Saturday, November 14, 2026

If any pieces from my current puzzle are missing at the end, I think I know who to blame.... 

Friday, November 13, 2026

Cindy M and I made a trip to IKEA this week - the college was closed on Monday for Veteran's Day (but open on Wednesday, the actual date for Veteran's Day???) so we took advantage of my day off from school and the one day Cindy doesn't work.  It was a nice trip - shopping and lunch at In-N-Out.  I ended up not buying much, most of what I was looking for was out of stock, which was a bummer, but AJ had preordered a new display cabinet, so we picked that up.  Cindy also found a drop-leaf table that we both loved - perfect of puzzles!  AJ's Billy bookcase was almost too big for the car, but we got it in.


 AJ also had some help putting it together - Coco held the boards for him... 

 

 

AJ needs more storage for his Warhammer modules though - this is only part of his collection.  Pretty soon, all that will be in his house is display cases..... 

 

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Coco is settling in - a bit too much sometimes.  If she's inside with me (instead of being with AJ) and I stand still for more than a couple of seconds, she lays down, usually touching me.  A bit awkward, if I'm going to back up.  So far, she hasn't taken me out, but I have a feeling it's going to happen.... 

The cats are becoming less reactive to her as well.  They still aren't thrilled, but they don't always fluff up and run for the cat tree when she comes inside.  This photo looked so innocent - just checking each other out, but....Jessie then slapped her a few times with her claws.

Monday, November 09, 2026

The Liberty Lady quilt top is done!  Americana quilts are not my favorite, and I even toned it down a bit too.  The border was supposed to be a repeat of the Lady Liberty motif in blue, but it was just too much for me, so I replaced it with some of the other fabric from the quilt. 

Sunday, November 08, 2026

Cindy has been quilting, and ran into a bit of an issue using my sewing machine.  It's not the machine's fault though - Roo keeps lying at her feet in front of the foot peddle.  Just a bit awkward to reach the peddle that way.... 


Friday, November 06, 2026

The Cascade quilt is done!  This is the second quilt I've made with this pattern, and it is still a favorite (though I got tired of making the stars, I'll admit...). 

Things are still going well with Coco - she got her first vet visit, and they said she needs to gain 10-15 pounds, so give her lots of treats.  She hadn't really been eating well since we brought her home, but I think I found the solution.  Since we didn't want to risk a dog fight over food, we were feeding her separately.  I fed her with Luna and Ripley one night when AJ was gone, and she not only scarfed her food, she helped herself to Luna's food.  (Luna isn't eating as much as she used to and often leaves food in her bowl.)  Luna also decided that Coco's food was better than hers, so helped herself too.  Luna usually eats out of the bowl on the right, and Coco on the left.  Total switch!
 

Thursday, November 05, 2026

I had some "help" with the final construction of Piccadilly Square.  I told her she was going to gte her tail ironed if she kept jumping into the middle of my fabric, but I don't think she believed me. 




Wednesday, November 04, 2026

For better or for worse, the Piccadilly Square design decision has been made and the quilt top put together.  Next step - finding a fabric for the back.  I'm not sure what I'll find for this one....

Monday, November 02, 2026

I love fall!!!  Of course, I love every season at the beginning of the season.  I like that I have all four seasons, and that winter here is mild - I'm not a huge fan of snow.  I'm not a huge fan of the heat either, but I'll take the heat over freezing snow and wind!

Sunday, November 01, 2026

While my Piccadilly Square quilt is hanging around on the design board, waiting for me to make up my mind, I made a new table runner in fall colors.  I even did some free motion quilting!  Most of my quilting for small projects like this is the standard stich-in-the-ditch pattern, following the lines of the pattern.  This pattern has a large area with no blocks, so I improvised.  Not bad!  The fabric is all from my leftover fabric, so it feels like an accomplishment two ways - expanding my skill set AND using up fabric.

 

Saturday, October 31, 2026

The "community puzzle" is complete - almost....we were missing a piece by the time we got it put together.  I'm still hopeful that I'll find it under the couch or somewhere....

We started the next puzzle, and I don't think we need to wonder for too long how we could be missing a piece of the last puzzle - we have helpers that don't always play by the rule of "leave the pieces on the table".... 

 

Friday, October 30, 2026

I completed the blocks for the Piccadilly Square quilt, but....don't like how they look together.  I made 13 blocks from the bundle of fabric I got (coordinated to work together) so I'd have an extra block to play with.  The colors all go together, but...don't work well together in the quilt.  This one has a light purple on the bottom right - it's too light.

  

This one has a light pink on the upper right - again. too light. 

I tried moving the light pink to a different row, but...still not working.


I pulled a yellow out of my stash, but....still not working....sigh.....

Better?  I pulled a lighter orange out of my stash.  I like this one better, but....still undecided.  Should I stick with the original light purple or the new orange?  This is going to sit on my design board for a bit before I put it all together.

Thursday, October 29, 2026

AJ left Coco for the first time since he got her on Monday night, and I think she's definitely bonded with him.  She checked every window she could find, every door she could find, etc. looking for him.  She settle down pretty quickly (especially after I played a game of fetch with her).