Thoughtful Thursday

OH hey! I have a great  idea! 

(click images to view me in all my sunny splendor)

wait... ummmmzzzzzzz

Wha? Oh dang; dontcha just hate it when that happens?

Wordless Wednesday

These went out yesterday!

Can you guess who this one is for?

click images to enlarge

 

This one is more camouflaged.

I had fun quilting this special one for Miss Luscious Lucy!

They went out with two CatNip Birdz too. 

Their mom requested turquoise green and cream shades.  I found this fabric & bought extra it is sooooo pretty I think with the pussy willows! 

Remember; these are all made special to order and personalized.  The size is typically 22" x 23" and they are machine quilted by me.  Price $30.00ea. 

Shelter Awareness Day

Reprinted from Brian's Home

Shelter: something beneath, behind, or within which a person, animal,or thing is protected from storms, adverse conditions, etc.; refuge.

Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?  But most of us know that it really is quite complex, not to mention expensive.  My friend Kika thought it would be a good idea for all of us to call attention to the many, many needs that shelters have.  Those of us in the United States and the United Kingdom know how brutal the winter and been already.  Many of our friends in Australia are experiencing devastating floods.  Our pals in Brazil have had horrible landslides.  The need is great.

We all know that many economies are bad and huge cash donations are not always possible.  But remember, animal shelters need all kind of things and every little bit can really help make a difference.  Here is a quick list of items that come to mind:

• Canned and dry puppy and kitten food and milk replacer for puppies and kittens
• Flea control meds
• Paper products such as paper towels and toilet tissue
• Cat litter and scoops
• Puppy pads
• Copy paper
• Bandages (all sizes)
• Free standing storage cabinets
• Cleaning supplies (bleach, laundry detergent, fantastik, window cleaner)
• Blankets, sheets and towels
• Many miscellaneous items that can be sold to raise money

Listen, when you run an animal shelter, the little things mean a lot.  Don’t forget, you can donate an hour or two of your time on a regular basis too.  The easiest thing to do is ask you local shelter what they need.  Then see if you can help, just remember, you don’t have to do the whole thing, but you can spread the word and perhaps help a little.

Thanks to all of those participating in ShelterAware24.  We hope to make this an annual event on January 24th.  Hopefully shelter awareness will be with us 24 hours a day.

The promise of Spring

our Loquat tree just a few weeks ago.  The fruits are forming now. Soon the wild Parrots will come.

P. S. From The Riley

Duly Noted Mr. Riley.  

I'm CERTAIN you wouldn't be so crass as to eat anykittys toys if you were a guest in their house!  

Such a well mannered hound as yourself stands paws & shoulders above the rest!! 

from: The Dog

I love that I get 'Congratulations' notes from The Dog who lives in Texas

Look how carefully he sealed the envelope

(I figure dogs are good at sealing things with all that drool they got)

And of course the card itself.  I keep all these cards and envelopes  in a special place.  This one will go at the top! 

And yes 'Kimberly's Kittens' I'm sure it's goats milk cos all us cat lubbers know that cow milk is a no-no!To my CatBlogosphere friends; her blog is bar-none (no pun intended) one of the best out there for kitten care as well as enough adorable photos that will make you just explode from cuteness.  

Tuuunnnnaaaaaa

<:}}}><
Natures perfect fudz.  Why?  Because it's good for humans :

(courtesy of LOLCats)

and cats alike!

left to right;

Scraps

Ms. Stella O'Houligan

Miss Jack

Sneaky Peek

YAY! Ms. Admiral received her Catnip Quilt & birdz & by the looks of things is quite happy with both! 

I luff her flooffy tail!

I heard the birdz got way bunnie kicked! xoxo

We received another order for two quilts and two birdz from Lucious Lucy! & Her Sam.  (Sam is Lucy's Boi Toy)  After I got fabric to match their moms decor; Ms. Stella cracked her tail at me to get busy!  She takes her work so seriously these days!  Here she is snoopervising while I sew

One is complete; the other I will finish tonight along with two Catnip birdz.  Here is a sneak peek at the finished one while Ms. Stella is 'road testing' it for me them. 

I love this picture of her!  (left side)  

(right side) so far so good....

awwwwwww

She works so hard I let her nap; her fave place is on the ironing board

I do refer to her as 'Mrs. Big Head' not because she's particularly vain (well, other than what goes along with being a cat) but because her head is so much larger than her body! It's truly all furz though.  When I pet her and lay it all down with my hand it's pretty funny.  I'm not allowed to show that picture though. :)

Caught...in the act

ooooohhhhhh...... she's gonna be in trubbbllezz!

i can't watch!

The next photo was to be of Ms. Stella getting her manicure at the exclusive 'ClubF' ; however peeppurazzi aren't allowed inside this establishment for privacy reasons.  

When informed of the charges against Ms. Stella; her entourage only had this to say: 

"Ms. Stella O'Houligan (the accused) denies any wrong doing.  Investigations are on going in light of the so called photographic evidence.  She further stated that all the photo shows is herself steadfastly holding onto the household furniture during an earthquake...to keep it from falling over... on the other cats in the area"

No further corroborations have been made as no other household felines could be reached for comment.

Why yes...

Correction from the IDIOT who posted this for Ms. Stella O'Houligan

Which just goes to proove you can't get good help!

