Adopt A Less Adoptable Pet Week

I know I tend to go on and on and on about adopting dogs, especially on Facebook, but I can't help it.  About ten years ago, I was a volunteer for a dog rescue and I had to go to local animal shelters to check on Lhasa Apsos, Shih Tzus, Pomeranians and other small breeds, that were being considered for the rescue.  (Now that I think about it, unless they were adopted or pulled by another rescue group, we pretty much took all of the ones I went to see.)  I was new to visiting shelters -- my dogs had all been pet store puppies from friends so I had never been to animal control -- and seeing so many dogs waiting for homes was so sad.  There were just too many and not enough people to adopt them or enough rescue groups to save them.   And, knowing many of them would end up being put down broke my heart.

As you can imagine, some dogs are more "adoptable" than others.  Older animals and those that are blind or deaf have a tougher time finding a home.  I was told many times by rescuers that the least adopted dogs were the big black ones.  This week, September 17 through September 25, has been designated Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week by Petfinder to promote animals that are harder to place.  Petfinder is a wonderful website you can use to search for a dog, or cat, or hamster, guinea pig, turtle, bunny, etc. that's up for adoption in your area.)

 

You can be a part of ALAPW by posting animals that are in need of homes on your blog, Facebook or Twitter.  Read more about that here. 

And, if you live in Ohio and are looking to adopt a small dog, please check out a couple of seniors that need homes:

Ripley

and Ollie 

If only I could take them both!

Edited to add Blog Hop code.

Feeling Stitchy Contest

 

Feeling Stitchy is holding a fun contest called Covered in Stitches. To enter, stitch a book cover that's either based on the real cover of any book or come up with your own design.  You can embroider it, cross stitch it, crewel it, etc., on any fabric, of any size.  (Crewel is not a verb, is it?)  Click the graphic above to get all the details.

September 11, 2011

I was still asleep when the planes flew into the towers but I woke up in time to see the first tower fall.  I don't remember crying much back then.  I think at first I was too stunned that this had happened and I was scared, and then I was just horrified for those people on the planes and in the buildings.

We watched TV for hours and hours.  It broke my heart to see people walking around the streets of New York with pictures of family members and friends who were missing.  Didn't leave the house until two days later only because I had to take my dog to the vet to get her spay stitches out.  It wasn't until I was eating dinner that night that it hit me that it was my birthday.

I've found it really difficult to watch specials on TV about 9/11 this week.  I start crying, which happens often when I watch sad things on television, but then I find myself having to get up and walk away.  It's like I can't bear to see any of it, even if it's just people remembering about that day.  There's a song by Bruce Springsteen that he wrote about the firefighters who went into the towers to save people.  I wanted to post a video of it here today.  The first version I found on You Tube starts off with photos of the World Trade Center towers as they once were.  Then there are pictures of flames and smoke coming out of the buildings and I realized I couldn't watch the video any longer.  I think I'm crying more now than I did ten years ago.

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children."
– President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

The sky was falling and streaked with blood
I heard you calling me then you disappeared into the dust
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire

May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love

 – Bruce Springsteen, Into the Fire

Works In Progress...Sort Of

I'm not quite sure what happened but I could only find one picture of a pillow I'm working on. It's my first attempt at applique the right way -- I used Heat n Bond on my Scottie dog cut outs and then blanket stitched them to the pillow cover.  This other time, I sewed an embroidered piece on to the top of a wool case for my iPod but I had no idea what I was doing and didn't use Heat N Bond or turn the edge under or anything like that so it doesn't count as applique.  Anyway, I'm close to finishing this pillow.  The pattern and idea came from Bustle and Sew.

Every two weeks, Artecy shares two free cross stitch patterns, and after seeing the one with a donkey and a dog and finding I had a large enough piece of Aida this afternoon, I decided to stitch it.  I have the very upper left corner done so far and I can tell this one is going to be a challenge.  It will be 12" X 9" when it's finished -- I hardly ever stitch anything that big -- and I used five different colors of floss today and I swear they are all various shades of grayish beige.  If you click that link after September 8th, you won't see the donkey and dog cross stitch because there will be two new free charts available but you can probably find it for sale on the site.  It's called Ready for the Morning Ride by John Emms.  Looks like he painted a lot of dogs and horses in his time.  I know nothing about fine art but hey, I like dogs and horses.  And donkeys.

The "sort of" in the post title has to do with the Hallowe'en Trio stitch-a-long over at Feeling Stitchy.  I know I'm going to do it; I just haven't started yet.  I have to get moving though since it's a SAL for September and we're already a week into the month.

Ok, I am now going to work on my donkey and dog cross stitch and make a bunch of grayish beige X's until I get bored.

Vote Early! Vote Often!

