We don't have them often but you don't want to miss our sale.

Fabric and books are on sale and there are new items (like these cute tags) all over the site.

Click here to go to our home page for details. Don't miss the 3 new free patterns.

I've been out of town teaching for the Colorado Quilt Council (a lovely group of quilters!) and am trying to dig out from under the pile on my desk. I made progress today so I am happier!

Here's a short post. I found this photo on a longer post about stairways at Design Sponge. I like the art on the wall…

I've had these photos for a while, thinking they would make you all grin. I found them on weird friends. These dogs have better balance than I do!

I was shopping at The Container Store last weekend and saw one of these Slice precision cutters. I've had a paper cutter with a ceramic blade before, but this one is such a pretty green that I put it in my cart.

When I got home I took it out of it's package. It feels really good in my hand. It has a soft finish and is weighted well. It cuts paper like a hot knife through warm butter. It does not cut fabric. I may not use it often, but I know I will use it.

Turns out that these folks make ceramic cutters for food too. Check them out here.

FYI – If you have never been to a Container Store and you get a chance to visit one, don't pass it up.

I've had my new Nikon D90 for months. A zoom lens came with it and I just, tonight, took it out of the box. (Seriously, I need more free time.) Luckily, the camera is really simple to use. I figured out what button to push so that I could take off and put on the lenses and then I went outside and took these:

The gold flowers above are zinnias. Old fashioned flowers that are easy to grow from seed, they are really pretty. Bumblebees love the salvias, below!

Click on the photos to see them larger.

My mom has a big enclosed porch on the back of her house. The roof was ruined during the recent hail storm in Oklahoma City. The ceiling, walls, and carpet in this room were flooded and, luckily, her insurance covered the repairs.

Here is the room after they put up new ceiling tiles and painted. The brick, which makes up one wall in this room, is from what used to be the exterior of the back of the house. My mom's house is pink!

Mom didn't want more carpet, or vinyl, or wood flooring. That left
paint! The workmen prepared the floor for me. They used a chemical stripper to take up as much of the old carpet adhesive as was ever going to come up.

It was hot and humid yesterday. There is a small window unit air conditioner in this room and I had it on. If it had been cooler out I'd have opened windows, but that would have been worse yesterday. I re-hung the blinds on the windows before I started painting to help keep the sun out. And then I painted the floor…

Here's a detail:

My mom and sister wanted a color and chose this dark green. The lighter shade of paint is really a light gray-green, not white. I might have chosen a different color but this sort of floor is easy to change when you want a new color. It is my hope, however, that they love the green for a long time :-).

I only took a picture of one end of the room because I stopped with the room half painted to take this shot. Then I painted the other side and out the door. It takes alkyd paint 24-48 hours to dry.
And the fumes are awful. Luckily they have a door between this room and the rest of the house.