Do, doodly, doin'

I haven't shown anything creative in ages. I hate to go so long without pictures of what I'm up to so today is catch up day. Nothing big, just some little projects.

Well maybe this one is kind of big. I'm making a mosaic for the garden. Here's my design.

Here's whatI have done so far.

As you can see I am changing up the colors a little bit, but the overall color scheme is close—based on tile I could lay my hands on. This is about 35" in diameter and will be in the center of a little circular patio Ray is building out front under a big tree. We have discovered our back deck is so hot and sunny in the late afternoon that it isn't a nice place to be most days. In contrast, the front of the house is shady and lovely, so we decided a nice little place to sit and listen to the creek, and maybe even eat dinner out front was a neccessity. I decided it needed a little artsy funkiness, so I had the mosaic idea. It's a learning and inventing process. Ray poured a concrete circle that this will go onto. I am gluing the broken tile pieces to a mesh background that will go into grout on the concrete, then be grouted on top. This is going to take awhile. Fitting all those pieces together is slow going and back-breaking. But I think it will be very cool when finished. Has anyone reading ever done anything like this? Am I on the right track?

When my back can't stand leaning over the mosaic project any longer I come in and work on this little quilt for my friend Paula's newest grandchild—a girl who is due any day now.

I keep saying I'm not making anymore baby quilts, but then I do. This one is smallish and will have a fleece back. This is not an heirloom quilt. Winter baby in Salt Lake City will need a little something to wrap up in or tuck around a carseat or toss on the floor for tummy time. I liked the kitty cat fabric, so took my color scheme from it.

I am taking a class, starting tomorrow, from Laura Cater-Woods, so I am packing my supplies for that.

I haven't taken a class for years, but I am really looking forward to meeting Laura and learning something from her. I have "known" her online on quilting listservs for years and admire both her art and the way she articulates her ideas. I don't know what to expect, so I just keep tossing things into the bag, including my snarled nest of embroidery threads. I will take pictures to post here. At least I will try. Last weekend I took my camera to the Pittock Mansion where I saw an exhibit of Erte prints. Planned to have lovely blog material of the house, the gardens, the view and Erte, only to discover I had the camera minus the memory card. See it here and pretend like I took the pictures. Phooey.