Hooty Hoot

It hurts to be so disorganized. I got a little notebook to write down info on the blocks that ya'all have so wonderfully sent to me. Now of course I've lost the book. Grr. I hope I have properly attributed these blocks.

First off is Hoot by Valerie of Quilt Messing Around. Whee, she gave me a bunch of extra space to cut down/quilt in. It's a wonderfully hooty hoot and I'll definitely quilt some owls in there for you, Valerie.

And what is that next word?

Kimberly made me a clank and after she had it all pieced together realized that the a was backwards (which makes it a g). I understand about that - I just did a backwards y yesterday. I will most definitely use the block in a quilt, not Slither Eek Boo, but a quilt. I find mis-made words and letters charming. (As always, please to send your rejects and extras to me if you're not going to use them - I love them!)

Anyway, Kimberly redid the clank. This time she drew inspiration from the font Angular. That is a fun font. I hope to try some of these someday but oh my that X would be difficult. And I can understand passing on the K. Great job, Kimberly!

Jen D (whom I don't think has a blog) made the next couple of blocks: Luck and Free. They are wonderful and what's even more amazing is that Jen is a new quilter. Years of experience sewing, but not quilting. Now she's working on even more words - woohoo!

I have even more blocks to show you -- from Brenda, John, and Sharon -- but they're going to wait until another post. I've got to have something quilty once in awhile. Brenda included a wonderful sweet prezzie that is already proudly displayed. Thank you all!

Pat me on the back, I managed to successfully fluidify Pokey on the first try today. (If that makes no sense, read the last two posts.)

After Thursday's horrendousness (and believe me, it was just that), Pokey did forgive me. She didn't spend too much time in hiding, came out for lovings. She even came to bed with me and curled up beside me, which is rare for her.

I managed to do the ickiness with just one jab today (after a trip to the vet's to get smaller needles) and it went as well as it could. Only now she's hiding under the bed. I want her to come out and forgive me instantly - she'll even get some Fancy Feast that's been pureed with extra water.

No more tuna for the baby. I knew the sodium in the tuna wasn't good but had no idea the vegetable broth was bad for her too. (And yes, there's vegetable broth in Tuna Packed in Water. Rather misleading.) Vegetable broth is bad for cats as well as dogs because it may be made with onions which are bad for both species, as is garlic. I had no idea. You can read more about that here.

I think I have finally stopped shaking, more than an hour after the procedure. I know this will get easier, although I think it's going to get progressively harder to find the little Pokester. I think I'm going to go handquilt now. Maybe my baby will come and sit on me... Even if she won't hand quilting rarely fails to soothe me.

We did it!

Sorry, yet another kitty post. No quilting content at all. You'll see it here again someday, I promise.

I'm not going to go into the gruesome details, but woohoo, managed to give Pokey her sub-cutaneous fluids all by myself. I'd been reading about how lots of cats can't stand to be confined while this is happening to them so I tried to just hold her by the scruff. No, not with Pokey. Putting her in a shoebox didn't help either. In the end I wrapped her up thoroughly and completely in a towel so she couldn't move at all. After that she didn't struggle whatsoever.

She's got the whole hunchback look going now (where all the fluid is pooled up) and I wish she'd come out from under the bed so that I could just double-check that everything is okay. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. I hope she still loves me. She was still sweet this morning after two aborted attempts so I think we'll be fine.

Thanks so much for all the encouragement and support. It means a great deal. 

I just realized I haven't had anything to eat today. Wow, that's so unlike me. Gotta go grab a late lunch/early dinner.  Later.

p.s. seconds after I hit "publish" Pokey came in and let me rub her head a bit. But when it looked like I was going to get out of the chair she was off like a shot. Still, she's up and moving and there's no fluids gushing... I take that back. She's somewhat damp. She came by for some more love and a quick belly rub. So I'm not sure I got all the fluid in there, but got most of it! 

Oh dear

Time for a Pokey update. The results of her last blood test weren't good. In some ways the results were worse than or the same as the first time she went in last month. So not what we wanted to hear. It appears that she may have Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) due to a genetic condition - Siamese cats are predisposed to CRF.

CRF is terminal, although some cats live for years with it. Pokey is still a happy, playful girl and I'd have had no idea she was sick if I didn't know otherwise. She's only 5 years old, so I'm hoping that her youth and vitality will help her through this. I've been making myself a little crazy studying Pokey's test results and reading websites. Unsurprisingly I'm hoping that something else (something easy to cure) is to blame but I think the odds are slim to none. 

I now have to give her sub-cutaneous fluids every other day. I know that I have to be calm and relaxed to do it so that I don't make her anxious, but that's easier said than done. Pokey and I went to the vet yesterday so that I could see them do it. I don't know if I'm ready to tackle it all by myself tomorrow. The good news on that front is that my husband is coming for a one month vacation - he gets here Monday. We'll see if he's good at helping hold her still or at the very least holding the bag of fluids up. 

