BONUS WALL HANGING - "SAXON AMONG THE BLACK EYED SUSANS"

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE EARLY 'DALE NO. 8 DRAWING TONIGHT!

#8A - TOY AIREDALE

LINDA BUONAURO OF PARK RIDGE, NY

#8B - BLACK & TAN AFGHAN

LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY OF HOWELL, MI

THANK YOU BOTH FOR SUPPORTING AIREDALE RESCUE.

Made by Candy Kramlich and adapted from a photo taken by Virgina Slowik

Inspiration Photo

Finished Wall Hanging

When I said I would do a bonus wall hanging (my second), I wanted to use this photo of Saxon that Virginia took of him laying out in his garden hiding behind the flowers. It’s one of my favorites of him. This was my second attempt at a wall hanging and this year I actually had to create a pattern from a blowup of the photograph with the help of a light box. I used hand applique for the Airedale, raw edge applique using a sewing machine for the leaves, and sewed the flowers by hand anchoring them w/a small black puff in the center. Since this is a stand-alone piece made by one individual, I was able to add embellishments to add dimension and interest such as the loose flowers which give it movement and the face furnishings made from unraveled yarn.  After it was all finished and I looked very closely, I realize there were some things I should have changed.  He looks like he is wearing a hat of leaves on his head, and I wish I had positioned the leaves a bit differently in that area. I wanted to make this wall hanging to honor a very special Airedale and his owners. This wall hanging measures 23 1/4 inches x 18 inches.

Saxon's story is below the progress photos.

Here are some progress photos:

Auditioning Fabric

Placing Pattern Pieces

Close up of leaves

Another close up

Close up of flowers

Saxon was almost a year old when I received a phone call from a woman in her mid-70’s who needed to give him up. She had bought him as a puppy from a Midwest breeder who told her the dog did not need much space or exercise! She had a postage-size back yard (literally) and was not able to walk him. She loved him dearly but realized he deserved more in life than she was able to give him. I visited w/her and Saxon in upstate NY initially to get a sense of what he was like. He was a sweet, typical young male Airedale with a lot of energy and full of mischief. I spent several hours with them and took him for a walk around the neighborhood to see how he was on a leash (not too bad) and everything was new to him, but he seemed to adapt to new things well. I agreed to come back in a few weeks to pick him up once I had gone through my file of waiting applicants to see who might be a good fit.

Virginia and Stephen Slowik had applied for a rescue Airedale about 6 months prior to that. Until Saxon came along, I didn’t have any dogs come into Rescue that I felt were appropriate for them. When I got home after my visit w/Anne and Saxon, I called Virginia to tell her about him and see if they were interested. They were, so we set a date and a couple of weeks later I drove upstate again to pick him up from Anne on a Saturday and I kept Saxon overnight delivering him to his new home the next afternoon. He had been updated on all his inoculations by his owner and was already neutered before coming into Rescue. One big joke was that he came with LUGGAGE – two large suitcases full of toys and his own pillow! I nearly died laughing when Anne presented me w/his luggage!! He was fairly well behaved at my house, sleeping by my bedside during the night. The next day while I was getting dressed, he stole one of my knee-high stockings and led me a merry chase up and down in my townhouse! Fortunately I was able to corner him and retrieve the stocking before he devoured it. It was just a game to him!

I delivered him the next day to his potential new home with Virginia and Stephen out on Long Island. This was their first Airedale. Virginia came from a family of Bull Dog breeders and had shown them and other breeds in Junior Handling and later helped some well-known handlers. She fell in love w/Airedales through a family friend and Airedale breeder. Stephen had never had a dog so he was a little more cautious. But they greeted us with open arms and lunch and I spent several hours w/them making sure that they were comfortable with him. They had a huge fenced yard for him to run it, but Virginia was also an avid walker so he would be getting daily walks morning and night – we’re talking several miles each time. Also Stephen came home every day for lunch so the “boys” bonded over slices of cheese. Virginia was the trainer and disciplinarian and Stephen was the playmate. I couldn’t have asked for a better home for this boy. And since I always keep in constant contact with adopters for the first month, we developed a friendship and Virginia and Stephen became very good friends and like family.

Virginia worked with Saxon in Obedience and Rally, got a Therapy Dog title on him and took him every month to a nearby nursing home where he entertained and shared his loving with the patients. He was always well received there. He also loved to dress up in the costumes Virginia would make for the yearly NEAR costume parades at Barktoberfest that we all attended each year. He made a couple of commercials and was also in several print ads for Cole Hahn and some other designers with the name of “Airedale” in their company. He wore a Quilting Bee sandwich board at Montgomery one year drumming up business for ticket sales for the quilt. He was a pretty well-rounded boy and had a very full life and was very well loved.

Saxon died a couple of years ago at not quite 10 years of age, but the friendship continues. Virginia took over coordination of Airedale Rescue for eastern and southern NY after I moved out of the area. They now have a second Aire boy named Basil and have visited Pinky and me several times in Maryland.

Early 'Dale Drawing No. 8 ends TONIGHT at 8 PM EDT.  #8A is the Toy Airedale with heart in its mouth and #8B is the Black & Tan hand knitted afghan measuring 52" x 60".