Home: Puppy time

To our family and friends, no we don't have a new addition.

This week we've gotten several puppy related questions and after raising 3 labs from puppy hood to 9, 6 and 1.5 years ... we've got some experience.

The best advice I have is from the time you pick them up treat them the way you want them to act when they are older and sometimes larger.

First thing we do is give them a bath - we want them to enjoy water and not run from it.

I also pester them - playing with their mouth, putting my fingers inside and making a noise if they bite to hard.  Also playing with their paws, squeezing each toe and getting them use to the feel of holding their paws to trim their nails - not that they usually need a trim at first.  And of course fingers in their food bowl.  Usually after a few days they don't fight it and after a few months it's like ok Momma is just being a pest.

Potty training is always something we get asked about.  Here's our history... We got our B boy at 9 weeks he was outside by the time we got him so it was a pretty easy training.  He knew quickly he had to go outside.  We got our E girl early 7 weeks, she was a Christmas baby and was in a garage.  We had a hard time training her.  We got our C boy at 8 weeks, he was also an outside boy and honestly I don't remember much about training him. I think the older two made sure to remind us. 

The plan we went with was every time they woke up we took them out.  After they ate, we took them out.  For the E girl, it was every two hours or it seemed like it anyway.  Before taking them out, we would ask if they had to go outside.  When we were outside, we told them to go potty.  Unfortunately for me, I started asking the E girl if she had to go potty and she would squat and go in the house.  My recommendation - the words you say outside, aren't used in the house.  We changed to "Do it" outside - the Hubby didn't like it, it does feel weird but it works.

Also to help the E-girl, we hung a bell by the steps we took her out.  We would ask if she had to go outside, and ring the bell as we went past.  I did this a few times and then I would use her paw to ring the bell.  She quickly picked up that if she rang the bell we would go outside.  Of course, like most kids, they would sometimes ring the bell just to get outside.

Since we have labs, and they sometimes have weight problems, the praise I used was with my voice - Good girl or Good boy - and petting them.  Others use treats when they go potty.

Teaching Sit - we made them sit before everything.  A slight push on the tush gets them sitting.  Sit before going out, coming in, eating, when I got home from work .. they learned fast that was the best way to get praise.

Walking on a leash - I recommend a short leash, don't let them pull and keep them in the heel position.  For me when we walk we are walking we aren't wandering around smelling everything.  Once they are use to the leash then I let them wander some, but I don't let them walk me.

Rides - our pups go everywhere with us.  They are always along for the ride.  I guess we've been lucky no motion sickness.  I've heard of giving them a treat before a ride - make sure you do it at other times than just the car ride.

Kenneling - we did really well at kenneling the first two - the third not so much.  Our B-boy was kenneled or baby gated into the kitchen while we were at work.  He did fine and still loves kennel time 8 yrs later.  Our E-girl did ok with the same setup but she really loves being close to her family and doesn't care for the kennel.  Our C-boy, well the Hubby was retired when C came along.  We tried the baby gate thing a few times but C is also a jumper and scaled the gate.  He does not like the kennel at all.

Potty pads - when we corralled them in the kitchen we would use potty pads - they worked great for B-boy, so so for E-girl and C-boy just destroyed them.

Sleepy time - yup they are welcome in our bed.

Now that they are older - when we get home we great them - they sit, get a pet and a kiss and then we go outside always within 15 mins of getting home we are out.

Any questions, just ask...

The Momma & My3labs

Confetti Project Quilting Challenge 1

I heard about Persimmon Dreams and their Project Quilting challenges on the Sewing with Nancy PBS show.  Since then I've been following their blog.  The first challenge this season pulled me in. 

They called it a Confetti challenge - we could interpret it however we wanted.  You can find all the details here

A lot of ideas came to me, but nothing felt just right.  Then I started googling confetti quilts - I remembered seeing/hearing where people were using little scraps to make a quilt project and I wanted to know more.  After seeing some beautiful quilts I had an ah ha moment .... FOOTBALL.

As many of our friends know, we are avid football fans.  The hubby and I each have an NFL team that we follow.  And we both love the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Since this challenge came just after the Rose Bowl, where there was a lot of confetti, I thought a football project would be perfect.

I've wanted to have something team neutral that we could hang on our front door.  Since the house sits back from the street, it had to be kind of large.

So I started sketching and looking up images, and with the Hubby's help, this is what I came up with.

The football was made as a confetti project, I layered foundation paper piecing paper (to add stability since I didn't know where it would be in the end), a scrap of fabric, my confetti and some white tulle topped it off.  Then as everyone says, I quilted the heck out of it and trimmed  it to my football shape.  I added some braided type ribbon as the laces.

