Monday, September 15, 2008

Rain on the Roof

Photobucket

Ike brushed by us last Saturday stirring the trees with his rainy breath. While he threw his temper tantrum outside, I cozied up in my yellow quilting area and played.

I started this lap quilt last spring specifically to refresh my skills. Previously, I had pieced the top, then sandwiched it with batting and a backing which required a lot of brain power. Basting came next.

Finally, it came time for the actual quilting. At first, the plan had been to machine quilt. Never done that before and couldn't quite figure out how to adjust my machine to make it work. Because I was cocooning in my yellow room with rain on the roof, I didn't want to take time to call my quiltin' sis-in-law for direction. Instead, up came the small quilt frame I have and out came the thimble and needle for hand quilting.

What a great decision.

A marathon of great chick flicks accompanied me on TV...can you go wrong with 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Working Girl', or 'What a Woman Wants'?

I have at least a third of the quilt done. My stitches are not as small as they could be, but I worked on uniformity. This quilt is just for me. Practice, yes, but also to snuggle under on the couch during the gray days of winter. The fabric photographs blue, but it is really a deep, rich purple.

The afternoon proved the benefits of hand work as therapy. I felt sooooooo great.

Now, someone explain to me about the cat-fabric connection. All I have to do is lay out whatever I'm working on and little Rascal is there. This photo was taken approximately 30 seconds after the fabric went on the frame.
Photobucket
My memory is full of a long line of sewing enthusiasts cats. Desi, the cat of my teen years loved paper patterns.

Rain, cats, and quilting. It was a good day.

6 Other Creative Souls are Saying:

Anonymous said...

Lovely! I quilted all weekend, listening to the rain too. With a kitty helper, lol. Your quilting looks great, love that quilt!
Allie {HSC}

Phyllis Dobbs said...

I just found your blog and enjoyed reading it. You have a very nice writing style. I'm like you and love working with my hands - its instantly soothing, plus I feel guilty watching TV if I'm not doing something.

My cat is the same way. The minute I go to the cutting table, he's right there watching me as well as sitting on or in the way of my cutting the fabrics.

Anonymous said...

I have the same problem - as soon as I set something down that they haven't seen before, my cats are all over it.

Being Beth said...

Okay, that does it -- I'm going to have to start my first quilting experiment this fall. I've told myself I'm going to do it long enough. Apparently you can't quilt without a cat, but I'm going to have to figure it out. Allergic as I am to the sweet critters, I don't think I could quilt WITH a cat.

My next novel is all about quilting, so I need to do the research anyway -- I think this autumn and winter will be perfect time to begin.

Thanks also for the wonderful comment on my blog this week. I loved hearing about your church group. Great stuff!

Jenileigh said...

That is one of the most beautiful quilts I've ever seen. I LOVE IT.

Rose said...

A lovely quilt, Deb. Little Rascal is a cat after my own heart :) She loves you and she/he just wants to be as near to you as possible. I have a dog who who loves to quilt with me. She goes bizerk shaking her tail the minute she sees me pull a quilt into my lap to stitch on. She must be right next to my leg all snuggled up. And then sadly, she goes to work licking and cleaning all of the extra batting that is sticking out of the sandwich. Ucky.