The Usual

Whiskers is snoozing on the sofa (sleeping all day really wears a pup out)...

 ...and I'm sewing (pardon my murky photos...twas dark outside by the time I finished piecing).

I'm currently working on some new placemats using a charm pack Cara sent me of her hubby's fabulous new line, Cosmic Burst. She was sweet enough to send me some after I gushed about it's summery delightfulness, but I just now got around to playing with it due to the Great Neck Injury of 2012. Hopefully I'll be caught up on all my backlogged projects soon *crosses fingers*

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FPSI

After coming home this weekend to an obscene amount of dog fur on my new pillows (from Kelly + Elena), I'm officially inventing a new unit of quilting measurement:  FPSI, also known as Fur Per Square Inch.

Why? Because all pets are inherently drawn to handmade items. It's a scientific fact.

Also, it seems there's a positive correlation between how much you love an item, and the FPSI. Pets can sense these things. Here is photographic evidence. He knows...oh yes, he knows....he's literally licking his chops over how much fur he's gonna rub on it...

Sensing my absence this weekend and Ray's general lack of concern, I'm pretty sure Whiskers did barrel rolls on my pillows while I was gone to increase the FPSI of my most beloved new pillows, and slowly claim them as his own.

It took not one, but FOUR sticky roller sheets to take the FPSI from 100 back down to zero.

It's a vicious cycle, but this isn't over dog!

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Warning: Cuteness Overload

One guess as to what was waiting on my front porch when I got home from work today....that's right! TWO giant boxes full of FMF happiness from my friend Brenda @ Pink Castle!

Whiskers and I spent the afternoon rolling around in it...well, actually, I rolled in it...he more or less laid there like a sack of taters. Such a good sport ;)

I just might have to frame this photo and put it in my cubicle - that's how happy it makes me! Adorable pup + FMF = instant workplace morale boost.

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Puppies for Sale

 

I had a very interesting morning...(and I wonder why I've been getting more migraines than usual lately, lol!)

So. The hubs and I have been getting up at 5:30 a.m. the past few weeks to exercise before work. Ray let the dogs out in the backyard, and I was in the house getting dressed. And then: total chaos. Both dogs got loose, and took off running (in opposite directions) in the pitch black morning hours. Ray starts yelling for me to help, but I don't even have any pants on.

By the time I get dressed and run outside to round up the hogs, Ray's walking back with each dog by the collar....and Whiskers was FILTHY....and looking 100% pleased with himself. He had run down to the disgusting drainage ditch at the end of the street, and jumped into the stagnant water - full of God knows what. Scratch the morning workout. I told Ray to go on to the gym because I'd have to stay and sort things out, and then I gave Whiskers the silent "business face" and finger point (the one that silently says you can wipe that smile off your face mister and drop the tail wag while you're at it!!!). I put Rimshot in the kennel while I hosed Whiskers (who was still looking mighty pleased with himself) down in the utility sink.

I finish with Whiskers, rub him down with a towel, and unleash him to do the "mad wet dog" run. Once he finally calmed down and quit trying to dry off on our sofa, I let Rimshot out. And that's when all hell broke loose. She takes 5 steps out of the kennel, and throws up the worst thing I could imagine all over the floor. I won't go into detail, but she had eaten something in the backyard that morning that should never be eaten. So I clean up that mess (dry-heaving the entire time), and toss Rimshot back in the kennel, where she proceeds to throw up MORE of the Breakfast-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named in the kennel. Grab Rimshot, throw her in bathroom, scrub out unholy mess in the kennel, grab Rimshot again, toss her back in kennel, latch it and throw away the key.

So how was your morning? Hopefully better than mine.

Is it Thursday yet?

P.S. I listed a few more fun goodies in the Etsy shop and updated the crappy photos from "Migraine Bat Cave Day", so feel free to continue helping me unload some of my fabric hoard :). Coupon code still PLAIDSCOTTIE10.

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Button, button, who's got the button?

My cousin Michelle loves animated movies, and after we watched Coraline together a few weeks ago, she made me these precious polymer buttons! You should check out her Etsy shop - she has some really cute stuff in there, and I can vouch for the quality *wink*. If you'd like a custom button(s), or see something you like but want in a different color, try messaging her and I'm sure she'd be willing to work with you :)

This is angelic "Coraline" Sir Whiskers...

