Getting ready for another trip . . .

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose."
Dr. Seuss

Today is another day to get ready for another trip - my trip to Portland!

I have some final student work to finish reading and get a few grades posted for some student work that came in late. I am getting all of the washing done today and then getting packed tomorrow morning. I am planning to leave about noon for Missoula (3 hours north and west of here) where my parents live and get in a little visit there. I will leave for Portland Thursday morning early from Missoula. Kassie, our Scotty, is going with me. It is about a 9 hour drive. Bob will fly over to Portland on Saturday and then we will drive home together sometime over Memorial Day weekend I think. Things are kind of "up in the air" about when we will get home.

I did get my new Pfaff CV set up yesterday - it is amazing and I haven't even gotten started. I have a Viking Rose now and I will keep it as well - one can never have too many sewing machines, huh? I am going to take my little Janome with me to Portland and see if I can make a cute sundress for Meagan while I am there. I want something we can put some crystals on so she can help with that.

So - I had better get moving - lots to do! I can hardly wait to see them all out there. Ronda and I are hoping we can get our "4 year old" granddaughters together next week for a "play date". It is going to be a great trip!

And then - when I get home - it will be a wonderful Montana summer of green grass, flowers, family suppers on the deck and lots of sewing, quilting and embroidery!

Happy Mother's Day. . .

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my son, Roy, Mom and my granddaughter, Meagan. It was taken 4 years ago at Meagan's christening in Portland. Mom crocheted the gown. It is Irish crochet. So, Mom, if you are reading this - Happy Mother's Day. We are heading home on Sunday!

We are so thrilled . . .

We (my good friend and fellow piecer, Gail) found out last night that our quilt, "Tumbling Through Time", won first place in the theme category here at the quilt show - HMQS - in Salt Lake City. This is a picture from when it was done. I will take more pictures tomorrow - of this one and some of the others. There a so many, many gorgeous quilts here that it is a real honor to get a ribbon.I also made a "life changing" purchase. I have wanted a new Pfaff Creative Vision and I now own one. I have watched and read, compared and listened, and nothing has changed my mind. I have always wanted a Pfaff and have always wanted a really good embroidery machine. I am way too excited and probably will not sleep much tonight.

We have one more day here - it has been glorious so far!

Off to the quilt show . . .

It is so exciting! We are leaving this morning for Salt Lake City to see the quilt show, HMQS. There are three of us who have known each other since college days and we do something together a couple times a year. My friend, Laurena, lives here in Montana - in Helena and she will go with me on the drive. Our friend, Gail, from Denver will fly over.

I will take pictures and post so you can see the exciting things going on.

It is raining - perfect driving and gabbing day. We are planning to stop along the way at a couple scrapbooking stores as that is Laurena's passion - and I always fall in love with the ideas.

These words from the end of my favorite Dr. Seuss book are going through my mind . . .

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

Life is good . . .

I was in town today to get my hair cut and to get the tires rotated on LilyB. We are both getting ready to head out to Salt Lake City on Wednesday for HMQS. And, we have to look good. It is a bit harder for me than for LilyB. A good bath will shine her right up - it is going to take more than that for me!

I ran into a longarm quilter friend in town, Tracy Yadon. She was waiting for some tire work as well. I hadn't visited with her since late last summer before I went to Laramie. I had noticed her quilting referenced in a recent magazine and she hadn't known about it so we had a great time going through the magazines at B & N while enjoying some good dark Starbuck's. Her quilting is on p. 24/25 of the June issue of McCall's Quilting. She quilted a quilt by Margo Krager from our own Reproduction Fabrics here in Bozeman. Laura Heine from Fiberworks in Billings also has a quilt in this issue. Montana is well represented!

I will some pictures of my trip to HMQS on Wednesday.

Good Stuff . . .

This has been a good week. I am getting my studio rearranged and will share more pictures when it is more presentable. I have the "bones" in place with all of the furniture moved around and now I am doing the thinning and reorganizing. It is going to work just right.

I started up "Miss Daisy" (my A1) today. I have had a piece of red dupioni silk loaded for most the time I was gone since the first of the year and have never known for sure what to do. Today I just started to play and try some new fills and threads. Not much to look at, but fun to do!

And today I got this really cute picture of Meagan in Portland - the only thing better than a cute picture of Meagan is a cute picture of two Meagans. We are heading to Portland on the 14th.

Progress . . .

And it is not all in the area of cleaning and organizing. I have been thinking - always dangerous. Cleaning and organizing provides good time for thinking, for reflection, for visioning.

But first a Weston story. He came out to visit yesterday for a few hours. The electricity was off the whole time he was here and he wanted to watch "Ratatouille". He is 2 and a half. I explained that the electricity was off and we couldn't turn on the TV. We did wall switches and no lights. He pushed the "on" button and nothing happened. So he went about his business. Then he came back and tried a different movie, "The Incredibles". Again we went through the idea of no electricity - so he looked at me puzzled and said, "How about 'Thomas the Train' then?". I love watching his thinking. I guess he thought if he could just choose the right movie, it would work. That is kind of what my blog is about today - getting the "right stuff" together in the right time and place.

I wonder why I am hesitant to be a full-time fiber/quilting artist. What is it that keeps me from diving in? The opportunity to teach in Laramie this past year was a great way out. But I want to be dedicated totally to my art. I have always been able to draw, to paint, to teach art, to create - it is a gift. What I have not always had is the gift of self-confidence to dive in fully. I have always hung onto the edge - to something I knew I could do successfully.

This morning - here is this quote:
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur Clarke knows all about me. So, I can't be safe anymore and hang onto the edge.

Some "thump" on Thursdays and some give "thanks". Today I want to challenge you to share what inspires you. Each day, I get new inspiration from multiple sources.
Here are my five for today:
1. The quote above.
2. An interview with Tina Givens in the May/June issue of Quilters Home.
3. My son, Roy, in Portland sold his first painting.
4. Robins unphased by the wet, spring snow.
5. The freedom of my life.
So what inspired you today?