quilt meetings and home front

Here is a quilt that was turned in at our meeting On Tuesday-- Theramae's Merkitty challenge quilt. She has been having some health problems this year, in and out of the hospital and such, so this was the first time she could in months. We had offered to come by and pick her up if she felt up to it and take her home when she was ready a time or two but she was not ready to take us up on it. (Her home helper brought her by and Jane and Aline took her home after going out for a sandwich at Quizno's. Most of us had brought our lunch so didn't go)

We had a few to pin, chatting to do, suggestions about quilt patterns for one of the girls. I did a bit of work on one of my bluework snowmen blocks since I didn't want to haul my machine. Really if I am going to be truthful, I am in the "not wanting to piece or quilt doldrums" again, I'm afraid.

Now mind you, I don't necessarily think that is a BAD thing. It helps to recharge the batteries to step back a bit but I do have some sewing that needs to be done. Some deadline type projects. I could tick all the items off on my fingers but except for needing a little push to get started, that is only important to me.


But, I didn't want to totally waste the days away on the computer or whatever. I started cutting and organizing some fabric bits instead. I have vowed not to have a bag that holds leftovers from previous projects, cutaways, etc and let those mount up again. Not after I spent three or four days cutting my way through it. However, I was very close to that. The leftovers from the bargello, my own and those that my mom sent for me to use were still in a bag on the floor. Atop that a small Hancock's bag stuffed to the gills with strips that I wouldn't let Judy toss. Marilyn added to it on Saturday when she brought a small box out to the car. Oh, and some donation fabrics earlier in the month from another friend.

A good bit of it was cut but some, not. 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5 and a few 1 1/2 inch strips. Some was tossed and others separated out uncut. The pastels on the left---log cabin baskets. Some leftover Christmas nine patches. I still need to put this stuff away but there you have it. Replenish the scrap baskets with some new stuff and put away the old. I think I am going to dismantle an old top that Marilyn brought me after I post this and run an errand. The top is feedsack fabrics in large block form.

Obligatory kitty pictures are included, of course, LOL. Skyler playing with his toy mice and other toys scattered throughout the living room. He has taken to hauling the small ones into the kitchen to bat them around under the kitchen table. He will even dive under the buffet to fetch one out if it strays. Looks pretty funny to see a cat with just the butt end sticking out and completely flattened out. I know Pippi would have gotten stuck but he is smaller--and almost fearless.

It rained a bit around lunch time so he is keeping a watchful eye on the birds. Better than his playing with the iron cord, I think. DJ needs to trim the bush outside the other perch but he goes from one to the other throughout the day.

Other than some reading and poking around the 'net for some ideas of a Halloween quilt and of course, my almost daily walking it just doesn't seem like I have doing much. Maybe I should heed the word my husband often says "Aren't you retired? Who gave you all those jobs?"

Any of the rest of you having problems loading pics? I had to download Picassa in order to get these added today.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend---

flickr upload if interested

If anyone is interested, I loaded all the pics from Quilts in the Park onto a flickr set that can be found HERE

Also I never did get around to posting any of the pics from the Geraldine (AL) Homemaker's group quilt show on my blog--that was the weekend that Pippi died and my computer crashed. Understandable, I would think. Anyway I also loaded that batch on flickr in their own set HERE if you care to take a look.

Get real bored and you can look at all the past donation quilts and such, LOL. If I can figure out how to load that mosiac thing on my sidebar, I might give that a go.

followup

I have two pictures that I had intended to add to my last post concerning our trip to Cave Spring this past Saturday and Skyler's "Kitty Shower". Also I have a response to a comment that was left.

This was one of the quilts we saw in the bedturning presentation. The blocks were made by our group founder's mother. Joy, the daughter, hand quilted it. They look larger in the picture than they actually were from this angle---maybe 12 inch finished or smaller when viewed in person. One of my group was very interested in learning how to string piece so this one really "wowed" her when she saw it. She had me take a picture of a simple string/half square triangle block earlier.

