Meeting Belvedere

While on vacation we had a chance to visit the litter of Basset Hounds that we will be choosing our puppy from. Many of you know that I lost my dear sweet Wilson last winter and I sure miss him, but it's time to fill that void with a new little puppy. It was so much fun visiting these little guys. Oh my gosh, puppies are little bundles of sunshine! God made them adorable so that you forgive them when they pee on the rug or chew up your favorite shoe!  

Total puppy heaven... so much fun to be surrounded by puppies.

Notice the little guy that kept nudging my leg.... that's Belvedere

trying to get my attention during our puppy visit.... of coarse I had to pick him up!

Here's my mom holding him, doesn't he have a sweet face.

Here's blue collar boy and green collar boy (Belvedere)...

When our turn came up, we had such a hard time choosing. We were stuck between two puppies... blue collar boy and green collar boy... they were almost identical! Well, we laugh because Maddie, our son's dog, broke the tie.... she came up to us and whipped her green toy on our laps. We laughed so hard, Maddie had voted.

Looking back at the photos that I took, this little puppy choose us too! This sweet puppy was meant to be ours.

Belvedere

In just a couple of weeks we will be taking a little road trip to pick up our newest family member. My husband and I are so excited to add this little guy to our family! We have fallen in love with those sad dopey eyes and long ears. It's been a long time since we've had a puppy at our house, I need to do some puppy proofing! 

Have a great day!

Cindy

Wilson's Sweater

So when does inspiration hit? Not month's before Christmas but, a week before. I have been busy doodling away on some new designs for Christmas and it was all due to Wilson. Thank you Wilson. My poor puppy hasn't been feeling all that great lately. He's been to the vet and has been taking some meds but still not sure what's going on with him. Apparently when I'm worried, I also doodle. I can never tell when ideas will pop in my head. It's never a great time, two in the morning, driving to work, while at work or at home when I should be getting the house ready for Christmas. So I will be sharing some last minute projects with you this week. Starting today. Some adorable cuteness for the Christmas season. Thank you Wilson for looking so handsome in your sweater and keeping me company as I stitched away last night. You sparked my imagination!

Wilson is all decked out in his Christmas sweater and all ready to go for a walk outside!

Happy Holidays!

I'm off to wrapped some gifts.... I'm so far behind.

Cindy

My Son is a Hero...

My son is a hero; he rescued a Lab-Rottweiler (Labrottie or Rotten Lab) from a local humane society. He totally fell in love with her a little more every time he visited the humane society to play with her. I knew she was coming home with him when he texted me her picture with the caption, “I’m in love…” Who ever had her before us, must have loved her too. She’s fully trained and eager to please and is a sweet, gentle girl. Within a few minutes of her arrival, she made herself to home and adopted all of us too. We are all in love with her.

We now have a new member to our family. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you may have all ready met my son’s new girl, Maddie. She is a sweet large hunk of snuggles and cuddles. A very sweet doggie. She has stolen all of our hearts and Wilson likes her too. Although he’s not fond of the fact that she de-stuffs all of his favorite toys. Wilson does enjoy the extra companion in the house and when we’re not looking he tries to play with her even though he’s blind. It’s sweet how he follows her outside and ‘listens’ for her to find the door when it’s time to come back in.  My hubby and I have taken them for a few walks and Wilson seems to walk along at a quicker pace listening for Maddie as a reference to where we are going.

"I'm in love..."

