Guild Challenge Quilt

I am dying to post my EQ design that I'm going to do for my challenge quilt for our quilt guild. I'm not going to post it until after the challenge in October just in case any of my guild members actually read my blog.

We are doing a Log Cabin challenge. I've decided on blue and green as the main colors. I'm also not doing all traditional square log cabin blocks. I need to get started on this quilt if I want it finished by October.

Just a little teaser.

Valerie..Dog that needs help to live up to her name

This is the story of how I met a wonderful little Malinois who we are all calling Valerie. Valerie means health and strength... This is a strong little girl that we would like to see get healthy again.

On Saturday morning my husband received an email from Malinois Rescue. A veterinarian doing health checks and vaccines in a kill shelter in North Georgia found a young female Malinois with a broken leg. The bone was poking out of the thigh and the dog was in danger of being put down.

The vet does not have her own office and did not have the equipment to be able to give the dog the medical care she needed so she contacted Malinois Rescue. The coordinator was scrambling to find someone who could help the weekend before a holiday when many people are on vacation. My husband and I said we would help.

Sunday night I drove an hour and a half to Braselton, GA to pick up the dog. When I got there I found a little, dark red girl, who wiggled her butt at me then immediately rolled over to get a belly rub. The leg was bandaged but still flopping all over. When I took her leash she went with me and even looked like she was going to try to jump into the back of my car by herself. She moves really well on her three good legs.

I loaded her into my car and gave her a few treats which she took gently, but you could tell she was hungry. She drank a little water, then made a nice cushy nest from the blankets I'd spread out for her, and went to sleep. I started to drive back home cringing every time I hit a bump. I can just imagine what it feels like to have broken bones getting jostled all over.

When Valerie and I got home we got her some food and slowly introduced her to our pack. She was good with our dogs, did not seem over protective of her food, and paid attention to the cat but did not go after it. She went into her crate when told and turned around to have her leash taken off. She was quiet in her crate all night and every time my husband woke and checked on her she would give him kisses. Obviously she has been trained and I wonder if someone is looking for her.

This morning Hubby took Valerie to our veterinarian. He said that her leg has probably been broken for two to three weeks and there was nerve damage and massive infection. My husband said that Dr. Moore was frustrated because if he had gotten to her earlier he could have saved the leg. Now it would have to be amputated above the knee. He did the surgery this afternoon and Valerie is recovering overnight at the hospital. Tomorrow afternoon she will come home and we will foster her while she is getting medical care.

Valerie's veterinary bills will run at least $1300. Malinois Rescue is raising money to help pay for it. If you feel you can spare anything to help her that would be great. If not please keep her in your thoughts.

I'll keep you up to date on her progress and post some pictures when we get her back home. Sorry about the wordy post.

I'm a bad blogger!

I know it has been weeks since I have blogged. I got started on "What's on my design wall?" and then never updated anything. I will get that done tomorrow (only 5 days late but who is counting).

The last couple of weeks have been really busy. I think last time I mentioned that a big release was due at work on June 19th. I put in a lot of hours in the last couple of weeks to be ready for that. Last week while trying to finish everything up for the release, I got hit with a really bad sinus infection. I have not been that sick in a long time.

I mentioned that I won a giveaway from Patchalot More. I got the patterns in the mail, along with a nice note from Marcie, and a package of quilting note cards. Thank you, so much Marcie!

The last update I have for now is that I did not get my Facebook block swap blocks done in time. I was a little ambitious with those blocks. I had a little bit of difficulty piecing the flowers, especially the 8 sided star. So I switched out the 8 sided star for another 4 petaled flower. I got two blocks done. The swap coordinator said to hang on to them because they will be great for a Spring swap. I'll probably finish up 6 of them so I'll be ready for that time. I'll post pictures of those later.

ASCII talks about Doga

It is me, ASCII. I'm back again and this is just for you Beth. Today my mom and dad took me and Reboot to Doga which is a doggie yoga class. It was at Playful Paws. There were about 10 other dogs and owners there.

