alex in wonderland

The amusement park, not the fairy tale.

We visited Amarillo, Texas this past (Labor Day) weekend, where my husband was born and lived until he was four.

We rode horses, saw cars growing out of the ground, "hiked" Palo Duro Canyon, went to a rodeo, toured his family's old stomping grounds, and had tacos and margaritas for (my birthday) dinner...

...but the highlight was certainly our trip to Wonderland.

Which Alex loved "this much"--

which was delightful in itself, but not too bad either was the perfectly glorious sky that was the backdrop for the perfectly glorious colors of this place.

See any quilts in there? Thought so.

Also, I somehow managed to photograph a rainbow.

we need a staycation.

Like nobody's business.

"problems"

with hosting a swap might include:

overflowage of your awesome free storage bag...



...or realizing that you probably don't have enough fabric or time set aside to make sufficient blocks so that you can keep one of each design for yourself...



Seriously, I have been mostly resisting the urge to tear the envelopes right open so that nothing gets lost, but in the interest of keeping the sent/received thread current, I've had to make a few exceptions. These blocks are stunning--all of them. Check out the flickr pool and see for yourself!

blue

Normally, I would have chosen a contrasting bowl, but this one seemed perfect for the Fourth.

Enjoy the day.

there's less time for sewing...

when school's out.  But there's still a lot to love about summer:

 































































































































































::small-town parades
::cherry picking
::walking downtown to the Ferris wheel...
::and the view of your house from the top
::farm camp
::a quilt at the car show
::caterpillars
::shaved ice
::bubbles
::looking forward to two more months.

coming down the pipeline...

the sewing pipeline, that is, if there is such a thing.

My month for one of my bees.

Still need to make those spider webs...

A birthday gift.

A block for the next CMQG meeting.

Giveaway Day!

A block swap. 

My husband calls me overcommitted (in the nicest possible way) and maybe I am, but having sewing projects with deadlines fills some of the void that was created when I quit my job, but in a much more fun and less lucrative way.

Having nothing to do with sewing whatsoever, here's the guard dog at Cook Mansion.  Can I tell you how much I love living in a town that has a mansion with a guard dog statue?  A lot.

back on the grid

and this is all that's left of The Fundraiser.

That and some money. More than a thousand, less than a million. But a good chunk of money for a worthy cause.

Now, sewing, sewing, sewing!

taking a break...

to order some solids swaps, bee blocks, etc.

They won't be used together...



But wouldn't they make a tremendous quilt?

Maybe for my month over here...

Off to design a scavenger hunt.

a breather

It's April in Chicago, but this photo is from August in Vegas.

Why? one might wonder.

Because it's crazybusy around here (fundraiser--basement remodel--bee blocks--swap project--raffle quilt) and I think I might just rather be sitting by the pool, gazing at a blue sky, frozen bellini in hand.  Or maybe flying far, far away in one of those helicopters.

It'll all get done, I know.  It'll just be pretty quiet in this spot in the meantime.

See you on May 2nd.

little things

Sheets for a swap, fresh from the dryer, ready to cut.  Top, bottom, and 2 cases, all for three bucks.

A partner for another swap.  And wondering: who has me?

my 15 seconds of fame

Remember this?
















It's a bee block that I made for Claire for TBK...and it's part of the masthead for the new Quilting Bee Blocks blog, an offshoot of the awesome flickr group of the same name.

Have I mentioned how much I love flickr?  It is the most ingenious website on the internet.  Where else can this and this and this coexist happily?

Anyway, of course, the credit for the block belongs to Claire...the idea for the blocks was hers--all I did was arrange the colors.  Still, it's kinda neat to see something I made up there in lights!

Happy Weekend!

overheard...

From his room after lights out:

Daddy!?!  Why do octopuses have a lot of arms?

what's happening?

Not too terribly much.

A star.

Some bee blocks in the making.

A quilt in my head.

A stack of fabric for another.

A hat I just have to finish.

Fundraiser business.  Do you know how annoying it is when graphics files don't upload properly?

The highlight?  A meeting.  Check out the photo on KateKwiltz...I'm third from the left.  A terrific group of talented women.  Fun!

Sunday inspiration

Getting inspired to...
















read actual magazines again (I get a lot of inspiration online, but sometimes it's nice to hold paper in your hand and make that pile of pages to keep);
















keep trying new things (anyone who knows us in real life will be shocked to see Alex coloring on purpose--I had given up hope, but he was all about it today);
















 finish this quilt!














be a more intentional, professional mother--just ordered the book, in fact (we already have a really steady dad around here);





















 and keep my bathroom clean.

Thanks to Jennifer for the lovely inspiration inspiration.

if you spend an entire naptime...

thinking about a blog post on streamlining life in the new year, then that's kind of counter to the point, no?

Instead:






















Wishing everyone a delightful 2010. Goals, lists, and plans in the coming days. And a cake.

jumbled

is how it's shaking around here.  A little making, lots of going and doing.  And strep throat.  And good packages.  More on most of that in a couple of days.

Fire it up, antibiotics!