Stumbling
It seems I am stumbling more and more these days. Not tripping and falling. My stumbling is more brain blips. I feel like Tom Rush as he reflects on his own confusion, in his song, Remember. If you have never heard of this song, or if you have forgotten it, please do take a listen. Every day can use a laugh or two or more. Remember will give you your full quota of daily guffaws, especially if you are of a certain age.
Butterfly Sanctuary
I was feeling quite chuffed with myself as I downloaded Butterfly Sanctuary’s block of the month, early in September. WonderFil, the company that is organizing the QAL (Quilt Along) does not send out reminders when the next block is available to download. Nor is there any easy way to find the link to the downloadable page. So, several months back, I realized it was up to me to retrieve each new block as it came out.
I don’t know what I would do without my Reminders and iCal programs on my iMac. Those programs are where I store everything I need to remember. In this case, on the first day of the month, I see in my Reminders, it is time to download the next Butterfly Sanctuary block. Genius that I am, I even include the link to where the downloads are stored. So, I downloaded the pattern for Flitter.
Then the stumble came. There is a Facebook page where participants in the QAL can post their progress. Why were others posting two blocks, one with a name I didn’t recognize? Sigh. I returned to the link and sure enough there were two blocks, not just one for September. Guess I know what I will be doing next week.
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
Now that the preliminary quilting is complete in my Cats in the Attic quilt, it is time to move onto the detail, intense quilting. Much as I love doing intricate or tight background quilting, it is very time consuming. I did finish quilting 2 more windows this week.
So, now I have 3 of the 12 “windows” quilted. What I love about varying the density of the quilting is how it produces a trapunto effect to the area not densely quilted. In this case the cats.
Question of the Week
What gave you a chuckle this week?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
The one butterfly block you did finish is quite stunning! Nice dense quilting, two different types.
Thank you, Nancy. I’m having fun piecing the Butterfly Sanctuary blocks, especially working out which fabrics to use.
Very nice quilting, I really like the quilting in the background of the second cat. I see a paw print!
Vicki, I noticed the paw print appearance of the quilting, too. It wasn’t my intention. I actually used the fabric as my inspiration for the FMQ design.
Love the backgrounds you are intensely quilting of your cats. What gave me a chuckle this week was when my four year old granddaughter sent me a video to remind me to follow doctor’s orders so that I would be ready to play when she comes to visit in a month! She was quite serious about the importance of listening!
You have to love grandchildren. So, wise and self focused simultaneously.
Thanks for the thumbs up.
Well…it’s been one of those weeks, so I’m not sure what gave me a chuckle yesterday or the days before, but that song sure did, just now!
So glad I could provide you with a good laugh, Margaret. I do find the song a hoot.
Hi Gwyned, I love your cat quilt! Your use of FMQ and embroidery are really making it special. Keep having fun!
Thank you, Andrée. I’ve had fun adding a tweak here and there.
All of your sleeping kitties are so cute.
Thank you, Sara. I had fun looking through my scraps for “fur” to achieve different domestic and siamese cats.
I love the quilting on those cats. That song is so true lately. It made me smile.
Yes, Tom Rush certainly nailed what it can feel like to navigate through our days with a distracted or not firing on cylinders brain. Pleased it made you smile.
Your intense background quilting around the cats will be worth it, Gwyned! It’s really beautiful. We’ve been on a vacation to the Michigan UP this week, and finished it up with meeting some dear friends for yesterday afternoon and evening. Lots of laughing going on throughout – especially when the guys tell old stories about their time together in the Navy!
Thank you, Diann. I really do love my time spent listening to audio books while doing intense quilting.
We meant to go to the UP during our 8 years in Appleton, WI, but never managed to squeeze it in. I understand it is beautiful. Nothing like nearly life long friends who share the same memories and escapades to get the guffaws rolling.
Cats in the Attic is adorable, Gwyned, and I love those cute mice.
Thank you, Astrid. I knew I had to add those mice when I saw them on Etsy.
Look at all those tiny pebbles stitched in that block! I admire that skill. and isnt the collection of butterflies at Wonderfil just lovely !
Pebbles is an all over design I frequently turn to. The first few times I would get muddled doing the circles, changes their sizes and working out where to go next. Now it is as is writing a note by hand.
I agree, the WonderFil butterflies are beautiful. I’m working on glow today. I confess, I am very partial to butterflies.
Don’t you love it when all your best laid plans go awry? Give yourself kudos for being genius & putting in all the reminders. I use my tech for this & it’s useful. I’m wondering why you would host a QAL & not send reminders. Just sayin’. On to quilting: the cats are looking so GREAT!
Surprisingly, sometimes getting derailed can be a good thing, at least when I get over my frustration over my carefully crafted plans being trashed.
I agree. Don’t know how I would cope these days without my reminders and calendar system. Especially love how my various devices are linked, so if I am away from my home, being asked to schedule something, I can check what is going on versus trusting my memory. The SEDOSO and I actually share this system.
It was surprising that WonderFil doesn’t send out an email to all QAL participants announcing that the latest block is available. They loose the opportunity to sell WonderFil’s products that way.
Always good to hear from you, Sue.