Stash Report Week 22

I've done serious shopping this week, but very little fabric. I sure did load up on books and patterns, though!

In all fairness, there's a box here from Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop that I haven't opened yet. I'll report it next week. I don't even remember what's in there, but knowing me, it probably has something to do with Robyn Pandolph! LOL.

Yesterday, on the spur of the moment, Jane and I headed down to Temecula to two quilt stores. Well, it was supposed to be only one store, but you know how it is.

We walked in Quilter's Coop in Old Town Temecula and immediately ran into Cara and Nancy and Pat. Pat was my first quilt teacher. What a doll! And Cara and Nancy were the reasons for my big fall off the wagon a month or two back when we took a road trip! Jane spotted them and we yelled out, "You're SO busted!" They are the most fun ladies in the world!

We left there after a good two hours, and were on the freeway heading back to Jane's when I "suggested" we stop by Temecula Quilt Company. It is the most beautiful store and the nicest owner. She is entirely focused on civil war and wool and folk-artsy type quilts. The store is open and light, and it's a joy going in there. I'll write more about this store in another blog.

As soon as our friends left, Jane and I scoured Quilter's Coop, the whole store. Almost everything they had is exactly what Kimberly carries, so I focused on books and patterns. And when I say I focused, I mean I.really.focused!



These books are: The Circuit Rider's Quilt by Jenifer Dick, a Kansas City Star book; The Graceful Garden, a Jacobean Fantasy Quilt, by Denise Sheehan, Kansas City Star; Yesterday's Charm by Jo Morton; Voices of the Past, Volume II, by Kaye England; Vintage Journey by Jo Morton; With These Hands by Maggie Bonanomi, Kansas City Star. I love Kansas City Star books, and have collected almost all of them.



Pictured here are: Second Hand Clothes, a Bonnie Blue Quilts pattern; Civil War Heritage, 1860-1865, by Karen Witt; a Signature Scraps booklet, Country Lanes, by Kaye England; a Whimsicals pattern, Fireside Cozy; and Fractions on a Roll by Kari Nichols for Mountainpeek Creations. This is a really cute pattern for jelly rolls.



Here are: French Farmhouse by Need'l Love; Meadowsweet Home by Need'l Love; #247 Friendship Blooms Over the Garden Fences by Crabapple Hill (gorgeous); Cinnamon & Nutmeg by Renee Plains of Liberty Star. This is a teeny quilt that I probably can get finished in this lifetime.

I did buy three yards of a tea-dyed muslin. I think it was a Moda fabric, but I can't find it on their site. I'll have to call the quilt shop to see what it was, or maybe Jane will remember, because I'd like a bolt or two of that.

So three yards wasn't too bad for this spontaneous adventure. I must be getting old!



I also ordered a couple of patterns this week from Brenda Riddle at Acorn Quilt & Gift Company, and got the most adorable pattern in from Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop.

These pictured patterns are: Seasons by Brenda Riddle, a block of the month pattern; My Funny Little Valentine by Brenda, a set of three punchneedle designs; Nottingham by Brenda; and Kati Cupcake by Miss Mazie. I'm thinking this one would be so cute in some of that Mary Engelbreit fabric that I seem to be hoarding.



Oh, and this one blew me away! Jane surprised me with a copy of Collaborate Again by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston. When we got the first Collaborate book, we went on a seriously focused (there's that word again) adventure to find the perfect fabrics. Well, I have two huge tubs of those now and haven't touched them. This just might be the year! Right, Jane?

I'd say I have my work cut out for me!

Sorry this is so long. Just wanted to share because I'm SO excited!

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 119.50 yards
Purchased: 348.125 yards
Net YTD: <228.625> yards

Penny and the Talking Ball

Another gift for Daisy from Lady Baltimore that I brought out for Penny. Every time she touched it, it started talking. This was her first reaction to it!



See why I'm not getting any sewing done?

Here's the thing ...

I won't ever get caught up on BOMs because Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop keeps coming up with new ones!

