Day Out In New York

I had a terrific Mother's Day. We went to NYC for the day and the weather was fantastic. I made a little stop along the way. I love Habu Textiles and I bought a few little things there. More on this later this week.

Here in the city everyday little things provide inspiration. One thing that I did notice was the color yellow. Of course, the taxi cabs are yellow but so are the sports cars and the dancers just across the street from The Plaza!

Banners, and window displays were yellow and there were many "bee" inspired images around. Do you think that there's a trend here?

I did love this blue dress though.

And this blue? Oh so calm but fresh. Notice the yellow again.

Nintendo is onto this "blue" trend too. My kids were mesmerized by this Lego version of the new Nintendo dsi in the window at Nintendo World.

Hello, Mr. Horse. I love the red flower on your head. There's another carriage painted with the same beautiful red color.

The red, cherry-flavored ice cream dip is yummy!!

I got to spend the day with my guys!

xo, L

p.s. Happy birthday to my big guy, Reno.

Happy Mother's Day!

Sending A Little Love

More happy thoughts for another gloomy day. xo, L

Sunshine

Thought I'd send you some eye candy since we're having such gloomy weather. When will the warm weather come? Soon, I hope. Otherwise, I will leave you with this ray of sunshine. xo, L

Inspiration

Inspiration will make its debut in Pittsburgh! Sweet, fun and warm. Check back for a couple of other sneak peaks!

Oh, I should mention that I do have an inspiration journal here! I'm still nursing its growth but I hope that you like the photography!

xo, L

This And That

Lots of little things going on. Many of us are preparing for Quilt Market in Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. Work hard, no sleep. It's good to keep the creative juices going right?

I have been working on creative little things such as that knitting project above. It's a freebie pattern to make a little man out of Rowan's Purelife yarn. I love the feel of this yarn.

I've been plugging away at my dresdan plate quilt. It's taking a while because I'm doing hand applique around the outside edge. Pretty isn't it? I'm so happy with it. Anyone need a tutorial on how to do dresdan plates? Let me know.

Meanwhile, look at what I purchased yesterday! My friend, Roopa, and I headed out for a day of fun. We headed south towards New Hope. There was a rummage sale that I knew of. Do I need furniture? No! Do I love a good sale? Absolutely! I got this chair for $20! I love it and it's solid wood. Here's Roopa outside her garage after we unloaded the goods. [Be warned. If you're my friend, get used to modeling the goods for me. Hey, even if we've just met, get ready to have the camera pointed in your direction!]

Can you believe that her table only cost $4?  It came perfectly matched to the paint color in her front entrance. Coincidence? I think not!

I've always loved this house. It's located right across the street from the rummage sale. Most houses in NJ have siding and you don't get to see much else like stonework or stucco. I grew up in a house that had stucco on the outside. I love the look of it. 

On the way to lunch, we got a little lost. However, being lost can be a great thing. We were going down this curvy road when this appeared in front of us. How beautiful! Oh yeah, get used to me stopping the car suddenly to take photos, friends.

Have a great weekend.

xo, L

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