Quilt Blocks Go Wild

Hey all ya'all. I gotta do a little bit of shameless self-promotion. See this?

 

Shazam! It's the block I redesigned for the book Quilt Blocks Go Wild just published by Leisure Arts.

It's my version of Rail Fence. You know my Dr. Seuss Christmas Quilt? Well this is the way to make it. The easy way I figured out how to do years later...

I've got a mixed opinion of the book. Of course there is my block--which is fabulous-- and made UnRulily. That is, no marking or real fussing - although you do have to pay attention. I love that we were allowed to use photos to illustrate the steps, so I think it's pretty clear. (If not, give me a holler.) I love Malka Dubrowsky's Drunkard's Path redo. I love that the book shows you alternate methods for working.

But. But there are some methods in the book that do not appeal to me in the least. Freezer paper and templates. So this book isn't about Liberation. It's about how to step outside the traditional zone in baby steps. And of course not everyone loves Liberation and UnRuly so hopefully they'll find a way to play that they do like.

The book will be available on Amazon (Quilt Blocks Go Wild) and at JoAnn's stores. Possibly other places as well.

While I've got you all here, can I make a request for blocks? I know I don't deserve them since I still have several UFOs-worth of wonderful gifties from readers. I do, I know. If you don't worry about it eventually becoming a quilt and just think of it as a gift to Lazy Gal, who looks at it and feels loved... I'd appreciate it. Not that I'm trying to guilt you into anything ;-)

I'd like to make a love quilt for Pokey. I still miss her so much.

I have a quilt in mind. I know what the components are, but not how the quilt will look. I'd love to receive Pokey-colored blocks. White, cream, all those lovely shades of brown and dark brown/black accents. I called her my cappuccino girl - coffee with cream. And of course turquoise/cyan for her beautiful eyes and pink/red for her nose and paw pads (and love).

And the type of block? It's a love quilt. UnRuly L-O-V-E letters and UnRuly XOXOXOXO hugs and kisses. And wonky hearts.  Individual letters, or joined together. Just one or several. Nothing too big please unless you're piecing the letter fabric. Any questions, just ask.

Summary: UnRuly Letters (as found in Word Play Quilts)  E, L, O, V, and X and wonky hearts in white, cream, and all sorts of brown with hints of turquoise, red, pink, and black. (not that you have to have all those colors in one block). The goal is to have a quilt for the next book (yes, I'm finally working on one) so it's gotta be UnRuly.

If you make some letters/hearts and they don't come out well? Don't throw them away. Send them anyway. The UnRuly Orphanage takes in all sorts of strays.

To be even more obnoxious: as always, I'd love any spare orphan UnRuly letters you'd care to send. And teensy bits of ugly ugly fabric in light colors. I've got way too many dark fabrics in my stash...

I hate sunless, overcast days. This blog post makes me sound so sad and dreary and that's really not the case. I'm enjoying the Olympics and sewing. Yes, I'm sewing again and book plotting. woohoo! And enjoying the company of the cats. Even the little stinkers, Annabelle (or should it be Annabowl?):

and Cooper:

They both love the dishwasher, why I don't know. Shiny cave to explore, oh boy! These are older photos, amazing how much they grow in just a couple of weeks.

Later, gators!

Meet Annabelle and Cooper

I know this is supposed to be a quilt blog, not a cat blog (or at least not ONLY a cat blog) but I haven't done any sewing and hardly any hand quilting or cutting since my last post which was eek, five weeks ago? aagh.

I've had distractions. Meet Annabelle and Cooper:

They are darling siblings, now 3 months old. Rescue kitties of course. I saw their little faces looking at me from Petfinder.com and they just drew me in.

Notice the resemblence to Lily? (that's her down below) Couldn't bear thinking of Lily living in jail, so figured I'd bust these two out. Not that they were in jail - actually living in a wonderful foster home, but that's besides the point.

The big difference is the eye color. Right now the wee ones have yellow-green-brown eyes, as compared to Lily's striking clear green. And the little dudes have a more pronounced snout. Their mother is gorgeous, as well as friendly, so I know they will be too.

Anyway, Annabelle has a white face, ears, and legs.

She's a chewer - chewed my iPod headset cord in two and scared us by playing with electrical cords. We now have lots of cords wrapped in blue electrical tape,  which supposedly has a chalky taste that kitties don't like. Agh, Annabelle just launched herself at a quilt hanging on the wall - and she stuck there for a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Mini Cooper has the same face mask as Lily and two brown ears and hind legs.

Cooper's more likely to chew on fingers or toes. He loves hunting and dragging prey behind the sofa - there's quite a collection of toys and paper towels back there. Cooper has made the unfortunate discovery of the dishwasher - he loves jumping in there while I have the bottom rack pulled out. He's the more affectionate of the two and voluntarily sat in my lap for a couple of hours yesterday.

They both have tiny sharp teeth and tiny sharp claws. Agh.

The big cats for the most part ignore them, but there has also been hissing and running away. The big boys are mostly uninterested and Lily is peeved.

The little dudes added a lot of life and energy to our house. We sorely needed it after losing Pokey. And then Bubba.  Bubba was a sweet, cuddly little guy that we really loved, despite having him in our family for only 9 days. I had to have him put down - the vet suspected Feline Infectious Peritonitis. That was truly awful.

I feel like I am finally, slowly starting to come back to life again. The last few months have been difficult.

Besides the cats, the other big event around here was the super derecho which left us without power for three days. That meant we had no internet, cable tv or phones either. The winds knocked down the cell phone tower too - so we felt really cut off. First time I've ever really wished for smart phone. But the whole thing could have been much worse, since there are areas that STILL haven't gotten their power back more than a week later.

And now to watch the Wimbledon Men's Final and whatever stage of the Tour de France we're at today.