Moving on ... more projects

I spent hours today working with HP Photosmart Essential 2.5, tagging photos so I could get them into some sort of album on my computer - this program is free - and when I closed the program and started it up again, all my tags were gone! I need to give up thinking about anything to do with these photos. They're all on Flickr now, they're in some sort of order that makes sense, and I need to move on!!! Oh, I can fritter away so much time without even blinking an eye, it seems. It's unbelievable how must time I lose when I'm focused on something.

There's tons of life out there still to be lived, and I can't get stuck on one single thing!

This morning, when I woke up (and I DID sleep all night last night!), I had an idea what I wanted to do with the fabric I purchased in Jerusalem. I think I can make some banners from it. I think there's enough color in these fabrics that I can create objects I can mount (applique) on some black fabric. The first one I thought of was "I am the vine ...," making passion flowers from the flower print, with hand embroidery for the anthers and stamen, and perhaps for the ruffle that lays just over the petals, and using some of the Damascus cotton for a border around the banner and perhaps some shapes here and there within the banner. I think I would like to put a thin layer of cotton - or a thick pellon-type layer - between the top and the backing - some quilting might be good to make objects stand out. (Donna, take note - I might not get to this until you get home next fall!).

While we were in church this evening (last Wednesday in Advent), I thought about "Feed my sheep...," "Lilies of the field...," and some other banners I could make, creating objects such as flowers, sheep, etc., from the Jerusalem fabric.

You can see part of my first sketch beneath this beautiful leaf I picked up as we were going into the sanctuary this evening ...

Ah, so little time! I could spend a month designing these banners, but I don't have a month I want to spend right now. I really want to get my small quota of military quilts made for December, and that's what I want to start on in the morning. I think I'll play around with some strips that I'll lay out various ways and see what happens.



Macy's is having their "last one-day-sale of the year" - hahaha! - whatever that means, but I thought I'd like to go shopping. I haven't been to Macy's forever - North County Fair (NCF) is at the south end of Escondido, and it seems I either drive to the library, about four miles from home, or I fly to some other part of the world - but Escondido just seems too far for me to go! I asked Lauren if he wanted to go with me, knowing he would say "No," and much to my surprise, he said "Sure!" So off we went.

The trip was productive because I found these clever back-pack bags there, and I just happened to have my camera. Lauren held the bags for me while I took pictures. It seemed better to do than to sit on the floor and sketch the details - which I would then have to interpret when I decided to see if I could make them!

The bags (at a whopping $138, not on sale) are fully lined with some neat pockets inside. The top is clasped together by snaps attached to a pair of leather strips. The bottom outside zipper pocket goes completely under the bottom of the bag, leaving a nice bit of room in which to tuck away a few things I wouldn't need to get too often, but which I'd want to have with me - just in case. My backpack is full of those kinds of things - notebooks, pencils and pens, a hat or two, some gloves, bottled water, my camera, sometimes a pair of binoculars, Hall's throat soothers, checkbook, calendar - you name it, I'm prepared! I really liked the looks of these bags, and I don't think they'd be hard to adapt to something I could make at home!

Whoopee! What a neat find for a morning of shopping!

While we were at NCF, we had a big almond-crusted pretzel, and I dipped my half in some Glidden's spicy mustard. Yummy!!! We also stopped at Starbucks because Lauren had a gift card from them, and I had a double latte which reminded me somewhat (but not quite) of the wonderful "white" coffee we can get in some parts of Europe. That prompted me to dig out our espresso maker from the cabinets when we got home, and maybe I can figure out just how to make the coffee I remember from some of our travels.

Last things for the day, before I forget... I picked up a few things in Israel just for us - a Druze Hat, just because I wanted something cheap in this beautiful, coarsely-woven, fabric, and a crocheted shawl because it was hand made by a local person - probably a Palestinian woman. The little circlets in the shawl are double-crochets around a chain, and then incorporated into the shawl. I love supporting local artists and crafts persons when we're traveling. I hope hand-crafting never ceases anywhere in this good old earth! The nature of the craftsmanship in the shawl make me leery of wearing it - it might not be durable - but I think the pair will make a nice wall decoration.

And that's it for today!