pieceful kwilter: pets

Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts

Paw Prints On My Heart

Almost 15 years ago, after my move to Atlanta, i realized i was lonely. After some deep thought i decided a dog was exactly what i wanted/needed. off to the Atlanta Animal Shelter i went. it was overwhelming!! hundreds of dogs and the noise, so i just started walking up and down all the aisles. The dog in run 156 caught my eye. Just sitting there quietly taking it all in. His paperwork said that he had been found tied to a dumpster in Douglasville. his eyes had a depth that only an old, wise understanding soul could have. that was my pick- i wanted him. After all the paperwork was completed, the gentlemen happened to notice something. "he's been here 2 months, if he wasn't rescued today he'd been euthanized tomorrow" lucky dog.....and the name stuck.

and so a friendship began- i'd never had a dog before and he patiently suffered thru the learning curve and all my mistakes. We both had lots of lessons to learn from each other.


Lucky Dog April 1999- December 2013

All good stories have an end, and yesterday we said goodbye to Lucky. I will always remember how he'd tuck his butt and spin when we played and his deep hatred of yellow jackets and wasps. He'd kill them and eat them like it was his personal mission. But most off all, i will remember that HE rescued ME.

Bye Bubba Dog, you were the best! Love you, and most of all, thank you!

The final posting

i heard from the rescue about petal!! here's a link to her at the northern shelter. (if you click the link and it's not petal- that's good news!! it means she was adopted)

if you live in the Salem, MA area, she can be your forever friend!

i also wanted to share this picture. this is her balancing on her butt sitting up. i think she looks like a bunny rabbit...we called it 'sitting pretty' and she would almost do it on command...

i missed her for a couple of days, and after hunting season is over i will likely foster again :)

also, if you've made it this far, thanks....i need something, i need empty spools. my thread doesn't come on these cute little plastic spools....so if you have some you'd be willing to share, let me know- i'll even pay for shipping or trade some fabric for them....half_square (at) hotmail (dot) com

thanks in advance

stitchin' away...

i worked on some quilts to be published in a book, so i can't share pictures til after the book is released...

but i did stick one of my own quilts on the frame couple weeks ago.

this is a jelly roll quilt (aka 1600 quilt) that i made from strips cut from my dog fabric stash. i can't believe i'm getting ready to admit this, but i cut 80 strips with no repeats *eek* and those are just the 'smaller' scale prints...i cut my WOF strips in half cause some of my strips were cut from FQs for a total of approximately (158) 20" x 2.5inch strips.

so basically, i used two jelly rolls worth of strips and here's the math: the strips go up and down instead of across, so all my dogs are going sideways *shrug* doesn't bother me....the finished top was 64" x 103" and i could of sewn one more 'lap' that would of made it about the same size and all my dogs would of been right-side up with my strips running right to left. i felt lazy and just chopped 20inches off the bottom and added my borders...finished quilt size 83 x 98 inches.

the outer border needed to be pieced, and since it was a larger scale i didn't want floating chopped off dog fronts and backs across the seam. i had a genius moment and pieced in a matchy paw print. i think it solves that problem quite well...

i named it 'dog days of summer' and there's my cute label...i love piecing my labels into the back and quilting over them.

and to change the subject- i've been very good with my goal of finishing up some of my UFOs this past year, and have been looking to start a few new future UFOs :) i laid out all my african wax prints that i've been collecting and i think i'm ready to start cutting in to them. i was thinking i might make some really big granny squares with them paired with a black background...whatcha think?

while i was snapping pictures of my fabric, look where Petal hung out. such a sweetie....

reminds me of this picture...

speaking of petal, i have news- she will be chauffeured north to Salem, Massachusetts on Tuesday. so, we will be saying goodbye (barney will be saying 'good riddance') to our house guest.

