Coffee Table :)

Like my "new" coffee table?

A friend and I were antiquing on the weekend and guess what I found!! It's a cutdown oval, solid walnut EastLake parlour table. JUST WHAT I WANTED! I've been looking for a "new" coffee table ever since I moved into my abode, as the old cutdown painted cottage lookcoffee table was just too square (too large) for my living room! So, Yahoo, I finally have what I was looking for.

What else have I been up to besides spending money and contemplating my navel? Well, I finally got the borders on my Cobblestones quilt top. In the end I used the backing fabric (luckily I purchased enough) as it seemed to be the only appropriate colour. I even managed to use up 4 more 4 " squares in the corners to finish it off! Next step is to sandwich it up and baste it then it's on the frame for some hand quilting! Wish me luck!
TTFN

Another Breakthru!!

Another Simone breakthrough .... this past Sunday morning as I prepared breakfast Simone, who has become rather vocal when she wants her food, decided to rub up against my legs - you know how cats do, just to let me know that she's there and wanted her breakfast. WooHoo!, ok,ok, she is still reluctant to let me touch her ... but this was the first time she voluntarily touched me! Since then I have been engaging her in lots of interactive playing activities where I can get real close to her, and have managed to "pet" her three times this week. So it seems we are definitely making progress!

And speaking of cats, look what I found in my sewing room - long hidden in a box in the closet! I believe these cat applique blocks are at least 6-7 years old. So of course I had to allow them to see the light. The patterns can be located in Carol Armstrong's book Cats in Quilts. As you can see I spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon arranging and re-arranging the different blocks until I had an arrangement I was pleased with. And, in keeping with my NY resolution I used some calico fabric from my stash as the sashing. Each block was completed on a different "neutral" background. And now I have 2 empty blocks - OH NO what to do ????

I guess I'll have to applique one more cat (for the empty centre block) and I think I'll try something embroideryish or something with a mouse or mice in the bottom left corner beside the Siamese.

Wish me luck!

TTFN

Lunch Anyone?

OK, nothing too spectacular this week, but rather mundane (sorry). Above is a pic of my sewing accomplishment last weekend. Using some fabric I purchased for the millennium (yeah - well, admit it - you to have fabric that old!) I finally managed to make myself a quilted cover for my travel mug, my thermos and, to top it off a lunch bag. The quilted thermos and travel mug covers were a real necessity given the -20 degree we've been experiencing, especially with the extra long walk in from the parking lot.
I know, I know, everybody thinks I'm being a big baby complaining about the walk from the parking lot, but I'm not talking about some piddly little parking lot next to your bank ... I'm talking about a mammoth huge parking lot for 400+ cars at the very outer perimeter of campus. I call it the back 60; and not only do I have the "joy" of marching in every day from the back 60, I also have the great joy of marching down into the tunnel under the main thoroughfare and back up again, then past a large building construction zone. All this enjoyment is shared each day with a large volume of pedestrian traffic, each of whom is also making the same stupid trek!
In normal human weather it's a nice walk, in fact in the spring/summer/fall it's rather pleasant. But in this cold weather it exasperates my asthma dramatically and makes the trek a real challenge. At least my tea is still warm when I finally arrive at my destination! Woohoo!

TTYL