Winner!

I recently threw my name, well my new name @madcatquilts, in the running for a giveaway with @gypsymoonquilts on instagram. And I won!

Credit for all this loveliness goes to @gypsymoonquilts!

Credit for all this loveliness goes to @gypsymoonquilts!

What a sweet little mini mini/mug rug! Some lovely scraps! A cute needle minder! Her work is lovely so check it out!

Off Season: The French Market

Since moving to New Jersey in 2015, I've enjoyed exploring the state and do so the most when tourists are not around. Living in a seasonal tourist hot spot is fun, but I love the Off Season! Over the last few years I've made a few posts on the blog about places that I've seen, noted, liked or loved. Now you can find them all by checking out the Off Season link.  

A friend told me I had to visit The French Market in Rumson, NJ, bc it was right up my alley. She was right! I visited the last weekend in April and have been back 3 times since then! 

Mostly The French Market is a little cafe with fresh bread, pastries, take out prepared food, coffee,  and a ton of sandwiches, wraps, quiches, etc.. but it also sells gift items, plants, and very pretty, if not practical, planting supplies.  

I love the interior which is all black and white and brown with lots of live plants. But I especially love the back room which is a modified, winterized greenhouse and so adorable. The food is simple, fresh and tasty!

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The French Market
114 E River Rd, Rumson, NJ 07760
- Open until 7pm on weekdays
- Owned by 3 designers/friends.
- Opened it's doors in July 2015.
- Sadly only has a Facebook page (which I won't bother to force upon you) instead of a proper website. But it does have an Instagram
- First visit April 2017

New Block: Honey Bee Block (Solstice Block 14/25)

Here is another block I heavily modified for Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge. Her Honey Bee block called for appliqué, ut I chose to make some orange peels instead. 

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Her block also called for petals or peels at all four corners, but three were enough for me. I'll need to sweep some threads off this block and square it up, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out! 

Linking top with Finished or Not It's Friday, Needle and Thread Thursday, Slow Sunday Stitching and  more! 

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OMG May

Oh brother, I was this close to finishing my April goal! And yet... it didn't get done. I've been flitting from project to project lately and not finishing anything! My OMG2017 list is looking pretty abysmal. 

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Here's another sad look at OMG2017 so far:
Jan - Quilt Maybe Lyz - Not finished
Feb - Quilt Tom Mat - Not finished
Mar - Finish Tom Mat - Not Finished
Apr - Finish Little Baby Quilt Top - Not Finished

For May I'm rolling over my April goal. Ever the optimist, I'm hoping to finish this baby quilt top. 

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts OMG, Building Blocks Tuesday Needle and Thread Thursday, Move it Forward Monday and more!

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April Plant Update

April saw a lot of plant activity! We're still on our way through the month and I hope the old April adage holds true, bc we have a had our share of rainy days!

We moved a bunch of plants around inside to help them thrive. 

We moved a bunch of plants around inside to help them thrive. 

My front beds were starting to bloom at the beginning of the month. 

My front beds were starting to bloom at the beginning of the month. 

After clearing them out a little and giving them some love, they are doing even better. 

After clearing them out a little and giving them some love, they are doing even better. 

Trees are blooming all over town!

Trees are blooming all over town!

My herbs are slowly returning. 

My herbs are slowly returning. 

I've gotta clear these guys out and add soil. 

I've gotta clear these guys out and add soil. 

Only about half my baby roses made it thru the Winter, but the ones that did are living it up!

Only about half my baby roses made it thru the Winter, but the ones that did are living it up!

I can't wait until the weather evens out. What have plants been doing where you live this month?

Solstice Challenge Check In

I've gotten a bit behind in Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge. But It's given me some time to play around with layout and arranging the blocks. 

It's exciting to see a chunk of the blocks together and to imagine what the final piece may look like. I'm liking the idea of these blocks being all joined up with no sashing. Seeing them laid out makes me realize what colors I'd like to add more of. 

Has anyone else participating in this challenge thought out lay out yet?

Linking up with Monday Making, Move it Forward Monday, BOMs Away, and more!

New Block: Studio Time (Solstice block 13/25)

I'm still trying to catch up on the Solstice Challenge, but I'm getting there one block at a time. Studio Time is another great name for a block.  

