Progress-and Design Wall

I made one more hexagon, so four full hexagons left, then half and quarter ones. They are supposed to have the middle hexagon appliqued on, but I decided to piece them. I sew the hexagon sides to the center all around, then sew the seams between the sides. Not hard, but a bit fussy.

To see more design walls check out Judy's blog.

Now the big project that's done...from this...

...to this!

I don't know if the cat is going to enjoy it right away, but I think she will eventually. She is still a little tentative, so it might take her a bit. We don't have it attached to the ceiling beam yet, and I don't know if we'll need to. She only weighs about 10 pounds so it probably won't wobble. It is 8 feet tall and 24 inches in diameter. the circles are 16 inches (pre-cut and available at Lowes). I still have to adjust the top "room". It's a bit too close to the one below so she can't quite get in there, but I only screwed it into the three poles, so it won't be a problem.

I ended up doing most of the work myself. Joe was gone all week at a retreat, so other than covering the poles, I did everything else. I got a couple of nicks and scratches, and my back hurts some, but I feel good about the whole thing.

Yay me!

Back to it

I'm finally back to getting stuff done, working on the cat tree and a new top (not that I need another top, but it's fun...we do need the cat tree though, new cat.)

We got Maggie a bit over a week ago. She is a very sweet cat. We've been without a cat for almost three years and we decided it was time. She is a talker, it is quite funny to me because Buddy almost never made noise. She plays around with the mouse we got, tossing, batting and chasing it and meows the whole time. She also chases her tail, I've never seen a cat do that before. I bought a scratching post, but she hasn't used it. I caught her scratching at the couch and one of the chairs, so a tree it is.  

It's based on this tree, but will have shelters at the top and bottom of the tree. It will also reach to the beams in our living room so if she wants she can walk across the beams. I have no idea if she'll use it, but I certainly hope so. Maybe I'll buy some catnip to get her interested. I have all the parts cut and ready to glue and cover, then screw together. I hope I get it done soon. 

I'm also working on Amy Butler's Sexy Hexy Love quilt. It' a free pattern if you're interested you can find it on this page (about the middle of the page). 

I chose all blues. I had them picked out for a different top that I decided not to make so they were waiting to be used for something. Instead of putting them away, I just decided to use them for this quilt. I've finished a couple of the hexagons. They're pretty big so the quilt only takes 7 full hexagons, 4 half hexagons and 6 quarter hexagons and then it's done. I cut out all the pieces then stacked the fabrics together that I thought might work.

Well got to get to work on the cat tree. I can never work on just one thing at a time

Seventy-Six

76 trombones, 76 days. A long time without blogging. I had some adventures in the mean time, and I hope to get back to quilting and blogging regularly.

Let's see...I stopped at the end of April. In May I started in earnest planning for the trip to Europe for our 25th anniversary. I made clothes, made itineraries, made reservations. At least I did some sewing. We went to Germany and Ireland. A week in Germany and two weeks in Ireland. Joe's mom is German, and we lived there for two years, so we wanted to see the relatives again and also see Berlin (which we had never seen). We had never been to Ireland and though neither of us has any Irish ancestors that we know of, wanted to see what it was like. We rented a car and drove...a lot. We figured about 3,000 kilometers, so .... a lot!

It rained every day was was beautiful nonetheless.We have loads of pictures...here are a few.

Grianan Aileach Ring Fort view

Fuchsia (they were everywhere)

Cliffs near Dun Aonghasa on Inis Mor Island

Joe on the Ceide Fields--the Centre in the background. 

Right now I'm working on cleaning the sewing room...first steps first. Then back to quilting and more regular blogging...and more pictures, soon.