A Tribute to Benny

Our beloved Benny, March 2012

Harry and I had to euthanize Benny last Friday morning, July 13. His right hind leg had increasingly been bothering him … we naively suspected arthritis. I was in Sisters last week taking quilt classes so Harry took Benny to the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Thursday to see what was going on with Benny's leg. The news was bad ... a tumor growing in/on the bone of his right hind leg. The only surgery possible was amputation which we were unwilling to consider and they were unwilling to recommend. Benny was a lousy surgery candidate due to a substantial heart murmur and damage from previous chemotherapy but that really wasn’t a factor so far as we were concerned. We simply would not put him through that. They told us the femur was very weak from the cancer and would break soon … a few days, maybe a week or two at most. So, Thursday evening, Harry brought Nickel home from doggy day care and Benny home with pain meds to help us through his last days. Nickel, excited to be home, jumped out of the truck and started running around the yard. Harry lifted Benny out of our truck. Benny started to pee when Nickel started chasing birds. Harry called for Nickel to come. He obediently came running full bore and crashed into Benny, knocking him down. Isn't it ironic that we wish that one time he would've disobeyed? Seeing that Benny was in severe pain, Harry took him back to OSU. I start packing up my supplies and will head home early Friday morning.

The vets at OSU got Benny's pain level down for the night, then did scans Friday morning to determine the extent of the damage. When they saw the femur was shattered, they recommended we not bring him out from under the general anesthetic. Harry asked if they could hold him under anesthesia until I got home. Thankfully, I got there in time and was able to say goodbye even though Benny was unconscious. We got to hold him as they stopped that great golden heart. I deeply regret missing his last few days. The standard of care at OSU is amazing … Benny was wrapped in one of those warm air blanket things so he was comfortable and warm until he drew his last breath. He had brightly colored, happy kids' socks on each of his paws to keep his toes warm. Kate, our oncology technician, made a casting of Benny’s paw for us. Can you believe their kindness? I cannot tell you how much we love them for their wisdom and care of our Benny boy, named for the Elton John song "Benny and the Jets".

Benny (left) wrestling with Frankie, March 2012

 

Benny (right) playing tug with Frankie, March 2012

Perhaps Nickel did Benny a great favor; in any case, he is forgiven. Pain meds never eliminate pain completely and I’m pretty certain we would have done our best to give Benny as much quality time as we could. He was a happy golden with a hearty appetite making it nearly impossible to determine the extent of his pain. The decision we had to make was clear and unambiguous; I am grateful for that.

Even in April, Benny could "tug" Nickel across the floor

 

We buried Benny in the back yard where I can see his grave from our kitchen window. I planted an oak leaf hydrangea to mark the spot … hopefully it will be happy in the shade beneath all the big trees. I cannot tell you how I miss my Benny boy. There is no one at my feet, Benny’s usual spot while I am working at the computer. Back and forth from computer to sewing room, Benny would tirelessly haul those sweet old bones to be where ever I happened to be. I am well and truly blessed to have been loved by that sweet soul.

Under my desk are Benny with Nickel peeking over

Z is missing Benny too

I feel Benny's absence profoundly and, at the same time, know we gave him an awesome year and a half since his diagnosis of oral melanoma way back in December 2010. While the words "heartfelt thanks" don't even come close to expressing our feelings, we are deeply thankful and grateful for the wise, loving care of the Oncology, Cardiology and Orthopedic doctors, students, residents and receptionists at OSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital ... thank you.

Benny playing tug with me, March 2012

Out comes the paw ... let's tug again!

Remember Benny with joy, happiness and a smile!

Pine Needle Retreat 2012

It has been far too long since I've posted so I'm going to make up for it with lots of pictures. A couple weeks ago, about 25 of us gathered at St. Andrews House on Hood Canal near Union, Washington for the Pine Needle's annual 4-day quilting retreat. After unpacking, we gathered on the deck to exchange a book we love and to share our most favorite notion.

