A Quilted Liner - In Progress

The Rittles go through liners like they are tissue paper. We've figured out a few things to slow them down. Quilting the layers, Avoiding hides that have open floors, and certain fabrics are apparently yummy.

I get really bored sewing liners, and, of course, they need a new set, so this time they will get a pieced liner. If it works well, I might make a version of it as a picnic blanket. It would also make a nice baby quilt. You can somewhat see my scribbled plan in the fabric photo.

So, here are the fabrics. I'd wanted it to be southwestern themed, but my pinks were too babyish. I'd actually had the pink fabrics sitting on my desk for a day before I finally accepted that they were not pleasing. So, this is southwest theme, sort of. My other challenge for this liner may be adding some applique.




Then, I cut the fabric into five inch strips. Two strips for the background and one strip for each of the accent fabrics. I'm crossing my fingers that I've calculated properly.





And, then, I went ahead and pinned an accent fabric strip to a background fabric strip.




Tonight, I start sewing my strips together.

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Walter and a Snorkeled Rat

Rats love to pile. Walter is looking right at you, and beside him is Rose snorkeling. Lily is just lying there, and Mabel is on the left.




Rose is siamese, but there is probably some porphyrin in this picture. However, after a year of on and off antibiotics, we have finally found the cause of her rash. She is allergic to gluten. Bittle, the dog, also is allergic to gluten. So,... now all of the pets are on gluten free food. Her rash has cleared so much after a month off gluten, but she still occasionally has some porphyrin staining.

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More Quilted Hammocks in Progress

Here's some more quilted hammocks.



These are just the pieced tops, and I anticipate finishing them tonight.

My last set was about 8 inches square, and these are 11 1/2 inches square which makes them a more standard size for rats.

These are simpler to piece, and I used a border. In true quilting, one would have a front pieced piece, a backing and batting (aka stuffing). My hammocks will be made with the pieced front and a fleece back but no stuffing.

Typically, one would quilt the 3 layers together and then finish off the edge with binding, but these are so small, the risk of quilting in a wrinkle is minuscule, so I will be sewing the two pieces together. Turning it inside out and then quilting the finished piece.

Oh, Skip is going to grommet these. No ribbon hangers for these.

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Quilted Hammocks

I made some purty quilted hammocks.




Here's the hammock on a grid showing its size. This is a wee hammock properly sized for a mouse, but my rats enjoy squeezing several into it.


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Rat Laundry

Doctor is becoming quite a jumper. Today,he leaped from the cage door to a cabinet. He was about 4 feet off the ground and leaped 1.5 feet.

Later, Skip let him rappel into the rat laundry basket. He leaped about 4 feet down into the basket.




This was a particularly difficult photo because Doctor was out of the laundry basket in seconds.

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Letterboxing

We've been out letterboxing a few times, now that Spring has sprung.
Skip, the human, is replacing the letterbox as Bittle looks on. Bittle and I are sitting on a rock that is on the cliff's edge.

This is the rock.

This is the view. The cliff looks truncated in the photo. We had to hike a very very steep trail to get there.

What is letterboxing? Essentially, you follow a set of clues to a destination where you will find a "box" (letterbox) hidden. Typically, inside the box will be a logbook and a stamp, often a handmade stamp. You record your visit in the logbook using your own stamp that you brought with you. You use the box's stamp to stamp your own book that you brought with you. Then, you tuck the box back in its hiding spot so another letterboxer can find it. You obtain the clues from a website.
Letterboxing is an awesome hobby. It gets us out exploring the outdoors. And, if you have heard of geocaching, it is similar, but you don't exchange items. The content of a letterbox does not change except for your addition to the logbook. Oh, and a letterbox is located by clues not a gps.
Atlasquest- a letterboxing website
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Spring 2012 Cage Setup

I'm pretty thrilled with our current cage set- up.
Upstairs.




Downstairs


I'm thinking about doing a southwestern America theme next.

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