Fun With My Sister

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my sister Sally recently came to visit.  She lives in the south part of Washington and we're only about 3 hours apart, but still don't get together as often as we'd like.

Sally said it was her vacation, and she wanted to PLAY!  As in - Sewing Fun!  So, that is what we did.  I set up my two little machines in the living room and we hauled the design wall down from the quilt studio.  And then we spread fabric and projects all over the place!

Wool work #1

She brought some fun things for me to see, like her wool projects she's been doing.  She's been playing with these for a while now, and finally got them to a "finish".

wool work #2

She was thinking of making these two pieces into pillows, but I suggested maybe wrapping them around a small canvas and making them wall art.  (No final decision was made at that time)  I love these!  They are so cheerful, and all those stitches make them very appealing to me.  Maybe I need to find some wool to play with!

Here is a quilt top that she has been doing.  Her color scheme is based on a tree by her front door.  It has the red-violet branches and the new leaves are a beautiful lime green.  This is quite different from what most people would do, but it's very "Sally" to me.  She's always loved those large floral print fabrics of the 1940's!  She just brought this to show me, and no progress was accomplished.

This is her "vintage baskets" quilt that she brought last year when she visited (see my post here).  She bought the border fabric last year and while she was here this time finally got it put on, with the addition of a little flange between the center and the border.  I just happened to have the right shade of turquoise for that!  Yay for stash!

detail of the border with flange

While Sally worked on her basket quilt, I worked on my liberated baskets.  I haven't touched these baskets in a while, but I did make a little progress.  I haven't decided yet just what I'm doing or where I'm going with these.  So poking along is just right for me at this stage.  I really like the basket in the upper right corner.  It looks "fizzy" with all those dots in the background!

I had made a bag for my sister, last year, I think. ( I can't find any photos of it anywhere to show you, and it came out really nice with batiks.  How could I forget to take a photo?!) She wanted to learn how to do that bag, so I helped her make this one.  You can find the tutorial for this bag called "Open Wide Zippered Pouch" here.  Sally used an old curtain from the thrift store that was bark cloth.  Very fun!  But it was also quite soft, so the use of interfacing was a necessity.  I think it came out cute!

She used a soft pink polka dot for the lining.  

I also made a bag (with cotton fabric), but neglected to use interfacing on it.  No photo, as it's doing a darn good imitation of a puddle!  (I think I learned my lesson)

about 18 to 20 inches square at this stage

This is a little wall hanging that Sally has in progress.  Never mind that it has been in progress for about 20 years!  Progress is still progress, right?  The fabrics date this work, but it's still cute and it will get finished.  Sally's planning on adding more borders, and still has the fabrics set aside with the top.  I do this all the time . . . do you?

  

Sally and I have always been slow about getting birthday and Christmas presents to each other in a timely manner.  It's a family trait, apparently.  Or so we're claiming anyway.  So, these are some of my Christmas presents from Sally.  They are kitchen towels that she added the decorative strip to.  The blue with the red strip is special to me, as that red fabric was a skirt that my Mom owned.  And, just so you know, I am actually using these!  They make me smile.

After I showed Sally my photos from my classes with Gwen Marston in March, she wanted to learn how to do a liberated star.  This is her first star!  She struggled to get the concept of how to trim those star points, but finally got it.  Isn't this cute?  I hope she'll make some more!

We had a blast while she was here.  My dear, dear husband cooked meals for us!  What a sweetheart he is!  I can't wait for her to come back to play some more.

I'm leaving for California in a few days to go to a quilt retreat with my California quilting buddies.  I can hardly wait!  I haven't been in two years, so we'll have a good catch-up while we sew up a storm.

Done!

After three loooong weeks, and amid many interruptions and distractions (Olympics, much?) I can proudly announce that my quilt studio is now clean and ready for me to sew.  Whew!  That was tough to get through.

The worst/best part, besides just slogging through it all, was all the discoveries of unfinished projects both recent and ancient.  Very distracting for me, because I want to finish them all NOW.   The photo above is the only (very ancient) project I let myself finish when I found it.  And I got it done in time for Valentine's Day.  Yay me. It only needed a bit of sewing on the side seam to close where I turned it right side out.  Oh, and then I decided that I really hated the tan hearts.  Why did I use tan??  I hate detest tan.  So the buttons seem to help.  It only took me one hour to pick out just the right buttons.  *groan*  See why I let myself only finish one older project?  But, done is done and that is a Good Thing.

