Ok, so if you read my last post you’ll know that I’ve had a life change and I’ve closed my business watching OPC’s (other people’s children) and have re-entered the outside work force. And I love, love, love my new job, the staff I work with, the setting and everything about the job. However, it does cut a bit into my sewing time. No more stolen moments of stitching on the Featherweight in the kitchen while the kids play legos at the table, etc. Add a second job and, well, it all adds up to one. Yes, one adorable dog block was all I got done for the hop. Sigh.
The minute I saw this pattern from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, I knew exactly who to make it for. My nephew has an adorable little dog named Ollie and his ears remind me of these pups. I bought and downloaded the pattern and started playing with color ideas. I asked my sister for ideas and she reminded me that my nephew is red/green color blind. So, I decided on black/white and brown dogs on a light blue background (it worked in the pattern so why mess with such adorableness?!)
So, here’s the first of the 16 blocks I’m making…
Woof!
I must admit that fold-over-corners are not usually my thing but I loved how this pattern came together. I download most of my patterns on my Kindle (I have a theory that this will keep my sewing room tidier than if I print them out…lol) and I did end up printing the dog face requirements out so I could look at the sizes while I sewed. The only real panic I had was when I thought I cut something wrong because no way was this block coming out twelve inches…and it doesn’t, it’s about 12×18!
So, my new goal is to finish my pups for the linky party!
In the meantime, I’ve got some dog-gone fun fat quarters for one winner. Just leave me a comment. Maybe, in view of my new “outside the house” working status, tell me a good time saver. After all, minutes saved add up to sewing time! Or, any other comment you’d like. I’ll get Mr. Random to draw a winner at the end of the hop and, yes, I’ll ship internationally.
Be sure to check out my fellow hoppers and see their adorable pups.
FINAL Blog Hop Schedule
Tuesday, October 6
Karen of Run Sew Fun
Kris of Kris Loves Fabric
Anja of Anja Quilts
Kelly of Quilting it Out
Tish of Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland
Thursday, October 8
Carol of Just Let Me Quilt
Nina of Inchworming
Doris of The Quilting Queen Online
Brandy of Pampered Pettit
Leena of Creative Instincts
Tuesday, October 13
Ruth of Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner
Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado
Laurel of Quilts by Laurel
Kathy of Kathy’s Quilting Blog
Deb of New Creative State
Thursday, October 15
Anita of Daydreams of Quilts
Gina of Quilts and Cakes
Beth of Words & Stitches You are here!
Rachel of Quiltineering
Julie of Mack and Mable
Tuesday, October 20
Cathy of A Quilting Chick
Selina of Selina Quilts
Shauna of Shauna’s World
Gayle of Pedal Sew Lightly
Kathy of Kayak Quilting
Thursday, October 22
Sandy of Upstairs Hobby Room
Heide of Heide’s Quilty Hugs
Britt-Inger of Hill Valley Quilter
Judy of How ART You?
Louisa of Sewmotion
Tuesday, October 27
Teje of Nero’s Patch and Post
Stephanie of Jak and Will
Valerie of Val’s Quilting Studio
Ellen of Georgia Florida Studio
Cristina of Pretty Little Quilts
Thursday, October 29
Abigail of Cut & Alter
Magdalena of iloveneutrals
Jenn of A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Anne of Batiks by the Bay
Susie of Susie’s Sunroom
Tracy of Tracy’s Bits N Pieces
And, check back tomorrow for a bit of Halloween fun! (I’m having back-to-back blog hop fun!)
Happy quilting,
Beth
Words & Stitches 
You’re off to a great start. Once I’d made the first one, i set up a production line, doing the same stage on every block at the same time. It saved heaps of time!
So happy the you love your new job! Your pup quilt is going to be great, love the colors. I wish I have a hint of how to sneak in some more sewing, but I don’t- sigh! I do sneak it in when ever I can, mostly on the weekends. Thanks for the giveaway and congrats on the new job.
Time saver??? I could do with some myself!!
Great pattern – thanks for the giveaway!!
