And Now there are TWO Curious Cats

Grace Hopper has convinced her brother Johnny that there is something VERY interesting about the fireplace behind the glass door, and so I now have TWO cats obsessed with it.

I think it's because she knows he has a talent for OPENING THINGS and will continue to investigate until he figures it out.

They are quite the team . . . when they aren't chasing each other around at full speed, or blissfully napping–each in one of the pair of wing chairs.


While Grace will loudly nag persistently plead until I open the doors for her for a supervised peek inside, Johnny has already started to work the corners to see if he can figure out how it opens . . . if he gets lucky, I may have to childproof my fireplace ;-)

(Yep, that's a box in the second photo.  I still have boxes–this one is empty, kept intact to be used for some future necessary organization . . . if I am going to fit into the limited space.)

The Yellow Rose of Texas ... and her Wonky Friends

Even though my fabric is still in boxes, while I ponder the best way to organize and store it in the new apartment, I did manage to catch up with some lotto blocks this weekend. After making four 11th hour fireworks blocks (AKA asterisks) Friday night and then making four more just before the deadline on Saturday, I started making these free-pieced roses for August.

I put together the basics on making this block here: Let's Grow Roses and the guidelines for the blocks we are making on the block lotto blog, here: Roses in Bloom for the August Block Lotto.

The guidelines and suggestions are meant to leave a lot of leeway for personal expression in these liberated blocks while having enough structure that all the blocks we make will play nicely with one another.  It's always hard to know where to draw that line.

Here are the other three rose blocks I've made so far.



The funny thing–funny to easily amused me anyway–was how, as I made the blocks, I found myself creating rules for myself that went far beyond my own suggestions and guidelines for everyone.  In the interest of sharing my process and the way I wrapped my head around this block, here are my rules.

• Begin with a five-sided center, cut so none of the corners are square
• Choose fabrics that are light, medium and dark values of the same color; include one or two that are multicolor prints, but still predominately whatever color the rose is I'm making.
• Add "logs" that are wedge shaped, increasing in width as they wrap around the center.

I'm really enjoying everyone's roses so far and analytical me wonders if the makers have their own set of personal rules for growing rose blocks, too.  Since it's Design Wall Monday over on the Patchwork Times,  here's the virtual design wall of early rose blocks made for the Block Lotto by sneak peekers, Andi, Caroline, Cathy, Ginny, Kate, Kathie, Kim, Pat and Sarah. 

For a look at what others have on their design wall, check out Judy's blog post Design Wall Monday - August 2, 2010.