A Thousand Pyramids - give or take

So, in between not packing up my apartment and trying to rule Tetris Worlds, I have actually done one productive thing. Inspired by a painting at the Portland Art Museum (no picture unfortunately) and all the trees that I drive through, I finally put together a Thousand Pyramids quilt.

Here's ever helpful Sally, carefully applying a layer of cat hair for extra warmth.


I've had this quilt in mind for a long time (I posted about seeing a similar one at the 2007 Sisters Quilt Show) and started buying fabrics for it a year or two ago. I only got down to actually making it when I found out a knitting friend was going to have a baby. She had really good timing! After last year's summer-o-baby-quilts, I'd put a moratorium on giving away any quilts until I'd made a few for myself. But since I'd made a few quilts for myself by the time she announced she was expecting, I was ready to get back into baby-quilt making.

I didn't take too many in progress pictures. But here it is all finished up.
Here's a closer shot to show off the fabrics, and also a tiny bit of embroidery I did in one of the triangles.
The outline of Oregon with a green heart in the middle is an uber-popular bumper sticker here (I just stuck one on my laptop) and I know that the mom-to-be really likes it, so I thought that would be a nice touch to this very Oregon-inspired quilt.

Overall it ended up being a bit more blue than I had intended... but I only used about a third of the fabrics I'd bought for this project. Which is just fine... because that means I've still got more than enough to make myself a bed-sized quilt out of it.

What I love about this pattern is the way the triangles all line up....you really can see thousands (or at least hundreds) of different pyramids layered and overlapping. It's a very cool pattern. I also love all these batiks and think they work pretty well together.

This was the first time I ever pieced triangles. In my flying geese & broken dishes quilt, the triangle shapes are made from sewing together either two squares or two squares and a rectangle. It took me a bit to wrap my brain around it... I think I just offset each piece by 1/4 inch when I sewed them together. Not all of the points match up exactly, in fact several are just kinda squished together... but mostly I think they look okay. I took the good advice from M5K to quilt straight lines 1/4 inch outside the ditch... and I think that helped disguise some of my less well formed triangles. Or at least it didn't emphasize problem areas the way stitching in the ditch would have. In fact I think the diagonal lines, while basic, are a good choice for this pattern. I made one major 'mistake' in this quilt. I'd intended to alternate the batik triangles with black triangles so the top and bottom rows would be more jagged instead of flat. But I'm not that great at following directions... not even my own... and didn't notice that I'd forgotten that part until the top was finished. Oh well, I got the sides right!


The baby-shower was Saturday (which is why I finally get to post about it!), and the mom really liked it. She's very sweet and was touched that people made stuff for her (she also got a hand knit sweater, and a hand knit cabled blanket)... she *almost* cried, but managed to keep herself together. It was precious. So I know this quilt will be well loved and used - which makes *me* really happy! So I'll call this one a success.

Caturday!

It's been a while since we've had a good Caturday around here. Today Mom & I will be out in central Oregon for the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show. So Sally's going to stay home & hold down the couch.

Sally says "I love couch."

Sally needs your help

Instead of just worrying about what to do with Sally girl while I'm in Thailand I'm going to ask for a little help from you & the universe & the powers of the Internet. Sally needs a new permanent home, and I hope you will help me find one for her.
For the record, Sally is a high maintenance cat, and I don't want anyone to take her in if they can't deal with that, although I don't really expect anyone to be quite as much of a slave to her as I have been. So I'll give the pros & cons and if you or anyone you know in the greater Portland / SW Washington area sounds like a good match for her, please let me know.


I'll give the cons first:

Sally has some health issues. Most obvious is that she is a chubba chubba hunk o'chubby cat.
Which means she has, at times, difficulty cleaning herself. She's not a smelly cat or anything, but she gets dandruff, and I do try to give her a bath a couple times a year. She likes to be brushed, especially around her face... she really gets into it.

Sally has an ongoing skin condition - she gets lesions that lead to scabs. I've taken her to the vet for this and a cortisone shot usually gets rid of them for a few months, but they always come back, and cortisone is not a great long-term treatment option. I've also gotten a steroid spray to use on her spots (twice a day for five days) - but as you might imagine, she's not fond of being sprayed with a liquid that is cold from being kept in the fridge.

