Dogs! « Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts

Archive for Dogs!

Best possible outcome

June 6, 2009 at 7:19 am · Filed under Dogs!

Just an update on the stray Boston terrier — her family claimed her at the animal shelter. Yea! Having had brief incidents with my own strays, I know how relieved they must be.

Now it’s off to tend the fabrics and hopefully not get led astray among the bolts myself. That is, if I can wake up today. Feeling awfully creaky and tired today for some reason…or for no good reason other than aging?

And don’t forget to enter the mass of SEWN giveaways before the deadlines! For any of you who remember the sale commercials: Open, open, open, open.

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Wanna hear a funny story?

June 3, 2009 at 3:57 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things

Good. Had I not had a long session with the seam ripper today, I would be showing you the COMPLETED Savannah Satchel. Alas…maybe tomorrow.

Instead, I want to tell you what happened the other day. My grandpa – my mom’s dad - died on Friday. I have been extraordinarily lucky to have had all four of my grandparents well into my adulthood–even my daughter has had them to an age when she can remember them well. This loss was especially hard for all of us.

But a strange thing happened the day Grandpa died. We grew up with Boston terriers. He raised Boston terriers for a while. To us, there was no other kind of dog to have–Bostons were the best. I see more and more of them around my little town, but where my parents live, they are fairly uncommon.

I was on the phone with my mom in the evening when a stray dog came up on her porch. Do you know what kind of dog it was? A stray Boston terrier appeared on her porch. It had a collar. It appeared well cared for and was very well behaved. My parents walked it around the neighborhood in hopes that the dog would lead them somewhere or someone would be out looking for this little dog.

No one recognized it. They took it back home. At this time of day, the animal shelter was closed, but a police officer came and picked up the dog and took her to the animal shelter for the weekend. After the funeral on Monday, we called to check on the dog. No one had called to claim her by the afternoon.

Where in the world did this little dog come from and where does she belong? Assuming no one claims her this week during her “stray” period, I’d like to think I know where she belongs.

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I don’t like Mondays

April 27, 2009 at 3:39 pm · Filed under Books, Dogs!, Everyday Things, Quilts

Generally, I don’t mind Mondays. I awoke bright and early with a good attitude. After all, it was lovely and I got to wear sandals and short sleeves. And then small things started going downhill. A girl might begin to think she was being conspired against.

grsq

I went downstairs to start the day’s laundry. Yuck. The inside of the washer was covered in dirty stuff. Probably crumbling wood support beams or something minor like that. So, OK, do a rinse load to get that stuff out and start the actual laundry after walking the dogs.

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Note to self: For a variety of reasons, it is probably not a good idea to walk the dogs on the morning of garbage day (although I think it is their favorite day and time for walks..). The skittish-est of the dogs got out of her harness during a skirmish with some empty garbage cans. Mind you, the dogs wear harnesses instead of just collars during walks because they’ve both gotten out of their collars (see previous note re skittish dog…).

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I could see in her wee brain that she was trying to decide what to do with her newfound freedom. In the end, she crouched on the sidewalk and submitted to re-harnessing. I think a full-body harness is next.

Upon returning home, I thought it was a good time for a fresh pot of coffee in the freshly washed coffee making apparatus. Mmmmmm….can’t you just smell it?

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AND CAN’T YOU JUST SEE IT FLOWING OVER THE COUNTERTOP AND ONTO THE KITCHEN FLOOR BECAUSE I FORGOT TO PUT THE POT UNDERNEATH?!?!?

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Sigh. I guess the kitchen rug needed washing anyway.

But it is a lovely day, warm, sunny. Did I mention a tad windy? Gosh, I don’t even mind that I’ve had to retrieve the garbage cans about eight times.

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And then I met my arch-nemesis.

linenthread

The linen thread. I’ve stitched with this before. Ten blocks of decorative straight stitching, most recently. Just two more blocks to go and I’d be ready to pin a quilt.

Even with the help of my able linen-stitching assitants, I am not yet done with the second block. Good heavens it is hard getting this stuff through the fabric!

assistance

Those are finger cots, by the way.

Oh well, there is still part of the day left. If I get these math books checked and some dinner made, I *might* get this quilt pinned.

In the meantime, the granny square without end is about 30 inches across…with no end in sight. Kind of addictive. Except that my skin appears to be bothered by prolonged contact with metal (a crochet hook, for example…I guess I could wear finger cot protection…). And the rounds are getting prolong-ier.

I was going to mention Kaffe scrap bags over at Glorious Color…but it looks like I didn’t need to mention it because they are sold out. OK, then I will mention that they have Jay McCarroll’s fabric collection on sale.

Oh, and I saw a really great new book over the weekend called Super Size ‘Em by Debbie Kratovil. Great super-sized blocks that she shows with a lot of Kaffe fabrics (including a lovely Princess Feather). Ooooh aaaaah. I will definitely be adding this one to my book collection!

