October Surprise

Have you ever noticed that some of the craziest changes, the ones that really affect your daily life, come completely out of the blue?

We've had a beautiful warm fall. The leaves just started changing last week. I love the complementary colors of the orangey leaves against that blue blue sky.

I had one of those big crazy changes drop in my lap on one of those impossibly warm beautiful days a few weeks ago. My quiet, comfortable one-cat home expanded in a completely unexpected way. Someone dropped these sweet little boys out by my parents house, and though I agonized over the decision, in the end I couldn't turn them away.

I don't have many good pictures because they don't stay still for long. Here is Sark in a rare quiet moment. A friend told me the other day that a person and a cat are one thing, but 3 cats are a family. And what a difference that is!  Our transition has been complicated by the fact that this is the first day I've spent at home since they came to live here. But we're all adjusting to the big changes and today we're having a lovely lazy nap-filled day.

Here's Bobby crashed out in a sunny spot. So for the record: I now live with three black male cats. Pistol is 10 and named for Pistol Pete Maravich. Bobby is 6-8 months and named for Roberto Clemente. And Sark is 6-8 months and named for Husky football coach Steve Sarkisian. 'Cause we like sports names around here. Also, Pistol is huge and Bobby and Sark are catching up FAST.

Hmmm, everyone's napping...momma's gonna go make some art!

Orange!

I used to *intensely dislike* orange. Back in my traditional quilting days (as well as my crochet and cross stitch days) I never used orange. Orange, with it's lovely sidekick avocado, reminded me of 1970's kitchens. And not in a good way.

And then my sister-in-law wanted to decorate her 3rd baby's room in fall country colors. Orange, brick red, etc. And so I made The Dreaded Orange Quilt. And I fell in love with orange. Despite my calling it The Dreaded Orange Quilt, I really loved that quilt and it changed my attitude toward all the colors. I wish I had a picture to share.

Here's my latest orange quilt. Yes, it's wonky. Anna Turner from Sew Uniquely You gave me the fabric, a castoff from her wonderful hand dyes, and I didn't want to trim off any of that yummy color. I know orange is traditionally a fall color, but this reminds me of the warm intensity of summer.

I was inspired to try my favorite surface design techniques on hand dyed fabric after finishing this quilt which I colored with acrylic paint. The paint made the fabric pretty stiff so my favorite hand quilting with embroidery thread was tough on my hands. The hand dyed fabric was much easier to work with. I have a few more hand dyed pieces in yummy summer colors, so this may turn into a series. I'm looking across the color wheel from orange for the next one!