On The Road Again

My first very large, special request, 100% custom made horse (excuse me, technically this one's for a mule) project should be on the road and headed to Denver, Colorado to the National Western Stock Show. It was picked up first thing this morning, so I did not have a chance to fit it and see how it looked but am oh-so-anxious for them to arrive in Denver safely and snap some photos after a pre-show bath to see how my fleece cooler works out. I have to admit, I am a bit nervous after yesterday's fugtional fiasco, but in retrospect, I feel like I really rushed myself through those projects... especially by creating them without any sort of pattern. For this cooler, though, I did use an existing one as a guide to build my own pattern based on what we were looking for in a final result. This wasn't thrown together in an afternoon like some of my other less successful projects - this one has been several weeks in the making. So aside from my off-kilter stitching, I need to remain confident that my friend will love it. Right?

Despite all of my worries, dear daughter loved the neon polka dot cooler I made for our friend so much that she requested a green and white tie-dyed cooler for her mule, which I had hoped to have shown below on our exquisitely handsome model, MIB Agent Zed (fondly known by his barn name, Z), but unfortunately the lighting in the barn was not conducive to great photo opportunities tonight. We'll try again tomorrow so you can see how great it looks on him. Until then, though, here's a close-up of the buckle closures and the matching fleece drawstring tail bag.

 

I opted not to us the heavy-duty 2" trim around the edges of Z's cooler like I did on my friend's, primarily because Z is not quite the show mule that hers is. We really only take him to a handful of shows - if that many - per season and only one that requires bathing on-site after an overnight stay. I am contemplating whether or not to add a belly strap. I may need to kick that idea around a bit and get some feedback from my friend after she has a chance to try hers on for size. Until then, I guess I'll find something else to work on. :)