More toy drops!

Today I took Sydney to the zoo....we do that every once in awhile. Eureka is not a big town, but we have our own zoo. Up until last year it was free. Now you can buy a membership (I bought the Grandparent Membership. Two adults and two under 18 can get in on the membership. Cost only $49/year) and last year Sydney and I were the first ones to buy such a membership. Read about it here.

While we were at the zoo we made two different toy drops for The Toy Society. First off while we visited the gibbons and the spider monkeys we left "Angus" the second little felt Scottie Dog I made.

We left Angus on a bench called "Brayden's Bench" in honor of a little boy who lived and passed on in little more than a year. His memory is honored with that bench.


No one was around when we left it and after watching the bears sleep, the golden tamarins, the ravens, the flamingos and the birds in the aviary Sydney decided that it was time for ice cream....strawberry!

While Sydney licked her cone we spied a little boy and his grandma....he was holding our little Scottie and she had the bag in her hand! I was able to bet a picture of them while taking a picture of Sydney!


Sydney loved being in on the drops. At first she thought she should get to have the toys. When I explained they were "a surprise for someone to find" she was in. She kept whispering and helped me tie our next toy onto a bench by the Spotted Owls.











"Maggie" was our second toy. I made her while I was still in Minnesota and I've just waited for the right time to make my toy drops. I'm sure some think I'm pretty crazy, but you know....I love this.


Tomorrow I'll show you the new purse I made.

Someone's going to pay us a call

Someone is going to pay us a call next winter..........or should I say, I'll be visiting Minnesota the end of January.

Doing a happy dance!

I'm a member!

Several weeks ago my friend Carol posted a picture of a little toy she'd made. It was a funky free-form "monster," the kind of soft toy perfect for a boy or a girl. She introduced me (and her other blog readers) to The Toy Society. Here are just a few of the toys Carol has made. She really inspired me and I made my first toy while I was in Minnesota.

























I found a pattern for this cute little Scottie Dog on line and I made two of them. I named this one "Alastair" and took him with me to Sacramento this past weekend. I have another I'll leave somewhere in town.



















At The Toy Society site they show pictures of toys "dropped" and toys "found". You can download labels and more. Each toy is accompanied by a card with information inside about The Toy Society. I made my card with some pictures I cut out of a $1 children's book. I've never scrap booked but making my tag and label were fun. I didn't use glue, but stitched my cards together. Guess that's the quilter in me.



The idea behind The Toy Society is that you make a soft toy suitable for a child, you attach a little tag which says, "I'm free! Take me home." Then you find a spot to leave your toy where a child will find it. Some members leave toys at parks, libraries, doctor's offices, lots of creative places. I left mine near the front gate of Scandia Miniature Golf Course in Citrus Heights, CA. about 9 am on Sunday morning.

It's kind of like a random act of kindness....you don't know who will find your toy, hopefully someone who won't throw it away, but I'd like to think that someone who really needed a little hug, or pick-me-up or affirmation will find it. Maybe it will give a grown-up some faith or trust and in addition a child will have a little squishy toy to hold close and find some comfort.

Look for more toys....I think it's a lot of fun.

Even an Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks

I promised yesterday a picture of the Eureka! quilt Liz had made and I was putting the border on. Thursday mornings Scottie Dog Quilts has a Sit & Sew from 10-2 pm and the classroom is always hopping, full of sewers, laughter, good friends and good food. I miss out because I

don't come in on Thursdays until 2:30 or 2 pm. But today I was early enough to see what everyone was doing. After everyone left I tried to get the rest of the borders on, but I only got them on three sides. So here is the sample quilt for the class I'm teaching.

Eureka! Pattern by Maple Creek Quilts

Wednesday June 10 10-4 pm

Call the store for more details. (707) 444-9662. You will learn how to cut (and sew!) free motion curves. You will want to use his technique for quilts, tablerunners, placemats and more.

We've used Makena Ryan's newest line of fabrics here with some batiks and tone-on-tone fabrics.

This is the Eureka! Quilt I showed you a couple of weeks ago made by my daughter Beka in Minnesota. She used Asians and a black-on-black. Every quilt is different, every one a work of art.

Even an old dog can learn new tricks! Try it and you'll like it.

A Day in the Life of Sydney....

This morning Sydney got up, ate breakfast, dressed in her very pink t-shirt which read "Quilter in Training." Off to Sunnybrook Farm Preschool to learn her stuff, play with Martina, Aden and a new girl named "Lasagna" (her teacher said the new girl is named Leona! At least that's what Sydney called her. Syd told me that they played with the babies. "I really, really like to play with the babies, Grandma!" she said. I told her that we could play with babies next time she came to my house. "Oh, but you don't have the right babies at your house." Guess she told me!

After Preschool she comes to the quilt shop. First off she finished her lunch....she asked for peanut butter on her carrot (yes, carrot....I thought it was kind of weird, but whatever!) and when she finished she had to do HER job at Scottie Dog Quilts. She had to water the flowers in the outdoor flower box.

Lori came bearing gifts....really cute sunglasses and Tinkerbelle sox. Sydney posed for a picture with a big smile. Can you see the peanut butter all over the shirt?

About 4:30 Sydney brought her mom a picture she'd colored. I was busy putting borders on another Eureka! quilt (pictures tomorrow) and Lori, Liz & Laura began to laugh. When I looked to see what they were laughing at I could see Sydney....three minutes earlier she was coloring....now she was snoring and had fallen asleep on the stool.

We couldn't leave her in the walkway so while Liz & Laura prepared a quilt and pillow, Laura picked up Syd and they tucked her in...


The Quilter in Training turned into Sleeping Beauty.

And that was the excitement at Scottie Dog Quilts today.

New Batiks arrived!

Do you like batiks? Those luscious, glowing, hand dyed in Bali fabrics? At Scottie Dog Quilts we LOVE batiks. Today 22 new Hoffman Batiks arrived at 11 am. The Tuesday morning Drop-In class was in full swing....Judy and Paula were working on bordering some quilt tops, Del put some Buggy Barn Hearts & Stars blocks together, Sheila and Bridgette worked on backings and blocks. Barb was sewing a Smart Bag and Donna was ...well, I'm sure she was working on something, but I've forgotten just what it was....but within fifteen minutes of unpacking the boxes from Hoffman these bolts were smaller.One bolt of a very light blue Bali Hand dye came with 18 yards on it and soon it was down to 5 yards. Guess we need to reorder that one tomorrow.

I love these new bolts..the prints are unbelievable. I like the "ginkgo leaf" print. We got it in orange and salmon, blue & periwinkle and black, brown & taupe. WOW.

Here are some more of the batiks.....I am trying to think about what I want to make first.