My Sister's Quilt

Karen's Quilt

Summer a year ago, my mother and I decided to make a quilt together for my sis, Karen Carey.  We picked brighter colors for the top to match the bedroom decor, and a neutral back fabric.  I was to make the top, and Mother planned to do the quilting on her home sewing machine.  It turned out that she got ill at the end of Summer, and then didn't have the energy to quilt it.  After Mother passed away, I found it still in the sack in her sewing room.  This year, I finished it, with nice pure cotton batting, as a final gift from our mom and from me.

Daphinous Buttercream Piddlewhiskers Kitten Born December 7, 2010

A few days ago, I posted one pic of this little sweetheart kitten in blogging about her mother, but now she gets a blog article of her own.  She's the most gregariaous of the Piddlewhiskers babies.  She was born December 7, 2010 and opened her eyes just about December 21, 2010, which was the date of the Winter Solstice and Lunar Eclipse.  Who would not want to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for an occasion like that!  A desireable breeder Cream Selkirk Rex, she carries her mama's genes for agouti, red and black, dilute, and I think shading.  (If smoke is recessive and takes 2 carriers, because she has a full-blood sister of shaded smoke).   She's the beauty.  If you are interested in having her for the Selkirk Rex breeding program, please do contact me.   Both her British Shorthair sire and Selkirk Rex mother have amazing pedigrees to multiple champion blood lines, and she has the most amazing type, disposition and form.  Right this moment as I write, she is sleeping in her mama's kitten nest (a big wooden treasure chest by my desk), yawning and having kitten dreams while she grows. 

Smokey Jasmine Piddlewhiskers, Blue Selkirk Rex

Jasmine Piddlewhiskers, Smoke Blue Selkirk Rex, Born December 7, 2010

This darling little baby girl was born last and is the sweetest and most delicate kitten of Gracie Piddlewhiskers' three babies.  She's a smoke.  That word describes a cat whose fur is dark at the tips and light at the base close to the skin.  When you run your finger across her fur from back to front, you can see that her base color is lighter and the tips of her fur are darker.  She is just way barely opening her eyes in this pic.  Yesterday (Solstice and eclipse) she began to open them.  Here she seems to be really concentrating on the bright sheet she can see.   Jasmine is not as stocky and big as the other two girls, so she might be less 'typey.'  The idea in the Selkirk Rex breed, is that Selkirks would be outcrossed with other pedigreed cats so that by 2015, they would have more genetic diversity and also look thick, cobby and plush.  Jasmine is 100% official Selkirk Rex breed, but her genes include ancestors of Persian, British Shorthair, and Exotic.  Today, Selkirks are being distinguished as Long Hair, Short Hair, Straight and Curly.  Not sure but she seems at this time to be a short hair straight.  She is for sale, $250 and when 12 weeks old she can go to a new home as a neutered family pet Selkirk Rex with papers. 

We'd like to feel assured that she will get a great lifetime home and be treated like royalty.  When you choose a kitten, you are adding a new family member and we want to make sure that it is a totally positive relationship all the way around.  If you are interested in adopting her, reach ktibbits@lrec.org . 

Lilac Selkirk Rex

Lilac Selkirk Rex of Piddlewhiskers & Snugglesworth

While searching for the time to launch our cattery website for Piddlewhiskers & Snugglesworth, here is an updated pic of this sweet little female Selkirk Rex lilac.  We're assuming she is a female, that is.  And we are also assuming she is a lilac, for she has the soft wispy color more like her father who is a lilac British Shorthair.  Her new family can give her her real official registered name, and for now I am informally calling her Lilly Piddlewhiskers.  Her registration name will begin with Piddlewhiskers.  She is beginning to open her eyes (12/22/2010).  She is the curious one, who approaches everything to investigate, on wobbly legs.  Well, it is more like she raises up and falls forward or rolls to the side.  I think she will be walking soon.  Her nose is dark purple but her paw pads are bright pink.  If she were a brit, that would meet the lilac color category at TICA (The International Cat Association, Inc.).  She is officially a Selkirk Rex, or will be when the litter is registered.   She has her daddy's smile.  And she has thick long, long whiskers like her father, too.  Maybe her name should start with an M because she has an M on her forehead.  She carries for dilute, smoke, red, black and white, agouti.  Her ancestors are Brit and Selkirk, Persian and Exotic... and of course a famous ole black and white curly barn cat named Oskar No-Face Kowalski.

The Consolation Prize - Potato Quilt

The Potato Quilt

Just when I think my creative energy is exhausted, out of nowhere comes some silly inspiration.  I had one last Grandchild quilt to make.  The 4 granddaughters and one grandson of Bertie Carter, during her lifetime always spent Christmas Eve at her house and this is their first year that she will have been gone at Christmas.  So, I set about making 5 quilts (one for each) with no plan for which grandchild would get which quilt.  Katy, my daughter came up with a plan:  We'll play board games and the winner will get to choose a quilt, then the second winner, etc.  What is the incentive to go beyond the usual deference to each other, in politeness?  The Potato Quilt!  Who would want the last remaining reference to grandmother to be in the form of a quilt that has potatoes on it?  Maybe someone.... or then again, maybe it will be the last place consolation prize... or the quilt of any child who fails to attend.  Who would say we have not kept our sense of humor?

