Our New Bandannas

Hi everyone! It’s Millie here to tell you about some new bandannas our mom made for us. Okay we said this week would be all about us and not her crafting, but these were special and just for us so we will let it slide this time.

You see Walter didn’t have a bandanna he could wear when we were out and about so mom decided to make him one like my Rescue Bandanna.

 

Recently we both got new collars so mom and dad decided to choose colors to match. Walter has a peacock feather collar from Lupine. He looks great in those colors! Below is Walter’s collar and new bandanna to match.

 

Here is a close up of the embroidery on this one.

 

After that was done dad said that I, Millie, needed a new one because my old one didn’t match my collar any more. So here is my new and improved bandanna.

 

The colors really match my collar well. Mom also picked some fun fabric for the back sides and we could even wear that side out if we wanted a change of pace.

 

And now for the modeling shot of us in our new bandannas.

 

We wore these out to a special occasion that we will tell you about soon. I love the way the pink is set off against my jet black furs don’t you? If you are interested in your very own Rescue Bandanna just leave a comment for my mom. She will be adding them to her Etsy shop soon.

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Birthday Bandannas

I thought I would continue on a crafting theme this week and show you another project I completed recently.  First I want to thank everyone for the compliments on my baby blanket. The baby is due in mid-October and hopefully I can get a picture of the baby with the blanket after then.

To answer Madi’s mom Cecilia’s question I might guess that it took me about 100 hours to complete the blanket, but that is only a wild guess. It took a long time, but some of that was figuring out the pattern and some of it was wrestling with the yarn. Do any of you other hookers (or knitters) have a problem with your yarn turning into a snotty mess when you pull from the center? Sometimes it goes smoothly, but it seemed that when I was in a hurry that purple yarn would just become a big tangle. Oh well, hopefully things will go better next time.

Now on to today’s subject. A couple of weeks before the baby shower there was a surprise birthday party for the father to be. They said that gifts weren’t necessary but I thought I would make something special for him and his four legged family members. The birthday boy is a graduate of the University of Texas and a big sports fan so I decided to make a couple of bandannas for their two dogs so he could show his school pride while walking them. Currently they are living in Ithaca, NY where Cornell University is which just happens to be the birthday boys wife’s alma mater.

 

I started by digitizing the Texas logo and stitched it out on black fabric.  Joann’s sells logo fabric for many colleges, but I couldn’t buy any for Texas locally. Lucky for me just before I wanted to start working these they were having a sale on the fabric and also had free shipping so I picked up some of both the styles of Texas fabric (I also got some West Virginia University fabric – my alma mater – no sense in wasting a good sale).

 

Above you can see the back of the bandanna. Since the bandannas have embroidery on them I like to line the back so it can’t catch on anything.  I was really glad I got the Texas fabric because the orange color is not what I thought it was. With the fabric as my guide I was able to match the thread for my embroidery with the fabric.

 

My original plan was to make two of the same style, but while I was cutting the stabilizer from the back of one of the embroideries I nicked the black fabric. I put my thinking cap on and decided to trim the black to remove the cut part and then add the border shown above. The fabric had the perfect pattern to make a border and I really love the way it turned out.

These colors look great against my furs.

I haven’t received any pictures of the birthday boy’s dogs with the bandannas, but before I wrapped them I had Millie and Walter model them.

 

Does this bandanna make my head look small?

Both of the recipient dogs are a little bigger than my two so the bandannas might look slightly big for them, but I think the colors look great on my two.

Now my plan was to just make these two bandannas, but Charlie, being an alumni of Cornell too, insisted that I make at least one Cornell bandanna. “After all,” he said, “they live in the town where the school is and the birthday boy’s wife is an alumni so it is only right.” So it was back to the computer to work on digitizing a Cornell logo. I didn’t want to just use the big C as I thought that would be too boring so I picked one with the Big Red Bear on it.

 

It took a few tries and there was still a little problem with the stitch out, but for a dog bandanna I think it turned out very well. Here is Walter modeling that one.

Hey mom, dad says you need to make one of these for us too.

Unfortunately being a hoity-toity Ivy League school logo fabric is not available for Cornell so I settled on red for the backing. Someday I will make Cornell and WVU bandannas for our pups to wear too. Needless to say the birthday boy was surprised and pleased with the unique gift. I hope to get pictures of his dogs wearing them someday and when I do I will share them with all of you.

