Changing it up for Leap Year

I am usually mostly a one project at a time kind of girl but apparently that has changed this year...though it probably won't last long.  This last fall, I made several quilt tops and still have two to quilt...pics of those later.  I was busy helping my mom through a stressful time and going upstairs to machine quilt was, I guess, more than I had energy for.  But spending a few minutes running pieces of fabric through my Bernina was a 'good thing'.
So one of the projects I started was using some leftovers from another quilt..actually two because I over bought from the fabric collection...is a quilt for my cousin who loves romantic florals and design. These fabrics from Robyn Pandolph will suit her well. I'm using a pattern from Carrie Nelson called Four Corners.I have all the blocks made, I think, but it was put away when I started working on quilts for wedding gifts and kind of forgotten.














Sometime in January when I had some time to plan again, I ran across the DWR and focused on getting these rings all appliqued. Then they were put aside.

I finally headed upstairs and quilted the diamond quilt that I displayed with Elinor last week. This gave me handwork to finish and led to wanting more handwork...which led to this embroidery project.

It is all wrinkly here because I don't like using a hoop and I scrunch it up when I sew.  I think I like using the Transfer Eze however I learned that I can't leave the project on the coffee table which is at dog height. Someone drooled on it and the Transfer Eze started to dissolve! Fortunately, it was a small section and I can easily figure out the pattern that used to be there. And now it is tucked away safe when I'm not working on it.

Then before finishing any of these other projects...I started planning a quilt for a nurse at work who has been diagnosed with a cancer. She will more than likely respond well to treatment but 'treatment' is often difficult to deal with and would like her to have a quilt for comfort. She is like me in that she would always benefit from having dogs with her so that is what the quilt will have....dogs on the front in blocks that are a courthouse step variation and more dogs on the back. The dog bones will be for a border.

So this is what I'm working on here.

It is kind of rainy and cold here on the central California coast today. But we are enjoying the continued health of Miss Bridget and the happiness of stitching.

For those not on Blogger, I added an email gadget in hopes that I don't lose all of Luckypup Quilter readers tomorrow with the loss of Google's Friends Connect.

Happy Leap Day! 

We have a Winner!

Thank you all for joining in on the giveaway for the new book, Sonoma Rose, by Jennifer Chiaverini. It was great to have visitors coming on over from Mary's at Quilt Hollow and from Anna's at Woolie Mammoth! Thank you both for posting on your blogs about the giveaway. Definitely gave me some needed attention :-)
The name pulled from the dog dish...in honor of sweet Bridget who continues to do very well by the way :-) ....is Margaret from PowersThatBee Quilting!
I hope to hear from her soon and will get Sonoma Rose on the way to her house.

The picture here is a bit distorted...I took it at night, sideways, trying to avoid shadows. It is longer than it is wide. I finally got brave and took the paper backing off the Transfer Eze and positioned it on the muslin. The product is not scary :-)  It repositions easily so you can get all the design lined up and right where it should be.

Stitching felt a little weird at first, partly because I was stitching through a spot where I had left two layers of the product. As I stitched along, I got used to it and enjoyed the fact that when I am done, the stitching lines/Transfer Eze will all disappear and it won't matter if my stitches cover the lines or not. I am really glad I didn't have to trace all these lines.

I have only stitched the middle long branch and a few leaves. I stopped by a little shop and picked up some embroidery floss in colors I needed. This is a good project to stitch while sitting with my dogs and listening to music or the tv. It will last me awhile as I'm not that fast!
P.S. I purchased my Transfer Eze from Bird Brain Designs. They have recently switched to a different but similar product called Sticky Fabric Solvy. I'm not sure if it was because it was at a better price or if they liked this other product better as well. Both are the same idea...helping in design transfer.

The sisters send their love :-)

Good news, a finish and some progress

More encouraging news from the pet hospital told us that Bridget had started eating and showing more interest in moving around. They thought she would benefit from coming home! So we jumped at that idea and are taking good care of her here. She is eating and drinking and moving about much easier with only a little help. She can't walk very far without getting tired but we are confident that will improve. She will be on antibiotics for a few weeks but she is also on much better pain control for the arthritis which is awesome.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and so very sweet words to me. I was surely comforted. The top picture is of the two sisters sleeping, having lost interest in the Westminster Dog Show.
Early last week I had the chance to machine quilt a Fig Tree quilt top that I made last September. It was from a kit that I purchased the year before at PIQF. Here is Elinor giving her blessing before I got the binding sewn on.

And here she is with the finish. I was blessed to have this handwork to do while waiting for visits with Bridget.














Looking for more hand work to have while I'm sitting with her at home, I was pleased to receive a pattern from Kathy Schmitz called The Blackbird Sings.

