Sunday, March 22, 2009

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!

9 comments:

Christy Amular said...

Isn't hand-sewn the best? What patience , intent and love must you have poured to make that marvelous creation! Well done!!!!

NEEDLEWINGS said...

Congratulations on your hand sewn piece! Lots of work! How do you intend to quilt it? It's a busy piece and personally I wouldn't put all of the work into it by hand unless it is relaxing for you. I would simply have it machine quilted. I am not biased, since I machine quilt for people. lol

However if you do decide to quilt by hand or home machine,
I would clamp my backing onto a large table,or even use masking tape and use the floor. Then use a basting spray for the backing, cover it with batting (or as you say wadding.) Then smooth out any wrinkles, then spray on top of batting and apply the quilt top. Use adiquate ventalation with basting sprays. If you don't want to use it, then stimply do a running basting stitch to make a 4 inch grid, or you can also use saftey pins to hold it together. When you go to quilt it, start in the center of your quilt and work your way out as you go:)

NEEDLEWINGS said...

Ah, a new kitten, how fun! Now we each have 6. LOL No reptiles here, although I did have an iguana named Iggy when I went to college:)
Best wishes with your quilt, hope the advice helped. If you would like to see mine some time, go to http://enchantedquilts.com Don't use the www in front of it, for some reason, I have to get that glitch sorted out with the Apple computer people.

Anonymous said...

Great choice of colors! I'm a hand sewer so I commend you on your beautiful first quilt. I've never done fusible webbing before but anchoring your quilt top to your batting to your bottom piece takes a great deal of patience. I usually baste these layers together with a different color thread, so I can see where I need to quilt. You can also use a lap hoop to keep your layers together whilst you quilt and the stretching keeps it from getting wrinkles. Lightweight fusible webbing is not very expensive, nor is batting really, unless you're looking for superior loft.

hope this is helpful!

also, hand quilting requires small stitches so use a short quilting needle if you have one.

3rdEyeMuse said...

where to start?!?

ok - your quilt top looks amazing! from one that has never quilted, I wouldn't even begin to know how to answer any of your questions, but am confident that a bunch of your readers will, so think you are in really good hands.

sorry to hear that Spike has been having it rough - will be thinking lots of get well thoughts for him.

AND can't wait to see what you do with the flower!

Lallee said...

I love your cheerful quilt. I hope Spike continues to improve. I hope the kitty does well. You're a good mommy ;-)

apparentlyjessy said...

Wow! You have done such a great job on that quilt, I love the fabrics you have used, and I cannot believe you did ALL that with hand sewing! You must be so patient! I am sorry, I have never done quilting before, so cant answer your questions!

I think its so cool you have lizards called Buffy and Spike! I do hope he gets better!

Yarni Gras! said...

the quilt is GORGEOUS! kudos to you!
Glad that Spike is getting better....as for the defleaing, I remember as a kid, I would drop the fleas into a jar that had a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover.......thank goodness for flea preventatives now........

Marina said...

Wow, the Quilt is beautyful :o)