Just My Dog...

Even though my sweet Kes is a female,
this poem is appropriate for all dogs.

JUST MY DOG

He is my other eyes that can see above
the clouds; my other ears that hear above
the winds. He is the part of me that can
reach out into the sea.

He has told me a thousand times over that
I am his reason for being: by the way he
rests against my leg; by the way he thumps
his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he
shows his hurt when I leave without taking him.
(I think it makes him sick with worry when he
is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive.
When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile.
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it.
When I succeed, he brags.
Without him, I am only another man.
With him, I am all-powerful.
He is loyalty itself.
He has taught me the meaning of devotion.
With him, I know a secret comfort and a
private peace. He has brought me understanding
where before I was ignorant.
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts.
His presence by my side is protection against
my fears of dark and unknown things.
He has promised to wait for me...
Whenever...wherever--in case I need him.
And I expect I will--as I always have.

He is just my dog. --- Gene Hill ---

We're resting today, but we'll be back
tomorrow with an update from the studio.

Cutting Triangles...

Thursday, I spent the day in the studio. I was just itching to start on the Thank You Quilt, and try out that new ruler I'd purchased. Remember that my roll of fabrics were already cut into 2 1/2" wide strips, so my first step was to sew one light strip and one dark strip together.

I always press as I go, which is really needed because you have to line the ruler up on the seam line.
After the ruler was in position on top of the fabric, all I had to do was cut along the wedges. See those little round sections on the ruler? They make it possible to cut past the end of the triangles. This is also a non-skid ruler, which really works! Once I figured out how everything was supposed to line up, I spent an hour or so just cutting triangles.
In order for my pattern to assemble correctly, I needed to cut half of my strips on the front side of the fabric and the other half of the strips on the back side. That allows me to have dark and light triangles for opposing sides of each square-in-a-block. (I tried to lay the block out so that you can see the half square triangles and how they assemble into each block.) After I figured out that I needed to do this, the hardest part was lining up the dotted line with the stitching line between the strips. (I'm kidding. That really wasn't hard at all!)

After I had an assortment of triangles cut, I could play around with arranging the fabrics. That's always a fun part. I just had to try it with the first few strips as soon as I'd cut them.
So, then, I finished cutting all the strips and arranged them according to light or dark - the value of the fabric at the top of each two-strip triangle - and whether they point left or point right.
Here's the first block for the quilt - all sewn together and pressed. It will measure 8" square when it's sewn into the quilt. One down...I'm not sure how many more to go.
This gives you a pretty good idea what the quilt might look like. I haven't sewn blocks together yet, so I'll still be rearranging a bit. I've made nineteen random blocks so far out of one jelly roll. Of course, I'll keep taking more pictures and will share them with you.

As I'm sewing this quilt and then looking back at the completed blocks, I'm really glad that I chose this fabric line. The colors remind me of the grey clapboard siding on the exteriors of the Nantucket homes, the blue of the water, the tans of the sand dunes and the earthy cobblestones. I think it's working out to be the perfect choice for the quilt I'm creating for our Island hostess. What do you think?

Fezzik Friday - 19 Weeks...

"Well, I've had a whole week to think about what I want to be when I grow up. Mom told me that I come from a "herding heritage". I'm not sure what that means, so I'm not sure if I'm up to it."

"Hey! Has anyone seen Kes?"

"She was here just a minute ago."

"Hang on. I think I just "herd" something!"

"Yup, I sure did! Better get a move on!"

"Hey, Kessie. Where were you? Are you ok?"

"Yes, Fez. I'm fine. Just had a little personal business to attend to."

"What? You're surprised? I knew she was around here somewhere. I wish I knew what Mom meant about this "herding" thing!"

"Speaking of Mom...She asked me to tell you that she was busy in the studio yesterday (and will be again today) and that she's making a lot of quilt blocks. She's promised to show them to you tomorrow.

She also added two new videos of Dad playing the drums (on the right sidebar under this picture). I listened to them this afternoon, and they're really fun! All you have to do is click on the title and it will go right to each of the YouTube videos."