Cutting Table Wednesday

Yes, it's a day late (well, several months, to be more accurate), but let's see what's on my cutting table today.

It's a cat! And it's the only one that is allowed in my sewing room.

This is actually a lovely little organizer that I picked up this last weekend at a convention. It will live in my sewing room and hold such items as small rulers, rotary cutters, and other essentials.

What's on your table?

New Year's Day

Well, it's January 1, 2011 - and a new year has begun.

I try very hard not to make resolutions, because I'm not very good at keeping them. But there are two that I have made for this year. And I'm counting on you, my friends, to help me keep one of them.

My first resolution is to practise my music more. Obviously, you can't help me much with this one.

The other resolution is to sew more - to make more quilts. And to finish the ones that I've started.

As you have probably gathered, I like to make small quilts for donation to animal shelters. And while I can't guarantee that my corners will match, or they'll be artistic, or even pretty, I *can* guarantee that the animals won't care.  (My cats will sleep on anything soft.)

In the process, I plan on trying some new techniques. I've entered myself into a maple leaf block swap with an online group I'm in - so I'm hoping that will give me a kick start. I've also subscribed to The Appliqued Garden website, so I'll have access to many lovely patterns. And the, of course there's Fat Cat Patterns (a favourite site for various reasons) and the Anilee Quilt Club. (Let's not even mention the BOM I've joined at my favourite LQS, Sew Sisters. If memory serves, I committed to working on that project, AND blogging about it.)

So, please, feel free to bug me from time to time - to show what I'm working on, and to keep going no matter how much I may have convinced myself I can't do something.

Have you made any resolutions?

Before I forget  - Happy New Year! I wish all of you a Joyous and Prosperous 2011!

And above all, happy quilting!

Thimbles

This was another purchase at Kenilworth Castle - a reproduction of a medieval thimble.

All I can say is, they must have had tiny hands way back then.

Another Pin Cushion

Another place we visited in England was Kenilworth Castle. It's a lovely ruin, with a beautifully restored garden. There were two gift shops, and I fell in love with some of the tapestries for sale - especially one of the Tree of Life.

Unfortunately, the price didn't fit my souvenir budget, so I came away with this instead.

Why, yes, I do collect pin cushions. Why do you ask?

Fat Quarters

These pretty Fat Quarters followed me home from the Patchwork Cabin in Great Bookham, Surrey. It's a lovely, friendly little shop, and I highly recommend visiting if you happen to be in the area.

Cutting Table Wednesday

It's cutting table Wednesday. Let's see what's on the mat today...

It's a tiny pincushion I purchased as a souvenir in a charity shop in Great Bookham, Surrey, UK.

What's on YOUR cutting table today?

A Small Finish

You might think, in reading my blog, that I rarely ever finish anything. And perhaps you might be right. However, once in a while something gets completed, and even makes it out of the door to a new home.

This is my completion for June.

It's a small blanket for donation to either my vet or a local animal shelter. It's only a small gesture, but we have personal experience to know that they can be appreciated.

On June 7, we said goodbye to George - our oldest male cat - almost 17 years of age. He had a tumour in his face, and we looked after him and comforted him as long as we could, until it was finally his time to go.

My husband took him to the vet to see if we could help him in some way to keep him with us - but he was beginning to be in distress with the tumour.  To keep him comfortable while he received his final needle, the vet brought out a crocheted blanket just like this one - so that he wouldn't have to lie just on the metal table. In fact, it was a blanket I had crocheted before, and given to the vet's office.

We were glad for this small kindness for George, and happy that there was a small blanket like this that he could lie on at the end.

If you have an overflowing scrap basket, or extra yarn, why not consider making a small blanket to donate. It may comfort an animal in distress - and if the animal is one of the lucky ones - it may even accompany them home to their forever home.