I woke at an odd time in the night to fall back asleep…you know, that 45 minutes before it’s really time to get up. I ended up grabbing my phone and scrolling through. Oh! I forgot. Becky from Quilted Twins was starting her mystery quilt today.
I hadn’t planned on doing her mystery quilt. I wanted to but at the time it came out, I was working, had a pile of stuff to do and had projects that needed attention. I just couldn’t start another project….well then COVID-19 hit. I’ve tackled a few of the projects. I thought maybe I should do the mystery to keep my mind off things. I have a wedding a couple other events I typically donate quilts to so this would be a way to get one of those done.
So I laid in bed thinking about what fabric I had. I don’t keep yardage. I never have. 90% of my stash is fat quarter and 1/2 yard or less cuts. I ended up looking up the requirements and it was 2 yards brown, 2 yards red, 1 yard gold. Hmmm. I really was pressed to figure something out. She also made the option of 2 yards dark gray, 2 yards bright blue and 1 yard light gray.
I laid in bed thinking…finally I just got out of bed and started looking.
I keep my fabric sorted by batiks, Civil War-ish, and brights. I couldn’t figure any way to make the blue and gray combo work with what I had here. I could come up with the blue in every category except brights…and brights was the only hope I had of finding something gray. So I started hunting for the red/brown option. In batiks, red is a hard color….so I searched…this was the best I could do. I didn’t hate it..I could do more of a pink than red. I like browns and pinks together. I didn’t have a ton of contrast with the gold though…Hmmm.
I dug and found this….It wasn’t terrible. The brown isn’t a Civil War print I don’t think but it was a way to use it. A blog reader sent to me and I’ve been saving it for binding a charity quilt. I didn’t think the blog reader would hate me if I used it for personal use and likely, this quilt was going to be gifted anyway. The red was also gifted. There are four yards of that. I was saving it for backing a donation quilt. Hmmm. Do I use them? Do I save them?
I let that go and decided to just think on it a bit. I had so much more fabric to support the project if I used the 2nd option. My batiks were running a little more slim after Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt.
I was determined to put some time into an existing project before I started the mystery so I finished quilting this…
I adore this quilt. Sometimes, simple is well just, simply wonderful.
Rosie thought so too. She was in the quilting room with me. Quick to pose…She is getting so good at it. Taking a picture of her is no work at all.
Being she was good I decided to load another quilt into the frame… Then I heard something, turned around and look what that sweet innocent face had done. Yep. She ate my African Violet….well at least took some leaves off. So I stopped everything and moved plants to higher shelves. Oh my. I hoped that wasn’t poisonous or detrimental to her.
That dog. I swear she is a sabotager. When I’m in the quilting room she is SO BUSY!!
Then what does she do? Turns around and acts so innocent.
That lasted about 10 minutes and then she puked. I cleaned it up…I guess the plant didn’t sit quite right with her. I wasn’t mad. I’d rather she puke up the plant than be ill. The problem…she puked up all of her breakfast with the plant. So I put the puke in a garbage can as I cleaned it up with a paper towel and didn’t want to flush it. I threw it in the garbage with plans to take the garbage out and get rid of it when I went downstairs.
I went to the bathroom next door to wash my hands and what does Rosie do?? She jumps up and dumps out the garbage as she wanted to get back to the puke. Oh my word. Yes…Puked all over again.
It was then that I decided no more. She was going down to spend some time in the kennel…where she immediately napped.
I ended up ordering another dog kennel. I’m going to take the one on the main floor and put that one in the sewing room and the new one is going to go on the main floor. It’s the only way I’m ever going to be able to sew. I tried a play pen but that’s big, she whines and (no surprise) she can jump out.
I’m starting to think I should call her Marly…as in the movie My Dog Marly. She is a handful for sure.
Rosie sounds a bit like our beagle Lucy. We have a fenced front yard where we’d let her out to enjoy the Spring and summer days. This worked well for a number of years until she started to snack on the flowers in my planters. That was the end of her unsupervised days in the front yard. She was a real handful and we loved her dearly. I still miss her 15 years after saying goodbye. Your Rosie is a cutie. How could you not forgive that sweet innocent face.
OMGosh, Rosie sounds like my 19 mo old granddaughter. Well, minus the puke-eating. Haha
If I sit in my recliner she plays quietly or ‘reads’ her books at my feet. But the moment I try to work on a project, she gets into anything and everything! Then she goes into the kid equivalent of kennel: strapped into the high chair where she can color, or read a book, or sort colored blocks into stacks, anything I can think of to keep her occupied and right next to me!
I think Rosie needs a partner, Get another dog for her to play with?
I completely agree Rosie needs a playmate!
Toddler Rosie is keeping you hopping, Jo!! About that Mystery? That 2nd grouping of fabric is a lovely option! Best of luck deciding what to do. Personally, I think the donor would be happy for you to USE it and you could even “donate”/substitute some of your own fabric to replace for a donation quilt.
Bonnie Hunter is having a sew in place along, perhaps that would suit your scrappy personality better.
Our last dog was much happier in his crate when I put a quilt covering everything but the front. I think he felt safer. A crate in your sewing area will keep her close, and you’ll be happier knowing she’s safely out of trouble!
The Quilted Twins is about a 1/2 hour north of me. They have such a great selection of fabric. Much too tempting.
I don’t know how you can work with that face looking at you. Beagles truly have my heart.
I have a cat that jumps up high and eats on spider plants! Yes, hanging from the ceiling (yes, I still have macrame plant holders ;-) Well, every time she eats it, she pukes. 10 years, she hasn’t learned.
Silly pets and very frustrating. I love her anyway.
Quilt on :-)
Jo, this is the wrong place to post this question, but can you tell me the name of the quilt store you order your civil war fabrics from? I always forget the name. It’s an online store. They have bundles for Bonnies mysteries usually.
Thanks, Jo Anna
Jo Anna- The online store is Whittles. https://www.whittlesfabrics.com/home
Hi Jo, they were saying that tighter woven fabrics may be better for the masks, and batiks have a higher thread count than regular quilting cottons. SO that might be a good use for the batiks you’ve gotten that are ear-marked for a special project????
I really like your batics combo. Great colors.
Rosie well she’s growing up and learning. She is adorable. Just like a toddler.
I just saw the post of Jasper’s beautiful quilt. Rosie is such a pretty dog.
I don’t know if you remember, but I started to read your blog because of Ruby and now of course, I have to hear about Rosie’s adventures. She reminds us of our own beagle when she was at that age. I love the quilt with all the colors. How big are the squares and the rectangles?
I have question, did you have a free pattern for a little doll? I don’t remember if you did, but if you do I was wondering if I could have it. Thank you so muchh.
I don’t think I have a doll pattern….
Oh my you mirror my days with our puppy! Today he scratched so hard at a cabinet because his treat ball had rolled underneath that he broke the glass. Plus the numerous times today he had accidents! Never is dull!!!