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Goodbye July, hello August! Isn't August 1 supposed to be our Two Color Quilt Challenge Deadline? So, how is that going for all of you who said they would like to participate? I know Patti whipped hers out way back in June, but I would love to hear from the rest of you as to what your progress is.
I hope to finish mine up today and post on it tomorrow, but if the rest of you aren't ready yet, no worries. Give us an update, we would love to know what you have done!
On the day of my daughter and son in law's wine tasting party, we decided that it would be best if Ozzie stayed behind at my dad's house while we attended the event. Ozzie is, as you know, a very exuberant fellow and I just couldn't see him careening around amidst all the guests and their glasses of red wine. Ozzie was heart broken not to be able to go with us. He seemed to have a sense that we were going somewhere fabulous that he would love too. There he is looking out the window in total dismay and disbelief as we drive off to the party without him.
As it turned out, there were other dogs at the party, including his friend Remy and a very cute girl named Meela. Meela is a Labradoodle, or is it Poodador? Anyway, she is a beauty. Here she is below with Remy. Wouldn't Ozzie have had fun playing with those two pals? Now I feel so guilty not to have brought him along with us. You can tell by the expression on Remy's face that he is very excited to show off for this gorgeous girl. Meela is looking into the camera as if to say "Please. Get me out of here and away from this maniac terrier". She has the expression of someone who is on a really bad blind date. Meela is the Calm One, and makes Ozzie and Remy look like they need a doggie version of Ritalin.
Poor Ozzie. He is looking so dejected. Here he is on my father's sofa with his head turned toward the front door waiting for us to get home. I am going to have to come up with something really great to help him get over the disappointment of being left behind.
Just returned from my trip to Orlando, and I don't know when I have felt so completely exhausted! I was on the go every minute, attending a fabulous fashion show, eating at marvelous restaurants, attending seminars, and trying to keep up with my friends at The Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center. It was a complete blast, but this morning I feel as if I am 85 years old. Maybe 100.
The photo above is a view out of our hotel room at the Swan and Dolphin Resort. The shot below is of a fountain in the lobby.
The folks in Florida are friendly and the sights at Disney World were totally awesome, but as I got back home, I couldn't help feel grateful for our California weather. It wasn't unbearably hot in Florida, but that humidity factor is something else. The fact of my hair expanding in volume by three or four times was an entertainment in itself. Seriously, you could just see it inflate like some kind of puffer fish on alert. No wonder our Southern Sisters are known for their Big Hair. They don't do it on purpose, it just happens. I have to give them credit though. Instead of being totally daunted by the sight in the mirror, they just rock it with a ton of style. And hair spray.
Here is Madeira, with all its borders finally on. This quilt top was fun to make because of the special cutting of the triangle sections. There are a a lot of bias edges though, and the quilt top doesn't want to lay very flat. It is a bit rumply. My friend who is a machine quilter is confident that the rumples will "quilt out" as she says.
The fabric is Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda and the pattern is Jelly Roll Junction from the Anka's Treasures book "On A Roll". It was fun to make, and calls for only one jelly roll! I used two of them though because I wanted more choices in my color placement.
I have been thinking about how much it is going to cost me to get all these quilt tops that I finished this summer quilted. All I can say is that it's a good thing I got a job!
Here is a picture of a sunrise. Which is something I haven't seen in quite some time. You see, since I haven't been working for over a year, I have learned to appreciate the joy of Sleeping In. But I better start practicing getting up early because I GOT A JOB!!!!
It finally worked out and the company I had interviewed with four times hired me. As you can tell, I am very excited. I start in two weeks, so I started getting up early today to see how it goes for me. 6:00 AM and here I am, coffee in hand, and not too much worse for the wear. However will I get used to working Monday through Friday, 8-5? And what about Ozzie? We are considering getting a companion for him, but more on that later.
The first couple of days of this week have been a bit of a loss because I have been scurrying around between Palo Alto and my house, doing things like getting my hair colored and cut and making sure my wardrobe is career worthy (I've got it covered). Plus tomorrow, I am leaving for Orlando, Florida to see Mickey, so I have to be sure my suitcase is packed. Busy busy busy.
