Well, not literally! In fact, the dog has come to me! My grand dog, Floppy, is in the house!

dWhile she has been visiting, I have begun to make another happy village and what dog village would not be happy? Thank you to Karen Eckmeier again for her inspiration in making yet another "happy village" using her technique outlined in her book of the same title. I have shared other villages that I have created but I think that this one may be my favorite! (of course, I think I always say that!) This is an early picture in the process. I have been collecting dog themed fabrics for a long time. I wanted to stay in the same color family and I found so many. Dogs are a favorite of fabric designers too! I had a vision of dogs swimming in their own pool with the houses sporting doggie house doors. There would have to be lots of fire hydrants and treat stores and balls to play with in and out of the pool. So I started with the houses and the pool and added as I went along.

Many people ask me if there is a pattern for these villages. There is so specific theme patterns. Karen gives you the building block templates in her book. But you are free to create from your own imagination. She gives you the spark with the ideas and templates and then you can take it as far as you want. 

dIn this photo you can see that I have added some more details. I made small slits in the pool water to slip the doggies into the pool so they appear to be floating. I found beach fabric for beach balls. I even put floaties around some of the dogs. I did do something that Karen does not mention in her directions. When I fussy cut something very small and liable to fray, I put some light weight fusible behind it before cutting. I find that it helps to stop the threads from coming apart on tiny pieces.  

After I am happy that it seems complete, I leave it for a day. When I come back, I can see what is missing or needs to be rearranged. For example, I eventually removed those pink hearts in the middle because my eye landed there too much. I will add some decorative buttons that are dog themed after quilting. Bones, toys and such. The complete village before quilting is below. If you look carefully, you will even see an intruder in the neighborhood. HINT: just northeast of the pool. There is no clock in my dog village because anytime is dinnertime or playtime or naptime! :)

Below is a picture of a fabric recreation of a water color that was painted by my son's father in law, Phil. He is an incredibly talented artist of many mediums.
For their wedding, he and my daughter in law, Alison, welded a gorgeous sculpture that stood next to the altar. It now resides in their backyard. The other piece is at her parents' house. Such a memory. 

Every year he also makes a watercolor for the holidays. The watercolor is photographed for adding to the holiday cards. This year the picture told me to make a fabric version. I received permission to recreate the drawing. This is my start. I am going to use Karen's techniques in terms of laying out and then using the tulle to cover and quilt. The original photograph is on the piece in progress. I tried to keep to his original themes. I cut the buildings freehand so they may be a bit bigger than the originals. 

I have added the snowmen who are guiding the floating balloon but no details as of yet. I used satin for the snowmen with light weight fusible to keep fraying to a minimum. I am looking forward to finishing this. Karen's technique can be used in many different ways. 

On his site, he has this quote: 

“To an engineer, good enough means perfect. With an artist, there’s no such thing as perfect.”
– Alexander Calder

I will leave all of you artists with that thought. 

Piecefully, 

Trisha

I know that it has been too long since I have posted! Doesn't life have a way of intervening some days? I am sure that you all experience that too. 

Since I last posted I have some wonderful things to share. Victoria Findlay Wolfe has a new book being released in the fall called The Quilting Experience that relates stories from the quilting community all over. About a year ago, she put a call out for quilters to submit stories from their own experiences in the craft. I decided to submit a story never really believing that mine would be chosen from the hundreds of stories that she would receive. But it was! My husband is often asked how he was able to do the many things that he has done in his lifetime. His answer is simple: someone asked and I said yes! So I said yes, too!

I am so proud to be a part of this fabulous project. It is important to preserve our stories. Are you telling your quilt stories to someone? Consider starting a journal to relate your stories about your favorite quilts that you have made. Why you made it? For whom did you make it? When? How did you do it? What did it mean to you? I am sure that our families will want to know about what we did when we're gone. 

Be sure to look for Victoria's book at your local quilt shop or book shop. It will be an enjoyable,  uplifting read. 

So, after that excitement, a friend from my modern guild posted that she had done an interview with Paula Chamberlain at the QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC last February. She told us that anyone may participate simply by contacting Paula at her website to sign up. Paula is looking for stories from all types of quilters! She enjoys listening to the journeys of her fellow quilters. So, I signed up and I had so much fun remembering tidbits to be able to answer her questions. I have added her website link below. If you right click on it, you can go there directly. There is information about signing up. 

https://aquilterslife.com/

She has been doing these interviews for her podcast for a couple of years and there are more than 240 episodes and it's growing! These are quilters just like you and me sharing their journey to quilting from the beginning to today. Consider doing one yourself. We all have something to share with others in the craft. It's so easy. Paula will send you a list of prompting questions BEFORE your interview so you have an opportunity to think about them. She also edits the interview afterwards so you will be able to listen before it goes live. I was super impressed with her editing skills. Smooth! Thanks, Paula for a great experience. The link to my interview is below if you would care to listen.

https://aquilterslife.com/episodes/patricia-moller

What am I working on now? Well, of course I am doing another village! I am finishing a piece for a charity auction at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. I will share the link to bid on quilts when it is available. 

This challenge used only Cherrywood dyed fabrics. We could add any colors we chose but only those fabrics. I was happy that I could add embellishments. It also could only be 24 inches square. I cannot wait to see all of the quilts that others have made for this most worthy cause. 
I just started my dog village but it is not ready for primetime. If you would like to learn the village technique, Karen Eckmeier is offering zoom classes at her website. She is a wonderful teacher and a first class encourager!

http://www.quilted-lizard.com/

I just got back from the Mid Appalachian Quilt Guild retreat in Gettysburg, PA. More on that later as I have to dash to the quilt shop to work. It is SHOP HOP time! If you live in DE, PA, NJ, MD, WV or VA, I hope that you grab some quilting buddies and head to a few shops!

Until next time, thanks for reading! Keep quilting and crafting! Consider just saying YES!

Piecefully, 
Trisha