All Manner of Little Things

Hi everyone! I have been taking pictures and thinking, "Oh this is something to blog about." But you know what happens? I get busy with other stuff and by the time I get on the computer, I'm just not into it. So the pictures get lost in the shuffle. And all the little things become distant memories. Not today! Instead here are some little things, little happenings, and little news bits.

Let's start with this stinker. Doesn't she look just so sad? I was sitting at the table doing paperwork and heard a whimper of a cry. Little Little, our Maltese puppy, had poked her nose through the gate and gave me these puppy dog eyes. What a trickster!

A postcard I made for my sister. She received it Tuesday, which was the day she was expecting news about how the chemo is working. It's good news for now! Next step, gain some strength for a bone marrow transplant later this year.

A tiny hummingbird feather I found on one of the feeders. So sweet!

Richard made this bookshelf for a friend who will have a booth at a local artist market / flea market. The pictures on the right are the original shelves. The ones on the left are of the same shelves painted. She and I are going to "share" the cabinet. Her things will be on the shelves, my things will hang on the back. She wanted an aged look that would work into her farmhouse eclectic vibe. I love the look of beaded board. We both got what we want. Ahh, the joys of a handy husband!

She has the booth with the three pieces in it. I'm on the side of her behind the book shelf. 

I recently got in a small order of titanium coated needles from Superior Threads. I've never used these super strong needles, but they are supposed to last much longer than regular ones. I just like the idea of putting a needle in and going to town for as long as possible. Maybe I should put a sticky note on the machine to remind myself to be extra careful. Generally, I break a needle, not wear it down. I'll try to remember to let you know how they work. I have only a few regular needles left, so these may go into the machine before the end of the year. I hope not, but you just never know, right?

I should have ordered thread at the same time. Now I'll have to pay shipping, again. Why do I make such silly, nonsensical decisions? It's a rhetorical question. I expect that no one can answer it.

And I think that wraps up all the little things. I have bigger news, but that is for another day. Have a great weekend!

Cotton's Studio Bed

I am on a roll! I've been going into the studio to do a bit of cleaning. By a bit, I mean a little bit 
(I don't like cleaning), then I do a bit of sewing. 


I moved some fabrics to their respective places, cleared out and put away a plastic bag of stuff, and salvaged some old lace. 

Then I happened upon an old pillow of Cotton's that I'd made several years ago. It was badly torn, but I had washed it by pining the opening closed, so the stuffing was clean. 

Did you know that pillow stuffing can be reused? The trick is to wash it in hot water with a little bleach and let it dry well. Then pull the stuffing out and, using very sharp scissors, chop the stuffing into small pieces. 

The fibers tend to clump up and adhere to each other over time, but cutting the pieces apart allows air to fluff it up. It's a good way to save money making pet pillows.  

I dug around in the stash and found some cute animal fabric that I'd used to make scrubs. Apparently I'd cut sleeves out and there was a problem, because the only fabric in the stash had been cut in the perfect shape of sleeves. 

The sleeves seemed like a good match for my needs--I left the shape as it was. I sewed the two sleeves together (RST) around all four sides making sure to leave an opening on the wrist edge so I could turn the pillow and stuff it. 

Cotton likes to rest his sweet little head on something separate from the bed, so I decided to make a pillow on his pillow. First I stuffed the bottom (or large part) of the pillow, and sewed a seam about three inches from the wrist opening. 

Next I stuffed the small section and sewed it closed on the machine. I rolled the small section over on the pillow and hand-stitched the two pieces together. Voila! Perfect little bed for my little boy.

This pillow will be somewhere near the sewing machine so that Cotton can be nearby while I sew. He prefers to be very close to me at all times. As a baby, he sat in my lap while I sewed. How much sewing do you think I got done that way? 

What are you doing this week to get your sewing space in shape?

Puppy Struggle is Real, Y'all

A puppy's struggle that is. Some people just can't possibly understand how difficult a puppy's life can be. I thought I'd tell you what it's like to be a five pound puppy in a family this size.  

And in THIS house, it's almost unbearable. After all, we are made to do all manner of chores. We have to keep a close watch over the family. Intruders are always a problem--you just don't know when to expect some marauding squirrel or cat. 

Don't think it's all that easy. I have to check the entire house. That means every time a door is opened, I run in and search in every corner, behind every door, under things, and in things. 

Nothing can be left unsearched. You just never know where a squirrel or cat or (worse) a mouse might be hiding. We've even seen opossums, foxes, and armadillos running round outside. What if they were to come inside?

If something makes a noise, we all jump up immediately and go after it. It doesn't matter what's going on or what we're doing; our job is to snap and snarl and bark and yap to scare off whatever made the noise. We don't like making all that ruckus, but it's important to our people. Sometimes they join in and help us make noise. That must be when they are really scared.

My special job is entertaining and making people laugh. But the people around here are a hard sell. Plus, you never know when they might expect to be entertained, so we are on 24/7 and have to keep appearances up at all times, just in case.  It's not easy doing all that grooming. 

Oh sure, they take pretty good care of us. They feed us well and we get lots of attention. Sometimes we have to take baths, but who wants to smell like a human? If possible, we go straight outside and roll around in the grass or, when we're lucky, something smelly. It's the best way to get rid of the people smell that no one likes. 