So, in the area of distractions, I spent a little time in the pottery studio with The Potter.  I made some little trays for myself.  I like to use leaves on my pottery, but since it's the middle of winter there aren't many leaves available.  So, cedar tree to the rescue!  I'm really pleased with my cedar plate.  It's just the right size for some apple slices, or cheese and crackers, or whatever.

The Potter has a new square mold that I wanted to try.  It's just so little and cute!  So, I did find some violet leaves in the yard, although it was tough to find some that hadn't been chewed half-to-death by slugs.  The leaf impressions have been stained with green but there is no glaze on them.  I really like the look of the bare clay, and it is totally food-safe as it is high-fired.  I like to run my fingers over the clay to feel the impressions.  And this is my fave blue glaze.  It was fun to play in the pottery studio for a little bit, but I'd really rather be playing with fabric.

I went to a quilt show last weekend and as soon as I have some time to process those pix, I will do a blog post with quilt-y pictures.  I know you're all waiting with bated breath!

Now, off to the quilt studio!  There's fabric to be played with!

M.I.A.

Yes, I've been Missing In Action this month.  I've had such a busy month! 

My quilt studio looks like a disaster happened in there.  There's stacks of fabrics everywhere, and there's stacks of plastic bins (with more fabric in them) stacked in the way too.  My design wall fell down.  I had a piece of flannel pinned to the wall over the closet and when I was looking for a book, I pulled the pins out.  Rats.  The problem was that, when I moved in 4 years ago, I just unpacked the books and shoved them on the shelves in the closet with no organization.  I was going to get back to it one of these days and never did.  So I took the opportunity and organized my large quilt book collection. Much better!  Now the design wall is hanging from a curtain rod and can be pulled back out of the way to get into the closet.  However, I just need to find a stronger curtain rod, because this one is cheap and is bowing badly. 

But in spite of the fact that I've accomplished very little this month, I do have a few finishes and other things to show you.

Back in September, I started playing around with a Halloween version of the Scrappy Trip pattern by Quiltville.  I cut my strips at 3 inches, instead of 2.5 inches, just to show off the fabrics better and have the quilt go faster.  So these blocks will finish at 15 inches. 

I was making myself a kit of something to sew for after I have surgery on my former broken arm, but that surgery hasn't happened yet.  I wanted needed something to sew one day, and finally hauled this out.  So far I have 5 blocks made (I did one after I took this picture).  It's taken me 3 weeks to get this far, as I've had so little time in the quilt studio.  I have to make 20 blocks total, so I don't know if it will be done for this year!

I finished my applique from the class with Gwen.  But then I wondered: does this need some leaves on it?  What do you think?

I finished my wool basket project.  Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do with it.  Initially I was going to frame it, but I can't find a needlework frame of the right size.  So, the way I see it, I have 2 options.  1. wrap it around a stretched canvas and staple

OR

2. make this the center of a wallhanging.

I can't decide what I want to do right now, so this will be percolating for a bit.

I finished the June Block Lotto blocks and posted them just barely in time!  Wow, the whole month has just flown by.  I'm not quite sure where it went.  But I almost missed this!  I'm hoping to do better for July.  I love the way these blocks turned out.  I love the colors, and the block is easy, fun and has some interesting possiblities for setting. 

Here are some of the potholders that I've made for my guild's quilt show this fall.  The red one in the back is my first attempt at chenille.  I think it came out pretty good.  The black and white was a practice Disappearing 4-Patch and the cow fabric is on the back of those.  And then 2 selvage potholders, with some selvages that my friend K in Calif sent me.  I think they're so cute! 

I have 2 more potholder in process, and will probably be making some more too.  The ladies in the guild had never heard of using selvages before, and I think they thought I was a little nuts.  Now they're giving me selvages!  Yay!

Last September, I started this Disappearing 9-Patch I Spy project.  It was supposed to be for a guild challenge, but I didn't get it finished in time.  Now, I've finally got all my 9-patch blocks for my GD's quilt made and sliced up.  They're ready to be trimmed to the same size and put up on the newly-functional design wall.

I'm still stalling on my guild's "Element of Nature" challenge and it's due mid-July.  I know I'm not the only one that hasn't started yet.  But I mostly know what I'm doing and am all ready to start.  I just need a few days with no other commitments.  I've had jury duty this week, so that has pretty much kept me either busy or too distracted to do anything.  I'm hopeful for next week!