It was nice. Mom and Dad stretched and Reboot and I got petted, massaged and loved on. Mom started out working with Reboot and Dad worked with me. In the middle of the class Reboot and I decided to switch places on them. It was very relaxing. I fell asleep at the end while mom just sat with her hands on me.

The other dogs in the class were nice. We saw Lois and Augie who are always at agility trials. One dog, Pepper..I think he was a labradoodle, really wanted to play with me, but mom and dad said it wasn't the right time. Pepper kept trying to sneak over and play but eventually he calmed down. All the dogs were pretty calm. I think they were just soaking up the loving from their humans.

After class we met another dog that survived cancer like Reboot did. He is a Visla and he lost one of his front legs to cancer. He is a really amazing dog. He still does hunt trials and even got his Master Hunter title, and he is going to be a therapy dog. He even swims with only 3 legs. I don't like swimming at all and I have 4 legs.

We get to go back to Doga every weekend in June.

I won!

Have you noticed the quilt pox immunization patch on my sidebar? This came from Marcie at Patchalot More. She had a drawing for two of her patterns for people who "immunized" their blog by adding her patch. Well guess what! I won.




Thanks, Marcie! Everyone go visit her site and get the Patch. I hear those quilt pox can be nasty.

What's on my design wall?

Last week Judy at Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara started "What's on your design wall". Each week we can post what is on our design wall, then the next week we update on our progress.

Last week I posted my Underground Railroad quilt laying out on my "design bed". I had hoped to have the top finished by this week.

Well, it is still sitting there. I walked in and looked at it a couple times, but that is as far as I got.

The only quilting related activity I did was to cut few patches for my June Facebook block swap. This time we are doing basket blocks. I need to make five blocks for the swap (plus one for me) and mail them to the swap coordinator by June 19. Funny, that is the same day that I've got a meeting with my business users to turn over our latest software release for testing. Something tells me the next two weeks are going to be busy.

Here is the block I intend to make.

I found the block in EQ and tweaked it just a bit so that it would be easier to piece. I'm a little worried about the points on the flowers. Those stars can be hard to get right. The only time I've tried it before I did them by hand. I also have to do set in piecing with this block. I tried to print out a foundation piecing pattern for, but I must be doing something wrong. The piecing order made no sense at all, and I couldn't figure out how to get it to work.

So my goal for this weekend is:

1. Finish at least 2 of the basket blocks
2. Put together at least 2 rows of the Underground Railroad quilt
   

Non-Quilt related side note:
At the risk of sounding like an enormous flake, I want to tell you that my husband and I will be taking two of our dogs to a Doggie Yoga class on Sunday. Should be interesting. I love yoga and need to do it more often, and I love spending time with my dogs. I never really thought about combining those activities before. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

ASCII Takes Over The Blog!

Hi!! I'm ASCII! I'm a two year old Standard Poodle. Usually my mom writes on this blog, but she hasn't been posting enough so I decided to post for her. I'm not the first dog to try blogging, my dad knows a Malinois that blogs all the time. If Leinie can do it then why not me?

I spend most days helping my mom and dad work. Some days mom works from home and other days dad does. Sometimes I have to tell them that it is time to stop working and play with me! The best way to do this is to sit directly behind them, stare at the back of their head, and whine. Sometimes that doesn't work and I have to put my head on their lap and whine some more.

On weekends and some evenings mom and dad take me to go do agility. I like the teeter, the dog walk, the A-Frame and tunnels. If I get too hot sometimes I go in the tunnels and don't like to come back out. Sun is hard on a black dog. I also like seeing the other dogs at agility, and nibbling on Miss Cyndy's ears.

My favorite things to do are playing with the cat, nibbling on people's ears (it makes them giggle), the teeter, and curling up on the couch next to my dad. I live with 2 other dogs. Kiwi and Reboot are both older and slower than me, but sometimes they run around the yard with me.

Well, mom says I have to go to bed now. I'll be back next time she doesn't have anything to say.