So Very Very Sad

This is going to be a sad post and it doesn't really involve quilting, but I hope you will indulge me. Today is a very sad day for me. This morning when I got up to feed the dogs, Tucker was laying in the kitchen, but he didn't respond when I called him. So I walked over to shake him awake, but he didn't awake. My precious baby dog died in his sleep last night.

Now the rational side of me recognizes that he didn't suffer and even more important he saved me from having to make that awful end of life decision for him. But that doesn't help my broken heart.

From the day we brought him home with Cooper he was my little buddy pal.  He was always glad to see me. His tail was docked when he was born, and since he couldn't wag a tail he would wag his whole buttock.  My dad claimed not to like dogs, but he was a sucker for those two. Tucker was so smart he even learned to drive...ok maybe not.

As he got older he had lots of health issues, but he still gave lots of kiss and he still wanted to be wherever I was. There is a dog bed in every room of the house, because even after going blind he would find his way to me. He was also my quilt buddy, and I learn never to let my fabric or quilt hit the ground because if it did he would find his way to it and lay on it.

I'm so sad he is gone, but I'm so grateful that I got 11 years to love and be loved by him. When he came into my life, I never realized how big a part of my life he would become. He was my faithful companion, my fierce protector, and best of all my snuggle buddy.  

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went"....Will Rogers

Goodbye my little Tucker...Tucker Joe...Tuck Tuck...Tuck-a-Luck...Tuck-a-MoMo...Tuckie. You will be sorely missed.

Quilty Thankful Thursday #28

Happy Thursday everyone, I hope you're having great week. For me it has been an ok week. It is funny how, little things can make or break your day/week. I try to focus on the positive things, but sometimes it is hard, which is why I really like doing this post every week. It keeps me looking for the good stuff. So here is my list for this week.

1. Squishy Mail. I hate picking up my mail, because it is almost always junk or bills, but not this month. I'm the queen of the Swarm Johanna for the Bee Hive bees, and I've started receiving my blocks. There is just some happy about getting blocks made especially for me.  Here are the three I've received, and they are are from Johanna, Emily and Tori.  The colors are awesome, and I think this is going to a very cool quilt.

2. Testing New Patterns. I was asked to test a pattern that will be used for a quilt along in August. I can't show you anything about it yet, but you will definitely see more about it later. I am always honored when asked to test for a designer and I love testing my skills on something new. This will be a mystery quilt along, and from what I've seen so far will be lots of fun.

3. Open Roads. With all the rain, there have been roads closed around here and a couple of them are ones I use on a daily basis. About a week ago one closed due to flooding that made the trip to take Sharla to work a lot more difficult. But as of this morning they have opened one lane, not a big deal, but it sure beats this.

4. Sales. Yes I'm a fabric hoarder, there I've said it out loud. Anyone that looks at my sewing room, would have already guessed that, but I can't resist a good sale. Over the last week there have been a couple that I couldn't resist. One was a fat quarter bundle of rainbow text prints. I love text prints, but most of the ones I have are black and white.  This is what I call pretty!!!!! I don't have specific plans for it at the moment, so I will just pet them and look at them for now.  I got other fabrics as well, more to finish my cross quilt. But I'm just having fun folding it, and dreaming of what I will make with it.

5. My Little Buddy Pal. Tucker is getting old and having more and more health issues. I had to take him to the vet this week and he has bad ear infections and needs some teeth pulled. But he was so happy to get to go for a ride in the car. I took him to pick up Sharla at work, and he loved when I circled her parking lot with the window down. I know that my time with him is limited, so I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible. He sleeps beside my desk during the day, and I try to reach down and rub his belly every so often.

Ok so that is my list for this week, and I hope that you have just as many things to be thankful about this week. I am linking up with Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl.

Thankful Thursday #10

Happy Thursday everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful week. I will be honest and say I was hoping for a snow day on Monday or Tuesday. Not that I really wanted snow, I just wanted to sleep late. But unlike a lot of the US, we didn't get any bad weather.

As I sat down to write this post I wondered what I should be thankful for this week. Nothing extraordinary is happening in my life, good or bad. It is the same old stuff. And I realized that is what is wrong with too many of us, we aren't thankful for the little things in our life. We are always thankful for the big things like jobs, homes, cars, food, family and faith.  But if we were as thankful for the little things we would be happier in general.

So I picked five smaller things to be thankful about this week.

