Not Afraid of Color

 Happy Easter... I wonder if people will be hiding eggs under the current snow we woke to?
Life is sideways right now, and people seem to be waiting to breathe.

Wait a few weeks, it will go back to normal!

Only that's not how it works... facts are facts...life matters...

for instance on a trivial note, this is not what I think of as Spring-like Easter weather

snow? How will the Easter bunny bring me a basket of squeaky balls?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmrOB_q3tjo

Linking to

https://comedy-plus.com/ Awe Mondays


and since it's Sunday, it's Sunday right? a Sunday Story

a germaphobe and covid 19 meet in a bar.

"Hey, good looking!" said covid

the germaphobe looked away, trying to slow her heartbeat. He was slick and she knew slick guys were not to be trusted.

"Hey, baby, come closer and sit a while... "

sliding her chair further away, thinking 6 feet would be a good distance, the germaphobe slyly put her hand over her face and said, "not interested"

covid  came closer knowing all he needed was an entrance to make her his...

"hey, I am no threat, I just got some bad press but I'm no worse than any other"

the germaphobe stood quickly and left the bar... who cares what anyone thinks she said!

Happy Memorial day!
It's a day to remember all the people who protect us. These people stand up for us in the military but also in negotiation talks, in the discussion of trade, in acceptance of others who are different, in human rights, even down to you and I who know that there is more than one way to live in peace and harmony.
As an artist, I enjoyed seeing the visual way this person represented our flag, which is a visual way to represent American ideals.
To those who fought against Hitler's world domination, and to those who fight today to uphold freedom, the poppies serve as our tokens. To those who daily fight to uphold human rights and dignity in the world, we thank you.
to those who do small works daily to bring us into a greater awareness and acceptance of each other, we appreciate you.
a banner seen outside a church that says on the left:
"If fear is the great enemy of intimacy then love is it's true friend" 
and on the right
" The F-word is Forgiveness" 

yesterday we stopped along the way to Vail to stretch my legs and the poodle's long legs and decided to have lunch at a little mountain cafe:
 I remembered road trips as a child, traveling through tiny towns in America, stopping to eat at "mom and pop" cafe's like this. I thank everyone who makes this possible. I am safe to go from place to place, and see our natural beauty while farmers and ranchers have provided food for me.

America the beautiful.
Little flags, and great big flags, our symbols but not all we are. We are a group of people who believe in freedom to speak, to peacefully disagree, to self govern, to worship (or not) God in the way that is most comfortable to us. There is room here for people.
Imagine being peaceful enough to allow others to grow and learn, to discover new medical treatments and stars, to do our best in life, to love our mates, to contribute to society in some way.

To those who work toward this for me, I thank you. I am aware that any act of kindness and generosity contributes to the earth and to life.


linking to
all seasons

My son, my boy Cole, loves his mom.

He brought me a card with a 3-D flower and sparkly sequins, some flowers, and took me for a walk around Annapolis.

To remind me that four legged sons are just as devoted as the two legged variety.

Cheers! To us! A wee family of three!



My husband-- my mate and my family-- saw me looking at this notebook and bought it to remind me...

We are a family, small but mighty.
We belong together.
We share love.
Family units are made. We build ours every day.

The two of us...

(I'm looking for something made in the fifties as I was made in the fifties)

with Cole, who is part of us.

(Cole chooses just the right plants for our porch.

Beauty is important he knows. We are a family who likes beautiful things found in nature.

So I have decided to stop calling it mothers day and call it Nurturing Day.



I also received two surprise gifts in the mail for my birthday....

See the lovely necklace Drew already gave me??

the most fabulous hat made by my friend Maggie  (see what she makes here)
How special, a total surprise! It has cows! A gorgeous flower pin, and can be worn so many ways.


My friend Maartje (her blog) sent this... perfect for a birthday.


flamingo fat quarters, a hand made quilt reminding me not to lose the child in me, and a ribbon reminding me I am loved.

What is a family? What does it mean to "mother"?
My entire family consists of the three of us.
My birthday gift to myself will be to sign up for Ancestry and try again to find  family connections.




I am forming an extended family of friends around the world. You make me laugh, make me think, inspire me daily, and help me to feel connected.

