Pics of Two Gardens

I took this pic yesterday from my studio window. DH Mike was weeding his "salad" garden. Won't be long now until we have some really good eats.

This is a Four Patch Posy quilt; it's sort of a garden, isn't it? It was the first time she'd used a longarmer. Talk about performance anxiety! I think I did it justice, don't you?

Here's a closeup of the block motif and sashings. I reversed the direction of the feathers in each one.

And this is the back. I did the whole quilt in dyed natural thread, except for the inner cable border, which I did in a Victorian pink.

That's it until next time. Now that the heat has broken, I'm hoping to be a little more productive. Stay cool, wherever you happen to be.

Monday, Monday

So...what do you think? Not bad, huh? Well, this is the view from my window this week. See, we have this timeshare thing that uses points instead of weeks so we have to use or lose.

Long story short, I'm in Newport RI. DH Mike's studying and I'm doing handwork. We're not painting the town red or any other color, but we're here.

I'm going to MQX next Thursday. It's a tradition-I have to go or my year feels empty. Normally, I go for the whole week; this year it's for one day. I'm going with a guild friend and I'm looking forward to a pleasant ride and a great day. Anyone else going?

Yeah, I'm still alive and kicking

The Oxford Dictionary defines "desultory" as "skipping from one subject to another, disconnected, unmethodical." It may be an unmethodical method, but it's a useful one. Here's why: Our minds are capable of far more multi-tasking and multi-tracking than we think. The critical sense that goes with the processes of art-making moves forward on both prior experience and intuition. Quick looks and automatic decisions, devoid of long-term contemplation and recrimination, often produce decent results. Going from one project to another heightens the faculty.

I got this definition from Robert Genn's biweekly newsletter. It describes me to a tee! I'm not bragging, mind you. I don't look at this as a good thing but it's the truth.

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The photos are of some of the stuff I've been working on. The heart vine has more detail now. I'll try to post a pic. The abstract is from a class I took last year with Katie Pasquini-Masopust. I finally finished it. The last quilt is for my 2 yr. old grandson, his birthday was in April and the panel's blocks are alphabet blocks.

Merry Christmas!

My wish for everyone is a very Merry Christmas and a safe holiday.

We'll be with family both here and at Mike's brother's home. That is what means the most to us at this time of year.

Since I decided to stop worrying about making t-shirt quilts for customers, I feel like a heavy weight is off my shoulders. While the machine is working, I can do some of my own stuff, hopefully. I'm planning on 2011 being a more productive year for me personally.

Check out Judy L's blog http://www.patchworktimes.com/ for her 2011 UFO challenge. I'm participating and will get even more done!

Mellow

DH Mike is watching the Jets/Ravens game and I'm sitting next to him on the sofa listening to Pandora Radio. I've got it on QuickMix and it's going back and forth among classical, pop, Christmas, Irish, and classic rock. I'm on the laptop, reading blogs by longarmers, appliquers, and art quilters.
Who could ask for more? Go Jets!!

Back again

We're home from vacation-we were in Orlando, Florida for a week. DH Mike is so security conscious that I didn't want to take a chance on him going ballistic if I posted it here or over on Facebook. I'll post pics very soon; we were there for our Boy Scout band. They played before the 3pm parade on Main Street USA and they were outstanding!!
The heat and humidity were brutal-I was "glowing" like a pig and drinking gallons of water. I've had hear exhaustion before and I don't want it again. No way.
I didn't go near any quilt shops! I KNOW-I can't believe it either. lol I decided that I could find anything I need here; they wouldn't have anything my LQS's don't. I did bring my applique bag and I did some stitching on my Floribunda block 1. Not much though. We were on the go most of the time. We even went to the Arabian Nights dinner show. It's a lot like Medieval Times but with a flair all its own, including gypsies and cowboys. Interesting, huh?
Now I have to get on the ball-start pushing out customer quilts, get a Hudson Valley/Upstate NY SAQA parlor meeting. I have never done anything like that before. How does one do a parlor meeting? See, that's what I mean. I have some work cut out for me. I'd better start now!!
TTFN

Tell me this man isn't the best hubby in the whole world!! I'm a little overwhelmed right now so he helped me by fusing a bunch of t-shirts for a quilt I'm making for a client. I was upstairs on the longarm, working on a custom quilt. He wasn't too happy about me taking his photo. lol

I'm trying to put together a quick, easy project that will relax me. I've started the first block for the Floribunda quilt from http://www.erinrussek.typepad.com/ Her patterns are so good, no itsy-bitsy pieces.

I'm reading one or two blogs from the Charming Chatter group each day. With 97 members, it's going to take me some time.

I had Tyler with me again today. He is SO close to walking. He's got cruising down pat. Let me say this-I am exhausted. I used to do this with 2 babies? Holy cow!! But I wouldn't change a thing. I am so happy to be part of his life. We laugh, we play, and I can see heaven in his eyes. This is why I'm on this earth-to love my family and to do whatever I can for them.

Blessings!!