New size. Look how BIG Ozzie is. We keep thinking we should have named him Hank the Tank. He is sweet until the evening when he is pretty wild - until he crashes. Lucky for me, Allen walks him. Lots. Love the Oz.
New closet. Allen's put the shelves in my sewing room closet. I'm moving in. It's like an addition to my room with feet and feet of shelf space. I'm cleaning and reorganizing and loving every minute of it. The room is newly painted, and I even have a new Olfa cutting mat.
New quilt project. I have 120 of these patches made and 80 little patches, one quarter this size. This will be Taplin's Dots upon Dots quilt. Hmmm. His birthday is in less than three weeks. I don't know if I can finish, but I will enjoy working on it this week seeing if I can get close. Today I put together half of the little blocks.
New to me, but actually old, pewter candlestick holders. New flowers, of course. I found the candlesticks at an antique store and could not believe the $15 price. They are Gorham and match my Octette pewter from our wedding in 1975. I wanted these then, but we did not get them as a gift, and we certainly couldn't afford them back then.
New recipe - Turtle Pie. Lets see, chocolate morsels, cream, caramel, pecans, more chocolate. The recipe's a keeper, but it won't be made often! I'm just sad that Nathan and his mom were both sick today and couldn't be with us for dinner. Ham dinner. Mmmmmm.
New print - birthday present from the girls and their husbands. It is a watercolor of wine bottle corks. It is realistic watercolor, so much so that I was sure it was a photograph. I've tried a few times to get a good picture, but the glass keeps reflecting, so I know it is hard to really see it. I do love it and how it fits right into our remodeled kitchen.
New pottery! Allen found me not one, but two wonderful pieces by Guadalupe Robinson. These two both are "dress" pots, featuring dresses for women. The one on the left focuses on texture, especially in the skirt of the dress, and the right one has unusual light blue pottery vests. They are wonderful pieces and make an outstanding birthday present!
Long time, no blog. I can't even claim crazy busy. School is school, and at this time of the year it can wear on me. But I can say that I unwind upstairs in my sewing room. Meghan asked me months and months ago to make Taplin a quilt for his second birthday for his graduation to a big boy bed. Well, his second birthday was last week, and I actually had the quilt finished. Not mailed. Not labeled. Finished. It measures about 72" x 84" which is about a twin size. I am calling it Circles, Spots, and Dots. I think it looks pretty much like a little boy, and I hope it will suit Taplin for some years to come.
The quilting is just simple channels across the quilt about an inch a half apart, and then a vertical row for each 7" block to anchor the batting. I figure it will get washed and really used, and this would stabilize everything.
I used a leftover patch for the label. I am not always good about putting labels on my quilts, but since it's a gift...
With the leftover backing and a Michael Miller blue dot fabric, I made a pillowcase. I found a slick little pattern online, and although I put off making it for a week after the quilt was finished, it only took about 45 minutes to put together. I'm sure I'll use the pattern again.
Meanwhile, I hand pieced and hand quilted this Cheddar Checkerboard. I found the pattern on Barbara Brackman's site, and it was fun to stitch in the evenings. I did big stitch quilting in the black and green boarder, and I added some little buttons for fun.
Finished, I guess it is in the neighborhood of 24" square. I am not a great hand quilter, but I sure had fun putting this together.
I love my guys, my Oz and Allen. Last week, Allen was in Denver, and Ozzie and I had a bonding week. He is a full time attention hog. I am glad Allen's home this week, and so is Oz. His favorite spot is on Allen's lap. And although I walk him three times a day, it's just not the same as Allen taking him out all of the time and letting him play with the neighbor dogs.
