Alex, the wonder dog ? - May 17, 2013

Alex, my beautiful red haired boy dachshund, died suddenly today after being hit by a school bus.  I was away at the time but Paul told me that he did not suffer.  After losing Kimora last summer and now with Alex gone, Kelis is is a very lonely girl while Paul and I have spent hours just sitting close together, with her in the middle, trying to make sense of it all and not succeeding.

Six years and ten days ago Alex came to me from Dachshund Rescue of Houston.  He had been found with a harness grown into his back and, after about four months at the vet's and another month with a wonderful foster family, he came to live with me and The Girls - aka Kelis and Kimora. His rescue name was Lance but I soon changed it to Alex because I had an old boss that was called Lance and my Alex was nothing like him.

From then on he was my boy and we had a lot of ups and downs.  He never really got house trained properly.  Just when I thought things were going well he would 'mark' the big comfy chair.  Every meal was his last and every treat was the last one in the world.  Every meal time, walk, car ride, cuddle time, nap or outdoor trek was enthusiastically approached with lots of tail wagging, dancing and barking.  He was my shadow and I have composed many a Facebook post, blog entry or e-mail with him on my lap or snugged up behind my back.   

I have become that crazy dog lady I described in this post and have finally admitted that a home without a dog is not my home. There are many posts in this blog about all his antics but there are three that truly make me  chuckle.  Here's the one where he talks about getting all his bandages off after the dog attack surgery  Then there is the one about dog walking which I really like.  And for a bit of comic relief, this post shows five mangled dog toys that I sewed together so Alex could tear them apart again.

He was a good dog and will be sorely missed.

Twinkle Quilt

I am so excited that I was able to actually finish a quilt this past week.  I started Twinkle, from the Kim Brackett book 'Scrap-Basket sensations', back in January and it has taken me this long to get it together, basted and quilted.  A long drawn out process but I think it was worth it.

It came out at about 70" square which is larger than the original design because I added two extra rows.  The fabrics came primarily from my South African indigo stash of fat quarters with the stars all coming from the same piece of fabric that had four shades of yellow in it.  That outer border was actually ordered over the phone from Stitchin' Heaven when they ran out of the fabric that I really wanted for the border.  I think it all works together.

A surprise for me was that the indigo fabrics only bled a little in the wash.  I used a whole handful of color catchers and they came out bluer than they were before but not solid blue.  The lightest yellow looks a little duller to me but my fears of everything turning blue seem to have been misplaced.

This Saturday is another meeting of the Strip Club and I think we are supposed to be working on UFO's.  I'm going to bring something that has been sitting in my to do pile for several years...another quilt but totally different from a something made from strips.

If you like the quilts I have made from this book, go buy the book.  I have to buy another one as I destroyed my copy with large cup of cup with cream and sugar.  What a sticky mess!

 And even if Alex likes this quilt it will not go into the bathtub with all the other doggie quilts!

Puzzled

About ten years ago I participated in a Block of the Month quilt program based on the Yikes pattern from Maple Island Quilts.  Every month I got a lot of fabric to make four blocks in a variety of large size basic block patterns.  Even if you don't quilt you have probably heard of Log Cabin or Courthouse steps blocks.

Here's how it turned out:

Pink, turquoise, black and white batiks made for a dramatic quilt and the construction allowed for any inaccuracies to be hidden by offsetting the rows.  I worked for hours on where to place each block but, in the end, Lady Jane (my Italian Greyhound then) mixed up the blocks so the placement ended up more random and less pleasingly placed.  I still love it for its energy and cheerful vibe.

I was about an hour from finishing up the quilt top when Paul saw it and asked for it for his bed.  He moved out a couple of months later and I haven't really seen it in many years.

Fast forward about eight years...

I was at his place the other day and saw it in a heap in the laundry room.  Thinking I would do him a favor, I decided to bring it home and wash it for him.  I dumped it in a heap on MY laundry room floor and went to let the dogs out.

THEY WENT NUTS!  Sniffing it, pawing it, rolling on it and exploring under it all the while wagging their tales and making general happy puppy sounds before they would go outside.  Good smells mean that Paul has been using it a lot or that someone doused in  'essence of beef'.