Ok, you can only vote once but if you read this before 11:59 PM PST Sunday September 4, please go here and vote for Belinda's quilt block.  The poll is in the right sidebar.  You won't have to register or anything -- just vote!  Thank you!  (And, if you've already voted earlier in the week, you can vote again now since it's down to these three finalists.) 

Belinda is the designer behind Blue Ribbon Designs and I love her cross stitch charts.  Plus she's a very nice person.  :)

Nothing To Do With Duran Duran

So, it's time for another new moon (on Monday) and that means I need to share another picture of my orts jar for the TUSAL aka the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long. 

Next to my orts jar, are a couple of embroideries that recently did.  They are part of a set so I still have three more to do.  (I'll tell you more about them in my next post.)

Thanks to Sharon over at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL!

Finished For Friday: Little Blue House

Disclosure:  I finished this cross stitch about a month ago so I didn't actually work on this recently, and I still need to turn it into something (An ornament? A little pillow?  Something I've never ever made before so pigs will fly?).  Oh and looks like I need to iron it too.  But I wanted to share it for Finished For Friday because it's been way too long since I did one of those.

The chart was another freebie from Maryse. I had it in my stash for a couple of years and finally got around to stitching last month.

Head on over to Lit and Laundry to add a link for something you've been working on this week.

Pincushion Finish

I finished this pincushion about a month ago but put off blogging about it since I didn't have the pattern handy and couldn't link to it since I don't remember where it came from.  (I still don't know what I did with the pattern but I will find track it down.)

I have two tote bags full of "works in progress" and when I found this pincushion, all that was left to be done was stuffing it.  I had already done the blanket stitching all around and left an opening for filling it.  (Stuffing?  Filling?  Now I'm thinking about Thanksgiving...)  So I stuffed it and closed the opening but got into trouble when I tied a knot in the end of the thread and it was too far away from the seam to be hidden.  Frustrating!  I removed all the blanket stitching and took out the stuffing and started over except I whip stitched it this time. That's a stitch I suck at but since the floss matches the felt, you really can't tell.  At that point, I just wanted to finish it.

I don't think the original pattern called for so many French knots.  Maybe I was on a roll and just could not stop making them.  I used regular craft felt for the flower and the leaves, but the brown pieces -- they look really dark in these pictures -- came from a wool jacket that I felted in my washer a couple of years.  The corners are wonky and that pink looks really bright in the first picture but I'm happy with my little semi-wool pincushion.

One more thing:  I just saw this Little Pup linked over at Tipnut (click that for more softie links) and was reminded I've always wanted to make one.

Blog Hopping On Saturday Night

Here's yet another draft post that I never finished.  Enjoy!

Tonight, I'm catching up on some of my favorite blogs.

Sew Tara and Wild Olive have teamed up to make some super cute fabric bags for snacks (goldfish crackers, carrots & celery, cookies).  [Link via Craft.]

What a cute cloudy needlebook from Art Threads!  [Via Craft Gossip]

There are lots of cute (yes, I've used cute three times already.  Let the drinking game begin!) embroidery freebies over at Hudson's Holidays.  Like this kitty in the flowers and in the garden, and my favorite, a bunny pulling a wagon with bunnies in it.  [Via Craft Gossip]

Cute Owl Alert

There's a tutorial at Bugs and Fishes to make a cute felt owl.  I see this owl  squeezing into the #3 spot on my To Do list tomorrow.  Right after 1. Waking up and 2. Eating breakfast  [Link via One Pretty Thing.]

Bonus:  a how-to on making an owl brooch also on Bugs and Fishes.

Pets On Quilts Show

Insights From SewCalGal is hosting the 2nd Annual Pets on Quilts Show on her blog starting today, August 15th, through August 19th.  I apologize for not mentioning this sooner so there would be time left to whip up a quilt to enter, but it will still be fun to see the pictures of both pet-themed quilts and pets on quilts. 

SewCalGal is also collecting photos of pets on quilts to create a calendar that will be used as a fundraiser for local animal shelters.  She will be accepting pics until September 1st for the 2012 calendar.  Her contact information is at the bottom of this post.

Now, go see the pictures on Lit and Laundry of some cute kitties on and under their quilts.

Dala Horse Craftalong

Carina's Craftblog is hosting a craftalong for Swedish Dala horses. 

I love Dala horses.  I know somewhere in my stash, I have a pattern to make a stuffed one but I love the applique pattern Carina shared and then turned into a pincushion.  She also sells an embroidery pattern -- it's in the blog button above-- that I must buy some day.

The craftalong will be over on August 21st but you can join anytime and add your Dala horse to the Flickr group.  Check out some of the ones already posted.  I swear after seeing them, you will be inspired to make your own.

Cute Embroidery Stitch-A-Long

There's a cute stitch-a-long going on over at Clover & Violet.  It's about halfway over and blocks 1-5 are up already but I think you can catch up.  You can find all the details here, including stitch tutorials and the supplies you will need to make the quilt.  I love looking at the pictures in the Flickr group.  Thanks to Flickr member shawnlorette for finding this SAL.

