Thank God for the internet!

This is my dog, Wooly Bully - not a very original name but it fits him. This is his usual stance unless there are dog cookies around. In fact he occasionally gets left in the loft and I have to go get him because he sleeps through the leaving part. Being a bulldog he could be prone to skin problems but at 8 years old, he has had nary a one. An occasional bath and sprinkling with flea powder and he's good to go. No Frontline - no Advantage or Biospot - fleas just don't bother him.

This is my son Max's English Mastiff "Nero" who is staying with us for the summer. This is a picture of him as he's only been for the last 2 days. The whole rest of the summer he's been scratching and chewing and itching. He is highly allergic to fleas and they have been driving him crazy. All of the usual remedies don't work. The really expensive one worked for around 24 hours. As we live on 160 acres of pasture and woods, spraying the yard wasn't much of an option. Nero was losing weight and his skin and hair looked horrible. After we had exhausted all of the chemical remedies Pep went to the internet and googled.

We mix plain old white vinegar and water half and half and spray him down every morning and night. (Luckily he doesn't seem to mind it - he gets a cookie afterwards.) It is supposed to repel fleas and boy, howdy it seems to do so. It isn't recommended for cats - they don't like the smell of vinegar. Just thought I'd post this in case anyone else is having the problem. It doesn't totally get rid of the fleas but there's only an occasional scratch.

Now Nero and Bully are sleeping buddies - thanks God, for the internet.

Thought I'd let you know

When I was at Girl Gang last Saturday, Sue is making a wallhanging for all of her daughters and daughters-in-law and brought her daughter's quilt for Show and Tell. It is the time of year to start thinking of Holiday quilts, etc. for your house or gifts if we're going to make them. Anyway, this is the latest email Kelly sent. I can't figure out how to change the size. Should be a good sale and we have done a Holiday quilt or two.

Christmas in July from Jan Patek Quilts! Hey Quilters! Jan Patek Quilts has decided to celebrate Christmas in July! All next week check your email often to get in on someSPECTACULAR sales on holiday projects, patterns and books! Quantities will be extremely limited, and first come, first served! Lets get a jump start on those Christmas projects and save some serious money! Stitch, stitch, stitch! Join Our Mailing List!

Lots of Thanks

Ok, so I put the pictures up backwards. This is one of my birdhouses in the garden - it seems to need dusting.

And the basil and peppers in the beds are doing well and share their room with the last of the lettuce and Quinn's sunflowers he planted himself. I haven't taken down the markers for the radishes and cucumbers. Actually the cucumbers weren't here at all. They grow on a trellis.

But I use the green markers to mark the rows of lettuce and the red ones (beets, etc) for the radishes.

Here's where I got with the pillow cover. The star isn't sewn on so it looks a little big but I think it will stay. I made it out of the same fabric as the center stars on the quilt. On the pillow cover it's subtle and I like that. Now off to the quilter and when it comes back I'll get to decide on the binding.

Thanks to all for their input. It was pretty divided but it's still helpful to get all the different opinions and reasons. Oh and Luned, if you will email Tara at info@janpatekquilts.com she'll ship your Turnover. Thanks again.

Auditioning a summer pillow cover

When I started my website back when the dinosaurs roam there wasn't any e-comerce, the websites were just for information. Way back then I had a section called Jan's Notes where once a month I just talked about what was going on - in my quiltworld, with the kids and the farm. Then when blogging came around it turned into a blog.

There is a problem with me and blogging. I don't do it very often first because I don't have time but mostly because I don't have much to say. I am not a historian like Barbara Brackman nor funny like Sandy Gervais or Laurie Simpson. I just love their blogs. And most of my ongoing projects are pretty big, not small and quick like Alma and Barb's or Moda Home Mom. (And I keep things current by posting the latest wallhangings and BOM blocks on the side.) So I finally decided to stop stressing about it and just do what I'd always done.

BUT!!! - this month I do have something somewhat small I can show you. The bed was too bare with just the knot pillowcoverings so I decided to applique a pillow cover that went with Ring Around the Posie.

I thought a basket with the same flowers would look good with the quilt. For the basket I found a remnant of a Gatherings print that seemed to go best with the quilt and say "summer". There was enough of the print to do my pillow cover and make 8 kits. We'll probably do something with them that ties in with buying a Posie kit since there are so few. More on that later.

What I'm trying to decide now is whether to use red or green for the binding (no ruffle, just binding) and whether to put a star in the upper left corner. There is a star in the center flower of each block. It would look good, I think, but on the other hand I like the uncluttered simplicity the way it is. Decisions, decisions.

I welcome your comments and we'll do a drawing Monday for a Remembrance Turnover. I used a lot of Turnovers in the patterns that will come out this fall.

Can't wait to see what you think.

Oh, and to answer questions about the chair. It's an Aeron chair (I think I spelled that right) and it's construction is supposed to relieve the pressure on you while sitting. It really works. I'm still a little stiff when I get up but I can stand and walk. Until I got this chair, that wasn't always possible without tears. You can google it here www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Aeron-Chairs