The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat

My friend Kim P. sent me the two photos below of some of her newly finished projects. The Scottie Dog is a free pattern that can be found here. The cat is a purchased pattern, called Flatty Cats by La Todera. You can find it here.

They are so adorable! I love the bright, fun colors that Kim used. The stuffed dogs and cats reminded me of this poem that I had heard as a child.

The Duel

by Eugene Field

 

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
‘T was half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t’ other had slept a wink!
      The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
      Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
            (I was n’t there; I simply state
            What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went “Bow-wow-wow!”
And the calico cat replied “Mee-ow!”
The air was littered, an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
      While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place
      Up with its hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
            (Now mind: I’m only telling you
            What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed, “Oh, dear! what shall we do!”
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
      Employing every tooth and claw
      In the awfullest way you ever saw—
And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
            (Don’t fancy I exaggerate—
            I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning, where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole that pair away!
      But the truth about the cat and pup
      Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
            (The old Dutch clock it told me so,
            And that is how I came to know.)

This poem is in the public domain. I found it here.

I have been doing some sewing, but I have nothing remotely interesting to show you. I've made a few pillowcases, a fleece Star Trek blanket, and last night I sewed together a zillion (ok, half a zillion) 2.5 inch half square triangles. I thought Kim's projects would make a better blog post. Thanks Kim P.

Linking up on Tuesday to Freemotion by the River. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Family Time

I haven't done any sewing this week but I have a good excuse! My parents are visiting!

My parents arrived Wednesday night from Florida to spend Rosh Hashonah (Jewish New Year) with us. On Thursday we drove up to Mike's sister's house to have a festive meal. We had a lot of fun. Susan and Paul (Mike's sister and brother-in-law) are great at throwing a party and there were 21 people in attendance from age 4 to 84.

I brought my world famous kugel. My Mom was very happy to see that I use her recipe.

Yum!

LarryPug met his grandparents for the first time! Grandpa Alan declined to take a nap with him, but Grandma Phyllis let LarryPug sit next to her while she read a book.

My brother Gary spent seven hours in the car on Saturday to drive down from New Jersey and surprise our parents. Uncle Gary is also a dog person, so LarryPug was delighted to meet him.

On Saturday we threw a little party so my parents could visit with my friends. We celebrated a whole bunch of birthdays, including Mike (September 22nd), Merwyn (September 6th), Paul (October 1st) and Elvis the Pug (October 2nd).

This is the world's best chocolate cake from Whole Foods.
It is like eating pure fudge. Expensive, but worth it!

Front row: Dad, Mom and Gary
Back row: me and Mike

A good time was had by all!

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Milestones

It just slipped by somehow, but my last post, A Plethora of Pugs, was my 300th entry in this blog. When I mentioned it to Marion and Joannie, Joannie said, "do you mean that I've read 300 of those things?"

I saw my friends Kate and Karen from Berkshire Quilts at the Herring Run Quilt Show yesterday and I asked if they'd like to do a give-away on my blog in honor of my 300th post. We don't have anything ready yet, but stay tuned because they both said Yes, and I'll be doing one sometime soon (well between now and my 350th post).

Today is another milestone, it is my husband Mike's birthday. Happy Birthday Mike! When Mike and I were on vacation a few weeks ago, we found the item below in an antique store. I bought it for Mike for his birthday. Do you know what it is?

This is an antique pachinko machine.

We're not sure how old it is, but it is made of solid wood and very heavy. Mike loves vintage things and this is a very cool addition to his collection. I also made Mike another apron (guitar fabric reversing to hot sauce fabric) and a reversible fleece blanket with a guitar print.

No sewing was done this past weekend. Mike was busy cooking for the NOLA party we attended on Saturday. I spent the day sorting an enormous mound of clean laundry that had been living in laundry baskets at the foot of our bed. On Sunday, I had planned to do some sewing, but decided instead to go to the quilt show with Joannie and Marion. We also managed to hit a few additional quilt stores on the way home from the show. Does thinking about sewing and writing about sewing, count as sewing? Does buying fabric count?

From my other, not-so-lazy friends, I offer up some photos.

Marion has assembled her 2014 Birthday Blocks!
She made a few extra...

When we hung this quilt over my porch railing to take a photo, the little girl who lives next door asked, "Are you having a party?" So, I've nicknamed Marion's quilt, It's a Party! Not surprisingly, I'm making the same one. I love Marion's, so I better get back to work on mine.

Joannie finished a baby quilt that she is donating to a fundraiser at her church.

Pat made this cute baby quilt top.

She also assembled her 2012 Birthday Blocks. I like the yellow outer border. It's one of my favorite Philip Jacobs' prints.

Jo Anne S. is working on the masterpiece below. This quilt has really, really tiny pieces! She is working on borders next.

Thanks for visiting! Linking up on Tuesday to Freemotion by the River. Linking up on Friday to Richard and Tanya Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

A Plethora of Pugs!

When the Pug Pack and I got to the park this morning, we met a new friend, Forrest.

A few minutes later, our neighbor Jen pulled up with her pugs, Lily and Daisy, and we found out that Forrest is Lily's brother! Daisy is Lily and Forrest's Mom. Forrest belongs to Jen's sister, Ginger.

A pug six pack! Unfortunately, I don't have great photos, because trying to take a picture of six pugs is like herding cats.

Sniff, sniff, everyone says, Hello!

LarryPug and Romeo give Daisy a kiss.

Heads or Tails?

Jen valiantly tried to round everyone up for a group photo.

More than enough pug love to go around!

The End!

Jen's brother-in-law, Danny also has two pugs, Fenway, and Yawkey. Fenway is a black pug like Elvis. Maybe next time Jen will invite them and we can have eight pugs in the park!

A perfect way to start my day!

Pugs and kisses (with lots of extra pugs),
Nancy

Cooking with Nancy

Mike and I are going to a double birthday party/New Orleans pot luck style dinner tonight hosted by our friends Mike and Christine. Mike and Mike have birthdays only 1 day apart, so we thought it called for a party. We've gone to the New Orleans Jazz Festival with M & C several times, and the last time we visited, we all took a Cajun cooking class along with our friends Deb and Greg.

So last night, Mike was slaving over a hot stove, after spending the week pouring through recipes. He made Shrimp Etouffe and Red Beans and Rice. Our house smelled like a Cajun festival. He crawled into bed at 2 a.m. while visions of Beignets danced in my head.

I made dinner to help Mike out.

Wonder why they didn't ask me to bring a dish to the party today?

For a real cooking blog, go visit my friend Daphne at Ivy, Phyllis and Me.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Another Great Block Swap

This block swap, organized by Debbie, ran for one year and was also revealed at our Brown Baggers Sunday meeting last weekend.

Behold the power of color! All the blocks in the photos are the same. Each participant used a different background fabric and provided a different colorway for her blocks. The book used for this swap is Lessons from Mama by Terri Atkinson. Each month, the participants made a different sampler block and then passed the bag to the next participant.

Here are Marion's blocks.

Here are Lynne D.'s blocks.

Here are Terri's blocks.

Here are Joanne E.'s blocks.

Here are Debbie's blocks.

Here are Valerie's blocks.

Here are Lexine's blocks.

Don't they all look different?

Here is our intrepid blog photographer in action! You can see that she is not afraid to stand on a chair to get her shot!

LarryPug, my coauthor of the blog this evening.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Baby's Got A Brand New Blog!

Want to read some of my other stuff? You can find my new blog here. Don't worry, PugMom Quilts! isn't going away, but sometimes I like to write about other things.

Hope to see you there!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy