Cat Lady is Making Doggie Quilts

Cat Lady is making doggie quilts. What's that all about? Maybe it's because they are so cute and friendly, whereas (my) cats are mainly cute and sleepy. 

It started in February with a piece for my niece Mandy in Austin, Texas, of one of her dogs she had loved and lost, named Houla. I posted her in my blog here. Next I saw a friend's dog picture on her phone and asked her to send it to me.  Miss Bobo is a fluffy dog, with fluffy hair, so she got lots of stitching added. I wrote about her in April here. I think working on this one is when my Elizabeth went on her thread-eating adventure one night, resulting in her terrible sickness and surgery to remove the thread tangled up in her insides. Clearly my fault, and a reminder to never leave a machine threaded.

Houla, 12 x 15

Miss Bobo, 16 x 21

Marta Boldo is a more smooth-haired little girl, and was so much fun to make. She belongs to Hector and Tom Boldo and is part of a gift exchange with my talented friend Hector Boldo. We are a mutual admiration society and have had this project in mind for quite a while. He is working on a painting of me at my sewing machine. 

Marta Boldo, 16 x 24

With Hector Boldo

I was in Home Depot recently and admired a little black & white papillon and asked her owner if I could take her picture. Of course, she was proud to show off her pup, and the dog seemed used to being admired. She was the perfect subject for my demo with Betty Reid at our August Southern Fiber Artists meeting. We had kits prepared and Power Point pictures, and the 28 participants enjoyed creating this little fellow. I named her Home Depot Papillon.

At Home Depot

Home Depot Papillon, 12 x 12

One of my granddaughters' family came by on their way home from Destin. What a treat to get to see these precious boys and their mom and dad! They were charmed by Roy's boxes of arrowheads that he had found after we moved to Mississippi. 

At Firehouse Subs

They are from age almost 4 to 14

July

 It seems the most important thing happening in July was keeping my flowerbeds alive in the Mississippi heat. Some days it took watering twice a day, and dragging the hose about the yard was my major exercise. Toward the end of the month we had some rain relief. The Sun Patience are rewarding me for the watering efforts. And the butterfly bushes are attracting many butterflies. 

My two begonia plants on the front porch are favorites and take very little care (angel wing is in total shade and cane begonia gets morning sun).

I enjoyed making a few simple "stitched pictures" and a little WORD play piece for a friend's birthday.  Elizabeth made sure to give me plenty of attention when I sat in the recliner to read or watch TV. 

The opening of Southern Fiber Artists Mississippi Challenge exhibit at the William Waller Craft Center in Ridgeland was an exciting event. The exhibit will be up through September and then travel to venues across the state in 2025-2026.

Martha Ginn, Charlotte Timmons, Dianne McLendon, Myra Cook

June Too Busy to Write About

June was so full and enjoyable that I must have just enjoyed and did not take the time to write about it. My new flowerbeds are doing well, but it has taken my watering sometimes twice a day. We have gotten up to high 90s many days with very little rain. 

FestivalSouth makes June my favorite of the year and I take advantage of all the music and art I can. I have very fond memories of being the 2023 FestivalSouth artist with my quilt "Prelude." This year's artist is the amazing Adam Trest from Laurel, and his month-long art exhibit has been in the Downey Gallery at University Baptist Church, as well as featured on programs and publicity. The musical "Jersey Boys" kicked off the festival; followed by such events as morning coffee concerts; a ballet featuring Alexi Orohovsky, a winner in the 2023 USA International Ballet Competition; a Mahler "Song of the Earth" concert, Meistersingers "All About Love" concert; Piano quintet (always a favorite of mine); and a symphonic rock concert, "Journey On," featuring the music of Journey. A special thrill was for the Meistersingers getting to be part of the chorus singing backup to Journey music! 

Adam Trest

Meistersingers Concert

With my backup buddies at the Journey concert

Storm Wade 

Elizabeth gave me quite a scare when she needed major surgery to remove the thread she swallowed from her intestines. Here she is with her shaved tummy as she is healing quite nicely.

There was not time for much art quilting going on, but I spoke and showed some of my quilts at the Summer Gathering of Mississippi Quilt Association at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond, Miss. Southern Fiber Artists have an exhibit "Mississippi Quilt Challenge" that will be at the William Waller Craft Center July-August-September (closed Sundays/Mondays). These pieces depict scenes from all over the state. My contribution is the USM Administration Building. In addition to the postcard or wall quilt size pieces, there is a collaborative quilt by Charlotte Timmons as well as MISSISSIPPI spelled out in eleven pieces. We want to use our fiber art to picture our beautiful state. Don't miss this exhibit.

USM Administration Building, 18x30

Invitation

Hanging the Collaborative Quilt (Charlotte Timmons, Elaine Walizer)

May Flowers

"April showers bring May flowers" is what's humming around in my head. Temps are getting high enough that some hose watering help is needed almost daily. After the fence project was done, my landscape plans finally began to take shape. Kenny Muse Landscaping and his crew created a new bed across the front and planted and established a rock garden. The new plants are happy and thriving.

Getting a fresh start

Rain water will go through a buried pipe

Rain runoff will hit near the largest rocks

I asked for a small new bed in the backyard as well as azalea bushes against the fence. There is still mostly shade here, so he planted hostas and ferns, with plenty of areas for me to add some bedding plants. I'm watching for the zinnia seeds to come up and will get some other plants in soon.

New backyard bed with fence in background

Tallest hosta bloom I've ever seen

Hosta and hydrangea blooming

View out my kitchen window

April--A Very Musical Month

Yes, April is filled with springtime weather and new things blooming, but for me it is also filled with music. Many of the talented USM music students have recitals that I love to attend. The viola studio was invited to compete in a prestigious competition in Los Angeles in June, and I donated a quilt to help them raise funds to make this trip. 

Renata Andrade

In addition to the recitals, there was a performance of the Easter portions of Handel's Messiah by the USM orchestra and Choral Union with community members. There will be a special symphony performance this week, Mahler's Symphony No. 1--The Titan, saying goodbye to conductor Dr. Michael Miles on his retirement. Hattiesburg is rich with music!

My yard has been an interesting place lately--the fence covering a neighbor's property needed replacing, and this finally took place last week. Mike Padgett of Padgett Construction Services did a great job of removing a chain link fence and replacing with a 7-ft fence all along the back of my yard. Next there will be some planting done.

Past time to replace

Fence removed

In progress

Finished

Back yard

Fence built around large pine on the property line

It was good to get the three art quilt presentations done in March, and I did enjoy them. Then Pine Belt Quilters had our Showcase on April 20 at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center. We had the drawing for our Opportunity Quilt "Flowers for My Wedding" and displayed about 75 pieces of our works. Each event meant pulling different pieces to show. It was also a good time to change some of the artwork in my house. 

Flowers for My Wedding, won by Jackie Watkins

Miss BoBo

Square-in-a-Square II

Mike Ratliff was the lucky winner of the quilt