Here I am!

After we last spoke, things got a little hectic here. Yep, even more hectic than before.

First and foremost though, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for the emails and comments wishing Ben and I luck as new parents! Your words have been so kind and they mean a lot to the both of us as we prepare to transition into these new roles.

I'll spare you most of the craziness around here, but basically Paco (the kitty dog) is getting older and with getting older, that means more complications. He's now 16. His eyesight has been slowly getting worse, his hearing is sparse at best (or maybe it's just selective) and he just looks like an older dog to me.

Well, he got diagnosed with glaucoma right after I last blogged and then he had an infection. So little dog plus four medications later and he's finally stabilized and is back to "normal". We're finally down to only two medicines, both eye drops that he's not fond of and is getting wise to our ways which makes giving his drops quite interesting.

Add in to that I was thinking once I hit the second trimester I was feeling much better and getting my energy back, but then lil munchkin had different plans and for a week I was back to square one... It's all better now and I'm learning my limits and getting a little bit more energy each day, most of which I've spent catching up on long arm quilting.

So all in all, I have been quilting up a storm which has been great! But usually once I get home, give Paco medicines and do our daily activities, then I sit down and I am done. No energy left to write on the blog and come up with something witty to say. Plus, preggo brain is a real struggle and I'm afraid some days I may write something that when I read it later on will read as gibberish at best. Probably like how this reads today.

Wait, what?! It's almost May?!

I swear to goodness I was just minding my own little business over here and before I knew it, May was in a couple of days... When the heck did that happen?!

Well, it has been absolutely insane over here (mostly the good insane) and when you mix that with a little vacation, a new dog and some allergy season shenanigans... I lost a month or so of time and I don't know where it went.

I'm going to be busy playing catch up on the blog here and showing you a ton of quilts I've been working on, so get ready for quilty overload in the coming weeks.

Oh, and I just got some good news. Some really good news. Seems Like Scrappy is getting released a little earlier than we thought. It is still a June date, but June 2nd is soooo much better!

Let me repeat that, Seems Like Scrappy will be released June 2nd!!! Okay, I feel better. I'm super excited to share this all with you and I can't wait for you all to see it in your hot little hands.

So, today I just wanted to pop in and once again say thank you to all of you that have given words of encouragement and support for our Rosie Roo.

 She is doing fantastic and we've learned a few more things I wanted to share:

* The cage was a huge part of the separation anxiety problem. No more cage, no more crazy dog.
* We have to open a window for her to look out and she's much calmer when we leave
* Except that time she locked herself in the bathroom somehow and went bat-crap crazy. She was safe and fine, my flat iron and some rolls of toilet paper didn't fare so well however.
* She doesn't like to get her feet wet. At. All. (Such a diva)
* She loves going on walks and we go almost every day!

This face is such a joy to us and she loves to go with us as much as possible. On one of our walks we ran into a gentleman who said she looked just like the dog from "Because of Winn Dixie". So we looked it up and he's right. We think she is a large part Picardy Shepherd now, but she's too small to fit their standards and with those ears of hers, she still has something else mixed in there, but we have no clue what it is. It doesn't really matter. She's one of a kind!

The first month with this pup had it's ups and downs. The second month was much better and I can only imagine it'll get better from here.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that she is such a quilting dog. She hates the elliptical here at home, so one day when I took her out to the long arm with me I wasn't sure how she'd react. It's big and loud and it moves... But I had a super long day of quilting ahead of me, too long to leave the pups alone for, so I packed up the car and took both of them with me.

She slept right under the machine and could care less what was going on. She has a knack of making herself comfortable just about anywhere we've taken her so far. So comfy in fact she's not a morning dog. I got up early one morning to work on binding before the sun came up... After a while I couldn't find her. She was asleep on our bed in the dark quiet room while I had all the lights on and was making noise! I found her in there and she gave me a look like, "Oh, be a dear and shut the door and keep it down so I can sleep a bit, mmmkay?" That morning she slept on our bed til about 7:30 and then came out like it was nothing. She's done that a bunch lately if I'm a little too active in the morning for her. Goofy dog!

