Community Photo Challenge - Tulips

Hey!!  Yes, it's been almost a year since I last joined in to the Community Photo Challenge... and, I had a bunch of pics I could have shared.  This time I've got my act together and here are my tulips!

This is my entry for the photo challenge... I call it "A Sign of Hope for Spring"

These are pics of my little garden;  fenced away from the guinea fowl and the goats that are just itching to bite the heads off the tulips.

And, here is Sofie out enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful blooms... 

Community Photo Challenge - Macro

Wow, it has been a long time since I participated... but I'm back! I hope you enjoy these. I came across this strange maze-like structure on the beach here in Northern California, but then I noticed the even stranger "offerings" in the middle. I did add to the coinage with a coin I had found in the parking lot... hey, it might be a shrine or an alien portal and I did not want to upset the juju...

Moving Day...

...has finally arrived. Thank you to all of you who continue to visit my blog despite the fact I've been posting about once a month. I promise as soon as I get settle in my new home I will start blogging again about the sewing in my life.

It's amazing how much fabric I have accumulated in just a few short months.  I came across several patterns and kits I picked up that I had forgotten about.  I found bags of fat quarters I had bought on visits to local and distant quilt shops that I had forgotten about.  And don't even get me started on the BOM packets that I found scattered around....

I ended up filling a HUGE container (the big plastic ones with the wheels on one end) and another Tuff Stuff container with fabrics.  And, that's not including the sewing machine, sewing notions, rulers, organizers, books, etc.  Wow.  It will be fun finally having a room where I can spread out and get my sewing area properly set up.  But, still, wow.

Thanks for following me on the journey.  In same ways, I feel as though I am just beginning.  So tell me, what's your secret to organizing your sewing room?

Let's Go to Tape Shall We?

As most of you know, I love taking photos.  I have since I got my first 326 camera when I was about 5.  Recently I made the change to Mac and got a MacBook Pro which came with iMovie.  So, funny story, we were waiting for wind on my weekly summer sailboat racing gig, and one of the larger boats was cruising around playing a song that had something to do with "being on a boat."  

It was a rap song, and I'd never heard it before, but it became a bit of an obsession to find the music.  When I did, I was inspired to play with my iMovie program and see what I could come up with... here's the result, but be forewarned, strong language is implied.... 

Community Photo Challenge - Windows

Here are my entries for the Community Photo Challenge... 
This month's photo challenge is "WINDOWS"....or "Window". The main focus is "window". You can use your imagination & be creative. You can use the window as a framing tool, but it must have a window in it. You can have one window, or many windows, but remember the focus is on windows.
Starts today & ends April 15th.
Follow the link and check out everyone else's images!

  

Community Photo Challenge - Tree

Yeah!  I am back... and I have some photos to share... Here's the link to the challenge and everyone else's pics... Community Photo Challenge

Here's my main tree pic.  I love sunsets.  I captured this image of windswept cypress trees on the Monterey Peninsula earlier this month.  We made the 17 Mile Drive just in time for sunset, and I captured some awesome images.

I have a thing for fallen trees.  Probably because I can finally see the whole tree since I am height-challenged.  This is in the Mt. Rainier National Forest Grove of the Patriarchs.

I love the roots.  I love the texture.  This tree washed up on the shores near Hamburg Beach, just south of Buffalo, NY.




















So, go out and hug a tree!  This is a redwood along Highway 101 somewhere north of Trinidad, CA.

Super-size Me

I love the macro feature on my camera.  

There's something about getting up close and right into my subject.  

I also love how the background blurs into a wonderful palette of color.

I got a chance to play with my macro feature this weekend, getting the last vestiges of autumn color before the snow comes.  

Of course, then I'll have a whole new subject to photograph.

Community Photo Challenge - The Colors of Autumn

 Community Photo Challenge 

I recently took a trip to the Pacific Northwest and wanted to share some of the Colors of Autumn I encountered:

Thank you!

