Puppies and Politics

I am sorry I haven't posted but I have done no sewing at all. We have been on no trips anywhere interesting, mainly because Rupert gets so car sick even over 3 miles. I had stayed with him whilst house training was going on and that has worked. But he is a chewer. He will chew anything and everything. Everything. Money, chairs, cables, cushions, magazines, tissues, books, phones, ipads, anything and everything. It is getting better but we still have a long way to go. I have made a tea of chilli powder and put it into a spray bottle. Whenever he finds something new to chew, it gets sprayed. He has chew toys and bones. He chews those as well...... But he is cute and lovable. He has saved my sanity over Brexit and Trump. Whenever I despair he gives me a cuddle and for a few minutes all is right in my world.

Did I mention he chews everything? I had one day when I stitched a few hexagons, but you guessed it. I put it out of reach on a table to turn off a timer, and he ate it. Luckily I caught him before he swallowed the needle....

So if you like puppies, see how big he is getting. If not, just ignore this post.

September

  The view from the top of our hill on a dog walk.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

I miss my quilting, but I love my dog more.

Lovely way to start the day.

I can reveal the quilt now it is in the show and been judged at the World Quilt Show in New Hampshire.

I wasn't expecting to hear until later on today if it had won anything so to find it has a blue ribbon (American ribbons are colour coded) was a wonderful way to start the day.
Happy Dance!

It started with a cold shower

But first my very slow progress with the applique work. I knew I wouldn't get nearly as much done, but not quite how much a puppy restricts your sewing time. It is flat, but it was too hard to leave Rupert and take a photo on the design wall. There are periods whilst he sleeps but rather like a mother with a new baby, that is the precious time you get things done.

Darling Rupert likes to eat everything, all the time, everything..... and when he isn't trying to eat it, he he trying to make love to it..... sigh. He will grow out of this phase...
And he is too adorable to be angry with him.

 So getting back to the cold shower. On the 20th May whilst I had a lovely day at Malvern, my husbands shower went cold. He called the plumber out but couldn't get the part until the Monday. This part wasn't guaranteed to work but it was worth trying. And it didn't.  Our utility/laundry room is small and it has an American fridge/freezer as well as the boiler, a blocked off door to the side walkway of the house with some kitchen worktop as a cat feeding station, and shelving. Impossible to get a clear shot of it but here is a limited view.

The death of the boiler gave us the opportunity to have an outside one to release a bit more space indoors, so I could have a bigger freezer.

This is what it looked like with the flooring ripped up and a temporary cat feeding table.
My sitting room has an American fridge freezer smack bang in the middle of it.

And then completely empty. It is small....

Meanwhile the dining area looks like a cross between a bomb going off and a yard sale.

The replacement flooring went down today. Tomorrow the new fridge and freezer should arrive. Wednesday with a fair wind the washing machine and dryer will be re plumbed in and if it rains (please pray for rain) the cat feeding station will be adapted and go back into place.
Four and a half weeks of chaos and a new puppy and wet weather...


The above was written yesterday. This morning very early, the new fridge and freezer arrived. The plumber came to plumb in the washing machine and tomorrow Andy will come to refit the cat feeding station. I long for life to get back to normal..... :-)

And that is without my country going into suicide mode with Brexit. It has broken my heart. I feel I never really knew my fellow countrymen. We even looked at living elsewhere but it seems all countries have a major flaw or two so we'll stay put.... Canada seems nice but I have no idea of the criteria of getting in and it is so far away from London and Fliss. Dublin sounded great for a few minutes until you remember their laws on women's issues.... The Mediterranean is too hot... America has its guns.....  I still keep hoping there is some way out of this mess.

More from Malvern and puppy

My happy haul. It is surprisingly difficult to buy reproductions here in the UK but this group has kept me happy. That red will be brilliant for the binding of the Di Ford Mystery quilt.

I always buy John James needles when I see them and they do bulk discount at shows.

Click on this lady's work. Juanita Buchan. Not quilting in my eyes but very fine machine embroidery and it was a joy to see it up close.

And Rupert, how could I not show you a photo of my darling boy. He is starting to fluff up and gets more gorgeous by the day.

And a little video here of him going slightly insane with a rattle. I only let him have it for 5 minutes a day or it drives me insane. Without the volume, he looks quite cute, with it, the yapping can drive you insane.

Don' know if he loves it or hates it..... be warned yapping loudly.  #cavachon #cavachonpuppy #cavachonsuk

A video posted by Sally Bramald (@featheronawire) on Jun 23, 2016 at 3:47am PDT

Jane found this Velasquez painting of him. You do know he is a time traveller?

More from Malvern, Quilts UK 2017

I liked this quilt very much. It seems the simple 'cheat' of using quilts from the same manufacturer means the colours blend so well. 'Granny Squares' by Elizabeth Ingram and longarmed by her too. It was in the Charity Fundraising Quilts section. In memory of her father.

Liz Jones' quilt, All Things Bright and Beautiful. Liz is well known for her satin stitch applique and wins regularly on both sides of the Atlantic.

Another satin stitch applique. A Florentine Fantasy by Jeanette Orr based on a Florentine Table in Copenhagen.

 This is a super quilt. It needs help to hang well I think. I would have been tempted to add some tapes for it to hang with. Made by Birgit Schuller and longarm quilted.

Four Seasons in Roman Britain by Helen Burnham. Original design.

Rupert is growing and I am doing things during his sleeps.... he wants and needs to chew everything which makes life a tad difficult.....

When he is not nibbling everything, he is the most delightful creature on the planet.

Quilts UK at Three Counties Showground, Malvern.

 Andrea Stracke's Citrine did well with her fabulous hand quilting.

 and her Cot Quilt, Serandite took a 2nd place ribbon. The winner of the Cot quilts was another hand quilted one,  Darian by Janet Jones. It was hand quilted with variegated thread in traditional Welsh designs.

 Andrea's perfect stitching amazed all who saw it.

 This one took my eye with it's dense hand stippling. Lotus by Linda Pardow.

 Sometimes the simplest piecing and quilting yields fantastic results. Winner of the two person award, if I read the description correctly one friend Mary completed the blocks but didn't assemble them before she died. Her friend Jane Fowler finished it for the family.  Winner of the two person award.

 I loved this one, and it was only when I got home I found out I know the maker, Sue Watters. Some of the stars are fussy cut. Lovely gentle colours and simply but well, long arm quilted by Sandy Chandler. And a well deserved Judge's Merit.

 Carol and Emma Galbraith, Prism of Light.

I love this, a combination of Dear Jane blocks in an Irish Chain setting. Beautifully quilted on a domestic machine.

 Rupert is settling in nicely, even though he sometimes falls asleep in the middle of playtime.