Another floor cloth in progress

I was able to add a title on this today, July 11.
I Don't know why I can't put a title on this entry. I can't click the cursor to the title box.

Here is the beginning of another floor cloth. It's about 30 inches long. This is after the first wax application.



And then I added some dye.


When that was dry, I added another application of wax.

This morning, I was cutting some pieces of batting and Whiskers came. The sound of scissors cutting through 4 layers was just amazing. Before Dave could get the camera, she was displaced by Mary Shelley whose cat ESP spoke to her of the proximity of something she had not yet shed black hair on.

Stop hitting your sister in the head!

Dave has been growing raspberries this spring. He planted the bushes last year and they are really producing this year. He planted boysenberries too. I like those better, but they finished up first. He froze a lot to make smoothies with later.

I have been on the industrial machine. It has taken a lot of practice time to get control of it, it is very fast! And it is in the garage, Mary Shelley's personal daytime territory. But Whiskers has decided that she is my personal daytime companion, so there is a confict. Both cats think they should be the cat nearest to me. There is staring, then someone hits someone else in the head, then there is hissing. Then I feel like I should get up and do something about it......

I am going to try my first serious sewing on it today. Tomorrow, I am going to Denise's to sew. Since she sold it to me, I can report my success or failure to her.

Janow is doing really well on his new oat hay pellets. He looks great, and they are tasty too!

I figured out the password for Nigel's computer. I think I have an idea for the secret code.

Brand New Dye

Here are my new fabric dyes for this year. The Procion dye has a limited shelf life in unused form, so I get all new each spring.

These are the colors I picked this year. It's the same yellow and same blue I bought last year, but I picked a new black and blue and red and purple.


Purple is the only secondary color I bought. Orange and green are easy to make, but when I've made purple, its been dull. Last year I bought purple already made and it was better. I can adjust it by adding blue or red, but I find that I have to start with purple dye.

I'll try mixing red and blue this year too. Maybe these versions of red and blue will work better.

I dyed it so parts of the fabric would dye lighter and I could get a better feel for the color. I like the brown better than last year's. Last year's was too red and I had to adjust it a lot.


This black is good too. Last years black had a green tinge that I didn't like.

I also made green and orange by adding each seperately to the dye bath in different places so I could get a good picture of how they blended.

My first project will be floor cloths. I have some 10oz cotton duck. I cut two pieces about 2x3 and preshrunk them on big plastc pipes. I'm just waiting for them to dry.

I guess the 10oz duck will be my new thing for June.


On Sunday, I fired up the Juki LZ and got it threaded with some 40wt poly thread. This was the first time I used the new bobbin case and the thread I got from ThreadArt.

I quilted a saddlepad panel. It was fun. I was afraid at first because the machine is so powerfull. But I got used to it.

Mary Shelley and Whiskers are not used to me being in the garage, but the machine is set up there. They argued about which one of them got to sit next closest to me.

Dave and Joseph helped me a lot yesterday, Monday. Both had the day off. They came to the barn and cleaned out the water trough that Janow shares with Mucha. They saved the mosquito fish and scooped about two gallons of black goop out of the bottom after they siphoned out the water. Janow drops mouthfulls of food in it.


click here!

I'm sad

I just found out that a member of my quilting guild, someone I know, passed away last night. She had chronic pain. It is believed she accidentally overdosed on her pain medication. She was young.

This is what I am working on now. I am using the Presist I got to try out this month. Not for what I expected to use it for, but it's fun. I should use it more typically too, just to get a feel for it.
I don't know what I am going to pick for May. As you may remember, my '07 New Year's resolution was to try one new material each month. There is a one day workshop with Judi Danes next Saturday, sponsored by the guild. I may take that and count it as May. So far, there were not enough people signed up to hold it. We will see.

I am working on the shirts and hats for the Hip Hop class performance. Joseph's class will be performing at the City of Milpitas Spring Dance Recital, and again for the Family Day.

And finally, straight from Gomilpitas.com:

Cat Haiku

The food in my bowl
Is old, and more to the point
Contains no tuna.

The Post Post

This blog post is about a post. ooooo. cheesy. Couldn't resist.

This is the kitty we recently adopted from the shelter. She plugged into our household routine faster than I thought a cat could. And she seems very happy to be here.


I wondered how someone could invest 3 years into a kitty, including spaying, and then not look for her in the shelter when she turned up missing. Then I got my first clue: She is a furniture shredder.

The enthusiasm and persistance she displayed in shredding our sofa is unrivaled, except maybe by morphne monkeys pressing the button for more.

I went to Wall*Mart and bought this post, some assembly required. Whiskers loves her post. She sleeps at her post. She enthusiastically shreds her post. She thinks her post is the greatest thing since bread that needs slicing.

Our sofa is saved! What's left of it, anyway.