Scottie Embroidery Patterns At Tip Nut

There are some days of the week embroidery patterns with Scottie dogs over at Tipnut.

Toto From The Wizard Of Oz

Thanks to For The Love Of Dog Blog, I just read this very interesting post at Hollywoodland about Toto from The Wizard of Oz and her trainer, Carl Spitz.  Toto was originally called Terry and made a bunch of movies that I now want to watch so I can look for her. And, did you know she was paid more money than the Munchkins were?

Toto had been buried at Carl Spitz's dog training school but her grave was destroyed when the Ventura Freeway was built through the San Fernando Valley.  A memorial marker for the pup was recently unveiled at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and you can read all about that here.

By the way, this was my first visit to Hollywoodland and I think I need to spend some time there.  Lots of interesting stuff about old Hollywood (and new) on that blog.

New Moon On Saturday

Did you know there are two new moons in July?  Tonight is the second one so that means it is time for another TUSAL update. 

What is a TUSAL?  TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long and for this stitch-a-long, all you need to do is throw your leftover floss (aka thread ends) into a jar or container and share a picture of it every month on the date of the new moon. Or around the date of the new moon, if you're like me and never on time.

I planned to be on time today and even took pictures of my jar this morning.  And then I forgot all about posting one of the pictures until now.  At least it is still July 30th on the West Coast.

Thanks to Sharon at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL 2011.

That teddy bear cross stitch is my latest project.  I finished the stitching a little while after I took this picture except for a few  X's around the eyes that I'll do after I find a similar shade of floss since I don't have the one recommended in the chart.  It's a freebie from a French blog and I'll post a link to it as soon as I track it down again.

Summer Cottage

I hope the title of this post doesn't make anyone think I was going to blog about my summer cottage or a summer cottage that I know of.  I wish I had one to write about!  It's just the name of my latest cross stitch finish.  It's another UFO I recently found in one of two tote bags sitting on my bedroom floor.  All the stitching had been completed last summer.  I just added the year and a backing fabric to make YET ANOTHER LITTLE PILLOW.  (Seriously, I have to do something different next time.)  I believe I used all the suggested floss colors and stitched it on 18 ct Fiddler's.


Sorry you can't really see the tree on the right side.  The fur surrounding the top half of the little pillow belongs to my dog, Pumpkin.  She enjoys modeling my projects.  Lucy, on the other hand, tends to chew on everything.  As a result, Lucy is banned from my photo shoots.

The chart is a freebie from Les grilles de Maryse.  There was one for each season and I was certain I had stitched the others but I can't find the Autumn one.  Here's the Winter one from 2007 and Spring from 2008.

The free charts:   Spring  Summer  Fall  and  Winter.

My plan is to finish at least a few more UFOs from that tote bag before I start anything new but after looking at the freebies on Maryse's blog, I'm reminded of another one I've always wanted to stitch.  I have a feeling I'll be starting that very soon.  Have a great weekend!

Animal Planet's Casting Couch

From Animal Planet's June 30, 2011 email newsletter:

Animal Planet is casting for a new show about the relationship between people and animals.

We are looking for stories about how an animal, like a pet, may have turned someone's life around or helped someone in an extraordinary fashion.

For more info, go here.

July TUSAL Report

Of course I missed posting a Totally Useless Stitch-a-long aka TUSALupdate once again.  This month, the new moon was on the first so I'm a few days late.  But did you know July has two new moons?  (Thank you, Sharon, for that bit of info.)  My goal is to post my next update on time on July 30th.  So hell can freeze over.

I just took four pictures of my ORTs jar and here's the best one.  This is the current state of my jar of thread ends.

Thanks to Sharon at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL 2011!

Last night I finished a WIP (it's a felt pincushion that I totally forgot about), and have also been working on a cross stitch that will most likely grow up to be an Xmas ornament.  I recently told myself that no new projects will be started until I finish a few I've already started and have actually been sticking to that.  I'll wait until there's more daylight to take some pictures of them. 

Some Links I Should Have Posted Awhile Ago

I guess I was saving these up for a rainy day.  Or something.

I love this felt dahlia brooch from Not Martha.  Not Martha was one of the first craft blogs I ever read.  I always wanted to make these marble magnets (from 2006).  Sad to say, they are still on my to-do list.

Another felt pin I really like is this felt poinsettia pin from Lil Fish Studios.

Every house I've lived in California except this one has had at least one bougainvillea so I was excited to see this tutorial for a felt bougainvillea garland from Art Threads.  I totally need to make that.

And, a few more before I go.

Tipnut's pincushion pattern list #1 and #2 (I need to go through these)

Grandfather mushroom embroidery pattern from Little Dear Tracks (I somehow missed this one last June)

Potholder eyeglass case from Zakka Life 

Vintage hankie pillow covers at Elsie Marley