Love is all around us and I am building a family day by day.

linking to some parties including
http://www.mkclinton.com/
Thankful Thursdays pet parade

 We had no place to go on Thanksgiving and since I made the bulk of our special dishes the day before, we put the turkey (potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and celery) in the oven and left for a walk.
 I have been very sick with a bad cough so I wanted to avoid our neighborhood with all the wood smoke so we decided to go to the shopping center to walk.

This is what we saw at 5:30!

A long line-up of people waiting.
Cole could hardly wait to get started since all these people came to see him!    Obviously!



As we walked by we heard a chorus of "Oh LOOK a poodle!"  and "oooooh he's so cute"  and "come here buddy!"
You know I love to talk to people, and as chatty as I am my husband is quiet. I stopped to ask some people why they were waiting in the cold for Kohl's to open on Thanksgiving night. One word.
Electronics
The employees were inside lined up facing the crowd, the crowd was plotting their plan and it was kind of like a football game scrimmage.
We walked up and down the shopping center, which was about all I could do with my bad cough. As we walked we encountered a couple outside Office Depot. I nodded, coughed and heard my husband ask them what they wanted at the depot. The man said computers for his business. They had been there since 4:30. Standing alone. Waiting. Another man showed up at ten til 6 while we were chatting and he was there for his daughter... computer... again, electronics.
We began to wonder if we should be shopping. Bwaaa haa haa! How ridiculous! Then... suddenly... Khols was open, we were still there, and we do need a vacuum.... dh asked if we should just go in since the turkey was still cooking and we were right there...

We did look at vacuums but the shark has such a little head and there were so many styles to choose from. There were some good deals of course, and the new Christmas towels for the kitchen would look so festive, and those soft lounge pants were so soft...
linking to snoopysdogblog monday mischief

The day was mild and sunny, so we took our morning walk in Annapolis. Cole contemplates the Capitol.
Here is some of the loot we bought (instead of fabric).
This, along with a bottle of pre-made mimosas and some greek feta with red pepper dip.
The pink poodle in a french maid's costume, and the lovely cream pitcher were half off, the doggie treats were full price and more! We all enjoyed shopping while people watching, on a crowded morning in the old town.
I didn't buy this card... yet. I figure I need the reminder that I'm not too old to do something stupid.
The other cards fit me too, click on the picture to enlarge and read them.


We saw a lot of flowers emerging in the Spring sunshine.




Aren't these tiny grape hyacinths cute?? One might step on them they are so tiny but so rich in purple color with each petal forming a little balloon.

We spent about 2 hours strolling around with periodic breaks for people to admire and pet Cole.
I swear we'd be ignored if it weren't for that poodle!
 He is having joint issues and not doing well on regular walks, so we like to visit other places on the weekends to jazz him. 

Our neighbor puts out this plastic bunny every year, so I thought I would leave you with this image. Imagine biting the chocolate ear off this guy!
I miss getting an Easter basket of treats, don't you??

Come on in and sit awhile... I have a few pictures to show you of our travels the last couple of days. DH is required to take the week off between Christmas and New Years, so we catch up on museums, shopping, and movies during this week. On this Dark and Stormy night, we visited the National Gallery of Art in DC.

The lights shining against the cloudy sky made for a spectacular "movie set" kind of feel to the place.

I took many pictures to play with later in composition as one of my goals this year artistically is to learn more about manipulating the digital image, printing and making altered art. I'm interested  in developing a personal use of the technique so it's going to be a learning curve. I've got ideas....



 Again, the lights bouncing off the clouds made for dramatic lighting. This is the view outside between the two Gallery buildings. If you peer down into the glass structures you'll see inside one of their gift shops.

DH dropped me off to shop and parked the car.
Of course the first thing I did, after going through security digging through my bag, was check out exhibits of interest that were closing soon. Then I might as well shop while waiting for Drew, and since I was given a 20% off coupon, the game was afoot.

