assigned projects and some squirrels

It's been a while since I've entertained any squirrels, but this week a couple of them came to visit HARD!  I've been kept on task by my sticks/assignments the past few months, which is a good thing.  Mostly.  A few days this week, I just had to play.  I couldn't bring myself to work on the sticks.  I just couldn't.

What did I do?

First, I got a crazy idea that I wanted some plants in my house.  With four cats, some of them less foolish than others, I knew just having plants sitting around would be a disaster.  What they didn't chew on, they would dump over, use as a scratching post and maybe even a litterbox.  I know better.

But what about a terrarium?

I'm really good at killing plants, but this seems like a win-win.  More-or-less self-sustaining AND enclosed!  So I went shopping.  (I had a few other things to pick up, but this got me to put on real pants and get the things done that needed to be done - reward system!)

While I'm not a huge fan of Wal-Mart in general, I will shop there sometimes because in this small town, options are limited.  And I found this cute little thing - the top has a lock-latch and it fits nicely on the wide windowsill in my sewing room.  (I have to clean that off a bit more, but that is for another day.)

But then came the struggle to get all the things to fill it with - including plants.  The local nursery here doesn't open for a few weeks, so Friday the hubby and I headed north to a larger town and hit a few stores.  I found some smaller plants, but could probably make a second with just the four plants I brought home!

In my travels, I found a few cute, small things to include.  The front side has a "welcome" sign.

The back has a tiny red wagon!  If I find some special rocks or small shells, I might add them in.  But for now, it is complete.

But you can see what I mean about filling it up quickly!

I also purchased some inexpensive tiny fairy lights, but I'm unsure about putting them in the top area...the instructions that were alluded to on the outside of the package were lacking inside, so I'm not sure if they're damp-safe...

Then today, after a BUSY day at work yesterday (spring is INSANE in farm stores, as one might guess!), I just couldn't get into the sewing mood again.  Rather than sit around and contemplate what to do, I decided it was TIME to get the other side of my sewing room redone.  Quite a while back, I tore down the fantastic leopard print wallpaper border and hung quilts on one side of the room.  I knew I wanted to do the other side of the room, but I ran out of oomph.

Today I had the oomph!

First I moved everything out and got started removing the border.  It is sticky like a sticker, not like wallpaper.  So using a hairdryer to heat it up makes it come off quite easily!

Oh, what does that awful stuff look like?  Here's my trash can...

...I forgot to take a photo before it came down.  Trust me, it was ugly.  But without it, the wall looked pretty bare!

At one point, I had a bulletin board hung to the right of the door, but the kitties liked to stand on the sewing machine table and pull things down at night.  My bedroom is on the other side of that wall - headboard and sewing table share that wall - and I could hear stuff dropping.  I got tired of picking things up every morning and pulled it down.  And other than missing having a place to tack stuff up quickly, I haven't really missed it.  I mean, it would be nice to have again, but not for that price.

Once the paper was down, I scrubbed the walls.  There are nail holes that are a mess because it is plaster and some spots where duct tape was used to hang things on the wall, so more work will need to be done when I eventually decide to paint, but for now, at least the wall is clean!

Next up I vacuumed thoroughly - lots of cat hair and fabric bits behind the table and in the corner where the ironing board lives.  Places that aren't easy to get to with the weekly vacuuming, so they get left for special occasions.  (I do try to do edges and stuff in at least one room a week, but, well...)

And then I could finally hang some quilts.  I already knew what was going to the left of the door and brought up a stack of the quilts that didn't get selected for the other side.  Or were saved for this side.

I got one hung and realized I was running out of the sticky things I was using.  I had to put on real pants again and run to the store.  Thankfully, this time the store was close to home, unlike the plants debacle.

But since I had put on pants, why not go a few miles further to my local pet shop and check out cat trees?  The one currently in that room is, well, you can see it - aging...  It's a great height and has a number of large platforms, but the rope is coming off badly and one support is about clawed through even the cardboard underneath!  (And let me tell you, replacement parts are not to be found...)  I found something smaller that I thought would be good.  Well...

It's about knee high and I'm pretty sure this guy's rear end will not all fit on either platform.  But they are using it as a scratcher.  And you can see the dangly balls (there are two - one is higher) are enjoyable.  So I guess it will work for now.  But these things are so expensive.  Why?

Anyways, back to the quilt hanging.  I got back home and got back to work.  I had set up the ironing board in the hallway, as it's normal spot was not available due to these efforts.  That worked well, though confused Freddie quite nicely.

After too many hours of prep, I finally have quilts hung!

I pressed these as I was getting their hanging bits put on, as they had all been folded and were wrinkled.  It helped some, but I'm hoping having them hanging will straighten them out more.

