Hello! Welcome November 2018! Hard to believe there are only two months, 62 days left in 2018! And the big news: I have a new blog address: https://morningglorystudio.blog/ Come on over! Join me at my new place! Anytime! Looking forward to greeting you! Cheers~ PS. I hope this works...and if it not, let me know in the comments. Continue reading

Today's Sunrise ~ 7:24 AM I launched this blog in the fall of 2009. Last October I took steps to get my own domain for this blog. My intention was to move to the new domain early in the new year: 2018. Well, as is oft the case, life got in the way of those plans: November - NaBloPoMo; December: Holidays but most of all, Dolly's problems with her pregnancy. We are eternally grateful that both she and Elias - soon to be 11 months old on the 27th of this month! - are and continue to do well; January:... Continue reading

September! Ah, September: here. Gone. in a flash. I generally begin each month with all sorts of energy and plans, ideas; truth be told, I suspect it could all be gathered under the umbrella of wishes...and we all know that nursery rhyme: if wishes were horses... Be that as it may, September was here ...and gone, in a flash! During the month: 2 : We kicked off Labor Day weekend with family gathering and a raucous game of Monopoly. Great fun! 3: My walk included a few rustling leaves ... 4 & 5: Kayla and the agenda for Chris' first... Continue reading

... are jet contrails on this bright, sunny, first day of October! Welcome! Continue reading

Currently : 11:16 am The dryer just signaled “all done!” which means I need to get up and check my fabric...and no, it’s not dry...I’m prepping for a quilt class tomorrow - another version of the convergence quilt. My first is finished... The fence is being replaced! Finally! After months - well weeks of indecision, estimates, etc, we finally a) made a decision and b) contracted for the work and c) waited...eight weeks + days! I didn’t know fence replacement was such a popular business. And, all the rain we’ve had didn’t help, either! Tomorrow, it should all be a... Continue reading

Another Monday driving in the rain... seems to be getting to be a habit... On my way to my quilting group meeting this morning , I’d driven about 2 miles when I realized I’d left my wallet (aka money and driver’s license) home... I drove very cautiously home to retrieve said missing items... At my quilting group meeting...today was the reveal of a member challenge quilt...comes around once every two years. Theme this time was “memories;” several quilted the 2017 eclipse This one received first place by membership’s vote. Because I was later arriving, I missed the voting...but it would’ve... Continue reading

(one or the other or maybe neither will become the tree*) Thankful: It's been a quiet day. Not much like Friday, me thinks. The highlight of the day: Journal Club resumed. A time to reunite with old friends and ignite new friendships, too! Each session, Jamie chooses an animal tarot card that guides us through the season. The RAVEN is the pick this time around; at first, I wasn't too enamored and frankly, the practice is rather foreign to me. I read a bit about the Raven's guiding contributions and I'm thinking this may be an interesting adventure... Grateful: Tho'... Continue reading

It's Thursday! Today, two of my stitchin' group and I got together, joined by a potential new gatherer...we of course had a delicious brunch: three very tasty salads and Trader Joe's Pub Cheese. New to me and delish. Certainly doesn't begin to approach Carole's Friday Night Cheese Spreads but does earn high marks (Google it...lots of "chef" reviews) ... Our hostess has a delightful antique school desk, complete with an inkwell and several vintage elementary school readers, appropriately perched on top. T'was very fitting for our gathering, on the threshold of Autumn/Fall, stirring and bringing back many school days' memories.... Continue reading

I sit here, at the table, books and journals spread out before me; my iPad open and ready to pen today’s post. The sun shines, for a change. Temperature in the mid 70s, an invitation to turn off the A/C and open windows and the deck doors... In the background, a lawnmower and the chatter from cnbc: on stocks. Thinking: what I will write about for today’s post? My eyes leave the screen, look up, out the windows: Leaves gently drift to the ground, stirred by a breeze, evidenced by the “this tree’s” branches, swaying slowly. Soon, those branches will... Continue reading

6:10 pm All day, we’ve had quick 5 min downpours and then sun; currently, the sun is shining... I took a quick walk in between raindrops early this afternoon...and collected a an oak and a couple maple leaves. Do you remember collecting leaves when you were in elementary school? And then, rushing to the library to find a book to help you identify the leaves? I spent the afternoon working on Shades of Trees: affixing rectangles (2.25 ” x .75”) to the background fabric; next up: stitching the little rectangles... Making this little quilted piece is very much like putting... Continue reading

