Auction quilt, earrings and my poor, poor dog

Whoo-wee, I've been busy! My new job at Quilter's Corner is going great! Also, the Richmond chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild is in full swing. Personally, we've also been busy with RT's exam, typical end of the year school activities, and purging all of our ridiculous junk in preparation for a big yard sale this Saturday. I love yard sales. I am happy to give things to Goodwill, but I like to at least try to get something for them first. Yard sale to the rescue!

One thing I haven't done much is sewing, hence the lack of posts. But I have a few things to show. the first is a not-so-great photo of this past year's auction quilt. I stepped into the project after the idea had been determined, so I didn't have much say in how it was put together. Basically, each child chose a country and then they colored the flag for it. This photo shows it draped over some chairs in the lobby of the school. The lobby chairs all have arms, so that's why it looks so lumpy.I have to say, this is not my favorite project. I felt like the kids didn't have much involvement in it (coloring? Really?) and so they didn't have the emotional investment they have had in the past. I don't even know how much it went for! Oh well. If I do it again next year, I'll make sure I have some say in what happens. With Molly being in first grade, this was a new classroom for her.

Over Spring Break I went to Corolla, North Carolina. They rented a house for the week and Molly and I were able to join them for a couple days so RT could study. I bought these earrings.
At first I didn't realize why I liked them so much. There were several styles, all using the same beads, but in different shapes. Later I realized these look like little quilts! No wonder I love them so much!

In sad news, Snickers is not doing great. She's 16 now, which is very old for a Belgian Malinois. She has been losing weight like crazy. For most of her life, she was 55 pounds. A couple nights ago she was down to 29. She still eats, but nothing sticks with her. The vet said she probably has cancer somewhere but she's so old she wouldn't be able to withstand the anesthesia for a biopsy, much less any kind of treatment. I don't know how much longer she'll be with us, but for now we just love her and pamper her as much as we can.
Those bumps sticking out by her waist are the wing-y parts of her vertebrae. And here you can see her backbone pretty clearly.

Those are her hipbones; yes, they are.
A dog with this much undercoat shouldn't show her ribs. But I don't think she's hungry. She eats with the same patterns as she always has (leaves part of her breakfast but eats it all at dinnertime). I think it's just not staying with her; the cancer is taking all the energy and nutrients. This post shows what she looked like in healthier times.

We have had her a long time. We got her when she was seven years old from the Humane Society. I never thought she'd be with us longer than she was with her first family. She's a wonderful companion and we are doing our best to show her that we love her. I don't think she's in pain. She doesn't pant or whine. And she still wags her tail and follows me around the house when I have food. So in that sense, she's just like she always was. What a good dog.