Little Excursions

Four deadlines this week. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. [It's the truth!] I get a wee bit behind with these posts because of work so then I do quick little posts on Facebook. Friend me there will you? You won't feel so left behind. Not as visual though.

I've done a couple of little excursions just to relieve my creative brain of any tension. My friends, Colleen and Joanne,  and I went out to celebrate J's birthday [Happy Birthday!] and we also tested Colleen's brand new Ford Shelby! Look at these cool ladies! We went fabric shopping, of course, and had a fun lunch celebration.

My family and I were driving by this boutique dealership the other day and I thought that my hubby should buy me this one for my birthday! Then I thought that I should save all of my money because I was told by the dentist that both kiddos will need braces. 

I headed down to Princeton for a few hours last weekend. It was really hot. Too hot to stick around town. A shame because they were having a sidewalk sale. I love walking around town and there's so many little things to take note of. The kids were only interested in getting some delicious ice cream and then heading back to the car. I ended up taking photos on the run.

See you really soon. I'm finishing off some projects this week and then I'll have to start thinking about the new school year.  xo, L

Summer Fun - Quilting And Non-Quilting

There have been a lot of rainy days so we've been trying to take advantage of the sunny days around here whenever we've even seen a hint of sunshine.

In between, the kids and their friend, Abhay, have been going to summer camp. They've had so much fun hiking, digging and generally getting muddy and dirty. All little boys should get muddy and dirty right?

The campsite is located in a lovely wooded area. I thought that I'd include my photograph there for posterity. My debut on Quilt Out Loud is on and though it's great, I think that I look as though I'm six months pregnant on the screen. My opinion, just sayin'.

After dropping the kids off, I headed over to Kindred Quilts. There was my friend, Mark Lipinski, host extraordinaire of Quilt Out Loud. Toby, owner of Kindred Quilts [pictured in the green sweater below], Linda Hanneman [pictured with Mark, below], Ellen, Mark and I had so much fun just hanging around. Mark's such a funny guy!

Linda made these fun stuffies from an Indygo Junction pattern. I had made a pencil case similar to these guys a couple of weeks ago for Big A but I just loved these stuffies. Linda sells her beautiful designs on Etsy and they're all gorgeous with such detail! Look at this elephant pincushion! Check out my inspiration journal for some more images from today.

Interesting fabric, huh?

I love these little blocks that Toby has made kits of for sale in her shop. The photograph doesn't do them justice. The colors are so funky.

Meanwhile, I have a few more deadlines. Back to work. xo, L

Working And Playing

The summer is just flying by so quickly. I can't believe that we'll be back to school soon. I have mixed feelings about it because my baby is going to school all day long. He promises that he will think about me while he's there and he's told his Webkinz to take care of me while he's at school. We moms take it harder than they do, don't we?

I just finished a quilt for the good folks at American Patchwork and Quilting. I'm loving the fun colors in my new fabric line, Inspiraton. The fabrics should be here by the end of the month. I'll let you know for sure when they arrive.

My sister and her family came for a visit. Of course, with boys, we had to go to Strasburg, PA to visit the trains.

They loved the ride into the countryside. We also visited Choo Choo Barn where model trains rule, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

When my boys are together with my nephew, Jack, taking pictures becomes rather difficult. I got a lot of these silly shots. I'm grateful for digital photography.

Eventually, I get one that's adorable.

Oh, and this? Just a random shot of a wreath that I made.  "Look, it fits my head, Daddy." So, Reno was happy to oblige with a photograph. Now I know what the kids are doing when their daddy is taking care of them while I'm working.

xo, L

Dreamy

A while back, I received some Aurifil thread. Let me tell you. I love these threads! This smooth, fine thread is a dream to sew with.

The entire color range is awesome. I bought these particular spools pictured above at at a quilt show and I've kept them on my Bernina for inspiration. I just need to get a turquoise in the same size and they'll all be buddies.

The thread is lightweight and it has a silky, smooth feel to it. The ones on my machine are 50 wt., 2 ply spools. The thread is especially fabulous for piecing because the thread is fine yet strong.  Therefore, you'll find that your seam isn't as bulky and scant seam allowances are no longer necessary. Also, there is little or no lint left behind when you sew with this thread. 

Dreamy.

xo, L

How To Alleviate Guilt

I've been holed up in my work area with these lovely rolls of fabric that are hanging around in the corner against my inspiration wall. I will have to put up some swatches up soon. I was supposed to be ahead of things but the kids and I got sick at the end of last week. Here I am catching up. In order for me not to feel guilty about putting in time for my projects, I always set up projects nearby for the kids.

I love the little canvasses that you can buy at the art store. The paintings seem "real" and with substance when you let the kids paint on a bit of canvas as opposed to just a sheet of white paper.

The kids love Modelling Magic that Crayola puts out too. They make replicas of their favorite Pokeman characters.

Big A loves to paint so I buy him these little wood kits that he can assemble and paint. See, more use of time!

They love being creative and I love the results. No guilt here. No sir. xo, L

So Dreamy

Just wanted to share what I was working on while I was supposed to getting some rest. I need a throw on my sofa and I love Dream In Color yarn. I made grannie squares when I was little and Purlbee has the cutest throw on their site. The colors are gorgeous, don't you think? Now I have to get cracking at some deadlines. xo, L

Clinton This Morning

It has been an awful weekend around here. Our town flooded because of flash flooding. Check it out here and here. We're ok but the merchants are suffering this morning. I wish them a speedy recovery.

The boys and I have had colds for the past few days. We're doing a lot better. I'll be back hopefully later today or tomorrow. I hear that it's going to be nice here this week. Send some sunshine and warmth here please! xo, L

Chalk Artists At Work

I love Mom. He loves to write it backwards because it looks so cute. Do you think that his teacher will take that as an excuse?

I am just too tired to go through all of my photos today to do a proper post because my sister and her family just left today. As I said to my Facebook friends, these little boys just tired me out.  After Jack Oliver left, my kids wanted to draw on my driveway. We stayed out in the nice sunny morning. We haven't had many of those special days lately. Apparently, my brother, has been experiencing New Jersey weather in Vancouver and we've been getting their rain. Oh, there was a tornado somewhere in this state yesterday too.

As I was looking at Big A's drawings, I noticed that he likes to draw flowers too. 

Have a great day! xo, L

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary to my swell guy! We are celebrating a lot of years together today and it's been one hell of a ride! Love you, Reno!

Who knew that quilting would be a big part of my life when I made my wedding thank you cards? [Sorry the photo is yucky! I can't find the card right now.] I had the white cardstock all handmade by a paper artist and used Mokuba ribbons to tie the card together.  I painted each piece of the front papers from Japanese papers with metallic paints, cut out the shapes and pieced together a dresdan plate block. I glued metallic ribbon around the edges and sewed beads onto the piece. All of this done before even knowing anything about quilting or dresdan plates. xo, L

Letters Of The Day

I was cleaning the boys' room this morning and realized that there's one thing that's pretty constant with a lot of my sewing and quilting projects. I love to add words or letters. They add a lot of spunk to a design, don't you think? I made these pillows for my boys from some of my Gardenia line and I used my own font. You can use any font from your computer, the internet or even your own drawing. I have a couple of other examples on my inspiration journal. Plus, if you look through my books, you'll see a lot of word action.

So, enjoy your weekend. We're off to a birthday party and then my cutie pie nephew, Jack [above, left], should be at my doorstep by dinnertime. Hopefully the next week will be filled with fun like it was last year when we played at the local park on the tire swing. xo, L