Spring Break Outing

The kids and I had an excellent outing to Arbor Hills Nature preserve in Plano last week. It was the first day of Spring Break and I really wanted to make the most of it. Rain was predicted for later in the day which motivated us to get going early. I often need a bit of extra motivation.


Over hill and dale.It is so nice that they are big enough to go at their own pace, but mostly keep up. And I don't have to have them in my direct sight every single moment.But then Benjamin got a scratch and threw a fit. He is in a "glass half empty" stage. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
Eventually he got past it.

We even discovered a pond that I have never seen before even though we have hiked here several times.I was hoping we might see some wildflowers and I brought my Texas Wildflowers Guide, but I think we were a week or two too early.

We did find FOUR letterboxes! We haven't been letterboxing in a long long time. (For information about Letterboxing see here or here, or enter "letterbox" in the search window at the top of my blog and read about our various adventures.)

Benjamin caught me and Claire in a candid photo while we were entering our personal stamps into one of the logbooks. We were especially thrilled to find a St. Patrick's Day themed letterbox since it was actually St. Patrick's Day. (You can see we forgot to wear green.) We also found an Easter themed letterbox... perfect timing. It was entirely coincidental. These just happened to be newish boxes at this particular location.

We saw some very weird blobs of stuff made by some kind of flying bug. Interesting.
We also found the remains of some kind of bees' nest.On the way home, we picked up sushi and raspberries for lunch. Yum.
We spent the rest of spring break playing games, cleaning our rooms and taking a short trip to San Antonio. Back to "normal" tomorrow.

More Dallas Quilt Show

Hey... more quilts!

Here is my quilt, Home Grown. I really like this quilt. It was a wonderful exploration of a variety of techniques.I'm not sure I love the fact that the sheet with all the info about me and the quilt covers so much of the quilt. But, it's ok. Really, the Dallas Quilt Show is quite an impressive event. It's all run by volunteers and it seems to be the cliched "well-oiled machine."

This quilt by Liz Joe was just fascinating.

Can you even believe all those circles? How did she cut them all? How did she plan the layout? How did she keep track of all the circles as it was being sewn?This is Lu's lovely ensemble. I should have taken a close-up of the lovely three dimensional embellishments. It's got so much character.

And here is Sara's award winning dynamic quilt!

I just love this bird quilt by Dana Bracken. Such simple construction with such a great impact.

These two quilt are by Ginny Eckley.

They are very similar in color and theme. I think I prefer the close-up version.

And here is my Encrusted Cobblestones II sandwiched between Carol Morrissey's lily and Barbara Hartman's beautiful cellular work. It's an honor to be in the company of their quilts...

and I'm lucky to enjoy their personal company also!

This is an amazing self-portrait by Mona Lagan. It is a really effective combination of a variety of techniques and textures.

My friend Beth made this quilt. I just love the framed house on the bottom. Perfectly clever for a construction quilt.

Another amazing piece by Barbara Hartman.

Oh, I love a feathered star. Pat McCarroll made this one.Barbara Hartman strikes again! This is her version of a Dresden Plate.

I've been to several quilt shows in which Nancy Prince has shown her work. It's always very popular.

This is the raffle quilt made by the Austin Area Quilt guild. It's fantastic!

I just discovered that the Austin Area Quilt Guild is having Pamela Allen for a workshop at the end of May.

And here is the best of show. It's called Nebraska's Rising Sun by Sandi McMillian and Laura Franchin .

It's beautiful. I think lots of people were thrilled to see a very traditional quilt win the big prize.

Still more quilts. The show chair picks a special category every year. This year, the chair chose "two color quilts." He was very strict about two-colors... only two, no tints or shades. I think it's a really interesting challenge. Here are three.

The grapes are by Ginger Georgius. Tonya Littman's quilt is called Attach of the Ragweed. Judy Kriehn's quilt is called "Living Velveeta Loca." Get it?! Velveeta, the cheese, that super yellowy-orangey color. Great quilts.

Here is Richard Larson's two color quilt. Even though I am firmly rooted in the art quilt world, I do love the Baltimore Album style.