Well, I think I've rambled on about Miss Roo for too long now. She's fun and great and I'm so glad we made it through those first few horrid weeks because right now I couldn't imagine life without her! I'll be posting my one little quilty finish later today, I think you'll like it so come on back!

Einstein Fluff

So I just wanted to pop in and show you all this Einstein fluff Miss Rosie Roo has:

 Can you see it?! That little fluff patch between her ears?!

 This dog literally has every type of coat you can think of. Her ears are velveteen soft. Her back is coarse wiry curls. Her sides have super fine hair that you can only see when the light shines on it and it sticks straight out.

 But this little Einstein patch is unlike anything I've ever seen! It looks and feels like a cotton ball and I can't get enough!

Rosie is settling in just fine and we've made some huge improvements in the few weeks we've had her! I love this pup and I can't get enough!

Heartfelt Thank You

I just wanted to pop in really quickly and send a thank you out from Ben and I and this little girl:

It has officially been two weeks that we've had Rosie and I cannot express in words how much your encouragement and kind words have meant!

Rosie has come such a long way in such a short amount of time. She went from a timid restless pup that destroyed her crate in the first few days to a calm, playful daddy's girl. She loves Ben and REALLY wants to play with Paco. It's been great for Paco too, he's got an extra pep in his step and even though he really can't play with Rosie, he's more active and spry.

We've worked with some of her "baggage" and trying to take it one day at a time. After she completely destroyed her liner in her wire crate, see below:

We got another plastic crate with a smaller grid on the door and only holes in the top half so she can't get herself hurt in any of the openings. We moved the new crate directly across from Paco's so when we leave, they can see eachother with a direct line of sight. I thought about putting a blanket or something over the top, but I was so worried that she would pull it into the crate and shred it or worse, so until we get more confident, she's not getting any foreign objects that could be potential choking hazards just yet.

One trick we've done is left a radio playing when we leave and that seems to help so much! Especially with those ginormous ears of hers, she hears everything including all of the cars and kids and whatever else goes on in our neighborhood (it's small, everything is so close). With the radio drowning out the ambient noise, she's still reluctant to get crated, but then she calms down and actually sleeps! She went from being a caged maniac to just a dog that doesn't want you to leave, but she knows we are coming back and that is soooo helpful.

I'm not going to lie, after Rosie demolished that crate, I was scared to death to leave her and was more concerned that she would harm herself in a fit of fright. With that said, after some minor adjustments and taking every single kind word to heart that was shared, I wouldn't trade her for the world! She is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle loving dog and I'm proud to call her mine!

The next step for us from here is to continue socializing her with various people coming to the house. Then once the weather breaks we need to take her to get a harness for outdoor walks (I think she was an "exercise dog" before. When I get in my workout gear and get my shoes on she gets really excited, but then when I hop on the elliptical she's not too thrilled. She's getting much better about her fear of the big bad elliptical though, but I'm anxious to get outside with her.) And see where we go from there!

Thank you all again. We cannot thank you enough! -Ben, Rebecca, Paco & Rosie

My Valentine...

This year Ben and I decided to not be eachother's valentine... Instead we chose to share our love with this sweet girl:

 Meet Rosie! We honestly didn't plan to adopt her around Valentine's Day, but it just worked out that way. She's a terrier mix (we're thinking mostly Airedale Terrier), she's 6 1/2 years old and she's fitting in great!

 Paco is responding well to having a new dog in the house and most of the time these two could care less where or what the other dog is up to.

So far this is what we've learned in the few short days we've had her:

* She is very kind and respectful. She hasn't tried to get into anything (thus far)

* She is extremely alert with those massive ears of hers. She checks the perimeter often and is getting used to the new sights and sounds of our home/neighborhood.

* She has had obedience training in the past. She can sit, lay down and stay really well. Come is the command she chooses to ignore from time to time.

* She loves her bed and sleeps really well at night.

* Sadly she has had a traumatic past... we are finding out much more than the "happy home life" we were led to believe she had prior to being at the shelter. We are dealing with it slowly and building trust. So far she loves Ben, but not when he's standing or if it's dark in a room. She also has moments where she won't come near you with anything in your hand. Yesterday I had her full food bowl in my hand. She knew it was me, knew it was her food but the combination of the two struck something that made her afraid... It made me sad...

