Enter Larry!

Meet Larry!

Larry the Pug entered our life quite unexpectedly the evening of June 20, 2012, also our 4-month wedding anniversary. My friend Cindy (also our dog-walker, dog-sitter and dog fairy godmother) is always rescuing animals and finding them new homes. I absolutely LOVE dogs, so I've always told her that if she found a pug that needed a home just to drop him or her off at our house. She's "found" pugs before, but it has never worked out...either the pug had just been given away to someone else, the owners were trying to sell it for a large sum of money, or they had changed their mind. A few months ago, she had mentioned that Larry's owner needed to find him a new home. I asked Mike what he thought, he said it was ok, so I told Cindy that we were interested. We didn't hear anything more, so we figured he had changed his mind.

Three weeks ago (June 20th), I was working at home, when Cindy called me at around 2:30 in the afternoon. "Are you still interested in Larry?" she asked. When I said "yes", she said that Larry's owner would drop him off at dinner time. This was a little unexpected, since we had never even seen Larry at this point and he hadn't been introduced to Romeo and Elvis to see if they would get along. I called Mike at work to let him know that Larry would be joining us for dinner.


Larry is three years old. He looks a lot like Romeo, although he has a black spot on his head, more teeth and his tail is only a single curl. He spent the first few days with us beating up Romeo and Elvis incessantly. I kept having to give him a time out and put him in "pug jail" (behind the baby gate in the dining room). He'd smile at me winningly and I'd let him out only to have him launch himself right back at Elvis.  He wouldn't eat (very unusual for a Pug) and he didn't want to play with any of the dog toys. He would also whip himself into a frenzy, chase his tail and snap at us. It was a little off-putting, but underneath it all, we've discovered that Larry is a charmer. He is adjusting well to his new home and his big brothers. Larry loves to play with all the stuffed animals or one of his chewy toys. He runs around off-leash with Romeo and Elvis in the park. He is gentle with children and likes all of Romeo and Elvis' dog friends. He enjoys swimming in the pool at play group.

It is very hard to try and get a photo of all three pugs!

Waiting for Mike to dish out dinner!

I will not deny that it is a lot of work to own three dogs. Mike has firmly stated that we are at pug capacity! The main feature of our dining room is now the three dog crates all in a row, kind of like a doggy condominium. But we saved Larry from a bad situation and he is a real sweetie. In the morning when I go down to take them for a walk, I am just swarmed with pug love! Larry watches Romeo and Elvis avidly and is learning good manners from them.

Elvis and Larry have become buddies and have started a pug wrestling team. Elvis usually wins because he will sit on Larry! They kept me company in my home office today and Larry and Elvis shared the little dog bed, while Romeo slept in the large dog bed by himself.

I've told the neighbors that we're opening a pug petting zoo! I call the three boys, the Pug Pack!

A UFO Resurrection

On Monday nights, I normally quilt with Joannie in the Studio (my fabulous quilt studio located over my garage). Each week, I spend all day Monday looking forward to quilting with Joannie. Without fail, every Monday evening, I feel too tired to sew, but once Joannie pops over and we head to the Studio, I usually get a second wind. This week we were on a roll and Joannie stayed until 10pm, on Monday and then came back on Tuesday night for some more sewing!

This past Monday I was feeling kind of grumpy and didn't feel like sewing, but I didn't feel like staying in the house either. So I went over to the Studio with Joannie, and while she sewed, I poked through some boxes. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing in both my Studio and my former sewing room in the house, which is now morphing into a home office and machine embroidery room. So things are moving from house to studio and from basement to upstairs and I keep finding all kinds of quilt projects and old fabric that I haven't seen in a while.

Eventually, I found a quilt top that I had started a long time ago. The whole central portion was pieced and all it needed was some borders. It was a wall hanging that I had made in a "Midnight" at the long defunct Quilted or Not. I went back and checked my infamous quilting list and discovered that I had made the top in March of 1999. The project bag contained both the quilt top as well as some fabrics already chosen for borders. I remember picking out the fabric with Lynne Godin at The Button Box. She has such a great eye for color! Not only did I have the border fabric, I even had a little note pinned to the fabric with border measurements! So while Joannie made pillowcases, I put borders on my quilt. It went together fairly quickly. I think this little top was happy to be out of the box!

Here is my cutie-pie husband Mike holding up the finished top! Isn't it pretty?

