Gone to the Dogs!

My mother-in-law and her puppy have been visiting from up North for the past week. It has been a busy time with school plays and work and baby showers and visiting places. Inevitably, with all the quilts in progress around here, one ended up under the dog.

That led to a long discussion about dog beds and whether or not she would sleep in one if we made it for her. We decided that if we made one and told her no she would be in it every chance she got.


While only sort of paying attention at a meeting last night, I figured out how to make a little quilt that would say NO. Of course, they were packing to leave this morning so I had to work fast. I grabbed the scrap bag and pulled out some strips and colors that I though would work. They absolutely had to be ironed. (I'm going to have to think about how best to handle the scrap bag in the future.)



I used some muslin and started free piecing. It was a very liberating experience because I just kept telling myself, I was making a quilt for a dog -- it doesn't matter. I started with a square of muslin for the center of the O and then pieced around it. I started with a rectangle for the N, cut an angle across it and inserted the Michigan strip. I missed getting the pieces placed so that the angle came out on the sides. I ended up trimming it down so that it would have a chance to look N-like. That is why the N is so much smaller than the O.


Just for fun, I made the asterisk the same way. Then I started adding muslin around the edges until the three sections were close in size. I stitched them together, trimmed the edges and added some strips to make it big enough. I made the sandwich with a scrap of cotton batting and more muslin for the backing. (I used 'the original' spray baste. For the record I don't like 'the original'. It stinks. It is too gummy. It is good enough to use up on the dog quilt but I won't use it on anything I am hand quilting or anything I care about.)



This was one of the fasted, sloppiest FMQ sessions I've every had. I tried to doodle a puppy in the center of the O but of course did it upside down. I wrote the dog and owner's names just to see if I could. They came out better than I thought. I did some hearts and flowers and leaves and a lot of loopy and crossing stippling. Again, it was very liberating to play with it because it doesn't matter. It is for a dog.


When I reached that point, I was ready to quit and was going to save putting on a scrappy binding for another day. Then I remembered a discussion we were having on the MAQ Swap thread at craftster. I have been looking for an example of a zig zag raw edge finish. I put in some red thread and did a wide zig zag around the quilt. I actually went around 3 times because I was having some stitch issues and because I knew this quilt would become good friends with the washing machine. I think it turned out looking kind of cute that way. I trimmed around the quilt after I did the stitching. If I thought about it longer, I would have stitched again over the edge after I cut it. But again, it is a quilt for a dog!


So the puppy has her very own NO* quilt. I finished it in just over an hour! And I think she likes it.



Liked to Connie's Tuesday Link Party. Go on over there and see all the great projects each Tuesday.