To save time, I make a crock pot meal. It can cook on low all day and I make enough for several days of meals. I also like ready to serve rotisserie chicken and a salad or cooked vegetable. When it comes to sewing, I will cut and label everything so I can production sew. Thanks for sharing.
Your single pup is very pretty, Beth. Love the fabrics you chose. Hope all goes well at your new job and that you will still get some time for quilting during your off hours! Congratulations!
Love your pup, and I bet the other ones will be as cute as this one!
About the time saver: chain piecing always makes things go faster, but then, of course, you will have to cut all the pieces first…
Great pup, love the B&W treatment 🙂
Your single pup is as cute as can be! Congratulations on your new job. With time you’ll get into a rhythm and be sewing up a storm again!
Such Cuteness!!! I am always multitasking-coffee and breakfast while on the computer. Heating something in the microwave while emptying the dishwasher etc.
Enjoy your job and time will fly!
Your block is very sweet, and once you get a couple under your belt, you’ll be flying through them! Chain-piecing is my biggest and best time-saver – I love it!
Congrats on your new job. Wish I had suggestions for time saving; Icould use some too.
Since I have retired, I don’t have a lot of times…but I know that my niece who works has a trick. She prepares all the lunches for the next day as she is cooking supper. It cuts down on her rush in the morning and uses those odd minutes when you would just be waiting for the food to cook, but don’t dare leave the kitchen.
Hmm…I could probably learn to save time a bit better myself! I try to pack most of lunch the evening before and make my little girl pick her clothes the night before as well (no one needs to start the morning with a fashion meltdown!).
Your black and white pup is cute and very thoughtful. I’m not sure what you mean by fold-over corners but I put a tip in my post about placing a piece of tape in line with your sewing machine needle to eliminate having to draw all the lines. Maybe that will help you. Congratulations on loving your new job!
I listen things that I need to read when I travel to and from work.
Cook a couple meals ahead on the weekend to save time during the week when you come home tired! Glad you like the new job. Good luck!
I just left my job(career) after 26 years , plus 10 + years of training. So, I am probably thinking in an opposite way. I wish I had taken more time to just chill. not to try to do everything.
Cute block. My time saver tip is to have a few things going at once; a hand project that is car friendly, a machine project that is at a stage where you can accomplish something in five minutes (like cutting sashing), and a project that is needing bigger chunks of time for when you have this. I try to do this and, when I succeed, I can use any sewing time that I have.
It’s already been suggested, but a crock pot is a great time saver for preparing meals. I also stock up on canned beans and tomatoes for a quick and easy soup using leftover meats. It can be whipped up in 30 minutes or less. Enjoy your new job!
Lovely pup that you have made. Thanks for sharing your creativity
Besides the meal prep ideas above, you might make menus and shop for an entire month to save some more time.
after working all week, save sunday for fun stuff and sewing. What you didn’t get done can wait until next week!!!
As far as time savers go, know that a crock-pot IS your friend! Put all your ingredients (meat, seasonings, hard veggies-like carrots) in your crock-pot on Slow/Low temp cook before leaving for work. Then you have minimal prep to do before serving and more time to spend with your family.
I still like to cook up large batches of food on the weekend (spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, soup – even a whole package of pasta or bacon, etc.) Then, I portion the prepared food into serving sizes and FREEZE it. When I want to use it, it takes far less time to defrost and warm than to cook from scratch!
Congratulations on your outside job! I get up a little earlier than I need to and spend 20 or so minutes sewing before I leave for work. Thanks!
As mentioned before, the crock-pot is your friend! There are so many recipes out there that you can throw together and let cook all day and it will be ready for you when you get home! 🙂
Congrats! I don’t have any really good time savers except I’ve noticed that if I keep everything for as project together in a bag or box then it’s easier for me to sneak some time in. Your block is wonderful.
Hire a housekeeper! Its the best thing I ever did while working. Instead of spending your weekends doing housework, you have time for a life.
Love your little dog face. He looks like a little Dalmatian Pup. Time saver – I would try to do about 3 meals ahead on a Saturday – then if any leftovers of that – stir together for a casserole, add cheese on top, and voila another meal. More time to sew if dinner is prepared ahead!! Yayyyy :)!!
