Thursday, March 19, 2015

Meet Rosie

Look who came home from the animal shelter with us today.

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Meet Rosie.  She is a 3 year old maltese/papillon mix.  She is a little bundle of energy and despite her small size will be a good running buddy for the kids.  It remains to be seen whether she will be a good quilting buddy, as she only came home today and hasn’t had time to settle in yet.  Right now she’s a bit restless and whines to go out, then in, them out, then in…

We’ll get the hang of each other, then we’ll see if she’s a quilter dog or not!  One thing is certain.  Quilts will get washed rather more frequently now, as Rosie sheds a lot!  We had firm intentions to get a non-shedding or at least low-shedding dog, but just look at her!  And she has a very sweet, trusting disposition too. The only thing that would have made us leave her behind was allergies, but hubby played with her and was fine so she came home!

On to quilty things…

When I washed my Geese Across the Table placemats they shrank all wonky. I probably should have quilted them more evenly or prewashed the fabrics, or both.  In any case, after the shrinkage I needed a new set to use as a sample.  I hadn’t had a good dose of working with blues in a while so that’s what I pulled for the new samples.

Geese Across the Table set in blue batiks

Because of the previous shrinking fiasco, I made a point of washing these fabrics first.  In hindsight, since they are all batiks, they probably had no shrinking left to do.  I’m still glad they had a spin in the washer though.  I tossed in TWO Color Catcher sheets and this is how they looked afterwards:

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For anyone that doesn’t know, Color Catcher sheets start out white.  I’m keeping these on my bulletin board as a reminder of why I should prewash!  I didn’t prewash for years, but I’m becoming a convert. 

Now I’m off to sew a bit, if I can decide what project to work on.  I have some blue drunkard’s path blocks in progress, but as much as I loved the fabrics together before I cut them, I’m not so sure I like them in this block.

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This is just a random layout, not what they are intended for.  I’m not sure my initial plan is going to work, so it may morph after I have all 36 blocks made and I can play around a bit more.

I also have a few projects in the works that I can’t share quite yet.  One is in yellows/blacks/greys.  Another is in summer colors, and possibly repeated in fall or Christmas ones as well. 

The drunkard’s paths’ curves are a bit more fiddly than I remembered from the last time I made some. One of the un-shared projects is very straightforward while another has lots of points to match, so I have plenty of choice.  There’s also still some hand quilting to do on the kaleidoscope quilt. I just have to decide what colors and/or challenge level I want to play with today.

Or I could go play with the dog!

15 comments:

  1. Rosie is just so cute. hope she settles in well. Love those placemats and yes colour catchers are something I love. They sure soaked up a lot of blue in that wash. Choices, choices of what to work on next!!!

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  2. What a lucky dog to be taken home and loved by your family. Congratulations and I hope you have many years of fun. She really is a cutie. I love the vibrant blues in your table settings. I also like the drunkards path too. Maybe as you create more you will get a better feeling for them. It is great that you have so much in the makings. That gives us plenty to look forward to as you share them with us.

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  3. Rosie looks adorable! I hope she settles into a good companion for the quilter as well as the runners :-) The blues you are using are lovely; I'm sure an arrangement will come to you as you progress.

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  4. Rosie is cute! Congrats on adopting her. Lucky dog!

    The blue placemats are stunning! I like the touch of green. And the color catchers are impressive.

    Curves! Oi, you've been busy!

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  5. I vote for playing with Rosie. The time you spend with her now will not be wasted. I love the Geese Across the Table set in blue. I want to make some placemats with your pattern, soon. We have a puppy, who needs a lot of my time right now. Lulu loves exploring in my sewing room, which is a nice way of saying that everything not nailed down will end up in her mouth.

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  6. I always wash fabric as soon as I buy it so I won't run into the problem of whether it was washed or not at a later date. Even muslin needs to be washed because if you use it with other fabrics and then wash, the muslin will shrink and the other fabric won't. I know that from experience. :-(

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  7. Ooooh congratulations to your family on adopting Rosie! Joanne that is a great thing to have done! She and all of you will settle in nicely with time and I am sure she is going to be a great quilter buddy!

    Love your Geese across the table placemats. What a bummer that the first set got ruined in the wash. Those color catcher sheet are as blue as the fabric! Those two reasons (wonky shrinking and dye bleeding) are why I prewash.

    Looking forward to seeing your new projects take shape!

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  8. Rosie is very cute and she sounds very sweet, too. Enjoy your new little girl! The blue placemats are beautiful, I love the blues and green together. Nice job!

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  9. She looks sweet! And your new sample is so pretty. Sorry the first came out wonky from the wash. Have fun sewing.

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  10. Rosie is quite a cutie, and I'm sure will be much loved. I always wash all fabrics with color catchers also. That takes care of future fading (for the most part anyway), and also shrinking differences in the fabrics. Love the placemats! As usual, you are staying very busy! --"Love"

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  11. Rosie is going to command a decent chunk of your time, just sayin'...HOWEVER, every minute spent with her will reap priceless benefits, health and happiness and general well-being-wise. As for the geese placemats, love 'em! Couldn't get over the colour catchers though. And the Drunkard's Path blocks..what about some lime in there? I just picked up some secondhand magazines at the local guild quilt show, 5/$1, love it, and the cover quilt of one spring magazine is blues, lavenders and lime and it is stunning. You might have to buy a "leedle" more fabric...lol

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  12. Congrats on the new family member! Rosie is adorable. I have 3 fur boys. Mu husky sheds something fierce. My lifesaver has been the furminator brush! It really works well. I find making scrappy quilts helps a lot too (they don't show the hair as much Ha Ha)

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  13. Welcome Rosie - you have hit the jackpot with Canuckquilter's family. Lots of love, hugs and good times ahead. Not to mention quilts to snuggle up in. A table mat I made some years ago now shrank rather badly. I rarely prewash fabrics and to be honest I think it was the batting that actually shrank. Another table mat made with Pellon fared much better. Seeing your colour catcher sheets I realise I'm playing Russian Roulette with my quilts.

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  14. Rosie is so cute and it sure looks like she's happy to be with you. The new table runner and placemats are pretty - I love the blues with the pop of green. But that color catcher! I've never seen one come out that altered...never mind two! (I have a friend who would snatch those right off your wall and incorporate them into some artsy quilt.) And so many projects in the works...I'll bet there will be some good blog posts coming from you in the near future. I look forward to them.

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  15. Congrats on your new dog. Love your geese placemats. Thanks for the tip on the color catchers. I need to purchase some.

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