If you’re having a Monday with a few bumps in the road, go listen to some Flight of the Conchords (caution: Hurt Feelings has a couple of bad words…) and you’ll surely cheer up.

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It’s a beautiful day

March 27, 2009 at 3:50 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things

If you turn nine today, it may indeed be a beautiful day.

You may get one of these:

bday1

(which will require you to then decide what to do with the money you’ve been saving for one)

This beautiful day may lead to this:

bday2

(note: your reaction to the Talking Heads may differ, but I hope not)

Or this beautiful day may lead to this:

bday3

Or even this:

bday4

And then your excitement involves more members of the household:

bday5

An audience, as it were. (unless you’re the one in the background scratching your ear because you have an ear infection)

And then you also do this:

flap

If you are the mother of a nine-year-old on this beautiful day, when you open your freezer, you may see this:

sideways

In which case you also wonder what to do about this since there are no additional people eating this particular ice cream cake and one of the household has given up sweets and dairy. (anyone want some cake?)

Ah, well, it is a beautiful day.

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I’m your biggest fan

November 20, 2008 at 8:14 pm · Filed under Books, Dogs!, Everyday Things, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts, Tools

As I was waxing lyrical in my head about how luminous the green is in this Kaffe spot:

(I swear it is the only thing close to sustained sunshine we will be getting around here for a while.)

the mail man knocked on the door. He didn’t need to knock because the Amalgamated House Bear Society Auxiliary 253 had already announced his arrival (having previously announced the arrival of the wind blowing, a car driving by, a random member of the public walking by, and so on). I went to the door. Oh, he was bearing gifts today! I think I love you, Mr. Mail Man. Ahem.

Yippee, the beautiful Kaffe totes from Glorious Color:

Gorgeous, no??? Very reasonably priced, IMHO.

And, wait for it:

Look! Dividers for your breakables. I had to go next door to borrow a bottle of wine for demonstration purposes. What did you say? Did you say that I had to go next door to borrow an UNOPENED bottle of wine???

Well, between the Fat Sacks and the Kaffe tote, I think the case can be made for carrying the groceries home in a pretty way!

But that’s not all that was in the package:

ACK. This is the Heart Attack Fat Quarter Pack. It is most certainly blog-worthy. This would be the ultra-luscious Kirman print from Kaffe’s most recent fabrics. Wouldn’t these be pretty as bandboxes?? Just when I think I know which color I like best, I look at another one and then I can’t decide. I don’t know, I just feel lucky we have such beautiful fabrics to play with. Once upon a time, I could remember all the names of Kaffe’s prints, but now there are so many, I’m losing track. That’s how lucky we are. Or that’s how bad my memory is getting…

So, what I was working on when the mail came:

Liza’s Economy Blue Patch Quilt from Country Garden Quilts.

However, mine will be pink:

Two of these will surround the larger blocks. I’ll have to decide which red to use:

Yep, this is certainly brightening things up around here!

And I finished the hand quilting on the doll dress quilt and am stitching down the binding. Then to add the buttons and a label and put that quilt in the mail. I haven’t done that much hand quilting in years, as you may know. While it felt like it was taking forever and a day to get that small piece done, I believe there may be more hand quilting in my future.

To that end, I tracked down some pretty tools that were hiding out around here:

A girl will certainly be motivated to hand quilt if she knows she can use her “Sting” scissors and her thimble with stars. Sounds like a soup.

May you find a bright spot in a November day.

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Pillow talk

September 23, 2008 at 6:57 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things, Great Quilt Patterns

The dandelion pillows are finished. They make me wish I lived in a household that was cordial to pillows. Decorative pillows would reside on the dogs’ play structure (aka the living room furniture). The pillows that came with the furniture were summarily chewed. They were test cases. We haven’t had decorative pillows since.

Here are the pillows before they are removed to a secure location:

Such a satisfying little project. I fused the appliques and DID NOT finish the edges. Instead I quilted tightly over the pillow surface. Here’s a good place to practice free-motion quilting without having to wrangle a quilt.

One of the couch residents was surprised to find a pillow photo shoot taking place:

Seconds later, her interest waned:

Before I forget, why is it that pillow forms are so expensive? I don’t think I’ll ever be less than shocked when I see the price. Of course, I did not retreat to my basement of stuffing and make my own lumpy renditions of pillow forms. It’s just always puzzling to me…I also don’t get why rugs and lamps are so expensive. Notice I’m not complaining about the price of groceries or good shoes.

For some reason, the photo of the colorful fish bowls in yesterday’s post really tickled me. So I decided to take a pic of another colorful opportunity:

Origami bookmarks. These are really fun to make–even if you’re making a whole classroom’s worth.

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Two stupid dogs

July 2, 2008 at 8:27 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Quilts

I was going to title this post: “Those are for the DOLLS, not the DOG.” But then the second dog got into the act, and I just couldn’t help myself.