Imagine my surprise when Kelis, while trying to get out from under it, got stuck trying to crawl through a hole in it.

A HOLE!

Not just one hole BUT THREE HOLES!

I should not be surprised as the dearly departed Kimora chewed on everything she could when she was a puppy and I am sure these holes are her handiwork.

I am not distressed by the holes, they only show that the quilt has been well used over the years and, as I always say, I make utility quilts not heirlooms to be preserved for future generations.

But really... three holes seem a bit much.

So this weekend I will be trying to decided what to do about this quilt.

Here are the options as I see them:

1. Toss it out.  Not really an option a I still love it.
2. Carefully patch it to invisibly hide the holes.  This could take a very long time to find the exact matching fabrics and may never look as it did when brand new and, with my luck, Alex will chew a new hole in it just to show he can do it.
3. Patch it without concern for how it looks.  A black patch covering all three holes would make the quilt usable again but will not be very aesthetically pleasing.  Then again, a patch is a patch is a patch.
4. Cut out one big hole, bind the edges and make it a doggy door.  I am intrigued by this solution as it would give Alex and Kelis a new game.  Then again, with my luck, I would get my foot stuck in it  and rip a bigger hole. 

So, while I am getting some work done this weekend (cleaning, planting and de-cluttering) I will be puzzling over what to do with this holes.

And Bill, I will not use red to fix it!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

In some ways I am really glad to move away from 2011 and move onto 2012.  I think I have shared in the past how, as a child, I couldn't imagine living to the year 2000 whereas now I wonder how I can make it to 2050!  

The baby Kimora

2011 was marked by the sudden and horrific passing of Kimora, Kelis's sister.  Kelis still looks for her at Paul's house and at the vet's office.  Even Alex, who only seems to live for treats, belly rubs and naps,  has become a little hysterical when we visit the vet's office since her passing.  They know something horrible happened and that the vet was involved.  On the other hand Kelis has adopted some new habits, like learning how to steal bones from Alex, and my little escape artist has not made any attempts to leave the yard since it happened.   


On the other hand, 2011 had many moments of personal satisfaction for me.  The wheel chair and walker bag project has been taken up by a couple of churches here and we were able to supply a local nursing home with 200 bags this summer.  I even had my name in a Methodist church bulletin, very odd for someone with my mixed religious roots.  I just about burst with pride when I saw the bags in use and that they really worked.  In addition, although I have never sought recognition for these projects, the Kingwood Area Quilt Guild honored me with a Silver Thimble Award this September and you couldn't get the grin off my face for weeks.


On the project side of the ledger I have changed my habits quite a bit.  I noticed that, in the past, I made a lot of things (totes, purses and other accessories) just to test out a book or a technique.  I ended up with a lot of little useless things.  I learned a lot from these projects but it seemed like a waste of time and effort.  I have tried to become more focused in my sewing and knitting and have tried not to add to the UFO pile.  The whole upstairs of my home has become more organized for creative work and I have become morefocused because of it.  My unorganized mess has become restricted to just one closet and even that has become less cluttered as I have sorted out its contents.


 I have no specific goals for 2012 but Alex and Kelis have made some specific requests.  Their requests run something like this...More walks, more treats, more naps, more belly rubs, more quilts and, most of all, more bones.  I think I can handle these without breaking the bank or my back.  For myself, just waking up everyday is wonderful with everything following that a bonus.  I intend to make the most of those bonuses and who knows where that might lead me (besides the pet store)?

Heart and Home BOM Done!

Back in June of this year I wrote about finishing up this quilt top.  I put it on the pile of things that needed  to be quilted and, quite frankly, proceeded to forget about it.


Along came the KAQG retreat and, while trolling for things to bring with me, up popped this little quilt top.  Into the basket of things to do, while away, went this funny little quilt top along with safety pins for basting, black batting, black backing and binding fabric and black thread.  I even brought to retreat my sewing machine that does great quilting rather than my usual travel machine.


Piece of cake, right?


WRONG!


