Puppies

This morning I got a phone call – a litter of seven had been abandoned in the open field and they are in urgent need for foster homes until vaccinated and dewormed, and old enough to go to shelter. So I agreed. 

Now two about 6 weeks old are running around here, creating a happy havoc. 

The brother is slower and more dominant while his sister is just a ball, full of energy, and in between all the activities ready to share kisses with everybody. The vet check this morning went great, they even haven’t had fleas and while not well fed, are not severely malnourished either. All they need is a bit of beefing up, a lot of love and socialization, and they will be great.

The brother just in few hours managed to understand the basic potty training and now is using only the newspapers in a tray – that’s makes the whole thing even easier. Sister still has some accidents around but I suspect that until tomorrow all will be in the right place.

It’s so much fun here right now that I can officially admit that my Pheasant Quilt is out of schedule already.

THE DRUNKEN ROOSTER

The right top corner of pheasant quilt is done. It’s almost like I wanted it – almost. The main achievement – I think the drunken rooster has some character in him. LOL  

There is some paper piecing (without paper, I was creative... or lazy... so I made it all free hand) mixed with appliqué, and the outcome isn’t bad (or, will be, after quilting). 

The main thing I learned with this quilt so far is – starch is your best friend, especially when working with cotton sateen. Sateen is floating in all directions, and really hard to work with in comparison with nice, sturdy cotton. So I just starch, starch and starch again, each step, and it makes my life so much easier.

Now only three corners left. I set up my target – to finish the corners until the 5^th May, so I can start quilting. Now I’m curious will I be able to press on to reach the target.

Ode to my Singer

For quite some time I was browsing internet trying to sort out my sewing machine.  See, it’s an old Singer. Of course, it’s a bit outdated and such, but no modern sewing machine I had been able to try out was able to convert me – I still believe in my old, sturdy friend.

 An old Singer is like a best warhorse – its durable, tolerates rough life and is so simple that I can clean and tidy it up all by myself. And in turn it just goes, goes for everything, without hesitation – on this one my parents made their first tent out of thick, impregnated canvas, I sew my first jeans (and some 300 later), endless leather bags and belts.... It conquered it all, without a complaint. 

Of course, you do not expect an old war horse do a fancy dressage steps or win the Grand National. So I must admit that lycra or  spandex are not exactly for my Singer. But I can live with that - I can always play with some modern, more advanced electric wonder. 

So I really wanted to find a manual for my old friend – I have also a large amount of different feet and attachments that I have no idea what for, so manual would be useful. 

But it wasn’t so easy. To find a manual, you need to know the model. But there are no model sign on my old one, only the serial number. Went through the Singer page and they say tere that for older machines you must ask them – they can check it on their records by serial number. Great! So I sent them an email quite a long time ago but no response. Then another one, and another.... Oh well, probably we’ll need to live without the manual. 

Then today, after linking on Confessions of a fabric addict, I did exactly what all this linking is about – browsed through other blogs, and their links to some others. I love web, sometimes you can find a real hidden treasures. So I was looking, reading, left few comments, until I noticed a comment regarding some spare parts for a Singer. So I wrote to the author, to some Connie McCaffery, in case, she has an idea where I might try my luck to find the model. 

And voila! Connie instantly responded and after the morning spent, sending mails back and forth, now I know. Connie even sent me the manual I had been searching for so long! 

My old warhorse is an early model 15, with Egyptian decals! Most likely made in 1910, Podolsk, Russia. 

Not a big deal? Not for me. Now, when I’ll be sewing the dress for my youngest daughter, I’ll close my eyes and will imagine my grandmother’s first baby grown being sewn on this machine when it was new and shiny by her mother. 

My 11 years old is the fifth generation of our family ladies, leaning over that wheel. Isn’t it cool?  Over hundred years of hard work and the machine is still doing perfectly! 

(Okay, I must admit, not absolutely perfect – the rubber on the bobbin wheel had been replaced about 40 years ago by using a wheel from my toy car, and now I need to find a new toy car with rubber wheels as that one gave up finally).

Time for creatures!

4 middle joints

After a hard and exhausting battle with myself (and my back) I finally finished the boring part – all the borders with flowers! 

Not ideal, but fits right for my cunning plan LOL 

So tomorrow I’ll be finally able to start the creature making  - I’m so-o looking for it as this had been a long exhausting week full of stressful events and decisions, and two of them had been really big. And I mean, BIG!

4 corners

One – I completed the adoption paperwork, handed all in and the case started to roll – right now it looks like in June I will be officially a mum to one more! Cool, isn’t it? 

 The other thing is as big as this one, but it’s not time to brag about it yet. I’ll keep that little secret a bit longer. 

Am I happy? No, definitely not. Both things will change my life in a big way and I’m not sure will I manage this all at once. But on the other hand – now I know for sure that until the end of my days my life will never be boring. That’s the only thing I’m certain of.

I had been also thinking about H2H quilt. Now I know to whom I really would like to donate it – to somebody, linked with army – a veteran or a family of a solder – something like that.

 You know, the recent development in Ukraine have stirred up the whole Europe, especially these, who live closer to Russia. I must admit that recent arrival of NATO troops here made me feel thankful. So I would like to give a little bit back, not directly, but that way it would be my silent thank you to boys, serving now.  


Today I'm linking with The Hermitage - a blog about art of living and creating, and Ceccilia Koppmann with a lot of interesting galleries to look at.

H2H

So far so good. Despite all the other things, the number of blocks for my H2H project has doubled to 32 blocks. 

As I’m heels over head with my pheasant quilt’s flower bouquets right now, it’s an amazing achievement for myself. LOL I’m really not good on multitasking (am I a female really?) and usually I finish one project completely before even considering to start something new. But right now I have two tops hanging around (one needs quilting, which is my last favourite job) and the other is pheasant appliqués.

Still haven’t decided what to do next with this H2H top – to carry on and stay on the safe side with the same blocks and the same colours (I might get bored, to be honest) or go brave by introducing two new colours for the block base. 

The dark red stripe (beautiful, rich cotton sateen) will continue through all the blocks the same way whatever I’ll decide on other colours - already cut and waiting. I might even use it all around for the borders. Still brewing on this. 

Anyway, this project is moving. Hope I will be able to say the same next month with oldest daughter’s wedding approaching and all other things!