Update

Hello Everyone! Summer is just flying by for me with these 2 puppies. They are doing very well with their house training, but like all pups they like to chew on things. They haven't destroyed anything yet but I do have to keep an eye on them. Their favorite thing to chew are my slippers. Yuck!

I also been able to get some yard work done and a lot of sewing done. Here are my first two attempts at making quilted wall hangings out of artificial silk flowers. I have a ton of scrap material and a huge plastic container of silk flowers laying around the house so I decided to downsize them by "recycling" them in a new wallhanging. They were kind of fun to make and go together really fast.

I also made a couple tote bags this week for Christmas gifts. This photo show them before attaching straps which I will do today. I made them out of scraps of old Christmas fabrics and pieces of batting I had left over. I'm challenging myself to make things now that I don't have to go buy anything for. It's been kind of fun being creative with things like this and I certainly have enough stuff to work with.

Lastly, I've been spending a lot of time with my two new puppies. They are growing like weeds and now they actually look like dachshunds with the long nose, long ears, and long body. They couldn't be two opposite personalities. Ginger is the go getter tiger and Cookie is so laid back all the time we call her our little wet rag. Here's a couple photos of them for you to enjoy.

Two New Quilts Done

This is a Baltimore Bliss wallhanging I recently hand appliqued and quilted myself.

This is a log cabin star that I made for my bedroom. I've only got the top done so far on this one, but I'm anxious to finish it.

More Quilts for Sale

Here are a couple more quilts I've decided to sale if you are interested. The first one is called a Tumbling Block pattern and is a wall hanging approximately 3' square, was put together by hand sewing and then machine quilted. Its cost is $40.

Off the top of my head I don't remember what this second one is called but it is some kind of Amish quilt pattern. It's about 2' square and its cost is $30.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these, please send the amount due, your name and mailing address, and the name of the quilt you want, and we will get it shipped out to you within a week of receiving your order. Tax and shipping costs are included in the cost listed.

New Quilting Design

Today I'm going to show and tell about my first attempt to design my own quilt block. About 3 weeks ago, I was sitting in the sewing room but not really feeling like sewing and I picked up some graph paper and started designing new quilt blocks. The next day I received an email about a "design your own quilt block" contest a certain website was having and I decided to enter my design, The Flippin' Bowtie block. First I put together a lap quilt with the block and then I put together a small wall hanging with the block. I got it all done and ready to enter the last day of the contest and got it all submitted. Wish me luck... there's some pretty nice quilting prizes. If anyone would like to purchase the pattern and instructions, I am making it available for $5. Just send the $5 with your mailing address and Item No. #201 (Flippin' Bowtie Pattern) to Arlayne West, 701 1st Street, Grimes, IA 50111.

New Baby

Greetings Everyone! We got our second new baby last week and is she ever a cutie and sweet as can be. Her name is Cookie Dough and she weighs a whopping 3 pounds. She is a long hair cream, red, & tan piebald mini dachshund. Although she hasn't quite figured out yet what all the going outside is all about, I do get lucky once in awhile and she happens to go outside, so I praise her ridiculously and make a really big tado about it hoping she gets the idea soon... very soon. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped over these two new ones. I've decided they do better if I take them out one at a time rather than together. When together all they want to do is play with each other. So by the time I let each dog (that's 3 now) outside and they take their own sweet time doing their thing, then it's time for me to come in and do my thing and then it's time to start the whole routine all over again. So much for getting much done around the house. That all seems to be on hold for right now, but I'm enjoying them so much I really don't care. Here's a photo of Cookie: