cats n quilts n cuts

I'm not sure what was going on with these sampler cats, but I had a heck of a time with them .. it might have been the cutting last nite .. I was prolly wayyyy to tired to be cutting them. But cut them I did. I am going to scrap the one that is really bad - then again .. these were intended to be 'framed' with the background fabric as they aren't 8x8". I do know what I'm doing with all the ooboo blocks tho. I'm going to make a quilt sammich for Pix .. maybe he'll stay off reg's quilt until I get it done. He's taken permanent residence on it and only leaving to drink, eat, use the box or curl up with me on the couch .. even then, it's not as much as before .. I sure hope this baby of mine isn't slowing down to much. He's only 9 and an indoor cat and pampered and spoilt for the most part.

I next did the Mom cats; quick to cut, quick to sew up; altho i ran into a glitch on the shoulders of this one (for once it wasn't the ears!!) I needed to recut one cat and background piece of each for the 45 degrees, must have missed the edge on it - so instead of them making up in 30 minutes, took me about an hour since I tried to make them fit - and there was NO way that these were going to fit /fidge in. If I wouldn't have had such a problem with the shoulders, I might have had another pair of cats to put up.

Ah well, they are done and will likely do plaid cats next. I am getting itchy do work on Reg's quilt tho, so the cats might have to wait and I do need to get some more blocks done for the scrappy red swap.

I've been going nuts looking for my DMC floss. I've not seen it since my room was unpacked and stuff put into the closet. I want to use that floss to tie my grandmother's quilt. Not likely to be wanting to work on that until I find it - it'll just tick me off in no uncertain terms if I can't find it. And I have looked everywhere, but where it's at LOL

Mum's Stuff

Well this AM I went with my dad to take care of cleaning out his lazy susan from the mouse problem and fritter through my mum’s stuff. Mum didn’t quilt, so a lot of her stuff I really can’t use as I don’t make my own clothes anymore .. to bloody expensive with the cost of fabric now a days. There was a box of sweat suit type stuff (velour) and ribbing that I left as I knew I couldn’t use, but did grab a box of various tweeds, and linens with the odd cotton in there .. I need to do window treatments so these will come in handy. There is an old steamer trunk in the basement that my dad says has fabric in it .. i’m like .. esh .. another day. Then he remembered that there was the cedar chest upstairs - he wasn’t sure what was in it and thought it was locked. Actually all he had to do was push the button and it opened. Silly man ..

In our forays I found 2 sugar sacks!! I had never seen them before and remembered how ladies on the lists would talk about them .. stupid me forgot them there - ARRRG, but I am wanting to get them here and use them ..they have a NICE heft to them!

Found my mum’s wedding dress in there that she made .. a comforter that my grandmother brought from Russia and a woven bedspread (tapestry like) also from Russia .. at that point, I couldn’t handle going through stuff like that .. so went on the search for her serger and her singer .. found those .. her serger is a juki and i didn’t find a manual for it - I’ll have to check on line to see if there is one there .. never used a serger in my life and mum got this after I had moved out of the house .. worse case scenario, I can ask my grandmother (Dad’s dad) as she sews and could help me I’m sure .. I think that she advised mum on this one (??) .. found a mess of notions and all the parts for her singer .. all the discs and the manual and the original box with the seam guide, screwdriver ..

There was also a craft table still in it’s boxes that i can have .. I needed to measure it tho .. it’s 72 x 40 when opened .. it’s a batwing type table on wheels and is at least 6“ higher than the table I currently use .. I’ll have to rearrange my sewing room .. move the computer out of the corner it’s in and further up the wall and put the table against the far wall - but it will fit .. 70” of work space :O .. can you IMAGINE!!! i could actually baste on this thing .. no more crawling on the floor to baste now .. that always kills my back for a good day! which reminds me .. I need to baste reg’s quilt .. ouch I’ve always said that this table is to low .. i bend over to cut and pin and my back hurts .. this table of my mum’s is a good 6“ higher! YIPPEEEE ... I’m not a tall person .. not by a LONG shot .. i’m only 5’3” .. but these short tables are murder!

Mum’s singer - now this machine hates me .. always has .. i look at this thing and it jams! It’s a slant shank so it makes my life a wee bit difficult as all my singers are short shank .. i’m still hoping to find a walking foot .. If that’s the case, I’ll oil this one up and give it a whirl while firmly holding my temper in check! I was really hoping that I would find one, but didn’t expect to .. My singer (the one I use for quilting) is making some really odd noises .. you know like a car that won’t start .. the err err err err and the wheel’s not moving .. I can sew for short bursts (maybe 4“) then it does this - then give the wheel a hand and off it goes again .. I can’t quilt on my FW as the motor just won’t tolerate the stress of all those layers. I do have the 15-91, but it’s noisy and I’ve only used it once .. nice stitch on it tho! The 99 needs to have the brushes replaced so that one’s out.

My Grandmother's Quilt

I was reminded of this quilt from a post on quilter's corner. We were talking about how we got into quilting and I had mentioned all the things that my mum taught me to do, she never taught me to quilt. While typing that out, I remembered that my mum brought me a quilt she found at my aunt's house when she passed. My mum told me that my grandmother made it for my aunt, but it wasn't quite finished yet. My grandmother had a treadle machine and I can remember her sewing on it .. i had a great time playing next to her machine while she sewed. heh .. i actually have my grandmother's quilt :D That is just wayyy to cool - my grandmother died in 1987 and I was pretty close to her .. I was the youngest granddaughter and of course, her pet.

This quilt is velvet, the binding is almost finished, but it isn't quilted .. i'm wondering if maybe I should tie it?? If anyone has any ideas please let me know .. now what to do with it??? HELP!!

and yes that is my hammy dog (Orion) getting into every picture ;)