Once I started basting the quilt sandwich together all my negative feelings about this quilt came out with a vengeance.  My poor applique technique, my inability to center the central house block, the unevenness of the border fabrics and my inability to keep the instructions with the quilt pieces all came together to make me one grumpy girl.


Why should I put any time into making a quilt with such bad vibes?


Ever a Pollyanna, I decided to make this an exercise in improving my quilting technique.


I don't know if my quilting technique has gotten any better but this is how it all came out:

Since my hands have not been working very well I did not attempt to do any fancy feathers but I did add some fun things to the quilting.  In each of the blocks with the hearts I quilted in the names of dogs I have loved, my family members, cats I have tolerated, people that have lived with me who aren't family members and lots and lots of little hearts.


I am now in love with this quilt as, even though it is poorly made, it will bring a smile to my face when I see it and think about all the names memorialized in it.  Before it was done I was intending to give it to the dogs for their collection but now I think I may hang it on the wall where I can see it every time I go up the stairs to do some sewing just to remind me that a crappy quilt can be saved with just a little imagination.


And, just for some fun, this is how the bath tub/dogs' bed looks like when I go to wake the dogs up in the morning.

What?  No dogs!  Where did they go?  


This particular morning Alex finally poked out his nose from under all the pillows and quilts he prefers to sleep under to see if I was serious about getting them up for a run outside.  I had to go digging for Kelis as she wasn't ready to get active yet.

  
  With the cold weather coming, I hope you and yours are as cozy and warm as Alex and Kelis are very night.  If a quilt would make that happen for you, let me know.  I could always send you another of my crappy quilts....whenever I get the next one done.

Quilt Across Texas Shop Hop - Part 1

Those wonderful folks in Quitman, TX at Stitchin' Heaven have come up with a great way to force traffic into a lot of quilt stores in Texas.  They have created a shop hop of about 90 stores, in eight different regions spanning the whole state of Texas and we quilters have a whole month (THIS MONTH!) to visit as many as we want or can for a chance at some pretty spectacular prizes.   Called the Quilt Across Texas shop hop it gives people like me an opportunity to see different shops, explore the back roads of Texas and to find unique quilt related items that are not available through the big distributors while hoping for a big prize.


Today is the day that I started my adventure.  There was a little method to my madness.


First of all, I wanted to see how Alex and Kelis would handle a long car ride.  The shop I went to today was 75 miles away which seemed like a good test of their ability to tolerate my ignoring them as the miles flew by.  


Kelis handled it like a pro.  She spent most of the trip sleeping in the back seat on an old wool afghan.  Good Girl!


Alex, on the other hand, spent most of the trip whining and trying to get between my face and the wind shield.  When he wasn't in the front of the car driving me nuts he was laying on the shelf behind the back seat with his head wedged between the head rests looking for to all the world as a dog getting ready to heave up his breakfast onto the the back seat.  


Maybe I'll try drugs on him next time.


The shop I visited made all the Alex drama worth it.  Heavenly Threads Quilt Shop is a delightful little store in Trinity Texas with a sweet owner and a Chuweiny(?) named Lucy as the shop dog.  Lucy got to meet Alex and Kelis and really didn't know what to do with them.  Alex made several attempts to sniff her in her nether regions so no wonder she wasn't interested!


The shop is in an old house, well signed and contains many things for the quilter including several civil war themed prints, embellishments for art quilts and a broad range of fabrics.  Patricia, the owner, recently published her first pattern which combines an appliqued cowboy boot with blue jeans into a nice wall hanging.  It's not on the website but you can see mine if ask nicely.


My hear sung a little when I saw her backing ready bolts of fabric for 50% off and her pillowcase kits for $5.00 each.  I have enough backing fabric for a small quilt factory but the pillowcase kits will be used almost immediately for a project I saw on Facebook.  Country Living Quilts (1816 CR 427, Marquez, TX 77865) is collecting pillowcases for those who have been burned out of their homes due to the huge wild fires around Bastrop, Texas.


 If I am ever near this area again, I will definitely stop in and enjoy all the quilt goodness here.


