The World Surrounding Me

I’ve been working through my massive to-do list around the house. It had everything on it from “change light bulb in bedroom ceiling fan” to “landscape the backyard.” After reaching the milestone of having more work done than left to do (grand total will be about 135 hours of work), I’m taking a few days [...]

Matt got me a sweet birthday gift: a Kindle! He got one for his birthday, so I knew what to expect. It’s so lightweight! It’s amazing! I haven’t added many books yet, but I’m definitely looking at what I might get. I shopped around for a suitable cover for it, but most covers weighed more [...]

Our front flower beds have made it to August! With 100-degree temps the past few days, I’m not sure how much longer things will last, so here’s a photo! The Lily Tuft wasn’t as deer-resistant as I hoped. Where it rubbed up against the rosemary or was tucked under the drip hose (and inaccessible), it [...]

…flowers too! Yes, I know I’ve mostly been blogging here about quilts lately, but I have other interests as well. I’m not exactly an avid gardener, but I have managed to keep my front flower beds AND hanging baskets alive – and it is July in Texas! And, even a bigger accomplishment: my balloon flowers [...]

7 or 8 years. 3 different sewing machines. At least 6 different colors of thread. Countless hours spent cutting, sewing, pressing, ripping, re-sewing, squaring-up, and the rest. And, the top might be done. Or maybe not. Most of this fabric came to me as a matched set (as a gift). The set came with a [...]

Here’s yet another completed appliqué block waiting to be made into something! This one is loosely inspired by the Bird of Paradise flower. I designed this block myself, inspired by flowers we saw on our first trip to Maui (though apparently these plants are native to South Africa). If you look at the blueish-purple shapes in each [...]

Inspired by a few photos on flickr (which I bookmarked to consider making later), I thought it would be fun to try a simple color-block quilt. I started this yesterday and finished today before a bike ride to Rudy’s for breakfast tacos! It looks a little wonky in the photo (due to perspective), but is [...]

I started these blocks around September of 2008, from fabric purchased in New Mexico, and finally finished them last week at Cornerstone Festival. I haven’t worked very hard on these – they were just my take-along project for far too long! They are all custom-designed, by me, and are entirely hand-stitched with needle-turn appliqué. They are simple, of [...]

I completed my most complicated Hawaiian appliqué to date during a set at Cornerstone Festival. Yes, if you happen to attend Cornerstone and see somebody sewing, it’s probably me. I enjoy watching bands I don’t know as well from my comfy chair, with my appliqué bag at the ready. It is a torch ginger motif, which I [...]

The green hills of the Dingle Peninsula? The crisp and bright how-many-shades-of-blue-are-there colors of the Bora Bora Lagoon? This field of Indian Paintbrush near Llano, Texas?* The Road to Hana, Maui? *(The mere idea that a field of flowers in the front yard of a modest home even makes this list is impressive!)