Pugs on Quilts entry for Pets on Quilts 2016

Hello Dear Blogging Friends,

It is time for our annual Pets on Quilts entry. We are entering in the Pugs on Quilts category. Ok, so it's actually the Dogs on Quilts category, but Elvis and LarryPug are petitioning to have it amended...

I almost forgot to enter this year, and I am throwing my blog post together before the opportunity to enter closes. We ran out into the backyard tonight after dinner and took 51 photos! Eldest pug, Romeo, almost 15, did not want to enter and kept jumping off the bench. 

Mike updated my computer last week and the new operating system is abysmally slow. I am still waiting for my photos to download, so I am forced to email them to myself!

Here are two of my handsome pug boys. Elvis, my black pug, will be 14 in October. LarryPug is seven. He rules the roost. The quilt they are sitting on is quite ancient. I made it almost 20 years ago. The pattern was taught as a mystery by my friend Sandie who blogs at The Lone Quilter.

Here's a close-up.

The very handsome and spoiled LarryPug

To see our previous entries, go to 2015, 2014, and 2013 for more pictures and information about my darling pug boys.

Thanks for visiting! Hello to all our doggy and kitty friends who are participating in the Pets on Quilts contest. We've met so many nice friends through this event. We look forward to it every year.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Oh Baby, The August Quilt Weekend Edition

There must be a baby boom in Boston because I saw a lot of baby quilts being made at our August quilt weekend.

Pat finished three baby quilts, complete with binding! She is a quilting whiz!

Debbie finished two tops. She also finished the top of her baby quilt with stars for her grandson, Kellen. You can see it here. It just needs binding.

Kim P. made this darling baby toy out of fleece. It is a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. The pattern is by Abby Glassenberg and can be purchased here.

I need to work on my baby quilt for my darling friend Anna who is having her second baby next month. It is started, but nowhere near finished. I think the baby will beat me. Anna is expecting another boy. She has also requested that I make her a diaper bag. Yikes! Better get sewing.

She is super skinny and adorable with a giant baby bump!

Anna's first baby, Logan, just turned three and started preschool yesterday!

First preschool, then college!

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

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Star Quilts from Star Quilters

It was a starry, starry night and day at our August quilt weekend. Beautiful star quilts and quilts in progress were everywhere. It was a veritable galaxy of star quilts. Make sure you don't miss the magnificent star quilt made by Joan S., seen here.

Made by Nancy D.

Made by Jo Ann E., on the right, held with assistant quilt holder Joan S.

It's a star quilt with Star Wars fabric!

Made by Debbie.

Here's a close-up.

Here are some star blocks in progress.

Quilt in progress by Joanne S.

Quilt in progress by Kim G.

Thanks for visiting! You have just finished reading my 500th blog post!

Linking up on Tuesday with Freemotion by the River.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Quilt Tops for Pulse

We assembled two quilt tops for the Pulse charity quilt project during our August weekend.

From left to right: Nancy D., Nancy C-T (me), Pat, Joanne S., Terri, Marion, Kim P., Sue and Lori.

A special thank you to all my Brown Bagger quilting friends who made heart blocks and helped sew the tops together. Here is a link to my original blog post with more information on this project.

Sue did an outstanding pressing job. She may be a contender for the coveted Brown Bagger golden iron.

Karen made this lovely quilt top to donate to her quilt group for their next charity event. This is Karen's original pattern, Garden Terrace and you can purchase it here. Tell Karen that you found her pattern on my blog.

We also stuffed three pet pillows with all of the donated scrap fabrics that my Brown Bagger friends save for me.

No piece of fabric or batting is too small to stuff in a pet pillow.

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

A Very Happy UnBirthday to Joan S.

I spent the last three days with my Brown Bagger quilting buddies, sewing, eating, laughing, and singing at our annual August quilt weekend. Karen cleaned up at Right, Left, Center, winning two out of three games and packing up all our Christmas prints and batiks and taking them home to the Berkshires. Her car must have been very heavy. Sue was delighted to win the conversation prints.

We surprised Joan S. with a beautiful unbirthday quilt to make up for the fact that we had missed her milestone birthday, which may or may not have been two years ago. Joan S. isn't much of a talker.

Joan was very surprised since her actual birthday is in May!