This is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that DH found in the front yard on the rhododenron.  At least I think that's what it is, based on what I saw on Google images.  If you know better, please let me know.  Isn't it beautiful? 

Gettin' Wooly Around Here

Here's my first blooming Rhododendron of the season.  We've had the coldest spring on record, and things are slow to get going.  Except, of course, for the pollen, which is about to kill me.  It's pouring tonight, and still cold enough to need a sweatshirt, with the heat running.  June???  Hard to tell!  But by Saturday, we're actually supposed to be in the mid-70s for the 1st time!!  Maybe DH can get his poor tomato plant in the ground soon, instead of on top of the china cabinet!  (otherwise the cat will chew it.  Dumb cat.)  And I really don't mean to complain.  At least we're not having floods, tornados, snow or any number of ugly weather events that other places are experiencing.  Not to mention way-too-hot temps!  Guess I'd better not complain, huh?  Sorry 'bout that, chief. 

Here's where the Wooly comes in. . . .

My sister sent me this table mat - just because!  I love it!  It's perfect for the table where we eat all the time.

Look at all the fun she had!

Now I just have to keep the cats off of it.  Apparently, her cat Zoe was on it and it smells like her, which the boys find very interesting.  Lots of sniffing going on, and some sitting/laying on.  So far it's only on the coffee table.  Maybe when the good smell wears off, I can actually put it on the table.  *grin*

Here is some wool applique I've been working on.  I've really been searching for the pattern,  because I'm ready for the next step.  I just could not find it!  After searching through everything twice, I finally found it "hiding" on the cutting table.  Egads, I hate when I do that.  But now I can get this done!  The pattern is from the book "Farmhouse Quilts: Baskets & Patches" by Liberty Homestead. 

My friend K~ did the embroidery for me in exchange for some pottery.  I used some hand-dyed wool (grape!) I bought in January, and the base fabric is a light blue linen that I was originally going to make into a top.  I'd rather do quilting with it!  It's really nice to work on. . . I love the way it feels.  I can't decide if I'm going to frame this or make it into a little wallhanging.  The pattern is for a pillow, but I don't want to make it a pillow.  And it's not very big, so a pillow that small will get lost at my house.  Soon it will be . . . something!

Here is the state of my applique from my class with Gwen Marston.  I decided to go with fusible (Misty Fuse), and I'm doing a running stitch around the appliques.  Very folk art-y and fun.  I don't do much hand work, and haven't done it for quite awhile.  So, this is something different, and I'm enjoying it.

Now I'm trying to decide which stitch to use on the outside edges of the flowers.  Can you see the stitches?  I'm tired of the blanket stitch, and think I'll go with more of the running stitch.  But I think I'll increase the number of threads I'm using so the stitches will show up better.  This is getting closer to done, and I'm starting to consider border options.  I haven't quite decided what size I'm going for here.  So, I'll be thinking of all the options for my projects while I finish up all this stitching.

And really, all of this handwork is "busy" work while I avoid working on my challenge quilt.  Ahem. . . .cough, cough.  Just a little stalling, eh??

1-11-11

This last weekend we went to the Olympic National Forest with my sister and her sweetie.  We had a lot of fun together.  I'll tell more about that in my next post, along with some photos.  Anyway, I got a chance to get an updated photo of her flower stitchery that I showed in my previous post.  This photo isn't the best, because I only had one little lamp for lighting.  So, the photos were either over- or under-exposed.  But this is pretty close. 

 

Here are the  blocks I made for the Block Lotto this month.  I think these would make a great charity quilt.  The blocks use 2 1/2 inch strips.  They're fun and easy to do.  The block is called "Stacks".

I've started making a name block for my DGD#1 for her birthday this month.  I'm actually following the instructions in Tonya's book for these.  I thought I'd try them out!  hee hee!  Oh, and the order of the letters has no relation to how they are in the name, by the way.  Hmm, it looks like that Y might be a little small.  Or maybe I need to trim the other letters down some.  I started with the S because that is the one that is the hardest to make small, so all the other letters can be made to co-exist nicely with it.  I have another 4 letters to go, and I seem to be having some difficulty getting into the quilt studio lately.  Sadly, there's too many other things needing my attention.  *sigh* 

Barbara Brackman has started a new blog about Civil War quilts/blocks and history, and is having a quilt-along.  She's doing a block a week.  I'm thinking of playing along, although the last thing I need is another committment.  But I had to go out to the local quilt shop, The Wild Rose in Orting, today to pick up my Bernina from the "doctor".  And they have LOTS of reproduction fabrics.  Well, I have lots of shirtings and lots of indigos, of course, but no Prussian Blue.  So I just had to get some, didn't I??  And that little brown print called to me too.  Just in case I decide to do the quilt-along, you know?  I'm already behind, so I'd better make up my mind pretty quickly, I think.