isn't this a wonderful pattern?? paving stones outside the building

I found some treasures for the studio, including a dry erase board, and a magnetic figure of an artist to move around it for fun, a necklace of glowing colored crystals and Drew found an artistic bow tie for our NYE dance. Another learning curve, how-to-tie-a-bow-tie.
On our long walk to the first exhibit, of Charles Marville, click here photographs of Paris in 1850's before the ancient buildings were demolished to make the large streets of today, we walked through the antique furniture exhibit where I took the photo of the yellow divan. Oh, to have the space to live with this furniture!
The photography exhibit was fabulous, and we met interesting people looking at the photos. One couple had been to Paris, and told us all about their trip. Another woman just had to correct my pronunciation of the name Eugenie, as apparently it MUST be spoken only in French, ooh lala. She then told us more about the history of the period than we thought we needed to know. The Nat. Gallery of A is the only place I've been corrected numerous times, unasked, on name pronunciation. Thanks, y'all.
We then visited the exhibit of Yes,No, Maybe where a group of print artists discover what quilters know, that you can add elements til it's too much, then take some away, and decide if it's enough, needs more or is too too much already!
 The next day we went to Alexandria VA to walk-with-poodle and enjoy the decorations. We visited the dog treat store, and along the way saw
This wonderful place!

 I coveted nearly all I saw in this shop, Decorium.
These feather duster pink trees were awesome!
Not exactly panetone's color of the year, but a cousin.

Then there was this enormous round shelf. If it hadn't cost so much cost more than we have to spend right now, I'd still be downtown Alexandria wrestling it into the car!!
I saw many large banquets, and even more really large hanging light fixtures and chandeliers that I could imagine glowing in our little cluttered house-that-needs-too-much. I HAVE good taste people, just not the wherewithall to use it. 
And then there was this chair with a wee little drawer  apparently just right for a remote control, heehee.
Or a pin cushion...

When you are already this close, and you have a 25% off coupon good for one more day, one absolutely must go visit Jenny Beyer's studio to seek some more fabric. She has moved from mainly traditional patterns to the most yummy modern blenders and I covet all of them. Yep, I'd make room in the stash for lots more.

After a lot of deliberation I decided the three shades of concrete on the left here, would be perfect to build a border on my tumbling blocks hand piecing project that is almost done. There has been some movie watching time, and some car riding time to sew, and although I haven't shared this quilt with you yet, it's soooooo cool to me, and about ready for borders of "concrete"
The other fabrics are for the petting stash, oh go ahead click on the image and see them close up, so nice... And I got a sale pattern, bwaahaahaa, LeeAnna following a pattern! I think I can do it, and it's got paper piecing as well as circles... whee!
Tomorrow I plan to share my New Year's quilt and a few goals with you all. Hope you had fun with us this season. There's a contra dance tonight so we can start the new year doing what started our marriage, dancing. Want to see more about contra?? check out this post
LeeAnna

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD

We visited the Walters Museum in Baltimore to see a special exhibit Egypt's mysterious Book of the Faiyum, an ancient scroll done in hieroglyphics. The artifacts surrounding this work of art were so very interesting. (pics prohibited) I not only saw drawings/manuscripts and art but jewels and mummies of crocs. Don't miss this one.
While here we looked around at the book binding exhibit and although I can't quote names of the makers, they were awesome little gems. Lookie...
Here are two shots of the beautiful books. The one above would make a glorious quilt, no??
The one at the right is bound on six sides! and opens in a zig-zag method, each section a different book!

I love a book, don't love the kindle as much as I do a book, although it has it's good points. I like to hold a book and not scroll from page to page if I missed something. Funny how we have to scroll from page to page now, like the old scribes who wrote in hieroglyphics on papyrus.

The museum provided us with a small piece of papyrus to write our story, but I took mine home instead, to write a story and put it in my journal.
While here we also visited the medieval floor, holding a lot of paintings as well as furniture, dishes, jewelry, suits of armor and swords. I was taken with this particular piece. Now, we all know there are a lot of Mary and Jesus interpretations. This one caught my eye because there is intricate delicate subtle design in the halos and it looks so like quilting pattern. The gold leaf isn't etched, but there is texture, and the design within the halo is so faint but so detailed. Always thinking of quilting, aren't you?
 No visit to a museum is complete without shopping in the giftshop. There are treasures and trinkets specific to each museum. I had been coveting jewelry that looked ancient and some modern, sketchbooks, purses, then This little fellow sang out to me!!  I chortled along with him! He looked like joy to me. This picture just doesn't do him justice but Drew picked him up, and like a puppy, once you pick 'em up it's alllllll over.
He obviously came home with us and lives in our cheerful clutter reminding us to find enjoyment in the mundane and oh so daily life we live. He might have led me to a word to explore for the new year.
Enjoy.     We'll see....
Hope you enjoyed our trip to the gallery, and are doing something different over the holidays. Tell me about your adventures...
(scroll down for studio pictures)
LeeAnna
linked to sew-darn-crafty-

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas, my friends!
This is our fall-open-pre-lit-skinny-tree with a few decorations on it.

