Sled Dog Quilt is done

I put the binding on it today and did the tying through to secure the layers. I probably could quilt on my heavy duty Singer machine but I do not try to; I mess up too much as it is! Well, I'll just say I have learned from the Navajo women weavers who always put a small subtle error into their rugs because if they ever make a perfect one, it will be their last!

Usually I sell or give away my quilt projects but this one is going to stay with me "forever." Several special pieces of fabric in it were bought in Wasilla, Talkeetna and Fairbanks on my summer trip. I'm entertaining the idea of taking it with me on my next trip and getting the autographs of some of my favorite lady mushers in the lighter colored solid areas. Like all my quilts, this one is two-sided so there is no "front" or "back".



Anyway I will share some pictures of it. I also will share that I have enough fabric left that I can probably make a second one in the near future and that one just may be raffled off via my gofundme page or elsewhere to add some much needed funds to that slow-growing stash for the future trips. Yes, I continue to look for potential help--most of the grants for writers are really not well suited for this project but somewhere there is someone who will take a chance on an older lady and her big dream, on this very special project that I know needs to be done! Just as I know I am the one who needs to do it.

Be sure to follow Aliy's great blog at the SPDoglog (http://spkenneldoglog.blogspot.com/) and her facebook page. Lisbet Norris also has both as does Paige Drobney and several of the other lady mushers. I'll share some URLs next time for those.

It's getting cold and snowy around Fairbanks now and of course down around Denali Park so the dogs are starting their training. The race season begins with some shorter runs after the first of the year. The Copper Basin 300 (miles) is one of the early ones and Aliy, her husband Allen Moore, and a new dog handler they have on the staff are all going to run in it. You can bet I will be following the action! Then Yukon Quest kicks off in February--the "other big race" which is often billed as the toughest race on earth for good reason so expect to hear a lot more about that one! Allen has won it a number of times and will start as the defending champ this time. Aliy won once several years ago, one of a very few if not the only woman to do so (need to research this some more) but she now concentrates on the Iditarod.