Star Struck!

Once again Gail generously opened her home to the Mammas on a Mission. We had some new faces as more and more neighbors come back to StoneRidge. Our heart quilt completed and having some squares left over, Susan thought we could make a pillow sham to go with the quilt. Just as we did with the quilt, the pieces had to be positioned and sewn together. There was enough of the backing material to make a decorative pillow. Debbie donated a stuffed Teddy Bear holding a heart to complete the package. At our last meeting, the star quilt was layed out for sewing. But just like with the heart quilt, we had a little mix up. It was taken apart and then sewn back together again. Tammy & Judy went to town to buy the material for the backing. We'll be able to complete our 2nd quilt at the next meeting. We broke for our pot luck lunch. I didn't hear any complaints. Our group is not only crafty but they can cook! Lunch melded into our meeting. There was a business meeting of the Mommas on April 25th and another following our pot luck lunch on May 9th. If you would like a copy of the minutes to either of these meetings please email Mammasonamission@gmail.com. The next Mammas On A Mission Meeting: When: Saturday, May 30th Time: 10am to 2pm Where: Gail's house in the forest. Bring a dish for a pot luck lunch.

Bring a friend! If you have questions or need directions, please call Susan or email Mammasonamission@gmail.com.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart Quilt

It's Finished and It's Beautiful!

We had another good turnout with 9 members all ready and willing to get started. Last Saturday the Mammas completed the heart quilt. Everyone agreed that it turned out better than we expected. After a quick once-over to pull loose threads and make any minor fixes to be made, we were ready to start tying.

Debbie, Susan and Judy multitasking by going over a treasury report and checking the quilt

Susan tying the quilt

The Finished Product!

We had three different groups going: tying the heart quilt, laying out and sewing rows for the star quilt and making stockings.

Sue and Gail working on the Star Quilt

We got to stretch our imaginations as we created designs to make stockings. There are many more to be made, some will be given away and others will be sold so we can purchase goodies for the gifts.

Making more stockings

Just before lunch we all got a scare as Gail had to take Bob to the emergency room because of chest pain. During our pot luck lunch we discussed fund raising ideas among other fun topics. Gail called regularly to keep us updated on Bob's status. Not to worry though, the pain had stopped before they got to the hospital. The doctors went ahead with tests to be sure that everything was okay. Don't forget to check the sidebar on the blog for scavenger items and bring them to the meeting. Or there is a box in the rec room for your convenience. For those of you that subscribe to this blog you will need to go to the website directly to see the calendar and any new sidebar info posted. The next Mammas On A Mission Meeting: When: Saturday, April 25th Time: 10am to 2pm Where: Gail's house in the forest. Bring a dish for a pot luck lunch.

Bring a friend! If you have questions or need directions, please call Susan or email Mammasonamission@gmail.com.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Holiday! Be good humans.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

Carpenters have a saying. "Measure twice, cut once." I think they need something like that for Seamstresses. Our second meeting of the Mammas was fun, but we didn't quit get the quilt finished as we had planned. It happens to the best of us. The border was cut and sewn. The batting and backing was attached. But when we turned in right side out, as Homer Simpson would say "D'oh!", the backing and batting was reversed. That means it had to be taken apart and redone. After all was said and done, it was fixed and is now ready to be tied! It's so cute! We now have to decide to either donate it or auction Most of the group was busy cutting patterns and material for more stocking kits. Another tasty pot luck lunch was enjoyed by all, including our little "pappa" Michael. (He just supervised). Join us at our next meeting. We'll be tying the heart quilt and laying out our new star quilt. Along with more stocking kits there's something for everyone. When: Saturday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m. Where: Gail's house in the forest Bring: Pot luck lunch dish If you have any questions, please call Susan or email mammasonamission@gmail.com Be good humans!

A Stitch In Time

The Mammas got together on Saturday at Judy's house to put our quilt together. We had a pretty good turnout with 8 Mammas and a couple of Pappas to make an even 10. Pappa Bill helped set up and acted as gopher. As we requested, a couple of members brought samples of their talents. Charles and wife Tammy came by to show us his step stool and offered to make some for us.

Cindy brought some examples of her flower arranging expertise and offered her services as well.

Because we had so many hands, we split up into 2 groups. Debbie, Judy, Gail, Susan and me worked on getting the quilt together.

The squares had to be layed out in a pattern and then labeled so that each row could be moved to the sewing room.

After each row was sewn together the seams had to be ironed. Murphy's Law had a hand in getting the quilt together. After the squares had been sewn into rows we found that some of them had been inadvertently transposed. So we got familiar with the seam rippers to take the squares apart so they could be sewn in the right order.

While we were busy in the sewing room, Susan helped Marjorie and Cindy with the stocking kits. They had to make patterns then put together the material, buttons, ribbons, etc into a kit. Those kits will be handed out so they can be worked on at home by the Mammas or anyone else who has some free time and would like to help.

All in all we had a very successful day. We now have 5 kits and the quilt top has been completed. It wasn't all work, however, we did take a lunch break. We all brought something for a pot luck which was enjoyed by all.

After lunch we adjourned downstairs for a short meeting. Join us at our next time when we complete our quilt. If you've never tied a quilt before, this is a great place to learn! When: Saturday, March 28th 10am - 2pm Where: Gail's house in the forest. Bring: A pot luck dish, Your idea for other projects. Remember, whatever your passions are in life; it may be crafty, doing research, writing, cooking knitting, being organized... the list is endless. Please join us and bring us your 'Passions'! Along with working on the quilt we will be putting together more 'craft' packages, making fabric note cards and making book marks (the scrapbook way).

