Alietare, Step 3

It has been a busy week!  The weather has been beautiful, so I've wanted to be outside instead of inside sewing. I've also been doing Christmas shopping, wrapping and baking for the neighborhood cookie exchange.  I haven't had much sewing time, but I  finished the  four patches for step 3 of Allietare.  Instead of the gold Bonnie used, I chose orange.

I also completed step 2 from last week.

So now I'm all caught up until Friday.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

Allietare

I almost decided not to do Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt this year.  I have not gotten either  Grand Illusion or  Celtic Solstice quilted yet, and  I also have plenty of works in progress

 But I have baskets of scraps, and I'd rather use them than organize them, so I'm in again this year.  I'm saving my red scraps for Talkin' Turkey, and I don't have many gold scraps, so I'm choosing my own colors.

Step 1:  Bonnie used gray; I'm using yellow.

Step 2:  Bonnie used red; I'm using blue.                                                                                                    

                                                       

We had to cut some squares too.  Bonnie used black; I'm using brown.

Linking up: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

http://www.shecanquilt.ca/2015/12/scraptastic-tuesday-december-link-is.html

                                       

Stash Report, Prizes

I've had good quilt luck lately.  I was the the grand prize winner from Myra at Busy Hands Quilts  for the Gravity Quilt Along.   I received a $100 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop and a pattern from Allison at  Cluck Cluck Sew   I chose her new Shimmer pattern but have not decided what to buy from the Fat Quarter Shop yet.  I've filled and unfilled my cart several times already!

I also won four Nature Scape fat quarters for participating in Jennifer Rowles' Smart Phone Quilt Along.  Patterns for these blocks are at the,Fandom In Sttiches website.

My rule is that fabric gifts do not count in my yards added report.  I'm keeping track of fabric I buy, not how much fabric I have.

Used this week:  1.0 (Bunko gift)
Used Year to Date:  85.625 yards
Added this week:  0
Added Year to Date:  77.5 yards
Net USED:  8.125 yards

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/12/06/stash-report-week-49-2015/

Odds and Ends: Chase, Gravity and the Wreath

Poor Chase, our 12 year old mixed breed dog,  had to have surgery Tuesday to remove a lump on his neck. The biopsy suggests it is a sarcoma, but we will know more after the pathology comes back.  The vet is very optimistic and said that most of these tumors don't  spread in dogs until they are very large.  Chase's tumor was fairly small, but the incision is big, and it is on his neck, so he can't wear his collar.

This makes it hard to follow the post op instruction of 'leash walking only' for 10 days.  We went to PetSmart looking for the 'cotton harness' the vet tech suggested, but none of them were made of cotton, and all of them would rub on his incision, so for now, he is going collarless, and I'm going outside with him every time he goes out.  Since he can't wear a collar, he can't wear his electric collar, which means our electric fence is moot. I'm hoping he heals quickly!

For now, I'm keeping him doped up on Tramadol, not just for pain control but to keep him calm.  Chase is a very energetic dog. We walk 2 1/2 miles most days, and he'd be up for another walk or to if I had time.  He is usually enthusiastic about food and takes medicine willingly.  Not so now.  My usual trick of putting his pills in peanut butter didn't work this time, and he dug though his wet dog food, leaving the pills behind when I tried that.  Congealed turkey gravy is doing the trick, though.

My oldest son's birthday was yesterday, and he loved his new quilt.  He sent me this picture of it at 5:56 a.m., which meant he got up really early to open his b'day gifts and remake his bed.

Finally, I finished the new wreath for the front door.  The 25 year old wreath we'd been using was falling apart. It also was too dark for our black front door.  I really like the one I made. DH the traditionalist keeps saying it needs some red, but he had his way for 25 years.  Now it is my turn.   Just hoping it all stays together as I'm not an experienced wreath maker.

Linking up:  http://myplvl.blogspot.com/2016/07/tuesday-archives-122-floral-wreathes.html

BCQC Block Done!

I finished the beading last night, and I'm ready to sign up for another crazy quilting class! It was so much fun! I am not entirely happy with my ribbon embroidery, so I've signed up for Mary Jo Hiney's Embroidering with Ribbon class from Craftsy.  It's a Chritmas gift from my husband, so I'm trying not to peek at it until after Christmas.

In case you missed the closeups last week:

If you are interested in taking one of Kathy Shaw's Crazy Quilting Classes, here's the link to her blog.

Free Crazy Quilt Classes

Kathy is an excellent teacher, and she is very generous to offer her classes for free. 

Linking up:  http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2015/12/lets-bee-social-102.html

Bunko

I've played bunko with the same group of ladies for 17 years.  We started playing when we had young children.  Most of us were stay at home moms, and our one night out a month to play bunko was about the extent of our social lives.  As our kids grew, and some of the women went back to work, we kept playing bunko.

 There were divorces, remarriages, babies born, empty nests, some players moved and were replaced with young mothers. We've helped each other navigate our children's learning disabilities and house renovations. We've watched our kids graduate and sent them off to college. Now our kids are getting married and grandchildren are arriving.  These ladies are my safety net,  They were there for me though my cancer treatment and again when Andrew died.

They gave me a bench in his memory last month.

What has this got to do with sewing?  Our bunko Christmas party is tomorrow night, and I made a table runner and pot holder for the $15 gift exchange.  I found fabric with dice on it:  perfect for bunko!

December 1

Andrew would have turned 24 today.