A Festival for Quilters

I couldn't resist joining the party over at Amy's Creative Side. It's time for Bloggers' Quilt Festival. What a treat to see so many wonderful quilts. 

Welcome to my world. If you are a first time visitor I'll clue you in...I'm a batikaholic. I want to share two of the first batik quilts I started years ago...and just finished this summer. 

"Spring" - 63 x 63

Maybe this quilt looks a little familiar. It was a Moda U pattern from 2006-2007.  I finished the top in 2007 but it has been patiently waiting for quilting...and thanks to the 2011 UFO Challenge hosted by Judy at Patchwork Times...it finally happened.  

Here's a peak at the backside for a better look at the quilting.

These batiks are from Holly Taylor of Moda and I had enough left to start a second Moda U quilt, Selvages, in 2008. Kind of like potato chips...one was not enough.

"Spring's Return" -  84 x 98

Time for me to get back to looking at all the quilts on display at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival ...glad you stopped by for a visit.

Working with Santa

I woke up to a white winter land so it seems appropriate to start thinking about Christmas.

Canyon Santa is complete.

The series of Southwestern Santas is done.

Another Week to Tackle

I am tackling the setting triangles for a BOM from Shannon at Pieceful Kwilter.

But first I finished the 10th Block.

A look at my first audition for setting triangles...

Pretty, but I think the green triangles don't have enough contrast.

This is much better.

I might try another green...still auditioning.

This week I am going to start a new project. It's been awhile since I've done that.

It's time for my Breakfast Club gathering on Thursday. I haven't been the best participant the last few months...the night before many of these dates have been unusually difficult nights. In July, Forrest went missing the night before that date. In September my husband felt very ill the night before...so instead of trying to join in on the official class pattern I have decided to take on a strip pattern I already have. This is from the Cozy Quilt Designs book, "Strip Clubbing." I wanted to use some of my Hoffman Bali pops that have been sitting around for years...from the first release of Bali pops.

This pattern looks Southwestern to me so I pulled colors with that look in mind.

The dark teal will be the small pinwheel color.

Working on the Weekend

I did get some work done on quilt projects...it's been awhile since that has happened. 

My Henrietta Whiskers quilt is coming right along. Time to stitch around the wool appliques on the top and bottom borders...then it will be ready to quilt! Though I didn't get it done in time to hang this fall, it sure will be pretty for next year. I would never have made this quilt if it hadn't been for the generous gift Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs gave to the blogging community. It's really been fun to participate and see how other quilters treated the design. It was my first time working with wool applique. I thought it was great...of course I  did...because hand-dyed wool is very expensive...that's just what I need...something else to collect.

I have an official finish. I just finished stitching the binding on this beauty. The design probably looks very familiar. It's from Kim Brackett's first book, "Scrap-Basket Surprises." The design is Snail Takes a Detour. All these batiks were in my stash...it's so important to have a well-stocked stash. I highly recommend this pattern...no points to match up! It went very quickly. The saw-tooth border was my addition...I just have to do something with all those scrap pieces trimmed from the stitch-and-flip method to make the angles...it's a natural half-square triangle begging to be made and used.

SSShhh...Sleeping in the Studio

It is such a dreary day...low clouds blocking all sunlight...a constant light drizzle. One of those days that is the same dull gray color all day. Good weather for making spooky movies. (I ate some Halloween candy to celebrate the spooky mood.) Not so good for people walking...but...the weather is always perfect for dog walking.

After the walk comes puppy nap time.

Tonka and Jenny laying behind my chair as I peck away on the computer. 

We got a call last night that Forrest had been spotted by some boys. We looked for hours but didn't find him. The rainy weather isn't helping the search. If it is Forrest, he is getting closer to home.

X-Stitch Santa Finish

Another cross stitch Santa ornament ready to go for Christmas...I hear it's less than 70 days away!

They looks so cute when they are trimmed. I have one more Santa ornament in the Southwest Santa Series.

Progress with Henrietta

I'm getting closer...

Next will be some black birds on the border.

Back in the Groove

I just couldn't take it anymore...I had to sew something!

I finished the whip stitching around the wool appliques on the final block of  Henrietta Whiskers. While looking for a heart button in my button stash I found a button that I had completely forgotten about that is perfect for the acorn house...

It might be hard to see but the little wood plaque says "Home Sweet Home.""

I managed to get the first border on...

Here's the fabric for the outer border.. I have had this in my stash for years. I can't wait to see it put together. And there are still some wool appliqued black birds to add to the top and bottom strips. I got some yummy hand-dyed purple wools just for those birds.

I also tackled September's block from Shannon at Pieceful Kwilter.

I still need to make the setting triangles for each block but here's how it looks so far.

Here's the main reason I found time to sew again...

Tonka, the newest member of our family, has learned to relax in the studio.

Wild Animal Alert

I see the darnedest things outside my studio window...

How about a little snack of pansies and impatiens...

That hanging basket is going to freeze any night now anyway! That reminds me...I need to get my planters put away for winter...it's coming...the snow is moving down the mountainsides. 

New Boy in Town

Please meet "Tonks." He's an almost-three-year old Bernese Mountain Dog. We are adopting him.

As you can see...he is already making himself a part of the family, hanging out with AK Santini. (That leather sectional is so beat up...it's perfect for snuggling with your new best friend.)

Here's how we came to bring Tonks into our home.

If you are a regular visitor of my blog you know our male Bernese Mountain Dog, Forrest, went missing on July 27th.  He was just shy of turning two and had been through a lot of medical issues in his short life so it made his disappearance extra stressful. With the help of a neighbor, we plastered our community with "Missing" flyers. My husband and I spent hours every day for a month driving the area where we lost him. But it was like Forrest vanished into thin air. 

Shortly after Forrest went missing I contacted our local Bernese Mountain Dog Club and told them I would be interested in taking a rescued dog. They rescue about four dogs a year from around the state of Alaska. Usually they are fairly young and given up because families get them as adorable puppies and just don't anticipate the size that they will grow to or the attention demands they require.

Saturday night I was home alone with our female Bernese, Jenny. We had just finished some cuddling time and I had turned to doing some cross stitch. I looked at Jenny and thought how lonely she looked. The phone rang,  caller ID showed it was Tracy from the Bernese club who is a breeder that we were talking to about getting a puppy. We had just met her a couple of weeks ago. She handles rescues for the club. My first thought was maybe someone had found Forrest. 

Tracy was calling to tell me about Tonks. His owner saw the flyer about Forrest in her local video rental store and thought we might be the family who could take her sweet boy. Tonks' family had simply grown very busy in the last year and was feeling badly about the amount of time he had to spend alone. They made a very heartfelt choice to find a better situation for him.

We met at a local school playground. Tonks reminded us immediately of our first Bernese, Greta. He is a "dark" Bernese with smaller white fields than our girl, Jenny who is considered a "light"  Bernese. After meeting we all agreed it was something we wanted to do. They went home to gather a few things for Tonks and brought him to our home Sunday afternoon. Tonks' first family got a tour of our digs and then they said a tearful goodbye.

The evening meal went well, Jenny on the left, Tonks on the right. Tonks is beautifully trained. I took him for a walk after dinner and he didn't pull on his leash at all. He and Jenny did a little playing together...she also put him in his place a few times. He was a little sad at bedtime but his is crate trained so he finally settled down for a very quiet night.

It was just wonderful to wake up this morning to his smiling face.

A Completion

Fear not...despite the lack of quilting in my studio...there has been a little bit of cross stitching going on.

Finished my Canyon Santa ornament.

Just need to trim it, back it and it will be ready to hang.

Also got the next ornament started...