Sleepy Saturday

Uh, Millie...What? I'm napping here. I'm not bothering anybody.


Millie, that's the Gizzy Quilt I have to finish.Yeah so? Do it later. Zzzz...

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I'm working here! Seriously. Mom is making a Gizzy quilt for a friend of mine, and it's my job to do the final Quality Assurance check.

It's gonna pass with flying colors!

Thursday Thoughts

Mom's been sewing. I've been snoopervising. Last week I showed you four houses. Here are the others she has made since. You can click them to biggify.

Mom's having brain cramps trying to figure out what colors to use for the Ginger Cat that won the Gizzy Quilt Raffle. Rusty likes to sleep on a cranberry red chair and on the blue and green bedspread on his mom's bed. Ginger Cats... Your ideas are most welcome! Please leave them in the comments.

thanks!

Millie Monday

You know your Mom is a bit cuckoo when she gets up early on a day she doesn't have to go day hunting. You know something is afoot when she turns on the tv before she turns on the computer. She's watching the tennis in Paris.

I, on the other hand, in addition to performing quality inspection on her newest quilt, have been thinking about my pals in Hoos-ton, Missy Blue Eyes, KC, and the Sherwood bunch.

Mom ML does a lot for all of us cats in the Cat Blogosphere, and she works really hard taking care of her Charley. It just breaks my heart that she is selling her possessions to pay for the ginormous v-e-t bills. I want to help, so I had a long talk with Mom.

We are going to raffle a Gizzy Quilt to raise green papers for Mom ML. You can find the details below, and I will post a Paypal button on my blog before the end of the day.




Gizzy Quilt Raffle Details

1. Gizzy Quilts are made of 100% top quality cotton with a fleece middle.

2. They are 24" square.

3. They are completely machine washable and dryable.

4. Gizzy Quilts usually sell for $45 USD.

5. We will pay for US Priority Mail shipping anywhere in the US. International winners will have to pay the difference for shipping.

6. The winner may choose their color preference, but Mom will make the quilt from fabrics she already has in her stash. (Mom's got a ginormous stash.)

7. The raffle tickets are $5.00 each. You can buy as many as you want.

8. The tickets will be available until midnight on Sunday May 31, 2009. When it isn't Sunday anywhere in the world, the raffle will be over.

9. The winner will be drawn and announced on June 1, 2009.

10. Tickets will be available through Paypal only. We will post a Paypal button on my blog before the end of today, May 25.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

The leaves are pretty when they turn red, but yellow can be pretty too, as you can see in these pictures of trees in our yard. The top picture was taken in the morning.And this one was taken yesterday afternoon, with the sun shining behind it.Mom likes the yellow "glow." This is the last day she will see it like this, because it will be dark when she gets home from day hunting.
I really think Mom will take it easy today. After she came home from putting patches on her servants, she went food hunting, then made a nice dinner and some beef stew with meatballs. And she finished three Gizzy quilts, which you can see on her quilting blog. Be sure to go to the Bizzy for Gizzy blog and check out Isis on her "Blue Feathers" Gizzy Quilt.