Gathered on the deck

Our view of the Olympics across Hood Canal:

The Olympics

This year, the quilt pattern we selected for the retreat is Julie Herman's Chopsticks. Connie couldn't wait for the retreat to start sewing; she arrived with her triangle blocks already made! It's difficult to see in the photo, but Connie chose a variety of snowflake and leafy prints in ice blue and white, pairing these with a tiny brown and white polka dot:

Connie's Quilt

Linda chose a palette of pink, red, gray and green to coordinate with a medium-scale floral fabric. The bold black print used in the background accents these beautifully:

Linda's Quilt

Sharron's quilt is almost the inverse of Linda's. Sharron chose a variety of black and white prints but used bright pink in the background. The pink and black floral print ties it all together:

Sharron's Quilt

Saturday evening is the much-anticipated white elephant gift exchange outdoors by a fabulous, huge stone fireplace. I'm certain that gales of laughter can be heard clear across Hood Canal. Check out Maggie, the lucky chick to open this knitted hat complete with ear flaps and tassels:

Maggie in the chicken hat ... cluck cluck!

Another incredible "gift" that left us ... well ... hilariously incredulous ... is the giant foot scrubber complete with suction cups on the back for use in the shower. I think Charlotte was hoping the box did not indicate the contents as Marsha, Becky and Cathie crowed "that's going home with you" !!! I have just one question ... what size *is* that shoe?!

Charlotte opened a giant foot scrubber ... ouch!

Next is Charlotte's quilt ... a palette of blues and purples on white. Rather than cutting the side triangles to square up her quilt, Charlotte decided to cut half-triangles of her background white fabric and plans to add a rectangular border on the top and bottom to balance the white along the sides:

Charlotte's Quilt

Donna chose an eclectic mix of ethnic and patterned batiks from her stash that work together beautifully. Her background fabric is a textured cream that really allows those beautiful reds to shine:

Donna's Quilt

Here is St. Andrews House, overlooking Hood Canal:

St. Andrews House

Mary chose a warm, rich palette of red, gray and gold. Her background fabric, from Northcott's amazing Stonehenge line, is a perfect choice of a warm, textured neutral that works beautifully with all her feature prints. I love the way the bold stripe adds a lively energy to her quilt:

Mary's Quilt

Lou Ann loves red so chose a variety of thirties floral prints in red, yellow and blue. A primary color scheme is among the most difficult to pull off successfully and Lou Ann did a fabulous job selecting her fabrics. The yellow honeycomb print for the background is the perfect color, bringing out the yellows in her prints and giving her quilt a wonderful sense of light:

Lou Ann's Quilt

Next door is Harmony Hill, a retreat center whose cancer program provides support for those affected by a cancer diagnosis including caregivers and health professionals. Taking a break one afternoon, I walked through their labyrinth garden. Here are a couple photos of their stunning California poppies.

California Poppies at Harmony Hill

The inspiration for Suzanne's quilt is water. Her palette of aqua and teal with accents of olive and rust has a feeling of calm yet is visually striking:

Suzanne's Quilt

Sherry decided to make a queen sized quilt using Northcott's Stonehenge group of ginko fabrics ... breathtaking! The silver gray "stone" fabric is a beautiful background for the caramel, soft blue and brown prints:

Sherry's Quilt

JoAnn used one of her treasured hand dyed fabrics along with a variety of orange, purple and green batiks. It's a gorgeous color scheme!

JoAnn's Quilt

The Hood Canal area gets lots of rain as evidenced by these stunning, abundant maidenhair ferns:

Maidenhair Ferns

Horsetail was growing nearby, an ancient plant I love that loves a wet climate:

Common Horsetail

And back to the quilts ... Margie chose a gorgeous palette of blues, yellows, cream and a beautiful soft brown. I find the blue especially stunning, complemented by the same yellow honeycomb print Lou Ann used in her quilt. The yellow print looks cooler here because it is surrounded by all those lovely blues.

Margie's Quilt

Cari chose a selection of Kaffe Fassett prints in greens and blues. Her background fabric is stunning ... an aqua gradation print that ranges from almost white to deep aqua. Look at the motion and sense of light that gradation print adds to the quilt:

Cari's Quilt

I chose a selection of Michael Miller's new cotton couture solids:  yellow, green, peach and tangerine with the addition of a few coordinating prints. The overall bright, "citrusy" palette needed a little something else so I chose two black and white prints that I think are a very nice addition. Sometimes black and white adds that extra punch that takes a quilt from pretty good to exciting.

Pam's Quilt

Mallory is working on a quilt made entirely of Japanese quilt blocks and taupe fabrics. She brought some of her blocks to show us. Now we all want to make a quilt of Japanese blocks and fabrics!

Mallory's Quilt Blocks

Jeanne brought a quilt top she recently finished in a stunning palette of black, white and beige ... so beautiful! I think of glistening pearls when I see this quilt.

