Fine doggy dining

I was tired of looking at the low-rent plastic mat under my dog's food and water bowls. Using four fat quarters I picked up on a shop hop, I made this much nicer looking placemat. Very dignified for doggy dining.

The project, of course, was not without a snag or two. I pieced together a strip for the binding with all four patterns. I had a sinking feeling in my gut as I rounded the corners and the binding got shorter and shorter - then stopped with a two inch gap. OK. I can deal with that. Except I didn't have any pieces left that were wide enough, necessitating a fix for the fix. Sigh. But then it was smooth sailing.

Thinking it wasn't enough work to sew together 25 strips, I decided to go for an even 50 to do both sides with one-inch strips before finishing it with quilted diagonal lines. The fabric appealed to me because the colours are nothing like what I usually go for, but often those are the things you end up really liking. I hope my spoiled pup likes it, too.

Addendum: This is how much thread was left on the spool when I finished. So close!

Sink or swim. Or a bit of both

Alexi made her first trip to the beach this past weekend. I wasn't sure how a pampered city dog like her would do at the cottage. But I was pleased to see she settled into the rustic life, sleeping on the sand, gobbling up bones, barking and charging at people who had the nerve to walk on the beach in front of the cottage and, yes, going into the water. I learned doggy paddling does not come naturally to all dogs. She wasn't sure what the heck to do with her back legs, so mostly they floated. She kept trying to shake the water out of her ears, not realizing one she stopped paddling she would sink. Then she'd forget what to do all together and start madly thwaping the water's surface with her front paws while her back end sank. But she kept bravely wading in, giving swimming the ol' Borzoi try. I think she was just happy to cool off, even if it did mean a near-death experience with each trip out into the waves.

Here she is relaxing on the sand:

She also liked to sit inside on the dog bed in the path of the breeze coming in through the screen door, rustling her extra-white fur from a dip in the lake.