Photobombing

I was going to do a quick post today to prove I’ve done a bit more on the curtain, however Fletcher had other ideas…

And he does this kind of thing quite regularly, he likes to get involved when he’s not welcome…

And a lovely soft wadding pillow for his old man head… I was actually quite annoyed by this – dog hairs!!!- but at least he wasn’t getting in the way/crying/photobombing/getting his nose too close to the iron or sewing machine at the time, he was just quietly minding his own business whilst not being able to be apart from me for an hour or so…

So I’ve changed my banner a little up top 🙂 There will be more changes afoot on this blog over the next few weeks, but hopefully this won’t disrupt anything.

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Penny and Fletcher – all finished at last!

It’s finally done, the binding is on, the sleeve has been sewn onto the back, the paint has been set, my label is attached and it’s in the post…

I’ve pretty much dedicated my weekend to this quilt. Aside from housework, a jaunt to Morrisons, a nap, reading Giant George’s book, watching Snakes on a Plane again and cooking roast beef, this is what I’ve been doing.

Saturday saw me finish the quilting after finally getting to grips with the free motion pre-flight checks I had to run on the machine, then Sunday morning was the painting and doubt stage (thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on the painting!), by lunch time I had set the paint and by tea I had sewn on the binding, made the sleeve (using this tutorial) and sewn that on too. By bedtime the label was tacked to the back and the threads had been tidied up and lint rollered to remove real dog hairs. It’s being posted today!

I would probably make another one. I say that- I actually quite liked the process and WANT to make another one, I’m not yet sure of the subject matter though. I’m planning on selling the pattern from the next one I do so it will take a bit of thought. Maybe a puffin from my photos last week? Or the vintage HMV dog (if I don’t sell the pattern), or maybe even a landscape. I’m really not sure yet but if you have any ideas of something other people might want to make too, you know where the comments box is!

One month today and I will be seeing it on display at the Festival of Quilts! Are you going?

“Penny & Fletcher” Technical details:
Finished size 48.5″ x 30″
Technique: Machine Turned Edge Applique
Fabrics used: Mostly scraps from my box- I didn’t keep track of them all, but there is some Pezzy Print by American Jane, a scrap of my own fabric, some Meadow Friends by Deb Strain and a couple of grey fabrics from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille.
Paint: Pebeo Setacolor in transparent black (with lightener), transparent tan and transparent dark sienna.
Piecing: Madeira Monofilament
Quilting: Machine quilted in thread painting style on dogs, bubbles on noses, squiggles (and name) on white and straight line on blue. Gutermann thread, mostly 414 but some dark grey, tan, dark brown, black and a varigated Aurifil at one point.
Backing: Peach Klona cotton
Binding: White Klona cotton

If you want to follow some other people making their first ever quilts for the Festival, see Ali (though she’s not giving very much away 😉 ) and Dvine‘s blogs…

Want to enter a raffle to win your own custom pet quilt like this? Click HERE!

Did you get here from Lily Pad Quilting’s Pets on Quilt competition? Click here to go back!

Top dog…

The competition entry top is nearly finished…. all the dog sections are stitched together now. There’s a few bits left to sew that I added on afterwards when I found I left ridiculous gaps. That’s what you get when you’re trying to be thrifty and at the same time guess how something should look just by eyeballing it. Not clever. So I have a few bits I’m going to hand sew, then I’m going to sew the big applique on and then- hold your breath- I’m going to try and wash it on a gentle wash to get all that glue out, which will no doubt make it all fall apart.

In preparation for this (I struggle with monofilament to stop it coming unstitched- is that just me or everyone?) I have ironed some featherlight interfacing over the problem areas on the back. I should maybe handwash it but I’m not convinced it will get rid of the fabric glue- yes I didn’t use glue stick because I couldn’t find mine and I was being impatient!

So anyway, this took over an hour just to square the sides up and get the thing flat. It then took 15 minutes to stick it to the wall without it falling down. THEN when I came down this morning it had fallen off again so balls to it, it’s been folded with all the nasty pins sticking out of it, ready for when I confront it again. Fear not, it will be thread sketched as I quilt it to give it more detail where needed. Not sure about all of the patchwork at the bottom right now though, there’s almost not enough negative space. Any thoughts on this would be most welcome.

