3rd post in one day

Whoa, 3rd post in one day after nothing since the 21st!  Well, I've been busy, as I often am, but I did have to get through that holiday.

(FYI, I can't find Margarita's BOM top but I am right in the middle of backing up my picture folder to thumb drive.  I can't look further till later.   I left that off post number 1.)

It helped that I had pies to bake and share for Thanksgiving.  I ended up spending all day in the kitchen since I cooked three meals ahead as well as preparing some of the ground meat for later use.  My neighbors were so sweet to invite me to join them for dinner as it got me out of the house, off the couch and kept me from getting too mopey (not entirely but mostly.  I had a little meltdown, I admit).  I had to leave before the others as I needed to walk Oscar and feed the critters.  Everyone had filled up with dinner and barely touched dessert at the point so I left the pies up there.  Well, I had successfully made Robert an Old Fashioned Chocolate Meringue Pie and he had set it back, just like his dad used to do. I told him that one was for him anyway, part of his holiday tradition.   By Friday when I went back up for the leftovers they were cutting into it so I tried a sliver.  Robert said it was pretty close to what his mom used to make while their son Nick said it was delicious.   Most of the Dutch Apple Pie I had made was gone and half the No Bake Pumpkin.  I put that all in the freezer.  Later Glynda brought me a plate of leftovers which I appreciated the next day.

I drug in all the Christmas boxes to purge out what I did not want to keep and decorate the house.  That big white box is gone as is the flat one in the front of the pile.  I did not get the Christmas tree  down from the shed rafters however.  I doubt I could trust either of the critters around it.  Skyler can't climb it necessarily without claws but he will not leave it alone or tries to climb under the tree skirt.  Oscar?  Don't know since we have not gone through that holiday together yet but it is a tree and he will pee on anything vertical.  I don't know if I could assemble it anyway since that was DJ's job and the instructions are long gone.

This morning Skyler managed to knock the inn keeper of the nativity set off the kitchen bookcase where I also set it up.  Decapitated him when he hit the deck.  I was eating my breakast French Toast with one hand while I held on the figurine like it was a hand grenade hoping the glue would set up, LOL.  When I had set it up, I had stuck down the sheep as those have gotten lost or knocked off by Skyler or his predecessor Pippi.  DJ would knock the angel off the creche on occasion too.   Everything but Mary and Joseph IN the creche got handi-tak'd!!

I quilted the bulk of Donna's #2 quilt on Sunday afternoon, all the horizontal "lines".  We are having mild weather mid 40's to almost 70 so he is out more than he would like lately.  I had completed the verticals one night after I got Oscar settled in.   I actually liked the serpentine stitch better when the crossing lines were done.   I hope she will like what I did with it.  There is one more top to quilt but the last I heard her sewing time was directed elsewhere and then pink one was not done yet.

I've also had the guild newsletter to do up along with a several flash emails requests.  The Christmas party for Friendship Quilters is coming up in 10 days.  There was other paperwork to do on the homefront as well.

The only sewing I got done was working on the kitchenchair pads for Glynda.  I wanted her to have them by Thanksgiving when guests were coming.  My first plan absolutely did not work.  We brainstormed a bit and I said I would try it on one of the smaller pads and see what I came up with.  The 2nd one worked out better but I tweaked it by the 3rd attempt by pinning the fabric around the cushion snugly and marking where the stitching should go and halving the back to accomodate the double thickness of padding.   I had to set up in the kitchen to sew so I could keep an eye on Oscar but also had to set up the serger to control all the ravel-y threads.  Oh did I tell you that I cut up Oscar's dog hammock to make them???  Yep, he was crawling under it and what good did that do.  I also had spare yardage that the gal at Downing's just gave for the end of the roll.  It went to good use and all 6 chairs are freshly padded.  I managed to squeeze out one smaller cover, should Robert still need an extra pillow on his chair but tossed all the scraps and miscuts.  I'll still be spotting that green fabric in threads on the floor and carpet for months, I swear.  Just like Christmas tree needles.

I had planned on finally getting to that zip zip bag kits as a reward type project but decided that I DO want black cotton webbing, not the letover poly dark gray that I had left from the hammock project.  It is ordered.   Frankly, I was busy in the kitchen again yesterday and the window to sew anything closed.  I had also planned on cleaning house today----well, thinking about it us as far as it got.   Let's just say that it and the laundry are pending.  Probably a grocery store run too since the list is growing when lots of time is spent in the kitchen.

Tomorrow I am invited out to lunch with some friends at a more upscale area restaurant so I don't know that my "uniform" of t-shirt and jeans will be appropriate.  I may need more time to dress up a bit, LOL.   We decided to go out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel for our Belles Christmas get-together, keep it simple and still have most of the day free after.

