I never imagined when my husband found this little dog that my life would change profoundly. It’s not any type of change that you can see, but rather something deep inside my heart. It’s a feeling that I’ve known her forever. A special feeling of connection and I have no idea where it comes from. I just know it’s there. Bitsy isn’t particularly pretty, but if you look into those eyes you will see the beauty that I see.

Taking a 12 year old dog into your life is a risk in itself. You know there will be lots of happy times, but for sure there will be health issues and things to be taken care of. It’s like adopting an old grandmother. Yesterday Bitsy went back to the vet to have a second tumor removed. A mast cell tumor is similar to other cancers, in that it can return if you don’t get all the cells. The vet had make a very large cut yesterday, along with two other little areas. When I picked her up, she looked at me with those eyes and I cried all the way home. As my friend Anne told me yesterday, we do these things for our pets because we want to save their lives. She said soon she will be running and playing once again.

She is a brave little dog, and today she is doing better. She has pain medication and antibiotics and they seem to be working because she keeps standing at the front door waiting for her walk. No don’t worry, that isn’t going to happen! She seems very anxious to get back to her normal life. She has the heart of a very young dog!

I think the rule is that you don’t add another post when you’re having a give away. But we all have times like this and sharing helps us through them.

Please say a little prayer for Bitsy. She deserves a longer life with us.

And, if you haven’t added your comment to my give away in the last post, do it now! You could win these little treats!

Hugs to you all,

Anne

Look what the UPS man brought me yesterday! It some of the advance yardage of my new line “Flowers for Emma”! I was so excited I gave him a big hug. Poor guy, after carrying this heavy box of fabric he probably needed it! Nothing could have made me happier than to get this advance yardage in my hands! Yards of the most beautiful pink, green, brown and blue gingham checks in two sizes! And even better it’s a woven fabric! That means it’s the same on both sides and wonderful!

I’ve been waiting for this fabric to come because it’s the key to tie “Miss Emma’s Garden” to my new line “Flowers for Emma”. Both lines are designed to work together and work they shall! I can’t wait to get started designing! I should have the remaining advance yardage within the week and then I can surround myself with fabric. My husband would say “so what’s new?”

I can’t take all the credit for this check fabric, because it’s not like I sat down to draw all the checks! I just said to my wonderful fabric company, Henry Glass Fabrics, to please give me a gingham check in “these” colors and “these” sizes and ta da! Here they are!

Now I wait everyday for the UPS man to bring the rest. He’s starting to think I’m a nut! I will have a VERY limited amount of advance yardage available for designers to work with. Please email me if you’ll be at spring market and would like to make something from these fabrics. I can’t promise I’ll be able to get enough, but I’ll sure try.

Happy Gingham Friday everyone!

Hugs,

Anne

The weekend just flew by for me! It’s been a busy one and I need at least one more day. I’ve been working on house projects and Bunny Hill projects! Look at all the fun things from the weekend! Mary Sanderson sent me a photo of the little quilt she made using my free pattern. Isn’t it cute? She featured little bug fabric! I’ve added it to my Flickr set and you can see them all here http://www.flickr.com/photos/11824218@N07/sets/72157603428702502/ If you want to make this quilt you can get the pattern here http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns

Remember the log cabin block I showed you a few posts back?

Well, I’m also doing a “shabby cabin” version of the same quilt! Here’s the same block in soft, cottage colors. Notice the pink center for the “heart of the cabin”. I’m using Serenity from Moda Fabrics. You’ll find it in the stores any day now so if you think you might like to make this log cabin quilt buy a fat quarter of the whole line and add it to your stash. Better yet, just buy the fat quarter bundle. You’ll love it!

Our old red chair joined our family again this weekend! It’s been sitting in the garage since we moved last May. It comes in and then goes back out. It’s has sentimental value and I just can’t part with it. Years ago I decided to take an upholstery class, and my husband found the chair for me at the thrift store for $50.00. I took it to class, the instructor took one look at it and said, “get rid of it, it’s not worth doing”. So we all carried it out to the dumpster. I went home, looked at my husband, and knew I had to go back and get the chair. So back we went to retrieve the chair. I believe they call that “dumpster diving”! I quit the class and sent the chair to be upholstered, and my $50 chair became a $600 chair.

Now, years later, the chair is starting to look pretty bad again, but as bad as it looks we still love it. This weekend we carried it up to my studio where it sits waiting for a new slip cover. Yes, I’m making a new white slip cover for this old red chair. I made a pattern using a sheet, and now I’m ready to sew the slip cover. Nothing fancy…no piping. Whatever I do, has to look better than this!

I’ll show you the results, good or bad in a few weeks.

Have a great week!