* Each day has been a new adventure and she's opening up more and more showing us her playful personality and what toys she likes.

* However, as she eases overall, the traumatic events get fewer but more extreme... She shredded a couple blankets when we were gone, so at the vet yesterday they suggested no blanket in her crate. She was in a wire crate for a few hours by herself and she completely destroyed the plastic liner! We switched some small details around and got a plastic crate to try for when we are both gone and moved it closer to Paco's crate to see if that helps...

All in all, she's a great dog with a troubled past and we just need to build her confidence and trust. It will happen with time and I know we can't break down all of her barriers in the first four days. So, wish us luck, I will keep you posted as we move forward and welcome Rosie into the family!

A Sad Day

I try not to post sad things on here, but this one is about a subject I've shared far too much to ignore. I've been trying to write this post for weeks. I've written it in my head a hundred times over and still couldn't actually type it out. Please know this is hard for me to share and I'm crying while sitting at my computer at the moment.

So here goes:

 About two months ago, we lost our precious Duncan. I've shared so much about him and Paco on the blog, many of you ask about them at shows and it seems like you know them virtually.

Duncan's had a rough road with his health since he was a pup, but always was a trooper. He had a spine injury as a pup. He's had a gland rupture several times which lead to tumors and abcesses and several bouts of antibiotics. He had a weird allergy to shampoo that made his eyes swell... He also had liver enzymes that were off the charts and could never be controlled. But right before we lost him he was diagnosed with diabetes.

 Duncan lived a wonderful 13 years and the last month or so was rough. His blood sugar was over 500 when he was diagnosed and it never went below 370 in the month after. The highest it registered was somewhere in the 670 area. He was a Cairn Terrier and little did I know that his breed as well as Schnauzers are prone to diabetes late in life, but are also insulin deficient. Well, we tried shots and different foods and everything we could think of and nothing worked. We were at the vet so much that last month, one week alone we were there 6 times. They knew us and I didn't have to sign in or anything. We'd walk in and the staff would be like, "Hey, Duncan!" We had to have him put down when his body started to shut down and that was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.

I miss him dearly and it was honestly hard to sew after he was gone. He was the best quilting dog ever and the best companion when I was down. I didn't really realize why I didn't want to sew for a few weeks until one day I forced myself to stay home. I opened the door to my sewing room for the first time in weeks and immediately started to cry when I saw his blanket lying on the floor. And his toy under my table. That day I swear I heard him running down the hall and cuddling onto his blanket. Everyday has gotten a little easier, but he was my baby. He was my first dog. As long as Ben and I have been Ben and I, it was Ben and I and Duncan was our baby.

We still have Paco, but he's our kitty dog. We love him dearly and we've agreed (even before we lost Duncan) to not get another dog at the time. Paco is 15, mostly deaf and blind and it wouldn't be fair to him to bring a new wild dog into the house. Honestly, I want to go to the dog shelter every day. I can't because I would bring home like 5 and poor Paco wouldn't know what to do.

I guess the reason I'm telling you all this (if you're still here) is more for a closure thing for me, but also to explain if I haven't really seemed myself lately. I tried to keep this to myself, but Ben and I agreed that I shared so much about Duncan on here, I should probably share his loss too. It's been a little hard to be upbeat so many days I was just quiet.

I still have many of his toys spread around the house and I can't bear to think about moving them or throwing them away. I would love to donate them, but that would probably lead to a shelter and me bringing home a dog or 5. For now though, I take comfort in knowing the wonderful life that he and I shared, the wonderful memories that can never be taken from me and the hope that I will see him again one day. I still find myself crying in these quiet moments where a scent or a sound or something makes me think of him. So I please ask if you can, to love on your pooch a little longer today. Please give them a hug and a kiss and an extra treat for me (and Duncan). Thank you all in advance for letting me share this personal story with you and getting it out in the open. Rest in peace my little Duncan Christopher. Mommy and Daddy love you and miss you.

