The birds are waking up here in Texas. They are noisy in the mornings and flocking to my feeder. I took the screen off of the window in front of my sewing machine today and raised the window so that I could take pictures of them.

The cardinals and Downy woodpeckers wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to get a good shot. Maybe tomorrow.

These are rosy finches. Of course, it’s the males who are “rosy”. The females are quieter in color.

I read and look at the images on a variety of design websites, blogs, and publications. These are mostly graphic design sites – not quilt-related at all. But you never know when good design in one area will influence you in another. nHere are some blogs/sites that you might like too:

Chuck Green’s PagePlane blog, and his newsletter, are very good. Most of the sites listed below I found first in his newsletter.

Check out the Book Cover Archive. The rocking chair on the the Steinbeck cover reminds me of a drawing I did of my mom’s rocker. That rocker is in my bedroom now.

Issuu is an interesting site with electronic magazines. You can make your own magazine and upload it for free! Sounds like fun if I can stop quilting long enough to actually do it.

The Arts & Letters Daily looks like a great place to find all sorts of interesting information. My husband, the professor, has long talked about the Chronicle of Higher Education. Who knew it was so interesting?!

And this is one of my favorite blogs, de(coeur)acao. It’s in Portuguese (I’ve been told) and I am not bilingual so I look at the pictures and wonder what the words say. I love this 2-tone wall treatment and am going to try it soon in my bedroom.

Happy surfing!

It’s early, but there are definite signs of spring here. Even the lamb’s ear is looking perky.

There was mist in the air and water droplets were sitting on the hairs on the leaves. Lovely to look at.

I taught in New Braunfels, TX, Friday and Saturday. The New Braunfles Area Quilt Guild is full of very nice ladies and we all had a good time. On the drive to and from class, I got to see some of the town and I want to share a bit of what I saw.

I sincerely hope that this building used to have balconeys in front of those doors. It’s a long drop to the ground!

This building and the historic courthouse on the downtown square is made from the white rock that is famous in this part of Texas. I think it’s limestone.

Mary says that this Victorian house has amazing lights at Christmas. The owners keep it decorated for Christmas all year round.

The sleigh is an interesting touch – especially at this time of year. Spring has sprung in New Braunfels and hot summer will be here before you know it. I think those folks in the sleigh need to take their jackets off before they melt :-).

I did promise to share the mosaic a table top instructions. Here is the short version:

1. Make sure the surface you are going to stick the mosaic to is hard. If the surface has any give, the mosaic could crack.

2. Clean the surface from any debris and dirt. If is it bare wood, I would prime it.

3. Buy mastic. This is the “glue” that holds the tile pieces in place. Read the information on the bag or can. I used dry mastic that had to be mixed with water. Follow the directions precisely.

4. Buy grout. This is the stuff that goes between the tiles. It comes in a variety of colors, with sand and without. I used sanded grout because I knew I would leave large gaps between tiles.

5. You will also need a notched trowel to apply the mastic and a grout float to apply the grout.

6. Buy or find tiles, plates, and/or other ceramic objects.

7. Break any ceramic objects that aren’t flat. I put my plates between 2 pieces of cardboard and whammered them with a 4 lb hammer. Wear protective googles!!! Pieces that don’t sit flat are going to be hard to use. Discard what you can’t use.

These broken bits have sharp edges! You can file the edges of each piece. Being in a hurry, I did not. In most cases the grout covers the sharp edges. Unfortunately, my table still has some sharp points that stick up. I’m going to use a hand-held power sander with the appropriate emory sandpaper when I put the tabletop back in place.

8. If you’re smart, you will plan exactly where you want each tile piece to go. If not, you’ll need to work fast and hope for the best. Do some web searching and I’ll bet you’ll find a variety of instructions on how to prepare mosaic tile. In fact, check out the Mosaic Tile Guide!

9. Read the directions and mix and apply the mastic. Don’t put down too much at any one time because it takes longer to place those tiles than you think it will.

10. Read the directions and mix and apply the grout after the mastic has set. Enjoy!

We took the mosaic top off of the table because the mastic and grout need to not freeze for a few weeks. Jack was outside and decided that the table base was just too exciting to ignore.

He’s right at 15 months old and is walking more these days. He weighed 27 lbs two weeks ago. The boy is built like a brick outhouse – solid as a rock. Christopher, his dad, was like that too. Now Chris is 6′ and on the thin side so maybe that is how Jack will be too. Or not – we’ll just have to wait and see.