to watch that came free with Quilters Companion Magazine I am set to hopefully add a new skill to my sewing bag.



Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Monday, July 4, 2011

Tuesday Treasures

It's been awhile but at last I am able to rejoin Melody & friends in showing our Tuesday Treasures.

My treasure is a small china ornament my mum brought me maybe 14 years ago. Mum thought they were a family of little cats (shopping without her glasses again) but instead they are a very cute family of dogs & I think one of my favourite breeds, the Scottish Terrier. Mum, Dad & the two pups are picnicing together.


As you can see in the pics these are very civilised pups that sit up to the table together to partake in their food & drink. The chairs have sweet little draped covers with bows across the chair back. One little pup is having trouble paying attention so he is seated backwards watching what else is going on in the yard.


It is a one off treasure mum picked up in an op shop that she knew I would love (quirky animals - whats not to love??). It is only small, about 5in x 4in x 4in (12.5cm x 10cm x10cm) with felt on the bottom & no obvious marks of value dollarwise but lots of sentiment & I love my little scotty dog family!


So if you have a treasure to proudly share, sign up at Meldoy's blog, The House on The Side of the Hill.

Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Tonight's Blogger Experiences

It just took me 10 minutes of trying, a search in blogger help & a change to my internet settings to finally get to post a comment on one of the usual blogs I follow. Same problem again, asks me to log in with email & password, takes me back to the comment to put in the codeword, takes me back to the same screen asking for email & password etc.

According to the blogger help I needed to go to Internet Options / Privacy / Advanced & Allow Third Party Cookies. Mine said they were allowed but I said override & clicked on the same again & I can now post, having just tried again on about 6 other blogs. Just in case this helps anyone else. They also said that comments were still working for those who havea  pop up comments form rather than the embedded type so maybe that is worth a try too.


Hopefully happy commenting
Tracee xx

Sunday, July 3, 2011

June Was A Good Month For Sewing....

I felt like not much was accomplished in June but maybe that was my bad laptop experiences getting me down or the fact that some of my monthly projects being a bit neglected. However when it came to writing my list I realised that is was a good month for me. I'm definately a smaller projects girl & one day I hope to grow up & be more of a big quilts girl but for now this is making me happy. NOTE: lots of pics to follow.

My ongoing projects had differing results;

1. Vignette Hexagon quilt - NONE! However my goal is 12 a month (a year to do the quilt) & last month I overdosed & did 40 so this went by the by to make room for other projects.

2. Life is Beautiful Stitcheries - 3 of these gorgeous stitcheries completed


3. Tis The Season Stitch-a-long - 2 more blocks done. This SAL concept is working so well for a chronic non-finisher like me - thanks Chooky!


4. Retro Nine Patch - NONE also but trying to make up for that furiously each night at the moment. It is such a refreshing project with bright retro colours. If you haven't seen this free project, then hurry to Lyn's blog Blue Bird Quilts. The pictures of the full project are available in earlier posts.

So I did a few new & one off projects too;

1. A Tis The Season Wallhanging using my reject blocks & a cute little Christmas skirt for my kitty hanger. Kitty still needs a nice festive ribbon for his tail then he will be ready for the season. The holly will be replaced when I find just the right things to put in those gaps - I left them as I know I wanted something in there but now can't find that perfect thing. The reject stitcheries are trimmed to 4.5 inches whereas I decided I wanted more white & trimmed the rest at 5 inches.


2. I made the little Tis The Season pillow in matching fabric. I really like this.



3. I did one Snugglybug block for the quilts that Helen from Hugs & Kisses / Patternpress runs to give to little ones that enter Hobart hospital oncology & other major traumas. This little man wanted a Collingwood Football Club quilt & fortunately this had come up before so I had a spare headband that I incorporated in to the block. I know some of you already help with this project but if any one else is interested have a look at the Snuggly Bug project page.


4. I joined up for the Santa Sack Swap that Cheryll has organised on her Gone Stitchin Blog. This is a swap full of surprises as you send presents to your swap partner every month from July to December so lots to open come Christmas Day. I am hoping my partner Marie has received her first gifts sent early last week or will Monday before reading this. Month 1 we send 2 wrapped gifts & our Santa Sack to put them all in. I did a felt & stitchery Christmas Stocking in traditional Christmas red & white & gold. I loved the end result & hope Marie does too.


5. Last but definately not least I have done the stitcheries & piecing of the top of Val Laird's 'My Pretty Sewing Things' wall hanging. This is soooo cute & you get most of the fabric out of a charm pack (enough for two really + inner blue border fabric + stitchery fabric). Check out Val's version that was a featured pattern in Homespun magazine at her blog. Here is a peek at a couple of my stitcheries, the tape measure & the pin cushion - too cute!



So that is the month that was. Hopefully this month is just as productive though working in Finance at end of financial year in July can be tiring. Anyway this month I will get a bit more done, hopefully my wall hanging finished & an awful lot more blogging if lappy behaves.

Happy sewing
Tracee xx