weaving camp in the city

I'm home (did you miss me?)! Once again I ran off to Charlotte to weave with my friend Kathie. She hash tagged our photos #weavingcampinthecity and I love it! We always have a great time together, weaving of course, but also chatting, watching lots of baseball and drinking a bit of wine. It was a wonderful week.

Part of the fun is that Kathie lets me weave on her floor loom, which enables me to learn new things and try weave patterns that are not possible on my rigid heddle loom.

Warping the loom is a much bigger process than I am used to with lots of steps...

Yes, I did let Kathie crawl around on the floor to tie up the heddles. Honestly, I was afraid I'd never get back up off the floor! HA! 

Finally, I got to weaving (I think it was day three!) I had chosen this diamond pattern which is by far the most detailed pattern I've ever done. I wove about half of my warp with the dark teal, then the second half in red.

I had a little bit of warp left at the end so I decided to play with some neutrals.

I ended up with this lovely piece of fabric which will become new pillows for our sofa in the next few days.

The last day we took a field trip to find this billboard (did you see it in the first photo?). Kathie has her work featured on an actual billboard this year! HOW COOL IS THAT???

The week was exactly what I've been needing! A bit of an escape. Now back to reality! What have you been up to?

Celebrating Dad

It was such a treat to travel to Phoenix this past weekend and celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. We had lots of family time and a big party and I don't think he stopped smiling the whole time!

Dad is the greatest guy I know! He loves people, is always the first to help when needed. He's kind and generous.... I have always looked up to him. It was fun to do nice things for him for a change!

Before we left I decided to whip up a little quilt for him to hang.....

Dad is a huge Cleveland Indians fan (we were really hoping for a World Series win last fall!) so I thought a chief wahoo mini would do the trick. I used a picture of chief wahoo to create the appliqué and I think it turned out pretty sweet! Dad seemed to like it too.

The weekend went way too fast & now I am home, nursing a nasty cold. Sigh.

time out for baseball

Sorry to disappear on you. As much as I love quilting, family always comes first! And if it's family, and Arizona in March, that means baseball! I grew up loving baseball..... well trained by my awesome parents!

It was great to have Mom & Dad join us for a couple of spring training games, along with our two oldest who share our passion for the game....

Truth be told, this was Leigh Anne's planned vacation to AZ, which we horned in on, but she didn't seem to mind!  We enjoyed games at three different stadiums, Surprise, Salt River, and Peoria, and saw some awesome baseball from six different teams! The weather was beautiful, the snow cones delicious and the company, outstanding.

Don't worry, I did talk hubby into taking me to a new quilt shop on one of our non-baseball days.

Modern Quilting is a great new shop in Paradise Valley.  The shop was sunny and cheerful, filled with things that made me smile (and yes, a few of them made it to the car!). The staff was friendly and helpful. I can't wait to go back again some time!

Play ball!