Oh my! There are Legos in my Office!

Monkeys & Cars & Trees

to go with my nephews & Jack & postcards & noise maker

X-Wing Fighter with the Pig

Hey!  Where did THESE guys come from?

Sheesh.

These pics are especially for Em!

CELEbRATE!

sue

A Bowl Full of Glass

I have a thing for Art Glass.

One of my favorite places is the

International Glass & Bead Company in Claremont, CA.

I haven't been there for quite a while,

as it isn't as convenient since they moved

into the "Packing House".

But they do have some wonderful glass there.

I also enjoy going to the glass blowers

in Benicia, CA,

like the Nourot Glass Studio & Smyers Glass.

Especially to go into the "seconds" room -

great bargains there!!!

Here are a few pictures I took this weekend:

art glass marble

These are "Doodads" ~ blobs of glass

that are "leftovers" from blowing glass.

Art glass paperweight.

A yummy bowlful of art glass.

Have a lovely week!

sue



Foto Finish --- Favorite Places

Time again for Foto Finish!

Our theme this week is

Favorite Places.

Being in my car,

driving on Interstate 5

is one of my favorites places to be.

Probably because it means

I'm on my way to visit my sisters.

To Share your favorite places,

or see more places,

check out Cat Patches now.

Have a great week everyone!

sue

Foto Finish - Things in the City

Things in the City is this week's Foto Finish theme.

If I knew where the key to my shed was,

there may have been a picture here

that was taken in Brisbane, Australia.

But, alas, it's hiding somewhere.

So I'll take you to

San Francisco

instead.

I was visiting my sister in Northern California,

and we decided to take a trip

into "The City".

The day was quite overcast,

but I had fun snapping pics as we drove around.

If you would like to share some

city things too,

pop on over to Cat Patches

and join in on the fun!

sue

Kitty Wallhanging - Elizabeth

At my work, a few months ago,

we started planning a car show & movie night.

We started collecting some great things

to use for a raffle, with all the monies collected

going to 4 different charities.

My "team" chose the Inland Valley Humane Society,

so I decided that I would make a small quilt to donate.

And I figured that an animal quilt would go best.

The following pictures show the quilt,

from when "Elizabeth" was fused on

with her thread-painted face

and the trapunto, from the back.

More thread painting & quilting

Top border

One of the sides

(pebbles & weeds?)



The bottom border -

I signed & dated it here

and put the quilt's name "Elizabeth"

Showing the fabric I used on the back

And the whole thing!

I really like the way it came out.

I learned a lot doing this one.

Only one thing would have made this experience better...

if they had picked MY name for it at the raffle!!

This is the "real" Elizabeth.

She owns my sister & brother-in-law.

Have a great weekend!

sue



Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap 4

For the second time, I joined in on the

Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap.

The theme this time (#4) was "Bloom".

With a lot of help

from Angela's great tutorial here,

at Cut to Pieces,

this is the card that I made & sent off:

My flower came out a bit larger than I expected,

but, no problem, I just cut my card stock bigger!

I hope my partner enjoys it

as much as I enjoyed making it.

sue

Foto Finish --- Things That Are Slow

This week's Foto Finish theme is

"Things That Are Slow".

This was a very fun one to think about.

First I went to the "usual suspects" - snails & turtles.

Then, in the car, I thought about that slow poke that was right in front of me, going 35mph in a 50mph zone.

Next I thought about time, how sometimes it seems to just dragggggggg.

But I wasn't sure how I could depict that in a still photo.

So, I have all these ideas percolating in my brain,

and I picked up my latest crochet project.

I had decided to make a string bag

out of actual string!

I really like how it feels & looks so far,

but...I've been working on this for at least

4 hours

and it's only this big:

(The hardest part was spelling with the string!)

And now, this next picture is

especially for

Barbara @ Cat Patches,

who organizes Foto Finish for us every week.

You see, she's just made her plans

to go to a big quilt festival

next year,

in Ireland!

I'll bet that the time between

now

&

then,

is going to be

REALLY SLOW

for her!!!

To see some more

slow things,

click on over to CAT PATCHES -

heck, why not link up with one of your own?!?


Have a terrific weekend!

sue



Look What I Found on my Back Porch!

The other day when I got home from work,

I found 2 packages on my back steps!

I was expecting one, but there were TWO!!!

This is the expected one:

I won this from Erica's Craft & Sewing Center,

along with everything to make it!

Aren't these fabrics awesome?

There's even a cool zipper pull that is a dolphin.

(you can see it in the top left of the pattern picture)

It's the next on my 'to do' list now.

Wish me luck with the zipper....

The second little package

was a TOTAL surprise

from Em of Em Celebrates!

When I opened it up,

this cute little mushroom was inside:

recognize this fabric?

and inside was a piece of cotton batting

and inside the batting....

This gorgeous, blue, fused glass heart.

I love this.

Thank you Em,

from the depths of my heart.

sue





Foto Finish --- Travel Images

Welcome to this week's Foto Finish.

Our theme for this week is

Travel Images.

I picked this shot that I took at a

Welcome Center in western New Mexico.

When I was on my roadtrip,

I always stopped at the first tourist center

that I encountered.  I especially liked this one

because not only was everyone I met friendly,

but there was another traveller there

who told a story about this sign.

It seems that her father, an artist, had been commissioned to make these "Welcome to New Mexico" signs, back in the 1940s I believe.  Originally, they were put at the state lines, but when the state decided to put larger & more modern signs up, they moved this one to the Welcome Center.

Personally, I think this sign is much more welcoming than the plain, green and white highway signs they have now.

To see more travel photos, or link one of your own,

pop on over to Cat Patches!

sue