Question for You About Joanns

Blog posts need pictures so I'm throwing in random baby pictures of the terrible twins, they have nothing to do with what I'm saying, but they are cute :)

A while ago, probably the end of last year, I stumbled upon a roll of batting at Joann's, it was Pellon Nature's Touch and since someone had put a bug in my ear about buying batting by the roll, I bought it and fell in love. I really can't say enough about this batting, it's soft and drapes beautifully, even when I overly quilt something and my free motion quilting really stands out, it's just wonderful stuff. 

When it ran out I couldn't find it by the roll anywhere so I bought a roll of Warm and Natural, but I want the Pellon back, so how wonderful to see that Joann's had it for a Daily Deal, Saturday only. I even contacted their customer service to make sure it would really be in the store, they said yes and I changed my plans for Saturday.

The store opened at 9, I was there at 9:04 and of course you know where I'm going with this, they didn't have it :(

When I got home I emailed them and it started out O.K., but by the third email I think I may have said "bait and switch" which led to them talking about their fine print, which basically says "we can put anything we want on sale, but we don't actually have to have it". 

So here's a question for you, is this the way Joann's has always been? I don't normally run all the way up there for a specific sale, it's about an hour each way. I do know I've been up there and planned on buying something on sale like blades for my cutter and they don't have them, but I just figured they had sold out. This was a one day only sale and they just didn't even bother putting it in the store. Normal for them? I think I'll still cut the coupons, but not pay attention to the sales from not on. They are all I have for supplies other than WalMart, so I can't write them off entirely. I'd like to hear if you've had this experience. 

Meanwhile, I highly recommend trying the Pellon Nature's Touch, I don't recommend Joann's and really stay clear of their customer service. 

The morning wasn't entirely wasted, I stopped and bought the Terrible Twins favorite treats, which I can only get in Miami. 

Later gators,

Dana

The Story of Henry

This story begins on Monday, Labor Day

I'm not a big Facebook person, I do skim through it every morning mostly looking at fabric sales :)

Monday morning I see this

What you don't see in this picture is that he's heartworm positive and due to be put down on Tuesday. This was posted by a local rescue group, Marrvelous Pet Rescue.

Something about his eyes really got to me, he reminds me of my Brady Bug when I first saw him, sad and sick, needing someone to care. 

Normally when these pleas show up someone jumps in and says they'll adopt him or at least foster him. I checked back constantly and no one was jumping in. I started talking to all of the dog lovers I know and called my daughter, Cori in Ft. Lauderdale, telling her she had to repost this on her facebook.

On Tuesday, Henry is still on the shelters webpage and now I'm obsessively checking both pages, still talking to anyone I can think of and still no takers. David and I had a long talk, taking another dog in would be really hard, our Maya is terrified of just about everything especially other animals, she considers Brady as hers that's the only reason she accepts him. We lived for a while with two dogs that fought and it's an impossible situation. The night ended with me in tears saying "someone needs to save this dog".

Wednesday morning nothing has changed, but he's still there. I get a phone call from Cori that goes like this:

"Don't you ever *%*# call me about a **%$#* rescue dog again."

She's in the same situation with two rescues, she's going to school and working two jobs and one of her dogs is just like Maya. She hadn't slept and first thing she called the place that had Henry. To top off all of the other problems, Henry has conjunctivitis, which is very contagious to other dogs, bringing him into either of our homes is off the table. 

I called Marrvelous rescue and update them on the situation, the woman I'm talking to, Kat, is crying but says she'll call me back. The result of that call back is, if we can get Henry here to the Keys, Marrvelous will board him with the best Vet in town, he'll get the medical help he needs while we all continue the search for a home. 

Cori, who is working on her dissertation, or trying to, drops everything and a few hours later Henry arrives in Key Largo.

He's malnourished, covered in ticks, his ear is ripped, his eyes are gunky and of course he has heartworm. He's absolutely beautiful and he's been saved.

To me a Hero is someone who steps out of their comfort zone to do the right thing because it needs to be done, right a wrong and make the world just a little bit better. Cori is my Hero and I think Henry thinks so too. The people at Marrvelous really stepped up and this beautiful dog gets a second chance. 

He has a long road ahead, I'll be going to see him often, taking him for walks and socializing him. He's a wonderful calm and sweet guy, I don't think we'll have problems finding him a home, so far everyone who has met him, loves him. Just think what he'll be like when he's healthy. :)

Thanks for reading Henry's story.

Dana

New FO for August

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!  Over at Cat Patches it's time for the monthly round-up of what we started in August. Sometimes I'm surprised at how much I have done, but not this month, I think I've been a little lazy, blame it on summer.
First a little update, my MIL loved her quilt, I had to steal this pic from Facebook.