And this is what followed me home from our stop in Port Angeles this weekend.  My sister had seen a quilt shop on their way through there to meet up with us, and wanted to go back to see it.  It worked out really well, because the shop owner had the Seahawks game on the radio, and the guys could listen to the 4th quarter while my sister and I scoped out the shop.  Over on the left of the photo there are 4 pieces of hand-dyed wool.  (Rust, purple, another purple and green, from top to bottom.)  I don't have a plan for these, exactly, but they were so yummy I couldn't resist.  Same with the other fabrics too!

Last week we had about 2 or 3 inches of snow that stuck around all week.  It was cold all week too, so the snow never melted, and the pond stayed frozen too.  Then about 2 days after the snow fell, we had some more "weather".  In the space of about half an hour, we got rain, then snow, then hail, then more snow.  And it got even colder.  A couple of days later when I went out to my car, I found this on the roof of the car.  Ice crystals!  In all my years of living in Michigan and other places that got snow, I don't think I've ever seen this before.  These crystals were about 3 or 4 inches high!  Just fascinating.  I hated to clean off my car.  LOL

Here's another shot that maybe you can see better.  At the bottom of the photo, you can see the roof of my red car. 

Tonight we're getting icy snow - it's actually hissing as it falls.  Sound like tomorrow is a perfect day to stay home and get into the quilt studio, doesn't it? 

Some Random Things

Well, Christmas is over.  The presents are all unwrapped, and now life is starting to get back to normal.  The cookies aren't all eaten, but we're working on that.  (oink!)  Our holiday was a good one, with lots of family and food, and I hope yours was good too. 

We got around 3 inches of snow the night before last.  It melted off the streets long enough for me to make a quick run to the grocery store yesterday to stock up again, then we got a little more snow last night and the temps dropped to below freezing.  The lake froze last night, and everything looks like it's pretty icy out there.  Our high temp today was 32*F.  In other words, winter is here!  Not like so many places around the country that got blasted with the Christmas storm, but still fairly unusual for this area.  So, it must be time to sew again!  Yay!  DH is back out in the pottery studio (with his space heater!), and when I'm done with this post, it's off to the quilt studio for me.

Since there has been so little sewing/quilting happening here, I thought I would share some of what my sister has been doing.  She's been working on some wool applique.  Above is her funky "Trees".  She started this a year ago, and it's been traveling with her wherever she's gone all year as she adds to them.  She told me she had a lot of fun doing these.  I think they're great fun.

Here's a wool applique bunny she did.  It will probably become a pillow at some point.  I think this one is my favorite, because I love bunnies.

This might look like floating bubbles, but they are actually flowers.  The last time I saw this, my sister was in the process of adding the stems.  She tried one thing, didn't like it and took that off and is now working on the next attempt.  I think these are fun!  I don't know what her plan is for this piece.  She doesn't use any patterns, by the way.

My multi-talented sister is also an assemblage artist.  This is what she gave me for my birthday this year.  The round disks are hand-made coasters, she thinks.  I'll probably hang this in a vertical position, not horizontal like it is in the photo.  This will look fabulous on the indigo wall in my bedroom!

If you're interested in seeing some more of her work, check out her website.

Here is the free-pieced house that is currently on it's way to Beth of Live Laugh Quilt blog.  I made this for her "Friendly Neighborhood" project.  She'll be drawing winners on the 1st of the year, and I sure hope this gets there in time!  As you can see, I made an indigo house (appropriate, eh?) and it's surrounded by fir trees, just like in Real Life.   I'm not sure you can tell I free-pieced this, as it came out pretty tame.  But it was fun to make.

And in the window you can see Dunkel and Shade.  They think they own the place, so I had to include them!  hee hee!

We finally joined the 21st century the other day.  T*rget had an LED TV on sale for a price that was crazy low.  DH had been saving his pennies for a while, and it was finally the right time.  Wow, can I just say Wow!?  This looks fantastic.  And the best part?  We can hook up the laptop to the TV and watch Netflix streaming right on the TV!  Love it!  No more huddling over the desktop up in the office.  We don't have Hi Def on Comcast yet, but it sure looks High Def compared to the old (and I do mean old) TV.  So, happy day!  We're still doing the happy dance!