Sometimes one of us gets into trouble, like the time I tried to climb up on the dresser. I was stuck for a little while but not long. Another time, I went under a rocker and was afraid to get out. We are all really smart but it happens anyway. 

We just have to be patient and wait for someone to come help. I never whine or cry but other puppies do, sometimes. 

I like to take naps when there's not much going on.  I rarely get to take naps but at my age, but I have to try. Most puppies can find a few hours to rest or nap. 

I have to work really hard to find a perfect spot. But sometimes I get on a soft chair, or a puppy bed. Other times, I curl up in a lap.  I can't sleep just anywhere like the younger puppies, but I can sometimes get comfortable even in odd places. 

In fact, I'm ready for one of those naps right now. I think I'll go find one of those comfy spots and snooze. 

 It might be difficult to find the perfect spot but when my mom gets home from school, we share her big chair and there's nothing better or more comfortable than her lap. So I'm going to climb in her favorite chair and keep it safe and warm for her so we can rest when she gets home.

 What do you do when you want a nap? Do you have a special place to nap?

Puppy Rescue!!!

We went camping with the kids last weekend. And I came home with a large purple bruise on my side: thank you bicycle for the lovely color. At least the purple is not visible when I'm dressed. I'd be more grateful if my own bike had not stabbed me in the ribs. Wait, from the sound of all this, you'd think I did not have control of my own bike.

This could be Cotton's basket,
it's not but it could be.

Let's talk about control: I was stopping. There no obstacles. All systems in working order. Cotton behaving in his little basket. I was coasting up a slight incline, already slowing down. Gravity in my favor. Does that not sound like control? For the record, it felt like control.

1/10 of a second later: I braked. The bike came to a dead stop. In the bike's defense I'm just a toe short of being able to sit with my feet flat on the ground. This is generally not a problem as I've learn to hop off the seat, stand between the seat and handlebars, and manage the bike. I'm good like that. Of course my feet are not on the brakes--they are on the ground. 

1.5/10 of second: My feet were on the ground, my body was in a forward motion, the bike chose to go with gravity. Gravity did its thing, the bike rolled backward toward the bottom of the hill. Thank you gravity for always being on the job. 

Cotton produced a look of fear and prepared to jump ship. A ship too high to jump to safety on asphalt. To save his life, I gave the bike its head, let go of the handlebars, and snatched Cotton as he sailed toward the back asphalt of death. 

FYI: a horse with a head

Did you know that bikes are not at all like horses? When you "give a horse his head," he checks his pace and heads toward home, water, feed. Anything familiar. Bikes do not crave the familiar. They relinquish. They tumble, turn, twist, tangle. Nothing familiar to themselves or to their riders. Bikes are acrobats with hammers and knives. 

A hammer caught me in the ribs. A knife peeled a thin layer off the back of my right knee. I may have passed out for a moment when a second hammer (from the left pedal) found my Achilles heel. 

Cotton waited for my recovery then demanded an explanation for putting his life in peril. My apologies, Cotton, and you're welcome for the midair hustle. 

Friday Finish -- one for the dogs!

No, really, this one is for the dogs! Our Maltese puppies sometimes have to stay in a kennel, which they don't like very much--laps are so much more comfy--so they scratch and fuss the whole time. That means that they put some wear and tear on the kennel pads.

Since the mats are in horrible shape, I checked on the cost of replacing the smaller one. Wow! The cheapest one is $15 on Amazon Prime. No way! I did some quick math and decided that we could not afford to buy kennel mats for the three puppies, especially since I have everything to make mats right here at home.

So I made mats. I was able to finish two mats this morning, but we have only two kennels, so that was about perfect. One kennel is small. We keep it in the camper to put Cotton in on those days when we go places where he is not welcome. We enjoy museums and such so, when we travel, we need to keep Cotton safe inside the camper. 

The larger kennel is big enough for both of the girl puppies. We rarely bring Candy anywhere because she gets car sick...not a pleasant situation for anyone. But there are times when she needs to get in a vehicle and I want her to be comfortable and safe. 

Little, on the other hand, needs to be held down. She has energy...lots of energy and a cage is necessary so that she doesn't jump out of a window.  

This bright yellow mat goes in Cotton's kennel. It's made from fabric I bought to make Dusti a little dress when she was about four. She is 17 now. It has a soft, silky hand. 

I plan to keep the old mat and just put this one on top. The old one is not torn, just worn, but it has a thick outside edge that Cotton likes to rest his head on.

The blue one is much larger and will go in the girls' kennel. I plan to put a cotton rug, folded in half, for extra thickness with this mat on top. To give the puppies a softer edge, I put in a thick cotton piping insert that I bought many years ago. (I intended to make a casual, comfy seat cover, but the thickness of the piping insert was more work than I bargained for so it never happened.) 

The original mat is gone. We used it without the kennel, and puppies are hard on everything. This one will make a nice replacement, so regardless of when or why we use the kennels, the puppies will be more comfortable and safer.

Linking up with

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday at Crazy Dutch Bird Quilts

Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: D O G S

How many cute puppy pictures do you need to see before you're hooked?

This last one did it for me! I have said three Maltese puppies are one too many, but this little heart-melting cutie could come home and join our too many family!

By the way, these 12 or so quilts constitute just a minor number of the dog/puppy quilts that Pinterest has.