I do have a Friday Finish for you, which I will set to post while I am away. Lucky me, I got to attend a UFO with my quilting friends on Sunday and got a bit accomplished on a new project I have started. I am using the Allspice Tapestry (Fig Tree for Moda) fabric line and am using a pattern I found in a recent issue of Quilt Sampler Magazine. If you go to to the website of Homestead Hearth, you can get a kit for the pattern made up of fabrics of their choice.
The pattern calls for 44 small stars and 24 large stars that surround the center medallion. After constructing that, I decided to start with the small ones and get them out of the way. 44 stars is a lot, that is what I have to say about that.
Such a beautiful collection of fabrics. I left out the pinks in the collection, but otherwise, used all the blues, tans, browns, and reds.
Our Two Color Challenge deadline is coming up on August 1 (a week from this Friday). So, how is that going for you girls? Over the weekend, I put my blocks together and started the half square triangle border. Don't you all just think that a pieced border adds so much pizazz to a quilt? Me too. It sure was lucky for me that I found that box with hundreds of already pieced half square triangles! What a piece of luck that was.
So, I am off to Orlando, but will be back on Monday! Have a great weekend everyone!
PS: I lost four pounds on the no carb diet, which I am totally happy with. I am so tired of turkey, cottage cheese and lamb chops. However, the clothes fit better, tummy seems flatter---so I am a happy girl. I am starving for fruit though, so I plan to eat lots of strawberries and melon today!
Ozzie is much much better. Thanks to all of you for your good wishes.
He looks serious in the picture above, because I took the photo while he was in his spot watching me cook dinner. He waits stoically for me to clumsily drop a bit of food out of the sky. This is what they call "intermittent conditioning". A few times in the past, I dropped something tasty, so his brain figures that it could happen again. So he waits. I wish I could achieve that effect with "stay" and "off".
It was very traumatic to see him in pain and to worry that he could have caused himself some serious damage. All's well that ends well, except for DH, whose wallet is still smarting.
Saturday, I spent the entire morning Ozzie Proofing my sewing room. I swept and tidied and put every single loose item out of his reach. I may reap some benefit from that activity myself----it sure was nice to sew in an uncluttered and clean room!
I still have no idea where he got all that black thread. There were no spools or bobbins to be found anywhere. My best guess is he stood up and grabbed a string of thread off of my bobbin rack (you know how they unravel and can hang down). He must have chewed it around until he bit off a long long piece and then got it all wrapped 'round his tongue. Now we could not have done that if we tried for a zillion years.
Hope all of you had a splendid weekend. I am off to visit Dad for Sunday Dinner, but will be back Monday afternoon with something quilty.
I have been a couple hours at the emergency veterinary clinic this afternoon. Ozzie gave me quite a scare. I had invited him to jump into the car with me for a ride to the post office, and while we were en route, I noticed he was acting like he had something in his mouth. A very long black thread was trailing out the side of his muzzle. When I stopped the car, I had a closer look. I gently pulled on the end of the thread, and Ozzie squealed in pain. I tried to open his mouth to see what was in there and managed to get a peek at the inside.
He had black thread all knotted and wrapped around his tongue. His tongue was swollen, the thread was cutting into him and I could not get it off. He cried and thrashed and I realized this was too much of a job for me. So I kept on going right to the nearest veterinary hospital.
They whisked us in immediately, which was wonderful, since we had never even been there before. The veterinarian was super concerned that he might have swallowed a bobbin! That is extremely serious, because the thread can wind all around the intestines and cut the blood flow off and even kill a pet. I was terrified. Had he gotten a bobbin and swallowed it? I didn't think so, but you know Ozzie, he is pretty tricky and always into everything. They did ex-rays which, thank goodness, did not reveal that he had a bobbin in his tummy. That would have involved a drive to Santa Cruz to a canine specialist to have it fished out, and possibly even surgery!!
They had to sedate him to get his mouth open and to cut out the knotted thread and pull the thread that he had swallowed out of his esophagus. I finally got him home, but he is all knocked out from the sedation. Poor fellow. I just cannot believe the things he can get into. I don't even know where he got the thread! I don't have any projects that use black thread, and I didn't think he could get up where I keep my bobbins, where I do have one that holds black thread.
So all my friends out there with pets, watch out for long pieces of thread, attached to a spool or bobbin or not. The vet told me that cats are even more prone to swallowing it than dogs, and the consequences can be dire.