I had purchased Transfer-Eze last year but had not tried it yet. I finally opened the package, found that the product already had a freezer type paper adhered to it and all I had to do was feed it through my copier with the pattern design. That actually turned out to be easy to do even with my mind distracted state. I was pleased. I used 4 sheets to copy this complete pattern which I will hopefully be able to piece together on a fat quarter of muslin that I will tea dye. Haven't gotten that far yet but I'm hoping I can get it all lined up straight...and then I will have some soul soothing hand stitching to do.
Enjoying a much happier day here on the coast! Hope you are enjoying yours!

word verification, Giveaway reminder and some other news

Good morning all.  I thought that I had removed the word verification requirement for commenters awhile back. I rechecked this morning though and I think it was on again...or I never removed it correctly in the first place. Anywho....I have attempted it again. If you find the word verification required again, could you please let me know?  I will try to make sure it stays 'off'.
I'm hoping many more bloggers will see the Giveaway going on here for Jennifer Chiaverini's new book, Sonoma Rose. Feel encouraged to share the news on your blogs or other social networks so we can spread the news about a good book that includes our loved subject of quilts. I am not a prolific blogger as I'm kind of a hermit :-) and just trying to 'not be' anonymous to the other bloggers I follow...but I would love to have lots of commenters included in the draw. This is the link to the giveaway post http://luckypupquilter.blogspot.com/2012/02/sonoma-rose-book-giveaway-and-more.html

My family is dealing with some distress here as Bridget, my yellow labrador is fighting a pneumonia and weakness from that as well as from severe arthritis in her hips and legs. She is receiving good care and responding well to treatment...except for the weakness part. I am kind of a mess. She is 14 and a dear heart. We don't want to put her through seemingly endless medical care but are encouraged by the docs to give her a few more days to improve. She got sick rather abruptly Sunday night. We are taking it a day at a time to figure out what is best for her ...if that is possible. I don't usually write life's distresses here on my blog but would really appreciate your prayers. I don't have human kids and these animals take on a larger than life part of my heart.

Thank you all for being here.

Sonoma Rose book giveaway and More!

Jennifer Chiaverini is going all out this year with sharing more stories from the Elm Creek Quilters. Sonoma Rose brings more history and adventure for characters we have previously met in The Quilter's Homecoming. This story tells about Rosa's courageous journey to save her family, and herself through personal struggles and the challenges faced in the Sonoma wine country of northern California during the Prohibition era. As in many of her books, Jennifer reveals history and its impacts in both the past and present settings.
Two quilts are featured in these stories. The Road to Triumph Ranch and Arboles Valley Star are the quilts that Rosa cherishes and includes among her precious items when running from trouble. In real life, these quilts were inspired by antique quilts discovered in the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, California. Pictures of quilt blocks are included inside the book.
So for a chance to win a copy of this richly charactered book, leave a comment here on this post.  For an extra chance to win, please post and share the news on your own blog and leave a second comment here as well. 
And yet another chance to win a copy of Sonoma Rose can be found by visiting Lori at Humble Quilts. She is also reviewing this book and hosting a giveaway!
I will be drawing the name of the Luckypup Quilter winner next Monday, February 27th, 2012.
For yet another book giveaway, visit Sweet Pea Quilting and Creations for a great review and peak into Back to Charm School .
I think it is a week full of book giveaways. So happy blog hopping :-)

progress long due

This past fall, I completed sewing the Psalms blocks together with sashing and the same border I had used for my Women of the Bible quilt.  My neice had liked the WOBQ so when another study started, I chose to make the quilt for her. My scheduled was diverted with helping my mom out after a fall, so I didn't get to quilting this until this past month. The quilting is mostly simple with some leaves and bunches of grapes in the setting triangles. I laid it out just to look for any loose threads needing to be trimmed....and before I turned back around to it, Elinor had come to give her blessing :-)











I have a couple of quilt tops ready to be quilted but have become sidetracked with a Double Wedding Ring quilt project that I actually started in a class about 8 or 9 years ago with Mary Russell. She has participated in a book where you can see more of her style. One of her DWR quilts is on the cover.


















Only last month did I pick up the fabrics and start completing the blocks. I didn't purchase the specialty ruler for this project...chose to borrow a friend's...but you can see it here.  I had cut out all the little pieces and sewn most of the arcs.  So I started sewing in the cornerstones and then the applique onto the 8 1/2 inch blocks.  I have 18 completed so far and can't seem to focus on doing anything else but applique :-)














I thought my friend, the burrowing owl had moved on as we weren't able to find him (or her?) for a few days but the last two days has put a smile on my face as we have found him back at his spot.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!