And this is "Sherlock" Whiskers. He's no hail-fellow-well-met, but the perfect gentleman on the street...

 

And check out the sweet little goodies I picked up this week! Stitch Steals was offering all 60+ of these buttons for $9.99...I was on that deal like a monkey on a cupcake. The fabric is from a quilt shop I stumbled across earlier this week while on a work trip - they had almost an entire bolt of the Aviary Lime Woodgrain, and I bought almost all of it! Woot!

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Record Time

I had a total "oh crap" moment on Monday when I remembered we were having a "Grandbaby" Shower for a coworker today at lunch. She's a a really sweet lady and I still wanted to make her a quilt despite the time constrictions, so I went with a really basic strip quilt and put this together in about 7 hours!!! I'm pretty sure that's some kind of record, lol

What is a "Grandbaby" shower, you ask? Well my friend has been divorced for about 10 years and lives alone. Her only daughter is having her first baby in a few weeks, so we all got together and decided to have a baby shower of sorts for her, since her grandbaby will be at her house all the time! I think it's such a fabulous idea, because now her family won't have to cart bulky baby items back and forth between houses :)

I've dubbed her quilt the "Blueberry Hill" baby quilt because of all the bright, summery blues and grassy greens. Here are some closer shots of the prints and binding....

On the back I used my favorite baby fabric ever - Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo! Isn't it precious? I love the thought of her little grandson crawling around on this quilt, looking at all the different shapes and colors of the animals :)

I'm definitely gonna have to pick up some more of this basic dot too, because I love how it works as binding. I only bought a yard of the blue and purple, and a month later I'm almost out of both!

And just for good measure, here's a gratuitous puppy shot! Notice anything new? We're going to be watching my brother-in-law's Jack Russell puppy for the next couple months...she's only a year old and COMPLETELY INSANE, although very sweet! Our life has been more than a little chaotic the past week, but Whiskers has taken to her presence swimmingly. He's happy as a clam and they spend most of their time racing down the hallways, sliding on the wood floors, and wrestling. It's so funny hearing their little claws click on the floor as they run :)

Her name is Rimshot, which seems completely random unless I tell you that she's named after the Jack Russell puppy from the Ernest movies. Remember Ernest Worrell from Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Scared Stupid, Ernest Goes to Camp, etc? They came out when I was in elementary school and we all loved them :) No? Well here's a picture to help refresh your memory. In Ernest Scared Stupid she was turned into a wooden statue by the evil troll (and later saved by Ernest, of course!) What would Ernest be without his plucky sidekick?

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Gratuitous Puppy Shot

There's no good reason for this photo, except that it's cute. After I posted that last photo of him, I realized how badly he needed a haircut because his fur was in his eyes. Poor baby :(

So he got a shave and a bath today after work. Isn't he the cutest little puppers in the whole wide world?

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Scientific Fact About Dogs

If a dog and a quilt are within 20 feet of each other, the dog will find said quilt and lay on it within 2.2 seconds. Especially if it's brand new and you don't want dog fur all over it.

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Clearly, the fame has gone to his head.

After reading about how cute he was in all the comments, Whiskers has become a bit of a diva. He says it's time he took a more hands on approach (since the blog is named after him), and decided to oversee my "photo shoot" last night. You can see more evidence of his constant presence if you check out the top right corner of one of the photos below.

I have lots and lots of pictures today - yay!

This is the latest 3x6 Bee block I received in the mail from Mollie 2010. Isn't it GORGEOUS?! I can't stop staring at it when I'm at home :)

And this is some fabric I purchased from The Fat Quarter Shop. It arrived this weekend and I couldn't wait to show you guys!

(From L to R: Timeless Treasures Pac-Man, Sanctuary Zen Garden in Gray, Sanctuary Zen Garden in Sherbert, Riley Blake Wheels in Orange)

A few of us NOLA MQG ladies had a little get-together on the North Shore this weekend (reality: Angela and I invited ourselves to Karen's house and arrived bearing gifts of fabric and chocolate because her birthday is in a few days!!!). We then muscled our way into her fabric lair, where we freaked out over the fact that she has a HUGE munki munki quilt top she's been withholding from us for months!!! Can you believe her nerve? Then we raided her fabric bins and stole her leftover Munki Munki scraps, with the promise that we would pay for them with our own delicious fabric scraps at our meeting this Thursday :) I love swapping.