Please Join Us And Bring a Friend!

Please email any questions, comments and ideas to: mammasonamission@gmail.com

Fine Tuning Our Mission Plan

We will be meeting once a month in various homes. This month will be an exception, meeting more often to get projects planned and establish a foundation before the busy months of summer arrive! Our next meeting: Where: Judy Forbes' home. It's the log house on Stewart Dr. When: Saturday, March 14th at 10am Agenda: Completion of our first craft quilt which entails ironing of the squares and then sewing them together. Others can be preparing materials for our next quilt and stockings. We will also be establishing a more detailed plan for the group's projects. Contact: Susan Tvrdy with any questions Bring: Pot luck lunch item along with anything you may have from our scavenger list. Now that we have this website, Debbie Cluster will not be sending as many emails regarding this group. So it is important that you subscribe so you can be notified whenever a new post has been added. If you need any help setting this up, just call me. I will bring my laptop to the meeting on Saturday to help you get subscribed and familiar with the site.

A Mission For Fun

We do more than sew, knit and trap feral cats. We also like to have fun and if that includes a bit of the vino well we're there! Our coffee social group created a spin-off group "Mammas On A Mission" and now there's:

Noni's was the location of our inaugural meeting. They are a new establishment in nearby Priest River. They opened their arms and bottles for the 10 members who attended.

Owner Jen, welcomed us with open arms.

We caravan'd over from Stoneridge to Priest River, about a 20 minute trip. Leaving at 5:40pm the sun was setting and we got to see a female moose grazing along the side of the highway. One of the advantages of living in a rural area.

6 Women Who Wine and 4 brave men who tolerate us.

It didn't take long for our group to settle in. Noni's offers about 6-8 appetizers that are all very yummy. So we decided that we would order different ones and share. Their extensive wine menu guarantee we would find something to enjoy. Even it we didn't like wine, they offered beer, tea and Henry Weinhardt sodas. Introducing the Winers:

Margee and Frank

Sue and Bill

Stoneridge Gal and Pal Patty. Unfortunately Stoneridge Guy and Patty's husband Denny were working so Patty was my date for the evening

Marjorie and Dave

Susan and Dave

Our first meeting was a success for our group and for Noni's. They have even agreed to work with us in creating a Women Who Wine Special. For a flat rate they'll create a menu for our members. Can't wait 'til next month! Check the calendar for the date of our next meeting. Tell a Friend!

I tawght I taw a puddy tat!

If Tweety Bird lived in Stoneridge he would say that a lot whenever he passed by the maintenance building. It seems that a stray female cat took refuge in the large building. Our grounds keeper, Darcy, welcomed the stranger because, as it turned out, she was a good mouser. Feeling sorry for the cat, Darcy started feeding her. Apparently she must have had company... the male kind. So what happens when a stray female meets a stray male? Yep, you guessed it... little stray kittens. We now have 6 stray or feral cats. If you do the math these 6 could potentially turn into 40+ by the end of the summer. We certainly don't need that many cats roaming around our community. Patty worked with Darcy last summer as a gardener and knew of his dilema. She saw an article in the local newspaper about the annual "Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Day" and thought that this is just they type of activity for Mammas On A Mission. What's a Feral Cat? Well, according to Wikipedia: "A feral cat is an unowned and untamed cat separated from domestication. Feral cats are born in the wild and may take a long time to socialize, or may be abandoned or lost pets that have become wild. They should not be confused with the wildcat which are not descended from domestic cats. A stray cat (or alley cat) while unowned, still exhibits temperament similar to that of a pet.^[1] In popular usage, these terms are sometimes used interchangeably." Sunday, February 22nd was the only day that the local veterinary clinics were doing the spay and neutering for free. That meant that we needed to get traps set on the Friday before. Patty lined up 4 traps from a local trapper and we had to pick up 2 from Priest River Animal Shelter.

Stoneridge Pals Patty and Bobbie picking up the traps from Priest River Animal Shelter.

We got our lesson is setting the traps and proceeded to get the 6 of them ready. We were advised to put the traps in an out of the way spot and cover them with cardboard so the feral cats would feel comfortable going into them.

Patty, Bobbie and her husband Steve getting the traps ready to set.

Maggie and me setting the traps.

Traps all set and ready to go.

When I checked the traps Saturday morning we caught 2 and one got away with a belly full of food. Somehow it had managed to get the entire can out of the trap before setting it. When Patty and I checked them again that afternoon we got only one more. We could only hope that we would trap the last 3 before 7:30am Sunday when we needed to load them up and take them to town.

They spent the night in Patty's garage, out of the elements. Somehow we managed to get the remaining food out of the cages without releasing them. "No food after midnight" were orders from the vet to prepare the cats for surgery. After loading our 3 captives, Patty, Bobbie and me checked to see if we got lucky enough to trap the remaining cats. No luck. We would have to settle for just the 3 of them. We headed for the Rathdrum Animal Clinic and arrived at around 8:30am with a half dozen more groups with more feral cats.

Our 3 captives. It turns out that one of them was the mother.

Patty signing them in for surgery. Getting the cages tagged. Here they get moved back to the holding rooms.

The clinic continued to take in cats until 10am. Patty picked them up later that same afternoon and they recovered in her garage. Monday they were released. In Tuesday's Coeur d'Alene Press they covered spay day. Kootenai County alone got 260 strays which amounts to $26,000 worth of procedures. Because 80% of the cats captured were female it prevented at least 1,000 unwanted kittens.