My 2025 Recallers Challenge Dog Training Video

My dog, Zebedee, has been in Susan Garrett’s training program, Recallers, since he was 6 months old. Zeb is a great dog, but he’s inherited some of his sire’s quirkier behaviors. Neither dog likes car rides. On his first ride with some of his litter mates awhen they were 4 weeks old, Zeb was the puppy who was shrieking. Like many dogs, I think he is probably very sensitive to motion.

Suddenly, as an adolescent, Zeb just decided he wasn’t getting in the car anymore. Despite having been on lots adventures in the car prior to that point. It was a firm “No!” on his part. And weighing in around 85 pounds, there is no picking him up. And he isn’t amenable to being boosted in either. So, home walks it was. We have a park and conservation land nearby, so staying in the neighborhood hasn’t been a hardship. Fortunately he wasn’t due for a vet visit or vaccines for a while either.

So, time to help Zebdedee learn that a car ride can be “okay”. We’ve been working on this for about for just over a year. He’ll now get in the car most of the time which is progress. It’s still not something he loves.

Every year Recallers has a Video Contest about how the program’s training has helped your dog. Here is my 2025 entry. You can also view it here on YouTube where the stop/stop button isn’t in the middle of the screen!

Zebedee will never be the eager beaver, just can’t wait to get in the car, kind of dog. But it is important for him to get places sometimes, and for him to come along willingly. This is still a work in progress, but I am hoping he’ll get to the point where we can head out to adventures in the car.

A Weekend at our Guild's Quilt Show

A week ago, my quilt guild, The Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild, had its first big show since 2019. There were almost 90 quilts in the show. We were each allowed to enter 2 quilts. Here are mine. I chose them because I thought they would show well. The bright one is “Dreamlines Project” and the larger quilt is the 2024 “Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along: Rainbow Edition.” Folks found both of them interesting which was great. Click the links to see info about these projects from the designers.

Click on these links to read more about my making these quilts.

Dreamlines. Quilters Playcation: Rainbow Edition.

"Dreamlines Project"

"Quilters Playcation 2024: Rainbow Edition"

Here are three I really liked that made me smile. I laughed when my phone read the design on the pinwheel flowers quilt as a QR code!

"Flowers for Jeanne"

"Molly's Dragon"

"Garbage Soup"

I took the photographs of all the quilts in the show for our guild’s website, ProperBostonianQuilters.org. Here’s a link so you can see all of our great quilts. Enjoy this virtual show! PBQ 2025 Quilt Show. (If the quilts pictures don’t load immediately, click the circular arrow in the toolbar to refresh the page and they should all drop in).

Bird's Nest Block Quilt Top

I’ve always really liked this Bird’s Nest block. A very long time ago, before rotary cutters, I cut templates to make a quilt using this block. I made exactly…one block, about 12 inches! I was short on construction skills and cutting with templates just isn’t fun (nor especially accurate in my case)! I turned my one block into a cover for a throw pillow I still have it some place but I’m not sure where I tucked it away after the last time I laundered it!

So, older and wiser, I’m tackling the Bird’s Nest Block again. I now have the tools and know-how to easily make a quilt using a stack of these blocks, but I’m sticking with tradition and making a one block baby quilt!

Here is my top. It’s 42 inches square at the moment. I have more running bunny fabric, so I might add a border on the top and bottom of the quilt to make it a rectangle. Or not!

Bird’s Next One Block Quilt Top, 42 inches square

Those yellow triangles are big! They are going to need some imaginative quilting. An adventure for another week!