My Three Thousand Dollar Quilt!

WHEEEEEHEEEEEEEE!!!!  

MY QUILT BROUGHT IN OVER

 THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!

The quilt I sold to a lady from my Etsy store website was put up for a raffle to be a fundraiser.  It is to benefit Safe Haven Rescue Kennel in Nevada.  She bought it from me for $400.00 and donated it to the raffle to bring in funds for vet care expenses. It more than DOUBLED their expected goal!

She wrote to me last night with the good news:

Hi Karen,
I just wanted to let you know that your quilt raised over $3000 for our vet fund. We are over the moon. The quilt is going to the winner, who lives in Kansas, where I'm sure it will be a family heirloom. Thank you so much for your beautiful work and the love you put into this quilt. It has found a home.

This is what she had written up for the listing on the raffle site:

Safe Haven Rescue Kennel is a small, all breed rescue located in rural Nevada. Most Safe Haven dogs come from shelters where they are at risk because of behavioral or medical issues, hoarding situations or failed rescues/sanctuaries. 
We believe our dogs, regardless of age or behavior, should thrive and enjoy a healthy life as though they were in a normal home environment and not homeless. All of our dogs are treated as cherished family companions and live in a home environment as best as we can provide them. Due to the nature of niche rescue efforts, some of our dogs are considered less likely to be companion pets due to their unsocial nature, lack of human bonding, severe behavioral issues or medical needs. Several are permanent sanctuary residents. 
Because of the nature of the dogs we take into rescue, our vet care expenditures are always high. Initial care for one dog often runs as high as $1,000. Because of long term care, we continue to accrue vet cost over and above the initial care. We support our seniors until the end of days, offering the best care we can afford, but always balancing that goal with quality of life. 
To help support out vet care fund, we are proud to offer this handmade quilt "Into the Woods" as a raffle item. The quilt was purchased (to support the artist) and donated to Safe Haven. 
The quilt was created by Karen Pfundtner (KarenInTheWoods). Here is her description of the creation of the quilt: 
"This quilt reminds me of a walk in the woods on a fall afternoon. Lots of browns, maple reds, and flecks of green leaves not yet turned. I start out on my 103 year old treadle machine to piece the blocks in my sewing room in my 103 year old house. Soft Celtic music playing while I stitch away, with my two Sheltie rescue dogs at my feet. This quilt is created with happy thoughts.. I finished it by myself with the free motion quilting stitches that are hand designed. Please love this quilt with as much love as I gave while making it." 

Safe Haven* facility sits on an acre with 11 outdoor enclosures and a 10 indoor/outdoor kennel building with attached caretaker housing. Safe Haven averages about 18-26 dogs on property with 4-6 dogs in foster homes. The outdoor housing provides a home-like atmosphere. Dogs are housed in human size dog cottages within large enclosures. 
Our Mission: Hope from Despair. And sometimes we just provide a place for a wounded spirit to reawaken. 

* Build A Rescue Kennel, Inc (EIN 26-1759463) is the 501.c3 organization incorporated in 2008, DBA Safe Haven Rescue Kennel

Build a Rescue Kennel, Inc. DBA Safe Haven Rescue
28 Highway 95A North
Yerington, Nevada 89447
775-463-1842

I had made this quilt, piece by piece, using fabrics I bought at Nancy's Notions Warehouse Sale....  I loved how they combined into a woodsey coordinating theme colorway. I decided to name it Walk In The Woods when it just about matched perfectly with the colors outside in the fall.

I used a pattern template also from Nancy's Notions called Strip N Twist Template and chose one of the nine variations offered with the pattern instructions.

I chose the Mosaic pattern

It was pretty easy....

sew all six colors into long strips, 3 to a strip. 

Then press them smooth and cut around 

with the included plastic template

 into perfect rectangles with diagonal shapes.

I arranged the rectangles 

into a pleasing colorway with the reds towards the middles

and the greens towards the edges

Sewing it all together piece by piece 

on my old Singer treadle machine.