And, here is Skyler worn out from playing with some of his new cat toys from the "Kitty Shower." I put quite a few of them away for now--sensory overload!! He knows right where I keep them though and meows like crazy when I open the drawer of the buffet. That, and tries to climb in said drawer. Also he can fish a few things out of what is supposed to hold fireplace logs from the hearth if he wants--and he does quite often. I toss them in and he drags them back out.

Okay, a couple of folks that left comments are on "no-reply blogger" which is their right, of course. I would have emailed back a response if I had been able to do so but lacking an eamil addy, I will respond here.

I was asked how to get to the quilt shop in Collinsville--- HERE is a link to their website but basically go north on route 11 to the intersection with route 68 and turn right. (if you turn left at the light it would shoot you out to the interstate) The shop is on Main Street about 4 shops in next to Cook's Barber Shop on the right hand side of the street. The town is small though and you can't really get lost, LOL. They aren't open on Sunday, Monday or Thursdays though. You would expect them to be open on the Thursday though but the whole town closes down to tend their "Victory Gardens" Yeah, I know--they haven't done that since WW II but it became a town custom.

They have a quilt walk each fall this year it falls on September 26-27 that may interest you if you are in Alabama or live near the GA line. HERE is the link for information, etc. Trade Days may be more renowned but quilters need the lowdown on the more important stuff, LOL.

Still have to prep a handout for our meeting tomorrow so off I go----

field trips and good friends

7 of the girls in my quilt group and I went on our field trip today to Cave Spring, GA. I am not sure just how far that is from us but it took just a little over an hour on divided highway and/or two lane road. Just far enough away to know you had gone somewhere but not far enough to get butt weary from the trip.

It had rained during the night last night but it was a Chamber of Commerce gorgeous day today. I took the picture at left through the window of the historic Rolater Park (built in 1851) looking outside at this gorgeous pink dogwood through the stained glass windows.

I am showing you a few pictures of the church interior. The lady in the turqouise shirt is my friend Debora who organized the quilt show. The cat quilt up on the Balcony edge is my "Kitty City" quilt from a few years back. The quilt on the left side of the doorway is the raffle quilt for the quilt guild in Carterville, GA. Also you see an overview of the quilts that were on display. One in the middle of the 4th pew back was one we all were speculating over (near the loomed rugs on the back pew) It looked like a lace almost or perhaps some machine sewn lace that you sew to a water soluble stabilizer. Quite interesting however it was made. You can see the lady working on more of the rugs in the back of the room.

This is looking from the back of the church towards the front. There is Debora talking with fellow Belle Aline with our pal Lois with her back to the camera. Vangie is the other girl in green--from my row quilt group. The bed in the corner was set up for the bed turning presentation. Debora was kind enough to do an unscheduled session for us and the other attendees.

A slightly different view of the room. All my quilts that I had sent (other than the one on the balcony) were on a pew of the right hand side looking towards the rear of the church. I did take a picture of them but you have seen most of them already. I think that turtle quilt in front was too cute! And I love that Jack's Chain in the row behind it. (ed.note: Debora said that the turtle quilt was one of the viewers choice selections along with one on the itsy bitsy yo you quilts that may have shown up in another shot. I don't think I had shown a picture of the one that won Best of Show)

They were having an antique car show, pony rides for the kids and like a craft show/flea market thing in the park but other than taking a stroll around the grounds when we first arrived we didn't stop for that. There were two cafes nearby so we picked one and made sure they had pie--the girls in the other car had been chatting about it on the way up, LOL. You gotta have dessert on girls day out, right?

The girls also had a sweet surprise for me at lunch time. They all knew that I had lost my Pippi late last month and that Skyler had come to live with us two weeks ago. They gave me a Kitty Shower!! It was Marilyn's idea--she called the girls that she knew were coming on the field trip and asked them to bring a cat item today. Look at all the cool toys and such that Skyler got today! Toys that dangle, crinkle, roll, have catnip, feathers and all of that---well, one was in the living room with him---a big fat mouse that squeaks that hopefully won't get stuck under the coffee table, LOL. I am constantly going on mouse patrol for him.