(yes i'm in PJs- it's just one perk of working from home :) )

Petal

the stray i found, Petal, is settling in nicely. she has commandeered barney's bed (much to his chagrin)

look at them short little legs.....and the ears! too cute. such a sweetie. she'll be a good companion to someone!

but not here :) she officially belongs to a rescue group that caravans dogs north to be adopted. up north, their spay and neuter programs have been so successful that they have more people to adopt than they have dogs, so the rescue shuttle dogs north for adoption. cool huh? i joke that i'm teaching her to bark without a southern accent so she'll fit in better :)

Glacier Star and a house guest

vickie picked up her JN Glacier Star quilt today.

she did a great job!! i like the fabric choices and colors...

you can click the pictures for a bigger, better view.

now, i think JN quilts are gorgeous!! but (there's always a but) from a LA quilting perspective they are a pain to design custom work for!! although they look symmetrical, they are in fact, not really...the points of the geese don't touch, makes it hard to 'travel' the stitching motifs from one patchwork piece to another...

but with all that said, when i'm done- it really is a beautiful finished quilt...

i have a house guest!! look at that face *aww*

Meet Petal (i picked the name!! great name for a dog, huh? :) ) she's a 1.5 year old basset hound mix. someone dumped her close to my neighborhood. found her huddled on my front porch covered in mud and fleas and smelling like dead fish. After a bath and vaccinations, she looks like a new dog. she is a sweet little lap dog that loves belly rubs!!

i'm fostering her til she finds a (responsible) forever home.

and no- that's not here with me....she'd be a perfect fit into our 'pack', but three dogs is a bit much...i told her she showed up too early....

an unexpected visitor

well, it wasn't so much 'unexpected' as a 'forced' visit....

i saved this little guy from being a Barney snack. i knew something was wrong when i opened the back door and he didn't fly away with the rest of the birds in the yard. my guess is he fell out of his nest tree and hasn't quite mastered the flying thing to make it back to his family. i have a call into a wildlife rescuer....

i won't forget the symbolism either...a visit from the blue bird of happiness....

davis will laugh- can't even walk the dogs and come back without a pat down...

house guests

i am pet setting three cats. davis's daughter had the opportunity to travel to Japan for a couple months and now i'll have in-house dog sitting in trade. lucky is getting old and it's better if he stays here.....

i have been missing Lucy and was thinking that i might like to revisit having a cat in the house.

these three have changed my mind.
they get into everything!! and i totally forgot how stinky cat poo is *whew*

this is Skylar. he's a mean sadistic cat. i trust him about as far as i could throw the house. notice the distance of the photo. he snores when he sleeps....it sounds like someone slowing squeezing and releasing a squeaker toy...it's kinda cute, i guess.

this is LeaLou. she finally came out from under the bed. it only took a month. she drools and has a distinctive smell. she's so stealthy that sometimes the only way to know she's in the room, is the smell.

this is Fatsy. he's my favorite. they aren't mine, so i'm allowed to have a favorite. him and barney actually play together. they 'chase' each other around the love seat then Fatsy takes off down the hall, Barney looks all rejected and looks at me whining.

they will be going home soon....

hoppy valentine's day.

a big *SMOOCH* to my husband!

what is that smell?

i love it when barney hangs with me in the studio.

i don't like it when barney's belly is upset and he has gas....*stank!* my studio is in the basement and has no air current, so smells hang- just like the green clouds in cartoons

poor noodle....

do they make a canine Activa?..... i'll be running to petco for some wheat grass and maybe some cottage cheese in his food tonight....would yogurt help?

noodle head

what's that little grey thing you're holding? doesn't smell like anything worth eating...

leaving on a jet plane

i'm going to be heading out of town soon to teach LAing and will be scheduling some posts to keep yall distracted :)

here's barney on the couch the other night. i took it with my iphone. is he smiling? noodle dog

did you catch that?...i took the pic with my iphone....yup- i offically have a cell phone now. davis bought it for me. i have tried to stay away from a cell phone as long as i could, but he threw me in the 21st century. i am amazed by all the things it does. all this technology that fits in the palm of my bitty hand...he says it makes him feel better that i have in case of an emergency....i thought that was what the glock was for *grin*

wierdest picture ever!

