doggie days

Last Friday I left town for Utah to visit two of my children and someone who's been my dearest friend for 30+ years.
Sadly, I didn't have any hand work to take with me.  But then I was driving, so it wasn't a problem...until the evening came.  At that point, I really wanted something to busy my hands.  Fortunately, right next door to the restaurant where we were eating on Saturday night, I spied a beautiful sight - a business with the title The Fabric Mill.  And even more glorious was the neon sign in the window shining that great word of happiness, "OPEN".

Inside I found just what I needed - hemstitched flannel blankets, crochet cotton, crochet edging patterns, and hooks!  And so here's what I bought and did...

I love the story of the Poky Little Puppy.  During storytime in kindergarten, when it was my day to choose, I ALWAYS chose this book and thrilled at the chance to turn the pages when the record played it's signaling "ding".  In spite of his naughtiness, how could you not love that little face?

Each kit came with a blanket and burp cloth.  I only crocheted the blanket, but here's a look at the burp cloth so that you can see the hemstitching holes.

I bought pattern Packet #2 of four.  It was so hard to choose just one!

 And here's what I will be working on next....

Soon I will post the Christmas quilt I'll be making for my daughter.  Today I begin cutting out the pieces that American Quilting in Orem so kindly sold to me.  Another lovely Utah find.

picnic quilt

This is the second quilt that I've designed (first one blogged here).  There's a good chance that there are other quilts out there which are similar; but as of yet, I haven't seen them.  So for now, I'm calling it an original (bubble bursting most likely to follow!).

Most of the fabrics I used are from my favorite line, Flea Market Fancy, by none other than......get ready......you saw it coming......Denyse Schmidt!

As you can see, the center is a four-square.  The next step is a court house step with the fabric in that step repeated throughout. The next step is a log cabin.  Easy!

In this photo, the wind was blowing a little (I promise that my lines are not that crooked!).

The backing fabric was chosen by how perfectly it represented the idea of a "picnic quilt" - plus it will camouflage grass stains quite nicely!

The quilting pattern is Baptist Fans (*heart*) stitched by my friends at J'Adore Quilting.

This quilt took a little longer to piece because I had to perform major surgery before I was happy with it.  Originally, I did not have corner squares in the sashing; there were just long strips of grey. But once it was finished, it looked like race tracks (especially with the white dashes in the fabric) as well as the grey overpowering the quilt.  So I cut out each intersection and added in the contrasting squares.  Well worth the time because when it was done.....true love.

It's now ready to have ketchup, mustard, and soda spilled all over it!

P.S. Discriminating viewers will notice that the first photo shows the quilt upside down. Oopsie!