And that's the other method to my madness.  This shop is WAY off the beaten track for the shop hop.  When I mapped out everything else in that region, all of the other shops are concentrated between Houston and Austin except this one.  Making it to that shop while doing the other shops would be a bit of a pain so doing it by itself made sense to me.  


I also got to enjoy some very pleasant back roads.  I drove up to the shop through a lot of construction on I-45 but came back on a lot of country roads so I could stop and have lunch at Florida's Kitchen in Livingston. Yum, Yum!


I love back roads in any part of the world and today was no exception.  For a while I followed an old boat trailer with a skiff on it.  The trailer had weeds growing on it and the boat lost little bits of itself as we bumped along the road. I wonder what they were going to do with such an unseaworthy vessel after they left the road at a public boat launch?  They may have been thinking about sinking it in the lake, but the drought had made the lakes so shallow that I don't think they would have been successful.


I saw no evidence of wild fires in the area (a good thing!) but I did get to see how low some of the lakes and streams are in this area.  At one point there was an ugly stench coming through the air vents. Before I panicked I realized that the smell came from rotting vegetation exposed by the dropping lake levels.  Glad I don't have a home near there! 


The next part of hop that I will attempt may include an overnight stay somewhere as the distances are pretty significant...especially if I want to loiter at any of the stores.  Kelis will go to Paul and Alex has been offered a place at his foster family's home.  I just have to get the planning done so I can firm up the dates.


If you are in Texas check out some of the stores you have never visited before for a road trip treat.  If you are out of state...see if you can get one going in your state.  Shopping, back roads and unique quilt related stuff will make it all worth the energy to make it happen. 

Lace #2

I decided to try another lace project because the first one proved I really don't know how to count stitches.  If you don't remember that effort, check here.


For  my second try I decided to use a pattern that someone had copied for me.  It's called a Larch Scarf and looked slightly lacy without becoming dreary.  The pattern is here along with the notes by the designer.


The notes by the designer proved to be incredibly important for a lace newbie like myself as they included some very important information.  If you not a knitter you can skip this part but for the knitters out there the notes included such vital information as the symbol chart and that the whole scarf is in garter stitch.  These two pieces of information, if they had been in the pattern, may have resulted in a better looking scarf for me.


However, I think it looks pretty good and, at 52"wide and 22" deep, it will make a nice little triangular scarf to tuck around my neck when it gets a little cooler here.

The yarn used is called Stroll from the online retailer Knit Picks.  It's a super wash wool blend and the color I used was Queen Anne.  I originally got this yarn in a kit from Knit Picks for six different pairs of socks with cable detailing.  I never made one pair from the pattern book but i will be using the yarn for non-cable socks and, maybe, more lace knitting adventures.


As always, there were lessons learned (again!) in doing this project.

• Free/self-published patterns have not been vetted by a bunch of testers.  Not that retail patterns are always better (see the errata for 100 One Skein Wonders as an example) but the pattern I used could have had better documentation and less gushing over the pattern.
• I really can't count stitches without lots of markers.  My final count was about 30 though only about 25 made it back into my box of stitch markers.
• A more solid looking color did give better results however 476 yards of yarn do not give you a shawl, just a scarf.
• Cable needles are a blessing and a curse.  They make large projects like this easier to work but my cable never really relaxed enough for it to be pliable.  I have heard that if you soak them in some warm water before casting on you can soften up the nylon cables but I will need to try it before endorsing that method.

Alex and Kelis were so excited that I had finished this project that they wanted to join in the fun of photographing it in my front yard....without their leashes!

Fat chance guys!     

Free Shipping

Those are the words that get the heart of any on-line shopper to go pitter-patter in anticipation of beating the system by getting the most bang for your buck by getting free shipping.


I have learned over the years to restrain myself but sometime you just have to break out of the mold and SHOP!


It happened to me the other day.


Fabric.com is one of my favorite places to buy fabric (like yardage for the backs of quilts), simple sewing patterns or when I know exactly what I want and they have it at a good price.


They had advertised that a couple of high quality brands of quilting cottons were on sale at up to 60% off and I decided to take a look.


None of the fabrics that I liked in those brands were deeply discounted so I decided to browse around to see if these was anything else that struck my fancy.