I am so excited to have my Under the Microscope quilt FINALLY hanging.  Front and center above my sewing machine, no less.  To the right is Xylem, another AQS guild challenge piece.  To the left is a challenge quilt for the Wisconsin quilt show I did a few years ago.  Below that is a little potholder-mini a friend made for me and next to that, another mini that my mom made me.  On the other side of the door is a guild row-by-row quilt made by me and four other guild-mates.

I tidied up a bit more after this photo and hung a tiny little clothesline with cute little bright clothespins under the microscope quilt.  That will be nice to hold blocks for sewing reference and such.  (Before I stuck a pin behind the wallpaper border and used it kinda like a bulletin board!)

I am so pleased with this, though the room seems a bit darker for all the things hanging.

The closets still need to be emptied and organized, but that will be a project for yet another day.  And we're not talking about the cutting table or windowsills, either, okay?

I would say I'm beat, but this was not all that ended up on my to-do list for the day!  My bedroom also got some attention.  When Gabby came home from her surgery, the vet suggested putting her in a crate.  After she shimmied out of two Cones of Shame and hid under the bed where we couldn't quite reach her, making meds hard to administer, it was time for a new plan.  We went out and bought an "extra large" dog crate and set it up in my bedroom.

And the crate was still there.  Since late January.  I had put one blanket over the top of the crate when Gabby was inside.  I thought it might make her less anxious?  When the bedroom door was allowed to be open and everyone to come and go at their leisure, that top got to be a fun place to hang out for all the cats.  I added a few more blankets to make it safe to walk on, and it was a fun perch.  So I left it for a while, always planning to take it down soon.  But the novelty did not wear off as soon as I expected, and I'm lazy.

The novelty seems to be wearing off, though, and with the warming weather, the kitties are preferring window seats where they can get them - to watch all the wildlife in our yard.  Time to take it down!

It folds nearly flat, so pretty easy to get in and out of the room.  And we had debated donating it to a rescue group, but I think it may end up in the attic.  Just in case we need it again.  It wasn't that pricey, but the whole stress of having to go find it and such was enough to decide to keep it.

So I cleaned it up, folded it down, and moved it out.  Ran the vacuum yet again to clean up under it and then decided to FINALLY hang the new suction window seat in the window it was blocking.  But, of course, one must clean the window first.  And while I have that out, I might as well clean all of them, right?

The sun cooperated and came right out as soon as I had the first pane done.  Of course it did.  I mean, I'm not one to complain about sunny days, but when you go to clean three windows (double hung, inside and out) and the sun is a bit shy, you think "oooh, good"...*eyeroll*

Anyways, mission accomplished there, but no photos.

The kitties are all enjoying figuring out their new stuff and the old cat tree has been abandoned near the door, awaiting a trip to the trash.  That, too, is fun stuff!

With all that, I still feel pretty perky.  I'm sure I'll sleep like a log tonight, but that is just fine with me.

In other news, I DID make some progress on my sticks.  I worked on the Molehills quilt and got four more sets of arcs completed this week.

Purple outside...

Green outside...

And yellow and black/white outsides.

I think I have two more sets of three to go, so it shouldn't take too long, but these do take longer than I would like.  There is a process of making registration marks that takes some time, but it really does make a difference when sewing, so I keep doing it.  But it also makes it harder to motivate myself to do them...

Another stick I'm working on is the sock loom stick.  Years ago I used a Christmas gift card to Hobby Lobby to purchase the loom and some yarn.  I tried it out with some old pink yarn floating around my sewing room, but never got further than that.  This week it was time to just pull out the good yarn and get started!

I guess I kinda lopped off the skein some, but you get the idea of the colors, right?

And this photo, my phone thought focusing on my pants was a good choice, but whatever.  Not much to see here anyways, except that I got started!

I did a few rows more that night...

..and have been doing a little bit more the last few days.  I'm getting faster, but this is going to take a while to make a whole sock.  It might be the only sock I ever make?

Gabby wouldn't sit still to give me a cute photo, but she was helping.  Little miss has not learned her lesson about not eating string, I guess!  But I make sure to put it up every time I'm done, so all is well.

And finally, I did get a good photo of Gabby this week.  I was lounging in my yellow chair in the sewing room, reading one evening, and she burrowed under the crocheted blanket that is draped over the back, and posed herself like this.

She was purring sweetly, so she wasn't asleep, but she was relaxing and enjoying life.  Brother Toby is quite aggressive towards her, and since she runs, he keeps doing it, thinking it's a game.  So I've been closing the door to the bedroom and hanging out with her, either sewing or reading, every few days.  Some days she snuggles and hangs out with me, other times, she just goes back under the chair.  I think she might be taking a real snooze under there (not just waiting for an attack), so I let her be.

The hubby just got up, so I suppose it is time to go figure out dinner...it's getting late anyways...

Happy quilting,

Katie