I spent much of Saturday and Sunday watching my Godson play basketball in two tournaments. I did it while fighting off a nasty cold again--seems like the same thing that got me in January. But I was able to make quite a bit of progress on the afghan while watching the games. Since it doesn't look any different than it looked before, there's no sense in sharing another photo, but it's now 44" long, so only another 16"-22" to go, depending on the pattern repeat. Would love to finish it this weekend, but it might not be possible. We'll see.

For a little background, a few weeks back, I spent a blissful afternoon at the Mitchell Park Domes and there was so much to see (and it was cozy warm, which was SO welcome on a snowy March day). The flowers and plants were all lovely, and there were so many colors to tantilize a color junkie like me, but I was really taken with the orchids ... the stark contrast that they provided in the lush green environment was pure eye candy. So when I saw this orchid print on a vivid crimson background at The Sewing Basket, I knew I had to buy it as a reminder of that marvelous afternoon. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, and it's the only yardage that I bought that doesn't have a plan formulated for its use, but I just had to have it. (Note: I don't have plans for the fat quarters that you'll see later this week, but c'mon, they're just stash-builders!)

... would describe my weekend. I did get to gaze at the beautiful and vibrant stained glass windows at the Basilica of Holy Hill. If you ever get the chance to see them, the colors are wonderful. If you do a google search in images of "Holy Hill, Wisconsin" stained glass or go to this flickr page and do a search for Holy Hill, you'll see what I mean.

I did get a few rows done on the afghan over the past week, so that's good. And my Mom did come visit the site, so she knows that it's coming along and is very excited about that.

I did get the house tidied up, but I regret that I didn't actually get through many of the things that still need to be gone through, just got the place picked up. And with three busy upcoming weekends, I regret that I won't make a lot more progress for a while. But that's okay--I'll have my evenings to work on some things.

Thought I'd share a photo of the fat quarters of quilting fabric I bought on Saturday. No, these aren't for any specific project, just a little stash building. And they were on sale! Aren't they lovely?

I was posting some photos on Facebook today and ran across some photos of my work. So I thought I'd post them here in coming days when I don't actually have any current creative work to show.

So this is a quilt I created for Gabby, a wonderful little girl who is a blessing to a Florida friend of mine. You can't really tell, but the border and the squares on the inside of the stars is a beautiful pansy print filled with colors. The stars are two shades of yellow and two shades of pink. The inner border and binding are dark green to match the leaves of the pansies--it was this quilt that I was attaching the binding to on a flight. The white fabric is actually white with little blue flowers, again, the blue being pulled from the print. That's my normal MO when I design a quilt--I pick the print and then pull colors from it. I learned in a Jinny Beyer segment on TV once that the way your fabric assortment work best is to make sure you choose at least one of the darkest colors in the print (sometimes, it's the outline of the print), one of the lightest hues, and then different values in the print. If you pick all "mediums," the whole thing doesn't really sing. Also, you're supposed to vary the size of the prints, though in this one, the pinks and yellows are all pretty much batiks, mottled, and tone-on-tone prints and the background is a pretty small print, as is the pansy print. Maybe I should have varied the print sizes, but I didn't want them to interfere with the pansies.

That being said, I've seen a lot of quilts that are made with all mediums or all busy prints. They're not my favorites, since there's no contrast in values or patterns, but I know a lot of people that love them and I've seen some that are beautiful, but not my style. That's why everyone's quilt is different, special, and, dare I say, unique. We all like different things, and that's the beauty of every hobby!

As for the creative thing I did tonight, here it is! I'm hanging out with My Favorite Three Year Old. After watching Cinderella (and wondering when I'd explain to her that sometimes you're better off when the shoe doesn't fit), fixing her dinner (scrambled eggs and cinnamon raisin toast), and dancing around the living room to the Curious George soundtrack (a favorite of both of us--yeah Jack Johnson), she started to color this picture of Grover and then asked me to help her. She handed me one crayon at a time and told me what to color, and I colored it. So perhaps it's more HER creative endeavor than mine. It's been a while since I colored, and she had some great crayon colors, so I really enjoyed it. She had my favorite color from childhood--blue violet. I had forgotten what a beautiful color that is.

Spent the weekend recharging in Charleston, SC with one of my best girlfriends who moved there a few months ago. She moved into a new house with a few more rooms than her last one, so we spent part of Friday bumming around town, hitting fabric stores and antique markets for some decorative touches. We laughed a lot while we were shopping (as we always do) for clothes, shoes, and accessories (personal and home), swapping ideas.

It was so fun to go to another part of the country and see how location influences decor and fashion. First, since it was very warm, all the ladies were sporting sundresses and cute floaty tops with great surfaces screaming for embellishment. And the influence of the water and the beach showed in the colors and patterns in the home stores. What a difference than what we see in Milwaukee shops. Not that I don't love what I find here, but it's just so different than what I saw there. Even the exterior colors of the homes were different--inspired, I imagine, by Charleston's famous Rainbow Row.

Though there was much to see and do, we saved some of it for next time. But when I got home, I found myself thinking of places here that I've been meaning to visit and just haven't gotten there yet. Maybe I'll make a list and set some goals. After all, you can find inspiration anywhere--even in your own hometown.