Yes, the fur-creatures now outnumber the humans because I am a weak, weak, WEAK woman. Or maybe just smart? Here’s how it began (ps..the reward, the photo, is at the end….):

I went to the bank to deposit a small check for a small sale (the turtle mini-quiltlet mounted on canvas). Our bank has a cage/crate with a cat from the local shelter every Friday. Well, it was Weds. and they had one in there! She is white calico, with light grey and light caramel. She was friendly. One of my favorite employees at the bank was visiting her so I went to say hello to both of them. She walked right up to me, bumped, purred, and spoke to me. I listened. She has MANY toes. We haven’t yet been able to count since she is still a bit touchy from a recent spay operation, but we are guessing at least 24-26…..poor sweet dear looks like she has a foot and a half on some paws….

That means most of the rest of Weds. was spent filling out the adoption form, dropping it off at the shelter, calling the friends I put as references to let them know I had done so, then when we got the “OK you’re approved” call, calling the vet to schedule a quick check-up (to make sure she didn’t have anything she could give our other kitties, bringing her home, setting up a temporary poo pan and food/water dishes in our bedroom (letting her get used to us and the house before introducing her to the others).

So….there has been some minor hissing between the cats, but no serious spats. The first night, she came to sleep with me in the crook of my arm, and now follows me about the house. She even–gasp! a cat?!!–comes when called! Maybe she can teach the other cats? So now, we are:

Paul (daddy)
Sarah (me)
Joshua (#1 son)
Eli (#2 son)

Yeti, the wonder dog (aka canine horse)

Zeus, the 9 year old Siamese from the shelter in Friday Harbor, Wash.

Tyger Dumpster, the 8 year old orange tabby from a shelter in Burlington, Wash. (he was found tied into a bag inside a dumpster!!!! some people shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets!)

Hannah Chan, the tabby Paul and the boys rescued 6 years ago–some neighbor kids had found her far from any houses at about 4 weeks of age, but the boy was highly allergic. So she was named for the Hannah family, in whose hayfield she was found, and the Chan kids, who found her but couldn’t keep her.

and the newly Christened
Thumper Flightfoot: Thumper (thanks to our vet, who also suggested Snowshoe, but that’s too hard to call out!) because her hind feet look like a rabbit’s, with oddly long toes (many of them), and Flightfoot because she looks like she’s about ready to take off wtih those big feeties:

More pictures when I can…slamming to get postcards done for a lecture to my local guild chapter tomorrow. Pics of the postcards as well as the cat before too long…..

for any frazzled mom is BACK TO SCHOOL DAY! And today, DRUM ROLL PLEASE, is the day! Joshua got on the bus at about 6:51 a.m., followed about an hour later by his younger brother! That means I got caught up on computer work, prepared a class supply list for my new postcards workshop, and worked out. I hope to have some postcards to share in a day or two…LOTS of postcards, including in progress shots.

Now, to go take the “back to school day” photo that I forgot to take this morning (before Joshua tears his new clothes…)–also a tidbit from Twyla Tharp follows this post (2 in one day?!!!)…..

In Chapter 2, Tharp talks about the importance of establishing rituals that get you in the right frame of mind for creating. Her way is to go work out at the gym for two hours at 7 a.m. Needless to say, that is not my way…sigh! Thomas Mann donned a coat and tie and sat down to write until he had completed a predetermined length of writing. Tharp says:

“To get the creative habit, you need a working environmnet that’s habit forming.” p.17

This is exactly what Virginia Woolf mean when she wrote A Room of One’s Own. You need a place to go and create. Tharp also wrote:

“The other obstacle to good work, as harmful as one’s fears, is distractions.” p. 25

Hmmm…you mean like e-mail and blogs? Sometimes, though, I think you need to decompress and socialize, so here we are!

I promised pictures of some fabrics I dyed, so here you go–all of them on the design wall all at once!

For our first excercises, we dyed one color two-ways. I had been hoping to make a dark, deep blue, but didn’t find the color I wanted (and that’s w/ith 1053 swatches!)…that was because I didn’t yet know how to take the correct hue (color) and darken the value. So I picked a deep, deep eggplant purple (which is a bit ironic since I generally avoid purple like the plague). Due to warmths issues (blue dye likes summer temps and the classroom was a bit cool), it came out a shade or two less blue, but I love the red-violet that I got. Here is the first piece, which I folded and manipulated a bit. Here’s what it looked like in the bucket before dyeing, still dry:

Then, with the dye, while soaking.

Finally, ironed–it’s the piece on the left; the one on the right is the same dye, measured for mixing in a different way, and scrunched instead of folded..I LOVE those chevrons!

The next days, we had the chance to use up some extra mixed dyes, so I did a couple of “scrunch and pours”. The first was this one, a scrap about 9 by 19 inches. While I was ironing it (looking at it horizontally), my table-mate Debby saw it vertically and said gee, it looks like sky and trees and a lake. Of course, now I can’t see it as anything but that, so guess it will become a small wholecloth quilt…thanks Debby!

Then I did some pink-yellow-tangerines, which I TOTALLY love!

For my final piece, I decided to do a folded one, using Caribbean waters colors. The contrast was low, so the patterning isn’t as bold as I would like. However, since I was thinking of using this for a wall or lap-quilt sized Hawaiian-style quilt, on a hand-dyed background (possibly the same but much lighter aqua in a very textured style, with an accent of raspberry–piping? on the edges), I’m happy with it. Next time, I may try lightly dipping the folded edges in soda-ash-solution, which will cause the dye to bond very rapidly with the soda-soaked portions, then pour more dye on the remaining dry parts, which should create some fairly bold patterning. Think I may try that on a SMALL piece first, though, cuz it could also be awful!