David made of video of my MIL and SIL draping the quilt over the couch, deciding that the couch was old and shabby, so they went and bought a new couch. The video is a mess with different angles or I'd post it, the whole thing is hilarious and I'm taking no responsibility for the new couch.
The only quilt I made this month was this

This started as something completely different, but I like the direction it took. Making those unstructured log cabins is so much fun and uses up a bunch of scraps. I used my EQ to check color placement and just scribbled stars in, the wonky little guys that resulted is when the whole quilt took a serious turn to whimsical.
One of my closest friends came for a visit and saw me using a beanie baby for a pin cushion (yes, I feel bad everytime I stick a pin in him), we laughed about how I need a voodoo doll for my pins.
Right after she left, this came in the mail with all kinds of info about how voodoo dolls can be made out of love to bring good things to the person they are made for :)

She made him entirely by hand with seeds and moss from her yard, she even pulled thread out of the burlap to sew him together. Her husband came up with idea on how to make him bend. Each color pin has meaning, so of course I'm not going to use him for a pin cushion since I don't want to mess up the good vibes he brings. I'll still be using the poor lizard. 
As a thank you I made her this

I actually had this in mind before the voodoo doll. I wanted to make one for me, but I knew as soon as she saw it she'd ask where her's was, when she lived up the street she would just "borrow" things like that, now I make her one, LOL.
That's it for August, I really have been lazy. I hope you'll join in the fun or just check out what everyone else has been up to. Barbara's New FO's is always so inspiring, no pressure and you meet the nicest people. 
Later gators, Dana  

Pets On Quilts 2013

Hello everyone, it's that most wonderful time of the year, time for Pets on Quilts, when we're all allowed even encouraged to enjoy those quilts we love so much. It's all happening over at Lily Pad Quilting with our friend Padsworth, he's a frog but that's O.K., we'd let him in our yard.  

I'm Brady Bug and my best friend Maya is here too. We are better known as the terrible twins, terrible means loveable, cuddly and wonderful and we're not really twins.  

Maya and I spend a lot of our time right here watching out the window, mom calls it Dog TV. Lots of people walking by wave to us and one time our neighbor across the street did a tap dance for us, we're pretty famous.

But our favorite thing to do is help mom with her quilt pictures, we're known for our photo bombing.

This one's my favorite because mom said "good boy" and didn't make me move, I'm sure it's because I looked so handsome and that quilt matches my collar. 

But we also play this great game, Maya will show you how it works.

After mom gets the quilt hung and turns her back, we run up and put a ball on the steps, when mom sees it she either throws it away and we can chase it or

we try to get it back from her, it's all great fun and we know mom likes it since she laughs a lot.

Now it's time to talk about the quilt, mom made this for our grandmom, Dad's mom, it's for her birthday. 

 Grandmom loves hummingbirds so mom appliqued the center part then added her favorite log cabin blocks, it's 65" X 58" so G-mom (that's what we call her) has plenty of room to snuggle under it. The fabrics are batiks and hand dyed, it's free motion quilted in the white spaces and outlined in the cabin blocks. 

We really hope G-mom likes it, mom called it a labor of love.

Hope you had a good time visiting us today and you visit all of the other wonderful pets and quilts in the show, it's the best show on the web. You can click right here to get to the show, it's like magic. Maya and I are going to nap now in our favorite place, right under mom's feet.

Puppy kisses to all of you,

Maya and Brady

New FO's July

It's time for the New FO linky party over at Cat Patches.

I didn't get a lot of sewing done this month, it's lazy summer.

I made the quilt for my fantastic MIL which she'll be getting later this month for her birthday

 I'm thrilled with this one and I'm pretty sure she'll love it. 

I was asked to make a repeat quilt but in "boy colors", which immediately turns me into a whining three year old, dragging my feet and wanting my whole crayon box. But I finished it and it's really pretty, silly me. 

I didn't have the right blue for the sashing so rather than run north I pulled out my dyes and came up with the perfect color.

I spent quite a bit of a week dying fabric and have these all left over

I dyed them in containers instead of a pot and now I'm really hooked, this way I don't dye the sink, counters or my hands, WooHoo. 

So that's it for July, on to August and more adventures. Don't forget to check out the other links at the FO linky party, remember you only have to start something, no finishes required :)

Later Gators,

Dana

Stalking Time

Sometimes I swear if Barbara didn't tell me it's the end of the month I would never know. Her post for the new FO came at the same time I got these in the mail

Cute huh? except I know it's not from Brady, he wouldn't say "Hey Dana", he'd say "Hey Mom". You can't fool me. 

It's August and that means 

Pets on Quilts starts Aug 11, which means if you have animals like the terrible twins you need to start stalking them. I'm actually a little late. Here's a quick look at what happens when Maya hears my little camera turn on

I blocked her as she tried to run outside and she threw her head back to howl at me, I'm so glad I don't really speak dog.

Then I got this look and I know exactly what she's saying, although if a female dog calls you a female dog is that really an insult? Something to think about.

Anyway, the best quilt show is coming so start your stalking.

Later gators,

Dana

A Labor of Love

A while back David asked me to make a quilt for his mom's birthday, anything I thought she'd like was fine with him, except everything I showed him he didn't like, he adores his mom, I do too, so he wanted something really special. I know she likes my bright quilts with classic blocks and he kept bringing up how much she loves hummingbirds, so I finally sat down and started drawing. I started with curving stems, added leaves and flowers, then came the birds.

Then I added my favorite log cabin blocks and TA DA, the perfect quilt for a perfect MIL.

It turned out bigger than he asked for, but I wanted a snuggle quilt, something she could really wrap up in. 

I'm always surprised at how much I like doing applique and how much you can do with it. I really need to do more. I also liked working on a larger quilt instead of the usual baby quilts that I slam out. It took a lot more time, and boy did my body hurt at the end of the day, but it's well worth it. 

I quilted vines and leaves in the center white and a kind of flowing feather in the log cabin whites (my real feathers still aren't happening, I can hear you Debbie). 

David's thrilled, I love the quilt and we'll know next month if mom's happy :)

Later gators,

Dana