Sad Day for the Humane Society of the Nature Coast

I just heard some very sad news. Apparently, someone broke into our local animal shelter earlier this week and stole 5 dogs.  Three were found wandering the street and were returned safe, 1 is still not found and sadly, one was found dead.  You can read more on the story here.

This is the same shelter that my son and I volunteer at every other Saturday morning so we are quite familiar with these dogs and I am very sad to hear about Wesson, the Dachsund that was found dead.  He lived in a kennel with his brother, which is one of the returned dogs, but now wanders the kennel looking for his brother.

Please visit Humane Society of the Nature Coast and make a donation so they can make the necessary changes to increase security to keep all of the animals safe around the clock.  As I've mentioned before, they do not receive any operational funding from local, state or federal governments, nor do they receive funding from the Humane Society of the United States.  They rely soley on the donations and fundraising activities that take place through their facility.

No amount is too small and I can tell you without a doubt that you are supporting a great cause!!

Boutique Zipper Case

Boutique Zipper Case
Originally uploaded by D Lue

I had fun playing with a new pattern I found on Pickle Pie Designs. The instructions were very easy to follow with excellent step by step directions and great pictures. The entire project was done on the embroidery machine.

I experimented with a couple different types of stabilizers. The Sulky Sticky back is pretty good but I wouldn't recommend it when doing small designs like the stippling on this case, it was a pain to remove! (In fact, don't look inside!)

The case shown here is about 4.5" x 5".

Visit www.flickr.com/dlue to see the smaller (3.5" x 4") with a wrist strap.

Monogram Lunch Bag for New School Year

Lotus Green/Pink Lunch Bag
Originally uploaded by D Lue

I like the way the shape of the bag came out but I am having issues with closing it!

I used insul-bright fabric for the lining hoping that it would help keep food cool. The only problem is it added so much bulk to the top that it's nearly impossible to close it the way I want. I have an idea that I am sure will work but it means starting over from scratch. Darn it!! I was hoping to cross this one off the list too!

Finally Finished

Mint/Brown Baby Blanket
Originally uploaded by D Lue

I finally finished the baby blanket! Here is a picture of the completed baby blanket with a nursery rhyme embroidered on the quilt binding on 3 sides and the babies name on the 4th side. Let me know what you think!