Category Archives: Announcements

Weekly Wrap-up: Skunked

Posted in Announcements, Dog stuff, Just life ... by

The quilt auction is over. My quilt went for …

… *drum roll, please* …

… $470! That’s more than the auction coordinator thought I’d get! She was actually quite shocked.

That said, I don’t know if I’ll do another auction quilt next year. I’m glad it went for so much, but I got caught up in the auction fervor and part of me was hoping for more. I’ll think about it. Thanks to all of you who left such encouraging comments! It means a lot to hear such nice things about my designs.

After that weekend of auction dinner dances and running carnival games at the church fall festival, I took the day off to relax and catch up on other projects. Then at 4:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Penny made a new best friend.

Skunk image by birdphotos.com (taken from Wikipedia)

Skunk image by birdphotos.com (taken from Wikipedia)

It’s amazing how your dog getting skunked changes your schedule! I think I’ve tried every home skunk remedy on the Internet, and she STILL STINKS. *Sigh.* I haven’t had much time for anything because she’s had almost a dozen baths in 6 days.

So, in no particular order, here are some random observations from this stinky week:

  • The following skunk remedies do not work: tomato juice, vinegar, and de-skunking enzymatic shampoos. The following skunk remedies sort of work: feminine hygiene products and this brand of dog ear cleaner solution. The following works, but you can’t get it near their eyes, making it a little useless in my case: the hydrogen peroxide/baking soda/dish soap solution found all over Google. Of course, one website said the best deskunking method is to not let your dog near skunks. … Wow. I never would have thought to keep Penny away from the skunks.
  • The following things were favorite things that had to be thrown out because they were too skunked to save: purple ballet flats, Disneyland 50th anniversary t-shirt, and Penny’s polka dot collar. RIP, favorite stuff.
  • I’m starting to think Penny was sprayed by some sort of mutant Super Skunk. I have been watching too many superhero TV shows.
  • The last time I had a day off, Penny got Cherry Eye and had to be rushed to the vet. I’m starting to think I shouldn’t take days off from work.
  • Carnivals are fun and all … if you’re not in charge. Then they’re exhausting. Also, kids don’t want to play water balloon toss. They want to have water balloon fights. I should have seen this coming.
  • I can’t decide if I want to enter the Halloween costume contest at work. If I do, I’ll probably go as Mary Poppins because it’s the only idea I’ve got that’s doable.
  • My first craft show of the season is in 13 days. When did THAT happen?
  • I scheduled a freelance editing project for the week before said craft fair. When did THAT happen?
  • My Square credit card reader came in the mail Friday. I can now take credit card payments at craft fairs. Pure. Awesome.
  • Cost Plus World Market has their Christmas bakeware shop up and running, and I want Halloween to just go away so I can go all Martha Stewart and start decorating Christmas cookies RIGHT NOW.
  • Mmm … cookies.

Hopefully regular crafty blogs will resume later this week. Unless Penny makes any more friends.

 

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Finish It Up Friday: Auction Quilt (& Silent Auction) !!!

Posted in Announcements, Quilting by

I’m back! Sorry for the long hiatus. Due to some personal stuff, I haven’t been posting and commenting in awhile. Nothing major, and certainly no cause for alarm, but my life suddenly got busy. Sometimes something has to give—and in this case it was the blog. But everything should be good now and I should be back for awhile. Hooray! And I’ve been sewing! Double hooray! The biggest thing I’ve finished, by far, is the Auction Quilt.

Auction quilt front

It’s now officially named United in Faith, which is part of the parish motto of the church I’m donating it to. But, honestly, I think that title’s kind of cheesy. In my head, it will always be Auction Quilt.

This was the project that would never end. It wasn’t even particularly difficult … I just kept miscalculating things. I finished the top back in June. I used the scraps to make a jelly roll race center. I had the binding cut, ironed, and rolled up for later use. Everything was going so well.

Then I realized I didn’t have nearly enough scraps to finish a queen-sized jelly roll race backing. Not a problem—after all, what a great excuse to visit my local quilt shop! After buying more scraps, I still needed one more trip to get some yardage to pull it together. Then I had to go back one more time because I didn’t like the yardage I bought before when I put it next to the jelly roll race center. By the time I had it spread out in the living room and determined I had enough to cover the front plus 8˝ on every side, I was so beyond ready to be done with the stupid thing. Thankfully, my good friend Ruthmary agreed to do the longarm quilting for me. Such a lifesaver!

