April is a new awakening of mind and spirit

I am trying so very hard. And it seems to be working. Positive vibes are, at times, hard to hold on to. But the good times seems to be more and more.

Part of this positive feeling is from spending 3 days with my quilt guild at a retreat in Shipshewana Indiana. Food and fabric and relaxation. Two very special friends are so very important to me now. I am glad I opened my heart and let them in.

I am also trying to feel happy about the impending warmer weather. I am a Winter/Fall type of person. I hate bugs and sweating.

What do you think of this yarn bowl? Isn't she precious? This was created by:
Something Lucky 13. The art of Lucky Stradley. I found her on Facebook but had to order through her Etsy shop. And all the art is named and numbered. My yarn bowl is named Callia. She was born on January 14, 2016.

I had the choice of where the yarn exits the bowl. I decided on the nose and not the teeth. The yarn moves smoothly against the ceramic surface.

Here is a photo of my sweet Bess...we love torties. She is covered in our own home grown catnip. Yep! She is happy.

This is my shaded 9 patch. It has been a Leader and Ender's project this winter.

MaggieMae and Bella snoozing together. It will not last long. Maggie will leave in a huff. All poor Bella wants to do is cuddle. She gives Maggie a great deal of respect. I am sure that soon they will be sleep pardners.

Tumbler quilts...I now have 4 made. As I was looking for another item I ran across my container with precut-tumbers in 4" and 2" sizes. All ready in foursies ready for row piecing.  Loved those templates...

XOXOXOXO Subee

Bella's growth and quilts.

Our Bella is a jumper. She is still working on the landings and tracking the object she is jumping for. Hubby gets this dangly toy inches from the ceiling and she manages to touch it and lower it as she falls back.

 We are so glad she is recovered from her spay surgery. She came home the afternoon of the surgery a bit groggy but otherwise fine. Thirsty and hungry we were relieved when she used the litterbox and then took a long nap.

A few days later we noticed a large lump on her belly near the incision that was completely healed. It was the weekend and she did not seem to be in any pain. We decided to wait for a weekday.

I called the vet on Monday and they asked us to send a photo of the lump. And here it is. They called us back and asked us to come first thing on Tuesday morning. Hubby had to be somewhere so I took Bella and he met me in their parking lot. As we were walking in his phone rang and they were looking for us. It was only 8:15! Hubby says we are in the parking lot and they rushed us back to a room. Vet examined her and said he needed to knock her out and work on it. It could be a hernia or just fluid but he needed her to be out to work on it. And that she was under warranty and there would be no charge.

So we left her there and drove home. The vet called hubby on the drive home and said it was all fluid but she would be out until later in the day. And as of today there is no sign of that old lump coming back. They even called a week later asking about her condition. I sure do love this vet. They are pricey but oh so worth it.

Bella loves my sewing machine. No, she loves me and the sewing machine is just in the way. She plays and tumbles with Lucky. But needs to be in the same room with me.

I still see no signs that she is a Balinese. Her fur is short and her tail is striped. I see no reason they would want to have kept her as a breeding female except for her loving personality. I mean she is a real easy going kitty. Very loving, nothing scares her except for the vacuum cleaner.

My daughter #2 gave me this fur lap cover and Bella has claimed it as hers. She sure looks beautiful when she is on it.

A shaded 9-patch that was my Leader & Ender as I worked on a few Tumbler quilt tops. Yes I said a few Tumbler tops. The date on my container was 2008 and it was full of tumblers sewn into 3's and also 30 rows sewn. (18 patches)
I had 2 templates made back then for a 4" tumbler and a 2" tumbler. This is one of the three 4" tops.

There are certain perks that come with being OCD. Containers stacked to the ceiling of projects and all are labeled. I have not sewn the 2" ones together as I can see them as marching around in a border of the three Tumbler quilts that I am working on.

So sorry I have been lax about posting. I can only blame Facebook!!!!

XOXOXOXO Subee

Along came a Tumbler template

I know you all are an animal lovers and I need to share some sad news with you.



My Husband found Stubbie dead on the road just a moment ago. So sad. We wrapped her up and taped her into a box for burial. I wondered why I had not seen her this morning. There was not a mark on her...she was just dead. I kept her alive through three winters. She had no tail to wrap herself up to keep warm. So I am positive that my intense feeding of her kept her alive.
And today is my daughter’s BD.
I am so sad!
XOXOXO Subee
I cut way too many patches for my token Tumbler quilt. I only wanted to "try" one to see if I liked making it. I made one in a lap size that I will hand quilt with Bonnie Hunter's method of Freehand Baptist Fans. I cannot wait to cuddle under this quilt. I will use Quilters' Dream Wool batting.

Every little patch of fabric sings to me. I do not want any of them to get away or not to be in this quilt. As I said I cut way too many patches. I believe I have enough to make three quilts. Geeezzzzz!
I also cut 2" tumbler patches as I was cutting. This will make a nice tiny quilt for the kitties.

This was the first cutting board turntable I ever bought.

It is PERFECT to trim these patches from 4" & 2" squares.

 It really turns way too easy...could be dangerous.

Which is why I had it under a tool caddy in the cutting room.

It allowed the caddy to spin. I use an Olfa spinning square mat now for different cuts.

But this one is too perfect for one patch trimmings.

I am glad I had it.

I am glad I am a Gadget Girl!!!!!

 Progress on the first Tumbler quilt on the design wall.

 Organization is always VERY important to me when I start a project. I have lots of little baskets and leftover plastic containers from veggie/fruit purchases. When I dove into that great box of 2000 4" squares I found they were sorted into color families already! So I only took a few from each grouping. That way the colors would be spread evenly throughout the quilt.

 Look what I found in the box! So this tells me the box was my 2000 year purchase. I also have another one that I think I bought in 1998. I have not broken the seal on that one yet!

 I keep things even in my mind and on my sewing table. The pattern needs a row of each starting with a dark and a light. So I count out the # of rows I want to start off with and alternate the fabrics.

This is one of my Mother's glass bowls.

I use them to collect small trimmings when rotary cutting.

Keeping my work area clean is VERY important to this quilter.

I have carpet underfoot. Need to be careful!

 I finally satisfied my Spring Cleaning Urge. I moved out all the sewing furniture. I washed the windows and the curtains. Then I turned my sewing area  towards the TV and away from the window. With the summer sun coming in (someday! we have had the wettest April on record) I needed to keep the sunlight from my eyes. It feels almost as if I have more room this way. I have turned it this direction before but I had never moved the big lateral file cabinet to the side of my machine. It fits there so perfect. Hubby says there feels as if there is more room to walk. But it is not so because my rug does not fit on the floor. It is only narrower by 1". But it seems bigger somehow.

 I put that cover on for the picture. Since I sew everyday it is never covered!

 My second set of 60 String Blocks.

I did join in the swap at Quiltville.

 I also am going to try to sell some on E-Bay.

 I sew 10 at a time. And I do pin. It keeps the strips flat after just finger pressing.

The new telephone books arrived this month.

I never thought I would be so excited over having old ones to cut up!

That must have been what drove me to make more string blocks.

 MaggieMae always walks over my sewing. No respect!

I also call her "Magnet" because fabric patches stick to her!

She is such a good girl though.

I wash her eyes everyday.

She just sits on the toilet and lets me wash her face...purring the entire time.

And I have finally found a brush that she actually likes me to use.

It does not really get the tangles very well but I am trying to keep her tanglefree until we do the summer cut again. It is called a Lion Cut. Makes her look soooo cute!

One of the first fledglings this Spring. A sweet little female.

A BlueJay got too close and the entire flock drove it away.

Nature is so wonderful to watch.