The funniest thing is that one friend is not all that fond of cats to begin with and yet she had to go shop for a cat toy or cat item for me---definition of a friend, right? Just the way she said that at lunch made us all laugh. Another probably was a little embarrassed about walking all the way through the store with that squeaky mouse---every time you touch it it makes noise! They almost had me crying but they were ready with the kleenex just in case.

From Cave Spring, we decided to run back over to the AL side to the quilt shop in Collinsville--3 or 4 of the girls had never been there. Well, lets go then! I only got one 3 yard piece of fabric that I can use for backing on the 9PP. Trust me, the others made it worth their while. After dropping Marilyn back home, I got back in the door at 4.

What an excellent day! How blessed I am to have such loving and caring friends.

quilt pics and check in

What is wrong with this picture? The cat is in the recliner, sitting on DJ's neck pillow while DJ is on the loveseat spot. To be honest, during TV viewing time DJ alternates between the two spots so he left the spot open. Skyler was getting down from there when he spotted me with camera in hand though. Ohhh, the answer to how long it would take him to get up on the top of the kitchen cabinets and the kitchen passthrough way high?? 11 days. He did it at least 6 times yesterday. Again, he got down when he sees me so no picture.

Slight detour with the 9PP top business this past Saturday but I am pleased with how the top worked out. I still need to get some backing pulled and pieced as I made wider borders than the book suggested so it finished at 48 wide. Fun, fun day with the FABS though I am convinced that I am the pokiest sewer around, LOL. I finished up with the borders about 13 hours later than I had started sewing. You don't suppose that all the chatting I was doing in between might have had something to do with it?? Well, it never really was about speed but more like enjoying the process and playing with a new pattern idea. Thanks to DJ for picking up some sandwiches for our lunch so I could keep sewing.

I promised you some quilt pics from our last meeting---at this rate it will be our NEXT meeting if I don't get to it. I'll get to that in just a minute after I do a "check in" note.

I started this post two days ago but obviously, posting didn't happen. The pics got detoured by the need to try to reproduce the quilt document for 08 which was lost in the "Great Computer Crash" --this involves matching the picture to the document, naming/numbering it and then ordering prints of the pictures for our photo album and one for the person who made or donated the top. I have a nagging feeling that I am "missing" a quilt or two in the documentation. YIKES! The problem is that I mailed off a box of 12 or 14 to WTIL headquarters last month. Well, rethink that--it not really a problem as they ARE where they need to be for distribution. I may need to wait till Ellen can post those pictures in the 08 gallery pages to double check myself. (In case you were not aware, she has a picture of each quilt donated since we started back in 99---great spot to visit if you are ever looking for inspiration for a quilt top especially for pro bono work.) The ones that are still on premises awaiting shipment to Pam for M2M or some saved back for local donation are more easily pulled for verification.

Yesterday I also had some document reconstruction to do for Home Extension. I finally get to hand over the baton to someone else after 4 or 5 years as the county treasurer. What a time to lose the files in that case! Anyway, I had a print out of the membership list and an old backup file from 05 that I could copy/paste from so that helped. I also updated the address book that I use for printing up mailing labels. All that remains is setting a date to remove my name from the signature card and adding the new sucker, er, treasurer.

Monday morning a friend from the row group stopped by to get a few of my quilts for the Quilts in the Park show being held on the 19th in conjunction with the Cave Spring, GA Springfest 08. This is the 2nd year for the quilt show and the Belles and I are taking a little field trip over. Should be fun to get away with the girls.

Monday afternoon I took Skyler to the vet for just a general checkup and followup to some treatment he received at the shelter. He didn't meow once in his carrier but I am sure he was stressed out by the whole ordeal. He had to have a followup ear mite treatment plus the fecal test (clear, thankfully) and such. The vet and Brandy the tech said to not be surprised if I didn't see him the rest of the day. Well, hiding lasted about 5 minutes. Poor thing, more or less sacked out on the couch for hours afterwards and then slept right next to me all night. No mice chasing Monday night for that rowdy boy. Oh, I also have to give him so antibiotics for an respiratory thing--sneezing a bit. And yesterday I was tracking down some"Little Noses" pediatric saline spray for the nasal crusting. Looks like my nursing expertise is coming back into play, LOL.

