The puppies went for a picnic on the lawn the other day, and they loved it. There was lots of running and tussling and some of this.. Ahh, the great outdoors!

But the favoured activity is still playing with Dad. Poor Macca gets over run, especially by this little girl with the white face, she adores him.

Dad! Hey Dad!!


Daaaad!

What a good natured dog he is.

Letting his daughter chew on him like this, and never a growl or a nip back.


I think this gal might be Trouble, but she's already been spoken for so it's someone else's worry!
Listen dear, you're going on the pill, OK?

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Now all parties concerned can breathe a huge sigh of relief, the wedding was beautiful. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and apart from a few hitches, everything went smoothly. The gardens at Carrick Hill were a perfect backdrop and there should be some great photos later. These are the only shots I took, before my camera died with a horrid prolonged squeal- what timing!

Isaac, Elisa's not quite two nephew was the ringbearer, and after the practice when the pillow was dropped, hurled, frisbeed and otherwise flung about, it was decided perhaps the real rings should stay in the best man's pocket. But Isaac himself seemed perfectly happy and not too fazed by the responsibility.

On the big day he came down through the arched trees at a fair clip, pillow clutched in fist and leaving the bridesmaids to follow more sedately.....


until he caught sight of the gathered guests and didn't know what to make of that. All those people weren't there yesterday!
He sussed it out, decided we were friendly and throughout the ceremony ran circuits around and around.... and around.

He was gorgeous, and nearly stole the show.

But my boy Rob was pretty gorgeous too,

and as for Elisa, well, I can't tell you how beautiful she looked. This picture says it all; stunning.


It really was a beautiful day, and a wonderful beginning to their life together.

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Tazzie's post here makes me think I'm not alone in my trouble with leader-ender projects. I imagine myself like Bonnie, sewing bits together for months, and ending up with a gorgeous huge quilt, composed of tiny pieces. Then I'd virtuously, and with becoming modesty, point out that I really hadn't noticed it's progress, because it was all Leader- Enders, and after a year of sewing other projects well, (slight blush) There it was. All put together, and I hadn't even noticed!

Oh yes, of course I religiously use leader- enders, but usually somewhere along the line I find that they have taken over. The main project sits abandoned while full of enthusiasm, I steam on ahead and finish the leader-ender. Then I have to decide on another project and deal with the guilt of getting carried away yet again.

So, I found myself stuck with a huge assortment of 1 3/4" by 5" bits, leftovers from the strips a shop cut for a fabric club. What a weird measurement, but as I didn't want to cut them all to 1 1/2", I thought I'd just make 9 patches from them. Easy, no thinking required.

Many ninepatches later, I decided perhaps I'd set them into 25 patch blocks, which necessitated more nine patches, with the light and dark reversed.

Yep, this is all good, things are coming along nicely, and I haven't wanted to rush ahead so far. I think I've got this under control at last!

Until I looked at the pile of blocks and wondered what to do with them next.....

I went through my file of ebay pictures, looking for ways to incorporate 25 patch units, and found this old tattered piece, and after a tricky bit of maths figgerin',




I came up with this connecting block.Really strange measurements on this one, no doubt because of the size of the original strips, but it's looking good anyway.


And then I just had to sew a few together, to make sure it all fitted,


and then perhaps a few more to each other, to check the pressing order, and....


Someone stop me! All I want to do is work on this now, and I can't.
I have other quilts to finish, and customer quilts and bushfire quilts, and there's only enough blocks put together for half the top anyway. I need to go back to the ninepatches and start plodding away again, all the while fighting the instinct to cut out heaps of 1 3/4" strips and chain piece this like a maniac. I will be Strong! I won't have this finished for at least another 6 months. You can quote me on that!

And can you remember a year ago, I mentioned something in this post? About how the wedding was a year away? Well, it's not! It's three days away now, and we're leaving for Adelaide tomorrow and it's time to put aside all thought of patchwork and sewing and concentrate on the matter at hand.

Now if you will excuse me, I've got a lot of panicking to do before then.....

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I have spent hours sewing on the donated scraps and over the weekend I got these happy blocks finished and set into a top. They really are super easy and I'm still cutting them out as I plan to work on another one. I could easily sew thirty blocks at a sitting, so I can see why these are so popular for charity quilts.

I added a couple of borders, and this is set to go on Millhouse next- once I decide on the backing.

The colours are pale but pretty, and I enjoyed working with something completely different.

Poor Bonnie is looking very hunted because every time she sits down the puppies swarm all over her. They are all eating puppy food as well, but the competition for the milk bar is intense and she's not keen now that they have tiny little sharp teeth. Oh well, only three more weeks of it girl, and then they can go off to new homes.

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Here is a video of the puppies, I love the little growls and squeals. Bonnie's getting rather sick of feeding them so often,but they're three weeks old now and some of them will lap a bit of milk from a saucer. I can't believe they're growing so quickly!

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I finished a top from some of the blocks that our patchwork group made and I hope to quilt it in the next few days. Keryn sent four more quilts off last week, and there are at least four more in the making. It feels good to be turning all these strips and scraps into useable bed coverings.

I've been going through all my project boxes and found two little tops made with one of Bonnies strip patterns and a heap of leftover blocks. I joined the two little tops together and then added the other blocks to make it a decent bedsize. Another top nearly finished, and an empty project box, everybody wins! I've just got to find a border fabric now to set it off.

We've gone through quite a pile of material, by the time you take into account backings and borders, but there's no danger we'll run out any time soon.

All the puppies opened their eyes on the day they were two weeks old, right on cue. The cuteness factor is appalling, and I waste far too much time cooing over them. I have to spend some time every visit gazing into each little face and making sure they know their granny loves them.

Bonnie's getting better about allowing Macca near them, and he's shown nothing but curiousity and a rather slapdash affection so far. He loves washing them, but his enthusiastic swipes tumble them hither and thither, and when I bend down to turn them up the right way he gives my face a good going over, just to show I'm cared for too. I really can't stand being licked, but take it in the spirit it's intended. He was so patient and kind with Bonnie when she was a pup that I'm hoping he'll display the same tolerance for his offspring when they start being obnoxious.

Is that you Dad?

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