$300 later, we are home safe and I am just cuddling him in my arms thanking my lucky stars this story didn't have a different ending.
It's still Friday, right? I just finished this by the skin of my teeth, as Grandma used to say. The main body of the top has been done for a week, but I had to scramble a bit to get all the borders on in time for my deadline.
The pattern is Coventry, from the wonderful book by Brenda Riddle, "Comfort & Joy". (Brenda has a terrific blog called Little Acorns, but for some reason I am unable to link to anything today). In the book, the fabric Brenda used was a pretty Christmas group from last year, called Roman Holiday. I used one layer cake of one of this year's Christmas groups--"Peace On Earth" by 3 Sisters for Moda. Can you believe I could do this with one layer cake (a pack of 10" squares from the featured collection)? The stars went together great, and the background I used is Kona White. I had a bolt of it that I appropriated from my daughter Sara. The red used in the checkerboard border was a Moda Marbles that I had in my stash. So, all I had to buy for this entire quilt top was one layer cake at around $30!
The pattern instructions were great, but this was a project where you could not go on automatic pilot while you were sewing. You had to keep your wits about you and pay careful attention to the width of the three white border strips (three different measurements) and attach them in the correct order. Also, each of the checkerboard border strips had a certain number of colored squares and white squares. I spent a lot of time counting and re-counting those squares!
In my opinion, this quilt would be ADORABLE in one of the Mary Englebreit fabric groups, and with a black and white checkerboard border. If anyone does this, please let me know, I would love to see it! The beauty of this pattern is how it showcases a fabric group. In each star, you can see a big swatch of each piece in the collection. Super cute!
On the weight loss front, I lost two pounds overnight after eating only protein yesterday. The waistband of my jeans feels much better today. I don't know if I can stick with this for an entire week, but I aim to try! Only three more pounds to go.
Have a great weekend everyone!
I am just not concentrating today. I can't type, I can't follow directions, and I am spending more time un-sewing than I am sewing. My Coventry quilt is ready for its borders, and while in a day dreaming stupor, I attached the 3 inch borders first, rather than the 2 3/8th inch borders. So off they had to come. Now I have all those stupid little threads to pull out. Some days, I swear I should just go back to bed and start over a couple of hours later.
My mind is a bit distracted, because I have been job hunting. One company, for whom I really would like to work, has advised me that I am a finalist (sounds like a beauty pageant doesn't it?). It has taken them eight weeks to come to this decision. But, that's ok, I need a job, and this would be a great one for me. This morning at 6:10 AM, someone called to verify my birthdate. That is still ok, but just barely! I have never had to jump through so many hoops to be considered for employment. Ack. I just realized, now they know *how old* I am...... Eeeeew. I sure hope that won't disqualify me. Honestly, some things should just be private.
So, I am sitting here at my sewing machine, still in my pajamas, dreaming about being gainfully employed and the fabric I could buy, and making all kinds of silly sewing mistakes. I hope I have a Friday Finish for this week! At the rate I am progressing, it is going to be a challenge!
I just have to share this blurry picture of Ozzie and Remy. They had been playing tug of war with a tennis ball, both of them hanging on for dear life, when by some silent signal, they both stopped tugging and dropped the ball between them. After a bit of panting, they were at it again. They rolled and tumbled for hours on the living room floor at my father's house, oblivious to the dozen people sitting around watching them perform. My son in law, Ryan, got them to pay attention for a minute.
OK, now for the serious stuff. The Great Scrap Giveaway! Since I have so many scraps and also because so many of you seemed to want them, I picked more than one winner. Ozzie helped me out with the selection, but boy, did I ever have to be quick. I couldn't face cutting up 144 tiny slips of paper, so I just printed out the sheets and laid them on the floor. Then I tossed two dog treats onto the papers and wherever they landed, I had my winner. Ozzie nearly beat me to the dog treats before I had a chance to take a picture, but I prevailed. Here he is poised for the catch.
My winners are Julia, who I think may be from Germany----
and Linda from Oklahoma----- and Megan from Washington too, since the treat is kind of on both their posts. Send me your addresses girls and I will send off the scraps! I will even add in a few things from my stash to make up for you having to share.