Mom said to say she has been sleeping much better. I'm glad that my training is finally starting to pay off.

~~~~~~~~~

And please, if your beans haven't decided who to vote for on Tuesday, spend today educating them. This election is too important to let "somebody else" do something about it.

Wordy Wednesday!

Life here is getting back to normal!

Mom is making Gizzy Quilts again! Lookit this one, in nice chocolate browns, some gold and some dark reds.
And this one has dark purples, lavenders, creams and a touch of green. As usual, I can't tell you where these two are going, but they are going different places. In fact they are going to opposite sides of the US!

Mom's on a zipper kick, lately. Think she's got enough?
Probably not.

How Big the Raffle Quilt Izz!

The quilt Mom and Auntie Karate are gonna make for the Meezer Raffle will be as big as SIXTEEN GIZZYS!

Mom and Auntie say it will be about 90" x 102", so it is big enough for a Queen size bed, and will be useful for a King size bed, too. The quilt will be 100% cotton, it won't have a filling, and it will be tied, not quilted. Quilts like the ones Mom and Auntie make are completely machine washable and dryable. These quilts are very durable, and will last for many years.

Mom's family puts these quilts above the top sheet when they make their beds. Then, if you can believe it, they put their blankets ON TOP! They say these quilts are perfect in the summer, because they aren't too heavy. And they make great beach blankets, or picnic blankets.

Raffle tickets are $10.00 each and will be on sale for one two weeks.

Winner will be announced Sunday, March 2, 2008. March 9, 2008.

Winner gets the quilt and US Priority Mail to anywhere in the US. If the winner lives outside the US, the winner must pay any additional shipping costs.

Yo! MOM! What color is this quilt gonna be?

It will have ALL colors in it, Millie, and it will be bright and cheery.

When are you gonna post a picture of it?

As soon as it is finished. Auntie and I are working on it now.

OK everybody, empty your piggybanks, and buy lotsa tickets to help the Meezers!

Millie!

Churchill at Home with his Gizzy Quilt

This is Churchill, with the Gizzy Quilt that Mom made for him. Isn't he handsome? Doesn't the quilt look lovely with his furs? I am really happy to hear he is feeling comfortable in his new home with his forever fambly.

Fanatical Friday

Mom, this is the black quilt you have on YOUR bed.And this one is the one you made for your friend 'Rhette.

Right on both counts Millie.

Hey Mom, this is the quilt Auntie Karate made!

Yes Millie, she makes terrific quilts!

So OK, I guess it's pretty obvious, you and Auntie Karate are gonna make a bean sized quilt to raffle to benefit the Meezers, right?

You've got it in one, Millie.

How many Gizzy Quilts big are these?

Between 11 and 12 Gizzy Quilts, Millie.

Omigoodness, those are E-NORMOUS!

Well, not quite...

WAIT A MINUTE! Whaddya mean, 'not quite?' Are you telling me that the quilt you are gonna raffle for the Meezers is gonna be BIGGER than either one of these?

Uh, yes.

Why?

Well, bean beds come in different sizes. Mine is a "Double" but there are bigger sizes, like a Queen and a King.

A Queen and a King?

Yes, Millie. But see how the quilt Auntie made hangs down over the sides? She wants her quilts to be big enough to cover up the beans when they are in the bed.

So the quilt is big enough to cover a Queen and a King? Yeah, right! A-n-y-w-a-y-s... tell me more about this raffle. How much is a Raffle Ticket for this Gizzy-normous Quilt gonna cost?

The raffle tickets will cost $10.00 each, Millie.

When will the raffle tickets go on sale?

They will go on sale on Meezer Sunday, February 24, 2008 and be on sale for a week.

When will the winner be announced?

The winner will be announced the following Sunday, March 2.

But Mom, just how big is this quilt gonna be, anyway?

That will be announced on Sunday.

Jeez Louise, Mom, you don't give up, do you?

(you can click on the pictures to biggify)

Thursday Thirteen

This is the quilt Mom made for Mr Karate to take with him when he went away to college. It was about the size of 10 Gizzy Quilts! But halfway through college, he got a bigger bed. Mom thought she'd have to make him another quilt, but Auntie Karate asked if there were any pieces left over. There were. So Mom made the quilt bigger. Our Thursday Thirteen continues the quilt theme that's been going on all week. (you can click the pictures to biggify.)

1. Mr Karate had to help take the quilt apart.

2. He had to cut all the ties and then gently take apart the seams around the edges.

3. You can see the extra pieces on the table beside him. Mom had to sew them into a big long strip.

4. Mom added 15" to one side of the quilt.

5. Then Mom had to iron the new, bigger quilt top.

6. Mom also had to add a piece to the middle of the backing fabric to make the quilt wider, too.

7. Mom lay the quilt top on top of the backing and trimmed the excess away.
