Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons I Am Happy Mom is Finished with the SSP

1. It's over! I don't have to listen to Mom yakking and worrying about getting it done.

2. It's MY blog, and FINALLY, I can be the center of attention again!
3. Mom will finally get to clean the house! Lookit the sewing room floor:
4. More sewing room mess:
5. Mom will clean this laundry off the nice comfy wing chair in her bedroom.Uhh.... maybe that's not such a good idea, I like to -sleep- on that pile of clothes!

6. Mom will spend more time playing with ME!

7. Mom will clean the kitchen counters, so it will be easier for me to jump up to sit in this window:
8. Mom will be able to sit down in her nice comfy chair, and I can sit next to her and get more scritches.

9. Mom can finally get going on the three Gizzy Quilts,

10. two Babybean Quilts,

11. one Kidbean Quilt

12. and a Picnic Quilt for Mr Karate.

13. And she can watch Federer and Nadal and Venus and Serena play tennis at Wimbledon.

It's finished!

Mom and I worked on the SSP last night. I snoopervised and did the final QA check.

I checked it for softness, color, and texture. I sniffed it, and added my own special scent. I made sure it was made with love and purrs. I made sure it had good positive vibes, because little Sprout will be sleeping under it, and she needs to be protected.It passed with flying colors.

Tuxie Tuesday Tattle-Tale Tease

OK, Here's a picture of your favorite Tuxie girl, tattling on the final stages of the SSP. Yes, I am lying on It. You can see a corner.

Mom has finished tying ten gazillion squilllion knots, and now the quilt is ready for the final step, which Mom will do later tonight. Mom had a self-imposed deadline of June 30th for this project, and she will only be off by one day. (Of course, the house hasn't been cleaned in I dunno how long but...)

So now the SSP, or rather the -Quilt- is off the floor, and on the table. Here is a picture;
You really didn't think you were going to get a picture of the quilt itself, now did you? C'mon, you should all know by now how tricksy Mom can be. This is a picture of the back of the quilt, with Mom's signature sewn in.
Isn't this fabric pretty? It's like a kaleidoscope of peacocks, butterflies, hearts and flowers. You can click the picture to biggify.

Mom will say this. When she knew she was going to be --------- -- --------, and would be making a quilt for Sprout, she started ordering fabric. She got lots of pretty things with flowers and ribbons and girly stuff. Except for this fabric, which was always going to be the backing of the quilt, (and which she had to order an additional 3 yards), Mom couldn't use ANY of the other stuff she bought.

See, she got a little idea, that grew and grew. It pestered her, and nagged her, until finally she surrendered. She knew she couldn't make the cute little baby quilt she had originally planned. She had to go with this new idea.

Instead of taking a week, this quilt took three months. Trust me, when you see it on July 26, you are all gonna faint. I don't know if Monty's jar of smelling salts is gonna be big enough.

Messy Monday

Boy, is the house a mess! Mom worked on the SSP all day yesterday instead of doing any cleaning. The sewing room is a disaster. Mom wouldn't let me post a picture. So I will describe it. She hasn't dragged the rug sucking monster in there for weeks. So there's all kinds of fabric scraps and thread bits all over the floor. There are piles of fabric on the chairs, and on the tables and bureau. There's junk on the floor.

In the kitchen, well, she finally did the dishes after like a squillion days, and she finally emptied the trash. She still hasn't folded last week's laundry.

Mom had to piece some gigantic pieces of fabric together to make the backing for the SSP. Once the backing was ready, she taped it to the floor in the dining room. Then she got the top ready, and placed it on the backing. Next she'll tie a squillion zillion knots to hold the two layers together. That's what she's been doing. She's about halfway done tying the knots.

I can show you some pictures... This one is the backing, with the "Made By"strip sewn in. This is the wrong side up, because Mom was getting ready to put the top on it. And here is a picture of the SSP...
M-O-M!!!

I -hate- when she does that!

(I covered it up because I have to leave it on the floor until I can work on it later. This way it won't get dirty if I walk on top of it from one room to another.)

I wonder if I can play the slip sliding game with that top sheet....

Super Sunday!

Hi Monty! I don't think you'll need your smelling salts today! There's no tummy shot here. Just some pictures of a little something Mom and I have been working on for an extra special ManCat.
Mom has a new "walking foot" for the sewing monster. I dunno how it walks with only one foot, but Mom says it makes quilting a lot easier.
Ta-da! Here it is! A very special Gizzy Quilt for a very special ManCat!
I used to think Jasmine used to have the very best Gizzy Quilt, but now I don't think so. I think the very best Gizzy Quilt is this one, and it's going to Monty Q when Mom and me (sorta) bring it in July.

Mom says she will be working on Violette's quilt today, and should be finishing it up soon. I would tell you that you will see pictures, but, well, you all know how secretive Mom can be.

Spiffy Saturday

Good morning, everybody.... Hello Monty!

Mom finished the top for the super special Gizzy Quilt we are making for Monty.


We have picked out a terrific fabric for the backing (lots of cats) and Mom has selected fabric for the binding. She'll probably finish the quilt later tonight after she gets through Processing the Month End.

Then tomorrow she will make reservations and buy our tickets to Mary-land. We will be taking the train. Mom and I are very excited.

Frantic Friday

Hi Monty!!!!!

I almost feel sorry for that poor guy. If this is how he reacts to a -picture- of my tummy, what is going to happen when he sees the real thing? I tell ya, I dunno if I'm interested in bein' a nurse! He's gonna have to buck up!

