June is busy for Sydney

Last week Sydney graduated from Preschool. Mr. & Mrs. Sanders run a fabulous Preschool: "Rebecca's Sunnybrook Farm." She has been nurtured and educated there Mon, Wed, Thurs for the past two years. She returns tomorrow for summer fun, but technically school is over until she enters Kindergarten in the Fall. They had their program last Wednesday night.Sydney (l), best friend Madison (r) and their classmates march in to Pomp & Circumstance played on Mr. Sanders' kazoo.
Up on stage Sydney catches sight of Grandma! The kids took their turn singing with the microphones. Syd's turn came when they sang "This Little Light of Mine."
Afterwards: Madison, Sydney, Emma and Kaia. Madison is moving to Arcata next month. Sydney is heartbroken. She thought she'd never see Madison again. Then the wise mother explained that she and Madison's Mom have been friends since they were tiny and Carrie lived in Arcata and Liz lived in Eureka and they are STILL friends even now that they are all grown up. Emma & Kaia are daughters of one of Liz's Blue Bird friends. I love that my children's children are friends.

Saturday night meant a sleep-over at Grandma & Grandpa's. Sunday School on Sunday morning and then since the weather was good we drove to Rio Dell to Redwood Mini Golf. If you haven't gone yet, be sure to go. We all had a great time. If we'd known they had food we would have eaten there. Hot Dogs are only $1.99. They are open 7 days a week and we all highly recommend them.
Sydney is jumping for joy! She got her ball in with only 4, er, 5, er 6 or maybe 7 shots. Mr. Scottie Dog got two hole in ones. You'll find Paul Bunyan, a church, Eel River Sawmill and even PalCo Lumber Co. Instead of the usual windmill for hole #18 they have an outhouse and you try to hit the potty. Mine *almost* went in the toilet.....


Tonight was Humboldt Accordionaires with Mr. Scottie Dog getting to play with Gary Blair from Scotland. Sydney danced the night away. Here's a little video.



June has been busy around here.

It's fun to sew with friends!

Are you a quilter, crafter, knitter and such? You enjoy creating your craft...the planning & choosing of a project, picking out your materials (be they fabric, paper, plastic, yarn, wood, etc.), beginning it, working on your creation whenever you have time. One thing that can enhance the whole process is to share it with like-minded friends. My hubby plays music. Tonight while I was working late, he and 20+ other musicians gathered at Somoa Cookhouse for a dinner with a musician from Ireland.

I like to gather with my quilting friends for Sew-Days. I went to my good friend, Loris' Sew-In a week ago Saturday. What fun we all had, laughing, eating, sewing and getting great inspiration from each other's work. Nancy made this from a Jelly Roll. I really like the squares and rectangles.

This past Saturday Laura invited us to a Sew-day.
She made the inside of this quilt from little tumblers cut on the AccuCut machine. Looks like it's being enjoyed already!

I've been working on a 1930's French Roses Quilt (Heather French is the designer). All the flowers are sewn with raw edges. After the quilt is washed they edges of each layer will fluff and ruffle. This quilt is for the small guest room bed where Sydney sleeps on a regular basis (and my Minn. grandchildren when they come too!). I'm still working on some applique (again, raw edge) for the borders.
Lastly I sewed up this, as yet, un-named Tree Skirt. It will be the 2010 Tree Skirt pattern that we kit up for Christmas. I imagine we'll do it in two Christmas lines. Watch for a matching Table Runner soon!

It's so much more fun when you can sew with others. At Scottie Dog Quilts we have Sit 'N Sews on Monday nights, Tuesday mornings and Thursday mornings. There's always a teacher there so no excuses if you can't understand what to do next! Get those UFO's (unfinished objects) finished.

More Fun 9-Patch Ideas

I've been having a lot of fun with the 9-Patch Project. It's and easy goal....just one 9-patch block each day of the summer. I didn't get one made over the weekend and just made up a couple of extras the following evening. I'll be going to Yellowstone National Park soon for a family reunion and I'll make some extras before I leave and some extras afterwards and plan to be all caught up.

Several of my fellow Quilt Shop Owner buddies are also promoting the project. We often "borrow" from each other's blogs and newsletters (we're friends, right?). So today I'm sending you to my friend, Karen Snyder's blog (Annalena Land) for a couple of neat 9-Patch related posts.

You may have heard about the Disappearing 9-Patch...Well here's just one pic.

Click here for a tutorial on the "Disappearing 9-Patch." There are so very many ways to set your blocks...Karen has shown several.

