Catching up

Sorry, dear readers. It's a busy time of year. Here are a few random photos that color my world. 

I participated in my friend Barbara's fun holiday boutique last week and was happy with how I did. I brought 5 dogs and sold them all! The birds did well, too.

Christmas is lots of work! It's fun to see all my old ornaments. They each tell a story. 

We like to go to Laguna Beach on the weekends. High tide at Cleo Street beach. 

And the shopping lady downtown was extra dressy. 

One of Valentina's first outings. 

Unicorn hat!

Love this contemplative pose....

In the dog house

I've been going to the dogs lately. They're fun! I might be done now. 

Another dog

It was time to make another dog. As some of you know, I have another granddaughter coming in a couple months. That makes six doggies, and I've given them all away. The pattern I used came from an old Mollie Makes magazine: issue 18.

Lily and friend

This is my son with his girlfriend's dog, Lily. Isn't she cute? I meant to also get a photo of his girlfriend,  Cia, but poof, they left before I could. Next time!

New stuffed dog

I made another stuffed dog, this time for a friend from my husband's office who is due any day now. She asked for pink and gray. I love how each one has his (or her) own personality. This makes four. Or is it 5? They are all on this blog.

What's for dinner quilt, plus another sitting dog

I am excited that my quilt entry for the "What's for Dinner" special exhibit got accepted. Mine depicted ravioli, which was very fun to make out of fabric. I don't know if it's okay to show my quilt; I'll ask first. The exhibit will debut at Quilt Festival in Houston; I will let you know if it goes elsewhere.

I have started a new quilt, made with the marbled fabric I posted about recently. It's different from my typical quilts, and I like it! There will be photos when it is further along.

In the meantime, I can show you my latest dog creation. This is my fourth one!

Like the dogs that came before it, I am giving it away. It will probably go in a Christmas-themed basket that will be auctioned off at the Flying Geese Quilt Show in September.

I like these dogs so much, maybe because the face is a little like my dachshund, Ginger.

more holiday projects

 

I made four of these hats for gifts, made by a pattern that I got at Yarn Lady, which is unfortunately going out of business. This photo doesn't do them justice. They are slouchy and flattering.

The way you shape them is to wet down the finished hat and shape it onto a child's ball. Let it dry thoroughly and it's stretched into a nice slouchy, lacy shape.

I knitted this sweater for Samantha. It was a simple pattern, but I think it turned out adorable. I believe I found the pattern at a little shop in Santa Fe. It looks cute on her; I will post photos of her wearing it later.

Another view.

I made this puppy for Samantha, too.

Hanging out with the red dog.

Aren't they cute together? I loved making these dogs.

I made this kitty from a Mimi Kirchner pattern. Mimi is a very talented doll artist. She has a cool blog; I'll try to get the link for it.

I made the doll to ressemble Samantha's cat, a tuxedo cat who is coincidentally called Mimi! The scarf on the Mimi doll is cut from a cashmere sweater. The body is made from black sweaters.

The details are made from felt and embroidered. This doll was also fun to make. She's very huggable! I would like to make more.

Okay, now to something more art quilty! This is a prayer flag for my sister-in-law Marti. I was inspired by the forest fires that were near where she lived in Colorado Springs in 2012.

This is the other prayer flag I made for Marti for Christmas. Obviously I went with a more wintery vibe, and the theme is "Calm." The quazi-calligraphy pieces were made by Lisa Englebrecht. I am sure I will get inspired to make more flags for Marti in the future.

More projects to show you, soon....

red dog

I made this dog on a whim for my friend Jamie's new studio, where I visited yesterday.

"puppy dog dreams" quilt

Here are Bob and Suzanne at the baby shower I went to last weekend. Suzanne is holding the little stuffed dog I made, seen in a recent blog post.

Now they're about to open up the baby quilt I made for them. You can see the Lotta Jansdotter fabric on the back.

Oh no! My memory stick ran out of room, so I didn't take any more photos at the shower.  I didn't take any formal photos of it at home either, but Matilda posed nicely for a Cat-on-my-quilt shot.

 

Here's another one.

Even Ginger got in on the act!

Here is a detail on the embroidered puppy dog faces that I did. I call the quilt "Puppy Dog Dreams," and yes, Bob and Suzanne have dogs. One's a corgy - see him in the lower left corner?

Here are the other embroidered puppy dog faces. The one in the middle is an approximation of their other dog. I lightly quilted the zig zag block pattern in the ditch (that's quilting lingo, for you non-quilters out there) and tied it throughout with yellow embroidery thread.