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I like that there are a few variations of nine patches in Pat Sloan's BOM. I'm excited to see all the blocks together. Who else is working on this BOM? Are you planning to use the planned layouts? Or are you gonna come up with your own?

Honey Pot Bee April + New Block: Starry Sky

Molli Sparkles' Honey Pot Bee has two block designs a month. This month was one of the first where there wasn't a picture block. This is also the first month where I plan to make both blocks! Here's the first one:

Starry sky was created by A Persevering Mom and my version came out pretty wonky. I could see this block being really fun for a whole quilt. I like how this block matches with some of the other blocks. After a few blocks I'm starting to get excited about how this quilt will turn out! 

Linking up with Molli on instagram and Monday Making, Move it Forward Monday, BOMs Away, Oh Scrap! and more! 

Checking in on MCQBOM2016

In 2016 I made my first Mad Cat Quilts BOM. I chose blocks each month that I had never sewn before. I wasn't sure how I was going to lay them all out in the end. I decided to echo the geometric theme of the fabric but creating a simple grid with a dark sashing. 

I actually started sashing the blocks before I even finished the last block in December. But then I let it sit for a while. I added it to my first quarter FAL, but it still sat. 

This week, I gathered all the wrinkly parts and started finishing sashing the blocks. Elvis helped me, but he got a bit bored. He here is caught mid yawn: 

So, now MCQBOM2016 is getting closer to being a quilt top!! The blocks were all a bit different in size so I added some extra of the grey here and there. It's pretty wonky, but I'm really happy with it!

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These are not the best photos, the fabric is wrinkly and not laid out flat, cats are everywhere! But that's how I work so I think it's worth seeing in it's true in progress shape! 

I also added this quilt to my Q2FAL list, so I'm happy to be making some headway on it. Now I'm on a bit of a roll. I'll post more soon! Today I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, BOMs Away at What a Hoot, and more!

New Block: Jacob's Ladder (Solstice Block 12/25)

I'm making so many new blocks as part of Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge! Looking around, there seem to be a few variations of this classic block. This one was pretty easy to make and came together quickly!

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I cut the pieces for this block at home then pieced it on a bus ride! It came out a wee bit smaller than most of the blocks. I never can tell!!

Linking up with Making Monday, Move It Forward Monday, etc...

Ghostman

One of my goals in 2017 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Another book from my father's audio stash, Ghostman by Roger Hobbs was read by Jake Weber. 

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I listened to this book way back at the end of 2016. My husband got to hear some of this one, and it was fun to share and discuss this audiobook. 

Jack is the man on a robbery they call the Ghostman. His area of expertise is to make the other members of the heist disappear, but he never existed in the first place. When old debts and old loves come back to haunt him, Jack must reassess his career choices. 

I put off posting about this book for ages bc I didn't get a great picture of the cover. And bc I wasn't overly thrilled by the story it's self. But last week, my dad texted me to let me know that the author had died. In fact, Roger Hobbs died last year right around the time I was listening to this book. He was only 28. My father wanted to let me know, and also to see if I wanted to read/listen to the sequel. 
Ghostman was extremely silly mafia noir style. But it wasn't very good. Violent and genre specific to the point of nonsensical, I found the book a little hard to get thru. I liked the reader's enthusiasm, but he lost the thread a few times, intermingling voices, which didn't help this book's flow. Overall, Ghostman was a silly violent romp and totally worth reading/listening to, if that's your thing. Personally I'm more into classic noir. My favorite thing about this book is that it's set in Atlantic City, NJ. I enjoyed that it has some reference to the city and surrounding area. 
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy this type of mafia/noir/heist genre. 

Any lovers of this style of book out there? Can someone recommend other books like this?

New Block: Quilt Math (Solstice Block 11/25)

I was pleased to see the name of the 11th block for Pat Sloan's Solstice challenge bc "quilt math" is something I never do. I never use a ruler or other measuring tools when hand sewing and quilting. Quilt math is something I see many quilters get frustrated about, but not me! 

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This was a fun block to make and come together quickly. This is another block I could see repeated to make a fun and geometric full quilt. 

Linking up around blog land. What are your favorite block link parties?