Almost Time to Leave

We are beyond countdown now. In fact, as I write this, we are at T minus 36 hours. I had only one visit to Walgreen's today and bought only one item. I guess that means that everything is packed. Or I should say everything I can think of is packed! I'm not locking my bag until Thursday morning, though!

Speaking of bags, Savannah will have her very own overnight bag to take with her to the petsitter. We tell her that she's going to "Camp Nash" for a few days, where she'll have several dogs to play with and a great backyard to enjoy. Her bag is filled with food for two weeks, lots of treats and toys and her heartworm medicine. Last night she discovered a little bundle of tennis balls in her bag. You can see one in her mouth that she just lifted from her bag!

Our bags have been packed and unpacked so many times. It's just too hot here to think clearly about winter wear, so coats and sweaters come and go and come back again. In fact, our Program Director just called from Russia to wish us safe travel and mentioned that in Moscow today the high temperature was 60. But then she reminded me that St. Petersburg is "in the north" and is much colder! Yikes! I think I need another neck scarf!

Savannah gives these bags a "once over" - I'm not sure what doggie thoughts are rolling around in her head!

Meanwhile, I've been busily sewing Curious George pillow cases for my soon-to-be two year old grandson. His birthday is just seven days after we return from our trip, so I'm very happy to have these finished now. One is for his big boy bed, and the other is for his little pillow he will take to Kid's Day Out come January.

Last week I got a call from Anita Howell, the lovely lady who was quilting my quilts up in Kingsland. She was finished with both my quilts and they were ready to be picked up. Before I could even look for an open day to go to Kingsland, my friend Susie called and said her quilts were also ready and would I like for her to pick mine up for me! What an answer to prayer! She brought them home on Saturday and I have entertained myself over and over with the results of Anita's quilting. I am so through with trying to quilt my own quilts. I'm just piecing tops from now on!

Hmmm. I hope I don't long for one of these to get warm next week! Until I get internet connection (which may or may not be on our trip). I bid you "Da asvid'ania!"



Quilt Tester in Training

From the very first quilting class, my Westie Treasure was my sewing partner and loyal quilt-tester. One of her favorite napping places was up on my sewing table, preferably on a stack of fabric. If I had to scoot her off the table so I could sew, she would find a nest right by my feet.

Once I had a quilt top laid out in preparation for finishing, or maybe just laying a finished one out to be photographed, Treasure would find a comfy spot and do a "trial nap" to be sure the quilt was satisfactory! Once it passed the Treasure test, it always went directly to the washing machine!

When Savannah came on the scene she was not familiar with the ways of sewing. She doesn't mind napping in the sewing room while I'm busy piecing a quilt. But she never has shown much interest in either the process or the finished product. Until last night!

When I laid out the Fabric Frenzy top for its photograph, little Miss Savannah decided it was time she did a sniff test on this strange object. "Finally," I thought to myself, "she's showing some interest in my hobby. I have another sewing partner!" However, after giving a good sniff to the quilt top, she proceeded to try to dig a little nest in the center of it! I scooped her up as fast as I could and decided she might need a few lessons in "quilt ettiquette!"

Hope springs eternal!

A Diminished Fabric Frenzy

Last night and today I slipped in some time to work on the fabric squares for my Fabric Frenzy quilt. Fortunately I had some leftover strips from the jelly roll I used on the last quilt, because I needed more 2 1/2 inch pieces without using up all my charms. When all was said and done, I could either get nine finished squares or eleven. And I was so hoping for twenty!

So nine it is, and here is the frenzied nine-patch middle...

I have some leftover off-white fabric that will make up one border. Then I must decide how much more border I want and where to get the fabric for it. I think I will have some leftover backing that matches one of the charms in this quilt. So I guess this one will be an ongoing project. At least I'm having lots of fun with it.

Speaking of fun, here's another picture of my pretty Westie.

I just brought her inside for the night. It's a good thing we took those bows out yesterday or she would surely have lost them in the bushes where she chased a squirrel! We are now counting down the days to our Russia trip - after today it is 13 days away! All the clothes I'm taking are laid out on the dining room table. Graham's bag is packed. And Savannah is starting to divorce herself from me. She knows something is up. For the last two nights she has slept in the TV room and only comes up on my bed when she's ready for me to wake up! I'm starting to tell her that she's going to "Camp Nash" in a few days. There she'll have the company of some other dogs and the Nash children to play with.

Meanwhile, we pray for rain here in Texas and drier skies in the Northeast. God help us.

Fabric Frenzy

I must be in one of my quilting moods, because every time I finish one quilt top, I see a pile of fabric begging me to do another one! And I have discovered a storehouse of video tutorials from one of my most favorite quilt teachers, Eleanor Burns. She has a whole video theater on her website. As I was looking through the titles the other evening, this one caught my eye: "Fabric Frenzy"!!!

Eleanor has jumped on the pre-cut bandwagon and she offers lots of opportunities to use them. I happened to have one extra package of Prayer Flag charms, and lots of leftovers from the last quilt. So I jumped right into her class and studied her instructions till I felt that I could follow them. I can't show you what the finished quilt will look like yet, but all these pieces of fabric sewn together properly will make these nice ten inch squares that will eventually be pieced together to make a virtual frenzy of 42 different fabrics! And it's so much fun!

Each ten inch square will be loaded with different patterns and colors and sizes. Because the fabric is all from the same line, all the colors complement each other and the frenzy will at least be manageable and easy to look at! Here are three finished squares. I hope to make twenty of them.

Today was Savannah's "Spa Day" at Pet, Bath & Beyond. I really love that place! The groomers at PetSmart were unable to groom her properly due to her "jumpiness," but she has encountered no problems at all at PB&B. Her first haircut there was done really nicely. Today she only needed a bath and a few areas trimmed. I forgot to mention to the lady who took her in that she really doesn't care for bows in her hair. So she came out looking like a sweet little girl! I begged her to let me photograph the bows before they were removed! I'm afraid the lizards and squirrels would laugh if they saw her running toward them with pink bows on her ears! Sans bows, she is a very pretty girl!

Here is the link to Eleanor Burns' video theater. And another link to Pet, Bath & Beyond.

Let's Do "Crafts!"

Grandson Adrian is in his second year of Kid's Day Out this fall, and he loves to do "crafts." Being a very bright little boy, he needs something to keep his hands and mind busy or he'll get into all kinds of mischief. When he comes to my house to play, he either wants to watch Thomas on DVD or do crafts at the kitchen table. So while I was at Target looking through the "Dollar Spot," I came across some color books that feature "dot-to-dot" activities. Perfect!!

Adrian has his own technique for conquering the puzzle. With crayon in hand he first studies the picture to try to determine the outcome.

Now that he knows where to begin and end, he gets a little lip action going. That helps with the concentration, you know!

Some may see this as just "playtime" but, as you can tell, to Adrian this is serious business. He has 15 to 25 dots to connect here and it's important to get them all in correct order. See that concentration?

Success! Can you guess what the puzzle turned out to be? Here's a hint: "Who" is it? Why, it's an OWL, of course! And what does the owl say? "Whoo! Whoo!"

We love our crafts!