While we were vacationing at the Vermont Quilt Festival (blog report to come!) a few weeks ago, Carol's Dad asked if we ever finish any projects, so here is my mid-year report:

So far in 2012, I have finished 32 projects. Most of them have been small items. I have only kept three things and given away 29. There are 3 quilts (one lap and two baby), 3 tote bags, 2 blankets, 18 pillowcases, 2 sets of placemats, 1 vest, 1 taggie and 1 purse. Plus, I have made 24 items for our Etsy shop this year (this was the first year I've kept track of inventory that I've made, although I think that Marion probably makes double what I make). I also have 12 finished quilts that just need binding, 3 that need to be sent out for quilting, and one top waiting for borders (another oldie, although only from 2009).

New York City Quilts!

This past weekend, Mike and I went to New York City and attended a multi-family, multi-event party! We celebrated my Mom and my Uncle Stanley's 75th birthdays (respectively this past Sunday and coming in July), as well as my nephew Ben's 10th birthday (in early June) and double Father's Day (my Dad and my Uncle Stanley). About a month ago I had the brilliant idea to make a New York City quilt as a birthday gift for my Mom, who is a native New Yorker. Then I decided that I should make one for my Uncle Stanley as well, since we were also going to be celebrating his 75th birthday and he is also a native New Yorker. Both Mom and Uncle Stanley have relocated to warmer climates in retirement; Mom and Dad to sunny Florida, Uncle Stanley and Aunt Marcia (Mom's youngest sister) to even sunnier Hawaii. Did I mention that my brilliant idea occurred while I was on my quilting week in the Berkshires? While I was away, I ordered all of the fabric from www.cityquilter.com, most of the New York prints are theirs exclusively. The fabric arrived shortly after I came home from my trip. I made both quilts in a generous lap size in the yellow brick road pattern from Terri Atkinson at  www.atkinsondesigns.com. Look closely and you'll find subway maps, famous NYC landmarks including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, yummy bagels of all flavors and of course, the ubiquitous New York City taxi!

Unfortunately I didn't have time to finish both quilts in three weeks, but I brought both tops to show the intended recipients and my Mom and my Uncle were very excited. Next, I need to mail them off to the machine quilter so I can get them quilted!

I did get to visit City Quilter in person on my trip. They even have an adjacent quilt gallery with rotating exhibits. Mike went in for a few minutes then headed off happily to the camera store. City Quilter was celebrating "Bernina Day" and having customer raffles and I won a small Minkee blanket kit. I bought a pattern for a rag rug because I knew that I would have to carry everything home. I also bought a quilting magazine because I knew we were going to the classical guitar store next and I wanted Mike to have all the time that he wanted. He is always very patient when I go to the quilt store.

My sister-in-law, Diane, also loved the quilts, so there may end up being a third one in the series!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Berkshire Quilt Week in Photos

Sorry to have left you all hanging! Meant to write Part 2 of the post, but life has gotten in the way...lots of traveling for work and a busy social life for the newlyweds in June. Almost every weekend is booked. I'm already tired!

Anyway, here are some more photos. At the top is my one finished project. It is a giraffe baby quilt. I've had the giraffe fabric forever and it was calling to get out of the box. I don't think the finished project "sings", so I'm a little disappointed. I wish that I had enough giraffe fabric for the borders. Not sure if I'll put this one in my Etsy shop or give it as a gift. Below the giraffe quilt is a photo of my animal baby quilt in progress. I did applique all of the little animals on my vacation. Next, I need to embroider all the animal noises. This quilt is for my cousin Joel and his wife Anelia who are having their first baby this month. Joel is 52, so he's definitely going to be having an adventure!

Here is Joannie hard at work on her Apple Quilt and here is the completed top! This is a gift for her cousin. The colors are quite eye-popping in person. Joannie's cousin loves apples and has decorated her house with them, so it is sure to be a hit!

Here is Sally with her lovely quilt top that she finished at the Berkshires! It was a John Flynn class from the Vermont Quilt Festival. I can't remember the name of the pattern. Below is Cheryl's (camera-shy) lovely Row by Row Oriental Quilt. Wish I had participated! Cheryl made the top row and the quilt was passed through the group and everyone added their own row. Sally has a wonderful Winter Row by Row, but I didn't take a photo. Bummer!