Joan S. finished the top of her amazingly gorgeous Kim McLean quilt, Stars and Sprigs. We all agreed that it was the best quilt of the weekend. We took it out to the lobby for a special photo shoot.

Joan created her own original border for the pattern and I love the pop of blue.

Here's a close-up.

 

Nancy D. celebrated her real birthday.

Nancy brought this delicious cake from White's Bakery. Yum!

Nancy's goddaughter Juliana came to the festivities.

Here are Nancy D.'s beautiful birthday blocks.

Nancy chose Kaffe Fasset prints mixed with polka dots. Aren't her blocks fun and lively?

More soon!

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

My Play Date with Lily

My favorite 7-year old gal pal Lily spent the day with me on Sunday. She had expressed an interest in learning to sew, so we started the day in the Studio.

Here is Lily's first time at the sewing machine. My friend Marion is a retired Home Economics teacher so I asked her for some tips on teaching children to sew. She recommended that I draw some lines on paper and let Lily get used to the machine. So we started with sewing on paper, then moved on to some muslin.

Of course, we decided to make pillowcases. We chose some pretty purple and pink flowered fabric for Lily's Mom, Dorothy.

Lily discovered that she had a penchant for pinning.

So she pinned some more!

We worked as a team. I guided the machine and Lily ran the foot pedal. She would also stop the machine and yell "Pin Removal" and pull out the pins so I wouldn't sew over them. She made an excellent sewing partner. I must borrow Lily for my next quilt weekend.

Of course, we also made another owl pillowcase for Lily's collection.

Lily developed her own unique method for turning the pillowcase right side out. Honestly, I didn't even have to stage this for the blog, Lily is such a ham (she takes after her Dad).

Here we are with Lily's finished pillowcases. Of course, I had one for Lily's Dad too. I didn't want anyone to go home empty-handed.

I even made Lily disappear!

Lily loves animals and she gave the pugs lots of cuddles. Here she is with LarryPug. They are exactly the same age with birthdays in the same month.

Lily helped us take the Pug Pack for a walk.

After sewing and taking the pugs for a walk, we played  miniature golf. The course is indoors under black lights.

And of course, we ended our perfect day with ice cream before dinner!

We can't wait until Lily comes back to visit us again! I asked Lily what her favorite part of the day was, and she said, "Everything!" I love this girl!

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

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Anatomy of a Tuffet

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my Tuffet blog post! I really enjoyed making it. My teacher, Kerin Ferrin, is the Tuffet Master. Check out her Facebook page. If you are interested in making a tuffet, here is some information on how the tuffet top is constructed. All you need to be able to do is sew a straight line. It's not hard at all, but I would definitely recommend taking a class because the assembly of the tuffet (the second class) is a cross between upholstering and furniture making.

The pattern we used in class is by Tuffet Source. It is foundation pieced on fusible interfacing. The interfacing is fused to muslin. I started with a jelly roll of Kaffe Fassett fabrics that was in my stash. I was disappointed when I opened it in class to discover that the edges of the strips were pinked and that there were two strips of each design, rather than 40 unique strips. I was also expecting the colors to be the more vibrant royal blues and emerald greens but they were more aqua and turquoise. I ended up raiding my stash for some other Kaffe fabrics to supplement the jelly roll. Because my jelly roll didn't have forty different fabrics in it, I decided to make my panels in two identical sets of eight fabrics (16 fabrics in total). You need eight panels to make a tuffet.

Here is the beginning of a panel. You start with the center seam.

These are the first two pieces of fabric in my panel which correspond to fabrics four and five.

I numbered my strips so I would remember what order to sew them in. Thankfully I took this picture because I took the numbers off as I sewed them.

 

Kerin made sure that we each finished at least one panel in our first class. Our homework was to make the other seven panels and assemble them! She did promise that if we came to the second class with all our panels made, we would go home with a finished tuffet.

After completing my first panel and understanding the foundation piecing technique, I opted to assembly line sew my remaining panels. This helped me keep my colors in order.

Post-it notes are one of my favorite sewing notions!

We got to use power tools in class including an electric knife and an electric staple gun! I loved the electric staple gun! It was essential in constructing the tuffet.

The unknown Tuffet Maker!

Yes, my hair was purple for two weeks... long story... But it did coordinate nicely with my tuffet!

I want to make another tuffet soon.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy