not this week...

If you thought I'd done any quilty sewing this week, you'd be wrong!

I'd blame the hubby being home, still on vacation, but that's not entirely it.  I'm just not motivated to start another project I don't need.  And I still have a pile of fabrics for the cat rescue...

...as shown here by Finn (he's in there - don't let the fabric camouflage fool you) and Salem (also somewhat hidden with the furnace grate behind her!

So I did sew a bunch of covers, hitting medium-size cover #100 this week!

(I know this because I cut a 9x12 square of light green felt into 1" squares - 108 of them - that are used to identify size.  The medium (green) bag was nearly empty, so it was easy to know I was nearly there.)

I have also sewn quite a few small and large sizes, but as the medium is the size they want the most of, that's been my focus.  And since their respective bags of felt squares are not nearly empty, I don't have a good count.

I had to buy more felt.  Dang that got expensive since the last piece I bought like 8 years ago!

Lily, of course, is always on hand to goblin up the system...

She slowed down enough to pose for me, but to be honest, she tries to lay on every fabric I try to fold on the floor and will not move.  (Larger pieces I can't fold on the ironing board, so I wrestle cats.)  This fabric is from a local quilty friend - the selvedge says it's drapery fabric, but it's like a light denim and was beautiful to work with.  She didn't want it and could never see using it, so let's make it useful for the kitties!

I also found another fun selvedge marking...

1989!  A year newer than the last one that was pretty old, but still pretty old.  So many of the fabrics I got in this donation have nothing on the selvedge, but I know they're at least this old.  It makes me wonder why everyone didn't just put there.  And why they don't currently.  (Go look - I bet most of yours don't have any dates on them, but cute little bunnies and the designer signature and whatnot.)  It makes it so interesting to look back.

With the hubby home, there was more family stuff - mostly back-to-school scramble stuff.  We buy school shoes for all the nieces and nephews every year (some families need the help more than others, but we don't draw that line, we just take them all - but it's getting fewer as they graduate!), plus help pay for sports and such and with school starting this week for most of the kids, the last-minute scramble is upon us.  (And snuck up on us, as usual.)

I, of course, did chores too.  Lily was not one to miss out on that opportunity...

(Please ignore how dirty the bleach "hole" is - I rarely use it, but it's grossness has escaped my notice until I took this photo.)

Lily cannot get onto the counters in the kitchen - she doesn't think she can make the jump and I'm okay with that.  But for whatever reason, she can make the jump onto the washer and dryer and is absolutely fascinated with the water filling the machine.  I loaded an entire load of wash around her and had to physically pick her up (she complained the whole time) to shut the lid.

She also likes to help me fold the laundry later.  (I ALWAYS check the dryer before I start it.)

There was also some reading, though much less than the previous week.  Toby took advantage...

He doesn't snuggle often, but when he does, he is the happiest kitty in the world.  And dead weight.  He's a big boy to start with, but he just crashes out and you're pinned down.

What did I read?

Set in England and then India, this is the story of a retirement home set up by English entrepreneurs in India (with the help, of course, of colleagues there).  Once the home is set up, the story switches from the lives of those setting it up to those living there - mostly.  While a lot of things had to fall into place and the people involved were all perfectly suited for this to happen, the characters were relatable and believable.

As the residents move in, friendships are made and they seem to settle into the differences life in India brings them easily.  There is a focus on how people in India always seem happy, while the residents all seem unhappy with their lot in life, and this is explored a little throughout the book.

There were a lot of characters, making it difficult sometimes to keep track of who is who and I didn't feel like any of them got a lot of development.  We saw maybe a little of their lives before they moved in, but nothing of how they became cranky or independent or whatever they were represented to be.  (Perhaps fewer characters would have allowed a depth in those present?)  Or maybe that was the point?

I learned a little about India - through the perspective of the characters - and would maybe like to have learned more or had the few situations where they ventured out given more details.

3.5 stars.  The characters, though plentiful, didn't really call me back to learn about their fate.  I felt like this was a surface story and I wanted some depth.

That's it.  One book!  I'm nearly through the next one, but it's been slow going.  Not that it's bad or hard to read or anything, it's just been a week.

Happy quilting!

Katie