Finally, when diagnosing her skin condition, we discovered that she is allergic to a whole host of things, most notably: beef, chicken, pork, and corn (also sisal - the stuff they make scratching posts from - who knew?). All grocery-store cat food is off the menu. I've found a few acceptable alternatives at Western Pet Supply (Duck & Green Pea, Herring & Sweet Potato work well, she really loves Rad Cat raw food - Turkey or Lamb).

Personality wise, she's the queen of her castle.
She fights with other cats & dogs and would really do best being the only cat in the home. She's very affectionate, but only on her own terms. If you pick her up, or get 'in her face' when she's not in the mood, she *will* scratch you. She wants her breakfast at the crack of dawn. She will be a furry and insistent alarm clock.


Oh, and she HATES the vet. She hates the vet with a blinding fury and channels the strength of ten cats when they attempt to take her temperature. It's an awesome sight...to see chubby ol' Sally scratching the tar out of two or three full grown humans. When you take her to the vet, make sure they know she's a fighter & that they'll need the Kevlar gloves. Honestly - I'm not even sure that's a con... she's just really good at defending herself.



And if you've read that far, here are the pros:

Sally can be the sweetest most affectionate kitty ever. She loves to be around people, her favorite place to be is on your lap (or book, or computer). Wherever I go, she wants to be in the same room as I am. When I go outside to take out the trash, do laundry or get the mail, she follows me. I've never had a cat who did anything like this. She is very much a people-cat, and a complete attention whore. She will walk up to strangers on the sidewalk and flirt for some pets. She even tolerates kids, as long as they don't pick her up.


Sally is 90% indoors / 10% outdoors. When she is outside she generally stays close to home, watching the birds & squirrels and basking in the sunshine. She hunts a little, I've gotten mice, birds, and even a couple of (still living) baby bunnies on my doorstep. She's only caught one bird in the past few years though... her physique these days is built for comfort not for speed. I think she could be happy 100% indoors, as long as there was a sunny spot near a window where she could watch everything going on outside, but a balcony or deck would be even better. She's not going to roam or get into trouble, and is smart enough to stay off the street... but she, like any of us, likes to take some fresh air from time to time.

Sally supports arts & crafts! At this moment she's sleeping on a quilt in progress. She also likes to sit with me when I knit. She is an excellent knitting cat as she generally avoids getting into my yarn. I can knit right next to her and she doesn't swat the yarn... she only ever gets interested in yarn if I'm using it as an actual toy - or using my ball winder (what red-blooded cat resist that??).

Best of all - Sally does not scratch the furniture!

She's very good about using her turbo scratcher. So good, in fact, that the cardboard center will need to be replaced regularly.

Finally - just some general information:

Sally's somewhere between 11 -12 years old. I got her from the Thurston County Humane society in 1998? and she was about a year or two old then. So she's getting up there, but has quite a few good years left. And really, all she wants in the world is a cozy warm place to sleep (your lap will do nicely) and someone to keep the food dish full. If you, or anyone you know in the area would love to have a big-ol pile of fur to cuddle up with... Sally's your girl.

In their natural habitat

I've seen a couple of posts lately of "Quilts in their Natural Habitat" and thought I'd post mine.

Coincidentally this is also Sally's natural habitat. Although when it's sunny, she'll be on the top of the quilt watching birds.

Of course, when it's *really* sunny, Sally's natural habitat extends to the garden.

Updates

A few little updates. I've been looking at other places to get certified to teach ESL, and have found some new options... although these options all cost a lot more and won't take place for a few more months. Not ideal... but I've got options. I actually spoke with someone at one of the programs and had a very reassuring conversation about the course.

On the crafty side, I'm working on a new project for the M5K Decathlon 2008. I'm not sure if I'll get it done by the deadline... but I'm gonna give it a go. It'll be one of those annoying top secret projects that I talk a lot about but won't post.

To make up for that though, here's a kitty in the sunshine.
How much do you want to nom nom nom that paw!!!