Ms. Stella Deeply regrets that she left off the ONLY cat who truly has her heart locked up forever-more; the moron woman stupid cow has been diciplined and has made the appropriate correction below:

This is my green fuzzy ball that I simply adore & fling around the rooms with great abandon!  Some day when hell freezes over,  I might even let you catch me in the act on video.  But since you are so lame unable to figure out how to load videos I guess I'm safe.  In the meantime; do you think you could post this lovely, stunning photo of me for Mr. DiscoNoFurNo;  Mr. Sam; Mr. Puddy; Mr. Spitty and all my other favorite Manly Mancats out there?  Theres a good girl. Now run along to w-o-r-k (whatever that is); I need my beauty rest. 

Catnip birdie!

Sun & My Woobie

you can make this reeeaaallly big by clicking on it.

The reason her whiskers are out of focus is that when she purrrrrrrs they vibrates. 

Catnip Quilts Mailed!

Hello everyone!  'That Woman'  here letting you know I'll be mailing out the Catnip quilts today along with the Catnip birdz.  There are three quilts and some birdz travelling all the way to ROME!  I'm happy all these are done & truly hope the recipients like their new quilts & toyz. 

So; without further ado; 

When I think of the lovely Grand Dame, Ms. Admiral Hestorb; I envision her reclining delicately in a field of butterflies made out of wildflowers.  I hope this suits her.

*****************************

These next three are traveling to Rome, Italy.  They are personalized for my friend Nathalie's kitties.  You can read her blog here (it's totally awesome by the way).  I remember reading her blog and seeing the names of Microbo & Microbetta two of her cats and I thought at the time (and still do) that those are the coolest names I'd ever heard for cats                and then....

found out she had a kitty named Chaos.  How cool is THAT?

I do hate to admit here that after I had quilted it and put the name on; I looked at her note to me.  She spells it Caos.  no H. Since I messed it up I'm not charging her for this one and I truly hope Caos doesn't mind.  Especially since I put little cat claws on the H :)  

This is also a lovely name. 

******************************************** 

NOW: onto the birdz!

birdz bellies...how cute!

***********************************************

Exclusive Behind the scenes Footage!

*blu ray player not necessary*

Naturally;  like any good story; there's always stuff going on the background that adds flavor. 

 I tell people that my Catnip Quilts are 'quality tested by a relentless quality control expert!'  And they are! Her name is Ms. Stella O'Houligan.  She takes her job seriously and she knows when I'm in makin' these.  Since cats aren't allowed in the sewing room; the door stays closed when I'm working.  Ms. Stella will yowl at the door for me to let her in so she can do her job.  She does make it sound as if she's doing me a favor but since she's a Cat; that's her prerogative.

Here are some shots of her hard at work!  This quilt is going to her very special friend; someone she visits daily; sends personal emails to and 'holds her paw' whenever the 'v-e-t' word is mentioned.  Ms. Admiral has been undergoing some horrific experiences and since both 'gals' are considered 'Senior Cats'; just like humans; the tests are often humiliating and often painful. Both myself & Admiral's Mistress have been co-miserating for our beloveds. 

Ms. Stella had her work cut out (MOL! no pun intended) for her.  She needed to make sure Ms. Admiral's quilt was absolutely perfect.  Here she is putting it through stringent and rigorous testing.

Examining the stitches; she's worse than the 'Quilt Police' at a show!

testing for comfort is a MUST

(note the claws out as I moved closer to retrieve the quilt. I don't mess with those!)

She also tested the quilts going to Rome.  I distinctly heard her singing something like 'From America, With Love' These were on the back of a chair; I was sewing along and realized she'd moved them to the floor where she could give them a good once over.  I swear you'd think SHE was the seamstress! (well, she does have the necessary equipment for seam ripping!- oh, excuse me "un-sewing")

All that hard work makes the old gal tired; here she is taking her well deserved 15 minute break

you can see a glimpse of her using the time honored method of 'vigorously rubbing' to ensure durability.

BLOOPER SHOT

measuring schmesuring! *note the tiny red rick-rack* in my effort to use up scraps; oops!  I did fix it. 

Who says rick rack is kitchy?  This stuff is embroidered!  Now I even see this same type on ultra expenive jeans!

Technical Stuff:  I don't use computer aided embroidery.  Everything is free-motion stitched by my own hand guiding the needle.  You can see my latex gloves in the above photo on the left side; I use those when I do free motion quilting to get a better grip on the fabric and no slippage what-so-ever! They also are great for petting your cats to get off loose fur!  Since the Catnip I use is fresh, there tend to be stems and other parts of the plant than just the leaves; I used to use Metallica Needles until a friend suggested Titanium coated Top Stitch Needles from Superior Threads. I use them for nearly all my quilting now.  Worth. every. penny.  (and not too many more pennies than Metallic Needles) 

 

You can see in this photo where I've used the white quilters pencil to write (again by hand) the lettering.  I simply stitch over that several times to get the desired thickness of the letters.  (i.e. For Microbo; since he is a Mancat; I made his thicker and more robust.  Microbetta's I only went over 3 times to give a softer look.) 

That's it for now!  I'm off to work on three new art quilts that are due in March.  And since I have little or no idea what I'm actually designing just yet; I'd better get busy. 

Love and Nip to you all!

Wordless Wednesday

Mr. Larry's New Blog!

Be sure to follow along with our dear lovely Mancat at his new diggs where he experiences The Dog; get's loved on by The Girl & in general goes on his newest adventure! 

Mr. Larry