lucky was all cuddly last night and i was taking his picture.

this is one right as he licked his nose.

weird huh?

i think it looks like he blew a bubble with bubble gum and it popped....

davis says it's wierd that you can see the exact outline of his nose.

wildlife comic relief

how can you tell when it's really hot outside????

the squirrels start to melt

*giggle*

(this is one of the babies that i rescued
he's sitting at the table davis built. there is a nail sticking up and we stick ears of whole corn on it for the squirrels. )

i guess i need to find something to put some water in for the relief of the backyard critters....

...and they lived happily ever after

remember the baby squirrel saga?

i have an epilogue. the rehabilitator emailed me to ask if i would be willing to let her release them in our backyard. *shrug* sure, why not...they were 'mine' to start with. she also had two other rescued squirrels that came along too.

her husband screwed a nesting box high up in a tree and opened the hole and we sat back and watched them run around exploring all the tree tops. it was cute...i know, i ustah hate squirrels in my backyard, but these are my squirrels...that perspective changes things (funny how that happens, huh? life lesson..?...)

anywhoo- here's two- one in the feed box (i put out food til they find their own natural resources) and if you look, there's another on the ground.

so now i have four new neighbors...and all the distraction that comes with them :)

just one innocent question...

i went to a local pet supply chain today and while i was waiting i noticed a lady carrying a light fixture box wearing a confused look. the box was the dead giveaway- she didn't belong in a pet store.

so i asked one simple innocent question:

What's in the box?

turns out, english was not her first language and between my very basic knowledge of spanish and her understanding of my english (and some great charades action) i found out that two baby squirrels fell out of her chimney...ahh, the signs of spring :)

so she opens the box and i'm horrified to see she has them bedded in fiberglass insulation..i told her she needed to call Animal Control. no go- language barrier. then she hands me the box and says "you take" i didn't know if it was a question or statement. she turns an walks away- yup- statement.

so here i am in the middle of the pet store the brand spanking new guardian of two BABY squirrels. no good deed goes unpunished. thankfully the staff helped me get them out of that fiberglass and in some nice soft bedding in a more appropriate carrier.

get ready for some serious cuteness!

davis said i'm no longer allowed in the house without a pocket search and a thorough pat down.

but i did find a great new use for my scraps. the babies seemed to really like them.

i am waiting for traffic to die down and i'm off to the local rehabilitation center.

sunny side up

lucky loves to lay in the sunny patches in the floor... i'm well trained, i move his bed out of the corner for his maximum comfort during the vitamin K soak

i have been wanting this picture FOREVER!! when he lays just right, his ear will stand straight out...it's his sign of total body relaxation.

lucky doesn't like the camera, so if he sees me with it, he disappears. plus, when his ear sticks out like that, he usually will flick that muscle to get it to flop back down...

green with envy

i am so jealous....i would love to be able to lay in the sun taking it easy...

but i'll have to get lucky to do it and tell me later what it feels like...

on the quilting front- i am busily working on a client quilt which i'm hoping to have finished later today!

plus- i have made 5 of the BOM blocks! and folks- it's to die for!! it's going to be a drop dead quilt!! a quick link to january's block is over there ---> in the side menu....get it while it's hot!

just a couple of pictures...

first, the completed flimsy from the freebie christmas pattern i posted yesterday. the inner border is 2" finished and the outer border finishes at 6". i plan on using a bright fushica pink and tangerine orange pieced binding. i have no idea what i'll do for the backing. i'm thinking i might use a sheet...they come in fun colors and a queen cotton sheet at my local chain store is only $11.

this flimsy bashed approximately 9 yards from my stash....didn't even make a dent!

and i haven't posted a picture of barney in a while

i love those little piggie ears!

lucky hates having his picture taken, so this is rare. if i get the camera out, he quickly disappears from the room. i think he looks very worried and concerned...i think he's waiting for me to turn my head so he can run.