Okay if you hung with me this long you deserve to see some pictures of something, anything!

Linda C Trip Around the World just back from the longarmer--personal project

Linda C made this one as well. It will be gifted to a friend but Linda said she liked it so well that she is making herself one just like it. Also quilted by the longarmer. It has a cool backing on it too.

Diamond Strings--pieced by my mom Elsie and quilted by me. I even tried a simple cable on the outside borders though it was a bit of a tight curve on the DSM. Jane who was kind enough to stitch the binding down said that her Thursday evening quilt group was quite intrigued by the strings on the rectangle as well as the diamond effect of the red strings at center. They were measuring off how big to cut the rectangle base and the strips sizes--sounds like they are going to try making some. This one is headed to M2M.

Checkerboard Plaids--pattern from Evelyn Sloppy's 40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts. Pieced by my mom and quilted by me also heading to M2M. I helped her cut this one out last summer when I was back "home" in Illinois. Or at least I think I did, LOL. Seems to me it was part of the great scrap bag cutting event anyway. Sloppy shows it in masculine plaids but I love this soft, feminine version just a well.
This one--giant ugh. Half of a donation top. I like the feedsack pieces but I will not quilt up the other half of this but will dismantle it for the sack fabrics and make something prettier with it. I did wash it but there are some stains that did not quite come out so I am not sure that it should be donated anywhere.

This is Lois' donation top that I quilted late in 07 but now turned in bound. I am sorry that I do not know the correct name for the pattern. I just called it "Stars and Ribbons" on the document. The squares finish at about 1 1/4 inches. It was a lot of fun to see the little bits and pieces from various Belles quilts and Lois' scrap bag while I quilted it. Not sure where this is headed but I do need to keep some back for local donation.

Linda C donated top. I think the pattern for this was from a recent BH &G Quilt Sampler magazine but even though she told me, that info flew right out of my head. I just named it "Zigzag Strippie" for my document. Not sure where it is going either.

Square in a Square---now this one I know I cut out the centers last summer of that apple print. Pieced by Mom and quilted by me.

Lastly, this one was pieced and quilted by me. Triple Rails with that Heart Pieced in though I should have used a contrasting color for it to show up. Pattern by Mary Ellen Hopkins as a pattern of the month thing back in early 2000. Some of the blocks were leftover from Nancy C. and another top I had made. The remaining blocks were stitched up at our fall 07 sew-in but these rail blocks are my ongoing project. Get enough, make a top.
We have had three cold nights but I think that the temps are finally up enough for me to go get my walking in. I have certainly gabbed enough for one post! Hope you enjoyed the quilt show and thanks for stopping by!
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Stop by and help Doodlebug Gail celebrate her 2 year Blog Anniversary, 200th post and the public start of her very small business! You could win some of her gorgeous log cabin notecards if you leave a comment. Here's the link

9PP sewing date

Ready to rock and roll here in the central time zone. We had tornado warnings and thunderstorms again yesterday afternoon so I didn't get to sew my strip sets together till after supper. (I got my friend's king sized quilt cut out for her prior to that--cutting time only because I kept track because she was paying me to do it 2.9 hours)

I just took a picture of the short strips I will need to get the nine patches out. You only get 16-2.5 cuts across the width of the goods and I needed 18.


One of our few rules: sew the strip sets together ahead of the sewing date but wait till this morning to do the subcuts.

I'm ready to "rock and roll" on these nine patches. Design "wall" is up. My EQ sketch is up to follow--that helps me get the colors I will be using in mind rather than what is shown in the book pattern. Don't have to keep wondering which I substituted for the red she shows this way.