Jeanne's Gradation Quilt

The Pine Needle Retreat is an amazing experience ... one we all cherish and look forward to each year! Wonder what white elephants will show up next year?

PMQG Block Challenge 2012

In March, members of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild received a challenge by Michael Miller to use their new Cotton Couture line of gorgeous, silky smooth solid fabrics and make a block. Members were given 8 fat eights from which a block 15½” wide x 18½” high was made. Blocks were turned in at the April meeting ... aren't they cool!

PMQG Michael Miller Challenge Blocks

Here's the block I made:

It was great fun and the Couture Cottons are lovely! They are silky smooth, lustrous and soft without being stretchy.

What is to be done with all these blocks? Well ... Kathy Miller will select 16 blocks to be made into a quilt they will feature at Spring Quilt Market in their booth in Kansas City. Kathy has a tough job ahead of her as well over 40 blocks were submitted. Remaining blocks will be made into a PMQG-collective quilt that will hopefully be shown in the Sisters Quilt Show in July. Any blocks remaining after *that* will be made into charity quilts so all will be well used.

Click to see:  Michael Miller's Cotton Couture Line

The colors chosen for the PMQG block challenge are:

Fog, Meadow, Clementine, Luna (row 1)

Charcoal, Kryptonite, Tangerine, Aqua (row 2)

 

Free Motion Quilting Post by Elizabeth Hartman

Be sure and check out the excellent article Elizabeth Hartman posted to her blog with tips on free motion quilting larger quilts with your home sewing machine. Here's a picture of the quilt she discusses in the article:

Xylophone Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman

Click through to her blog to see the entire quilt, front and back. Her blog is one I read and enjoy regularly.

Elizabeth's new book, Modern Patchwork, will be available in June from amazon. I can hardly wait!

The Cancer Roller Coaster

I haven't written about Benny, our 12 year old golden retriever, for quite some time. Progressing through a cancer diagnosis and subsequent medical care is quite an emotional roller coaster, a road far too many of us know far too well. The highs can be near heavenly as good news must certainly be reveled in. And the lows ... well, they can be all too wrenching.

In January, we received great and sad news:  Benny was officially designated in clinical remission for the oral melanoma diagnosed back in December 2010 ... yea! Nearly in the same breath, a tumor was discovered on his left shoulder. We thought it likely a metastasis of the melanoma but no ... it turned out to be an unrelated cancer ... hemangiosarcoma.

Harry and I constantly endeavor to make decisions we hope are wise and that emphasize quality of life over longevity. With mixed feelings, we have proceeded with IV chemotherapy for Benny in hopes of slowing down tumor growth. The first treatment was somewhat rough for Benny (intestinal distress ... enough said about that) ... but the second treatment has gone far better as the oncologists at Oregon State sent us home armed with two anti-nausea meds and an antibiotic targeted for the gastrointestinal system.

Benny, affectionately called their "miracle golden" by the oncologists at OSU, is tired for several days after each chemo treatment, but so far has bounced back within a week, as you can see from this photo of Benny and Frankie in the snow:

Benny (left) and Frankie

Growing up in Tennessee, snow typically meant surprise play days of no school. So long as I don't have to drive, I still feel euphoric when those big, beautiful flakes fall!

Frankie ... throw the next snowball!

Frankie ... rolling, rolling, rolling!

Benny loves the snow too, but not quite so much as Frankie who is utterly mad for it. The shaved patch on Benny's shoulder is from a biopsy surgery. The oncologists had hoped to remove the HAS tumor but it was already too involved in the shoulder joint, thus inoperable, hence the chemo approach. 

Handsome Benny

 ... and speaking of handsome boys, here is a picture of Z, our strictly indoors-only kitty who far prefers to view the snow (or rain, birds, squirrels etc) from his scratching post. He is 2 years old now and has shown absolutely no interest in going outside. He does have rather beautiful blue eyes, doesn't he?

Z admiring the snow from his cozy, indoor scratching post

Z hasn't quite forgiven us for bringing an uncouth, uncivilized, overly enthusiastic golden retriever puppy into our lives. Alas and finally, Z has given up all hope that Nickel is visiting ... almost a year later, Z reluctantly tolerates Nickel who simply doesn't understand how to respect a kitty properly. Will he ever learn?

It turns out, Nickel, like Frankie, is utterly mad for the snow. On this particular snow day, however, Nickel was playing with his pals at doggy day care. He simply has more energy than all the rest of his household members combined ... and we all love Nickel so much more when he is, well ... tired!

