Tuesday, September 20, 2011

A Dog For All Seasons...Jack's Bandannas

Jack's Bandannas
Today I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you a little about Jack.  This beautiful, kind, patient Golden Retriever was our family's best friend.  He is missed every single day.  His loss is felt like the passing of a cloud over the sun on an otherwise bright, beautiful morning.  But the cloud passes, the sun reappears...and with it so many happy memories.  This story is about Jack's bandannas.

"Jack Frost" wearing a Christmas bandanna.

A lot of dogs wear bandannas tied jauntily around their necks.  Something about them seems to give a dog more personality.  Jack loved his bandannas.  His ears would perk up when he saw a fresh one in my hand.  Plumy tail a'wagging, he sat, and watched me fold and roll the colorful scarf and tie it artfully over the top of his collar.  Then he pranced about as if to say,  "What a handsome dog I am!"  And he was.

In addition to the classic red and blue, Jack owned bandannas for every season and occasion.  With each bandanna came a nick-name to go along with it.
  • Christmas...Jack Frost.
  • Halloween...Jack o' Lantern, Jack Skellington, or Captain Jack Sparrow (if he was a pirate).
  • Valentines...Jack of Hearts.
  • Easter...Jack Rabbit.
  • Western...Black Jack, Jackalope.
  • Hippie...Jumpin' Jack Flash...he's got gas, gas, gas!
  • Patriotic...Union Jack.
The list could go on and on...he had so many.  So many, in fact, that a few weeks ago I decided to clean out the drawer in my laundry room where we stored his scarves, toys and winter boots.  There were dozens of those colorful bandannas accumulated in the ten years he lived with our family.  There were even some made for Jack by a little neighbor girl's grandmother who lived in another state!  Tears filled my eyes and I knew then I could not throw them out.  I had a better idea.  George's birthday was approaching.  The loss of Jack has been very hard on him.  So I told him I would make him a rag quilt from the bandannas.

Jack's Bandanna Quilt
It's not fancy, but it's fun.  Rag quilts are the easiest quilts to make if you are learning to sew.  Each block is quilted separately before putting the quilt together, so no quilting frame is needed.  The blocks are the same front and back and the seams are all on the outside.  The seams are clipped and allowed to fray and fluff.  Rag quilts get softer and cosier with each washing.  

In a day or two, I will show you how to make a Halloween table runner using the rag quilt method.

Hope you have a great day.  It's another beautiful morning in Utah.  The mountains are just starting to turn color in the higher elevations. Trix colors...raspberry red, lemon yellow, and orange orange!




2 comments:

Calene said...

This made me real a little teary. What a great thing, Shirley. Sometimes Maggie still goes to the window facing your house and barks. When he was still alive she would do this and then we woukd say " where's Jack Jack?!" And she would run to the door to be let out. Thanks for sharing a little bit of Jack with us today.

Anonymous said...

The quilt turned out so sweet. We miss Uncle Jack (as we called him to our girls) it's hard coming over and not having him give his usual through-the-leg greeting. We love and miss him, he was such a good dog. - Lori Hatfield