1.  Tucker...my dog.  I'm thankful for all three of my dogs, but I'm just a little more thankful for Tucker this week.  Towards the end of last year we had a scare with Tucker and it was a case of being very close to having to say goodbye to him.  But thankfully he got better and is doing better these days. He is old, blind and sometimes can't find his way to the backyard in time, but he is also faithful, loving and makes me smile.  He follows me from room to room and loves that I now work from home 85% of the time.

2.  No leftovers. Now my nephew might disagree that this is a good thing, but it seems like we have been throwing away too many leftover recently. But as of right now we finished all of them in the frig for dinner last night. So I'm thankful there are none because it means none will be thrown away.

3. Tools. Yes I admit I love tools that make things go faster, but sometimes you don't even realize how something so small/simple can really make things go faster. When I'm working on my cross blocks I always chain piece, and I had read about a little tool that lets you cut your chain piecing apart quickly. I found a version of it at my LQS and thought I would try it. I will admit I really do love it. It makes cutting the blocks apart very quick and easy. Can I do it with scissors or snips, yes, but this let me cut them, and stack them because both hands are free. There are a couple of different versions out on the market, and I've even seen some homemade versions. But what I really like about this one is that it is small (about 2 1/4 x 2), so it doesn't take up much space beside my machine.

4. Morning Coffee. I don't drink a lot of coffee, but I normally have a large coffee in the morning. Most of the time it is an iced coffee because I sip it while driving and not burn my tongue. I look forward to my morning coffee, and am thankful to have it everyday. I know that on the days I don't have one, I'm much grumpier. And every now and then an afternoon frappuccino doesn't hurt either. Hmmmm maybe I will need one of these today.

5.  Selfish Sewing. I've been trying to sew for at least 30 minutes a day as part of the #4X7SewingChallenge and have really liked the results. I decided to focus on my cross blocks for the month. I have already finished 15 for this week, so I will spend some time cutting more blocks and then some time organizing the sewing room. But it is nice getting things done just because I dedicate a small amount of time each day.

None of the items above are major life changing things, but I'm thankful for them because they bring joy to my life in one form or another. I'm linking up with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl.

Friday Finish: Sharla's First Quilt

If you have been following me for any time you know that Sharla has made more than one quilt.  I regularly show tops she has completed and then the finished version after I have quilted them.  So I'm sure you are wondering how her "first" quilt made the Friday Finish post.  Well it was only finished this week.  Yes you read that right, her first quilted, which was pieced and quilted in 2007, was finished this week.  What can I say that is how we roll.

Let me give you some background.  In 2007 Sharla and I took our first quilting class.  It was the type of class that teaches you how to use a rotary cutter, piece the top and then gives general information about quilting.  We both finished our tops and quilted them on our home machines.  Now I bound mine and gave it to my mom for Christmas and Sharla sew the binding on the front and then put it away because she hates hand sewing as much as I do.  Fast forward to last weekend and we were going through some boxes and found the quilt.  It even still had the needle in the binding where she was going to start (hahaha).  I told her I would machine sew the binding down and so I did.

The pattern is a simple alternating four patch and the fabric is from Moda, but I don't know the line. The funny thing is we both looked at it and laughed because the fabric is so not Sharla.  Not even something I would have picked for her seven years ago.  It is pretty, but not her style (but definitely her colors).

Since it is cold outside I decided to photograph it in front of our glass door.  As soon as it was on the floor, our resident quilt inspector had to check it out.  This photo gives the best representation of the colors.  The next few the sunlight washes the colors out some.

After washing it got laundry piled on it, so it needs to lay out for a while to get rid of the wrinkles, but who has time for that.  It is a fairly small quilt, and the quilting was simple straight line (well as straight as she could get) quilting.  This quilt does have something you won't see on this blog very often and that is a label without my name on it.  I teased her that I wanted binding credit and the original label she typed up had my name on it and I told her to remove it.

I have gotten a little more done that the binding on this quilt, but nothing to the point of showing anyone.  I'm really hoping by next week to have my Looking Glass top completed and if all goes well, maybe even another quilt actually quilted.  Here is one more shot of the quilt inspector checking out the quilt. I'm sure he thinks it belongs to him now.

It seems like forever, but today I am linking up with  Let's Bee Social with Sew Fresh Quilts, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts, Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation and Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

A Lovely Year of Finishes: October Results

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I waited until the last day to list my results in hopes that I would get more accomplished, but that didn't work.  I didn't get much done, due to lots of reasons, most of which revolve around "life happens". I am happy to say I did get a few things done, and here is my list and what I did or did not do for each item.

