Small accomplishments

Have I ever mentioned how MUCH I hate August?  It's always been my least favorite month....when I was kid, it was because school was still forever away...August now represents the absolute inability to exist outdoors (for me, anyway)...I go from my air-conditioned house, to my air-conditioned car, to my air-conditioned work.  I just don't like supreme heat.  And it's really hard to work in the studio; since it is the reclaimed attic, it is also the hottest space in the house.  To even stay in the room, my poor little window unit has to be on for at least an hour and it has to be blowing directly on me - mostly because it's a small unit and it doesn't cool the entire space.

But I did managed to finish my one-color 1 foot x 1 foot challenge (you saw a small part earlier) - I can't quite decide about the binding, but that can wait....I went for all blues; and since the weather is affecting me so much, I call it Blue Seasons...

I also tried a new technique for a quilt:  a quilt-as-you-go technique as described in "Crazy Shortcut Quilts" by Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse.  These blocks are already quilted, so all that's left is adding the sashing and the binding - it should end up about 36" square; a nice size for a baby blanket.  This photo is the one I took while auditioning the blue fabric for the sashing.

It's a cool technique - I'm pretty sure I'll try it again.  In the meantime, I'm going to go downstairs and cool off....

Catching Up

I don't know where time goes...our latest trip, to Chicago, was fabulous, thanks in great part to our hosts (Bess and John) and the Scottish Heritage Group!  Dave's lecture went well and John (bless his heart...) drove us, literally, all over the Chicago area...necessitated by the rains which closed roads and highways down.  We even had to switch hotels because on the second day we were there, the power went out and just never came back on!

Chicago is one of my personal favorites because it is such a graphic city and I get such great shots - of buildings, art, architecture - it always provides something of interest!

and I suspect these shots of reflections will be very inspiring once I need something to boost a design next time I get up into my studio...

Even the bricks on the buildings are wonderful!

I particularly loved some of the signs I found this trip...can you only buy normal food at this shop? can you take your unhappy teeth to Happy Tooth Land?  And why didn't they just call it the Fifth Bank or the Fifteenth Bank?

Our hosts took us to a fabulous place - Kampai - a Japanese steakhouse that we can whole-heartedly recommend - entertaining and delicious!

We were also able to go by the cemetary and check out the headstones the family purchased for the Lischetts...

and, of course, John was gracious enough to take me to my favorite Chicago quilt store (quiltfabric.com) so I could increase my stash! - You can never have too much!
Thank you, John, for the ride!

One of my favorite photo-opportunities was the aviary at the Scottish Home...

and the weird weather gave us a fascinating red sky on the last evening
(so I'm sure sailors all over the area were thrilled...)

I was also able to get some Men-at-Work pictures for Margaret - the fireman had to come rescue someone out of the hotel elevator when the power went out

and, one of, face it, a job waaayyy worse than ours:

and on an art note - before and after the trip I was able to get a little art done:

This weekend I hope to get at least one project finished!

The workshop crew...

thanks, Deborah for posting the group photo!

Trust your friends....

I got a message from Connie to send someone a check to take a workshop on Sunday, July 11 because my friends were taking the workshop, so I did.  But I never got a chance to go out and check out the teacher, so I had no clue what kind of workshop it was to be! It turned out to be fun, and I got a few pieces of cool painted paper out of it and learned a couple of new techniques...and I got to hang out all afternoon with my friends....

Happy 4th!

Over the years we have been very lucky - we've been where it all began and we've been where it ended. And, I don't know about Dave, but the national anthem always makes me cry and when we travel, I love nothing better than seeing that flag on the tail of a plane when we head home.