Found out last night that Cher has and is using the same green print as I am! Of course, we know that Norma has to have green in hers as that is her neutral. Yellow is mine and Pam took care of that by providing a piece to the group. Scroll down to see her bright fabric picks. Pat is going with the "mooshy" look described in the book--low contrast, sorta water color feel for some of the blocks. It is going to be fun to see how these all turn out and of course, email and chat in between. Even better, the quilts are all going to be donated to M2M.

Well I best get to sewing or the bunch in the PNW will catch up with me!! Nine Patch or Bust.

9PP, part two

Here is the layout---much, much brighter in person. I am not happy with my sewing on the green and moda marble sections though. Old eyes on those strips? Several threads off on the nesting thing and I can do so much better than that. How can the simplest things become more complicated than they need to be?

BUT as Pam often says, IIWII--it is what it is--and it will probably quilt out or another way of looking at it, how can see it in all this mish mash of color??


Look who decided to try to help me sew this morning? I did a whole top the other day and he didn't bother me once but this morning his curioity got the better of him. He was biting at the thread and getting a paw a little too close to the needle. I know he has been unthreading the cone thread because I caught him biting at it and don't leave that temptation but this was a new trick.


From there he decided to be a little more docile and climb aboard DJ's lap. The book just got put aside while he made himself comfortable. Later both were napping--DJ in his recliner and Skyler on the couch. Hard to say who was doing the better job of it, LOL.

Okay, I'm off to join the sections together. Pam has her top finished minus borders but no one ever said I was a speedy sew-er.

9PP completed

The finished product---the colors are not quite right but the bulbs in the living room tend to make everything look more yellow than it is but no matter. The flimsy is done and a day's goal accomplished. Plus it is just plain fun to sew with your friends online like this. Stop by their place to see how differently the tops turned out--links up in the first post of the day.

break time

It has been a busy day today already. I decided that it is about time to get on the summer walking schedule and set the alarm to get up about an hour earlier than I normally do though it is supposed to call off this weekend with the possibility of stormy weather again tomorrow. I am consistently going 3.08 or 3.3 miles usually 5-6 days a week. It takes me an hour to walk and about 10 minutes of driving there and back.
In spite of getting up early I barely had time to get showered and dressed again in time for a hair cut appointment. I had a grocery stop on the way home and once returned made a no-bake pumpkin pie to go with the turkey breast I was putting in the crockpot for tonight's supper. By the time I heated and ate lunch plus cleaned up the kitchen, the day was half over. DJ will be parked in the chair sometime this afternoon for me to cut HIS hair but I have other things to do in the meantime. I warned him against asking me to do this right when I need to be back in the kitchen making the rest of the meal.

So I am taking a break ---I just finished cutting out the challenge fabrics for the 9 Patch Pizzazz quilt that the FABS are doing "together" on Saturday. It is from Judy Sisneros' book of the same name. My copy arrived yesterday--- just in the nick of time. We can sew the nine patch strip set stuff together but that is all till 8 a.m. Obviously mine will have a much higher degree of contrast that the Lilly Pad Wallhanging she shows. I think we picked this one for the size since it is more in keeping with the donation quilt parameters.

Norma showed the fabrics she is using for quilt mentioning that she is doing 2 challenges in one. Turns out I am as well. My mom had sent me a yard of the novelty print (cows and other animals driving sports cars) awhile back and Pam sent each of us the yellow print with blue stars. The resultant quilts will be going to Pam's M2M project. I probably would have used a more orange-y yellow otherwise but this will be just fine--that shade is in there as well. The blue moda marble and the lime-y green print are both leftovers from my merkitty challenge quilt so I'm busting stash as well. By the time I cut borders and binding out of those two, they are virtually gone except for some leftover squares and a few odd strips.

This is what I am going to start cutting next. Nancy had purchased both of these quilt kits to make a king sized version of the X-quisite block. She asked me to cut them up for her and is paying me to do so. I thought if I at least got one of them done, she could start sewing if she wished while I finish up. The pattern is called "Paisleys on Parade" and named for the fabric line from Camelot Cottons. She spotted it in #88 April/May 2008 "Quilt" magazine. Bright fun fabrics but a ton of squares to cut!