8. Next, Mom and Mr Karate tied the layers together every four inches. Mom doesn't add filling to her quilts. We like them better that way. As you can see, Gizzy helped.
9. Mom folded the back over the raw edges of the quilt top to make a "self-binding."

10. Mom pinned everything in place.

11. Mom sewed the binding in place. 12. As you can see, Gizzy took his job as Quality Assurance Manager very seriously.

13. Mom removed the pins, and ironed the quilt. Gizzy helped.

Millie, what Auntie Karate and I are going to make for the Meezers will be bigger than Mr Karate's quilt, both before and after...

Yeah, okay, Mom, whatever you say. You guys are gonna make.....

Ah, Millie, that's a secret!

Oh yeah! A -secret- ! Sure Mom, whatever you say! *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*

What I Wanna Know Wednesday

I still can't get past this Bigger Than a Gizzy Quilt thing. I mean, how big is BIG, that's what I wanna know.

So this is the quilt Mom is finishing up for the Furry Bambinos' Gramma. This is a lousy picture. The quilt is WAY prettier than this.
So Mom, is what you and Auntie Karate gonna make for the Meezers bigger than this?

Oh yes, Millie, much bigger.

But Mom, this is as big as EIGHT Gizzy Quilts.

Very good, Millie.

Mom this is plenty big enough for a Bean and a Cat to nap on together.

Yes, it is, but Auntie and I will be making something bigger.

Bigger? Bigger? But this is as big as a bean!

Just about.

Whaddya mean 'just about'? This is gi-normous! Why does it have to be BIGGER? I don't get it!! My head hurts. I think I am gonna go take a nap. You are crazy.

Maybe, maybe not, but the quilts are!

Two-fer Tuesday

Mommy Meezer got a jobbie, but my Mom says they still need lots of green papers. I'm still hung up on this ''bigger than a Gizzy Quilt" thing.

This is the quilt Mom made for Kashim & Othello's sticky little bean cousin:

and Mom made this one for Kiera, Kimo & Sabi's blurpy girl sisser.

So Mom, is what you're gonna make for the Meezers bigger than these?

Yes, Millie.

Bigger than both?

Bigger than both of them put together, Millie.

But Mom, bigger than BOTH of them put together would be as big as SIX Gizzy Quilts.

Yes, Millie, that's right.

Mom, yesterday Beezer asked if it would be "big enouf for a bean and cat to nap together?" Well, would it?

Yes, surely. Plenty big enough.

But Mom...

Oh, and Millie, the Karate Lady, (Roxy and Lucky's Mom) and I are doing this together.

But Mom, that's gonna be one Giant Gizzy Quilt.

You could be right, Millie. You'll just have to wait and see.


I don't like waiting.

Meezer Monday

Mom says we aren't going to make a Gizzy Quilt to raffle to help the Meezers!

Before I could object, she stopped me with a look. She says we are DEFINITELY going to make something and have a raffle to help the Meezers, she just said it wasn't going to be a Gizzy Quilt.

It's going to be bigger.

Bigger than what?

Bigger than a Gizzy Quilt.Bigger than a Gizzy Quilt?

That's what I said.

Bigger than two Gizzy Quilts?
Yes.

How much bigger?

You'll have to wait until the Raffle for Churchill is over to find out.

But Mom, one Gizzy quilt is the perfect size for a cat. Why would anycat want anything bigger...
WAIT A MINUTE....

That's all I'm telling for now, Millie.

Mom keeps secrets better than I do.

Jemima, Tiger Lily & Ruckus are showing off their new Gizzy Quilts over at Bizzy for Gizzy. And Merlin is showing off his new Gizzy Quilt today too! You should go check them out!

Easy Sunday for Me, Not Easy for Churchill...

I'm thinking of my pal Churchill. He was in surgery yesterday for over 2 hours. He's got a pin and wires in his leg, and he'll be stuck in a PTU for two months while his leg heals. That really sucks. I just hope it heals and he is OK.

Mom finished the Raffle Quilt. Here are pictures, and you can click them to biggify:

Isn't it handsome? I know there are several Ginger cats hoping to win the raffle and get this quilt.

Have you bought your raffle ticket yet? There's a button on the left - it says "Add to Cart." Click it to buy a raffle ticket. Tickets are $5.00 each. You can get as many as you want. The drawing ends at midnight Sunday February 24, so you have plenty of time. The winner will be announced on Monday February 25 and the quilt will be flying out to the winner US Priority Mail soon after that.


But I kept thinking about Churchill, stuck in that PTU, not being able to run around while his leg heals. Mom and I decided he needed a Gizzy quilt too. We made this one for him. It will be very handsome with his grey furs.



Get Well Soon, Churchill!

A Gizzy Quilt Anniversary

A year ago Mom made a simple request. Gizzy was sick, and she needed green papers to pay the v-e-t. Would anybody be interested in buying a quilt for a cat?

The answer was most emphatically, "Yes."

We had orders for 4 before noon. By the end of the first day, Mom had orders for 14. By the end of the first week, she had orders for 30.

Cat bloggers said she would be “Bizzy for Gizzy” and named the quilts “Gizzy Quilts.”

