U-Turn and Cat Shampoos

I sewed down the binding last night to finish this quilt, destined to be given to the Annie Malone Children's Home at tomorrow night's guild meeting. The pattern is "U-Turn" by Kristi Daum at St. Louis Folk Victorian. The fabric is Comma from the Zen Chic line of fabrics designed by Brigitte Heitland. The fabric was purchased at my LQS, Janie Lou. I quilted it on my home sewing machine with cream thread in the top and dark avocado green in the bobbin, which matches the backing fabric. This is very simple straight line (well, more or less) quilting in an allover two inch grid.

I was a volunteer pattern tester for Kristi, which was an easy job. The directions were error-free, the pattern simple yet graphic, and the sewing straightforward. There is nary a pastel, pink, purple, or floral fabric in the quilt making it quite suitable for a young man. This is one of the few non-scrappy quilts I have made lately and is due to the fact that I am totally smitten with this line of fabric. It came out more than a year ago, so is fading fast from shop shelves. Every last bit has been hoarded, cut up, and stowed away in my *somewhat* organized scrap drawers.

What's this about cat shampoos you ask? Here is Texas Charley, aka Fatso or just plain Charley, after his spring shampoo. He wasn't as dirty as might have been expected given that the last time he was washed was last year around this time and shortly after we acquired him. I only shampoo the cats rarely as supposedly it is not good for their skin to be washed frequently. I used an organic, slightly lavender scented, mild shampoo formulated for cats. Jade, my small female tortoise shell, also received her annual beauty treatment. Alas no photos of her as she is hiding somewhere drying off. They get rather vigorously towel dried, but, that said, they are still pretty wet and need a good hour before they are anywhere close to being completely dry. Years ago I dried my cats with a hair dryer, but it is unnecessarily traumatic for them. Between the noise of the dryer and trying not to get the dryer so close that it was uncomfortably warm for them, it is just as well to let them finish drying themselves. Which they are now assiduously doing.

Two down, one to go. The largest - and normally the dirtiest -of the three, Mickey, and the only one allowed outdoors, is left to do. Maybe this afternoon. I have to return some books to the library and then head over to the hardware store for paint samples.

Welcome to my latest follower, Carlain!

Time for lunch now.