And the obligatory cat picture. Skyler seems to love the window seats. Sometimes he is stretched out with his head hanging on the sides and almost looks like a the classic art pose. He is settling in well. Fun to watch play and a little lover. We are taking bets to see how long it takes him to climb up to the highest rafter between the kitchen and living room (vaulted ceilings so open at the top) He has gotten as far as the refrigerator top that I have actually witnessed.

DJ was reading an article in the paper the other day about people not adopting black or black and white cats as much as their feline counterparts. Don't know if people are superstitious or just don't like their looks?? Well, I went to the shelter with the intention of a female orange tabby but came home with a male black tuxedo cat. What did I know? He's home now!

Quilt meeting pics tomorrow if the weather doesn't force me offline.

checking in

Today was my quilt meeting day and while I have some "quilt show" pictures to share, I will do that in my next post. Linda C also had a couple of personal quilts recently picked from the longarmer that are quite pretty too. Okay, enough of a teaser to lure you back to visit, LOL.

DJ was deep into watching the Men's NCAA game between Kansas and Memphis last night. No way was I going to go in there and ask him to hold up a quilt top!! I waited to take it this morning when I could hang it up at the meeting place. This is my "Pippi Garden" quilt that will be going to Pam's Mission to Mexico or a she calls it, M2M. It is a free pattern on the Benartex site HERE and real name is "Rose Garden". Pop on over to her place to see the top she had made in honor of my kitty. It is an easy, peasy pattern but I think I will adjust it so the center is a rectangle, maybe 12 x 18 next time.

This was a stash quilt. The cat fabric if I remember correctly was given to me as a birthday present from one of the Belles a couple years back. The other fabrics, donation fabric that recently routed through my house. There was enough of the lavender print to piece together for the backing but still yardage of the others. The only thing I can think is the donor was planning on making several wall hangings from the pattern that featured those prints as there a 4-1/4 yard cuts of each color--all the same colors but three different tone and tones of those colors. Enough for another use down the line. I'm thinking that old standby Snuggle Up. It felt good to be sewing again.

And here is Skyler, testing the quilt top. So far he is not so interested in the quilts but those have mostly been out of his reach. He seems to be adjusting fairly well. No more hiding behind the washing machine as he did the first day here. He does get under my bed and sleep periodically but mostly he stays out with us or in the window perches. The last two nights he has slept most of the night in the bedroom perch and is keeping me company in the sewing room version.

Last night he was snuggling with me on the bed as well. Gets on the lap too but doesn't exactly sit still. Maybe you can see his markings a little better in this picture? Gail, one of the people who commented on my last post, told me this makes him a "tuxedo" cat. It has been a trip watching him play with the cat toys but he also has done a couple of things to get himself into trouble with his nosiness. DJ said that he managed to jump up on his bathroom hamper and got stuck behind the venetian blind in the window above early this morning. How exactly, we don't know. Some dishes on the microwave stand didnt stay put either but the resultant noise scared the heck out of him--back under the bed, LOL. Guess we are getting used to a rowdy teenager now and realize just how much Pippi had slowed down in recent years.


It is quite lovely outside these days. I love spring anyway though the yellow pollen dust is a killer on sinuses. It is a pleasure to drive and see all the plants and trees flowring. Right now the dogwood is in full bloom, the wild native stuff sprinkling the woods and the bushes in yards along the way. My little dogwood tree did not survive last year's drought so this is one from our next door neighbor's yard. Only had one bloom on our camellia though the bush does look healthy. Usually it opens too early in March and then gets zapped by frost.

The azaleas are also open in full glory though ours is not all the way in bloom yet. The lilac is also in bloom. Lupines, jonquils and iris are out and we even had a few surprise tulips come up. I have also noticed the snowball bush up in the nearby subdivision is also out. Apple blossoms, red buds and flowering cherry too. Even better is that we are not so far behind on the rainfall totals--they aren't saying we are out of the drought but every bit helps.