Of course I did find something that was cute, cheap and added it to my cart.


That was the beginning of the end for me.


A simple knitting pattern for $3.00 (50% off the original!) of a little dachshund named Tofu began the craziness of finding enough to fill up my shopping cart with $35.00 worth of goods so I would not have to pay shipping on Tofu.


The hunt was on!


With $32.00 to spend I went first to the $1.93 a yard fabric.  You could buy a lot of ugly fabric here but I found some lovely oxford cloth shirting fabric that would make a great pool dress.  Three yards went into the cart for $5.79.


$26.21 to go!


Next I went over to the 60% off category of home decor fabrics to see if there was anything I wanted for another bog coat.  A wonderful embroidered denim presented itself so I bought a yard (all I need for a bog coat) at $6.36.


$19.85 to go!


This was taking a long time so I next went to a category that I try to avoid...the prepared for dying section.  The prices here are not hugely discounted but they had some lovely mid-weight cotton. I know I can have fun playing with it so into the cart it went, two yards for a cost of $17.96.


$1.89 left.. now that's more like it!


Trying to find something for $1.89 on a web site that has over 50,000 items can be very time consuming.  Never fear, I have a method.  When I am down to the last few dollars I go hunting for deeply discounted notions.  In this case, not hugely discounted but something I always need are point protectors for knitting needles.  I found some from Clover for $2.68 and into my shopping cart they went.


Ta Da!  $35.79!


My order now qualified for free shipping.


Mission accomplished.


Is that a round of applause I hear?

Seriously though, Fabric.com is a great place for for all kinds of fabrics at great prices.  I have never been disappointed by what I have ordered and I have even used some of it as I intended.  


And they have knitting supplies now so I just may have to keep going back for more.


What were Alex and Kelis doing while I was shopping? 

Sleeping!  They have learned that when I am on a hunt on the computer that no treats are forthcoming so sleep is their alternative activity.

Heart and Home Block of the Month Quilt

I was digging around in the shoe boxes full of quilts to be made and came across one that I don't remember much about.  As seems typical of me, I had most of the fabric parts but none of the written instructions.

It has to be a good six to seven years old and I thought I had discarded it into the Quilt Guild Garage Sale.

Imagine my surprise when I examined it and discovered that most of it had been completed and all it needed was a little creative license to insert the middle block into the center of the 80% completed quilt.

After a couple of hours of recalculating the amount of border fabric I needed for the center block (and never getting it right) I came up with this:

I think the Block of the Month program it came from was to teach me applique skills but, from what I remember, all the instructions said were things like like cut out hearts, fuse to block, stitch raw edges.  No real instructions or hints on how to make it better BUT I did try a number of techniques I will never try again.

Look where Kelis is sitting.  That block is supposed to be a Grandmother's Flower Garden block; all hand pieced from little bits of fabric using paper octagons as the foundation.  It should have looked something like this:

Let's just say that mine was a more more free form interpretation of an octagon.  I will probably never try this again but the primitive nature of my work will put a smile on my face for many years to come.

I will add this to my slowly growing pile of of odd quilt tops I have completed lately and finish them up when it will be way to hot to leave the house.  That may be tomorrow!

On a final note... here is Alex is the middle of my dead lawn trolling for things to chew to keep his teeth clean like pine cones, twigs and gum balls (look like thorny chestnuts).

Have a good week!  Mine will be busy with three water aerobics sessions, a doctor's visit, a bone scan, two afternoons at Work Shop Houston, a meeting of the 'other' quilt guild, a meeting of the Knitters North of Town,  relaxing with the Friday Knitters, book work at Sweet Sadie's and, to top it all off, Saturday will see another gathering of the Strip Club.

Now I need a nap!

Alex's New Duds

A couple of times a year Alex needs a new walking harness.  Not because he has grown out of his old walking harness but because the current harness has gotten extremely soiled or worn.  His last harness actually started to disintegrate so I knew I would need to get him a new one soon.


The other evening, after our evening walk, the D-ring that is used to attach the leash to the harness actually ripped off of the harness and gave him a few moments of freedom.


No more procrastinating, a new harness would be needed before morning.


