Wordy Wednesday

I want to thank my friends Daisy Mae Maus and Poppy Q, and my wonderful sweetheart, Monty Q, for helping me figure out what my 6 word memoir should be. I used ideas from all of them:

Formerly feral feline finds forever friends.

Of course, Monty's version, "Formerly feral foxy femme fatale forever" is pretty tough to beat.

You know Mom is making herself a backpack. (She -should- be washing the dirty dishes and folding the clean laundry, and sewing Gizzy quilts, but No-o-o...) My pals Lyra & Caesar sent some fabric to Mom. (They haven't blogged in a while, but they will be catching up soon!) Mom decided to make the backpack from some of it:

She's almost finished. She just has to add the flap to a pocket, then sew this big thing called a gusset to the front and back pieces, then insert the lining and sew it all up. She says it will be finished tomorrow.

Anyway, in case you guys didn't know about her sense of humor already, here is the pocket for her iPod on the backpack:

Tuxie Toesday Tuesday

I'm still thinking about the six word memoir meme...

Purraying for Orange Boy

I am sending purrayers for Orange Boy. He got bit by a rattlesnake on his head, near his eye. I think that must be worse than getting hit by a car.

Message from Mary Kay

The HAM Meezer Raffle Quilt was delivered to Mary Kay's house on Saturday. She sent this email to Mom, and we thought you'd all like to see it. You can click the pictures to biggify.

Dear Lynne,

The quilt arrived yesterday afternoon. Caesar and Drac have sniffed it and approve. LOL! Please thank Autnie Karate and Mr Karate for us, and tell Millie, Roxy and Lucky that they have done a marvelous job as quality control snooperintdents. I have enclosed some pictures for you to share with everyone. Thank you all again, I will treasure the quilt always.

Fondly,

Mary Kay

Easy Like Sunday

The Family came over last night for a dinner to celebrate Mr Karate's birthday. Auntie & Mr Big & PlusOne, Mim-may & Pip-pay & Missy all came over for dinner. Mom roasted two chickens and asparagus, Mim-may mashed the potatoes and a good time was had by all. Mr Karate prefers brownies to cake, so that's what Mom made. Here is Mr Karate about to eat his serving.
Yes, that is FOUR pieces of brownies, with vanilla ice cream all piled up on top of each other.
Mr Karate ate it ALL!

In other silly news, as if Mom doesn't have enough sewing projects planned, she wants to make herself a backpack so when she walks to the library she can keep the books in the backpack instead of carrying them somehow. Bast forbid she would -buy- herself one. Anyway, she has plenty of material for the backpack itself, but she needed some material for a lining in the backpack, and so she went to the fabric store and came home with this:For some reason she thinks she is very clever and too funny by half. I don't get it, but she claims that all Moms in the blogosphere will agree with her.

Go figure.

(Honest to goodness... I can hear her cackling in the other room. What did I say? What was so funny?)

Spring Has Sprung!

Here's what it looks like outside this morning.
This Forsythia bush is starting to bloom:
The trees are budding (Mom says this means she will start sneezing and her nose will run. Run how? It's stuck to her face.)
And the grass is starting to get nice and green.
These aren't the only things growing around here. Check out this shelf in the bookcase in Mom's sewing room.You can go back here to see it when she cleaned that room back in March. Yes, she has added to that pile of fabrics. Now the shelf is chock-full of stuff for projects that aren't Gizzy Quilts.

Well, let me re-phrase that. These projects ARE for Gizzy Quilts, but they are not the "Standard" Gizzy Quilt size. They will all be BIGGER. And they will be traveling.

Millie, all the Gizzy quilts travel.

And I haven't even told you about th...

MILLIE!

Formerly Feral Friday

Ah, the joys of lying in the sun, in a nice comfy hammock! I am such a lucky girlkitty!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilly Lu is another lucky girl! Great home, and she lived through a fire, which has to be the scariest thing in the world. Happy Gotcha Day, Lilly Lu!


I also have some good news. An anonymous benefactor has placed an order with Mom to make 3 Gizzy quilts for Lilly Lu, Mu Shue and Iris, to replace the quilts that were destroyed in the fire. Mom's got fabric on order and will be making them A. S. A. P. Isn't that terrific?