Breaking Trails

I've lived in Buffalo for almost 3 years now, and I just found a new bike path that I never knew existed. It runs along Ellicott Creek east from the "Boulevard" to the UB campus. We went for a bike ride today and came across it by happenstance. Glad I brought my camera. You never know what you're going to come across...

I AM MOVING.....

I am moving my quilting blog to a new site:

This Squirrel's a Quiltin'

Come join me as I continue this strange new journey through fabric and thread......

In the Good Ol' Summertime Mini Quilt Swap, Part III

I just wanted to post some pics...



Nice bright strips of fabric, the camera doesn't do them justice.









Now, what are we going to do with these squares, I wonder?












Is that a rose I see, or something entirely different?






Keep watching this space! More to come...

In the Good Ol' Summertime Mini Quilt Swap, Part II

I have finally gotten around to thinking about my Mini-quilt for the swap. Part of my problem was that I had bought the perfect fabrics without knowing what my partner would want... and they are the type of fabrics they asked for. Then I just needed the pattern. After my magazine run on Sunday, I found the perfect pattern. Now I just need to get to cutting... more sneak peaks to follow....

Brown Bear Elmer

I love teddy bears; always have. I found "The Teddy Bear Making Book" by Brian and Donna Gibbs several years ago in a discount book store for $5, and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew that I liked teddy bears, and one day I might like to sew one.

Fast forward to this spring when I bought my sewing machine, and I decided to try my hand at making my first bear. I later made a second one for my husband's birthday to go along with the quilt I made him.

This weekend I finished my third. I will call him, "Elmer." Don't know why. Just looks like an Elmer to me. Elmer will be gracing my shelf and watching over me as I sew. I had planned him as a gift, but he's just so masculine looking. Look at those shoulders. Not at all cute enough for a 3 year old.

I guess I will just have to start looking at fabric for bear #4.

A New Find, A Great Giveaway

I was reading my list of favorite quilter blog sites (posted on the right side of my blog here) and started following some links within their blogs. I came across this great site Dye Candy by a woman named Chris, and she's having a Giveaway to boot!


This is from her collection... isn't it yummy? Almost too pretty to cut... almost.
Here are the links to her sites, enjoy!

Dye Candy Giveaway Link
Shady Grove Studios on Etsy - quilt block jewelry
Dye Candy on Etsy - her gorgeous fabrics

Good luck!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Not Really

As I sit here in 80 degree weather with high humidity, it's hard to think about the cool snowy days of December. That is, until I received a package in the mail the other day... It's the Crazy Eight fabric by Sandy Gervais for Moda.

I had found a pattern in the book "Scrap Basket Surprises" by Kim Brackett called "Christmas Ribbons" that I really liked and began to think about the fabrics I would use.

I love reindeer (all my Christmas decorations have a reindeer theme including the whole "Reindeer" dinnerware collection from Pottery Barn) and had been fabric "window browsing" online when I saw this fabric.

Voila! Pattern and fabric... what a perfect blend.

I am busy trying to finish several other projects, but as soon as I start laying out fabric and cutting I will add this to the project list.... till then, I'll just stare at it on the shelf... daydreaming... thinking of colder weather....

In the Good Ol' Summertime Mini Quilt

I am participating in the Mini Quilt Swap being put on by the Quilting Gallery Website. I just got my Swap partner name today... so exciting! They put that they wanted something with bright colors, and I think I can mention that my mini quilt will be sent overseas... that's not giving too much away. I had found this really fun fabric that I think really reflects summer, so I am thrilled this person wants bright colors!

I will post little clues as to what I am creating. Can't wait to see everyone elses!

Project #2 - Block of the Month - Hopscotch, Part 2

I finished another 4 blocks on my Buggy Barn Hopscotch BOM quilt. I even did my first applique. Yes, I know from following some other people's work, like Karen's Baltimore Quilt, that my excitement over placing a simple five-pointed star in the middle of my block really doesn't compare, but as a seriously beginning quilter I was excited.

So, I thought I was almost done and just needed to work on some fillers. Then I read the directions for Block #10 - Goose Tracks... make 36! Uhh.. guess I better start cutting as I will be working on this for a while yet.