These five are tempting me now:

A Vintage Christmas by Anne Sutton - I get her Christmas quilt every year, and although I'm a bit behind, I'm sure not going to let that stop me from continuing that tradition! Glace fabric ... I'm in!

Green Piece - this one has wool applique, and I'm going to definitely do it! My friend, Sheila, has been pestering me about working with wool. She's an expert, and I expect her to give me tips along the way! Gorgeous colors in this quilt!

Bespoke Blooms - a Robyn Pandolph design. Those who know me well know that I'm an RP junkie! I really do like the blocks in this quilt. The very first applique I ever did was an RP BOM, Botanika, and I was hooked!

2009 Designer Mystery BOM -- out of GLACE fabric! I loved doing the 2008 mystery, so I'm in like Flynn on this one!

Pennsylvania Dutch - out of my favorite Minnick & Simpson Wiscasset fabric! Love my patriotic colors! This one is brand-new, just hit The Fat Quarter Shop site! Oh, geez, I hope I wasn't the first one who signed up for it!!

Anyway, I just thought I'd take stock of what I'm looking at for the coming year. Looks like I'll be having grand BOM weekends!!!!!

Penny is a Hoot

My dear friend, Lady Baltimore, sent Daisy some Christmas presents, among them a battery operated dog that barks and moves and wags its tail. I had fun with Daisy with it. She loved it!

Well, last night I thought I'd get it out for Penny. As soon as I turned it on, she backed all the way backwards as far as she could on the sofa. So far, in fact, that her back legs were up on the top of the arm, and only her front feet on the sofa. Naturally I didn't have my camera handy.

Then she leapt over it, and decided to check it out from the other direction. What in the world is that thing? (Here's where I grabbed the camera.)



My little dog start barking - and barking and barking. She was moving so fast in circles on the sofa that I just snapped a picture and here's what I got. It looks like she's attacking it, but actually she was barking forward for a step or two, and then barking backwards away from it.



I was laughing so hard! Had to call Jane for her to hear. That's sick, I know.

I guess my sweet little puppy is a big dog now! She barks!

Definitely Blog-Worthy!

Brenda Riddle of Acorn Quilt & Gift Company, and Little Acorns blog, has FINALLY switched over to PC blogging! Hooray!

Please go visit her and tell her THANK YOU for doing that! And thank the adorable little Bailey, too! It was so frustruating trying to visit her blog and her shop when my PC would freeze up and wouldn't talk to her Mac. But now things are happy in bloggerworld!

Brenda designed the Patchwork Party finishing kit that I posted on my last blog exclusively for Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop.

I'm on the reserve list for another of Brenda's gorgeous quilts - Frosted Windowpanes! Really really excited about this quilt! It has piecing; it has applique, and it's out of Glace fabric! Doesn't get much better than that! I can't wait until June!!

I'm heading over right now to the Fat Quarter Shop and to Acorn Quilts to see what other trouble I can get into tonight with Brenda's patterns! Stay tuned!

Finished Prairie Paisley Top

This is an awful picture. It's too big for my living room, and the grass was wet outside. Should have put it on the bed. But at least it's done. Now to go piece the backing.

Happy Memorial Day.

Simply Sophisticated Month 8 Winner!

Thanks to everyone for getting your blocks made this month. I had a ton of emails with pictures attached from folks who don't have a blog. Everyone's name went in the hat, and the winner is ...........

Lynn Mathers!!

Congrats, Lynn! I'll email your gift certificate to you in a few minutes.

Quilters, there are four more months left on this gorgeous BOM. I see Kimberly now has it in the Almost Gone section of The Fat Quarter Shop. It's not too late for a few of you make this wonderful quilt! Click HERE if you're interested! You won't be sorry!

Again and again, thank you to Kimberly and Kevin at The Fat Quarter Shop for the monthly gift certificates! Be sure to stop by the shop and see all the new and exciting things that have just arrived and are Coming Soon! And while you're there, go ahead and poke the button on the 2009 Designer Mystery Block of the Month! I know you really really really want to!! I love that Glace fabric!