Thursday Thirteen - Birthday Dessert

Mom made this nifty dessert for Mr Karate last night, when he was here for his special birthday dinner of Steak, Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese, Grilled Red Onion Slices and Rice Pilaf.

Mom says this is "So Easy" that it doesn't even need words. So this is really an (Almost) Wordless Thursday Thirteen:

Enjoy!
1.
2.
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4.
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Happy Birthday Mr Karate!

It is Mr Karate's birthday today. He is 28 years old. That's like, older than dirt! Which means Mom is really really old!

MILLIE!

Excuse me. Sorry Mom.

Anyway, let's all wish Mr Karate a Happy Happy Birthday!

This is one of Mom's favorite pictures of Mr Karate. Mimmay took it several years ago, when Mr Karate was still in college.

I'm kinda partial to this one, though:
I bet he thought he was invisible. Heh.

Toesday

Grr!

Monday - Mary Kay's Quilt is Finished!

Here it is, on the lawn. Isn't it pretty?
Here, Mom (on the left) and Auntie (on the right) are standing on the picnic table, holding the finished quilt. It is really pretty! We are all quite sure that Mary Kay will like her quilt! We are also sure the Meezers are happy too!

Thanks to everyone who donated to the HAM Meezer Quilt Benefit Raffle.

(you can click the pictures to biggify)

Finishing the Quilt!

After the quilt is all laid out properly, the layers have to be tied together so they won't shift. Mom threads a big needle with crochet cotton and makes a little stitches every six inches or so. She doesn't cut the threads just yet.
Mr Karate helped tie the quilt. He cut between the stitches and tied square knots. Then Mom trimmed the long ends nice and short.
Then Mom moved the quilt to the table, to trim the edges and fold them over to make a binding for the quilt.
Naturally, I supervised.When Mom had pinned the binding over on all four sides, she sewed the binding to the front of the quilt.It's all finished, but you'll have to check tomorrow's post to see pictures!

Tie It Up Sunday

Mom and Mr Karate will be tying the HAM Meezer Quilt today. Here are the steps. As Mom and Mr Karate get more done, I will add pictures to this post, so check back later. Mom is eager to finish the quilt and send it flying to Mary Kay. I bet Mary Kay is pretty excited, too!

Mom irons the backing of the quilt. The backing of this quilt is 108" wide, and about 3-1/4 yards long, so it is really really big.
Next, Mom moves the furniture in the table room to one side, and then she sweeps the floor so it is clean and dust free.
Mom tapes the backing to the floor with blue painter's tape. This way the backing stays nice and flat and it doesn't move. It also means I can't play the slip and slide game. Bummer.
Mom marks the centers of each side with tape shaped like a "V." This will help to center the quilt on the backing.
Next, the quilt is folded inside out, and its centers are marked also. Then the quilt is laid out on top of the backing, and centered.
Sometimes it needs to be adjusted. Mom wanted the quilt moved to the left 1". It's easy to do when the backing is taped to the floor.
Mom needs at least 6" around all 4 sides of the quilt, so she has enough fabric for her binding.

Still Snow Saturday

There may not be any more snow at our house, but Mom found this pile of snow near Mimmay's house.
Mom says it is a snowbank. But I think she's lost her marbles. (You know, she's been "so tired" lately I think it's affecting her brain.) I mean, a Bank? Where's the money? This doesn't seem to me to be a very good place to keep money.

Mom says there are snowbanks all over the place. Here's another one:
How can you save money in a snowbank? Or if you don't keep money in the bank, what about your valuables? Like your 'Nip stash, or toys or something. Let's face it, snow melts.

I wouldn't want to keep stuff in a snowbank. That just seems silly. Mr Karate agrees with me, but has some unique ideas. He can understand why people would want to make a deposit in a snowbank, but can't imagine why anyone would want to make a withdrawal. He was also wondering how interest accrues in a snowbank...
He bicycled here 20 miles from his house this morning to have breakfast with Mom. Now he is off to his Karate class. Later they will be going to see a movie.