It's a Girl!

As we suspected, the vet. confirmed today that our new kitten is a girl. So the name Oscar is not going to work!

Meet Spooky.

Her eyes are still a bit crusty. She got some medicine for that today. She is about 8 weeks old and just the cutest little ball of cuteness you ever did see. She is so black that she is hard to photograph, kind of like a little black hole.

Maybe you can appreciate how tiny she is in this photo.

I haven't had much sewing time this week. I've been playing with Spooky and doing a lot of computer work in preparation for classes beginning next week. I am switching to teaching my courses online only which involves a lot of preparation work.

I was able to make a start on my laptop carrier. Here are the pieces so far.

I hope to get this finished up soon so I can make one for myself!

Charity Zig Zag Quilt

I really like this quilt!

I ran out of the pink background fabric I was using and had to substitute a different pink. Grrrr! It looks okay though. I'm not wild about the quilting design I used in the pink zig zags, but I'm glad I tried it. The design is functional but I don't think it really adds anything. I'll do something different on the next one. This was a fun, easy pattern so I will probably make another at some point.

Finished size is 42.5" by 54". For the back I used some Stampin' Up fabrics I was given by a friend.

They are larger than a quilter's fat quarter at about 18" by 28.5" which worked out well for the back of this quilt. The fabric quality is not as high a quilt shop quality, but acceptable to me. I think it is about the same as Hobby Lobby fabric quality.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again here, the pattern is called Super Zig by Monica Solorio-Snow. The pattern is free and you can find it here on the Lecien website. My blocks are 6" square, unfinished, so each of the zig zag pieces were cut 3.5" by 6" instead of whatever size the pattern says. I used my The Setting Triangle Ruler by Lynn Graves to figure out what size setting triangles I needed since my blocks are smaller than in the original pattern.

You can google "setting triangle ruler by Lynn Graves" and find lots of online sources for it if your LQS doesn't carry it. It's an excellent ruler to have on hand for quilts set on-point. Even though I know how to figure out what size setting triangles I need for any size square set on-point, it's nice to not have to figure it out if I don't want to. The ruler tells me what size strips to cut and then I use the ruler to cut the strips into triangles. Easy, accurate and fast!

Modern Monday Quilt Along

Block 44:

I cut this one at 6.5" by 7" instead of 6.5" square. I like the extra background fabric on the bottom. If necessary, when I put the blocks together I can trim it down some.

Go see Caroll's apron block at Attic Window Quilt Shop. Then visit Jenifer at 42 Quilts to see what we will be making this week.

Family Update:

As most of you know, our 2 year old cat, Goldie, died last month. I still miss her, but our house just didn't seem right without a cat around. We've been looking for the right cat for our family for a little while and found one yesterday afternoon.

I didn't crop out my shoes for scale. I wear a women's size 8.

He/she is tiny! Only 2 months old. I say "he/she" because the people we got him/her from said it's a male. I'm not so sure though. If it is a boy, his name will be Oscar. If it is a girl we haven't picked a name yet. I will be making a vet. appointment today to get shots and have it's eyes looked at since they are a bit goopy. Boy or girl, it sure is cute! Very friendly, so far is using the litter box but I'm not letting it roam the house at will yet. The house feels better now.

Friday Progress Report

Our summer is winding down and the school year is ramping up. As a result, I didn't spend much time in my sewing room this week.

Last weekend I was doing some cleaning and found a small stash of batting I forgot I had. I quick basted together my zig zag quilt and got it quilted. I'm at the binding stage right now.

I also got supplies to make a laptop carrier.

This first one will probably be a store sample. I'll make myself one next and I may make another one or two for gifts. The pattern calls for a new product, Soft and Stable, instead of batting. The pattern is by the inventor/creator/designer of Soft and Stable. I'll let you know how I like it after I try it.

Modern Monday Quilt Along

Jenifer didn't post a block for last week which allowed me to get caught up.

Blocks 39, 40 & 41:

Caroll won't have a new Modern Monday block posted since she wasn't behind, but go visit her any way at Attic Window Quilt Shop to see what she's up to. Then make a quick stop at 42 Quilts to see if the next block is ready.

Friday Progress Report

I had other plans for my morning today but my son sidetracked me. He wanted a blanket for one of his stuffed animals. This involved a trip to the quilt store for satin edge binding and while there he saw some Cuddle fabric that would be perfect blanket fabric. I used my own tutorial for a satin edge binding blanket. It sure was nice to not have to look for the written directions for this!

Gray and his new blanket

This week I finished piecing the top of my next charity quilt.

Super Zig charity quilt top

I used a free pattern called Super Zig by Monica Solorio-Snow. You can find the pattern here on the Lecien website. My blocks are 6" square, unfinished, so each of the zig zag pieces were cut 3.5" by 6" instead of whatever size the pattern says. It finished at a pretty good size, about 43" by 52". I'm out of batting right now and so is my LQS so I can't quilt it yet.

I also finished another reindeer. His eye is a little wonky. I'm not sure what happened but I'm not fixing it.

I think this might be the fourth one. I'm not sure. I'm working on the next one right now.

I'm also working on a Quilt of Valor. I don't have a good picture of it yet to show you. It is basted and waiting to be quilted. That was my plan for this morning but I had to go shopping and make a blanket instead.

Mesa Verde National Park

Have you seen The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Ken Burns? We've been watching it on Netflix. It is very interesting with lots of great cinematography of the parks. In one of the episodes they talk about Mesa Verde National Park. We went there at the beginning of July while we were in Durango.

View from the deck of the visitor's center

The park is in southwestern Colorado. Located within the park are about 600 cliff dwellings.

Spruce Tree House

The Spruce Tree House is the most easily accessible ruin to get down to. There is a paved path down to it. The path is pretty steep and windy, but it's worth the hike.

Many of the dwellings are not open to the public to wander around in anymore.

And some are only accessible on a ranger guided tour.

I have a very good zoom on my camera. The above two photos are of the same dwelling. Both were taken across the canyon from the dwelling. Mesa Verde was a very interesting place to visit. I took lots of photos that day but I won't bore you with them all.

As in all National Parks, kids can become a Junior Ranger by picking up a booklet and completing a list of tasks while touring the park. My son was very excited to do this. When you complete the booklet you have to take it to a Park Ranger. So we stopped back by the Visitor's Center before leaving. There is an oath the kids have to take and then they get a Junior Ranger badge.

Taking the oath

Now look at this fabric I found at work yesterday.

How cool is that! I bought all we had left, just a little over a yard. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but I have a few ideas.