Sewing Leather

I've been stuck learning to sew with leather on the fly for several weeks. When FuzzyHusband and I agreed to take this project on, the original plan was for the items to be made in vegetable tanned leather. However our client had other ideas and thus it became my problem. I really do need to teach Himself how to sew so next time I'm not doing the lion's share of the work.

Said commission consists of many leather straps, some hardware, and three larger chunks of leather. It's rather mature in nature, so I shan't be showing the final product here. Let's just say it's for a burlesque show in an extremely specialized venue and leave it at that.

What I can show are pictures of the unassembled straps that are waiting for me to finish the larger chunks.

The lighter leather is chromium tanned. Quite lovely and soft. Someday I'll make myself a gorgeous purse out of scraps in different colors. The darker gray is patent leather. Patent leather has become a pain in my backside and Himself owes me big time for having to pull off the miracles I'm making with it.

I shall be spending the rest of my Sunday trying to finish those chunks so I can wash my hands of the mess and get back to finishing the fabric portions of the project. I don't mind learning by trial and error, but when I'm working with expensive material that someone else has paid for and have a timeline, I'm less fine with it. Once I'm done with the fabric portion, FH and I will start his sewing lessons.

I shall leave you with adorable distractions. They're so much fun to watch together. Victor adores Ellie. Ellie is intrigued by Victor, but beyond that she's still figuring things out.

Crummy Timing

A warning before anyone scrolls to see the photos in this post: Some people might be disturbed by the content, but my checkbook can attest to a veterinarian's intervention into the matter.

On the morning following Gus's departure across the Rainbow Bridge, I scooped Victor von Bunn up from the floor to put him back into his house. That's when we found this.

Given the lively chance he'd led me on in the attempt to not be put back in to his cage, and his horse-like appetite and resulting Pez-dispenser-esque bottom, the apparent injury came as quite a shock. A all rabbit lovers know if a bunny is playing, eating, and pooping then things are a-ok.

However this was not fine. A call to the vet's got us an appointment first thing Monday morning. The we waited... not calmly except for Victor. He was quite non-pulsed.

We went to the vet expecting to find a corneal scratch. Instead we found an eyeball full of pus. IF we'd been able to get rid of the infection with medication he'd still be blind in that eye. I didn't want to have the stress of trying to fight an infection in what's supposed to be a closed-off place... and Victor didn't need that stress either.

So the vet and I agreed the best course of action was to remove the eye. He did so that afternoon because he was very concerned. Victor's appetite showed the first signs of declining that morning and we didn't want to be dealing with gut stasis on top of the infection.

As to how the eye became infected... a cat's claw, finding a splinter whilst poking his nose where it really shouldn't be (he thinks barriers are a puzzle game to be figured out and beaten), we'll really never know. But for bacteria to get into an eyeball a piercing jab is required.

After the surgery was over the vet called me himself. There were minor complications making this procedure even more challenging. Enucleating a rabbit is more difficult than a cat or a dog in general, but Victor's surgery was more so. The major issue was abnormal dilation of the blood vessels along the optic nerve and the accompanying artery.  The vet explained there are only two reasons for that to happen: a nasty infection or cancer.

He wanted to take xrays while Victor was still groggy enough to hold still. I agreed and waited. I wasn't as worried about Victor's recovery at this point. He was waking up from anesthesia just fine. And the eye was out so either infection or cancer, he'd be more comfortable.

I was able to bring him home the following afternoon. Other than looking a bit like a lapine Harvey Dent, he was just fine. His appetite had come back and he was relaxed enough to give himself a bath. The surgical site was swollen and red, not surprising though. He's munching on fresh dandelion greens in the photo. While he was away, I moved his cage upstairs to make it easier to keep watch during the week.

The xrays didn't show any signs of metastasis, so we opted to not send the eye to histology. That cost would've sent the bill to over $1000... and we still need to pay Gus's last bill when we collect his ashes. The other reason we skipped the histology is our vet told us any cancer in such a young rabbit will be, "quick and devastating." Knowing ahead of time won't do a single thing for him.

So whether it be 12 weeks, 12 months, or 12 years, Victor is loved and cared for.

This morning he's looking quite well. The swelling and redness is gone. I think he'll make quite the dapper pirate once the fur grows back.

The worst part of the ordeal for me is the timing. The worst bit for him is getting medicine twice a day. He feels well enough to fight it, which is fine. That means he's getting better.

That's all for now. I'll hopefully get back to posting about fun and creative things next week. Fingers crossed for no more disasters!

Been A Busy Week

Happy Father's Day!

Monday started off with me driving a transport of 25 dogs from downstate IL to the local no-kill shelter up here. They were confiscated from a mentally challenged man who didn't understand how to help the animals being dumped on his property and breeding to excess.

Tuesday Artie need to see the vet. He had an that wouldn't stop tearing and weeping. It was obviously irritating him and just didn't look good. Squinting was the word of the day, which made him jumpy too.

Some medicated eye drops have done the trick and he's back to normal now.

The rest of the week was divided between sewing/quilting, cleaning, laundry, studying Spanish, and getting organized for the Row by Row Experience nations-wide shop hop.

The chevron quilt fronts and backs are now completely finished. Just need to get them sandwiched and start quilting.

Also I put together a little pin cushion using a pattern from a Missouri Star Quilt Company magazine. Scraps from the flag wall quilts came in handy.

The Dresden tea cozy halves are sandwiched and basted now.

I've quilted around the applique with invisible thread. The rest of the quilting will be in variegated purple.

Friday I had a sewing day with a friend and we started a quilt-along. We're using the same pattern but I'm making a runner with metallic fabrics and she's making a huge quilt... doubling the size of the pattern!  These are the centers of the blocks for my runner. I still need to finish piecing the turquoise and brown ones.