I love your first Dog block! My time saver when it comes to sewing is to keep my machine set up ready at the unused end of our kitchen table. That way, I can do bits of sewing in between making dinner, bathing kids, etc.
Yes! agree totally with using Crockpot!!! Real saver for me! 🙂 I do try to squeeze in a few bits of time for cutting or sewing, every chance I can. Things come together…maybe not fast…but I have a few less UFO’s this way! Thanks for cahnce to win your Give-a-way too! 😀
Use a crock pot and pre a lot of dinner stuff on the weekend. Make a menu! thanks!
Love your little pup… so considerate of you to design the quilt with the recipient’s colour blindness in mind. Hmmm… time savers… I save time by using the one touch rule. I put things where they belong the first time I touch them. It keeps things tidy on a day to day basis… leaving more time for fun things like sewing!
When I buy ground beef on sale, I cook it up and freeze it so it’s all ready to add to a sauce or stew.
Congratulations on your new job! I started a new job last month too, and I agree it takes time to rediscover a routine that works.
Forget about housework and perfection. Learn to delegate and teach everyone how to do chores. Just live with the results. It will be OK. No one ever died from a few dust bunnies. My kids did their own laundry at age 7. There is a story here but it all worked out fine. Find 10 recipes everyone likes and rotate. Waffles, eggs etc for dinner is just fine. Have lots of fruits and veggies cut up in the fridge for everyone to eat and snack on. Do this on Sun or better yet buy it if you have a Costco. We never had that premade stuff when I had kids. Enjoy your life, your family, your friends. Life is short so just don’t sweat the small stuff as the saying goes and don’t forget to smile and breathe. Your block is wonderful.
I have to agree with the crock pot – total time-saver! Also, when you do actually cook something like a casserole, make two and pop one in the freezer to be baked another day! Love your adorable pup…can’t wait to see the finished quilt!!
I work from home (online) and still don’t have any time savers, but I also have three small children that I am trying to enjoy. They sure do grow way too fast. So, instead, I am gathering up all the good tips in these comments. I like the forgetting about housework and perfection tip. Chris’s tips are amazing words to live by.
Your pup is adorable! I’m an English teacher, so almost all my nights and weekends are filled with commenting on essays. But when vacation time comes, I get to sew nonstop! I love it. Thanks for the chance to win!
Your dog is so cute! I see that my timesaver tip has already been mentioned — cook dinner in the crock pot, always a winner for me. I do lots of chicken recipes that way and find that individually frozen boneless chicken breasts can be put in the crock pot straight out of the freezer. If you start it first thing in the morning on low it will be ready to serve at dinner time.
Such a cute pup!! I do love your fabrics!
I agree with Lisa Marie about using the crock pot, and cook big portions on the weekend for lots of leftovers to use during the week!
Susie
Hi! Adorable fabric choice for your pup! 🙂 As far as time saving… I am finding myself sewing many of the same thing at once these days in order to get ready for a craft show (hence why my Dog Gone Cute Quilt is not finished yet) and I find if I do everything in stages… all the cutting, all the piecing, all the quilting and all the binding on all the projects it all gets done quicker. 🙂
Beautiful colours, love the green in the bag
HI, SO CUTE! THANKS FOR SHARING!
Hi! Your puppy block is really cute! Thank you for sharing those beautiful fabrics! Sorry but can’t help with any time saver tip. I loose use too much time for looking around what others are doing, planning and organizing and I really should concentrate better to my projects. So I go to quilt my puppies. x Teje & Nero
Love the pups! I need some time savers!
Love your pup. My one time saver is … my husband cooks when a project just has to get done.
My timesavers include: using the crockpot, making lunch the night before, setting out clothes the night before. Do I do any of these? Not usually but they sure would save me time!!
Beth
oneoldgoat1962@gmail.com
If you get a long enough lunch break take some hand sewing – I get a lot of my christmas sewing done at work!
Love your starter block, the quilt will be a wonderful gift for your nephew. I found that if I could find a spot where I could leave my machine set up, bedroom, basement etc. I had a better chance of sewing for 10 or 15 minutes, yes they do add up. Also when my machine was in my basement so was my washer. I could sew to the laundry being done.
