Happy Birthday Barkley

Time flies. I made this quilt 10 years ago. It will always be one of my favorites.

Our stitch group had a custom of making blocks for each other. We would pick the block and specify colors then everyone would make a few. All the different stashes really enlivened the end result. Those blocks are the center of this quilt.

The quilt historian prodded me to finish it by suggesting the border. She pulled the bird designs from antique quilts and I added the funky vine. We named it Barkley's Birds because he always loved to bark at birds.

The pattern is in a swell book, Cranberry Collection by Barbara Brackman and Karla Menaugh. Published in 2005, it is out of print but you can still find a copy on Etsy.

Little Barkley is now 13 years old - his birthday is this month.  It is always hard to believe it when your pets age. He has entertained us so nicely over the years.

He survived kooky Lucy, his companion when he was little.

He modeled hats.

He posed for a holiday card in 2009.

He even pretended to visit Las Vegas.

The secret to Barkley's longevity may be that he knows a good chair to relax on when he sees one.

Happy Birthday Barkley! And thanks to the quilt historian for mentioning our fine boy on this blogpost.