One thing we discovered the day after Christmas is Maddie loves to run. I mean LOVES TO RUN… REALLY LOVES TO RUN.  She runs like a greyhound and is a bit of a tease and trickster. She slipped out of her collar while outside, gave my hubby a goofy smile and then off to the races she went! Of coarse it’s a lazy morning, I’m still in my jammies drinking coffee and I hear hubby in a panic, ‘She’s loose’ he yells. We both throw on coats and bolt out the front door in a panic.  (All I can think is ‘what am I going to tell Thomas if Maddie is lost. And we lost her while he was at work!) When I get outside, I find Maddie is frolicking through the neighborhood with a big ol’ goofy grin. After what felt like hours of slopping through my neighbor’s yards in newly fallen, wet snow with my dear hubby, Maddie decides she’s done running and comes home with us. During all of this, hubby had abandoned Wilson outside with the back door open. ‘Thank you Wilson for being a good boy and letting yourself in’.  There is nothing like starting your day, flip-flopping thru several inches of wet snow in your hubby’s oversized slippers with a cold. All of us slept the rest of the day… even Wilson.

 

Happy quilting,

Spring?

Will my yard ever be green again? Will spring ever come? I'm so tired of the white stuff that I could just hurl. I'm sure in a few months I'll be complaining that it's tooooo hot outside. The only one truely enjoying the snow is Wilson. He loves romping around in it when he goes outside. Which I have to admit, I love watching him run around in it. The down side is he's one sticky, stinky, wet, snowball when he comes in.

Spring will come, or so I hope... but in the meantime I will spend my time getting ready for Market.  It's hard to believe I'm only six weeks from International Quilt Market. (Panic is starting to set in) I have never gone, Pattern Peddlers has always represented me.... I'm very excited to go but I have so much to do.  I have a giant list that I have been slowly crossing items off of.  I need to get my flooring ordered this weekend. My good friend Lynn will be over tomorrow to help me with my 'Going to Market' list. I'm printing patterns today to package tomorrow. I've got some samples that need to get done too. I also want to make a banner too for my booth.... so much to do. It's a good thing that I have some time off for Spring break. No trip to Mexico or Arizona for me.... I've got to get ready for Market! If you have ever been to Market, I would love to hear about it!

Now before I get back to my printer, I would like to announce my two winners from the Bird Tree blog hop. It was so much fun seeing everyone's bird projects. Congratulations to...

Material Girl

and

Vickie

They won a copy of my Bluebird applique pattern!

Happy Quilting,

Wilson Update...

Just a quick note to update you on Wilson. He is a smiling happy boy who is adapting well to his new blindness, much better than I am. I sometimes forget that he can't see since he has our home mapped out so well. He follows me around the house closely by my side but I need to remember to give him verbal cues or he will stop and I will find myself downstairs, or in my sewing room Wilson-less. So I call and find him and coax him along. I want to Thank everyone who sent me sweet notes and those of you who bought a Wilson pattern (or two, or three). The support and encouraging words were much needed and so comforting. After the vet visit, it has been determined that he has retinal detachment in both eyes and that there isn't anything they can do. All of his blood-work came back normal so his blindness is more than likely a genetic predisposition. Wilson was a rescue, (which I will do again in a heartbeat) we know very little about his parents. Just that 'dad' was a Brittany Spaniel and 'mom' was a Lhasa Apso and the three puppies were left to 'fin' for themselves when rescued. Wilson was one of the three puppies. Even though I'm saddened that he has lost his sight, I am grateful that it wasn't a side effect of something bigger. So, Wilson will be my happy blind boy. I am finding that he likes squeakee toys and jingle balls and we are teaching him some new ways to play.

Again, I thank you all so much for the thoughtful notes and support. Wilson 'roo-roo's Thank you too!

Happy Quilting,

Wilson

My poor Wilson is or has lost his sight... we are very sad at our home. A recent visit to the vet for some routine grooming confirmed what we sorta all ready knew... Wilson is losing his sight. He's not very old... We were hoping that it was just his fur in the way of his eyes, but it wasn't. I realized how bad his sight was when I brought him home from the vet.... he didn't know he was home and was bumping into everything. As soon as I pointed out to him where his dog dishes were, then it's like things clicked and his mental map of the house was in place again. I have been crying on and off about it all week. I am so sad that he's unable to watch the birds at the feeders anymore. It explains why he hasn't been camped out at his favorite window lately. With our long cold winter here, we haven't gone to the dog park. Now it breaks my heart that he won't be able to chase the birds out of the tall grass along the pond anymore. I don't think I dare let him off his leash again. Now that I know Wilson needs verbal cues, I have become his seeing eye person. I've changed up playing catch with a tennis ball to throwing a loud, rattly toys that he can follow the sound.  Wilson has another vet visit scheduled for Wednesday to test him to find out what caused his eyesight loss. (So here comes the shameless begging...) By buying any Wilson pattern, all proceeds will go to his vet bill which I'm guessing from the initial estimates will be a big chunk of cash.

