Sagebrush air

Yeee-haw!

I am officially on vacation as of the end of the day today, but because all my deadlines are met, I'm going to play a little and update this neglected blog. 
Last week was our annual bow-fishing campling expedition to Vantage, Washington, on the banks of the Columbia River.  Beautiful.  I have missed that sagebrush air. 

There was some stitching done, but I forgot to take a picture because frankly there was a better view to be had.

I was able to complete a few more motifs on my Alchemical Romance while out there, which means I have ONE more motif left!  I am sure that will be done this weekend.  THEN, this will be my reward:

Anybody recognize that little corner of the pattern peeking out?  It's not like I don't have any other neglected projects to work on, but I think this might be a fantastic start for our road trip next week.   Andiamo!

Spring, finally

We are finally starting to emerge from our cocoon.  I've started to be able to take a breath again, and look up and around again.  The beauty didn't leave while I wasn't paying attention.  That is reassuring.

The adjustment to homeschooling is coming along well,

and even though this year has been a record long dreary winter, the days are much longer now, and there are longer spells between rain storms.

The streams in the nearby foothills are swollen with snowmelt.

And I can feel that the sunny days are not too far away now.

Can you feel it too?

BBQ tonight

First evening stitching outside this year.  Amazing how warm 60 degrees can feel after a long winter.

Another adventure begins

My precocious little golden boy, my first baby, my whip-smart rugrat...has been suspended twice from kindergarten over the past few weeks.   He is a square peg in the round hole that is public school.  So we just made the decision after weeks of thought to pull him out and start homeschool.  I've been preoccupied with all that and not in the mental place for blogging.  But with that decided, we shall see...

BTW this book is fantastic:
.

Jadeite 2563

Matches my turquoise Fiestaware perfectly.  So springy!

Daffodils and Eagles

Last weekend we took a serendipitous trip up to La Conner, which happened to also be the opening weekend of the annual bulb festival.  The tulips were really just starting, but the daffs were glorious!  Had a great time wandering the public gardens.

And browsing the antique shops.

And eating rainbow sherbet

And soaking up the not-completely-cloudy skies.

Then when we got home, this guy was waiting for us:

Not a bad day. 

Not too much stitching done again lately, but plans are in the works!

Mirage

For a "fantasy" themed landscape quilt challenge over on Valerie Hearder's yahoo group. 

Why yes, I am getting a little tired of the eternal winter around here-- gray, dark green, shadows, and rain-- so this is where I went to in my own personal fantasy.  The exact opposite, hot and parched.  Is that an oasis in the distance, or am I hallucinating from the heat?

This is a small quilt, about 10-11 inches by 11-12 inches, and uses a variety of hand-painted fabrics and commercial quilting cottons.  The shading on the dunes was painted by yours truly using Shiva paintstiks, and the dunes were appliqued down using a fusible web.  I hand embroidered some tiny french knots to add texture to the "desert floor" and machine top-stitched the distant mountains and water of the mirage using metallic machine threads.  Then I added beads because I can't help it, it's gotta have bling.