Stash Report Week 19 - Week 21

Simply Sophisticate block makers -- the drawing is tonight at around 7:00 p.m. Pacific time. Go HERE for details.

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Stash busting is a myth at my house - especially these last few weeks. But I'm back in the sewing room today and hope to report a couple of backings busted by next weekend! Finally!

I had to dig around through boxes to figure out what's come in this horrible, awful month of May. Towers of Glace and Roses de Noel came in, some Judie Rothermel, and some Nostalgia yardage to enlarge a quilt kit, all from The Fat Quarter Shop. If I missed anything and discover it later, I'll report it then. All total, 36.75 yards incoming. Busted - nothing. I have the Prairie Paisley Patchwork Party top out on my sewing table and I started sewing the borders yesterday. Those were already counted as busted when I cut them, but the backing will be a bust. I want to get that one done this weekend so I can get it in line for quilting.

I'm barely motivated now, but it's coming back. Unfortunately, now I have this little bitty [insert your choice here] (poop factory) (energy machine) (bundle of joy) who thinks it is so much fun to pull on cords and yank on hanging fabric while I'm sewing. Thankfully she wears out after a short time and is put back in her kennel to sleep for a couple of hours while mommy gets things done around the house.

I hated May. June will be better for me, both emotionally and on the stash busting front!

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 119.50 yards
Purchased: 345.125 yards
Net YTD: <225.625> yards

Quilter's Helper

Okay, so I'm sitting in the middle of the living room floor with the camera trying to take pictures of her. All of a sudden she flies out of the room, and comes flying back in dragging this.

Penny + borders = trouble!!

Sooner or Later...

Sooner or later I'll quit trying to snap pictures of that puppy that doesn't quit moving. Sooner or later ...

She chose this toy out of the toy basket all by herself. Then proceeded to chew on it for 55 minutes.





She makes me smile.

Simply Sophisticated Month 8

I hope all of you have your Simply Sophisticated Block 8 made. Mine is still as you see it. I will get it made this weekend, though. Lynn told me I had to!!!!

We're on the back side of this BOM. Four more months after this one! If you like the blocks you've seen so far, it's not too late to sign up for it. Just do it! It's going to be a gorgeous quilt! I can't wait to start putting it together!

The drawing for this month's $25 gift certificate from The Fat Quarter Shop will be held on Sunday, May 24th, around 7:00 pm or so Pacific time. Good luck to everyone! Remember, if you're behind in your block making, just skip ahead to this month. There are only four more drawings after this one!

A HUGE thank you to Kimberly, Kevin and the utterly adorable Miss Emma at The Fat Quarter Shop for donating the monthly gift certificates. What fun to go shopping with a gift certificate in hand! Be sure to check out all the exciting new things hitting the shop. There are two new applique BOMs! See how I get in so much trouble!!

Don't forget to watch the Market activities on their Jolly Jabber blog! Man, I'm practically drooling all over my keyboard at some of the quilts in the market booths! And Sample Spree ....... sigh! I'd love to experience Market some day. I can't even imagine the inspiration overload that everyone gets there!

Be sure to post a picture of your finished Simply Sophisticated blocks on your blog and leave a comment here so we can all go check them out! If you don't have a blog, remember that you can just email your pictures to me to be entered into the drawing! Good luck to everyone!

Thank you

I would like to just take a moment to thank everyone for their kindness during the past couple of weeks. The utter loneliness was just so devastating. I ached, physically hurt, for my sweet Daisy. We had been through so much together over the past twelve years. I cry so easily now. I sob at times. I know thinking of her will get easier as time passes, but right now it's just too raw.

On Monday I was sitting at work just staring at my desk. I couldn't focus on anything, and I just wanted to go home and sleep. I decided at that moment that I need to get back on the horse, so to speak, and started looking for a puppy. After several phone calls on my lunch break, a less than "nice" communication with a rescue group, and a lot of time on the internet, I found a litter of puppies. I made an appointment to look at them on Monday night, and one followed me home.

Her name is Penny.