A Shift of Plans

I have more quilts to show you and a ton of sewing to be doing, but that's all been derailed this week by this little guy:

My poor pup went to have a risky surgery due to previous health concerns to clean his teeth and remove some tumors, but they couldn't do the surgery because he's now diabetic! So after a night and day at the vets to flush his system, iv fluids, and a glucose curve test, he now looks like this:

They shaved parts of both front legs and it's the goofiest thing I've seen. I tell him now he's my poodle wannabe. So once the diabetes was discovered, we've had to go back to monitor his progress because his levels were so high... Today when we go will be my 6th time to the vet this week. No joke. I swear I could pay for a wing at the vets by now!!!

But alas my baby is doing better, he's a stubborn little cuss so going from his own schedule to eating every 12 hours and getting a shot has been difficult at best. So if I don't post anything quilty in the near future, I'm probably sitting at the vets office :/ Or trying to get my dog to eat. 

More quilt posts will return, I swear! 

Snow Day-ish & #APQquiltalong progress

So I had these grandios plans to go and quilt today after my PT this morning. Little did I know I would have the pain & torture version of PT and not the nice physical therapy type. 

Why PT? I kinda may have gone gangbusters working out this year and aggravated an old hip injury and made it worse... So I was supposed to be "evaluated" today or so I thought. I did and then to loosen the internal tendons and ligaments of my hip, there was this twisting and lots of pressure massage-y type thing with the warning I'm going to be sore later. It's not much later and guess what, sore already!

So, I don't do as nice of quilting when I fee ick and the roads got horrible so I'm staying home today. When I got home the sun came out and I spotted this guy in my backyard:

Yeah, we were supposed to get 1"-2" of snow today. That's about 4" out there and it's the light slippery stuff. 

So I'm going to spend part of my day admiring my #APQquoltalong. I wanted to show you all the one thing I changed:

Here is where it is currently living on the back of my couch until I figure out how to quilt it. I have ideas but I'm letting this one take its time and tell me what will be best. No rushing. 

Now if you have been following the blog, if you've seen my book, or if you know me, you know I love scrappy. I loved this quilt from the start, but in the cutting instructions the sashing pieces and I had a disagreement. Why put one huge piece of fabric in when you can break it up? The more the merrier! So if you look at my sashing I substituted several squares instead of one long piece. It makes me super happy. 

Now if Paco will let my quilt and I share the couch with him and his nest there might be some sort of sanity in this winter wonderland we're living in today. I think to speed up my recovery a chick flick is in order. I'm thinking I finally need to watch Save the Last Dance since hubby's not home and can't complain about it!

Stealthy Pups

I'm gonna try this again. I already wrote this post and hit the button to publish it when an error popped up and erased THE WHOLE THING! Ugh!

Alrighty then, back to the pups:

So this is Duncan, the Momma's boy. He is supposedly a sick dog due to liver enzymes in a blood test, but trust me he still acts like he's 3 rather than almost 12. Now with this stinker, we tried every trick we could think of to give him medicines to help his blood numbers. I was almost out of ideas and then on a whim we mixed in some wet food with his normal dry stuff and just threw the pills in and he was begging for more. Since then he's no longer on medicine, but we still give him the mixed food and he LOVES it. 

Paco on the other hand runs by his own schedule and will eat when he's good and ready, not a minute prior. Because of this, we have to keep an eye on Duncan so he doesn't help himself to his brother's food too. Last week one morning I couldn't find him and then I saw this:

Notice his little white mustache in the shadows? I almost missed it! He's a sneaky pup and that's why he's a stealth expert in my book. 

Then there's Paco. He's older than Duncan (almost 14) but we didn't get him until he was 6 or so. Until then he lived with cats and we are pretty convinced he thought he was a cat. We had to teach him to growl and bark and play with toys, but now he's mostly dog aside from the nest he lives in for about 20 hours a day. 

I just LOVE this picture of him in his nest! Well, Paco tries to be as clever and sly as his brother, but his execution on such adventures is lacking a bit. Just like yesterday morning:

I honestly have no clue what he was doing, but I turned and saw this. Stealthy? No. Hilarious? Yes. 

So that's been my week aside from some quilting and this stomach bug my hubby gave me. I'm almost disinfected, but for now I'm going to sip on a cup of tea and watch a movie rather than pass this onto anyone. More quilting posts soon! 

