This and That

Just a few snapshots...

Our neighborhood backs up to a ranch that has cows, horses, llamas and lots of geese. I was driving past one day and spotted one of the llamas in the pond! Can you see him? It's hot in Texas! I don't blame him.

Another interesting animal spotted right in our back yard!

And this precious little creature. We had our annual art swap at Dallas Area Fiber Artists last month and I received this beautiful needle felted teddy bear!

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that Claire and Benjamin recently earned their black belts in taekwondo. One of the things they regularly work on is breaking boards. We went to Home Depot recently to restock their supplies. Claire breaks 11 inch boards and Benjamin breaks 9 inch boards.

Maybe next time I show you a picture of the big stack of broken boards we have in the garage. What to do with them?!

Check out the community garden plots in our neighborhood. I love walking through this beautiful little oasis just down the street from our house.

One of Claire's teachers's is building a "little free library" for their high school. I donated a bunch of books.

These are all from the Goodwill where paperbacks are only 69 cents! I chose only books that I've read and really enjoyed and I thought highschoolers might enjoy. What a bargain!

I've been to two nice restaurants lately where the sinks in the restrooms were filled with ice. Odd, right?

Hello from Lincoln!

Blog Renew: 28 -- Sewing Expo Outing

So... I lapsed. Did you notice? I was doing ok on my plan of blogging every day (except weekends) for 30 days then I totally skipped three days. Sorry. Part of what I've learned during this "blog renew" is that I don't ever want to waste time apologizing for being a bad blogger. Who wants to read that anyway? So, enough of that.

I had a great time at the Sewing and Quilt Expo with a bunch of friends in Fort Worth on Friday.

We were especially excited to see the SAQA special exhibit Deux.

Actually, it's just a portion of the exhibit. There are 50 quilts in the full exhibit. Eighteen are traveling with the Sewing Expo and the rest (including mine) are traveling to venues in Europe.

The show was hung in one stunning long line. Those are Frida Anderson's quilts in the foreground.

My arty friends!

There were several small special exhibits at the Expo. I really liked Marlene Glickman's Doorway Series.

Especially this luscious orange close up.

Michelle and I catching snapshots of each other through one of the "doors."

SAQA had a booth staffed by Heather Pregger and Jan -- so sorry I can't remember Jan's last name.

We walked from the convention center to lunch...

... at the Rodeo Goat where I had a burger with grilled peaches! It was perfection.

Actually, the whole day was pretty perfect.

Blog Renew: 5

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon and opening for a show featuring works by members of the Dallas Area Fiber Artists. The show is called "Let's Make Alzheimer's a Distant Memory: The Mind's Eye." It's at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas. You can read more about it here.

Here I am with some of the artists, Sherrie Tootle, me, Jules Rushing and VET. 

Jules and her husband are the inspiration behind this exhibit. Jules' husband was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's about two years ago at age 57. You can see Jules' brilliant art quilt Shattered Curves in the back corner of this picture. Or in her website gallery. Also, please check out this video interview of them talking about their experience. Then consider making a donation to Jules' Walk to End Alzheimer's Team.

I was honored that my art quilts Handwritten Heritage and Grow Abundant were included in the exhibit.

Handwritten Heritage

 

Grow Abundant

Both of these quilts explore themes of family, home and change... themes certainly affected by the experience of Alzheimer's.