For Our Best Friends
Finding the right gift for the nonhumans (and their owners) on our list is as easy as gourmet puppy pie.
By Cate Coulacos Prato, 11/9/2003

Partial excerpt:

Pet-Portrait Quilts
Jan Queijo of Hubbardston combines her love of animals with her sewing skills to create portrait quilts to celebrate or memorialize a cherished pet. Working from a photograph of the animal, Queijo first selects fabrics that will best represent the animal's coat and features, then enlarges the picture to life size, using the copy as a template to cut out ears, eyes, jowls, and so on. After she sews the fabric pieces together onto a backing material, Queijo embroiders noses, whiskers, and facial lines and then completes the quilting by hand.

Twenty-four-inch-square wall hangings can be ready in less than a week and cost about $200. Quilts may take up to two months and start at $400, depending on the size and complexity of the design. Queijo also donates many of her quilts to animal rescue organizations for fund-raising auctions.

On the Web at www.crazydoglady.com" (end excerpt)

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