1.  Memory quilts...I wanted at least one top pieced, but that didn't happen. I got the third top's four patches made and the fourth top's squares matched.  I am going to have to get busy on these, maybe this weekend will be better.

2. Two quilts quilted...Not a single thing got quilted this month.  I twisted my knee and haven't been up to standing for long periods of time.  But it is feeling better every day and I hope to get a quilt on the frame on Monday. I think it will be Sharla's Box Trot, but I also found a couple of quilts that were lost...aka packed away, so I have plenty of selection.

3. Cut a top out for Sharla...Sharla decided to work on a project that didn't require any cutting from me, because it used pre-cuts.  But in the same box that I found packed quilts I found fabrics for a Cowboy (as in the football team) quilt.  She said today that she wants to work on it this weekend, so I might get some cut tonight for her.

4. Bee Blocks done and in the mail...YEAH something I did get done.  My bee blocks went into the mail last week.  I am really having fun doing the different blocks.  I've been wanting to do some string blocks and these babies just made me want to do more of them.  These were great fun and I think I'm going to strip a bunch of my scraps and just have them at the sewing table so I can periodically sew one or two.

5.  Cut blocks for Simple Greek Cross quilt...I have cut lots of the backgrounds for my blocks and a few of the crosses.  I bought a bundle of low volume fat quarters, to beef of my stash and have cut some out of almost all of them.  The crosses will be mostly scraps left from other quilts.  I've pieced one block.  I've even started writing the tutorial...but the blocks are so simple it isn't much to write.

Over all I sucked this month, in fact I turned on my sewing machine for the first time in weeks on Tuesday.....and boy did it feel good.  I'm putting together blocks for a test quilt and did all that I could do before fabric I ordered arrived.  So hopefully I will have things to show ya'll soon.

I am happy to say I'm feeling better and so is my little fur baby.  He is eating and moving around much better with each passing day.  I'm realistic enough to know that he is old and his time will come, but thankful that it wasn't this month. He is sometimes a bit of trouble, but ohh so worth it. Since I'm working for home 85% of the time now, he is always close, like today he is under my desk.

Now I need to get my but in gear and cut some fabric so I can finish my test quilt.   I am linking up with Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts and Melissa of BitterSweet Designs.

June Goals - A Lovey Year of Finishes 2014

June...can you believe it is already summer?  I've got lots of goals for this month, but my main goal is to finish a gift quilt.  I can't tell you much about it because the person may read this post.  But it has to be ready to gift this month.  Sharla pieced it and I have to get it quilted and bound.

Now for the other things on my list, I want to keep up with the Road Trip Across Texas QAL.  I've done a test block for the first city, Dallas and hope to get my fabric this week so I can really get started. When I'm done I will have a quilt with the great state of Texas on it.  Actually we'll have two because Sharla is doing one as well.  But they are going to be different fabrics.  I also want to try and continue quilting one quilt per week, it is a little slower in the summer, because I always seem to have more to do.  And lastly I really want to finish getting the shirts for the memory quilts cut into squares.

I really hate having a post with no photos, so I'm going to show you one of my cutie. Tucker sleeping on his quilt I made him.  The pattern is called Star Crossed, but you can't see it because he is laying on the backside.  He loves laying on quilts.

I am linking up with Shannon at Fiber of All Sorts and Melissa at Sew BitterSweet Designs.

Pages for May

It has been a busy month, and I didn't get much scrapped.  I was too busy quilting.  But I did get two pages created for Trixie Scraps Designs, so I thought I would show those to you.

First is one I created for the word challenge on her blog.  It is a simple layout using Heart of a Friend Value Bundle, which is a fantastic kit.  I picked the word "friend" for everyone to use, and so it was an easy choice for me to use a photo of Sharla, since she is my best friend.

Next up on Memorial Day I was missing my mom and dad, so I decided to do a layout remembering them.  I used the kit Remembering You Value Bundle, which is great for these types of pages.  The photo was taken on a trip to the Grand Canyon.  I chopped Sharla and I out of it (hehehe).

Both of these kits are available and I linked the kit names to her store.  If you do digital scrapbooking they are a great for your stash.

April Layouts

I do not know what happened to April.  I swear it was just yesterday that it started and now it is almost done.  It has been a busy month, but really not too bad.  I did get a few layouts done this month for Trixie Scraps Designs.