DJ had to mow the weeds that pass for our yard Sunday and today while I was at the meeting, weedwhacked.

Guess that's it for this post----till next time. Thanks for stopping by.

this one is better

I am going to change my profile picture to show the newbie kitty--need the url for google. I'll also tweak the name of blog to indicate the changing of the "guard" SOOOOOO here is a much better picture of Skyler---yep, that name is it. I like it, DJ likes it so Skyler it is. Think I'll ever get used to saying him, he or kitty BOY instead of her, she or kitty GIRL??


I have cut out a quilt top to make a memorial quilt for Pippi from a stash cat fabric and some donation fabric that I newly acquired. Pam wanted to do this for her and donate the quilt for her quilts for Mexico. She emailed the other day with a link for the pattern she chose to use--her top is done or near done. Isn't that a sweet thing to do? I'm using the same pattern and will sew a bit after supper. I want to see how the Viking is doing for piecing. BTW, my diagnosis was correct--I needed a new bobbin case in addition to the normal clean out and maintenance.
K. best decide what we are having for dinner and get out there to rustle it up.

thank you all

I would like to thank you all for expressions of sympathy at the loss of my precious Pippi. So many of you have been in my shoes and know what a loss of a furry family member can be. It has been a long week though I have tried to keep busy---mostly by getting my new computer back up to speed but also getting ready for the floor installers. Here is a view of the completed kitchen though we still need to move back one bookcase that goes near the windows. Tomorrow, the boss man says.

The floor was down by the time a friend and I returned from picking up my sewing machine yesterday. (3 hours, there and back). Nancy had a quilt to drop up with the long armer on the way up. I got my name in line right behind her for the t-shirt quilt that STILL is not completed. No way have I felt like sewing this past week. DJ had to paint the trim board this morning before we could move the furniture back in but he had that done by the time I got back from my hour's walking.

I got all the cat paraphelia in place shortly thereafter as we were going to the animal shelter after we had lunch and ran an errand near the restaurant he had chosen. From looking at the petfinder website last night I thought I wanted a orange and white tabby. We had one when I was a kid and I wanted a cat that did not remind me so much of Pippi in coloring. Last night I couldn't sleep for thinking of names for cats if we did find one today. Abby, Molly, Gracie, Chloe??? All good names but I was drawing a blank for boy kitty names. Silly, huh?

So meet the "newbie kitty" and I apologize for the picture quality. Bigger just makes it worse, I'm afraid. He was in explorer mode and I can't get him to hold long enough. Perhaps you can see his markings though--white nose, chin, belly and paws. Black and sleek, very pretty coat. Medium sized cat, I would say. Tyson (my first kitty) was a much bigger boy in comparison. He licked my hands quite thoroughly at the shelter and was sitting on my lap cuddling so I have some hope of his being a lap kitty.

We came home with the sirens going off--tornado warnings and then severe thunderstorm warnings. Oh boy--I would have been hiding behind the washing machine too if I could have fit back there. A bit of tuna tempted him out of there a couple of hous later. Since then he has been off and exploring the house ever since. Oh a little hiding under my desk but basically exploring. Definitely knows where the food, water and litter box is. He can crawl back in the carrier if he needs a small close place to rest tonight. He will find his own way and learn that he can trust us and this is home.

So, a name then? The shelter was calling this sweet faced boy "Nasty" and that will not work at all! No one seemed to know just why either but whoever was naming cats that day stuck him with that moniker. DJ and I figure that we will see what his personality suggests to us in the next few days. I had text'd Pam this afternoon to tell her we had found our furbaby and she had some interesting suggestions. The one I liked best was Oreo--some of the others were food related so I almost wrote back to ask her if she was hungry, LOL. DJ made some goofy suggestions too but the name "Skyler" might actually stick. When I looked it up on a baby name site, it said it is Danish (our last name is actually of Swedish deriviation I think) but Skyler means "fugitive; giving shelter" Might work for a shelter cat??

Again, I so appreciate your comments to my Pippi tribute post. She will always be in my heart.