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Millie’s Musings – Friday Fun

Hi everyone, it’s Millie here. Frankie and Ernie thought it would be good to spread cheer today in Blogville so here is my contribution. Now I have to tell you that I don’t think this is very funny, but my mommy sure does.

You see what the arrow is pointing to in the picture above? That’s right, my mom stuffed some of my favorite toys in her fabric closet. She and dad don’t like it when I have one of my rope toys or my new donut and all I do is lay down and start eating the strings and fabric. I am only allowed to have these toys under supervision or when my parents are willing to play with me.

As you can see in this next picture I was able to make mom give me my new donut (thanks for the present Remy), but I really wanted to play with one of my rope toys. I will sit in front of the closet and whine and whimper until mom opens it. If she doesn’t retrieve a toy right away I am forced to take matters into my own paws.

Here I am preparing for my attack.

I attempted to make a grab, but fell short of my target. Usually after I make enough noise I get my reward and then the joke is on mom and dad.

Here I am laughing at how easy it is to get mom and dad to do what I want. I may be a young pup, but I am learning fast!

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From Mischievous to Marvelous

First a note to Murphy & Stanley…if you don’t want a sneak peek at Millie’s ball gown then don’t read any further.

Anyone that has  a young dog knows how beneficial it is to expose them to a wide variety of experiences. Charlie and I have been working to keep Millie well socialized with people and other dogs, but there is always that worry that you will push your pup further than they can handle. So far with Millie that hasn’t been a problem and she has proven to be a fairly stable pup.

With the Valentine’s Ball coming up Millie wanted to have a special dress to wear on her double date that she and Remy are going on with Murphy & Stanley. I decided I would make the girls coordinating dresses and got right to work.

Last night was a regular meeting of the Perinton Quilt Guild that I’m a member of. Each meeting usually includes a show and tell segment where members show off their recent creations. The club president suggested that we should bring some wearable art for show and tell.

The most recent wearable creation I made was Millie’s dress so I decided to take her with me. The guild meets at a community center in a large room about the size of a school classroom. I decided to purposely arrive about 10 minutes late to avoid the chaos of the early part of the meeting when everyone is milling about and getting settled into their seats. I have to tell you that nobody has ever brought their dog to a meeting and I wasn’t exactly sure how we would be received, but I figured who wouldn’t enjoy Millie’s company.

The evenings discussion was about finding quilting resources on the internet and was well under way when we entered. The room was set up so that everyone’s back was to the door when we entered. Our president Julie was the only one facing the door and as soon as we entered she got a huge grin on her face. That of course caused most of the ladies to turn to see what she was smiling at.

Being the well-behaved pup that she is Millie and I were able to find a seat behind the rows of chairs and settle in quietly. As you can see in the first picture I brought a bed for her to settle on. I’m very lucky that Millie has, so far, proven to be a very non-vocal pup and never let out a peep all night. She spent the next hour visiting the ladies seated around us and being rewarded with lots of pets.

She in turn rewarded many of them with kisses too. The discussion continued for about an hour and Millie would settle down on her mat for short periods, explore the room to the end of her leash or visit her new friends.

After the discussion was over it was time for show and tell and Millie and I were the first to go. First I told everyone the only wearable art I had to show was for Millie and that was why I brought her. Then I explained the reason for making the dress and of course got a lot of laughs. You all know how crazy non-blogging people think we are for having all the Blogville fun that we do. I don’t let it bother me because they don’t know what they are missing! Some of the ladies sitting down front asked us to walk around since they couldn’t see Millie very well so we worked the catwalk a bit so to speak. Along the way Millie paused to greet her adoring admirers. The ladies were all surprised to find out that she was still a puppy and were remarking on how well-behaved she was. I would be lying if I didn’t confess to feeling a bit proud of my well-mannered pup.

Millie was particularly fond of another late comer that sat nearby and later on I learned that she used to work as a pet sitter and was trained in TTouch. It appears that she worked her magic on Millie because eventually this was where she ended up for a little while.

During the rest of show and tell this was where she landed. Even with the talking and applause (we always cheer each other on) she never was upset or excited. After the meeting Millie and I wandered around visiting with more of the members and she was very happy with all the attention.

