Afternoon of Nature

We have had the most glorious weather in the past week. Yesterday, Little A and I went over to our good friend, Darlene's, house. When we first moved to NJ, she, Bob and Chris lived beside us. Such terrific neighbors and great, generous friends.

Their property is so lovely. Imagine waking up to this everyday. 

There's a waterfall that runs through their front yard and there are many beautiful nooks to explore. I thought that you'd love some eye candy on such a cooler day. Though Dar didn't know it, our day together was a much needed distraction.  The afternoon of just walking around with our cameras was a good dose of inspiration that brought me back to seeing things in their natural beautiful state.

Little A was mesmerized by this frog. He wanted to pick it up and take it home with us.

Dar tried to find some fish for us and we did eventually find them swimming around the bottom of the water. Then we went over their bridge to the other side to look for copperhead snakes. Unfortunately, we didn't find any today.

I'm going to miss these afternoons with my kids when Little A starts first grade this fall.

xo, L

Earth Day

I'm having some technical difficulties. Here is the pattern for the Earth Day Bath Mat. I'm working on putting the file in the correct spot. Enjoy!

The Other Derby

We had a super fun Saturday here in Clinton. There was a fishing derby and we were out the door around 8 a.m. [I know, as my friend Colleen reminded me, the real derby is in less than 6 days.] Stylin' aren't we? The scenery was beautiful too.

Little A started out well enough. He was all ready to fish, until he discovered that the bait tubs contained worms!

Little A tried to fish a bit but, as I said before, he soon forgot about the fish and focused his attention on the tub of worms. I was enjoying the scenery and not hooking any worms.

"Look, Mommy. These are so cool and squishy."

Big A turned out to be great at casting the rod.  In the end, it was so much fun.  How could I resist when they looked at me like this and asked if they could bring the worms home?

xo, L

Forgot To Share This!

I forgot to share this with you. Don't you just love my flip video camera?!? I put the kids' photo onto the front of it. So cool.

Spring Break

While in Toronto over the spring break, Auntie Linda, tried her best to get a photo of nephew Jack Oliver with her own two kids. It is nearly impossible to photograph these three at the same time but I keep trying. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never get a "perfect" portrait shot and that that's ok. Aren't they silly?

I did get to sneak out on my own. I just love to hop onto the streetcar and travel around town. Why bother driving when there's public transit? Of course, I visited some of my favorite places. The Paper Place is near and dear to my heart. What a fab place. Go to my other journal and check out the Japanese watermark tissue dress. Awesome! I always love the colors and the designs of the stores along the way. They give me inspiration.

the workroom is a funky fabric shop/sewing studio. I'd love to visit everyday and just sew all day. Oooh, I love the green work tables.

Yes, I need to get out often to see the world. xo, L

Be Green

To commemorate Earth Day, I made this little bath mat from a towel and some scrap fabric from my Funky Flowers line of fabric. I love the greens and the browns. Makes me more impatient for spring. Pattern will be posted at the end of the week. Enjoy and do your share.

xo, L

More Quilts and Inspiration

Here are some more quilts from the Lancaster show.  Phew! There's lots to inspire you at this show and I am always amazed at the work that I see. I hope that you've enjoyed this little showing.

One last note:  I always love to see the booths with antique quilts. The colors are so cool and quirky! xo, L

Nature, Nature

I'm still here. It has been crazy here. The weather's finally nice! We've been battling colds and I've just recovered from my sprained ankle. Ok, so perhaps skipping sideways and backwards down a sidewalk trying to keep up with a kindergartener wasn't the greatest idea. It was fun while I was doing it though!

I made the little birdie for my nephew Jack. Isn't he cute? We've been in Toronto visiting for a few days over spring break but it's back to school time. I can't believe that the week has come and gone.
I bought a couple of these super cute books for Little A recently. The book is made from 98% recycled materials. Isn't that awesome? What I loved even more were the illustrations. I've been working on a quilt with a tree and owls just like this. So interesting how designs/ideas from completely different sources can merge together. I had the exact same image in mind including the owls, the trunk and the stitching along the edges of the applique. That's one of the tough parts about designing. I'm conscious of not copying anyone's work but sometimes identical ideas do come out from different sources. I'm amazed by that.

See you back soon with the rest of the Lancaster quilts. xo, L

Lancaster, Part 2

Several of the big winners at the Lancaster QHC show were winners from the NJ show that I went to a few weeks ago. The beautiful work above is from Barbara Lies, OCD Meets SAD.

I love the colors in this mod little quilt, Desert Study II.

The workmanship on the following are so beautiful. The quilts are classic yet fun.

Crossed Palms, Marcia M. Lentz

My, That's A Lot Of Yella, Fay and Merl Pritts

Daisy Dance, Kathy Munkelwitz

Balloon Quilt, Janet Sutton

Threaded Wedding Ring, Geri V. Ford

There was a terrific little display of mola quilts and designs.

This floral one is so pretty. Dahlia Reflections, Barbara Barrick McKie

Look at the color in this one!

There were a lot of miniature quilts and the craftsmanship was amazing. Just look at this mini crazy quilt. My Petite Victorian Image, Ellen Purdy.

More fun color! Bold and Blue, Marla Hattabaugh

I also ran into a lot of friends. Susan Faeder didn't disappoint with her beautiful Japanese fabrics. She offers tours of Japan. Check out her site for details.

This week has been a crazy one. Hopefully, I'll wrap this up in the next post! 

Still more to come ...

xo, L