... are slow and easy and rainy...the weather-folk predicted rain/thunderstorms to begin 9 am - only about 35 minutes off. ... I said to Norman this morning: “If I do nothing today, I’m going to put my license tag sticker on my car!” That was before the rain started. In DC, the current tag is affixed to the inside lower left of the front windshield. I have til the 25th so if it does rain all day, there’s still time. ... include the start/restart of two books on writing (reading about writing is one of my favorite pastimes ): The... Continue reading

(photo taken 9.13.18 @ 7:34 pm. clearly another candidate for a "shades of trees" quilt...someday) Too often, I unknowingly, unwittingly, unintentionally, oversubscribe. Unlike the energizer bunny, my batteries have completely run down. I spent a lotta time this past week driving long distances, in rain! I'm tired and have no one but myself to hold responsible. I am so very much looking forward to a slower, more measured pace over, for and during these next 6 days. I have nowhere to go, no one to see, nothing I must do. I can pretty much be. T'is almost like a new... Continue reading

Continuing the story from yesterday’s post: Joining Carole and others for 3 on Thursday here. 3:30 pm: Arrived home from my Thursday Stitching group’s gathering... we had a good time catching up and sharing : 3 of us attended the quilt workshop; one didn’t so we had a chance to share our projects and do a Plus/Delta* review of the workshop for our 4th. She was scheduled to attend but had to cancel. We three agreed the teacher was excellent and the pace just right. We also thought we picked up some new techniques; clearly our creative mojo got a... Continue reading

Currently: 1:51 pm: Sitting at VA eye clinic, waiting for N’s 1:10 pm appt. Typepad was unraveled earlier this day: site was down; thankfully, it’s back up. My attention is on trees as a result of my quilting class I attended Sun/Mon of this week. I’m eager to get back to “making my piece” but I need to be home with an iron to do so. Unlike most quilt projects, the technique introduced uses an iron-on bonding medium (steam-a-seam) to create a background. Sitting before me is a mural that I.really.like...even more than the photo I initially started with. Since... Continue reading

... or the saga of lost keys Over the past few days, Hurricane Florence has given us a preview of possible weather to come: lotsa rain. Yesterday, as I arrived home and started to unload my car, it was raining. Stuff in hand, I stood at the front door, rifling through my jacket and bag for my house key. Not there! Returned to the car: Not there! "Hmmm, that's curious," I thought. Rang the doorbell; thankfully, Norman was home. We unloaded the car and once in the house, out of the rain, I looked very carefully and methodically through every... Continue reading

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7 september sunrise ~ 6:29 am Since 2008, I've participated in Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday annual September event. The process is simple: document one thing one learns each day in September: 1 Sept: I have a long list of ideas and possibilities on my September "groaning board" menu...I always do! Why change? 2 Sept: We had a lot of fun playing Monopoly during our family gathering... it brought lots of memories back and it was great to be unplugged! We should play games more often. 3 Sept: Often times new learning results from unlearning one way and paying attention... Continue reading

un/1: I missed sharing a #tinytiny moment Tues, so here's a close-up of our Elias, now 9 months' old ~ he's mesmerized by the ceiling fan.( I'm not sure what that white stripe is across his forehead...something with his seat carrier?) deux/2: Sunday, I am attending a two -day quilting workshop (I shared a bit in this post), joined by three friends from my Thursday stitching group. (Our fifth, Hilary- she prepares such delicious vegetarian lunches, doesn't quilt plus she's recuperating from knee-replacement surgery!) Yesterday, four of us ventured to a Delaware quilt shop - really quite nice!- for fabric... Continue reading

3:30 pm: It is thundering and raining now! Today has been brutally humid - 91°, just perfect for "back to school!" for thousands, millions? of children in the Washington DC Metro area ~ two I know: 8:40 am: Kayla, my grand niece started her senior year! As I have over the years (since she began preK - with the exception of her junior year, last year), I met her and her mom on the first day! Today, she was in high style: wearing a wig - she made!; snazzy eyelashes and makeup; and a top with a message that I... Continue reading