I got home with her and hadn't a clue what to do. It had been too many years since I handled a puppy. First thing, I had no collar small enough for her, so I dashed over to PetSmart and found one.

She's three months old, and a tiny thing. She will be about 10 lbs when grown.

The first night I cried and she cried, and, yes, I'll admit buyer's remorse. But by the morning I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and decided that I would be a good mother to her. I took her to work with me, and she was very good all day in her kennel with the door open. She "did it" on demand, and seemed to follow my voice and watched me all day. Tuesday night I sat on the floor with her and she started to play a bit. She has no trouble with the leash, and knows what to do when we get outside.

On Wednesday I decided to leave her at home as she would have to get used to that. I thought I would find a mess in her kennel, but, believe it or not, it was clean. But, boy, was she happy to get outside to take care of business! Today I had her at the office again, and she was quiet, slept most of the day, entertained everyone by just being cute and playing with her toy. Tonight she met Jane and the ladies at Ginger's.

Today is Daisy's birthday. I knew it would be hard, but every time I started to cry, I picked up Penny and got some kisses and snuggles.

This was meant to be.

I love you Daisy. You showed me exactly how wonderful a dog could be, and taught me that unconditional love doesn't mean exclusive love. Thank you for sharing your life with me. For the rest of my life I will never forget you.

In Memory

Daisy
May 14, 1997 - May 9, 2009

Rest in peace my sweet angel.

Daisy's Coming Home Thursday Night

I know everyone probably thinks that my world is all-consumed with Daisy right now - and it is. I visited with her an hour and a half yesterday after work, and a half hour today. The vet is so nice, spends a ton of time with me. Tonight I visited her back in the hospital area, so I got to see first-hand how nicely everything is run there.

She is still not eating. They're still force feeding her, and I'll have to do that. Hopefully her appetite will kick off again soon. He told me today on the phone that if her heart were stronger, he'd take her to surgery and insert a feeding tube into her neck where she'd still be able to eat by mouth but it would be easier for me to supplement her food intake. He doesn't think, though, that it would be a safe procedure for her at this point. He is puzzled as to why she's not eating. The Lasix is doing its job for her heart, and all of her blood work and x-rays came back perfectly normal.

When I picked her up out of the kennel tonight, she gave me tiny kisses on the face. Daisy is not a kisser - well, except for Jane. Her idea of kissing is to put the side of her face near your mouth so you can kiss her. I made my heart soar and sing that she actually kissed me and snuggled into me. She did that last night also. Because we were in a room last night by ourselves, I put her up on the table and she wagged her tail a tiny bit. Tonight she drank a whole bowl of water while I was there with her.

She's not out of the woods, and may never be. But I made a decision yesterday after I saw her that I'm going to give her every opportunity in the world to get well. And pray a lot that she does.

She's such a sweet, beautiful little dog. I know a difficult time is ahead for me, but I'm just now trying to focus on how much we love each other.

Daisy Update

My little sweet puppy is in the hospital on IVs. She had gotten dehydrated and was refusing all food. She was throwing up her pills and even water. So I got her in on an emergency basis this morning, and they decided to keep her at least for the day.

I talked to the vet right at 5:00. He wanted to keep her tonight and maybe one more night. He added an anti-nausea medicine to her IV as well as something to stimulate her appetite and vitamins. He said they made up a mixture of a prescription dog food and water and had to force feed her because she wouldn't eat it.

He said that her heart is still compromised. The meds were probably making her nauseous and she was refusing food because she was dehydrated. It sounds complicated. I just want her to get well.

He said he had just checked on her, and she was sitting up in the kennel listening to all the sounds and seemed more alert. She was still not "reactive," whatever that means, but he felt she was doing better.

I'm so worried, but I know she's getting the best possible care right now. He doesn't want to send her home until he knows she will eat and take her pills.

What an awful couple of weeks this has been. It's really quiet and empty feeling in the house. Might be a good time to do some housecleaning.

Sunday's Agenda

I have eight more string blocks to make. Then I can start assembling the rows. I love making these things.

