Adventures with Emma - Scary Moments

     More about this Halloween quilt later in this post. First, some scary moments from yesterday morning. Things began as usual. I took Emma outside on a leash before breakfast. After breakfast, I began working on the finishing details for this Halloween quilt. Emma wanted to go out again, so I opened the door on the porch to let her. My backyard is completely enclosed by a chain link fence. After about five or ten minutes, I went to call her in. She didn't respond to my call and was nowhere in sight. It was then that I saw that the gate was wide open. I was terrified. My asthma wasn't very good yesterday, but I tried hurrying down the street calling her name. Nothing. I returned for my rescue inhaler and then headed in the opposite direction. No luck. Real panic was beginning to set in at that point. I called my friend who was coming to spend the day quilting and asked her to please hurry to help me search for Emma. Then I hopped into the car and began driving slowly around the neighborhood trying to spot her. When I came around the corner, I spotted a pickup truck in my driveway and a man returning Emma into the backyard. I parked across the street, jumped out, and began thanking the two men. "Where did you find her?" I asked. They told me she was down at the diner happily greeting people who were entering and leaving. [A neighbor later remarked that Emma was smart to have headed for a place with food. Nope . . . I know my Emma; she was drawn by the people. She is one very social dog.] Thank goodness my cell phone number and address are engraved on a little pink bone which she wears on her collar. The whole adventure lasted probably no more than fifteen minutes, but it was very, very frightening. Both the street that I live on and the one around the corner where the diner is located are very, very busy.
     I don't know why the gate was open or why I hadn't noticed it when I had taken her out earlier. I do know that the evening before it had been raining when I rolled out the recycling to the curb. I can only think that in my haste to do it quickly I had neglected to latch the gate. I realize how very, very lucky I was to get her back safe and sound.
     Now about the Halloween quilt . . . it was made for one of my little cousins who was born on Halloween six years ago. She selected all of the focus fabrics and I added the co-ordinating prints. The pattern is "Urban Cabin" by Atkinson Designs.
     Also, the last time that I posted I mentioned that there were hundreds of vendors at the Houston International Quilt Festival.

What did I bring home? Well, let's see: three patterns, five fat quarters, a rubbing plate for surface design, a yard of Japanese fabric, beading thread, a book by Melody Crust, a roll of hand dyed fat quarters, colorful rickrack, and some beautiful pearl cotton threads. The pearl cotton was from Artfabrik; I knew I was in trouble when I spotted that tantalizing booth. :-)

Just look at all of these lush colors! The pearl cotton, rickrack, and beading threads will be used in my crazy quilting projects. As you can see, I showed a great deal of restraint in my purchases. :-)