The Illusive Quilting Dog

Now, before I begin, you have to imagine this whole post in your best Steve Irwin voice. Alright? Okay then.

 Now here we spot the Illusive Quilting Dog in his natural habitat... Be wary, I think he's spotted us!

 Being the attentive creature he is, he tends to sleep with one eye open to be aware of his surroundings...

Taking shelter in this hair ridden quilt, you have to be careful not of his head, but of that tail! It will begin to shake like a rattler snake when you approach... This is a sign he either will not accept your company and you must retreat, or he wants attention, but he doesn't want to have to move to get it.

Yes this is my dog Paco. Yes that is a quilt I made that he stole for his own. Yes that is also my chair he has stolen for his own. And yes, he weighs only about 5 pounds. Actually it looks like he has atleast 3 blankets there, which is pretty typical. He waits for you to warm one up and walk away and he'll take it to his "nest" and build it bigger and bigger until he has all 6 blankets and quilts. Yes, I said 6...

I love these pictures. He's so nutty!

Dog Days of Summer

It is super hot and humid here in Ohio right now, so what am I doing? Crazy I know, but I've actually been staying inside and hand quilting! 

It seems like I have only had the opportunity to hand quilt during the summer these last couple years and not when I would like to in the winter. :(

But I am staying cool and enjoying this time. So is Paco. Today while stitching I looked over to see this adorable sight:

It just made my day and made me happy that I was able to be home to see it! Stay cool out there!

Quilting with noises

Normally when you're quilting, you can listen to the machine and know a few things. Just by listening, you can hear if your bobbin is running low, if it's time for a new needle, if the machine could use a little oil, those types of things.

Now I'm a noise kinda person. I have to have music on or the tv for background noise almost all day long. When I discovered Pandora it changed my life and that's the first thing I do when I am getting the machine started up - turn on Pandora.

But there are days that there are weird noises while I'm quilting. Some of them may just be in the background, some may be a bit louder. Sometimes I can hear the tv in the other room or noises from the kitchen if someone's cooking or baking. You know you live "in the sticks" however, when the sound you hear above the running machine is your brother testing out his turkey call the day before opening season...

Last week however, it was a different noise altogether... It was a noise from a furry member of the family.

 No, it's not these two. They're passed out and could care less I'm walking around the house taking pictures, but it's not them.

 I could hear the snoring from a particular Chocolate Lab who likes to sleep in this chair. She's tucked in so small in there. Want to see how small a 90 lb. lab can curl up?

Trust me, this is pretty small for her. This is Hershey, Mom's dog and she is soooooo stinking funny. She always sleeps in this chair (which she's allowed to be in) but as soon as she realizes you are in the same room as her she immediately gets out and moves elsewhere. I have never heard her snore so loud I could hear it above the long-arm machine running before. That's insane!

I have video of her playing and if I can upload it I'll have to share it with you. She's a brute and she's probably the clumsiest looking dog in motion I have ever seen. It could be due to the fact she's blind in one eye, but that doesn't really seem to slow her down. Not. One. Bit. Gotta love her!

Hyper Crazy Puppy

My dog, Duncan, lately has been deciding to be super hyper and play with his squeaky chicken toy (or toys) for about an hour or so each night. Some nights it's so ridiculously funny I can't help but laugh and I decided to share it with you.

I have to say, my heart goes out to those in Boston today. I can't fathom such a senseless act at such an inspiring event. I hope this video is one of those happy stories to share and lift your spirits in such a tragic moment.

Puppy Love

I have to say that I am so happy to be on retreat, but I am missing my boys at home.

Ben is left in charge and I'm sure he'll take care of the furry boys just fine. 

 Duncan lately has been torn between his new favorite toys, both squeaky chickens...

 This look just says it all.

 Then I got too close and he took both chickens and went to hide between the recliner and the wall the rest of the day... Silly puppy.

And I even miss fighting over the blankets with this little one. He waits just until you get them warm and then he steals them. Little rascal!

We'll see what happens when I return home. I have to put my slippers up now when I'm gone or else Duncan steals them and sleeps with them under the bed until I return... Maybe he'll steal something else this time...

