I saw this this little fire hydrant in a parking lot near Evergreen, CO. It must be nearly invisible to drivers. You can imagine the sequence of events:

1. Paint it red.
2. Add a flag!
3. Station a large pole on either side to protect it.

It looks like the 'bodyguards' have taken some hits.

I saw this on Design Sponge and it reminded me of just how much I want to paint the light fixture in my dining room. 'Chandelier' is too fancy a name for mine as you can see, below.

It's BORING. Eventually I'll get around to painting it and I'll share
the after photos when I do. I really ought to scrape the popcorns off of
the ceiling too – someday, but not today.

We have a new tote bag! The image on the bag (both sides are the same) is from Picasso' Garden, from the book Applique Outside the Lines. It's a good size for carrying quilting projects or to take shopping. Or traveling! It has a zippered closure. And it's made from recycled plastic bottles.

This cute bag can be yours for only $6.95 (plus shipping of course). I think you need one, don't you? Click here for more on this tote!

I found a link on Ami Simms' newsletter to a man who makes art from toast. I had to check it out.

Maurice Bennett is exploring the use of 'flame as paintbrush' in this series. Well, there you go. It sounds way too dangerous an enterprise for me, but he obviously is good with a torch. This one is called 'The World of Finance' and it can be yours! It's very quilt-like, don't you think?

Then the mail came and I got the new Anthropologie catalog. I love looking at this catalog. The clothes suit my DIL better than they do me, but I have found many items for my own home at Anthropoligie. AND both their store and catalog layouts are wonderful. They must have an army of designers whose only job it is to think up cool display ideas.

As I was flipping through the new catalog I noticed that there were a variety of shots mixing their stuff with food-stuffs. Very cute. Can you guess what one of the foods they used was? You guessed it… toast!

I often tell people that learning to machine quilt is a lot like learning to ride a bike. You have to train your muscles and get the hand-eye-foot coordination working. Add balance to the mix and learning to ride a bike is an amazing feat – one that my 7-year-old granddaughter has mastered!

Linda and I have each spent the last few days mostly sitting at our computers. The combination of the sale and the drawing has kept us really busy but we are not complaining! It's nice to hear from so many of you and the closets are looking a lot cleaner. I'm happy to report that so far my email inbox has not crashed.

Lorna brought Jack and Elanor over to swim and I had to take a short break to join them. Jack, at 2 1/2, is already in a size 5 boy's size. Not toddler, boys. He's swimming pretty well for 2 1/2. He likes the noodle, but Lorna makes him swim some distances without it too. He's started to be able to come up for breaths. He's nowhere near ready to swim across the pool on his own, but will be in a year or two. Elalor swims like a fish!