Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! My loving husband brought this lovely Azalea by the school for me before taking Mom and me to lunch this afternoon (He was off work; I wasn't). Unfortunately, it is poisonous to cats, but then so are most of the plants I have in my sunroom. Fortunately, my cats are only interested in eating my African Violets and Catnip plants, both of which are safe for feline consumption. Apparently African Violets are something like a kitty salad - lovely to look at and a treat to eat! : )



Well, we did get some winter weather after all. Well, okay, three days of cold weather, one with snow involved. So okay, it was only about an inch, but it got my husband off work for two days (he works in a small, public school system). It didn't get me off work (I work in a state run vocational school). I went in to my school at 8 a.m. and got sent home at 11 a.m. - just as the weather started clearing. Guess what I did with my suddenly free afternoon...I quilted, of course!



I finally finished the binding on this butterfly fabric quilt that I started about three or four years ago. Maxie helped me display the quilt on the bed so that I could take pictures - of her, of course! 

A quick stretch to test the comfort of this quilt. And I do mean quick - those little paws were moving so fast that they blurred the bottom of my photo! Judging by her refusal to get off of the quilt, it must have passed the comfort test.

I added three simple, straight borders to finish this quilt and bound it in the same blue fabric as the outer border. I did not want an Irish Chain (don't ask me why I didn't, I have no idea), so I swiched the directions of my chains. Again, don't ask me why.

Another project finished, but like the butterfly quilt above, not on my 2012 To Do List. My friend Liz paper pieced this kitty quilt top for me during our 2010 Pizza Box Exchange. Instead of making a block for me, she used the materials to make a compete top. All I had to do was finish it. What a wonderful gift!

Thank you, Liz. Kitty smiles all around.

Liz drew on the kitties' faces with a permanent fabric marker. How cute are they?

I've also been working on machine quilting my completed African mask quilt. I did stitch-in-the-ditch for all of the 2" squares, but I am hand-quilting in an echo pattern around the faces. I am also hand-quilting inside the reverse applique and in the ditch around each face to make it stand out. It may be next year or later before you see the final project at my rate of quilting!

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the back fabric - you can see part of it on the right side of the quilt in the above photo. I'll also show you pictures of a fabric cake that I bought at a silent auction. Just wait until you see it! So scrumptious that I can't bring myself to dismantle it.

Until tomorrow, have a great day, and hug your sweetie!