The quilts were also called Amazing Flying Technicolor Quilts, and they flew all over the US. Gizzy Quilts can also be found in New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany. At this time, counting the Holiday Gizzy quilts, Mom has made and shipped over 150. She had expected to make maybe 5, and dreamed of making 10.

Mom has also made quilts for woofies, PTU’s, laptops and babybeans.
And she has donated several quilts to raise green papers for good causes, from DKM’s AIDS Walk to Monty Q’s Babybean medical expenses. We'll soon be doing a Gizzy Quilt Raffle to help Churchill.

All those quilts take a lot of fabric. At first, Mom used fabric from her own stash, but that ran out pretty quick. She received packages of fabric from several beans. Much of that was used for backings, but all of it was used. Mom has ordered over 200 yards of fabric from eQuilter in the last year, and over 52 yards of fleece.

She has made quilts of every color: blues, purples, greens, yellows, reds, pinks, browns, even black. Mom has satisfied requests for quilts with dragons, butterflies, fish, and tomatoes. Some beans want to make sure the quilt looks very good with their cat. Lookit this picture Beezer sent to prove he would look good with the quilt he wanted:The best part is reading stories of how cats love their quilts. Speedy drags his around. Daisy bunny kicks hers.
You can see pictures of cats and read their stories at the Bizzy for Gizzy blog. You can also watch the slideshow of all the quilts Mom has made so far.

I am very happy to be in the middle of this. It's fun to help Mom make quilts for cats, and to do my job to make sure they are purrfect. I like listening to the stories of all the cats and their quilts.

Thanks to everybody for keeping us Bizzy for Gizzy. I am sure Gizzy would be very proud.
Gosh, we miss him.

Surprise Sunday!

Mom loves fabric. She says she is a fabric-aholic. Sometimes she buys fabric just because she likes it. She bought some of this wild pink and orange and tan stuff a few months ago. Kinda weird, for sure, but you all know Mom, and you know she does some kinda magic with color. She knew she would use it someday.

Here is the magic she did with this fabric. She made a Gizzy quilt by adding hot pinks and some tans with a little bit of black:
This quilt is for a woofie. Mim-may's woofie, Missy. Doesn't it look beautiful with her furs?
Mim-may had been wanting Mom to make a Gizzy quilt for Missy. Mom asked what colors, and Mim-may said, "Do whatever you want."

Mom LOVES hearing those words. She looked over at this piece of fabric and had one of those "Aha!" moments.

you can click the pictures to biggify
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of which... Mom has been using Autie Karate's camera since Gizzy dumped a glass of water over hers. Then Mim-may gave Mom her old camera when she got a new one. But the batteries never stayed charged. Then Auntie Karate lent Mom their old camera when they got a new one. But the new one got stolen, then recovered by the Men In Blue and now they have to keep it as Evidence for a few months, leaving Auntie Karate without a camera. So Mom gave theirs back. (blah blah blah. Confused yet?) Anyway, this is Mom's roundabout way of explaining why the pictures might look different now. And bigger.

Sew Sew Saturday

Mom is -finally- back to making Gizzy Quilts. She finished this one last night and it is flying out to its owner today.
This is a gift quilt. One cat ordered it as a surprise for another cat. The recipient cat was allowed to select colors. But this lady cat (you can tell this quilt is going to a lady cat!) doesn't know who is giving the gift, and won't know until the quilt arrives next week.

Mom has made several of these. Sometimes the cat knows a quilt is coming, but most of the time, the cats have been completely surprised (right, Jan?) Sometimes, the Gizzy Quilts are given as gifts (like these for Rainbow & Muse from the Furry Bambinos).

Next, Mom will be working on more gift quilts, and one is for a -gasp- woofie!

Mom has been looking for quilt blogs. She learned that an unfinished quilt, like one that got started and then set aside, is called a UFO, for unfinished object. She also discovered that a finished quilt top is called a flimsy.

Some quilters have lots of flimsies and UFOs around. Mom has two. One is a baby quilt in wimpy pastel colors. Neither Mr Karate nor the Karate Lady like it. It's pretty, but not like the quilts Mom makes now. They think Mom should finish it and donate it to a worthy cause. The other flimsy is for a big bean bed, and it's in browns, Mom's least favorite color. She made it for somebody she liked, but then she stopped liking the person. Every time she looks at it, she thinks of that person, so it will probably be UFO forever.

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

Update: Mom has agreed to donate both UFOs to an organization that will finish the quilts and give them to underprivileged kidbeans.