Meet Luc

This is Luckenbach.

Luc is a super sweet, seven-year-old Doberman who came to live with us last week. He's a gentle guy who loves following us around the house, running and playing at the park, and looking handsome. Luc is extremely well mannered, but he seems a little confused about who is supposed to be walking who when we go out on the leash. He really likes hanging out in the sewing room on the rug, but he's a little bigger than the four and ten pound Yorkies I'm used to stepping over. We're excited to have him with us and I wanted you to meet him.

I did a little sewing yesterday. I made a laptop sleeve for my work computer. I'm going on another trip to Milwaukee this weekend and I'm trying to avoid having to check a bag. I can think of a number of things I'd rather spend $50 on than giving it to American Airlines just to transport my suitcase in the belly of the plane.

I still use one of those big, black 1990's style briefcases to carry my laptop and all it's stuff. I see cute laptop sleeves all the time for smaller computers, but mine is 17" and the pickings get slim in the larger size, plus this one didn't cost me anything. I'll just toss this and the power cord in my tote and be done with it. I hope it's as functional as it is cute.

I used one layer of bamboo batting inside and constructed it quilt-as-you-go style. If I made another one, I'd probably use two layers of cotton or bamboo batting or maybe a layer of cotton and a layer of high-loft polyester. The lining is the same black stripe as the binding. The closure is a small length of hot pink FOE (fold-over-elastic) and a button.

Now to figure out how to cram five days of Milwaukee wear (that's Texan for clothes for freakishly cold weather) into a carry on. Hmmm.

The first stitches of 2011.

I hope that you and yours had a lovely holiday season and are enjoying the new year. I've been a dangerous combination of lazy and busy, accomplishing almost nothing creative in the past month or so. Would you believe I can't remember the last time I bought fabric? For shame!

My UFO pile has grown to monstorous portions, so it's time I get back in the swing of things.  I was invited to join a talented group of girls over at the Bee Hexed In bee on flickr.

Last night, I pulled fabrics for Brooke's block,

and made hexagons for the first time in a long while.

My right thumb is really out of shape!

Speaking of hexagons, I haven't given up on the hexagon charm quilt, but I have to be honest, I really got sick of working on it and it's been intentionally neglected. I need to get it out and take stock of where I am. I have more than enough hexagons made, I just need to sew them together. Maybe some longer stitches are in order.

Before I go, I want to apologize for not responding to comments and not reading your blogs lately. I've read every comment I've received and appreciate them all, I've just been swamped. You guys are the best!

A quick trip north.

I didn't intend to neglect the blog for so long. There hasn't been much sewing going on around here. Lots of knitting and a little embroidery, but nothing to share just yet. It was 83° here yesterday. On the first day of winter! Ugh!

I did get to enjoy some cold weather on a quick trip I took to Milwaukee this past weekend. The temperature never got above 23° the entire time we were there. One of my best friends is leaving Texas for a job in Milwaukee and I joined her for a weekend of apartment hunting.

I had never been to Wisconsin, and I have to be honest, the only thing that came to mind when I heard the word Milwaukee was Laverne & Shirley. But, Milwaukee is awesome!

She's going to live in the downtown area, which I thought was clean, friendly, and cultural. Fabulous museums, wonderful food (I recommend the new Glorioso's grocery for lunch and the Pasta Tree for dinner), great shopping, and beautiful architecture.

It was the first time in my life I had ever visited a beach where the sand was covered with snow and there was ice at the water's edge. This was at Bradford Beach on Lake Michigan.

We made more than one trip to the Milwaukee Public Market for lunch, coffee, and yummy sweets. Again, highly recommended.

I'm off to finish my Christmas shopping.  I think I put it off intentionally because I actually enjoy that last minute pressure. Shop on!

Do. Good Stitches. December Blocks

December is my month in the do. Good Stitches {a charity bee} over at flickr. Since December is such a busy month, I wanted to think of something quick and simple. I've been enjoying playing with color lately, so I decided on the blocks above. I put these photos together for the gals in the bee, but I thought I would post them here in case anyone else would like to give these super easy blocks a try.

Gather some fabric and cut some strips of various widths (but nothing wider than about 3") and at least 14" long in warm colors and in cool colors. Remember from art class, warm colors are reds, oranges, and yellows. Cool colors are blues, greens and violets. Try to choose scraps/fabrics that have an obvious color feel to them.

Sew your warm strips together lengthwise and trim into 13" blocks. Do the same with the cool strips.

Cut both of your 13" blocks into four equal triangles.

Lay the blocks out as shown above (match a vertical warm to a horizontal cool, a vertical cool to a horizontal warm, etc.) and sew each set together to make four blocks.

This is what you'll end up with, four approximately 9" blocks. If you are in my bee group, please don't trim the blocks before you send them to me. If you aren't in my bee, by all means, make some more, trim them up and sew them together!