Sister's Choice Quilts

Doggie Dementia

Have any of you heard of canine dementia? I am curious. I know a bit about dementia in humans, having had friends and relatives succumb to it. There is a symptom that is particularly interesting that is called "Sundowner Syndrome" which apparently affects not only us humans with dementia, but dogs as well.

This little guy is my daughter's dog Remy. He is a West Highland Terrier who is going on 14 years of age in December. He has some issues with arthritis in his hips, (or some other deteriorating condition of his hip joints). Other than that, he has seemed to carry on fairly well with his aging issues. Recently, however, in the late afternoon and early evening, he has started behaving strangely. He paces around in circles, seems anxious, has his tongue hanging out, and appears not at all comfortable or happy. It is as if he feels something needs to happen, but he isn't sure what that might be or how it will affect him.

It turns out that in both humans and dogs, the approach of sundown can trigger emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. In both humans and canines with dementia, the approach of darkness can trigger fears that they need to be somewhere (go home), or do something to wind up the day. He definitely appears to be anxious and insecure at that time.

I found that getting Remy snuggled into a warm comfortable spot seems to help. He likes being on the couch, surrounded by pillows or with me at his side cuddling up to him. It is as if he is getting the signal that we are done with our day, we are in a cozy spot, and can settle in. Most of the time it works, but at other times he just can't settle in and continues to pace around anxiously.

Here the poor little guy is. We try to hold him and comfort him, but he trembles and shakes and seems terrified. Ozzie sits at my husband's feet, worrying about his buddy. You can see out the window that it is just at sunset.

Have any of you experienced this strange symptom in your loved ones? Human or canine? Have you come up with any techniques to manage it?

Simple Folded Corner Ruler

My big news is that I have only two more vertical rows to sew for my Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt! That quilt is just humongous. King-sized for sure. As I was sewing a row together over the weekend, I noticed one of my twelve-inch blocks was just a mess. I do not know what happened, but when I looked at it close up and personal I was not happy. I decided to replace it with something else and so made my final block for this sew-along. There you have it above. It is called Autumn Star and is from one of Lori Holt's books.

I have been finding that more often than not lately, I have been reaching for Doug Leko's Simple Folded Corner Tool when I have to make those "draw a line diagonally, stitch a quarter inch away, and trim" kind of instructions. There are so many lines to line up the tool on your fabric that you basically cannot go wrong and end up with a wonky block unit. 

I had to make eight of the rectangular units and sew them together into four block segments. Only, I managed to sew them together incorrectly. I did an outstanding job of matching up my points, but unfortunately, this is not how the unit is supposed to look.

This is what the units were supposed to look like. Luckily, thanks to the tool, even after unsewing all the pieces, the final results turned out great.

Do press your seams open for the best results.

In other news, my son-in-law and his new wife celebrated their first year of marriage with a spectacular sushi party in their backyard. Now that most of us have been vaccinated, small gatherings are starting up again. It was so lovely to get together with friends to celebrate something together! The sushi chef is above explaining all the fabulous dishes he will be coming out with over the course of the evening. It was loads of fun, and the food was both unusual and delicious.

Hope you had something to celebrate this weekend!

Freezer Meals

With all I have going on at the moment, I have been trying to think of something, anything, that would make things a bit easier. Ten years ago, when my daughter Sara was pregnant with Eva, we got together a couple of times and made freezer meals. The idea was, she would stock up her freezer with dinners so life would be simpler once her newborn had arrived. Great idea. That could work for me now, right?

Back then, I bought a book called Dream Dinners which features make ahead and freeze meals. It is still in print, but I bet you could find a used copy and save even more money. The women who wrote the book actually started up a franchise business where people could go assemble meals and take them home to freeze. I recall seeing the shops but never went in. I think it was kind of expensive. I like the idea of picking out a few recipes, doing a marathon shopping trip, and going home and assembling the meals myself. 

So that is what I did yesterday. 

I made Spaghetti and Meatballs, Beef Enchiladas, and Baked Ziti Casserole. My husband and I don't eat that much since it is just the two of us, so I bought fairly small containers for freezing. They are foil pans that come in a stack of five. They measure 6" x 8" and are about 2" deep. Each recipe I made served 6 people, and I managed to divide each recipe into three pans. Each pan would provide two very generous servings.

I will say, it did take about three and a half hours to cook and assemble everything. But I now have 9 freezer meals to use on busy days or to take with me when I stay with my father on the weekends.

I'd like to take this a step further though. I have been reading about making freezer meals that you place into freezer bags and then put directly into your Instant Pot or slow cooker. How about that for a great idea? Plus, most of these types of meals do not require cooking first. You just combine the raw ingredients in the bag and freeze. Have any of you made these types of meals? Can you recommend a cookbook that has recipes that go from freezer to Instant Pot or slow cooker? Please share if you have any suggestions!

Christmas Themed Masks

Even elves need to wear masks this holiday season. It's sad but true. My little elf turned up at my front door yesterday, outfit on point except for the missing mask.  No problem. We got busy and got her fixed up.