The first one I did was for the Photo Challenge on her blog. I was leading the challenge so I got to pick the theme and it was Spring.  There is nothing greater than all the wonderful spring flowers.  I  used the kit Love in  the Garden Value Bundle because of the cheerful colors.  I had a great bluebonnet photo I wanted to use and the blues in this kit were perfect for it.

Next I did a layout with my favorite furry baby...yep the one and only Tucker Joe.  I used the kit Best Year Ever, which I find myself going back to over and over again.  I think it is because I love the colors and elements in the kit.  And isn't that face just too cute!!

Next I did the font challenge at Ginger Scraps using Triumphant Value Bundle.  This is another kit that I use over and over because the colors work with so many photos.  The photos are of Sharla and Cooper.  I still miss that little grey ball of fur.  

And my last layout was for the Recipe Challenge at Ginger Scraps and I used the Nature Walk Value Bundle.  I really like this kit because of the colors.  I used this kit because I thought the colors really made the photo pop.  And yes because I love the little stick element...I know it is silly, but there are elements that I just love to use and that is one of them.

That is my Trixie Scraps layouts for April.  If you don't have any of these kits I recommend them highly.  I have used the all multiple times.  You can find all of her products in her store and each kit name is linked.

Friday Finish: My Disappearing 9 Patch

Another week gone, time is slipping away so very very fast.  I am quite happy with my quilt this week, although I didn't get many pictures of it.  It was a very hectic week and so things like taking pictures went to the back seat.

I made my disappearing 9 patch at the same time Sharla did hers. It was in a class we took at NCTC...hey Karen, Vickie & Donna!!!  The colors are not something I would normally choose, but I fell in love with them. The funny thing is when we were looking for fabric, I found Sharla's fabric for her and she found my fabric for me. I did the simple all over meander and yes I messed up a couple of times and crossed over lines.  I think I need to get more lights for the machine.  It isn't hard when the thread is a contrasting color, but I used Signature's Parchment which blended in so well that sometimes it is hard to see.

Here is a close up of the quilting. I still get more wonky curves than I want, but overall I'm getting better at avoiding those.  I will say my biggest problem is keeping it slow and steady.  I get in a groove and find myself going to fast.  But the machine beeps and lets me know when I am doing exceeding the speed limit.

Here is one showing more of the back.  This wonderful busy print really helps to hide any flaws. And yet it still looks great when it is washed and all crinkly.  I am very happy with this one, and I will probably use it on my bed for a while.  It is not quite a queen size, but close enough if I have a neutral coverlet below it.

Now for my funny pictures this week.  When I finished the binding I laid the quilt across the frame to get a picture of it for instagram and Hollywood rand up to pose next to it.  When I switched to my regular camera he laid down in front of it and looked like he was going to nap.

What you don't see in the above photo is behind the quilt is another napping baby dog.  Tucker was sacked out in his bed just sleeping away. He didn't move until I got up to leave the room.  I didn't realize my quilting was such hard work on the babies, but they seemed to be totally exhausted.

I am linking up with  . . . Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, TGIFF...at Devoted Quilter,  NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday) and Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

February: A Lovely Year of Finishes Wrap Up

Ok February has been a very productive month.  I completed the coral quilt that was my goal for February, but a whole lot more.  I will say that sewing every day helped a lot, but most of these were pretty easy.  I love the coral quilt, I think it turned out great (well for me great). Quilted, bound and labeled and that was week one of the month.

I also quilted my Skipping Squares quilt which is a pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.  I really like how this one turned out as well.  It has that wonderful crinkly look that I really like in quilts.  I found the cutest backing fabric that had all the right colors in it.

Then I finished my Diagonal Squares quilt.  I was concerned when I went to look for backing fabric I wouldn't find anything to match, but found a great print that works very well with it.  In fact I like the back almost as much as the front. And Tucker loves this quilt too! I was showing Sharla options for the binding and he made himself at home on it. 

And just last night I finished my last one for the month.  It is a t-shirt quilt that Sharla pieced in 2008.  I have to admit I had more thread issues with this one, and I'm not sure why, but it is done.  I did a loops instead of a meander on this one, and I really like how it looks.

I also said I wanted to finish one new top and I did.  Well I actually finished two new tops.  I completed the Trails End one that I listed on my goals.  It isn't my favorite top ever, but it is done.  I just have to find backing and binding fabric for it.

