Posted on by agilejack

A Bit of Inspiration and A Busy Weekend of Dogs

I had a bit of inspiration tonight and watched a little TV as I formulated an idea. Then I hit the sewing room and came up with this little ornament.

I made this one a little bigger than the previous ornaments I made. I cut the top black section to 4.5 inches wide and 3 inches high. The bottom white was cut to 4.5 wide by 2 -1/4 inches high.

This ended up being 4.5″ wide by 4-3/4″ high… leaving that extra 1/4 inch for the seam allowance at the bottom. The larger seam allowance at the bottom makes it easier to close the opening. This little image shows what the seam allowances and opening look like. The little blue stitch lines make it so much easier to close the opening!

I fused the trees on using Heat and Bond and used the same fabric for the trunk. I used my regular 1/4 inch foot to stitch around the edge rather than using my quilting foot. It was much easier. Remember to baste your ribbon for hanging before you sew the front and back together. (This is a different type of ornament, but it shows you how to baste the hanger. I put the two ends right next to each other now.)

Here’s the finished front before it’s sewn to the back.

I’ll make a few more of these. I have enough black and white pieces sewn to make seven more.

I had a really busy weekend. Rico was entered in the his first American Kennel Club agility trial since the pandemic hit. He was pretty excited to be out there. We had a few runs that were pretty much a mess. But we were able to pull it together and get some nice stuff done.

Here’s a video of one of his runs on Saturday. We didn’t earn a ribbon, but he did such a good job! He did even better today, earning his first AKC qualifying run ever and a first place!

Unfortunately we didn’t get any video of that run.

I had to be there and ready to run at 9 am on Saturday, then did three of our four runs in quick succession. We were done with those three runs by around 10:30 am.

Then I sat in the car a while, listening to the radio. All of a sudden the radio just stopped. I !tried to start my car and nothing. The battery was dead. So I called AAA and they said they would be there before 12:45. The problem was that I had a sheep herding lesson at 12:15!

Amazingly, they showed up at 11:45, tested my battery and gave me a quick jump and I made it to my herding lesson with a few minutes to spare.

We were ready to go again this morning at 9 am and Rico was CRAZY in our first run! It was a bit of a mess as he was so excited he couldn’t think, but he pulled it all together on our second run. That’s the run we got the ribbon on. Here’s the sticker with info about his run to prove it’s official.

We had another herding lesson today but not until 2:30, so I had some time to kill between our last agility run and the time I needed to leave. So I took the boys up the hill at the show site to a big field where they can run free. It was sooooo wet and soggy, but they had a blast. They are always happier when they get a good run!

Bender ended up with a muddy face!

Of course, we had to post on something!

OMG. Poor Rico looks so tortured! And look at all that standing water. So soggy.

There’s a remote control airplane field in this area. There was no one there today because of the weather so my boys posed awkwardly on the runway.

You wouldn’t believe how long it took to get that terrible photo!

Back to work tomorrow!

27 Replies to “A Bit of Inspiration and A Busy Weekend of Dogs”

  2. Congratulations on Rico’s win’s over the weekend ! Looks like alot of fun was had with both dog’s over the weekend, mud and all ! The latest ornament creation is awesome, love the night sky and color choice for the trees . Amazes me how quickly you put projects together !

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  4. Another fabulous idea from Annie! Love those two background fabrics you chose and using just one fabric for the tree makes it all so much faster/easier. I’m definitely going to make a bunch of these for next year. Congratulations to you and Rico for his win – you must be so proud. I’ve been out of commission for a few weeks. Asthma plus pneumonia plus coughing plus bad wheezing equals hospitalization for a few days, but I’m much better now.

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  5. Just curious if Ricco is the only puppy doing sheep herding? Does Bender do classes as well? Love these new versions of tree ornaments. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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    1. Rico is my only dog who does herding. Bender is epileptic and is on all kinds of drugs to control seizures. He hasn’t had a seizure in nearly five years, but the drugs make him kind of crazy so he’s really difficult to work in herding and agility. So he gets lots of treats for tricks, plays with his buddies, and gets lots of walks. He gets to play agility now and again because he loves it, but he doesn’t compete.
      Anne

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  7. Just started following you and just love your posts of your art, snippets of your life including your busy dogs too! I think they were both just doing their version of the Beatles “Abbey Road” out on the tarmac. Just in time for the film!

    Looking forward to your next post!

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    1. Several other people said this photo reminded them of Abbey Road. I didn’t see it when I was taking the photo but noticed it when I posted it on Facebook! I was wishing I had two more dogs!!!
      Anne

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  8. This was a great way to start the morning with a smile. I love working dogs!!! My sheepdog is a Medical Assist Dog… no category there, just lots of love ❤ I have no doubt she would have excelled at anything to do with herding… She does however herd me from the kitchen to the recliner with my plate… hoping for just a little bite ❤

    Your 4 pawed friends are AWESOME… and that little ear that sticks up, makes me smile every time you shoot one of those pics for your blog.

    Thanks for all you share! It helps me get moving on some of my projects as I have been off the charts preparing our annual quilt show, executing last Saturday and now putting things away and cleaning up. 4 days putting up, taking in the quilts and the reverse starting yesterday. Glad to be on the downside, and an amazing and beautiful variety this year. Praying my pictures turned out…. camera was acting up 😦

    Blessings for a great week,
    Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen. Can’t imagine my life without these incredible dogs! They keep me on my toes, and keep me active and thinking!

      I’m glad I can provide some inspiration for others. I’m having a hard time finding my own these days. Working on it!

      Anne

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      1. Would love to invite you to our private group for Rocky Ridge Quilters! We are on Facebook for the moment, but hoping to switch over to WordPress for a site. Shopping there asking folks about their WordPress and how that is going for them 🙂 I am always posting things I find beautiful, insightful or helpful.

        I get in a blogging funk, but right now I’m full of material as we just finished a late in the season Quilt Show “SIMPLE HARVEST”. We had scheduled twice and I refused to go another year without income and exposure for our group. VERY bad windstorm here on the day of, ripped our banner down. I think kept many at home, but it was a calculated risk. Still good turnout for a small stature. We are very small physical group… online following much better. Hope you will join us for some MOJO 😀

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  11. So unique ! I have some tweed and tartan I might have a go at making a swedish affect for my kitchen! chop up the old mans jeans for the sky…. lol!
    The geo pattern and colours look fab!

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