Well, what do you know, who could have predicted, it's a whole year later! And, well, in the mean time, I've been busy. I've become an (OK, slightly more) active participant in the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild. I have been spending much more time sewing quilt related things, as well as many very, very special things to welcome a new baby girl into the family. In terms of sewing, it's been a great year. More later....

Slipping into summer

School's out for summer...yeah! I love my job and loved my class, but oh, how I do love the summer break!

First up: landscaping. To compliment the fabulously beautiful Kyusha hyrdrangea tree that graces the front of our home, we added 8 Little Lime hydrangeas to the east side of the house, and 5 Limelight hydrangeas to the west side. They have been in for several weeks are and doing well. The Little Limes are in full bloom, and the midsummer blooming Limelights are beginning to form pannicles. I can hardly wait to see them all in bloom! We used the Black & Decker Edgehog to edge our landscape beds, and spread yards of fragrant, naturally dark brown hemlock mulch to top them off.

Next: the summer purge. Every summer I give the house a deep clean, and this summer is no exception. I've been at it for days...emptying and reorganizing closets, washing floors and walls, taking loads of no longer needed items to the local thrift shop. The end result is a clutter free home and the inner calm I need before taking on more creative summer projects. Hopefully I share a few WIPs in my next post.

Change of Plans...

I have yet to sew a single thing this summer. Instead, I've been enjoying some much needed time off from teaching. And, I've been devoting a great deal of time to planning and prepping for the next school year. I'm reading several professional books as well. Summer will not be long enough for all I hope to accomplish for my classroom and students! But I'll give it my best shot.

Dreaming of Summer Break...

Soon I'll have a long anticipated break from work. I hope to finish up a few loose ends (quilting works in progress) and begin a few new quilting projects as well. I have amassed a large inventory of vintage sheets with which to work. Thus far I have completed one baby quilt (my first quilt) and one queen size quilt top (the largest I've made to date...still waiting to be quilted). Since I am new to blogging, it may take me a bit to navigate posting pics of those two vintage sheet quilt projects. Hopefully soon to follow...

OMG! Guess I'm not cut out to be a blogger after all...you really should post a bit more frequently than twice a year, right?

Let's Get Going Here...

OK, I admit, I've been a lurker for a while. It began with one knitting blog...which led to craft blogs...which led to design blogs...which led to inspiration. (I've printed binders full!) In the past year, thanks to bloggers like http://susanbanderson.blogspot.com and http://ohfransson.com, I've been inspired to try my hand at knitting, quilting, and a few other things along the way. I now have 'dedicated space' in my home...a studio in the making...and am having so much fun I can hardly stand it!

The bogging process though, that's rather intimidating. I have a full time job, I'm a dedicated professional, and have a family...there isn't a whole lot of 'me' time left over to devote to creative pursuits. But I would like to document some of the things I'm working on, hence the creation of this post. Hopefully there'll be more to come...