Also, quilter confession time: I hate jelly roll races. Why are these things so popular? Okay, they’re fast. But … but … ugh. Maybe if I actually used jelly roll strips instead of 1˝ leftover scraps it would have been better. Maybe. But that strip was all the way down the hall, twisting every which way, and then the dog sat on it (which I only realized because suddenly the strip wouldn’t feed into my sewing machine any more) …

Anyway, here’s the finished quilt back. Most of the people I’ve shown it to like the back better than the front! Not quite what I intended, but I’ll take it!

Auction Quilt back

 

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. So happy to be finished!

Silent auction time!

The live auction coordinator and I decided to open bidding with a silent auction. And I further decided to open it up to my readers. (Unfortunately, for shipping reasons I can only take bids from those in the continental U.S.A.—sorry!). If anyone out there is interested (or knows someone interested) in bidding, send me a private message with your contact info (address, phone #, email) and the amount. Bidding concludes on October 18th at midnight. The quilt is 80˝ x 90˝ (queen size) and comes in a reusable eco-tote bag (this one, if you’re curious). Minimum bid is $150. All proceeds go to St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church. Good luck!

And since I like to make sure Penny is featured somewhere in every post, here’s a picture of her with my pastor at the annual Blessing of the Animals last week. She was a good girl, too—minimal growling this year! 🙂

Penny at Blessing of the Animals

Father Robert Rien with Penny at Blessing of the Animals

Walkin’ at Animals on Broadway animal rescue fundraiser

Posted in Announcements, Dog stuff by

I just registered for their annual Animals on Broadway fundraiser. Penny and I will be walking at Heather Farm Park in Concord, CA on May 18. For those of you who don’t know about Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), they do great work saving dogs and cats from local high-kill shelters, and also feature a lot of human programs, such as donating pet food to low-income families with pets, pet therapy dogs, Camp ARF for kids to teach them how to interact with animals, low cost vet care, and a sweet program in conjunction with the local library where kids develop reading skills by reading aloud to trained dogs. If you’d like to donate, you can find my page here.

I hope to meet lots of awesome dog owners there, but I’m also hoping to bring in some donations. I put $50 as my goal, but I’m secretly hoping to bring in $100 and get a donor T-shirt. What can I say, I’m competitive. I appreciate any amount, no matter how small, as well as kind thoughts and comments too (those are freely given and gladly received!).

UPDATE: On 5/9/14, Purple Heart (renamed Violet) was adopted! Hooray! Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about this sweet little dog.

A week and a half ago, I met the sweetest cocker spaniel at Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF). Her name is Purple Heart (horrible name, I know, but they use theme naming for each intake group  and she apparently drew the short straw).

Don't let the cone fool you ... she's good at finding a way into your lap!

Don’t let the cone fool you … she’s good at finding a way into your lap!

Poor Purple Heart came in with a lot of medical issues (cherry eye, spay complications,  torn ear, chronic ear infection — basically, “cocker stuff”). Thankfully she’s at ARF, which is blessed to have its own onsite vet. The volunteer I spoke to even said that their vet would cover a second cherry eye surgery if it “popped out again.” Again, standard cocker stuff. It’s not that gross really.

She needs a good home. She’s been there almost a month and a half now, and each week she’s getting passed up. People are probably nervous about her  health issues (which, granted, is a valid concern for anyone adopting a pet). It’s just sad because she’s such a doll–wiggly and cuddly, happy to see the other dogs on leash in the training yard … if I could take another dog, I’d snatch her up in a heartbeat.

 

So I’m Finally Starting a Blog …

Posted in Announcements by

… and, really, it’s about time.

Welcome to Penny’s Purls, my own little blog on my own little corner of WordPress. My name is Joanna (not Penny), and I work as an editor. I’m also a crafter, meaning I spend the majority of my free time up to my neck in yarn, fabric, paint, canvas, random garage sale finds that some day I’ll renovate … Sometimes I look at my studio and fear I’m becoming a hoarder, but that’s a topic for another post.

Starting a blog to chronicle some of those crafty experiences just seemed like a natural progression. Especially after reading the wonderful blogs of so many artists out there. And especially especially as I start trying to develop a craft business over at Etsy.

So, here goes. I hope to post at least once a week. (I have to write that down or I know I’ll never commit to it.) I think I’m (we’re?) going to have a lot of fun.