Pokey

My sweetie Pokey has acute kidney failure. She's at the animal hospital now, but not really sure what they're going to be able to do for her. I've barely been able to stop crying.

More Fabric and an Oh No

Whee, more fabric from the Fabric Square Shop. 

These first are from Benartex's batik line called Sand and Surf. Has anyone hand quilted with Benartex batiks? I hope they're easy to needle.

I love the light softness of Kashmir IV





These Jane Sassaman's are fabulous - so cool in little pieces or larger.

I already had this post started so decided to just keep going with it.

Pokey is sick right now and I'm miserable. Yesterday she slept and slept in the morning and when she got up she was walking as though she had pins and needles in her legs - just not working right - and her head was strangely tilted. I thought maybe she'd had a stroke. We took a trip to the emergency room and it turns out she has Feline Vestibular Disease aka Dizzy Kitty. It's a nasty case of vertigo.

Took a follow-up trip to the vet today for bloodwork and an IV since she's not eating or drinking. Odds are this will go away on its own, but it could be permanent or a sign of a much more serious disorder. Trying not to think about that too much.

I've been spending a lot of time on the floor just watching her, being with her. Not sure she entirely appreciates it - would probably rather be left alone to try and sleep.

Upside Down

I love this picture of upside down Pokey. For one thing my baby is gorgeous and for another you can see my hand quilting on the Margarita Quilt. I'm doing straight-ish lines so that I end up with Xs across every patch (which are each roughly  one inch). As usual, I'm over quilting, but I just love how it looks.

I had my uptake scan yesterday (though I may have to go redo it, bleah) and can now eat whatever I want again. Woohoo! How I've missed my English Breakfast Tea with milk.

A bit of news for you. Bonnie is doing so fantastically well with her book and has contracts for two more. It's amazing and I'm so proud of her. Meanwhile, I'm going to be working on the free-pieced letters book by myself. So there's that. 

Have to admit I've been enjoying taking a break from working on the book and quilts for it and instead quilting Margarita. I want it on my wall, gosh darn it. Nose will be back to the grindstone soon enough.

More quilty stuff... Whee, Sharon got her copy of Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran's new book. Read more here.

Love Bebe's new quilt top with the Liberated Houses and Stars.

Finished watching Lost Season 3. Love that time trip into the future - most excellent. And have to say I'm quite happy they killed off a certain character who annoyed the heck out of me. Anyway, funny to realize that this is another show with non-linear time, kinda like the time loops I was talking about in my last post (but completely different).

How could I have forgotten the Mummy's Hand episode of Buffy from my list of time loops? yes, one of my favorite episodes. I always loved the Geek Troika as villains. 

I have a book recommendation for you. The Magicians and Mrs Quent by Galen Beckett.  It essentially boils down Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters in a world with magic. I loved loved the first part of the book, that really did have Jane Austen down pat. Seriously loved it. Unfortunately the second half turns into Jane Eyre which I don't care for much at all. Still, it's a fun book. Go here to learn more and read an excerpt.

Now I just want my library to get Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. The cover of the book alone is enough to make me want to read it.

Prezzies

Last month V, who blogs as Bumble Beans, came down to visit while she and her family were visiting Florida. Had such a good time talking with her, believe me. She was so sweet and made this quilt for me.  It is wonderful, you can see a pic on her blog that'll give a better idea of the size of it (as well as a peek at Pokey) and see me and V together as well.

V came up with her own way of doing the letters - very appealing. Look at how she did this N - I've never thought of doing an N that way yet it's so simple (well, if you're not splitting it in half and making it multi-colored).

I received a name block from Lois W who used dog fabric because she has three. Look at the really fine job she did on the S - marvelous and I bet it was a lot of work. 

Thank you V and Lois for the prezzies.

Everything here is pretty much the same as always. I'm getting my uptake scan this week (for the thyroid thingie) and boy will I be happy to end this low-iodine diet (which I started way earlier than I needed to because I'm an idiot).

The rest of this post is sci-fi geekness.

I watched the very short Eureka Season 3. Only seven episodes - was it cut short by the writers' strike? Anyway, I just adore the show, I really do and I thought this season was stellar. It's a nice happy show that does have hidden depths especially now that we've seen what could happen in the future. Haven't seen the show? It's kind of Northern Exposure, but with a lot of quirky scientists inventing things that too often go wrong.

Loved loved loved the time loop episode I Do Over. Ooh, it's available on Hulu if you want to watch it here. Not quite sure how you'll like it if you haven't seen the other episodes, but it's fun.

It's hardly surprising I love that ep since I'm fond of the whole Groundhog Day kinda thing. Now it wasn't as good an episode as Windows of Opportunity when Jack and Teal'c were stuck in a loop for months on Stargate SG-1, but what could be?

I'm trying to think of other time loops shows. There was one on X-files but remember that only being so-so. Did you ever see the movie 12:01? A poor guy who works in an office discovers that the lab's physics experiment has gone very wrong and he's the only one who knows it. And uh oh, can he save the girl of his dreams from being murdered? It's low-key and just really sweet.

Somewhere in Time (Christopher Reeve travels back in time to woo Jane Seymour) doesn't count - time travel but not a loop. Do love that movie, or should I say did? I watched it over and over and over again when it first came out. I was in high school and at an impressionable age. Haven't seen it in years though, so not sure how well it's aged.

That's all I can think of at the moment. See ya later. 

Conversation with Gwen

Wheee, Gwen Marston called me today. That just makes me ridiculously happy.

Her new book with Freddy Moran has just been published. She has it in her hot little hands and says it looks great - she's thrilled with it. Woohoo. The book is titled Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again and it has the same format as Collaborative Quilting (which if you haven't already gotten, what are you waiting for?) featuring the Parts Department. There are 192 pages, 40 individual quilts and 30 new collaborative quilts. Gwen says that this book includes a discussion about design. I always love learning about how Gwen approaches that topic.

I wish I had actually taken notes. Gwen mentioned that she got some design inspiration from African-American quilters, but I'm not sure if that was for A Part or several. I sure love the giant log cabin blocks in Collaborative Quilting that were inspired by the Gee's Bend quilters. My CQ is in Paris still (along with most of my other books) or else I'd give you the details on that.

I am so looking forward to getting this new book in the mail. You can go to Gwen's website and order it directly from her - she makes more money that way and you can really show your support. Or support your local quilt shop - it's always good to keep them afloat too. In any case, check out the site if you haven't recently because news from Gwen has been updated.

Links to check out. Daily Courage has a sneak peak at the book in this post and will do an excerpt soon. 

Sarah at This is My Heart did an excellent write-up on a Gwen Marston lecture she attended and shows off her liberated stars.

Meanwhile I continue to hand quilt while watching lots of tv. And of course engage in the seemingly endless task of getting kitties off my quilt.

Lois thank you so much for the name block, I'll show it in the next post! Same goes with my wonderful prezzie from Victoria.