Well I love the fabrics in the one block you’ve completed. I love to give you time saving techniques but I can’t think of any. I’ve been working for years. It’s helpful to get some cooking down ahead if you can and slow cookers are also very good.
I like your pup with a print face and solid ears.
My best time-saver tip is to prepare whatever you can the night before. I always pack my lunch, press my slacks, pack my tote bag (glasses, books, snacks, etc.), take out meat from the freezer to thaw. In the morning, all I need to do is get myself ready for work because many of the details are done. I love doggie quilts!
Such a cute pup! Time savers? Well for me I find that sometimes I won’t go into my sewing room because I think I don’t have enough time to get into a project. But I have found that if I just make myself go in there and start I can actually get something accomplished. It’s amazing what you can do in 15 minutes. And it all adds up over the course of the week and you see your project coming together!
love the pup!!! My best time saver is to multi task in the kitchen, as I’m browning meat, or cooking pasta, etc I try to also unload or load the dishwasher.
Carry all the tools you may need with you to the middle of where you’ll be working so you don’t have to keep going back to get tools…saves time. Thanks and God bless! ILuvTheEucharist @ aol.com
Your pup is so cute! I really like the black and white version. I don’t have any time saving tips that others haven’t already shared.
That’s an adorable looking dog. If you only get one done, it’s good to have it be glorious. =) Thanks for the giveaway. My time saver is meals in a jar. I make them with Thrive freeze-dried foods, in advance, say a couple of hours to make up a dozen. Then most of the time it’s just a quick 10-minute prep and 15-20 cooking and a meal is ready. Some are even faster, like lasagna soup. Dump it in a pot, add water, cook, and 15 minutes later, dinner is ready. The time you saved? For sewing, of course!
I have been re-learning my time saving tips as my work is taking more of my time too. Here’s a couple: do something every day. You don’t need big blocks of time, you can make pretty good progress with just a few minutes every day. The other one I am implementing now is to make things more maintenance free – I am reducing the flower beds in my garden and planting shrubs that look better if you let them grow naturally. I have a robot vacuum. Getting in the habit to put away stuff when I am done with it. Getting rid of stuff so there is less to put away, dust around, etc. I also cook bigger meals and freeze a portion for those days I don’t feel like cooking.
Cute puppy! I’m so unorganized that I shouldn’t offer any time saving thoughts. I guess I’d recommend that you finish a task before starting another.
No puppies of my own but those ones are too cute! Timesaver tip: Use the grocery store flyers to help you plan dinner menus. You get ideas and save money, too!
Congrats on the new job. Schedule time to sew,don’t just try to fit it in.
Dmac5958ataoldotcom
My best saving time to play tip, is to always clean up your space after you work every time you sew. It takes 3-4 minutes to stack, put tools where they go, and make sure that scraps and trash is in its place. The next time you go back to your project you don’t have that dread of going back to a mess. A few moments gives you better quality and quantity of time.
When I have the quilting bug but not a lot of time, if I spend some time cutting for a block in the evening, then stitch it up in the morning before work, then I’ve got one block done! Just a few minutes at night and a few in the AM, and I’ve squashed that bug just a bit!
What a cute pup. As for time savers, my husband cuts all my fabric for me. Thanks for the give away.
I cook the week end to have more time for quilting in the week.
He turned out too stinkin’ cute. I look forward to seeing it finished. My biggest time saver is laying out the block, then pinning everything I can so I can make less runs to the machine. As long as the block isn’t a log cabin type that builds upon itself as you go, this can be a huge timesaver.
I need time savers myself…love your site.
What an adorable quilt block!
Cuteness! Time saver tips……my motto is ‘do it now’. If I don’t procrastinate, I don’t waste time.
OMG those pups are going to be adorable when you’re finished!
I like to make crock pot freezer meals to help with the busy days.
Love your block! I use my crock pot quite a bit through the week.
Loving your pup!! I found that after I had made 3 the time to make them greatly reduced. I did try a production line method but got caught out every time so in the end stuck to making one pup at a time. Would love to be in with a chance of winning the giveaway.