after a day of "radio silence"

today I have LOTS of things to "show and tell"

making some real progress on this piece

after working around the first two holes that I had cut in it, I decided that the design could stand two more

So, here we are, with at least two rows of beads worked around each hole, and I'm beginning some other design elements around the first set.

looking gooood!



finished another of the corner blocks for the baby quilt -- that makes 3 corners complete

And here is the finalized "mystery project" -- a totally washable baby safe lamb toy

it will go along with the quilt

a while back (when it was still winter) I had submitted this piece of jewelry (and the instructions on how to make it) to Interweave Press for one of their magazines

it arrived back on my door step yesterday afternoon with a "thanks but no thanks" letter

Oh look, just in time for me to include it on the website update I'm working on

the letter was a bit more encouraging than some of the ones I've gotten -- or maybe I was just not so thin skinned this time -- ok, one more letter for the "wall of rejection" and the piece of jewelry goes into inventory to sell













as you may recall from Tuesday's posting, the DH has completed the drawings for the next quilt we'll be producing, and while I was in Walmart (of all places!) I found this great 100% cotton fabric --

the hard part will be deciding which side of it to use -- the front, which has the great silver-y metallic patterning over the color -- or the back, which is equally attractive, just without the metallic look

this will be the main "field" behind the bird blocks -- awesome

(Oh yes, it was on the SALE table -- couldn't believe my eyes!!!)

Under the catagory of "pesto on the hoof" or "you come, I'll make lamb", we planted some herbs yesterday.

The sweet basil and the rosemary will be most welcome in the kitchen (and meantime, I need to keep the big black dog from EATING IT!)

This pot is one of my art treasures -- a friend from California did the mosaic work around the top rim and I've moved it from house to house ever since

Our theory for planting the herbs in the pot is that we hope to keep them alive through the winter by moving them into the garage

We worked in the back yard yesterday -- mowing, weeding the garden, fertilizing all the tomatoes and squash and peppers -- and creating the lovely "trellis" for the pole beans to climb on when they get tall enough (if you look closely you can see the first two little leaves on several of them)

Later in the afternoon a friend came over and brought his teenage son to help us finally remove the stump of the lilac bush that has been leering at me like a mad bull -- defying us to get it out of the hole -- it took them less than half an hour to do it -- Hurrah!

This is a new and strange plant in our back yard -- flowering pine

NOT

actually there appears to be a wild rose bush that was planted close to the pine tree when they were both little (why do people do that? Don't they realize the plants are going to GROW!?)

anyway, in reaching for the sun, the rose bush has turned into almost a vine, sending up long canes into the tops of the pine tree -- it does make an interesting picture



and from the garden patch, a "found object" -- a pretty blue marble

wonder if I can create a beaded net to hold it as part of a piece of jewelry -- like one that includes pieces of a blue bottle?

we'll see

After all of yesterday's garden activities my back is a bit sore today, so I'll be taking it easy -- just a trip to the local Hancock Fabrics (they are having a sale!) to look for something to use on the back of the lamb quilt and maybe some fat quarters to use for the bird quilt --

should be fun!!