Shipshewana Spring

I have to say the trip I look forward to each time is when I get to head over to Shipshewana and be surrounded by all things quilty. It's a neat little town and it just feels like my home away from home.

 We arrived on Tuesday and got the booth all set up. You may notice here a new version of Tiny Bits using Oink A Doodle Moo and a new Aura, both from the book, made out of Honey Honey from Kate Spain with a dark background. (So sorry I don't have better pictures yet, I completely forgot to get good pictures and sent the quilt off to the quilt shop, but I'm heading there later and I'll get pictures I swear!)

 I borrowed this bench from just outside the room and used it for Sonesta and Alphabet Stitchery: Sea Creatures.

 We had all sorts of new fabrics from Moda on display including many Christmas, Fall and Halloween lines. The back wall of quilts had a stained glass effect since it was so sunny outside.

 Also, we had all sorts of projects from the Moda Bake Shop including a version of my Wiggly Whimsy pattern in the new Boo Crew line from Sweetwater. It's so cute! The show was good as usual and as good as it is to get away, it was good to get home and back to work.

 I came home last night to this precious face!

And yes, this is THE face that I just love. This was actually the "you're standing in the kitchen and it's almost time to eat but you're not getting any food in my bowl just yet" face. Love this pup!

Last little note for the day, I just got word my books are on their way so as soon as I get them I will Herby Hancock those and send them out to those of you that preordered copies! How exciting!

Have a great Valentine's Day and I'll be back soon with more exciting news!

Snow Days!

So if you didn't already know, I happen to live in the wonderful area of Northeast Ohio called the "Snowbelt". Actually now I live in the secondary snowbelt, but my long-arm machine is still smack-dab in the heart of it all.

We've been getting small amounts of snow just about every day for the last few weeks, but this past week has been especially cold. When it's this cold the snow is super fine and powdery which makes beautiful winter scenes like this:

This is the view from my quilting room. The best part about really cold winters are the absolutely gorgeous blue skies that pop up between snow storms. (Not fifteen minutes after I took this photo the snow moved in and the sky was a whitish gray which isn't so pretty) Oh, and if you noticed, that is a large flower pot on it's side down at the bottom of the picture...

Just a little ways away from the flower pot on the patio is the bench absolutely covered in snow. We got this snow during the past week but not all at once. The snow so far this year has been a few inches here, 6 inches there, a little more overnight, which isn't soooo bad, but it does add up. 

 So what do you do when you live in the country with almost a 400' long driveway in the snowbelt? You get an 8' PTO driven snow thrower for your tractor. This is my little brother clearing the drive.

 As I mentioned, this snow is so powdery that it basically dissipates rather than being thrown very far.

 And all the while, the puppies (who are older, not young, but puppies at heart) love to look out the front door and take in the view. If you open the front door, they'll sit like this all day.

 Here you've got Hershey, Tucker and Abby. I love when they do this, but I haven't had the chance until now to get good pictures of it.

 And there has to be a ham in every crowd, meet Abby Sue. The other two could care less about a camera or they'll hide. Abby on the other hand wants to be front and center. I think she was a model in a past life.

 One of the other good things about snowy days like this (yes, there are good things about snow!) Are the beautiful sunsets we can get. This one was much prettier in person, but occasionally this time of year we get skies with shades of oranges, reds and purples that will take your breath away.

So that's the snow for the last week, however like any season in Ohio next week is supposed to be completely different. Last week on Tuesday the high was 8 degrees. This week the high on Tuesday is supposed to be 52 degrees. And then two days later it's supposed to cool off and snow again. Go figure, weather can be so strange here, nothing seems to phase us anymore. Just keep calm and drive safe. That's really all you can do.

And for those of my friends who have packed up and moved south, we miss you! I know you miss weeks like this! :) j/k. Lake Effect snow misses you! Alright, now I'm ready for a cup of tea. That and I'm getting ready to try out some new soup recipes this week. Wish me luck! Stay warm and remember to listen to the Pat Sloan radio show tomorrow where I'll be chatting about my new book, Seamingly Scrappy! I hope I don't sound like a dork!