That's it for now. Here's a picture of Victor checking out his toy that I picked up last weekend at the expo.

And a picture of Pixel for good measure.

Have a good one!

Quilting Great and Small.. and A Bunny

FH and I finally have a weekend at home where we don't have to do lots of yard work. It's a welcome change of pace. This past week I've kept myself pretty busy, so a nice break to spend time together is just what we needed.

On the quilting front, I finished another top. This time it's the one for FH.

As you can see, Artie has remained helpful and attentive to this project.

In the realm of smaller things, I now have 604 miniature bolts of fabric for The Patchwork Peach quilt shop.

 And the bunny! We took Victor outside to see if he'd like to nibble some fresh mint. He was too overwhelmed to want to nibble, though. Maybe next time.

And a bonus picture of my new foxgloves beginning to bloom!

That's all for this week. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Bunny lost his "jellybeans"

When I mentioned to a friend that Victor was going in to be neutered, her response, "oh poor bunny loosing his jellybeans." After I stopped giggling like a fool, I tucked the expression away for later.

As the title and previous statements suggest, Victor has indeed joined the ranks of the de-sexed. This means he was my project all week.

Monday I dropped him at the vet for a checkup and surgery. He was doing so well that afternoon, they said I could come bring him home. Poor little mite was very sleepy.

Pixel stopped by to check on him.

He'd eaten quite a bit at the vet's office, but his appetite was off for a couple of days. Nothing so bad that I needed to syringe feed, but I kept an eye on him. The anesthesia 'hangover' lasted until Wednesday. Then he began eating everything in sight. He was also confined to quarters until Thursday since he is such an active fellow. This did not make him happy.

On Thursday I let him out after blocking off several places with baby gates. Guess who can take a running leap and clear a baby gate? If you answered Pixel or Artie, you'd only be half right. Victor demonstrated his new skill set to me just as I got comfortable on the couch. He was up the stairs in a flash and I just sat there, bemused. I'm just happy he didn't pop a stitch!

I caught him in one of his favorite places later that day. At first blush this doesn't seem like such a bad idea... he can see the outside from here and rest.

But when you take a good look at this photo, you can see the only way for him to get up there is leaping from an ottoman that sits next to the cat tree!

Silly bunny!

That's all for this week. Hopefully things calm down and I can have some projects worked on by next Sunday.

Hopping Along to Class

Well the hopping is more Victor's department. He's settling in nicely and the other animals are getting used to him. Artie is very comfortable around him and pretty much ignores Victor.

Pixel on the other had likely to sit on the pet stairs to Victor's house and not let him in/out. She also likes to eat his food.  That doesn't stop Victor from exploring for long. He's quite the ATB, all-terrain bunny.

Gus has been acting strangely and after taking him to the vet, we're trying to rule out kidney failure and the possibility of diabetes insipidus, aka "water diabetes." We'll know more once his blood tests come back this coming week.

FH and I joined a local "makerspace" last year and have access to more types of tools and technology these days. The group is a non-profit and focuses on teaching uses for technology and building a community workspace filled with tools that the average person might not have access to otherwise... like 3D printers, computer controlled routers, laser cutters, large saws, and specialty electronics.

The "class" bit refers to me taking a CAD/CAM class through the makerspace so I can learn to draft drawings to be used for laser cutters, computer-controlled routers, and 3D printers. I've got some furniture designs drafted on paper that I'm going to transfer to the computer this week. In a few weeks, we should have an operational laser and I can finally cut the pieces for all the shelves I need for fabric bolts in the Patchwork Peach! I'm very excited about it.

The other neat thing about the makerspace is getting to meet and work with other people who know all sorts of different things. One of the guys works with plexiglass often and has said he'll show me how to make display cases for my minis. Another gent is an electrician and is going to help me remember the basics of wiring from my electronics class in high school so I can make some tiny LED lamps!

There's another particular man who understands and uses technology, but has an artist's soul. He does "light painting"... changes the exposure times on his digital camera and uses LEDs to create stunning effects in his pictures. He asked me a while back to bring in one of my scenes for him to "paint."

I chose the Vermeer Vignette my Aunt Pat made. These are pictures I took a while back.

Now look at the work Jay did with his camera and an LED pen.

It took the better part of an hour to get the light just right for the candle flame, but wow! I'm going to see if we can "light" the fireplace at some point. I think Aunt Pat would love to see it.

That's all for this weekend. I'm going to go see about drafting up some shelves. Ttfn!

Victor von Bunn

Victor came into our lives on Wednesday last week. He is a four month old Netherland Dwarf. The girl who gave him to me was being abused by her boyfriend and was leaving him, but couldn't take Victor with her. She was terrified to leave him behind because the man had already thrown him a couple of times into walls from across rooms. With Victor safe and sound, she was brave enough to take her little boy and leave.

As you can see, he and Gus have become fast friends. Gus absolutely adores Victor and will pace behind him whenever Victor is playing outside his cage.

Pixel and Artie are being pretty gentle with him too. Although I've been watching them pretty closely. Pixel was more afraid of Victor than he was of her.

He's a spunky little guy and somehow knows he won't be hurt here because he's already given FH and I loads of kisses every day since he's been here.

FH is insisting that Victor be given to a rescue that I contacted last week, as soon as he's old enough to be neutered. I'm hoping Victor will win FH over and can stay. We have a month or two to see how that shakes out. I'll be spending that time supervising his play times and attempting to potty train him. Unaltered bunnies are difficult to potty train. I lucked out with Tempie as she was a bit older and preferred things tidier.