Source: Wilson Tea Towel #212 via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

Source: Wilson Mug Rug #309 via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

Source: Wilson Reindeer Quilt Block via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

Source: Wilson Santa Quilt Block via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

Source: Is That Gift For Me? via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

Wilson and I thank you in advance for considering a pattern purchase to help defray the cost of his vet bills.

'Roo, roo, roo'  Thank you!

and Wilson too!

Big Plans for FNSI



Fabric for a quilt for Katie! I love the colors!

 I am looking forward to FNSI and do I have some big plans!  My FNSI will spill over into Saturday! Sounds like fun doesn't it!

So here's my plan.... on my way home from work I need to stop at the store and stock up on caffeine.... pick up some yummy snacks and pick up some batting.  When I get home I'm going to throw a pizza in the oven for my family, then I'm going to lock myself in my sewing room to sew binding on a Christmas quilt. (I'll make sure to grab Wilson before I shut the door!) I'm going to cut fabric for Katie's quilt (shhhhhhh it's a gift...) After that, I'm going to turn my upstairs into a mini quilt retreat for Saturday.


Love this pattern! I got it from Missouri Quilt Company.

  My calendar has been circled for about 6 weeks now with "Quilt with Lynn" in bright red ink! I can't wait, a full day of fun with my best friend! I've know Lynn since high school! We've celebrated 'up's' together and held each other up during 'down's'. She's my fifth sister. When our kids were small, we would get together for tea and crafting days, zoo visits, trips to Mc Donalds, then our kids started to dictate and change our calendars with sports, music, band etc. Our lives got crazy! Now our babies are 18... our calendars are freeing up again. With mixed feelings I have free evenings and weekends again. But this Saturday is a mini quilt retreat with Lynn! We both have lists of things to do. I'm looking forward to seeing her projects. 

The building continues, and also some landscaping...



So here is my To-do list

Cut out Katie's Quilt

Make Katie's Quilt

4 mug rugs for mom

1 mug rug for trunk show

bind Christmas Quilt

Pin 'Missouri' Quilt

House blocks

tree blocks

2 charm square scarves

My list is sorta big... but Christmas is coming and I have big plans.

Happy quilting!

Week At The Lake....

I had a wonderful week at the lake with my family.  Why do vacations go by so quickly? My sister shared a really fun app for my phone, Instagram!  It is so much fun to take pictures.  I got hooked on the '1977' and 'black and white' look... I thought I would share a few photos with you...

My view from our boat....

We roasted a few of these....

My hubby with his huge crappie....

Thomas with his two Northerns he caught.... yippie!

I love to sit on the boat and read.... I caught a couple of these...

Sat on the beach and drank a few of these....

Enjoyed the view....

Did some swimming, sorry not a picture of me!  Just imagine a middle aged woman floating in a floaty with a bright green solo cup and straw....

Mark is ready to go and play in the water!

My someday home on the lake.... love this place.... I imagine quilts in every room.

Listened to the wind whisper through the trees....

Stopped at 'Big Chief' for gas.... (seriously this is across from 'Big Chief' the gas station)  

Almost home again....

"I'm so happy you're home!"

Now that I'm home, I need to catch up on laundry, pack away the gear and get back to quilting!  I love going up North to the lake every year, already looking forward to next year!  My vacations and time spent at the cabin is my inspiration for my quilt pattern, "Bear Tracks".

Happy Quilting!