Decision '08

Nope....no political views here. Just a choice on the border for the Willow Tree Hill quilt whose official name and subtitle are "Longbourn or A House Isn't a Home without a Dog." I fell in love with this pattern (by The City Stitcher) the moment I saw it. This project was originally inspired by the name of Elizabeth Bennet’s family estate in Jane Austen’s "Pride and Prejudice." However, I only began work on this quilt after I lost my two beloved dogs, first Teejay (aka Fluffy or Tiggly) in summer 2005 and later Zoe (aka Big Dog or Zo Zo), earning it a subtitle.

The loss of Zoe (Thanksgiving weekend, 2006) left me without a dog under my roof for the first time in nearly 16 years. This project became a true mourning quilt. Focusing on the details of constructing the houses helped soften the pain of losing the last of my beloved companions who’d been by my side through so many chapters in my life. Fluffy and Big Dog (as I playfully called them) were truly the best dogs ever. I miss them to this day.

The quilt will, I think, always be one of my favorites. Dimensions are 52" x 72". Thanks to everyone who offered their opinion about which border to choose (see this post). Between bloggers and bee mates, B and C were the most popular choices. I thought I'd decided on B (option C looked kind of busy with all the pinwheels in the border), but after laying it out and testing, the additional pinwheels in the horizontal border gave it some pop--so the choice was option C. Now on to the backing, binding, and then quilting. I can hear DH now razzing me about getting off my duff and trying out my Voyager.