Once all the blocks were together, then I set them in rows with sashing fabric of pretty dark brown fabric that had little leaves printed on it.  I added the cornerstones between each block. Once that was done, I added the borders of all of my leftover scraps. I just had BARELY ENOUGH to finish!

 

 I had to switch to my electric sewing machine to do 

the free motion leaves and vines 

along the sashing sections.

I was quite pleased with how it turned out, 

if I say so myself! 

My next project will be a labor of love....  two of my grandchildren (Jameson and Whitney) have inlaws with a special project in mind.  Their other grandma, Lisa, had a big black bag of unfinished quilt squares started by HER Grandmother Mary before she passed away. That would make that quilting lady our Jameson and Whitney's GREAT GREAT Grandmother!   I got the bag on Sunday during their birthday party (will write more about that in the next blog)  and I am going to put them together into two quilts, one for each grandchild!  

One quilt is almost ready to be quilted, 

 It is all flannel squares sewn together already, I will add some borders.

The bag in the lower left corner is chock full of squares already 

sewn together in pairs in vintage cotton fabrics to make another quilt!

Imagine the tags on each one reading:

"This quilt was started by your Great Great Grandmother Mary, 

and lovingly finished up by your Grandma Pfun!"

Warming up and doing some quilting

Ahhhh it's warming up out there!  Right now at 9pm, its a wonderful 1 degree below 0, and the wind chills are only 17 below!  Amazing!   (that we would think of that as warm?)  After what we have been through the last three days, this IS warm!   But it will go down to 15 below again tonight, and schools are already called off for tomorrow, the third day in a row.

The weathermen are really taunting us by saying this weekend that the temps will be up to FORTY FOUR degrees!  (that is ABOVE zero!)   Wheeeheeee it will be a heat wave and we will be dancing in the streets.

This is how we have gotten through the last few days..... cuddled up on the couch with the pups! 

Got my coffee cup, my laptop, my doggers and my fuzzy blankie...  what a great way to get through the doldrums of winter and these awfully cold temps!


Steveio has done his share of rough-housing with the dogs to keep them entertained.  But then, he does seem to poop out a lot faster than they do.   "Hey, wake up!  Play with us some more!" 

This is the third week of puppy ownership, and we have opened up more and more of the house for him to explore. In the beginning, he was restricted to only a few rooms, and under constant supervision. Now that he is more trustworthy on the house-training, he has earned the right to wander a bit.  The stairs have become a favorite place to hang out. 

        

One of the rooms he LOVES to come and hang out with me is my

LOOM ROOM....

Whether I am weaving, sewing, knitting or spinning, the dogs want to come in, curl up, and sleep close by.  It is very comforting to have them by me, and the little guy even leaves the balls of yarn alone!

Now I just have to try to keep him away from my sewing machine! He wants to do some quilting, but his back paws can't reach the treadle on my old Singer!

I had to put my foot down and tell him that no, I am the quilter in the family, and he can just snuggle under the quilts when they are done! 

Speaking of quilts, last spring I picked up this cool template tool called Strip N Twist from Nancy's Notions warehouse sale in Beaver Dam, WI.  I didn't have time to start working with it till now. 

http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/strip+and+twist+template+and+project+book.do

(it's on sale right now for $9.99 for the template and book)

Basically you sew three colors together into long strips...2 and half inch strips.

 and make 2 sets....    so you are using 6 different colors.  

Then by setting the lines of this template on the lines of the seams ....
cut around all four sides to make the perfect rectangles.

I have to make lots of them, cutting the same exact shape, 

over and over from the two groups of strips... 

Then by using four rectangles of each color combo, 

they can be arranged into seven different designs of blocks!   

This is the one I am going to do a quilt of... I think.  

I got most of them cut out tonight and will start sewing them together tomorrow. 

Unless little Finnegan takes over the sewing machine again?