This is a burst of doll-culinary creativity–a Crabapple-Mulberry Sandy cookie:

This is what is left of a Crabapple-Mulberry Sandy cookie:

At different times, both dogs showed up at the back door with sand-covered snouts. One day long ago, this was sterile sand. I wonder if it still is…or if that matters in a dog’s digestive tract. Maybe one of these cookies would cure dear daughter’s day-long hiccups. Hmmm…

Someone needs to do a better job of cleaning up the outdoor cooking. That would probably end up being me.

You DO NOT want to sit next to either of these canines later today!

The only quilt-related item is that the Renaissance blocks are together. They pretty much look like they did yesterday (and I only had to rip one row). Now to decide borders and go sweep up some cookies.

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The blog before the storm

April 11, 2008 at 9:15 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things, Quilts

Many errand-y types of things occurred today. I am grateful that the stormy weather held off while I over-caffeinated myself, delivered 60 pounds of dog food, bought a really large second grade math workbook (a kid has to do something fun over spring break, no?), and went to the library.

Oh, and Trader Joe’s had these lovely things today:

They reminded me of the border fabric I’ve been working with:

Here are some of the new friends we encountered while dropping off the dog food:

Oh, and, say, Mr. Kitteh, we’ll have to catch you next time on the food thing. Sorry about that. Don’t be mad, ‘kay?

The mail carrier brought this loveliness:

Yea, yea, yea!

OH! Sue Spargo now has a blog!

Finally, Lily, of whom I am normally very fond, tagged me for six quirky things. I’ve started a list twice and will have to revisit that in a future post. Not that I don’t have lots of material. Perhaps it’s the narrowing-down process that has me stymied. Until then, I reference myself.

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Twas the the night before the return to school

December 17, 2007 at 10:47 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things

Which is more wearing on a person (who is not very prepared for Christmas): a colossol dump of snow or a snow day? Yeah, I don’t know either, but a combination of the two has me exhaustipated. But, good news, people, they plowed the bus stop! They haven’t plowed the bus stop in the three years we’ve been renting a space there. Funny, the bus stop was plowed, but the children were nestled all snug in their beds resting up to drive their parents crazy today.

So, in my charming holiday spirit, we did several festive things today. Jo-Ann’s, Target and Michael’s! We were undaunted by the snow mountains newly appearing in shopping center parking lots. Hey, those would be good for sledding! Come on, it was only about 7-8 inches of snow (wait, my armpit muscles say don’t forget about the blowing and drifting), we were out milling around yesterday. Something about work and a hair cut with some Christmas shopping squeezed in for good measure. Those are muy importante!

And I would like to further thank Trader Joe’s for carrying this relaxing product for our entertainment today:

A kit and a couple of cans of frosting-spray and we were ready for festive-ness. It was not long, drawn out and painful. That is all I can ask from some activities.

For example, cleaning up after this:

What you see is the main path of the storm. The bottom half of our tree was stripped of ALL of its ornaments by a freak storm called Pixie. This must be what happens when good dogs get bored and see something they think they can reach. She had been so reliable. Now she gets crated just like everybody else. I can show you this now because there appears to be nothing lodged in her digestive tract (although I’m sure her IQ will go down when she is tested next…all that lead paint on the ornments?)

Whew. Sewing? Maybe. Some day soon?

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Thank you, thank you very much

November 20, 2007 at 7:36 pm · Filed under Dogs!, Everyday Things, Fabric

We had a wonderful visit with my mom. She brought the aforementioned sugar cream pies. Hmm, still not quite right. This one may have too much vanilla flavor. I’ll have to continue my research. I have many versions to try…but probably not until after the holidays. I think there will be enough sweet temptations in the near future.

Spoil-sport that I am, I decided we weren’t going to the casino on her visit. So, we did a bit of shopping. I kind of wish I hadn’t gone into H&M…danger, danger. And, my mom asked my daughter what one place she should see while she was in town. Dear daughter said Target. Yes, Mom doesn’t have the ever-exotic Target near her. So we had to go. It’s a sad day when a person has to leave her state to get Solo cups.

While Mom was here, something lovely arrived:

Say it with me, “oooooh, aaaaaah.” Pretty, isn’t it?! I was a winner over at Linda Lum DeBono’s blog. These beauti-mous fat quarters are from her Funky Flowers line from Henry Glass. I plan to put these to good use…maybe using a pattern from Linda’s Cool Girls Quilt book. So fun! Thanks so much, Linda!!

During Mom’s visit, there was no sewing to speak of. It skips a generation in our family. So, I need to get back to the machine. But, um, I hope I didn’t “clean” away any important piles in the sewing room At some point in “cleaning” mode, I picked up piles and just put them in boxes. I’m sure I’ll be mad at myself sometime soon for doing this. Still, here is my mom’s comment about my sewing room: “It looks like a store in here.” Is that a compliment? I guess she could have said it looks like a colorful garbage dump in here.

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