Most of the time, I say I am tired of dinosaurs. For years now, we have been surrounded with dinosaurs. We went to the San Antonio Zoo a couple of years ago. It was a larger family outing with plenty of people keeping an eye on Indigo. She had wandered quite a ways ahead, in my opinion, and wouldn’t respond when I called her name. So, I instead called, “Dinosaur!” She stopped on a dime and spun around looking for a dino. She is still mad at me for that, and I still laugh out loud thinking about it. I tried calling her Dinosaur, and even Dino, a couple of times since then, but it doesn’t go over well. Then why am I adding another to the collection? Well, it’s not a plastic or stuffed toy, it is something useful – I hope.
I posted pictures of the project in progress – the spur of the moment drawstring backpack, with a dinosaur on it. Last post was the “art” work. I finished it! Finished it on Tuesday before Easter, and it is cute.
All from stuff I had in my stash. What you can’t see well in the picture is that I put a bit of stuffing in the dino so it really stands out. I had wondered what I’d do with that swampy fabric. I used some last year to make a little pillow for a chair in the play area, but there was still plenty. I hope to get happy pictures of her wearing it on adventures through the summer.
So, that is done. It made a great Easter basket! She wasn’t excited, making me think she had already checked it out. But, she was sick again too, had to go to the ER on the day before Easter. This has been a tough winter/year for a relatively healthy family! I’ve said I’m ready to move. That did not go over well. Obligations for being here are done as of last Friday, so I’m ready. We’ll see. It is another year before they have “match day” for medical students to find where they will do their residency, if they match somewhere. There are a couple of big tests to get done, and applications and interviews before that point anyway.
Back to the present…. I finished Hopscotch and washed it. I am pleased with it’s crinkly yumminess, but wish I had been a bit looser with the quilting. That’s okay, a lesson learned gently instead of through some disastrous, traumatic error, like an errant slice while cutting or quilting with the backing tucked under resulting in ripping out inches of otherwise great work.
I finished a little bird to go with it. I had cut out and started it when I was making the pincushions. It doesn’t really have a purpose, just something else I wanted to try. I put a tiny pouch of heavy pellets in the bottom so it sits pretty. Then, I added another little pillow of crushed walnut shells scented with essential oil. I thought about making two for each quilt I finish – one for me and one to be gifted with the quilt. Might be nice to have a shelf of special birds.
So, that will be sent out Monday.Since it is going to my daughter, to be taken to my aunt, I tucked in a gift for her, too. I had crocheted this long, open weave cardigan last winter. Not a great picture, it was just to show her and ask if she’d like it. So glad she did! Always fun to give projects away that will be well loved and used. Darn, think I’ll pull it out to the box to wear one last time. It’s a good church sweater.
The Angles quilt… you may remember that is the one that takes one layer cake, but through some poor cutting by the company, Bluprint sent me a new pack after I asked for their advice of how to compensate for the problem. I tend to get hung up on making certain decisions. On the Angles quilt. I didn’t want to fight with a large quilt, which is what it would be if I put ALL the blocks together. So, I messed with “what to do?” for several days. Which I used to explore and do other little projects to try to remain productive instead of stuck in the problem.
I laid it out as three small, like baby size, pieces, but decided two that end up about 43″ x 50″ are more practical. And I will have a couple of block rows left over that will extend the backing I already have so it works perfectly. YAY! I thought it was going to be tight and a bit of a challenge, but then, as I was cleaning up to iron and get the backing pieces done, I found several more blocks hidden in some flannel I had been experimenting with to make a design wall. Geez…. I think that was an otherworldly form of pay back. Often, the kid will say she can’t find something and I remind her I usually find what I am looking as I am cleaning up not just shoving things around, and that is what happened. Love the extra blocks.
In the meantime, the sun is shining more this week. The temp is staying above freezing. The trees actually have buds and my daffodils are delightful. Life is good. It’s healing time. Back to work!
Love you,
Cathy
Busy Cat Studio 