Broken Dishes

I've just finished my Trash to Treasure quilt - Broken Dishes. It turned out exactly as I had intended. I used all free fabrics, most of the fabrics were delivered to me in a trash bag (two of the black florals including the outside border is from my mom's stash). The binding is all leftover pieces from other quilts. I had hoped to use leftover batting as well, but I didn't have quite enough.

Here's the finished top:And here's a picture of the quilt that inspired me in the first place (stolen from the internet):
I think I hit it right on the mark.

This quilt was the first time I used meander quilting for a whole project, and this represents the closest stitching I've ever done on a quilt (I'm usually pretty lazy about the actual quilting part).
The stitching does indeed meander, and there's only one place (maybe two) where I stitched myself into a corner & had to cross over the line to get back into free space. More practice is definitely called for - but I did okay.

I managed to do a small label that's legible if plain.

All told, this little scrap quilt is perfect for laying out on the ground in the sun.


At least Sally thinks so!

Scrappy Caturday

Once again, Sally is helping me out with my quilting.

I've actually made a lot of progress on the Trash to Treasure quilt, and am really pleased with how it looks so far. It's got it's pros and cons, but it's the most successful thing going on in my life right now... and that counts for something!

An Educational Caturday

If you haven't already watched this important PSA - I highly recommend it!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Sally has decided to take up Marathon Lounging as her new hobby.

Here comes the sun...

do do do do

Here comes the sun and I say.... ...it's all right.

Oh man... Spring is making a brief visit to Oregon, and it's not a moment too soon.

I was getting really dragged down between my yucky cold and some nasty stuff at work. I told my boss that I was finally all officially signed up to take that EFL teacher training course. I've been talking about this for months but there still were no plans to train anyone to cover my desk while I'm gone. They just wanted me to "make a check-list". Which basically made me feel even less appreciated than I normally do. Like - seriously? You think all it takes to do my job is a checklist??? Then when word went out to the office that I would be taking four weeks off someone came up and said "You can't leave now, when *I* need you to do this project!" I kinda lost it and went off on how I hadn't had a vacation in two years and if I didn't get a break soon I was going to start shooting people. Because seriously, it's always about other people's projects.

You know... I had a rule about not venting about work here... Oh well, rules were meant to be broken. Onward!

Finally someone came up and actually asked me what I was doing, actually expressed interest in *my* life rather than what I could do for them which was nice. And I sat down with my boss and had a big long chat about everything that's going on on my desk, and why I'm so eager to leave etc. etc. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - my boss is awesome. She acknowledged how much stress I'm subjected to in my position and even accepted responsiblity for not being more on top of what I do everyday. Then she came up with a plan for covering my desk and suggested I start handing things off / training folks right away. I swear it was like a giant weight lifting off my shoulders.

And now - it's sunny! We get about two days of beautiful glorious weather before the rain comes back. Sally & I intend to fully enjoy it!

Caturday & Quilts

Today I will be going to a small local quilt show. State of the Craft's own Michael5000 will be showing a quilt there, so I'll get the inside scoop on the quilting world.

I've instructed Sally to finish up my pink quilt while I'm gone.

Caturday Everyday

Some days... ok, most days... I wish I could be Sally.

Caturday is for thinking...

Caturday is for thinking

inside the box?

Caturday is for helping

Sally does a good job of holding down the end of my quilt while I pin it.
She's somewhat less helpful when I actually try to sew it.

self-endulgent stream of consciousness... enter at your own risk

As an ISFJ (borderline ISTJ in fact) I am extremely good at planning and making decisions. When making a decision, I'm usually very good at thinking through the details and the consequences of doing things one way or another. The upside of something like this is that when I want to, I can make an entire Thanksgiving dinner from scratch and have everything end up on the table ready to eat at whatever predetermined dinner time I'd established when I started planning. (Contrast this with the Thanksgiving I went to at a friend's place where she didn't even have the turkey in the oven when the guests began arriving). The downside... or I should say one of the downsides is that when it's time to make a big decision, if I can't sort out all the details, and if I can't foresee all of the potential consequences - I become a bit paralyzed and overwhelmed and prefer instead not to make the decision at all, not to take the risk. Another downside is that I'm not very good at imagining things, to visualize situations I haven't experienced.