Tibbits Blue TieDye Quilt

Here's a joyous riot of colors in this quilt made for my husband's father and step-mother.  It features a lot of  fabrics from Keepin U N Stitches at Jay, Oklahoma and the centerpiece is one of my hand-dyed Kona panels.  I machine-stitched the strip pieces and applied custom machine quilting, including a few mysterious words in the stitching.... such as the fact that it was quilted on Solstice 2010.  If you are in this geographical area, rent the longarm machine at the quilt and fabric shop above, for about $10 an hour to do your very own machine quilting--- you can buy back and bat there, and run your backing seam.  Then Keepin U N Stitches will provide you with thread from their choice or you can bring your own tread and bobbins if you have something particularly unusual in mind. 

Dye Crystals

Navy Dye Crystals

I left some navy dye in a cup for several days, and it decided to grow crystals, right up the side of the plastic cup and out at the top.  Doesn't it look like cedar branches?  One of many mysteries of the dye studio.  Crystals are formed as the chemicals align at a molecular level.  If you make a pot of dye and it doesn't arrange its own molecules into crystals, chances are that you have either kept it too long or don't have the right chemistry going on.

The Good Mother

Lyriccurls Gracie Piddlewhiskers, Selkirk Rex

Gracie's litter of 3 chubby baby kittens were born in December, and she seemed surprised when she had them, but has taken to motherhood with amazing skill.  This pic is rare because it shows her curly whiskers.  That's how you know a Selkirk curly at birth-- and one of her 3 babies does have the characteristic curly little whiskers.  Two, we think, will be "straights" or darling fuzzy kinky pet kittens but just not so curly that they'll be suitable for carrying on the Selkirk qualities.

Buttercream curly female.  Buttercream isn't an official breed quality, but it best describes the colors of this sweet pudgy lil female, and she has the curls.   She is Gracie's special one, and almost intuitively Gracie holds her close under the paw.  I think they say that Tomcats sometimes try to seperate away the kittens that they think are not their own.  The time will come that we will have to part with these darlings, but for now we're delighting in having a kitten family.  She is going to have Gracie's prominent cheeks and pointed chin.



Announcing Selkirk Rex Kittens

On December 7th, 3 new kittens were born in our family.  The mom is Lyriccurls Gracie Piddlewhiskers, a registered Selkirk Rex.  The father is Route 66 King Arthur of Piddlewhiskers & Snugglesworth.  The first was the blue cream ticked or spotted  agouti.  See how the one on your right has a bicycle handlebar light mustache?  It is probably a girl.  Next was a cute little curly cream, which looks like Gracie's sister Daphne.  The youngest was this little dark smoke, shown on the left.  Before this one was one stillborn with long smoke blue straight fur.

I'm writing this on Day 3.  Each kitten is developing a unique personality, or perhaps already has a unique personna that we're beginning to notice.  The cream-colored kitten  is Momma's Favorite.  Gracie holds her between her arms when sleeping, gently, warmly and protectively.  The spotty blue cream one has a big wide head like Arthur, and will carry more of the cobby type of a British Shorthair.  This is a characteristic that breeders are encouraged to develop by mating Selkirks with Brits.  And the sweet little smoky dark one is the most easly satisfied.  At the moment it is having a bodacious milkfest, having awakend from a nap underneath the creamy kitten. 

They seem to be interested in seeing the world but just can't quite open their eyes.  The first day, their little ears were pinned down and now those cute ears are 'flowering'  but still look like the ears of an American Curl.

Gracie is a Selkirk Rex, registered with CFA.  Her heritage traces back to Oscar No-Face Kowalski, the first generation from the first curly cat:  Miss DePesto.  Gracie's sire is Merlin (Kurlipurrz Merlin), a Blue Silver Tabby Longhair.  He was named #1 in the TICA Southwest Region as a kitten.  Gracie's mother is Kurlipurrz Josie Blue Belle.

Arthur is a Lilac British Shorthair and is registered with TICA.  Piddlewhiskers & Snugglesworth, our Cattery is also registered with TICA.  TICA stands for The International Cat Association.  Arthur's sire is Alcmena Smokey, and you can see his picture.   Arthur's mother is Anahata Evelin (known as Misty to her family) and her baby pics are here.  You can see her pedigree, too.

These kittens will be for sale. Their gender has not yet been determined. The cream curly kitten will probably be $1,200, including breeding rights. The "lilac" blue cream will be about $800, including breeding rights if curly, or $250 if straight. The sweet darling little smoke will be a precious pet, neutered, about $250.  It is customary to reserve a particular kitten before it reaches 12 weeks of age and can go to its new home.  We want to make sure that our kittens will have good homes, because they are our family members. 