I also got the opportunity to do a test quilt for a designer.  The pattern won't be released until mid next month, so I can't show you the completed top, but here is a picture of one section of it.  It was using very large pieces which is new to me, but a fun challenge. And yes that bird fabric is the same as the backing fabric for the Skipping Squares quilt.

I accomplished my goals for February and am quite pleased.  I have lots more planned for March and will set those goals this weekend.  I am linking up with Shanna of Fibers of All Sorts and Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs for A Lovely Year of Finishes 2014 - February.

Layouts for February

I have to admit I didn't get much scrapbooking done this month, but I did get some pages done.  I love digital scrapbooking because I can do it on my work computer or home computer, so I fit it in whenever possible.  This month I did the photo challenge on Trixie Scraps Designs' blog and I created this layout.  I used the kit Best Year Ever. It was a great kit to show off some of my quilts.  I love rich colors in the kit and it has great elements as well.

Next I did a layout featuring the biggest pain in my bu.... these days, the one and only Hollywood.  So far this week alone he has eaten my purse, my key chain flashlight and my manicure kit. It is a good thing he is so cute or I would banish him from the house.  Yeah I know I'm a sucker.  I used the value bundle called Spunky Monkey for this layout because I love the blue/brown combo.

I have been craving Spring lately, too many cold days.  So I found a kit that was packed with pretty spring colors and lots of flowers and created my next layout.  I used a photo of Callie and Beau taken at Christmas. Don't they make a cute couple. The kit is call Heart of a Friend Value Bundle.

And my last one for this month features my little quilt buddy.  I put a bed under my long arm quilter and he comes in the sewing room with me and just sleeps while I quilt.  Every now and again, Hollywood will come in and hit the roll of batting above him and cover him up, but I move it back so I can see him.  He doesn't seem to mind my music blaring or the machine noise, as long as he is with me.  I used the kit A Life That's Good Value bundle because I love the flowers that are in it.

Well that's my layouts for February, all of the kits I used are really great and you should head over to Trixie Scrap's store and pick them up for your stash.

Friday Finishes - Cooper's Memorial Quilt

Ok maybe that should just be Friday Finish, because I only got one quilt done this week and it was a very small one.  But one is better than none right???  My plan was to work on my brick quilt, but our LQS (local quilt shop) had a wonderful sale last weekend.  Buy five yards get five yards free, or as I like to say 50% off, which is just so hard to pass.  And which we didn't pass.  We went and got several backs for quilts on our list including Cooper's memory quilt and since Sharla was done with the top I just had to quilt it first.  Sharla pieced the top using Pacific Bali Snaps by Hoffman Fabrics. Cooper was a blankie dog, he loved laying on them and we always joked that he wanted a blankie that wasn't pink, since most of Sharla's quilts tended to have pink in them.  So she picked a wonderful set of blues to make his quilt.  We found a wonderful blue batik for the back and binding.    I quilted it freehand (my first) using a ribbon pattern.  It's not perfect, but I am pleased with the results. The photos don't do it justice, but it was late last night and I took them with the flash so the colors aren't as pretty in the photos as they are in person.

Sewing the label on was the hardest part for me.  I hate hand sewing, but I think I have found a way to attach the label when I do the binding.  We will see how that works on the next one.  I even like how the back looks on this one.

Here is a better view of the label, I love that picture of him and he is laying on a quilt Sharla pieced with left overs from her trip around the world quilt and I quilted on my sewing machine.  I will say I love the long arm for quilting so much more!!!! The blue in this photo is more of the true color, so so pretty!!!

And I consider this a minor finish as well, I got the label sewn onto the yellow and black quilt from last week. I washed it as well, so it is truly and completely done.  I really love the look of a quilt after it has been washed.  It just gets that crinkly look and becomes so soft.

And it has already been claimed by Tucker. But I think the real owner is going to be Hollywood. The night I finished it I laid it out on Sharla's bed. Hollywood, claimed it and has slept with her every night since then. The only except was the night I put the label on it and washed it, he slept with me that night.  But last night when I put it back on her bed, he was sleeping with her again.  I think I may have lost my bed buddy.  But as with every blankie in our house, Tucker had to roll on it first.  He just loves blankies, almost as much as he loves Sharla and I.

Overall I'm happy for the week, I did get something quilted.  And I did get the back pieced for the brick quilt. I just need to get it ironed and on the frame to be quilted.  Hopefully ya'll will be seeing it next week on my Friday finishes.

Today, I'm hooking up with……Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, TGIFF...at That's Sew Julie, and Crazy Mom Quilts.