Pinterest giggle...

The English teacher in me just LOVES this one. I couldn't help but chuckle, and then jump right over here to share it with you. Maybe you'll giggle, too!

Camera Strap

I made a camera strap for both my sister and Jackpot's birthdays, and they came out so cute! I loved that the tutorial I followed included a pocket for the lens cap. Unfortunately, my sister's lens cap did not fit in the pocket, so hers was a bust.

Since my sister's lens cap was too big, I decided to tweak the original tutorial a bit in order to eliminate the pocket altogether because I didn't want the strap to be any wider than it already was. My version came up a bit short (literally) but I think I know what to do for the next one. I decided to keep my "guinea pig" version, so now I feel ready to try my hand at yet one more for my sister.

Walters Art Museum

MMC took me to an art museum today to play with my new camera. I was literally giddy with glee. She caught me giggling when I took the one below. Look at the cab in the center of the circle!

I got a cam-ra,

I got a cam-ra, I got a cam-ra, hey, hey, hey, HEY! (*sung to the tune of "I got a dollar" from the Little Rascals movie that came out a million years ago).

Here are some of my first pics, which I took during a walk around my neighborhood yesterday. I was so excited!

That poor bird nest is sideways and hanging on by a thread!

The contrast of colors just 'makes' this photo. It wouldn't have been the same without the blue sky.

This photographer's first self-portrait.

Texture, texture, texture!

I took a picture of this same branch from two different directions. The lighting in this one was so much prettier.

I just love all the little white butts in the lake. You can tell they were completely UN-interested in me.

The way the light was coming through the grass was just lovely.

Something green! Lines! Shadow!

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?

Hubby really liked this one, so I included it here.

Like, totally, frickin' amazing. I love my new camera!

Neat.

Such warmth. The monotone color is fun, too.

I was having fun with this arrow on the street. Can you tell?

I was really taken with the colors on this bark.

If you made it this far in my post, I hope you enjoyed. I had so much fun on my walk yesterday! 

A Thank-you Quilt

Several months ago, one of my mother's friends generously offered to refinish a table that she was giving to B and me. Since then, I had been planning on making something for him as a thank you. I finally decided upon a strip quilt, which I thought he would be able to use since he has two, very young granddaughters. In order to get it together a little faster than normal, I decided to sew around the edges inside-out and then flip the quilt right-side out through a small opening that I left. I ironed around the edges and then top-stitched to give it an edge. This was certainly much faster than bias tape, but it really complicated the quilting process because it didn't allow me to stretch and baste the pieces of the sandwich together. As a result, many of my quilted lines puckered near the edge where I had top-stitched. Of course, these were really just minor imperfections that disappeared after the first washing/drying.

All of the fabric that I used came from my cousin who donated so many beautiful prints. I enjoyed going through them and figuring out the order for the strips. For the back I ended up using a perky green print with bold flowers. The colors were perfect with the citrus colors on the front.

In the end, the recipient was so pleased with the quilt and used it just a few days later to tuck his granddaughter in for a nap. Great success!