The goal post was appliqued on and then the football was placed.  This is my first attempt at echo quilting and I'm pretty happy with it.  It ended up being 20.5 in wide and 24.5 in long.

The snow beauty shot....

Loving how it looks on our bold front door - thanks to the Hubby for the shot.

Quilt: New Years project

Each New Year holiday, I like to pick a project to work on.  This year, my unfinished Aurifil 2014 Block of the month project called to me. 

Here's the background...

While I had heard of the project when it started, in January 2014, it wasn't until October that I was interested in the quilt.

They started the project with a certain set of fabrics - I didn't feel like going out and buying those.  Yes I knew that I could substitute but it just wasn't calling me.... then it happened.  Someone posted there blocks made of primary colors - I fell in love with the red, blue, green and yellow spools.  I still didn't hop on board.  Then while I was on a shop hop, one shop had a display with Red, Green, Blue and Yellow - I fell in love with the fabric and the idea to use them in the BOM.

Like any good quilter on a budge, I bought the amount they recommended at the beginning of the BOM and set off to create my blocks.  I was able to finish 7 of the 12 then I ran out of blue and red and the project stalled.

I tried to find substitute fabric - I found something I liked for the red, but the blue stumped me.  Everything was the wrong shade.  Lucky for me, on the next shop hop, the original shop still had the blue.  :)  Unfortunately, the project still sat in the lonely UFO pile.... I didn't like a few of the blocks.

Fast forward to Jan 2, 2016...

I pulled out my Aurifil BOM box - fabric, blocks, remnants and to my surprise, no patterns.  A quick google search and I found the five blocks I needed. - Note to self, if you work on a project with online instructions and you start to pack it away, print the rest of the instructions.

So on the sunny afternoon, I started pulling things out of the box, I was happy to see the seven blocks I had done, I love the Spools and Button and ... well most of them.

Much to my surprise, I had everything cut for four of the blocks and one was mostly pieced.  Piecing the blocks went quickly and soon I had everything on my design wall, unpressed.

Now to figure out how to layout this crazy bunch of blocks so I can get a finished top.

When the Hubby saw this, he told me that's what I needed to do...

The only fabric I have to do that is a plaid, and I'm not sure it would work.  I also found a 3x4 layout it's towards the bottom of the page.

So now the New Year UFO project is again on the top of my UFO pile.... at least the blocks got done.

~ The Momma

Quilt: Kaffe Fassett project

Several years ago, I stumbled across a Kaffe Fassett book at a local fabric shop.  It was definitely love at first sight.  The meld of colors, patterns and texture .... wow!

Lucky for me one of the local quilt stores cares his fabrics, swoon!  I picked up one of their homemade charm packs, who can decide on one delicious fabric?  And there I sat for weeks.  What would I make, could I make anything like the pictures in his book? It was all overwhelming.

Then my hubby challenged me to do something with the charms.  I guess he was tried of seeing them hanging on my design wall .... which is in the up stairs hallway so he passes it multiple times a day.

A challenge was all I needed.  I made the design myself, I wanted a quilt that used one charm pack and was still bigger than 36x36.

.... and there the project sat for a couple of years.

I loved the top but it felt too small, I played with several different boarders and nothing felt right.  So there it sat in a sad and lonely grocery bag stuffed at the bottom of the UFO pile.  The poor thing.

Before Christmas I stumbled across the bag, it's always been in the back of my head but when I saw it, I realized I need to do something with it.  So it moved to the top of the UFO pile.  At least then I would see it and it would call to me sometime in 2016 right?!?

So on Sunday I was complaining to the hubby about not feeling creative and he looked at me and said "Quilt".

That was all I needed.... out came the lonely Kaffe Fassett quilt.  It made it back to the design wall, one weird little border attached and more borders pieced in the bag.  I put it all out and started taking pictures.

First the quilt itself.


Then the quilt with the triangle border.


Then the quilt with the third and fourth border ..... I was a little border obsessed back then. ;)



I studied the pictures, looked for the 2 other charms I'd picked up over the years.  And when I didn't find them, I decided the quilt looks great the way it is.


Would it look good with more borders, would I like a few more rows?  Probably.  But I've been wanting a little lap blanket in the car, Iowa can be cold in the winter!

So off came the border and now I'm ready to find some backing and get this baby quilted. Before the end of January!


The Momma

Welcome to Blumen@Home, we are happy to have you!

Blumen@Home is my place to share all of the different projects going on in our home.  Tales of our three labs, quilting projects, model making and whatever crafty project I decide to take on next. It's going to be an adventure, that's for sure!

Wishing you happy crafting, and sending tail wags and puppy kisses!

The Momma