Lori Smith Needs to STOP!

LOL, at least that's what my great friend Linda and I always say. Lori Smith (CLICK HERE) is a quilt designer/genius and she needs to be stopped, because her patterns are SO ADDICTIVE. That's a picture of her spectacular Pieces of Time quilt. We won't talk about the fact that I've completed all 31 blocks and it has STILL become a UFO, waiting quietly for me to jump in and tackle those borders. We also won't talk about the fact that I have her Heritage pattern, still untouched. But that's not really what this post is about.

So if you remember my Be Mindfuls, you may recall that I promised you a peek at a project that's near and dear to my heart. It all started with Lori again, and her wonderful Folk Art Pleasures pattern. I LOVE the pattern, but I also love Jeanne's idea (CLICK HERE to visit her Spiral blog) of redesigning some of the blocks to better fit my own life.

With apologies to Lori for muddling up her borders with letters and numbers, here is a pic of her Folk Art Pleasures (FAP) quilt.
Many of the blocks are perfect for me, just as they are. However, some will "fit" better if I change them. For example, see C4, the chicken one? I have no particular 'truck' with chickens. I never had one as a pet and I certainly don't eat them, so that's one block that I'm going to change. And there are definitely not enough (or ANY) cats in her blocks. And see B2? I'd like to be holding the hands of TWO little boys, rather than just one.

Thus far, I've only completed 7 of the 16 blocks: A2, A3, A4, B1, D1, D2 and D4. I'm working on A1, and that's my current Be Mindful project. I'll post pictures of my blocks tomorrow, even in their current, wrinkly/un-ironed state. But if you've made it this far in today's post, you deserve a reward. Here's a closeup of my version of A3 - it's FOSTER! Here he is in real life:
And here he is in a fabric tree. Check out his Mad Eye, LOL.
In real life, he doesn't go outside and he doesn't have red moons. But his eyes really do look like that when he looks at our dogs.

If you click on the Mad Eye pic, you can see some applique "warts". In particular, you can see the pencil line where his tail connects to his body. (I've since learned not to draw the bottom of that U-shape, because it's hard to turn it all under.) I guess I'm still Celebrating Imperfection. CLICK HERE to read the Warts and All post.

Check back tomorrow to see the rest of the blocks and thanks for stopping by!

Meet HARVEY!!!! Or Why I Never Want to Go to Prison

Here's Harvey. If you've been reading this blog, you know we adopted him from a prison in Virginia, Lunenburg, to be exact. Let me just say...OMG, I DO NOT want to go to prison. EVER. Razor wire.Loud clanging constantly. Guards with guns walking around. Guards with guns in towers. Reinforced, razor-wire enclosed gated areas with the gates on timers...I guess if you manage to get through the first gate, they have time to shoot you before the second one clangs open??????????? And did I mention that there's a lot of razor wire????

Anyway, the handlers (inmates who train the dogs) could NOT have been more professional!!! They were extremely knowledgeable, and just really, really...professional. We felt like we had a session with two professional dog trainers.

So anyway, I'm scared straight.
And Harvey is adjusting SO well.

He has definitely been abused at some point and can be EXTREMELY fearful. Loud noises scare him (the clanging in prison had him flinching constantly. Sudden movements scare him. Wiping his muddy paws scares him. Foster scares him.And there are just so many things he's never done. We could not get him to jump into the truck to go home...think about it, he has probably never ridden in a vehicle except in a cage. He had never seen steps until the handlers (who knew we have a two-story house), started working with him on a set of 3 steps.But now ol' Harv is running up and down our steps, wrestling with Deegan and beginning to understand that petting does not equal hitting.We are so happy to give Harvey the chance at a normal life. Well, as normal as a dog's life can be when he is ruled by Foster-the-Dog-Killer...

Thanks for sharing our joy!

Sometimes You Gotta Do Something Crazy

Have you ever had a time in your life when you knew you were about to do something that does not make sense, but yet it seemed 100% like the right thing to do??

Harvey is like that, because we already have some pets. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that we have a dog named Deegan and some cats. Strictly indoor cats. Five, to be exact. Two were feral kittens we captured and one is still unapproachable.

The cats and Deegan get along fine. Well, except for Foster. Deegan is terrified of Foster.

With good reason.
You may remember this post, written by Deegan.
Foster is not his favorite thing.

The cats are not good playmates for Deegan. After all, they're CATS and they do not like Deegan licking them and trying to chew on their ears. They find him coarse and repulsive.

Deegan is almost three and he needs a friend to wrestle with.

Enter Harvey.

Harvey is 4 years old and has NEVER lived in a home. He had lived in a shelter for his entire life until he was rescued by a great organization called Fetch a Cure.

You can click the link above to read what they do, but basically, they rescue dogs that are considered unadoptable (like 4 year old dogs who have never lived in a home) and they use inmates at Virginia's correctional facilities to train them. It's great for the inmates and it's life-changing for the dogs. It's like
Cell Dogs on Animal Planet, if you ever saw that program. It's a second chance for everyone involved.

So, we are going to be Harvey's new people! I told Deegan about it, but he did not seem to understand. I told Foster about it and he is NOT HAPPY. I guess he'd better adjust. Harvey comes to stay at our house next week.

We'll be picking him up at the prison, which is 3 hours away. We'll be meeting the "handlers" (inmates). I'm not allowed to wear blue jeans or revealing clothing. (Dang, I guess I can't wear my bustier gown, which would have been perfect!))

I'M SO EXCITED, DID I SAY THAT?!
Dog fans - stay tuned to hear more about Harvey!