We watched the movie "Julie and Julia" last night.  I loved it!  And Meryl Streep sure "was" Julia Child.  She nailed it.  I remember watching Julia when I was in high school.  I thought she was a little odd then, and now I realize how brilliant and funny she was!  And I loved the whole blog thing - wonder why??  Oh, and am I the only one that backs up the movie to see the quilts in the background?  hee hee!  During that whole hysterical scene with the lobsters, I kept trying to see that quilt in the background.  DH is a good sport about backing up to see the quilt!

Well, here we are at the end of another year.  The years seem to be zooming by so fast anymore.  But it was a good year around here.  Our blessings are many.  And I want all my readers to know that I truly appreciate you stopping by to read my poor scribblings.  I'm still amazed and grateful that you do.   I hope the new year will be kind to all who're reading this, and that there will be blessings upon you and yours. 

Happy New Year!  See you on the other side!

New Treasures

I did survive all that heat, in case you were wondering if I really had melted! Just taking a little blog break, due to being quite busy. Our normal weather has returned. . . highs in the upper 60's and overcast. We even had some rain the last couple of days! (which we really needed)

We went to an art fair 2 weekends ago, and I found this little hooked wool mat. It was only $15!! I couldn't pass it up for that price. I have no idea who the artist was, but they did a lovely job. I just love this.

Last weekend we were selling pottery at a local art festival. We were happy with how well it went. Perfect weather and the rain held off. Remember the little leaf dishes I showed you in this post? (scroll down some to see them) DH made quite a few more too. We sold out of them! They were our best-selling item.

We were sitting across from a country "stuff" store that was having a 75% off sidewalk sale. They had some good stuff. I got a couple of woven tablerunners. They had some little quilts displayed out there, and I had to go check them out. Someone had cut up an old quilt into the squares and put new binding on them. I hate that - it just steams me. But the worst part was, I wanted one too. But no price, so I left them. After a while, another one showed up that I hadn't seen before. So I ran over there to check it out.

It was this doll quilt. I think this was an old un-finished top that someone put new batting and backing on. It's not quilted or even tied. It was on sale for $5!! Needless to say, it came home with me. It was hand-pieced and I believe that these are truly old fabrics - I would guess approximately 1880 to 1910 or thereabouts.

Shade is lending his paw for scale in this photo!

It is pretty smelly and slightly stained. I'm afraid to wash it like it is. The backing and binding are a dark rust solid, and I think it will probably run. So I'm going to take it apart and re-do it with new batting and backing. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to hand-quilt it or tie it. Probably tie it, as my hands don't really like quilting much any more.

If anyone has any ideas about how old it is, I'd love to hear your opinion. I'm just guessing about the age, based on other quilts I've seen. The fabrics seem kind of "frail", if you know what I mean. I've tried to make this photos big enough that you can really see the fabrics.

I have a bunch of links to share:

First, I found a fun little thing over on Jacquie's blog Tall Grass Prairie Studio. It's called Mr. Picassohead. Check it out. A fun design game.

A book I found a few weeks ago has really intrigued me. It's by Janet Bolton, and it's called Patchwork Folk Art. She is an Englishwoman who is very "liberated" and works very freely. Most of her work is applique, but she also does some patchwork. If you're interested, you can see more of her work here and here. I'm not really into applique, but I find her work very charming and very inspiring.

I found a new (to me) blog via Barbara Brachman's Material Culture blog. It's Thrift Shop Quilts by Deb Rowden. Deb's got photos of some wonderful old quilts that are pretty "liberated" and fun to look at.

Studio Kat Designs has some free patterns available. There's tote bags and an ID tag, a cash keeper and other patterns.

Here's a closeup of the most worn patch in the doll quilt.

I got this info in an email from my sister:

LNPB National Plastic Quilt Project: Call for Artists. Calling all creative minds and environmentally conscious people! Leave No Plastic Behind (LNPB) is asking outstanding artists, community members and celebrities to participate in the National Plastic Quilt Project by designing a square to be auctioned at our fall fundraiser. For the National Plastic Quilt Project, participants design a 12” square out of plastic materials that are usually thrown away. In the past,people have chosen to give plastic bottle caps a new life, woven plastic bags, and even sewn together various collected items to create an original piece of art. Proceeds from this fundraiser will contribute to Create Plenty, the new non-profit organization formed in support of LNPB and other projects that will promote community engagement and single use plastic reduction. To design a square, simply email Cheryl at cheryl.lohrmann@gmail.com and we will send you further specifications and information. Deadline: 10/15/09.