Nickel (3 months old) sleeping on step

 

Nickel (1 year) sleeping on same step

I will post some photos of quilts I am working on soon ... hope you are all well and happy!

Learn to Quilt I Winter 2012

Despite late spring snow here in the Pacific Northwest, a wonderful group of women completed the Learn to Quilt class last week at the Pine Needle. I am so pleased and proud to show some photos of their work!

Diane chose a bright green paisley print for her feature fabric. The "quilt bug" totally snared Diane:  she came to class 3 (of 5) with her quilt top nearly finished ... then in class 4, Diane brought 6 pillowcases she made to go with her quilt that will go on a day bed in her home. I especially enjoy the way the 4-patch fabrics dance happily across the quilt top along with the cheerful fabrics she chose for her borders.

Diane's Quilt Top

Lynn chose an Asian dragonfly print for her feature fabric. The rich gold background fabric shows off the blue dragonfly fabric while the bright pink squares add excitement! I understand that a visitor fell in love with Lynn's quilt and is the lucky recipient of her quilt. Meanwhile, I am hoping for a photo ... with borders ... so I can share with all of you.

Lynn's Quilt ... work in progress

Due to the snow, schools opened on a delayed schedule so Kathy wasn't able to come to class 5. Here are her quilt blocks as she was sewing the rows of blocks together. Isn't it fascinating how different the same pattern looks interpreted with different fabrics? The background fabric she chose is a small scale cream and beige floral ... a perfect complement for her feature fabric ... along with the soft gold and red she chose for her 4-patch blocks.

Kathy's Quilt ... work in progress

Nancy chose teal, cream and brown batiks for her quilt. As we auditioned borders, there wasn't enough distinction between the outer and middle borders so Nancy added a narrow border of brown ... which sets off her quilt beautifully ... especially lovely with the softer teal inner border.

Nancy's Quilt - Front

And check out the backing for her quilt ... Nancy used leftover scraps to make the bands of vertical strips, bordered with the soft teal she used in the front. Yea Nancy!

Nancy's Quilt - Back

Stephanie chose a black, white and red color scheme for her quilt. As she auditioned her middle and outer borders, she decided the flying geese in the corners looked too traditional for the clean, crisp feeling of her contemporary quilt. She decided  to leave off the flying geese but added a narrow red border to bring out the red in her quilt top ... a perfect accent! Stephanie had enough scraps to make a second, smaller quilt which she brought to class 5. She designed it herself using 4-patch, plain and improvisationally pieced blocks. Go Stephanie go!

Stephanie's Quilt

Stephanie's Second Quilt

Coincidentally, Elizabeth and Kathy chose the same feature fabric for their quilts. Elizabeth's choices of coordinating fabrics really bring out the blue colors in the feature fabric illustrating that even when the same feature fabrics are used, you can make the quilt your own with the colors you want to emphasize or subdue. The narrow blue border Elizabeth added clearly defines the middle and outer borders as well as emphasizes the blues in her star and 4-patch blocks. Beautiful!

Elizabeth's Quilt

Sandi's quilt will be a gift for her daughter so she was always thinking of her and the colors she likes best as she made fabric choices throughout the construction of her quilt. I love the glow of the cream background in the center and the way the pink and buttery yellow bring out the flowers in the star and outer border fabrics ... and I think Sandi did a fabulous job choosing fabrics that convey the emotions she intended in the quilt ... a warm, snuggly quilt for her daughter.

Sandi's Quilt

Sue chose Fabric Freedom's recent stained glass print of blue poppies and iris. Wow ... stunning fabrics! The medium and dark blue fabrics she used in the 4-patch blocks complement the poppy fabric beautifully. Sue also added a narrow, dark blue border between the middle and outer borders to sharply delineate those. Otherwise, the two busy prints would blend visually. The bright green she used in the inner border, along with the cream background, gives the quilt light and excitement.

Sue's Quilt

Somehow, I missed getting a photo of Val's work but hope to get a photo to share as Val finishes up her quilt. I am very proud of these women and their work! I believe that a pattern, like a recipe, is a starting place so I absolutely love it when students are willing to really look at their quilts and, when called for, go beyond the pattern's instructions.

As a teacher, there are many moments to savor and enjoy throughout a "beginning" class ... I get to see:

• quilts emerge from initial uncertainty and occasional confusion
• confidence grow
• very special moments when a new quilter gets utterly hooked!