Poodles, cows and betty boop. I collect ornaments from everywhere we go, and love little ornaments most of all. I have a few friends who keep a tree up all year long with seasonal ornaments on it, and I think that is genius. What a way to display whimsical collections. I have two trees worth of ornaments in the basement with the big tree but our house is so small...

Cole's perch is right next to the tree and I often wonder what he thinks about the whole decoration-concept.
"if you put this here for me, it doesn't smell remotely like venison and none of those toys even squeak"
"if you think I'm dyeing my hair pink and jumping voluntarily into a bubble bath, you're crazier than I thought"
"I can hardly SEE the TV now"

I grew up with a real tree, big lights and tinsel shimmering all over it. Then in the late 60's we went to a silver foil fake tree with a tri-color wheel light that turned the living room into a disco. When I struck out on my own I had a real tree with tiny twinkling white lights and crafted ornaments. We realized a few years ago we all had an allergy to fresh cut trees, so have tried several faux ones.
Life moves along doesn't it?? What kind of tree do you have??
LeeAnna

I like to make tote bags out of scraps. Something from nothing. Since I am not the Ugly Christmas sweater kind of gal, not since I stopped teaching middle school at least (smirk),  I wanted to wear something festive for the holiday.

The way I approached it, was to pull out the Christmas scrap bag. Take strips that were any width, but at least 30  inches long, and piece them lengthwise next to each other in a pleasing combination. Once I had a piece of pieced fabric about 17" by 30" I layered it with lining fabric, peltex stabilizer, and the top, like a quilt. I did simple quilting of straight stitch, first in the ditch with cotton, then metallic sliver down the middle of the strips for sparkle.
You might be able to see the quilting line if you click on the picture at right.
I made straps, which I'll save that tutorial another day. They were positioned with 11 inches of space left at the top to sit on a shoulder. Topstitched down.
I made the "ribbon" the width of my strip, crossed it over the strips,  and topstitched with a buttonhole stitch and hologram sliver thread in copper. The pin is a gift from a friend and since it puts holes in clothes, it now has a home!

Then I proceeded with making this quilt into a bag. RST, stitch sides with 3/8" seam. Cover with double fold bias tape and topstitch that down. (I''ll show you that later if there is interest) This finishes off the raw seam. Box the bottom, bind the top with my fast machine binding and same copper thread. Add a bow, and you're done! Could be done with any holiday fabric.

After things slow down a bit, I might make a video of some of the techniques, just to make it easier yet.
LeeAnna

 The pink tree went up yesterday in the entry.

Er, doesn't everyone do pink? It's just so, colorful.
I have to admit, I didn't even consult the men in my life about this, but I figure Drew can pile the mail up next to whatever color tree I choose.
Note the flamingo wire sculpture holding the poinsettia. I am watering the flowers, but they are dropping leaves like crazy already. It'll be a Charlie Brown Poinsettia.
The flamingo came from a home show one year. Imagine, DH toting it around the whole convention center while we looked at a thousand roofing or siding displays. Actually people stopped us and asked which booth it came from.


 I think the red and pink look smashing together, so I hung up the chandelier crystal hearts on the tree this year.

Hey,  Sherri D, look where the flamingo tin showed up! This was a gift from my friend Sherri blog is here
You've seen the pink poodle, but the squirrel is Cole's and I'm not sure how he feels about my use of it. The squeaker still works after all.
The tree needs a cute little quilted skirt.
Do you know any quilters?
 I usually put an elaborate garland on the banisters, but haven't felt like dragging them out this year. You know how some years you go all out, and some years get a bit less?? Anyone out there like me, that way?

The hearts came from IKEA one year by the way. You just never know where you'll find a treasure. We also found the hanging light display, you can just see it hanging on the wall next to the stairs, at IKEA one year. We leave it's cheerful self up all year, and it makes the best ever night light. I dread the passing of these bulbs as like so many things, it is no longer available.

Last but certainly not least was this Christmas display seen in the 'hood last weekend. I am a nut for flamingos so this caught my eye.
LeeAnna
linked to I have to say...
and sewmuchado