Our trip to the vet was an adventure. The streets near the vet were covered in water because of all the rain. I decided to approach no closer after seeing one car partially submerged. I backed up, parked a couple of blocks away and carried Pokey through the water, which went above my knees in places. One of the staff took us back to the car in a 4-wheel drive pick-up. I sure hope the floods had receded before everyone there got off work.

I haven't been good for much of anything the last couple of days. Three packages arrived in the mail but I haven't been able to open them up. Don't want to associate them with this moment. Okay enough whinging. If I can just get a good night's sleep tonight my outlook will improve immeasurably.

Growing

Playing with my 4-Letter blocks. Don't these look awesome? I was noticing that there are three different ways here to make capital G's. The elongated L under other letters is popular - I love how it looks but I've never tried it. So much fun to see what ya'all come up with. And there are more blocks to come - woohoo!!!

I love working on a collaborative quilt like this. I'd be more than happy to make a block for anyone else who wanted to do this. Maybe a swap or a group who'd be willing to do blocks for others too? If there's interest maybe someone would be willing to organize it. Someone who isn't organizationally challenged (like me). Whoever the blocks are for could pick the word(s), sizes, colors or whatever. Just like I did with the halloween noises and then with this one.

Is anyone out there a beginning quilter who's tried the letters? Besides the daring Belinda whom I've already harassed on this topic. If you'd be willing to tell me about your experience and answer some questions I'd love it if you'd send me an email (listed in my profile).

Alright, I have to stop goofing off and get to work on my to-do list. sigh. Wish I could play all day like little Pokey. Play and sleep.

This is Pokey's new toy. It was supposed to be a feathery thing at the end of the wand, but the wand broke 10 minutes after I got it home. Still, this bit of it has been a big hit.

Let Them Eat Cake

Whee, more fun blocks from ya'all. Have I told you how much fun I'm having? I hope you're having vicarious fun as well.

First off, we have name blocks. Sara H of Sara's Scraps sent me several blocks as well as her name - you can read how she made them here. Look at how easy her A's are - very graphic. Sweet Cher of Marathon Quilter and Siobhan (aka Sio) of Scraps and Threadtales made names too. Seriously, folks, I don't need any more names. I have to get these blocks together already!

Moving on to Slither Eek Boo (aka Halloween Noises) blocks. Siobhan sent me a big Groan - I love how she did her O - it's got character. And Great n too. I guess when you're working large you have more room to play.

Australian blogger Natima of Not Just Nat made me the wonderful Hiss - the black fabric has subtle cats on it. And take a look at Nat's workspace - so full of color and I love the rugs.

Look at the really fun argh Cher made - it has so much character.

And now we proceed to the happy four-letter word quilt, which needs a new name. First, Sio decided that Cake was her favorite four-letter word. I do understand about that. It's a little long, but I have plenty of room to play with if someone else's block is too short.

Chris B aka ChrisQuilts is full of joy - french joie that is. Wonderful. Chris has done some great work with letters. Take a look at the header on her LQS's blog where she works. (At the shop, not the blog). That is a great ampersand.

Karen Griska sent along the Give. I have to admit I was thrilled to hear from her - Karen is the talented author of Quilts from the Selvage Edge and blogs here. I keep seeing selvage work on the blogs I read - very fun. But I think my favorite quilt by Karen is this one - it's got such an incredible utility quilt look to it, but modern.

Cher is Hope-ful (love the red and purple color combination). Sara H's favorite words are Sing (perfect background fabric) and Amen (love the changes in fabric on the latter).

Aren't these blocks incredible together? I love them all. Thanks to all of you for sending them as well as extra bits of fabric for getting everything together. I also received a couple of fun orphan blocks. Sara sent the house (appropriate since I've recently moved). Chris B experimented with free-piecing a dog and came up with this block. I think what he's missing is a whole bunch of playmates.

Which is a perfect segue to linking to Lynda's wonderful Dog Show quilt. I love how she's free-pieced these fun dogs (plus a curious kitty) and embroidered names.

I have been so remiss in links. They kinda snowballed out of control and I'm not sure I've even remembered them all. Sigh.

Check out Janet's fun Princess Lily quilt - she used a variety of sources to come up with sweet quilt.

Another fun quilt for kids is Nancy's free-pieced whale quilt for Owen. She made that in April - I knew I was behind...

New blogger Stitchinscience created a really fun free-pieced word to be the center block of a round robin. Will be fun to see how that one turns out.

Scrap Basket made a beautiful stained-glass inspired banner. 

ROZ of Roz-Counterpane has been churning out little word quilts like crazy. She started in April and just finished her fourth. So go read through her archives - I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Whew, I'm caught up. I just hope I didn't forget anybody.

It has been raining like absolutely crazy here. We got over five inches yesterday. The skies were sooo grey and bleek, I didn't get much accomplished at all. I'm hoping for a bit more sunshine today.

Here's your kitty pic for the day: Habibi and his brother Howler together on the cat tree. It's amazing they can fit in there...