So, if you're into art quilts, or recycled art, this could be an interesting challenge.

Last, but not least, I found this over on Be*mused Jan's blog, who found the information on Kristin LaFlamme's blog. To quote Jan: "Kristin and her husband are facilitating a project they're calling Iraqi Bundles of Love. Briefly, he is stationed in Iraq and is collecting *bundles* of sewing or knitting supplies to distribute with local women when his unit leaves Iraq this fall. This sounds like such a wonderful project and since the contributions can be sent to his U.S. (APO) address, the expense to participate would be minimal. If your stash could use some thinning or you would just consider sharing your fiber wealth, do click over and read Kristin's post."

I've signed up to contribute a box of fabric, threads and buttons. Even after at least 3 passes through my stash while moving and unpacking, there's still stuff that I'll probably never get around to using. So, if it can help someone else, that's much better than taking up space in my quilt studio. I've already started searching for stuff to send. The deadline to get the boxes to him is September 7th.

I haven't done a lot of sewing lately. I'm working on a bunch of stuff, and not much is actually getting finished yet. Maybe next time I post, I'll have some stuff to show you. Meanwhile, happy quilting to all!

One Whole Year!

Feb 5th - my one year anniversary of blogging! Wow, what a great year it's been. I've met so many nice people and learned so much! The quilt blog community is such a great group of people...so sharing, generous, kind, understanding and very, very talented! And I love reading everyone else's blogs...to the point that, I have so many I enjoy, I have trouble getting into the quilt studio! Thank you to all who read my blog and thank you for all the wonderful comments. You brighten my days.

We had a great weekend with my sister. We had a nice trip to Bellingham. I really liked it there. And we stopped in Mount Vernon to buy some wine. The Pasek Cellars winery has the best cranberry wine! I don't usually drink wine, but I really like this one. Their raspberry and blackberry wines are great too. These wines don't have any grape wine in them, just the fruit in the name. Wonderful wines! So, we bought a few bottles. We had a good time with our niece...went to lunch, did some shopping and some sightseeing. It was a good day.

The photo above is my Christmas present from my sister. We didn't get together over the holidays because she was stuck in So. California and couldn't get home due to the bad weather here. So, this was our first opportunity to do our Christmas present exchange. Anyway, when my sister was visiting in August, I shared bags and bags of wool fabric with her. I have so much wool - more than I will probably use in my lifetime. And she was using her wool...and even buying wool! So, I thought I would share with her. Well, she made me these wonderful hand-hooked wool flowers! Aren't they cute? They're each attached to a stick from her yard. Very rustic-looking. And I have the perfect hand-made pottery pitcher to display them in. I just have to get some foam or something to help them stand up. Thus, no picture of them in the pitcher yet. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but my sister has tied a strip of green plaid wool fabric around each stem for a leaf. I just love these!

Here's individual pictures of each one:

I love the hand-dyed lilac in the center of this one. And that chartreuse green is a kick with the purples.

I love the long loops on this one.

This one reminds me of a sunflower.

It's a really tough call, but I think this one is my favorite, because I love these colors. That's a dark purple in the center. Yum!

I love the outside strips on this one!

And I love that zing of hot pink on this one.

I just love wool. I guess because of growing up with it, in Michigan. We wore lots of wool. I love the smell of it.

Here is the latest Color Book page. That square in the upper right is a funny grayed-brown. It didn't photograph well. It looks better in person, so to speak. The button reminds me of wood-burning and was the first element I picked for this page. I'm kind of stalled on the other pages right now. I have 4 more pages to do. And I'm still working on my Witch's Pantry project. I haven't touched it since last Saturday and need to get back to it.

Here is Shade and Dunkel on Wed. It was almost 60* and I opened all the windows for some fresh air. The cats were watching another cat go across our yard, and they were kind of worked up about it. I think they were enjoying the fresh air too! It was a beautiful day.

We've been seeing on TV and hearing on the radio the most hysterical commercials. Pemco Insurance Co. has a great ad campaign about the people of the Northwest. You can go here to see their Helpful Guide to the People of the Northwest. My favorites are "Goat Renter Guy", "Sandals and Socks Guy", and I think the best one is "Blue Tarp Camper". Take a look and get your laugh for the day!