Swiss Cheese and Spiders

Last weekend I was watching Fons and Porter and they talked about quilting with spiders. Not being fond of the 8 legged creatures this got my attention because I needed to know if it was time to change the channel. Thankfully a quilting spider has very little relation to the nasty arachnids so I was able to continue watching. (Have I mentioned yet that I really hate spiders?) In quilting a spider is a scrap of fabric used for stopping and starting your sewing. This eliminates all of those strings that get left on the back of your quilt trimmed at the end. Because the fabric scrap gets sewed on several times it winds up with little strings hanging off it looking like legs. If I was more organized I could see having small squares that I'm constantly feeding through at the beginning and end of my rows that eventually get sewn into a quilt, but at this point in time I like the use of spiders.

Last winter I took a workshop with my quilt guild and one of the members asked another member if she was going to Swiss cheese her quilt. I'll admit I've only been quilting for a few years, but Swiss cheese was not a term I'd encountered. Sadly it has nothing to do with the snack you nibble on while quilting. Instead it involves chain piecing your rows so that when you've got all of your rows assembled the rows are all connected.

To do this you sew block 1 and 2 from row 1 together, then blocks 1 and 2 from row 2, and continue until you have all of the first two blocks sewn together. Starting at row 1 you attach block 3 from row one and work down the rows until all of block 3 has been attached. You continue in this manner until you've sewn all of the blocks to your row. You're quilt will look something like Swiss cheese at this point in time. Leaving all of the threads between your rows from the chain piecing you sew your rows together.

If you're anything like me you might be wondering when you'll need to use such a complicated form of sewing. (After I finished adding block 3 things clicked and were slightly less confusing.) The quilt I'm currently working on has a very specific pattern that requires each block to be in a very specific location with only one correct orientation. By sewing the top together using the Swiss cheese method it was much easier for me to make sure my blocks were facing the correct way and I sewed everything together in the right order.

This quilt is a memorial quilt for the dog we had to put to sleep last spring. Next week I'm taking a workshop on hand applique and will be adding some rainbow colored paw prints.

Knitting it Together

*I apologize for the sadness of this post. It's been a very rough weekend, but I feel I owe it to my puppy to share her story.

Six years ago I was attending school in Iowa City. I had a class in the morning and worked in the afternoon. Iowa City has a large area called the Pedmall and frequently I would go eat there. I saw this small, terrified little dog running around and began praying for her. That fall I moved into a house that let me have a pet and went to the animal shelter where I found Niedlich. A few days after she came home I had a dream about the Pedmall Puppy and woke up to realize she was laying beside me. I've always believed God answered prayers, but was amazed at the answer he gave to my prayer for that little dog. I was hoping for a home for her, not realizing that I would be the one to give her that home.

The shelter estimated she was three when I adopted her. As she opened up it became evident that her first three years of life had been filled with abuse and fear. Thankfully the schedule of a student meant that I was home a lot and she didn't have to be alone very often. After finishing school I moved home with my parents (two pastors with flexible schedules who also made sure she was frequently able to be with people.) When I got married my husband and I searched for a place that would let us have a pet, but rentals are scarce in Northwest Iowa and no one would take Niedlich. My parents offered to keep her for us and my dear sweet puppy continued to have a home where she felt safe and was loved.

Unfortunately the demons from her past never completely left her. She was always afraid of strangers, especially men with sticks, and no training could remove that fear. Friday one of my parents' neighbors, a man with a cane, was visiting, and the fear overwhelmed Niedlich. The man is okay, but the injury required stitches. On Saturday we took Niedlich to the vet who helped her pass quietly, without pain and surrounded by love.

I knew that my cabled sweater was going to be far too difficult to work on this weekend so I dug in my stash and cast on a sock. This sock has helped me keep it together; knit it together really. When the emotions have overwhelmed me I have been able to focus on the needle going in, the yarn wrapping around, and the stitch coming out. This sock helped me stay calm during my final hours with Niedlich so that she too remained calm. It is at times like this that I am reminded what a gift the simple act of knitting is.

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