There are so many things I should be doing, but I'm staying close to Daisy. She's not eating, and her stomach has been upset since yesterday afternoon. She is drinking some water, though. I'm heading to the market in a bit to pick up some baby food to try. Maybe something sweet will stimulate her appetite. I called Jane last night about the vomiting. Her nurse daughter was there, and she thinks it's the antibiotics that have her stomach upset. I think I'm going to pick up some Pedialyte and see if she'll drink some of that. It wasn't fun sticking those pills down her throat last night. No food items with which I tried to entice her were working. Breaks my heart. But she is breathing easily and wagged her tail at me a time or two this morning. Some progress.

On the sewing front, I'm on overload. I have that stack of tops next to my sewing machine. Most just need backings pieced and some need final borders. I need to dive in and just do it, but I'm just not motivated right now. One is a present so I need to at least get that one done and off to the local quilter. Maybe doing one will spur me along on the others.

I need to get some blocks made for the Block Lottery contest at The Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber blog. With all the fabric I've purchased from them through the years, I can't make up my mind which ones to use! That's sick, isn't it?! Hope to pull fabric today, and then decide on a block. What a fun time the winners will have assembling the blocks into a quilt or quilts!

Oh, Bonnie Hunter's book came yesterday, Scraps and Shirttails! It's a great book. I read it from cover to cover last night, and now I'm motivated to pull out the scraps. If I can get to them behind all the stacks of yardage! Congrats, Bonnie, on a fantastic book!

Today my world seems a little more "level." Perhaps a long nap yesterday and a good night's sleep last night was all I needed. Now if Daisy would just eat something.

Stash Report Week 18

Yesterday I sewed a bit. With any luck today, and with Daisy's cooperation, I should be able to finish or almost finish a string block quilt top that I'm making for a memorial donation. About half of that fabric will be a bust for me.

Two things arrived this week from The Fat Quarter Shop. First was a tower of Judie Rothermel's Vicksburg. I'm going to be using some of that in a Civil War quilt that's a gift and that I need to start soon. The second package was the Moda U kit, Nostalgia. This quilt is going to be quick and fun to make. I plan on making it this summer. Just need to order the backing when the yardage comes out.

I think I poked some buttons this week - and I think they involved Glace! Pretty much all stashbusting bets are off for me until I satisfy my thirst for this fabric! (Wow, that was a dramatic!) I've been chomping at the bit for this since Fall Market!

So here are the ugly totals - since Judy dared us to post them!

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 119.50 yards
Purchased: 308.375 yards
Net YTD: <188.875> yards

Am I kidding myself about stashbusting? At least I'm keeping records, something I've never done before. My goal is to end the year even ..... don't laugh! Everyone keeps laughing at me when I say that! I just keeping telling myself that I'm stashing for retirement!

Didn't Like This Week

Daisy got really sick Tuesday night and I ended up sitting up with her all night. I thought she was having seizures. Wednesday our VP got her in to his excellent vet, and I took her over there. Turns out she was passing out from lack of oxygen,not seizing. She has congestive heart failure and the fluid had built up around her heart. So $660 later and a huge bag of pills, she's doing a lot better. Still off her feed a bit, but at least she's breathing easily. I'm going to cook some special things for her this weekend to get her eating again. She loves melon and tomatoes, so a trip to the market is in order in the morning. Jane suggested sticking her pills in cherry tomatoes. She'll gobble those right up!

When Daisy was just a little puppy, she figured out how to sit up and pick tomatoes off the plants in the garden. I would get so mad waiting for a particular tomato to ripen just a bit more before I picked it, and lo and behold, when I'd go out there it was gone. I was totally convinced there was a tomato thief in the neighborhood. And then one day I caught her ... on tape! Busted! Anyway, the thought of what almost happened to her really threw me into a tizzy.

And another thing going on is that a very important person in my work life is away for a month or more. There was cancer and a very serious surgery involved. I'm so happy that all seems to be going well on that front. Prayers definitely answered.

Sewing? No.

Poking buttons? A couple but not much.

Sleep deprivation? Absolutely.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be right as rain, but tonight I just want to crash.