Anyway, Mom got home tonight and went straight into the sewing studio to work on this:
Of course, I think anybody who tries anything so weird creative should make sure they have enough fabric before they get started.

I'm just sayin'...

The letters in this are 3-1/2" tall, when all sewn up, they will be 3". The quilt will be the same size as a "Standard Gizzy" Quilt, 24" square. And yes, I will -barely- have enough of the fabric I am using in the background. Smart-aleck cat!

Thursday... Three?

Hi Monty! Scroll down a bit... I have something for you...
Here it is... another tummy shot for you today!

And for the rest of you who are still conscious... Here's what Mom did last night:Mom also took the sewing monster apart and dribbled water oil all over it. She said it was running funny. Then she took the thing she calls a Presser Foot apart and tinkered with the insides of that too. Afterward she was much happier, because now the sewing monster doesn't make squeaky noises when she puts her foot down and the fabric doesn't go screaming through unevenly.

I don't know what any of that means. But I do know that she didn't get much sewing done because of it.

Later Mom will try to make a couple of cats, and lots of hearts for me.

The only other thing I know is that she is heartsick that Novak Djokovic got beat in the 2nd round at Wimbledon today.

What's Up Wednesday

I have to tell you, I'm getting pretty fed up with this SSP business. And now this other quilt for somebody Mom doesn't even know. It's enough to make me yowl!

Honestly! Mom's sewing this, and sewing that... All this preparation for the big trip to Mary-land to see Sprout, and nobody's even thinking about My Special Guy! So I have this plan...


Wait a minute... OH MONTY Q! LOOK WHAT I HAVE FOR YOU!!!



OK!

Has he passed out yet? Good, 'cause I kinda want this to be a surprise, so don't nobody tell him. (Yeah, I know this was probably a bit, well... sneaky, but how else am I gonna get him outta the room so I can surprise him?)

I told Mom, in fact, I made it QUITE CLEAR... that she has to put this sewing the letters bit to some better use than a dumb doll quilt. I told Mom she has to make a -very- special Gizzy Quilt for my dear darling Monty Q. Now she's a bit slow on the uptake, so this is as far as I managed to get her to do last night...
I bet you can all guess what's coming next... Millie [heart] Monty Q! And you'd be right! But frankly, I think Skeeter, LC & Ayla's idea of adding a cat (or two) would REALLY make this a spiffy Gizzy Quilt.

So now I gotta go investigate Mom's "stash" of fabrics. I know she's got a lot of black and white, but I dunno how she's gonna get brown tabby cat fabric. Still, though, she's pretty clever when she needs to be.

Now remember... keep it a secret from Monty!

Tattle Tale Tuesday

I -told- you Mom has been lurking in the Quilt blogs! She even joined a Swap group. She joined a Doll Quilt Swap. There are 100 people (99 ladies and one gentleman). They will each make a small quilt between 12" x 12" up to 24" x 24". It must be quilted, and have a label on the back that has the maker's name and location. The quilts must be shipped by September 1. It is a secret swap. Mom knows the identity of her swap partner, and her color preferences, but Mom doesn't know who will be making a little quilt for her.

Mom was going to make the little Doll Swap quilt after the SSP was finished, but she is waiting for something so she can't work on the SSP for a couple of days, so she decided to have some fun and tackle this little quilt. She didn't expect to get so much done so quickly.

Anyway, I was happy to see that yesterday, everybody agreed with me. I liked the ABC's WITH the flowers.

Of course, Poppy Q was absolutely correct that the quilt needs a balance of colors. So Mom decided that one of the letters needed to be made in the same fabrics as the flowers. She picked the hot pink because it is one of the colors that appear in the letter "G," shown above, but she also tried this dark red-violet, but it doesn't photograph very well:


Here is the letter L made in the Hot Pink:
Here is the letter L made in the red-violet, the other color in the flowers:

Mom will replace the blue L with the pink one, and add the flowers somehow. She doesn't like the empty space above the flowers, so she'll play with it.

Don't worry, I'll tell you ALL about it!

With or Without?

Mom has reached another milestone on the SSP, so she gave herself a little break and did something fun. She really liked playing with the letters yesterday, so today she decided to try her hand at more of them. She made herself an Alphabet. And she needs your advice. Do you think this little piece needs the flowers? Please tell me if you prefer With or Without! You can click the pictures to biggify.

With?

Without?

Mom says Thanks!

SSP Sneak Peek Sunday

Mom's been busy sewing. What else is new?

She decided she wanted to make a label for the back of Sprout's quilt. But not just -any- label. She decided to go cuckoo. Way back in January, Mom played with making letters out of fabric. You can see the result here. Anyway, she decided it might be fun to do that to Sprout's quilt, especially since she has to join two pieces of fabric together for the backing. She says she will add this strip in between:


Yeah, it looks funny, and if you click it to biggify, it might not get much bigger, but it's worth a try. Oh yeah, about the "Auntie" part... Mom (and me, sorta) will be in Mary-land next month, and KidBean and SweetBean know her as "Auntie."

By the way, this strip is 3" tall, and about five feet long.

Get Me to the Church on Time!

I'm getting ready for the big Wedding today!

Finally Friday

I'm always finding new places to nap.

Thursday Thirteen

I don't know what it is about drawers that attracts me... Here are 13 pictures of my ongoing investigation into them.

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. What's in here...
10. or here...11. Mom could tell that I really really want to get back there, so she took one of the drawers out.
12. And naturally I jumped right in to investigate...
13. There's something about drawers, but I just don't know what it is...
I guess I'll just have to keep investigating.