This is the problem I've been dealing with in regard to my career. I've finally figured out that I want to teach English abroad, at least for a few years. But it's been hard for me to imagine it really happening, and I've been a bit overwhelmed by the idea of trying to figure everything out.

This is the biggest thing I've ever considered doing, and there are so many details, so many consequences, so many things to think through, so many things I've never done. I've been overwhelmed and procrastinating on & off since about October. In the face of my own procrastination and the delays beyond control, I've just been really discouraged.

The current plan is for me to take the next available course - in April. I have another pre-course task to complete... it's thirty pages long, lots & lots of grammar questions. It's not hard, it's even mildly interesting. But it's solo work, to my own timetable... and that's the last thing I need right now. One of the things that appeals to me about teaching is that it is, by it's nature, interactive and somewhat immediate. I can't show up in the classroom and not teach... there will be students there waiting for me. If I'm not prepared - there will be pretty immediate feedback. At my current job I can put in about 50% effort and still accomplish all the things that are expected of me...no one in my office knows or cares what I do all day, as long as things get done. It's soul-suckingly, mind-numbingly boring... and in it's own way exhausting.

Anyway... slowly, slowly, slowly I'm working on the pre-course task... plugging away at it. But I still can't quite keep in mind day-to-day that I could really be leaving the country as early as this summer. It doesn't seem real. I want it to happen, it just doesn't feel like it's really going to. Every once in a while it'll catch me... like I might not even be here for the presidential election! It's just bizarre. For the past several months I've thought about things like moving, or buying a new car, or getting new furniture or visiting family... and then I stop myself and I think ... well, that is if I'm still here. It's driving me crazy! Trying to plan for something that's so amorphous and thus far uncertain. I don't know what exactly to do about it, other than to take one step at a time... finish up the assignment... the least fun aspect of this whole endeavor.

Hmm... I think I had a point when I started this post. But now... not so much. I also think I've caught the cold that's been making it's rounds in my office... so my brain is getting a bit fuzzy.

Look! A kitty!

Caturday fun in the sun

Sally was spotted having fun out in the sun.

Uh oh! Sally wants to have a word with the Paparazi.

Snowy Caturday

It been snowing this week.

Sally was not impressed. She required quite a bit of encouragement to go outside for a photoshoot.

Caturday morning

Sally's in training for the NYT Crossword puzzle... she's just about ready for Tuesdays.

Anatomy of a LOLCat

There's been a blog challenge to show off & measure your kitty's "Bunny Thumper". It's surprisingly difficult to get a good shot of Sally's Bunny Thumper.

Sally's bunny thumper is approximately 5" long

Often the Bunny Thumpers are carefully protected by her Chubbular Region.

But as every cat owner knows, the most vital part of a lolcat's anatomy is her Axis of Schnorgeling.

To maintain the health & wellbeing of your lolcat regular schnorgeling should be applied here.

The truth about cats & dogs

My creativity has failed me. It turned out that I still had the better part of a skein of the Nashua left, so I decided to just frog the hat, pick up the stitches, and reknit down. After picking up the stitches, I felt-spliced the yarn until I got to the same color that the skein started with. Then I did a purl row because I always pick up the yarn wrong, and rather than have it look weird on accident, it looks different on purpose. I did another purl row a few rows down for the same reason. The cast off edge is a lot tighter than it was when it was a cast-on edge. But it still fits.

One of Sally's few redeeming qualities is that she doesn't really care about my knitting. When I wind yarn into balls she gets interested in the yarn spinning around... but other than that she leaves my yarn alone. She even tolerates being a model for my knitting!

Caturday

I are serious cat.

This are serious blog.

Or maybe not. Just thought you should see where Sally is while I'm blogging. Actually, I know you don't care where Sally is while I'm blogging. But it's my blog and I can post dorky pictures of my cat if I want to. ;) She's my designated leg-warmer, and quite a good one she is!