It was a great show. This is the third year I've attended. In 2006, the show was just a couple of weeks after we arrived in TX. We were living in an apartment while our house was being built. That was also the year of the big quilt show flood. Last year, the long skinny quilts were a big success. I think I can say that I am most pleased with the quilts I had in the show this year. I feel like I'm continuing to develop my own personal style, and even more importantly, just continuing to make stuff. Going from start to finish on any piece of art is not easy. There are so many places to get stuck. I'm also thrilled to feel like I know lots of people and enjoy seeing smiling familiar faces at the show. I'm grateful. That's good stuff to have occurred in the past two years.

Dallas Quilt Show

I had an excellent time at the Dallas Quilt Show on Friday. There were lots of Texas-themed quilts (not a surprise).

Here is my very favorite. It's called "Baskets Full of Texas" by Ann Cardon. I believe she designed it herself.
Each basket has a different Texas wildflower. Several of them have button embellishments and other three dimensional elements like this Bluebonnet.

A big Texas flag...

by Judy VanWinkle.

This is not necessarily a Texas quilt, but it compliments these other selections. The faint flag in the sky is very patriotic.

This quilt is by Sharon Schlotzhauer.


A quilt full of Texas stuff.

This one is by Margaret Reed. I really must buy some cowboy boots.

Alexandra Henry designed this quilt of various state birds and our national bird in the center.

The Texas state bird is the mockingbird. I don't know much about birds, but if I did, I would point it out to you.

Another big Texas flag. This one is by Jan Morrison.

Would you be surprised if I told you that my kids say a pledge to the Texas flag at school every morning? Right after the pledge of allegiance? They do.

More pictures tomorrow -- art quilts, quilts by my friends and smiling faces!

Bits and Pieces

The studio was a big mess last week. Arg. It makes me tense just to see a picture of it.
I can't even really tell you how many "projects" are scattered about here. Stuffed animals who need stitches make their way to the studio quite regularly. Sometimes they get stuck here for a long time.

I cleaned off the table last week, but before I put away all the pre-fused fabrics that I used for Construction: Concrete and Stone, I thought I'd make some small pieces inspired by the same designs, shapes and colors.

I made four pieces that are 4x6" and two small ACTS. I found it difficult to incorporate the straight lines and window-like shapes and the stones all in one piece in such a small format. Some are more successful than others. It was a relaxed, productive, creative exercise. Sometimes it is so nice to just do the work for the sake of doing it, rather than to complete something of significance. Of course, ideally, these two processes are not mutually excusive. Joanne wrote about this concept yesterday. When she goes out for a walk, she expects nothing more than just the experience. Can creating be the same? Sometimes, I think.

Benjamin's Birthday

Benjamin's sixth birthday was last Sunday. We had a delightful day beginning with donuts.At one point, Benjamin decided he needed a knife to cut his donut in half. We sent him up to ask for one. He was patient and had very nice manners.Ah, so much easier to eat just half at a time. Goodness, a whole donut is almost as big as his face.He chose chocolate frosted with sprinkles. But I also gave him a bit of my jelly-filled.After church, we were off to a spectacular party at the infamous Chuck E. Cheese.Benjamin requested a Power Rangers cake. I had a fun time finding the right toys to put on top of the cake. The decorating isn't too fancy... but it's home made!Games games games!Posing with Chuck E!Before cake, pizza! And a very fancy cup for the birthday boy.I wonder what he wished for.I used the Betty Crocker Bake n Fill pan set again. (See Claire's cake here.) This time I filled the inner section with a different flavor of cake rather than ice cream like Benjamin's cake last year.It was pretty yummy. And the kids (and some of the moms) seemed to enjoy it. Benjamin definitely enjoyed it. In fact, I'd say he had a pretty great day. He's such a fun kid! We all enjoyed the celebration.

We opened presents at home. The marshmallow shooter from Grma and Grpa was a big hit.

Can you see the tiny white dot right above Lincoln's nose? That's a mini marshmallow that you insert in the shooter and then blow. It comes zooming out and then everyone giggles. Lots of giggles (and marshmallow eating.)

Yes, I wrapped gifts in Christmas paper. Benjamin didn't seem to care or even notice. I guess that's what being six is all about.