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In other news, have you noticed my blog looks a lot different? It’s nowhere near finished, Matt is helping me sort out a much neater horizontal nav bar and I will be having links to my Etsy shops once I’ve actually put things in them, but what do you think so far? I think I will do a little fabric giveaway to celebrate “the new me” once it’s all done. And some more free tutorials. Cos I want bazillions more followers as a result of all my hard work messing with custom CSS templates without really knowing what I’m doing 😛

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Dentist after work this evening and I feel like a zombie right now, plus work is painfully quiet and there’s only so many games you can play on your phone to pass eight hours.  In quilt wrestling last night I neglected ran out of time to clean out the hedgehog so I will have to do that when he wakes up tonight too. Not good things.  However I am going to Nandos tonight which sort of semi makes up for it.

The Birthday Cake

Here’s the cake I made for OH’s birthday as my first ever sugarcraft attempt, and also the biggest bit of baking I’ve ever done!

And here’s what it was modelled on…

Dog Baths and Workshops

WARNING: Image heavy post with lots of dogs!

After ages of meaning to try out the Wash and Wags soap from Just Soaps, we finally got round to it yesterday. Jane from Just Soaps sent me one as a little something for Fletcher after my post about the failed dog show a while back. He thoroughly enjoyed the handmade treat that came with it that is SUPPOSED to be for afterwards (and I think selling them separately somewhere would be brilliant) but with moving house, the soap was put into a box and forgotten about.

Yesterday though we tried it out. Not on Penny though because she requires extra “assistance” at bath time and therefore the squirty bottle stuff must be used. We call her Mrs Pankhurst because of the passive resistance that she has when she realises what is happening. So instead of applying soap whilst OH lathers it up and rinses her, I have to concentrate all of my efforts on keeping her upright (bearing in mind she is making herself as heavy as she possibly can) and not throwing herself sideways or jumping out of the tub… She is very cute in a towel though.

Fletcher is a different kettle of fish. At bathtime he reverts into himself and goes to his happy place, stood as still as a statue. You can try as hard as you like to get his attention but he totally switches off to distance himself from the torture we are inflicting on him. This makes him an ideal candidate for the bars of soap. I was applying it and OH was lathering it and it was creamy and easy, but equally will last us ages. It contains Olive Oil, Eucalyptus and something called Neem- not sure what that is but it seemed very light! He smells good!

After bathtime he goes a bit mental rubbing himself on things, shaking and licking his paws desperately trying to remove the nice smell!

Also yesterday in dog-unrelated news, I was at Jam Jar Beads in Sheffield doing a workshop there. We used my exclusive cupcake acrylic bezels for the very first time and made these pretties… (and I also bought some more beads *ahem*)

Don’t forget to enter your creations over on the Flickr Pool in the Bezel Competition! I can’t believe no one has entered yet- get over there! (Workshop people you can enter too!)

It’s OH’s birthday today so I will be back tomorrow with more dog photos- this time on the birthday cake I made for him!

LEICESTERSHIRE JEWELLERY DESIGNER SUPPORTS RETIRED GREYHOUND TRUST

So I thought I would post up my first press release, mainly because I trust WordPress not to lose it, and I trust my computer a lot less!

The newly established jewellery range, PennyDog, by its very name and logo is influenced by the greyhound. Founder Kerry Wilkinson named her company after her newly adopted 10-year-old brindle bitch, Penny. On adoption, Penny underwent several veterinary treatments, including dentistry and medication, all funded for by the Retired Greyhound Trust as a way to encourage adoption of these beautiful, but often unwanted animals.

One year on, and Penny is now 11 and regaining confidence. By means of repayment to the RGT, Kerry has pledged to donate £1 from each piece sold to the charity, which will help fund treatment for more dogs and their owners, and promoting the rescue of these affectionate dogs, of which 10,000 are retired from racing every year, desperately needing new homes.

 

The jewellery range is entirely made by hand and now covers rings and bangles, as well as pendants and earrings, and the design range is rapidly growing in size, as well as accepting custom orders for customers and retailers alike. To help strengthen links with retailers and galleries, the Boutique by PennyDog range offers high quality materials, design and craftsmanship in every piece, to create more opportunities for retailers to maximise their sales in the gift sector with the PennyDog range. The Boutique by PennyDog range is available online exclusively at http://pennydogaccessories.etsy.com, the standard range is on show at www.penny-dog.co.uk.