Like I said I was very proud of the way Millie behaved on this new adventure. I was reasonably confident that she would do well, but you never really know what to expect with a young pup in a new situation. Remember, this is the same pup that just a week ago was showing her puppy side by eating a book and here she was acting like a very grown up dog.

Charlie and I have observed how much Millie enjoys meeting new people when we are out. She even seems to get disappointed if she is ignored as she also enjoys to give some loving back. Maybe Millie will have a career in pet therapy some day? What do you think?

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My Christmas Present!

Anybody that knows me knows that I am not good at waiting for Christmas to open my gifts. This year I only wanted one thing and I knew it was more expensive than any of my usual gift givers were comfortable with spending so I told them to just contribute to my fund. I hope they do since I have already purchased it!

That’s right…I got myself a Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE!  Woo hoo! So far I have been very happy with it, but our relationship has just begun. Of course my first order of business was to craft a proper cover for my new toy.

I found a nice pattern for an e-reader cover and added my special twists to it as usual. First up was the choice of fabric being the micro-suede I like to use on my tote bags. The micro-suede is nice and soft so it won’t scratch the screen and it is also very durable. I also wanted an embroidery on the front (naturally) and liked this one from Embroidery Library with the butterflies coming out of a book.

I added a pocket on the inside cover and some elastic holders for my stylus. You don’t have to use a stylus, but it helps to keep your greasy finger prints off the screen.

The cover is sturdy yet also flexible so you can fold the front cover back while you read.  Another nice thing about this e-reader cover design is that it is so versitle in how you can use it.

It actually has three main pieces that allows you to stand the reader up for viewing. This is handy if you are following a pattern or wanting to multi-task while using the e-reader.

So far there are no complaints with my new toy. The one recommendation I would make if you are new to the Kindle is to download one of many Kindle Fire handbooks to get to know your new toy better. I was a little surprised that the only thing in the box was the Kindle and a USB cable and not one piece of information on how to use it. I think if I hadn’t had an android phone for so many years I might have been very lost in using it. The only thing you were shown was where to find the power button and volume buttons. Even with those minor issues I love my new toy so if you would like to contribute to my fund just let me know and I will give you my snail mail address or you can send me a donation via PayPal 😉

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Project Week – Dachshund Bags

The next project on my list are a couple of dachshund bags I made for Agnes (What’s Her Name from the Dachsies With Moxie). Her mother in law is owned by a longhaired red dachshund and Agnes asked me to make a clutch and a tote bag embellished with a longhaired dachshund embroidery.

I found a nice embroidery for this project at Embroidery Library, but the colors they stitched theirs out in were for a black dog so I had to figure out how to modify the colors for a red colored dog. I asked Agnes for some hints and she suggested that Ruby, one of Frankie Furters beautiful wives, looks very similar to her mother in-laws dog. I printed a couple of pictures of Ruby from their blog to use as reference and I think it turned out very well.

The tote bag has the embroidery on an exterior pocket on both sides of the tote. The green area was quilted with a Sashiko style of quilting and the interior features a fun dog related print.

When I first saw the lining fabric I knew it was right for these bags. It is printed with all sorts of words like, woof, yap, bark, arf, ruff, etc. There are two zippered pockets and two plain pockets inside as well.

I made the clutch bag out of micro suede and embroidered the dachshund on one side. The lining is the same fabric as the tote bag.

Since the bags were for Agnes’ mother in laws birthday and I was shipping them directly to her I wanted to spiff up the packaging just a little so I wrapped the bags in some colored tissue paper and included a birthday greeting.

As an added bonus I also included the “Bad to the Bone” toy shown above. According to Agnes the bags and toy were a huge hit and will be well used. If you are interested in a bag with your favorite breed on it leave me a comment and I’ll see what I can come up with.

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A Donation & a Father’s Day Gift

A couple of month’s ago Christina, Sagira’s mom of Sagira’s Agility Adventures, solicited me regarding a donation for the Louisville Weimaraner Rescue for their Weim & Cheese Fundraiser they held on June 16th. She had seen some of the bags I previously posted about and thought one would make a great addition to their event.  Originally she offered to pay for a bag, but being the pet lover that I am I couldn’t charge for something going to a charity.

Weimaraner Clutch in Faux Suede

I decided to make a clutch in faux suede with the Weimaraner embroidery on both sides. The faux suede is so soft and gives the bag an elegant look and feel.

