Madelyn's Quilt

My youngest grandaughter, Madelyn turned 9 on Valentine's Day. I made her a quilt in her favorite colors, pink and purple, and since she was born on Valentine's Day, used fabric with hearts. I machine pieced and quilted it and quilted hearts here and there and quilted around some of the hearts in the various prints. She LOVED it.

Sweet Potato Queens

Last night (Wednesday) Linda S. and I went to Watermark Books (a locally owned bookstore - yeah supporting the local economy) for a book signing by Jill Conner Browne. If you haven't read any of her "Sweet Potato Queens" books, you must. Funny and based on true experiences. Stories we can all relate to. I bought the book pictured and am laughing my head off. If you get a chance to see her, do. Go to www.sweetpotatoqueens.com to learn more and see a video of an interview on the Today Show. Here is a picture of Linda, Jill, and myself at the signing.

My bookshelf

I just discovered the widget for a bookshelf. Some of these books I have read, and some are on my "wish" list. I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult. I can recommend any and all of her books. She writes with such insight, thoughtfulness, and is able to see a situation through many eyes, thus allowing the reader to draw upon their own intuition, or beliefs, about a wide variety of topics. She does not thrust her views on the reader, but carefully steps into each situation with an open mind allowing the character to speak for him or herself. MUST READS!!! Let me know your opinion about her writings.

My grandaughter, Katie, spent the night with me and we "worked" on my studio. She is only 10, but really knows how to organize and is a very hard worker. I pay her with Monopoly money and then we trade it for real money. It is worth it to me to pay her because it just makes it much easier for me in sooooo many ways. Gets me off my butt and forces me to get things done.

I will be teaching this bracelet at Art Unraveled in Phoenix in August. Yes, Phoenix in August. But, there is this new invention in buildings and vehicles called "air conditioning." Think about it. Phoenix in August: no big deal.

Venice and Florence

I am going to start posting pics from my trip to to Europe in April of 2007. The purpose was to take classes with Claudine Helmuth in Cortona, Italy. We spent the first week staying with Kate Murray of www.vintagecharmings.com who lives about 50 kilometers northeast of Paris. We went to Brocantes (flea markets) and spent three full days in Paris. Then to Cortona for a week, and Florence for four days and Venice for five. What a trip!!! More postings on that from time to time.