Here is the diligent Kim P working on her Orca Bay Mystery from Bonnie Hunter's wonderful website: www.quiltville.com. I believe that Kim said that there were 700 of those teeny tiny triangles to make! It will be a stunner when it's finished. Note: this was a free pattern, however Bonnie has taken it down because the pattern is now included in her new book, coming out this summer!

Happy Quilting! Have a great weekend!
Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Sewing with Friends! It doesn't get any better than this!

I spent last week with my Brown Bagger friends quilting away in the Berkshires. Karen, our fearless Berkshire's leader figured out that it was our 13th year out in Western Mass and made a list of all the places we've stayed over the years. Cheryl was our social director and put together a comprehensive list of restaurants for our culinary pleasure.

Marion and I started our trip on Tuesday morning. Our friend Debbie had recommended the $1.99 store in Auburn, so we made a quick stop there at Exit 10 off the Mass Pike.

Marion and I found some very nice batiks, and a piece of pink of pink oriental that we both liked. I also found some nice music fabric to make some more pillowcases for my nephews. At the last moment, we went back inside and I bought a backing fabric for a baby quilt. Then we hit the road again. When we got to the Berkshires we naturally stopped at the Pumpkin Patch (one FQ bundle, some dog fabric and two spools of thread for me/nothing for Marion), then we stopped at our favorite Berkshire's Chinese restaurant, the Panda, for a quick lunch. Next, on to the quilting room!

This year the Girls went a little nutty and extended the week so it started on Sunday. Marion and I didn't think we could quilt for 7 days straight, so we came down on Tuesday. The Girls were in full swing! Joanne S. had this beautiful batik panel quilt in progress (in the photo background). She finished the whole top (in fact all of her projects!) by the end of the week. In the foreground of this photo you can see some of the goodies that Karen had for sale...lots of beautiful bali pops and jelly rolls! The kind without calories!

Marion quickly got to work on some tops that she was planning to put together. I'm not sure why I don't have a photo of her beautiful black, white and red quilt, but here are some photos of her Nest Quilt, started in a class that we took at the Button Box last year.

Now, I may have to go back and finish mine! Marion and I like to take classes together and we often pick out the same project to work on. Except that Marion usually finishes hers and I get distracted and start something else!

This is getting to be a long post, so good night for now...to be continued...

Photos, the next frontier!

I've been dieing to try adding photos to my blog. Looks like I figured out how to do it, but not sure if I have control over where to put them. Last week I went to my annual quilting retreat (lucky #13) with my Brown Bagger buddies. I actually started my vacation the prior Friday, by going to an Embroidery Weekend in CT with my good buddie Joannie. Joannie is always game for anything! Here we are with Eileen Roche from Designs in Machine Embroidery and her sister, Marie Zinno, aka the Sewing Sisters. The weekend turned out to be more of a sales pitch than an embroidery seminar, but we had a lot of fun despite the fact that we had to share the machine with two other people (a total of 4), but we got some good tips and found a great diner (and a dog store) across the street.

My Quilting Identity Crisis

I tell people that I am a quilter, and I think of myself that way, but some days I wonder if I really am a quilter. 

First of all, I make lots of quilt tops, but I very rarely quilt them myself, except for the small ones, and even then it's only with straight lines and a walking foot. I've never mastered free motion quilting although I've taken many classes over the years. In my humble opinion, free motion quilting is a different skill set from piecing. Piecing is methodical and simple. You feed the fabric through the machine. I find machine piecing very soothing. In free motion quilting, you need to move the fabric in different directions to create the design. It's like doodling, which I'm not good at, at all. In high school, I occasionally felt the urge to draw a flower in the margins of my notebook, but that was about it. I can't draw at all. Which is ironic, since my Mother is a painter.

Second, I've been looking at my list. My quilting list is a little infamous among my friends. Right now it is about 6 pages long. It contains my finished projects for the year, and what I'm currently working on as well as all the "UFOs". I have lots of categories on it to break things up, such as "projects with deadlines," "gifts to make," and one of my favorites, "projects I've lost interest in".

So far in 2012, I've completed 27 projects, and I've given everything away as gifts except for a set of placemats and a small lap quilt. Out of these 27 projects, 16 were pillowcases and only two items were actual quilts. Although, I do have 11 quilts all quilted (in 2011, not by me, of course) just waiting to have bindings sewn on.

So, from now on, I'm going to identify myself as a "sewist with quilting tendencies" (sounds kind of fancy, doesn't it?). 

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy