My helpers....

Last night, while watching the San Francisco Giants win another game, I loaded the Sunflower quilt top on the Grace frame. Actually, I only loaded the back end of the top, the backing and the batting. It will stay that way until I am ready to quilt the whole quilt in one “sitting”. If I leave the quilt on the frame half way through the quilting, my cats seem to think I have given them a new hammock. They don’t care if the recipient is allergic to cats or not, nor do they care that when my 22 pound cat sits on the “hammock” it stretches the fabric so out of whack that I will need to take the quilt off the frame and re-load it! They just want to have a nice, snuggly place to snooze.

Speaking of my 22 pound cat, have you ever seen a cat sit in a cardboard box? Well I remember once when my cat, Jake, tried to fit his 22 pound body into a very small 6x6 inch box. It was so funny; I could hardly stop laughing to take the pictures. Jake will also take any straight pins he finds and put them into his food bowl. I have to hide my pin cushion! He has an obsession with plants, too. He will eat up my bamboo knitting needles, rubber stopper and all.


Cats seem to want to help with every aspect of my hobbies. If there is a 2-inch square of fabric on the floor, they will sit on it to guard it from running away (this is my perception at least). When I lay blocks out to see if I like the setting, the cats (all four of them) are there to “help” me decide how I like them. Sometimes the kittens (kittens?? They are now 3 years old) will romp around and scatter the blocks so they are nowhere near what I had planned. Thank you, Stella and Stanley.

Then there is the dog. Myka will leave her toys around the house and make it look like we have a two year old toddler living here. I must first clean up her toys before I can lay out the blocks. Then once the blocks are laid out the way I feel is pleasing to the eye, she will want to play with her ball and drop it right where I am working. Needless to say, I try to do the layout while Myka is on a walk with my DH.

Animals bring such love and laughter to us all. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Except, maybe the slobber on the ball. I need a design wall....honey, can I use the family room walls for a permanent design wall? Please? (;