And then several years ago on the Sunshine Quilt Guild list I learned how to make two 9-Patch blocks at once. It's fun and easy.

Click here for Karen's tutorial on the "2-fer 9-Patch." Have fun! I'd love to see your blocks too.

Did you know that you can get updates from Scottie Dog Quilts on FaceBook? Click here to receive them. There's also a place to sign up for our latest giveaway book signed by the author : Fabric Jewelry.

Syd can sew!

Today when I came into the store, Sydney greeted me with, "Gamma....will you teach me to sew?" Everything I wanted to accomplish at work went right out the window. How could I resist that request? Sydney found some pieces in the scrap drawer and we got out her sewing machine. It's a white (slightly green) Singer 221 Featherweight. She wanted to make an apron for her doll. I'd say she did a good job. I had taped the foot pedal to a box and we patiently sewed the apron. Mostly she sewed a straight line. Good sewing for a 5 year-old.

Tonight was the last meeting for Redwood Empire Quilter's Guild for the "guild year." They don't meet in July or August, so in June there is a pot luck meeting. The theme was "Hawaiian." I didn't get the memo on the theme but obviously Ann & Carolyn did.Don't they look happy!A view of the room. My plate is empty...it's so nice to eat what others cook.

One of the best things at any guild meeting is Show & Tell. Here are 6 of the 8 ladies who joined together to make this quilt.
One gal had taken a photo of some pottery in a garden setting and divided the photo into 8 sections. She blew it up, created line drawings for each section and gave one to each of the quilters. They had a tiny photo (2" X 3") for true color of their section and the actual line drawing. Some sections were embellished, some were 3-dimensional, all were fantastic. Each section was quilted by the creator, then sewn together on the front and the back seams were covered with bias. They will be selling the quilt to raise $$ for a charitable organization (still to be determined). Well done, ladies.

A Broken Window

Just after midnight the telephone rang.....it was the Eureka Police Department asking if we owned Scottie Dog Quilts at 301 W. Harris. Affirmative. The officer proceeded to tell us that someone had broken a window and they had the culprit in custody. Mr. Scottie Dog got up, put his clothes on and drove down to the store.

Here's the story: Around midnight an intoxicated man was walking near our store. Another man was riding his bike to WinCo (a 24 hour grocery store down the street). As they passed they exchanged words. Then the cyclist heard glass breaking and turned around to see the intoxicated man groaning and moaning with a bloodied hand walking away from our store. The cyclist called the police and followed the miscreant and the police were able to apprehend the suspect and hauled him off to jail. Seems he has an anger problem and has been known to do damage before.

Bless Mr. Scottie Dog...he spent a very long hour in the middle of the night picking glass out of the window frame and off the ground and then putting up the plywood over the window.

This morning he came and took measurements for the new glass. Does anyone know how hard it rained all day long? So unusual for June, but it poured pretty much continuously most of the day. I went out about 4 pm into the damp to get this picture. The glass is in my dining room until the rain stops long enough to be installed. Thanks Mr. Dog!

The 9-Patch Project

Today is June 1...The first day of the 9-Patch Project. It is simple...you just make one 9-patch block each day beginning with June 1 and finishing on August 31. At the end of the summer you'll have 92 blocks...that's right, 92! What can you do with 92 blocks? Imagine the possibilities.

What are the rules, you ask? Well, really there are no real rules. You make one block each day. One 9-Patch block made up of 9 squares. That's the rules. What size? What size to you want to make? 3"? 4.5"? 6"? 9"? 12"? It's up to you. In fact, you can make them different sizes if you want.

How do you color them? That's up to you too. Make a traditional 9-Patch with two fabrics. Put a different color in the center. Use 9 different fabrics...use up your stash or buy some of that fabric you've had your eye on.

You can join the 9-Patch Project at Facebook here. You can post pictures of your blocks or be inspired by the pictures others post.

By the end of the summer, we of the 9-Patch Project will show you several setting options.

Here are the sizes of squares to cut for various sized blocks:

Cut 1 1/2" squares for 3" Blocks
Cut 2" squares for 4 1/2" Blocks
Cut 2 1/2" squares for 6" Blocks
Cut 3 1/2" squares for 9" Blocks
Cut 4 1/2" squares for 12" Blocks

Remember your seam allowances are 1/4." Press seams on first and third rows towards the outside squares and press seams on the center row towards the center square. This way the seam allowances will nestle and reduce the bulk on the back of your 9-Patch Block.

I'm going to make my block, are you?

PS. If you miss a day, don't stop....just pick up where you ended. Or make an extra one. It's so simple you could just make 7 blocks one day of the week and be done with it.