I also swapped Angela some Heather Ross Horses in Green for some precious green Katie Jump Rope flowers. I LOVE SWAPPING.

Karen also gave me a quilt. On her own birthday weekend. Who does that?

Look at the wee baby robots! She's so amazing.

And naturally, three members of the Modern Quilt Guild couldn't have a get-together that didn't involve a fabric store! It would be borderline sacrilegious. So we made a trip over to a shop in Mandeville called Bright Hopes. Conveniently enough, they were having a sale on the best fabric lines in their shop. Angela and I bought the last two yards of the orange Park Slope print. It's odd how I keep finding that fabric line on sale in LQS's, because it's a fairly old one. All of the prints below were on sale for $4.99/yard....how awesome is that? I made out like a bandit!!!

(From L to R: Nicey Jane Welcome Road in Sky, Nicey Jane Hop Dot in Sky, Nicey Jane Swing Toss in Pink)

(From L to R: Henna Garden in Spring, Park Slope Leaf Dots in Orange)

(From L to R: Michael Miller Ta Dot in Moss, Amy Butler Garden Maze in Green)

(From L to R: Amy Butler Martini Dots in Green, Tula Pink Bird Cage in Brown)

And just so you can see what kind of antics I'm having to deal with, here's another shot of Whiskers doing quality control. He was inspecting/sniffing all the fabric to make sure it was up to par ;)

Also, one commenter had asked if people outside the New Orleans area are welcome at our meetings. I couldn't reply to your comment directly because it was set to No Reply, so I'll have to answer it on here! You are more than welcome to come to our meetings, and you can visit our website at http://nolamqg.webs.com/ to get all our meeting info!



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My Finished Project for the Holiday Mug Rug Swap

I finally finished my Mug Rug for the Mug Rug Swap 2! I've been tearing my hair out and cursing the day I signed up for so many swaps...I knew better than to sign up for so many right before the holidays, but I couldn't stop myself. Despite the madness, I managed to finish a few days before the final mailing deadline on the 29th :)  Now all I have to do is complete my Modern Swappers items, my 3x6 Bee blocks, and my Pillow Talk Swap pillow and I'll be right as rain.

I thought it would be cute to have a reversible mug rug that my partner could flip to reflect her current mood :)  I figure the "naughty" side will be pre-coffee and the "nice" side will be post-coffee...hehe! I used free-motion applique on all the words, packages, and lumps o' coal.

Below is a closeup of my packages. Don't act like you're not impressed by my crappy bows. They look so sad and lumpy *sigh* ...I promise they were much more majestic in my brain.

Also, I'll have some pictures of my finished Scrappy Spidey quilt soon! I had to baste it in an empty office at work and I've been hand quilting the layers during my lunch break every day in order to hide it from the hubby. Have I mentioned before that it's impossible to hide anything from my him? He always unwittingly stumbles across every surprise I plan for him...BAH! He guessed that I was getting him an XBox for Christmas last year, and I played it so cool. Still have no idea how he figured that one out. He's strictly forbidden from looking at my blog, so hopefully this year he'll be surprised when he unwraps his quilt :)

Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!!! I don't know about ya'll, but I plan on slamming. I pity the food that crosses my path come Thursday. I'm trying out a new cornbread and Andouille stuffing that looks pretty spectacular spectacular (in the words of the vernacular). Needless to say, the running regime shall resume on Monday before I spiral out of control and develop a food baby in the ol' stomach region.

P.S. Many thanks to my partner in Scottie crime, Sarah. She tipped me off about the amazing Scottie Christmas fabric you see above. Can you believe it's from Hancock's? Whiskers shall be getting a new stocking and a tree skirt this year. Yes, it's his tree skirt, because he believes that all our tree skirts are his personal blankets. He likes to lounge under the tree on them and munch on the plastic branches...this is also why we haven't been able to put up our Hogwarts Express Lego train the past two years....*sigh* The poor little Lego men would think he was Godzilla as he stomped through their little plastic town!

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