Here are my two boys on a recent evening.  It was too warm for me to wear my housecoat so Oscar took that as an open invitation to climb on.  His spot is on the other end of the couch on Skyler's old fleece pad.  My robe fabric is a bit like his camo throw that he sleeps with so that might explain it.  Looks like they are getting better about being in close proximity??

He's barking and we should go walk one more time before I bring him in for the evening. The sun is creeping lower in the tree line and so many of the trees are bare now.  Not all of them in the neighborhood but the really big oak at the neighbors almost looked like it was raining leaves when we were out earlier today.  It's December so it is time.

Guess that's it--------we all caught up now?

ED.  Okay I found Margarita's Patience Corner top.  This is her first quilt!  She is primarily a knitter and a master one at that but we are proud that she is branching out!

Sorry I couldn't locate it earlier.

a little output

I have managed to get a little bit of sewing done the past few days.  Actually I had finished prepping the 3rd side of the dust ruffle yesterday afternoon.  Then I sort of basted it together with some Elmer's glue and hot iron since I was planning on doing the joining seams on the serger.  It might be a little tedious but it does help you avoid those pesky pins and messing up the machine.   I finished up the evening by doing that big long seam and called it a night.  Only one busted needle to replace and of course it was on the curved corner where I had the most bulk and the tougher negotiation of seam.  You may notice some bunching in the pictures below but I think the bedding will disguise all that.

Today I had some grocery/incidental shopping to do and when I got home, some binge cooking.  Between dog walks and other household tasks it was mid afternoon before I pressed the seam and held my breath while I tried it on the bed frame.  I am a bit math challenged and at one point took off fabric that was needed on that third side and then had to sew it back on.  You can see why I might have been a little leery if I had calculated in the seam allowances correctly.  I COULD have gone just a bit deeper on the serger seam allowances as it turned out.  Mainly I wanted it to finish at about 14.5 inches or a hair less.  (I had no pattern and was just trying to replicate, in a longer length what used to be on the bed till the new bed frame was obtained.)

I was able to drag the mattress off by myself knowing that I could run up the lane and ask for someone to lend a hand if need be.  Instead the help I got was of the furry variety.  I should put quotes around the word "help", LOL.   He would not budge.  Move him, you say?  I have a cat who will bite/nip more than my dog would even think about.  Pick your battles.  He'll move and I can wait him out.

Okay, so you won't move, Skyler?  How about I take the valence down as I am going to need it for a template to re-make something to match the dust ruffle?  Well, that did not work out either.   I  put up an old topper from one of my old apartments but it looks awful with the dark blue mini blinds in there, only a temporary measure.   I ordered a tad more fabric to finish this part up with a lighter blue print for the backing.  This one has a navy blue ticking on the back and served DJ well over the years.   With the heavier cloth, it also drapes a bit better than the one I made for the space above the kitchen sink.

I got this far in replacing it.   Look who came back?  Nosy, nosy boy.   I got the mattress back on again but that is as far as the bed making went.  He likes to "help" with that too.

Then there was a knock on the door.  Michael was coming over to mow and weed whack the back yard and side yard.  Oscar needed to come in for a while to avoid getting in the way or sprayed with bits of grass.  What a cutie, huh?   I wish I could get a picture of him when he is standing up looking at me through the fence outside.  I swear he looks like he is smiling, and the ears are flared out like he could use them to fly, LOL.

I guess tomorrow I will aspire to finish making that bed, start some laundry and maybe get started on Baby R's Storm at Sea wall hanging for the nursery wall.   Her mama has a baby shower coming up in early June and I will have to get it quilted up and mailed in time for the event.  The picnic piece has a little more leeway and my piecing plan is a fairly straight forward on that one.  It is possible that I will not even get to the guild challenge piece in time but I still want to make the quilt at some point.  I have a Prairie Stroll one to turn in for donation as my one guild required quilt so no biggie.

And sew it goes around here--------it isn't much but then again this year, it would not take much to do anything sewing related.
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5/8 UPDATE:  Snoopy kitty does not learn one darned thing.  I fed Skyler first this morning just like I always do.   He is more vocal about this while Oscar is either still sleeping or just quietly watching the proceedings.  I put the gate up.  Oscar is let loose minus the leash just in case he needs to do his business.  I take the water out first and come back in to get his food bowl but he follows me back in.  Of course, Skyler is in the kitchen.  He froze like a deer in the headlights and then got chased around the table a  couple times before he finally flew over the fence with me grabbing Oscar by the collar, just in case.  Snarl, hiss, bark and claws skittering.   I don't think he would attack Skyler but I am not willing to take that risk.   I think he only chases cats when then run in the first place as he will walk right by Mamacita when I have him on the leash.  Skyler, you silly silly boy are going to give your kitty mama even more gray hair!!