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Cookie? PLEEEZE cookie!

Deborah Boschert, one of my Frayed Edges mini-group, is also part of a wonderful project called Twelve  x 12.  They have a blog here, and a website here, and even better…..well, not sure if I can tell you about it yet but there is something really cool coming in their future!   So hold on to that thought.  Anyway, Deborah now lives (sob we miss her) near Dallas, and the Dallas Quilt Guild is hosting a 12 x 12 challenge.  The rules:  anything goes as long as it is 12 by 12 inches.  Deborah invited us to participate and send quilts to hand in the show this March.  Well…..

I was totally, utterly blocked.  I had NOT A CLUE.  Not a whiff of an idea.  Inside of brain darker than a cave in a coalmine with no lights.  Nada.  Nicht.  Zip.  Zilch.  Then I had to walk the dog.  This dog (note…there are fifteen photos in this post, and all are clickable for a larger view):

Isn’t he CUTE?  Even from the hind view with curly little tail and dog butt, he is CUTE.  Well, the good news is that the quilt is NOT of his hind end.  I figured the cuteness of a dog’s butt is not necessarily appreciated by all, but how could ANYONE not love a pug mug?   So, I scoured through the umpteen thousand (literally) photos on my hard drive, found the one above, and cropped the photo:

Then I decided to use value as my plan of attack for fusing up this puppy.  At first I selected beige, tan, charcoal, and went YUCK.  I wanna play with color.  Back in the fused fabric stash they went.  Out came the colored fused stash.  I started with medium values…some lovely turquoises.  Then lights, deep darks, and some transitional values.  Not suprisingly, the light lights were yellows, the deep darks were navy and purple.

To get ready, I enlarged the photo to 12 inches on my computer, got out the large tracing paper, and traced his outlines.  This tracing was my pattern guide in cutting the pieces of fabric for his sweet face.  Here is the first bits:

Then a bit more work–you can see the tracing in the top left, the laptop with the cropped photo for reference, and the scattered bits of pre-fused fabrics tossed about (and note the yellow mug…I LOVE the fiesta ware!):

Here’s a close-up of the pug at this stage:

Then even more; I have added the background, but notice the face is kinda upright, not that cute cocked head, the quizzical look (note the green fiestaware mug):

Edges trimmed, but face is still upright…wrong!

So after uttering a few cuss words at having not noticed I was trimming him with his head in the wrong position, I sliced things off and fused up some more background–and yes, there is an “issue” with the shape of his head on the left, but I knew that would be cropped off so I ignored it:

This shows ‘Widgeon quilted (tho not the background…more on that in a sec):

and a close-up:


Here’s what it looks like from the back:

Next, I trimmed away the “middle-backing” and the wool batt I was using from under the turquoise background:

I then added cotton batting and the “real” backing and quilted the background, plus some of the major creases in his pug mug:

Finally, I had thought I would face the edges.  I used an old rust colored fabric on the back, and for the facings, and realized it looked MUCH better than the turned/faced edge.  So I found a better quality hand-dyed and made narrow bias bindings:

Last but not least…two close-ups.

Hope you liked the journey through the process. The quilt started out with a working title of “You want me to sit STILL?” (as in sit still so I can take a picture of you!), but that evolved into either “Walkies?  Puhleeze walkies!” or “Cookie???? PLEEEZE cookie!”  Eli (the dog is really his) and I both liked the Cookie version better, so that’s the title!

I absolutely ADORE this little 12 x 12 inch quilt… I think I did OK, because each time my sons see the quilt they start grinning, too!  Of course, we are biased and utterly in love with the little dog-beast!

17 Responses to “Cookie? PLEEEZE cookie!”

  1. Connie Rose Says:

    Fantastic, Sarah!!

  2. Rhod Says:

    It is a wonderful piece, you have really caught the personality of your pet.

  3. Victoria Sturdevant Says:

    Sarah,

    I love that! What a perfect tribute to the little guy.

  4. Susan Brubaker Knapp Says:

    Major cuteness, Sarah!

  5. B Hunter Says:

    Sometimes I wish I had more quirky in my life… like a pug. I used to have a Yorkie… and now I have mister serious German Shepherd… although maybe if I did him in pinks… and yellows it would be quirky.

    Great process description… I’m itching for my sewing machine.

    Beth- Near Chicago

  6. Gerrie Says:

    That is totally adorable!!

  7. Wil Says:

    He is so cute!

  8. Debby H. Says:

    I love it and I’m sure he’ll be a hit at the show! One suggestion, make him again with his head tilted in the opposite direction (the way it is when you show us the back.) Then you’ve got both Walkie and Cookie please! Also might give a sort of movement if hung together the way dogs do when they are trying to convince you to do something thy want. My dog always tilts her head one way and if that doesn’t work, tilts it the other way! I think tilting his head made the piece speak to the viewer! Well, not like you’re not already crazy busy, but something to do if you’re all snowed in. I love it and it shows great creativity with fabric!

  9. The Quilted Librarian Says:

    Sarah,
    This is so wonderfully creative. You absolutely captured the spirit of the expression, too. Thanks so much for sharing your process.

  10. Katherine McNeese Says:

    I love him!
    as always, Sarah, you’re the best!
    Katherine

  11. Frauke Says:

    WOW, WOW, WOW – the quilt is wonderful, the dog is a cutie, and thank you so much for sharing the process with us. That quilt will be a hit in the exhibition – wish I could see it there! Again, thank you.
    Frauke

  12. Sandy Says:

    That’s adorable! And anyone who is as obviously crazy about her dog as you are is a winner in my book. 🙂

  13. Barbara Says:

    Love the quilting and color choices on this funny little guy. Great job Sarah.

  14. Maggie Szafranski Says:

    Love it! Fantastic job!

  15. Kathy Schmidt Says:

    Sarah–I believe you can do everything, and do it well. Wonderful piece of doggy love and thanks for sharing the process.

  16. Art and Quilting in Camden » Blog Archive » Joshua, the quilt in progress, #2 Says:

    […] body.  When I first thought about this quilt, I had thought I would do something like I did with the quilt of our pug, Pigwidgeon, and it would be in totally NOT realistic colors.  If I wanted to stick to light values for the […]

  17. Catie Roche Says:

    Fabulous! The best!