Was I prepared to make a new harness that evening?  Not really.  I had the hardware from the old harness but I really wanted fabric to match his new collar from a few weeks earlier.  Even with a few (hundred!) yards of fabric in the stash none of it met my expectations.


In the end I used some African curtain fabric leftover from a wheel chair quilt I made up a couple of months ago.


Here is how it came out:

He looks all decked for a formal party in the 70's!


Note the really dry ground and almost no green around Alex in the picture. It is so dry here that the landscape is getting very stressed.  The browning of the grass  is not a big deal to me....we can always grow more grass... but the trees and bushes are beginning to feel the stress.  A couple of days ago this happened:

Its not the first or the last time that a tree has cracked but, with the ground covers drying up and the trees falling down, I wonder when an errant sun beam will hit a stray piece of glass and the whole area begins to burn.


Time for another rain dance!  

Doggie Accessories

Over the past couple of years I have been making leashes for the dogs from some inch-wide heavy weight webbing.  They worked well but were pretty heavy for such light weight dogs.


Dachshund Rescue of Houston (DROH) had friends who made walking harnesses for the dogs and all the proceeds went to DROH.  Unfortunately it appears that relationship has ended so I used the original harnesses as patterns for making custom harnesses for my guys.  See Kelis's most recent harness here.


Last night I finally completed the ultimate dog accessory.  I made both Alex and Kelis new collars.   More on these later.


The biggest obstacle to making custom accessories for your own dogs is obtaining the materials   Webbing is rarely available in a multitude of weights at reasonable prices.  The closures and D-rings for collars are unavailable in our local sewing stores.  And then sourcing the right size webbing with the right size of closures simultaneously is almost a miracle.


BUT there is one source for the notions needed and that is old leashes and harnesses.  That is why I have been able to make the harnesses and leashes I have in the past.  Collar closures and D-rings have eluded me until I found Creative Designworks.


This company has almost every size and weight of webbing that you could possibly imagine AND the collar parts even come in colors!


If you ever wanted t make your own dog accessories, try this company... great shipping, no shipping charges and their prices on bulk purchases are extremely reasonable... especially if you want to start your own business.


Back to my adventures in collar making....


Alex just had his annual physical and, as is custom here, a new collar was in the works.  I took him to the local pet store and found lots of cute collars but they all had the same problems.


The problems were that they are pretty heavy duty and the prices seemed ridiculous.


Alex doesn't need a heavy weight collar because I do not attach his leash to his collar,  His collar is primarily used to hold his tags so it is really a fashion accessory rather than a way to control his behavior.


For him I used a 5/8" light weight black webbing and a comparable size of black buckle and D-ring. I then added black and orange striped ribbon for a touch of color.  I am unable to get a good shot of his new collar but I love that its nice and soft and will not dig into his neck if he gains a little bit of weight.

Alex won't let me get close to photograph his new collar.  He would rather stand on guard against unruly squirrels and passing cars.

Kelis's collar, on the other hand, was made using parts from the mini-dog size kit for 3/8" webbing.  I didn't use webbing but substituted fabric that matched her newest harness.  Quite a sharp dresser on our walks!

Kelis would let me hold her steady for a photo.

It takes very simple sewing to make collars but you need to be able to see in four dimensions to figure out when to add each piece of buckle and D-ring.  It took me at least two tries for each collar to get the placement right.  One hint that is not in the instructions is that you should really melt the ends of the webbing, with a candle or lighter, to prevent raveling.


I now have enough parts to keep making collars, harnesses and leashes for them for many years.  With multiple sizes, weights and colors now available for the webbing my choices are virtually endless.  The company that supplied my parts has reasonably priced guides to running a business making these items.  I don't think I would ever go that far but I can see other, more entrepreneurial people, having a nice little side business.

It was a dark and stormy night...

...not really but my four legged buddies are not happy with this chilly weather. 

Even with their coats on they are very reluctant to do their business outside.  I've noticed an increase in 'accidents' around the house and it is getting old fast when I have to get down on my knobby knees to clean up after them.

Right now, though, all is right with the world as I just cleared out the Thanksgiving decorations from Sweet Sadie's to install the Christmas ones which means a BBQ flavored quilt is now available for their sleeping comfort.

