My very first...

...Finished quilt top! How cool is that? It's all completely hand-sewn. Not a machine in sight! I promise better pictures next time it's sunny outside, this one's taken with the phone camera. Now all I have to do is work out how I'm going to quilt it... I'm thinking along the lines of fusible webbing. What do you think? How expensive is the stuff though? I'm not exactly sure, and then how on earth do I cut it and put it in with the quilt front and the backing material and the wadding...or do I leave the wadding out...? I've never made a quilt top before, let alone a whole quilt! Can you guys help me by answering the above questions and any other helpful stuff, like links and such? That would be so great!I've worked out what I'm going to do with that embroidered sunflower I did a few weeks back too. No hint just yet though...

Also, for those of you interested, Spike isn't doing so well again. I thought he was going really well, and then Friday morning he swelled up around he throat-pouch area and around his eyes and became slightly lethargic. His saliva started going white and his eyes rolled back a little. Then on Friday night around 7PM, When I checked him again, he'd fallen off his rock and had started foaming at the mouth!

I called the vets emergency phone number (which is in my mobile phone book as we do have the occasional emergency with the CAA animals and our own) and then rushed him up to their surgery where Mike, the vet, looked him over and said all that he could do (I won't go into why this particular condition could have appeared in Spike as there are so many reasons when it comes to reptiles, and then this post would be three times longer) was give him an injection of anti-shock and anti-inflammatory stuff and see how he was by morning. I really thought Spike wouldn't make it through the night he was so bad...

By Saturday morning, the swelling had gone down, and he was so much better! I tell you, I cried I was so relieved! I called the vets once they opened and Mike said to bring him in so they could check him over again. So I got ready for church and took him up in a cat cage, where Dad dropped me off so that he could continue driving Mum to church so she would be there in time to start the song service.

(Picture is an old one and only shows swollen eyes, not swollen throat-pouch.)

Mike looked Spike over and poked and prodded him as he had done the night before, and Spike gave him the dirtiest look, then ran across the table trying to escape. We grabbed him back and poked him some more, then Mike got another dose of the anti-shock drug and the anti-biotic Spike's been on for ages, and as we were giving them to him, Spike took off across the table again, which is such a good sign, as this is what water dragons do (and Spike had not done this before, so therefor must be feeling better)! Then he struggled for the rest of the time and I had to hold him quite tightly so that Mike could inject him. In thanks, Spike left a dirty great big poo in the middle of the table, which we both examined and agreed still wasn't as nice as we'd like it to be. Yes, you read that right! I couldn't count the times I've had to talk to a vet about poo!

Dad picked me back up and we took Spike to church. He caused some disturbance as everyone wanted to see him and know everything there is to know, not just about him but about his species, and about owning one... I thought I had told them all the information last time (and every time before that) I had taken Buffy to church, but I guess people think all lizards and all reptile licences are different!

So then after church (where I had taken Spike out of his cage and sat him on my lap for warmth) we followed an old lady friend home to collect a kitten she'd phoned about that morning. They'd fed him cows milk. I know! COWS MILK! Man, I was so worried all day today that he'd die on us but he's a very happy little chappy and is fast asleep on my bed at the moment. He's SO skinny! Mostly bone with this huge big fat stomach in the middle! I did have to bath him thoroughly yesterday before introducing him to the other cats, because of the fleas.

I use conditioner and tweezers to rid kittens from them. It works a treat as the conditioner smooths down the fur and the fleas become visible bumps, where you remove them into water to kill them. Mind you, they do bite the kitten while you're doing this, and a lot get onto the face and burrow in, so beware of clinging kitten claws if you ever use this procedure. The kitten feels heaps better afterwards though, I can assure you!

So today Spike is doing a lot better, although his throat-pouch is still swollen. His eyes aren't so bad and he's responding well, but I'll be taking him back on Tuesday just for another check, especially if the swelling hasn't gone down by then.

So that was my weekend, how was yours!?!? Oh, and don't forget the quilt info please!