Working on my paper piece pineapple quilt blocks

It has been a very different week, this past week, around here with the new puppy.  We have been taking care of the puppy twenty-four hours per day.  She has been learning things, at an amazing rate.  She has been with us since Saturday and already she is almost house broken with only one accident today and that only because the neighbours dog scared her, so she held it in and immediately releases when she got carried in. Otherwise she does a crazy dance for me to show me she needs to go out.

The other two main things we are working on are her biting/nipping and nighttime create training.  She is getting better with the biting, but when she gets excited she seems to forget everything.  The create training is also getting better as she gets more comfortable with the separation from us.  This week someone has stayed with her in the same room to console her when she needed the reassurance.  Each day she sleeps for longer periods of time and though sometimes she starts up she is learning to calm herself.  This puppy business is a lot of work, but everyone is excited to have her and dedicated to her.

We made up a schedule of the puppies meal times and stuff, as well as a schedule for us to have equal time, not only to take care of the puppy, but also to make sure everyone has some time to do their own thing.  For me, obviously that would be to get some quilting time.

Yesturday. I had one hour before my next shift and decided to pull out my paper piece pineapple quilt blocks.  These were given to me by my friend, Sharon.  She started them, but realized she did not like the random scrappiness of the block.  Her taste run more along the lines of organized colour placement.

The picture above is the paper side of the block.  It shows you where to place your colours, such as light and dark. The lines are where you sew.   The picture below is the opposite side of the paper.  On this block I have completed the red centre, surrounded by a round of light fabrics, surrounded by a dark round and again another light round.

This next picture is another example, like the picture above, yet this one has the four dark colours to complete the next round.  In the hour that I had before my next shift, I managed to get ten blocks sewn with the light round and all are ready with their dark fabric pieces to do the next round.

I thought I would also share with you one of my presents that I received for Christmas.  This was part of a gift that I got from my mom.  This book is now the second book I have by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene.  This one is called Civil War Remembered.  The first one I have is called The Blue and the Grey.  Both have great examples of scrappy quilts in more traditional patterns.

Including the quilt on the cover, here is another one of the many quilts in this book that I really like.  The quilt on the cover is called Devil's Claw and this one is called Line Up.  There are another five quilts at least in this book that I am tempted to make.  All of them go on my wish list for now.  I have a bunch I need to finish first.   All of the quilts are made using civil war type fabrics, but you could use anything you wish to make them and they would still look good. 

Today, during my off schedule, I did some quilting on my daughter's sixteen patch pinwheel quilt.  I finished quilting the centre in the morning and the borders in the afternoon.  Now when I have some time I will trim the quilt, make the binding and attach it to the quilt.  It looks nice.  My daughter is very happy that the quilt will be done in time to use it this winter, when the weather turns.

During my doggie sitting time, while the puppy sleeps, I have been working on my cousin's Dresden plate blocks.  They are also coming along.