Cherokee Syllabary Quilt, Quilted in Cherokee Syllabary

I may have posted this quilt before it was quilted.  What's unique?  The color hand-dyed panels contain Cherokee syllables made with batik wax or some discharge process.  But totally unique is that I've done what I believe to be the first modern-time machine quilting using sometimes Cherokee Syllables in the background, written in thread.  Have you ever seen anything like that?   It is for sale at my Etsy shop.

Quilter's Sunset

Working on getting a bunch of memory quilts ready to give for Christmas from my father and I, I've been keeping the trail beat down between Stilwell, Oklahoma and a quilt shop in Jay, Oklahoma.  It is about 58 miles one-way to go up there and spend a day working on a rented long-arm quilting machine.  Despite the drive, it has been worth the trouble.  I have saved my father a few dollars that we'd be paying out for a machine quilter's time.  I have been able to personalize the quilts by freehanding some dates and other secret messages into the quilting thread patterns, and... I was privileged to catch this gorgeous sunset on camera.  While driving.  I took a series of pics, as the sunset changed from moment to moment.  Here I just hit it with one lil edit fature.... blacking out some headlights at the bottom.  All of the sky colors are au naturale.

Eye Heart Tahlequah Quilt

Eye Heart Tahlequah Auilt is a fun thing.  It has big stripey sides, and the panels are hand dyed and sometimes superimposed with applique confetti that is also hand dyed.  In places you will see distressed screenprint "Eye Heart Tahlequah" designs.  I was hoping to do it using the Cherokee letters for Tahlequah, but there was some discrepancy between the pronunciation of the word Tahlequah in Cherokee, and the way it is formally written, such as on the old plat books of Indian Territory days.  Turns out that recently the University (NSU), Tahlequah and Cherokee Nation have partnered in some promotional advertising that answers the question.... the correct protocol will be to use the historical spelling in Cherokee Syllabary, rather than a literal translation.  It suggests that perhaps over time, the way we say Tahlequah has changed.  Tah Lah Quah is how one would pronounce the city's name, according to the plat map spellings when the city plat maps were filed.  Today when we pronounce it in English, it sounds like like Teh Leh Quah.  So, I wonder if our ancestors used to put a glottal stop after the first syllable?  If so, the original pronunciation was more like Tot Lah Quah.  Fascinating.
Today, check out my Island Retreat Etsy Shop for a boatload of recent quilt listings!

Lil Cherokee Stars Quilt

Little Cherokee Stars quilt is one of my most unusual quilts.  It has the feel of an informal Gees Bend or Outsider quilt because it has very little intentional framing.  I made it using the san blas style of underlayment applique, with informal Cherokee 7-point stars going up the middle.  And the copper and gold fabrics are vintage 1960s shirting fabric-- the kind that looks copper from one direction and green if you look at it from another direction.  It has been spoken-for and will go to a member of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative.  It also has a lot of hand-dyed fabric which I made early in my learning journey.  I practiced for years on recycled sheets before ever aspiring to use new fabric.  When I finally took the big step, I was amazed at how pure, rich and deep the colors now were.  I learned from it that after many washings, fabric fibers take up a lot of chemicals like soap and bleach, which keep the dyes from bonding uniformly, smoothly on every little molecule, and this you get a fainter tiedye when recycling.  The two iris panels are hand dyed by a couple of tiedye and hand painting artists in Australia who do gorgeous fat quarters... which are ever so slightly not the same size as American fat quarters.  They use a light grade of muslin.  I can only imagine what beautiful work they could do if they actually used fine cottons.

Swirly Nana Pop Art Quilt

This "Swirly Nana" Pop Art Quilt has a lot of optical illusion in it, and it is one in the series using my mother's fabrics for a log cabin square in the center.

Little Jungle Nana Quilt

Little Jungle Nana Quilt is one in the series of quilts with a log cabin square center made of my mother's diverse sewing stash.  It has a jungle border on the sides with some sort of plant in the lily family.  Perhaps it is pitcher plants.

Confetti Quilt Top

Confetti Quilt Top is one of the tops in the Nana Series.  The centerpiece "log cabin" pattern is made in part from Nana's fabric stash.  This one is pictured not yet quilted.

New Art Series

Dinner Napkin or Kitchen Towel

The good news about December is that it is my most productive month for Fluffy's Compleat Boutique.  The bad news is that I may not be able to write a daily blog.  I'll at least try to post a fiber art picture each morning, and I hope to be back in full swing with full blogs from time to time.  This morning's image is a dinner napkin.  I love to make these because they're perfectly flat and symmetrical so it is possible to get a lot of feathery dye migration.  This one is going with 4 other different ones of various styles, to an Etsy customer.  I'm also making some for Oklahoma Food Co-op customers and as giveaways for the workers at OFC Central Processing in OKC.