Grumpy Cat

I love the internet, and I love cats.  When Grumpy Cat came along, I fell in love with her little sour face.  

My cat, Bastet, the Duchess of Mean is grumpy for sure, but doesn't have the permanent scowl.  As part of my internet cats mini quilts, I give to you, Grumpy Cat.

Click here to see Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat.

MOAR MEMES - Keyboard Cat

So yes, the Internet was made for cats and cat memes... and the Keyboard Cat phenomenon from a couple of years ago was a favorite of mine.  

Play him off, Keyboard cat!!!

I am likely going to add one of those greeting card recording devices to play the song along with this piece.  I'm having a blast with these quilts...

Weekly Quilt - Meme Cats

Oh, the internet...  I love this cat video.  It's silly and annoying after about 3 minutes.  But it's soooo darn catchy!

That MUST be why I had to make my own, right?  This month's weekly quilt theme is "Meme Cats".  More next week!

The bedroom makeover project

My DH and I have lived with this bedroom for the 4 years since our move to Chicago from Baltimore.  Not seen in this horrible picture is the tray table I have used as a night stand.  The house was built in 2001, and it's still "builder white".  We also carried over some of our IKEA furniture, from when we were a struggling young couple who could barely make ends meet.

We hired a painter.  Ever since the days when I was stuck in Maryland trying to sell the house with DH in Illinois at the new job I swore I would never tackle a large painting job again.

Here's the final color on the walls before the new furniture.  Lillith and Vermithraxis are doing a final inspection of the painter's work. 

TADA!  Grown up furniture.  We saw this set in a furniture store just after I moved here in 2007, and we wistfully fell in love with it, but couldn't afford it.  Since then I have been checking the manufacturer's website every 6 months to make sure it hasn't been discontinued. The bed posts have a metal climbing vine with black metal roses in the frames.  Sort of "goth"?  Ha ha  We're very happy with it.

Now we just need curtains, lamps, wall art, new pillows, and eventually a better mattress.  But all things in due time, right?  The cats like it a lot, especially Bastet. (And yes, that's Legolas on the TV, I was watching LOTR).

This n That #6

Well, it's official. My quilt has been mailed to the Pennsylvania National Quilt show. It's weird having to box and send it off.
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There's no posting of my president's letter this month because it was a call for volunteers to step up and take some of the open committee positions our guild has open. I hope to be back to posting inspirational letters next month.
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I haven't been getting any good sleep lately due to allergies. It's been beautiful outside, and we want to open the windows at night, but my allergies won't let it happen.
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I'm stumped for a theme for September's weekly quilts. As usual, I'll have something by the time the weekend rolls around, but this month has really stumped me.
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I have been jonesing to do some fabric painting and sun dyeing lately, but as I said earlier, the weather has been beautiful, but not sunny nor warm enough for the sun dyeing. Of course, the more I can't do something, the more I want to.
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My cats were sent new toys by my friend Nance, and they are a huge hit. They are filled with catnip and no fluff. My cats are nuts for them. They are Yeowww brand, so if you have a cat, get 'em one of these!

This n That #2

I like the idea of the "this n that" blog posts... It keeps me in the habit of blogging as I come up with ideas, and I have to admit, I like blogs that update often.
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So I'm trying to decide "where this whole crazy art train is going". See my poll over there? =====>>>>> Please click on a choice and help me figure out what to do next.

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We had a speaker at guild last night, and while I am happy to have seen her work, I wasn't thrilled with some of the "message" she had to say about art quilts and quilt "artists". If we make quilt art, aren't we all artists? Does it really take art training to be a true artist? I think not....
She also had something slightly negative to say about art quilts that have over the top embellishing. As someone who has made that kind of work in the past, why potentially alienate your audience by dissing it in your lecture?
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it's official... I'm the new president of the Riverwalk Quilt Guild of Naperville IL.
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If you ever clog up your toilet.... (Hey, it happens!), pour a bit of dishwashing liquid in the bowl, let it sit for a bit, plunge a couple of times, and viola! Seriously! I know from experience!
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Made some "glue stamps" but am not too good at stamping with them yet. See below!

What I did on my Winter Break...

Picture heavy!

Our tree, with my gifts under it.

Bastet, doing what I did on vacation, lounging around.
One of my Art Quilt Workbook exercises, finally done.
The project from the workshop presented by Rosalie Dace, called "Close Up". This is some bacteria magnified a bazillion times.
My version of "close up" was Pomegranate seeds.
And the Cloth, Paper, Scissors article on making these snowmen was just too cute to pass up. The bottles are small plastic shampoo bottles from all of the hotels I went to and used up this year. I pulled these bottles out of the trash thinking they would be good for beads or pins, and found a better use for them. I recycled!

More to come! Lots of cool stuff coming up!

A graphic update!

OOO! Pretty pictures!

On the way back from a work trip, I saw this neat pumpkin patch. Fall is finally here.

The troublesome trio were at it again when Catherine (center) was speaking at the Wheaton IL guild. Steph (left) invited me along, and we had a blast. We also decided to take a class together at the Mancuso Quilt show next month.


My guild, the Riverwalk Quilters Guild, had their annual small quilt auction so I made this altered spoon, and attached it to a quilted background. The spoon was inspired by directions in a recent Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine article written by Kelli Perkins. I wanted to try this and also wanted to figure out attaching the spoons to quilts for a project I am making for my house.


I also made this small 6 by 18 inch wall hanging, that the DH loved and didn't want me to give away. I forgot to photograph it before I gave it to the guild, so this picture is taken on the hood of my car.



Speaking of Kelli Perkins, she recently did a giveaway on her blog of supplies from her studio, and I tossed my hat in the ring. I got this package today.



Here is what was in it! My cat, Lillith, is modeling some of the lovely bits of ephemera and yarns and buttons and other amazing stuff Kelli sent me. Thanks Kelli!

Lastly, I went back to this for the first time in over a year today. I'm back on the wagon!

Monthly Quilt- My Cats

If I had to enshrine anything, it sure is my girls. This is Bastet, Vermithraxis Destroyer of Worlds, and Lillith. I used my Gocco machine to screen the little faces onto my beloved hand dyed fabrics. My girls get only the best! Next time I need to use more contrast on the faces.

The Gocco did not have the sticking problems on the screens like the last time, because I tried the ironing technique mentioned on Flickr.com's Gocco group. I still may stamp their names onto the fabric near their little noggins, but for now, I'm happy with the cute results.