Otis the Wonder Dog and Other Musings of the Day

Otis here is a whopping 9 weeks old now and is now officially a ginormous puppy. Here he is manhandling our 85lb Akita, Ginger, who right after this picture jumped up and showed him who's boss. She is! At least for now, because he can still walk under her. He now weight 26lbs... onward and upward to the 200+lbs he's will be eventually.



I have blogged at least once about this quilt, and I finally got my butt in gear and made some progress on it. I'm just as happy about this as I can be and am really excited to finish it. If it wasn't for the borders that still need appliquing - and as mentioned before, the hand applique bug bit me hard on this one - it would be done alreay. This one is in line to be ready for Spring Market (she says hopefully!) this year.


Back to work I go, I have a pile of fabric to cut and do something spiffy with should be mood strike me tonight. Or I might just hit the Tivo with the kids - excuse me "young adults"- and watch Heroes and Grey's Anatomy. Hmmm.... Such tough choices!

A Long Overdue Visit From The Inspiration Fairy

If we are lucky, inspiration pays us a visit every once in a while and often when you are least expecting it. This weekend was spent making this table runner for Aunt Myrna - really my husbands Aunt but lovingly adopted by us all as Aunt Myrna - who is battling cancer and undergoing some pretty brutal chemotherapy at the moment.

This is one of those quilts started out as one project and then the inspiration fairy came and tapped me on the head and lo-and-behold this lovely new thing popped into my studio. While this one is for Myrna, it's been receiving such lovely compliments that I just about decided that it will end up in some form as a new pattern very shortly.

For quite a while now I have been suffering from "Quilter's Block" and been trudging through some designs that just haven't been making me smile. Never make a quilt that doesn't make you smile - I am now a firm believer that they just end up as UFO's in the back of a closet.

So, Myrna - This one's for you! And I hope it makes you smile and thank you for letting it break my creative slump!

Could I be speechless? NAH!

Well personally, I felt almost speechless - but not quite! What kind of blogger would I be then?! So, in case you haven't had the pleasure of hearing this and are wondering what that cute little graphic in the sidebar is all about... insert drum roll please... Holly at Lakehouse Dry Goods has written a super spectacular article all about us humble little quilty crafty bloggers and it will be featured in the new issue of McCalls Quilting due to hit the news stands next week. Stop by HollyBlog and Quilters buzz to "read all about it".

And guess what! I was lucky enough to make the cut and don't you just know I'm giddy about it. I'm just one on the list of VERY CREATIVE bloggers out there and am feeling very proud to be included in the same breath. Thanks Holly for putting this all together in your very precious spare time.

On top of that, I have some more mind blowing news - at least for myself so excuse the following little cheerleading session.

{ My upcoming book "Spotlight on Scraps" is now available for pre-sale on Amazon. }

Do the happy dance... Oh yeah! Yee-Haw! Don't believe me?... Click here and pinch me. :) I even have a couple of book signings scheduled for next Spring. Maybe I'll need to be very literary and get a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows. Hmm.... Ok, so maybe not, but at the very least I'll put on some lipstick.

A Horse Is A Horse... of course, of course

Unless of course the horse is actually a Great Dane!

Meet the newest addition to our family, Otis.

Now when we picked him out at the tender age of two weeks he seemed small enough. Now at six weeks old he's a whopping 19 1/2 pounds! 19 1/2 pounds of blue-eyed terror! I've got the marks to prove it... How could something this innocent and angelic looking possibly reak this much havoc?

I swear he thinks I'm his personal chew toy and our faithful dog Ginger takes none too kindly to it either. But then, lo and behold, we get this cutie every once in a while, sleeping on our couch, sometimes chasing some unknown foe in his sleep, and somehow we forget that he wakes us up every 2 hours at night. *sigh* Cuteness, a puppy's best defense.

Like A Bull In A China Shop

I'll just start out by saying that Amy Butler is just about one of the nicest people you'll every meet. I say this because, not only did she take the time to take a picture with me, but stood there while her Dad figured out my camera (this is like the fourth try here), joked with me about it all while she was running late to a book signing. Super nice.



Oh, and did I mention that in the process of getting this picture, I knocked over a prop in her booth and broke it? Ahem.... Well, she had this lovely ceramic mushroom on a little table, which I proceeded to knock off the table and chip the heck out of. Amidst all my flustered apologies she comes up with "Well, it just gives it character!" and proceeded to mention that it probably came from a garage sale for a quarter or some such thing like that (excuse the paraphrasing, I was lucky to get out of there without breaking something else).

If you ever get the chance to meet her, stop by and say Hi - and try not to break anything. I've done enough damage...

Quilt Market - It does a quilter good!

Quilt Market is the convergence of all things quilting and truly a marvel. By the end, if you ever have the pleasure of going, you will feel like you've been through the blender but it's totally worth it. This fall instead of "working" the Market I had the opportunity to experience it from a business outside the booth perspective. I met so many new people and was lucky enough to take the opportunity to visit so many bloggy friends.

Tired as I am, and with the onset of an "I traveled on an airplane full for germs" cold, I still managed to come back rejuvenated and inspired.

{Here are Elizabeth and Pam of Late Bloomer Quilts }

Being the bloggers we are, pictures were a must! Excuse the blurry, we were laughing so hard I just couldn't seem to manage to keep the camera still.

{Pam Kitty Morning and Tamara of Jackie Clarks' Designs}
"If I can punch a whole in it I'll crochet on it" - and she did. Tamara is a chrocheting super-star and here they are adding a crocheted edge to some vintage ric-rac. Who knew?

{My Sample at the E.E. Schenck Booth}
Here's a sample of my Patchwork Rabbit quilt done up in a new flannel line by Maywood Studios called "Woolies". Didn't they do a lovely display?

Tomorrow - the Bloggers Dinner! and how I managed to mangle Amy Butler's booth