"On the plains of Oklahoma, with a windshield sunset in your eyes like a watercolor painted sky, you'd think heavens doors have opened."
Fly Over States



Thursday, January 22, 2009

Making Room for Babies - both of them


Starting to get seriously ready for the baby, around here.

I decided she needed a crate blanket of her own and thought about piecing together something simple. After about two seconds, I decided that piecing the dog a quilt was really a lot of work and probably would be less comfortable than simply "birthing" a small quilt and doing a little meander quilting to hold it together.

So I looked through my stash and found a likely candidate:


I layered the backing, batting and top then stitched it together, leaving a gap. I turned the quilt inside out, then used some steam a seam to close the gap. I trimmed up the edges and prepared to square it but didn't need to.

After that, I threw it on the longarm.


I did some meandering quilting.



If you looked closely at it, you could see where I quilted the names of Pearl, Evelyn, Jezebel and Sapphire. But you probably wouldn't notice it is you didn't squint and turn your head sideways.


Evelyn was just a darling. She has definitely turned into a Blue Ribbon Quilting Buddy.



You can see the back of the baby's quilt in this picture. More dog paw prints:





I just love this picture:



I love this picture, too:




If you hadn't noticed, I really have a thing for dog paws. I just think they are adorable. When Evelyn was a baby, her pads were spotted.






She was really in a good mood, today.




Husband has been out of town for a week and so it has just been Evelyn and me. She tends to be a Daddy's Girl and before that, was Jezebel's shadow. This week, she and I have had an opportunity to bond. I am a snuggle bunny and she is acting just like me.

I have always loved this dog but this afternoon, I had a moment of just overwhelming affection. She's becoming more assertive, more expressive, more interested in communicating. I am not sure how things will go with the new baby but in many ways, I think this break with her being an only child has allowed her to grow and our relationship to deepen. Part of me has looked forward to maybe getting a dog that is "mine," again when the puppy comes home. Like Jezebel was. But I think that there is a very good possibility that sweet Evelyn may end up being "my" dog, as well.



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pictures of Miss Precious. She's just a darling and I'd love to snuggle on the floor right beside her. Well, if you'd promise to help me up, LOL!

Thanks,
MAR

Lady Beekeeper said...

hahahaha! Yes, she is really turning into a snuggler now that she is not getting shoved aside by her pushy big sister. Husband and I have been so struck with how she is starting to look like Sapphire (we lost Sapphire at age 14, about a month before I started blogging).

Anonymous said...

Miss Evelyn is so pretty and photogenic. Love Pearl's quilt. It's cool that you put everyone's name on it. I'm minding the store tomorrow at our LQS and she's even going to let me use her Prodigy! Need to find something to practice on!

Paula

Kathy Raker said...

Love all the pictures you share of Evelyn.How nice she is becoming a sunggler. I like that in a pet.
It was DD idea to have another cat after we lost the first one. Now she would love to have a dog too. I would certainly consider a Samoyed even though I had told her no more pets.

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

How exciting, two more weeks!!! It'll be here before you know it!

Shanna said...

What an adorable dog!! She is so fluffy and sweet! Thank you for sharing those pictures :o) I think the new quilt is precious too

Quilter said...

Love all the pictures Penny, she is definitely breaking in the new quilt lol

Love the names quilted in, think the new baby will be spoiled? ... =)))

Ann

Donna said...

What a pretty model to show off the new baby paw quilt. Evelyn is so pretty.