Interior of Weimaraner Clutch

Thanks to Giles from Touch and Sew I had just the right fabric for the lining. He recently moved back to England and couldn’t fit all of his fabric stash in the suitcases that he and his parents were carrying home so he graciously gave what they couldn’t carry to me. This cute paw print fabric was among the many fat quarters I received and the colors were perfect for the clutch.

Weimaraner Embroidery

I think the embroidery turned out great! The other great thing about making this bag was that the day Christina posted a picture of the bag on the Louisville Weimaraner Rescue’s Facebook page I had an email from someone who saw the bag and wasn’t going to be able to go to the event, but wanted a bag just like the one I made.  After a few emails back and forth the order was placed and I started stitching again.  When I first told my husband that I was going to make a bag to donate his response was that we couldn’t afford that since we are both not working at the moment, but I told him that I was hoping it might generate some sales and I guess I was right!

Now on to the Father’s day gift I created for a fellow blogger. Shortly after I posted my pictures about the “Grill Master” polo shirt I embellished for my father for his birthday Mindy Slimmer of the Slimmer Pugs and more recently of Pugs and Purrs emailed me about making a shirt like it for her father.

BBQ Crest Shirt

I emailed her back and showed her some of the other barbecue designs I had and she chose the “fancy” Grill Crest to be stitched on a Navy blue polo. We finalized the order and I headed off to Tarjay (Target) to pick up the shirt.

BBQ Crest Embroidery

I love the subtlety of this embroidery and had it as my second choice for my dad’s shirt as well. I think if you saw it being worn you would have to do a double take to tell what it was.

Whether it is making a bag or embellishing a shirt, I always enjoy adding embroidery to my work.  If you are interested in custom designing a bag for yourself or a friend or would like to embellish a t-shirt with a special design just leave me a comment.  I have a lot of embroideries that haven’t been shown on this blog so I might already have the one you are looking for.

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I’m Still Here

Hi everyone! I know I have been a bit absent the past couple of weeks but I have been visiting your blogs, just not commenting on all of them.  I’ve been busy with yard work and lots of sewing, machine embroidery and even some crocheting!  I will catch you all up with posts over the next week or so. Stay tuned because there will also be a GIVE AWAY coming up.

First I will show you a little of why I have been so busy.

Just after I finished planting my containers we had 10 cubic yards of mulch delivered. In case you don’t know how much that is the above dump truck is like the one that did the delivery. It was full and a bit mounded up with mulch for the gardens.  The pile took up almost the entire two car parking area in our driveway and was slightly taller than me at 5 feet 2 inches (sorry I forgot to get a picture). In other words it was a HUGE pile that needed to be moved to all the planting beds and then spread.

As usual Charlie did all the hauling, one wheel barrow full at a time. I assisted by doing all the spreading after he piled it up in the beds. We were lucky that the week we had the delivery the weather was rather cool so we worked every day until is was all done. After a full week of work the mulching was done.

In between the mulching and after that I was working in my sewing room.

This is an overall view of my sewing room after about 2 weeks of constant working.  More on all the projects later. This is a far shot so you might not be able to see just how messy it is so I will show you a few close-ups. When I am working on projects I just keep going and don’t always stop to put things away after I finish one thing before going on to the other so things start piling up.

This is the closet where I keep most of my fabric and other supplies. The grey and red thing on the floor is for storing the embroidery part of my sewing machine. In this picture it is full of all sorts of sewing supplies (fabric, stabilizer, embroidery hoops) with the embroidery unit laying on top.  When you do projects with machine embroidery you have to attach that unit to the sewing machine, do the embroidery and then take the embroidery unit off to do the sewing to put the bag or whatever it is you are making together. I don’t really have a place to store this without zipping it back in the bag and when I am doing a lot of projects it just isn’t practical.  Needless to say it did block my access to the closet just a bit. Not to mention the pile of left over fabric and stabilizer on the floor as well.

On the other side of the room my ironing table looks more like a storage area on top. This time the grey and red bag on the floor was used to transport items to and from my quilt club meeting.  Above is what it looked like before I started putting everything away. Here is how it looks after the clean up.

All that sewing coupled with a few quilt club meetings over the past two weeks meant for a busy time.  Unfortunately my blog post writing suffered.  I am going to try to write more often in the future and not leave you hanging for so long.  By the way just after I took the “neat” pictures I started on another embroidery project so the room is well on its way to being messy again.

 

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