Have you tried the Creative Grids mask template? It is my absolute favorite. You can make masks in three different sizes, and the fit is the best I have come across.

There are several helpful videos to show you how to construct a mask with the template. Eva is wearing the size small.

Well, after making a Christmas mask for the elf's mama, my elf and I are off to make applesauce cookies for our cooking project this week. Hope all is going great for all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends. I hope you are all feeling as thankful and blessed as I am. Even though we may not be together this year, I am so grateful for my wonderful family.

Halloween Was Different This Year

Halloween may have been different, but it was still pretty fun. We had our own Halloween party instead of the usual trick or treating, and I don't think any of us were the worse for it. Here is Eva seeing if Ozzie gets the concept of trying to bite the swinging cookie on a string.  Yes indeed he did.

He caught on a lot quicker than my husband, I can tell you that.

Here is our little kitty cat witch. Is it me, or are they making Halloween costumes about two sizes smaller than regular clothing sizes? This costume I bought for Eva was a children's size 12-14.  She is nine and wears a size 10. The thing barely covered her fanny.  You can't tell from the picture, but they definitely economized with the fabric allowance. I kept tugging it down and she would squeal "Nana!  You're pulling it off my shoulders!"

This is our tree that turns red all in one day and three days later, all the leaves have fallen off.  Let's see if that is true.  This photo was taken Sunday. I will keep you posted all week and we will see where we are.

Hope you had a great Halloween, however you spent it. I got some sewing done over the weekend, which I will share with you this week.  Also I hope to share my October book reviews.  Talk soon!

Happy Halloween, I Guess

Well, this is a first. Our annual family Halloween Party has been canceled.

In the meantime....wear a mask!!!!

Consequently, I won't be sharing my usual costume parade and Halloween treat recipes.  Maybe next year...

Back at home, Eva and her stepsister Sydney are carving pumpkins. After a satisfying dinner of pot roast, gravy, and local sourdough bread, the girls got serious and dug into those pumpkins, slime and all.  It seems they were extra slimy this year.  We have big plans for a small socially distant Halloween night outside. It's a Blue Moon, so that will be exciting!  

Have a safe and fun weekend everyone.

Family Time

We are having a super fun getaway this week, so I am not sure how much I will have time to post. My husband, Eva, and I are staying up at Lake Tahoe for the week.  The weather is absolutely glorious. Blue skies, temperatures in the high 60s, and not so many people. Eva loves the Lake.

We are content to just sit and watch her. Or watch the lake.

Can you even believe how sparkly the water is?

The highlight for me so far (besides being away from my house) was seeing a bear climbing a tree! We were walking to the beach across the street from our condominium and there was a little crowd of people clustered together watching something. As we got closer we could see what the attraction was.

Can you see it? You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it, but I swear there is a baby bear up that tree. Supposedly there was at least one more, but I could only see the one.

I love the location where our condo is.  We are up at Incline Village, for those of you who don't know about Lake Tahoe, Incline it is on the north side of the lake and is in Nevada. There are a couple of pools we can use, a casino we won't use, and this lovely fire pit area for conversation and S'Mores making. Notice how the chairs are so far apart? The folks in Nevada are very strict about social distancing and mask wearing.

At any rate, we are relaxing and having a great time. Hope you all are doing well.

One More ModaBlockheads- Block 28

I made up one more Moda BlockHeads block yesterday.  It is called Broken Dishes, submitted by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts.  It is the 28th block in the year-long sew-along.  Joanna used all reds in her sample block, so I followed suit.  I chose the 12" size because I have been making a lot more blocks in the 6 and 8-inch size and wanted to get caught up with my 12s.

Here is a little laugh to get you started on your weekend.  Eva was helping me take the photo of the block and we got pretty silly.  She is so much fun to have around. Sure do love that kid. Here is our series of photos.

A Little Sewing

After my crazy week, I managed to log in some peaceful time in the sewing room on Sunday.  I finished the second sunflower block for the runner I am making.  There is a really engrossing book I am listening to that kept me completely fascinated.  The sixth book in Lucinda Riley's Seven Sisters series, "The Sun Sister".  I am really enjoying it and don't want to stop listening! This is the last book in the series and I swear I am going to start over with book one and start the series all over again when I finish.

Isn't that gorgeous for late summer/early fall?  It is a design by Lynn Hagemeier (Kansas Troubles) that I found in a book called The Big Book of Table Toppers.  That is one heck of a book.  I must have a dozen little post it flags marking projects I am interested in making.  The pattern is called Sunflower Duet.  The beauty of it is you can lengthen or shorten the runner by adding or leaving out some of the appliqued leaf blocks in the middle of the runner.  I plan to take out four leaf blocks to shorten mine.

Thanks again for all your kind words and encouragement regarding my father's recent diagnosis of wet macular degeneration.  He was so brave when he went in for his first series of injections. We are so hopeful that he will see some improvement in his sight and so grateful that we live at a time where there is a treatment for the condition.