Yes, there really are three dogs under this quilt.

See..

that's Alex wondering if it would be worth his while to get out from under the quilt to see what I am doing with the camera.

I don't have the heart to switch this smelly quilt with a freesh one just to get the smelly one into the washing machne.  I think it can wait a day ot two .  After all, its not smelly to me and I could use some down time from their 'loving' antics.

I hope your first night of Hanukah has gone well and that the run-up to the big day..Chistmas, that is...has not worn you out already.

I have a few projects that need to be completed within the next 24 hours for a couple of functions I will be attending so I better get back to the grindstone/sewing machine!   

Alex's Running Away From Home Tote

Back in May I came across a pattern for a really large tote bag.  I called it My Running Away From Home Tote and wrote about it here.  I made another one at a Strip club session and you can see that post here.

This past Friday another group wanted to work on this bag and, while I love this project, I really don't need THREE bags to run away from home with so I decided to make a pint size version.

Insted of starting with 5" squares of fabric I started with 2 1/2" squares of fabric.  I actually used up some of the remains of a block making project and some fabric that had not been cut yet.

I think this is pretty cute:

It's just the right size for Alex to run away from home with all his essentials in one place...his Greenies, his battered toys, his piece of Elk Horn and a kid sized bottle of water.

I don't need to encourage Alex to go walk about so I will be giving it to a friend for her or her 3 year old grandson to use.  This should not be a surprise to her as she asked for it at Friday's session.

You may get a chuckle out of this..

While I have been writing this post Kelis (the little girl) has been upstairs barking at something at the front of the house, Kimora (the big girl) has been barking at someone walking by the backyard fence and Alex (the middle sized boy) has been on a living room chair trying and failing, once again, to get onto the kitchen counter.


I hope your week is going well and to the Americans out there.... Thanksgiving is not supposed to cause stress just warm fuzzy gatherings.  Get an extra dozen eggs in the house and if the turkey won't thaw and the yams look green, you can always be thankful for scrambled eggs.

Alex's Perfect Morning

Alex's perfect morning began the night before when The Girls went with Paul for a sleep over.

Not that Alex doesn't like The Girls or Paul but it meant that he could sleep with me that night and wake up the next morning on his own terms.

If he wanted to get up early or late, it was his choce.

He chose to get up late, at about 7:30 am, rather than the 6:00 am or earlier wake-up time that The Girls and I like,

After a leisurely stroll through the back yard and a quick nutrition break he went for a walk with me.

It was a beautful morning... not too hot... not too cold.... and I intended that we would take the long route for our walk.

As we proceeded down the street I noticed a large green garbage bag in the middle of the road.

I immeadiatley thought that it contained human body parts while Alex (I think) saw it as a new source of food.

We trotted up to it, Alex peed on it and  he discovered that it did not contain something edible.

No body parts either, thank heaven, so I moved it off the road onto a vacant piece of grass.

He was happy and I was very relieved (or should that be vise versa?).

Then we turned the corner and before us was the most magnificent sight to behold.

Somebody, probably another dog, had left a HUGE rawhide bone on the side of the road.

Alex's eyes almost bugged out of his skull when he took it's pristine form into his mouth.

From then on all I could do was try to keep up as he power walked home.

When I un-harnassed him he immeadiately took his new prize to the backyard

 to bury it and he spent the next two hours guarding it from all bone thieves.

He eventualy realized that I had found it so he dug it up again and hid it upstairs in a bin of netting that I had out by the sewing machine.

There it stayed until The Girls came home today when he pulled it from the netting and has been searching for a new hiding place ever since.

It was a perfect morning for Alex.

A reastful night, good food, a new thing to pee on and, miracles of miracles, a rawhide bone the size on Kansas just waiting for him on the side of the road.

If only we could experience the joy that he had in finding a new treat.

I think I better start looking at the $1.00 a yard bin at the fabric store for the perfect raw silk I have been needing.

 I can only hope that some of Alex's good fortune will rub off on me!

Runing Away From Home Tote

One of the compensations for having my dining room full of other peoples quilting discards for the Quilt Show next year, is that I get to see all the magazines and books that will be sold.  The April 2009 issue of McCall's Quilting really caught my eye with a pattern for a huge tote bag.

The added bonus was that this tote is made out of five inch squares of fabrics and I needed a project for just those ingredients for a group project in November.

Here's how mine turned out:

It is about 20" wide, 10" deep and 15" tall.  The fabric I used is called 9 by Sanae and I used two Moda Charm packs, and a few strips from a Jelly roll to make this bag.  I did change the pattern slightly. 

The pattern called for three layers of fusible fleece, I used two layers.  The closure was supposed to be velcro but I used a tab weighted with a drapery weight.  I also added little feet to the bottom of the bag to protect it from the floor.

This thing is huge and would probably hold everything needed for a couple of days on the road.  My vision is that Alex and I will pack up and hit the road for a few days with all I need in this bag, and everything he needs filling up my trunk.

Have a great week!

New Spring Clothes

Not for me but for Alex and the Girls. 

The harnesses I bought last Fall for them were getting pretty ratty.  I decided to use the old harnesses as a pattern for making new ones from some sweet Japanese fabric I purchased recently at Sew Crafty Houston.

Aren't they cute?

Alex's has little trucks on it.

Kelis's has cupcakes

and Kimora's has chocolate hearts.

I did learn a couple of things while making these.

First off, although I hate big box stores, a 24 hour WalMart, that still carries sewing supplies, is a godsend at midnight when you run out of pre-made bias binding.  Kimora nearly did not have a harness for this morning's walk when I realized that what I thought was bias binding tape was actually hem tape.

Secondly, all Vecro is not alike.  I used the extra soft kind for these harnesses while the originals have extra-strong Velcro on them.  There really is a difference in holding power and, although I have not had any troubles keeping the harnesses on them (yet!), I will probably have to replace the wimpy stuff before too long.

Thirdly, those little screws that hold you presser plate on your sewing machine can get lost in the workings of your machine.  Even though you pick it up, turn it upside down and shake it for all it is worth the screws will not fall back out.  Fortunately I had a couple of another machine that had screws that fit.

Note to self:  buy more screws for the next time this happens.

This whole project cost me about $12.00  as most of the supplies were stash items and I re-used the fittings from the old harnesses. 

Next up... new leashes.

Until then, have a good weekend!

A Creative Tale

I was wondering around JoAnn's last year and noticed that the upholstery fabrics were on sale so I decided to take a look.

I saw some wonderful braided curtain tie backs in cream and black and some coordinating buttons.

Not anything I could use until I saw a wonderful black and cream plaid mid-weight fabric from JoAnn's Christopher Lowell line.

A light bulb went off that the tie-backs, buttons and fabric would make an elegant tote.

The whole purchase was less than $10.00 so I was feeling pretty smug until these purchases got bruied under some quilting projects.

Fast forward until a couple of weeks ago when these purchases finally saw the light of day from many months ago.

Instead of burying them again, I bit the bullet and made this:

Pretty elegant, even if I do say so myself.

Further validation is that the Girls really seemed to like it as well.

Just goes to show every female knows a good bag when they see one. 

I am especailly proud that the outside pocket is almost invisible on the ouside as I actually matched up the plaids.

What was Alex doing while the Girls and I were admiring my handiwork?  Eatiing the sticky weeds in my lawn!

Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER

Anything else you need to know?

Too Fast for the Camera

Alex was chewing on an old bone today when I took this shot.

Even though there is a feature on my camera to do stop action his tail was wagging so fast that it is a blur.

Good Boy!

My Poor Babies

After I took a shower this morning I glanced over to the window above the tub to see this very sad sight.

Don't they look pathetic?

Lounging on an old pillow and small doggie bed in front of a window covered in dog spit...what a horrible life they have!!

Of course the window was cleaned yesterday morning and the mess is from just a few hours of me being out of the house, and them in the bathroom, yesterday afternoon.

Its easy to clean the window but I really think I need to make them a long cushion for the window ledge.

An old body pillow covered in doggie fabrics seems like just the right thing for them.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend!!