Working again.....

This time, the post appeared, so I guess I'm blogging again for at least a little while.  Sometimes I have "issues" with the level of ego involved both in writing and reading blogs.  I'm a low-profile kind of person and blogging seems pretty self-congratulatory to me most of the time.  Does anyone really care what my craft table looks like?????

Have been busy with grandkids, quilting, a little travel, a very hot, rainy summer in SW Florida and have just a couple of days ago discovered another blogspot blogger who does mail art swaps.

Find her at "Mail Me some Art" http://mailmesomeart.blogspot.com/

Karen has several open swaps.  I'm too late for three of them, but not for the round postcard swap!!

I have a loooong dining table in my kitchen with quilty happenings at one end and paper art supplies at the other.  As you can imagine, sometimes they merge and I find myself making little paper "quilts" or adding bits of fabric to cardstock and sewing designs with a free-motion quilting foot or doing a zig-zag around the edges to hold fabric and paper layers together.

Anyway, here are the four round postcards I'm going to mail for Karen's swap.

Its a gorgeous autumn day here - lots of sunshine and the cooler weather we Floridians really crave this time of year.  Think how happy you northerners are when soft April days chase winter away!

Back to blogging??

Well, yesterday I wrote a post, but it didn't appear on my blog, so this is another test.......

Myakka River State Park.....

.....in beautiful SW Florida!  My grandkids and I had a perfect day hiking around this semi-wilderness park yesterday. Read all about its attractions HERE.

We've finally had some cooler nights here in the sunny south and it felt so good to be out in the crisp dry air after a long humid summer.  As always, if you want to take a closer look, please click on the individual images.......

The suspension canopy walk is a major feature of this park.  It is 25 feet off the ground and extends through the tree tops for 100 feet.

Here we are at the terminus of the canopy walk getting ready to climb an additional 50 feet to the top of the tower!

And here's the view from about half way up.....

Rural beauty

A bit of wetland and oak hammock

And a lovely, sunlit clearing.....

Among the many kinds of wildlife that live in or near the park, wild boars root around in the sand looking for supper.   Here's a snap of wild boar tracks.  We didn't see any close up on this trip, but we have before.  They are fairly scary critters!

Peaceful vista

We found a leaning  palm tree trunk to play on!  It was a wild horse,  a circus high wire and we also pretended to be monkeys ;-0  (see next shot)

And here's the nana monkey!!

riding double.....

For those of you who know, wild turkeys are very shy.  We were quite fortunate to see a flock of  eight.  Mostly hens, and two youngsters who looked about half-size - maybe from a spring hatch?

A great week for rainbows!!

Who would ever have guessed that in the same week I would make a rainbow quilt (see the post previous to this one) and then receive one in a swap?

Participating for the second time in Kate North's Another Little Quilt Swap (this is her 6th as hostess...) I received this absolutely gorgeous quilt from Marie Joerger.

Introducing "Baby Rainbow Bright"

Please click on image for a closer look!


A larger version (the "Mama??) of this quilt hangs in Marie's home and she made this one especially for the swap.

This is the most informative label I've ever seen, and how kind of Marie to include my name ;-0

The quilting is a perfect all -over meander done in a very subtle shaded rainbow rayon thread so the whole quilt has a magical sparkle.

The nine batiks used in the color blocks are the perfect complement to the bright and bubbly border fabric and even the backing is true to the rainbow theme.

If you haven't visited the ALQS blog please do.  Kate does such a great job of organizing and encouraging her swap participants that maybe you'll find yourself wanting to do a swap the next time she announces one - it's great fun!!  And do visit Marie's blog and Etsy shop - she's a talented gal.......

Rainbow Bright "Charmer"

Not blogging very often, but still sewing up my stash ;-0  The pleasure of scrap quilts has taken over my life (when I'm not out working in my new yard, that is...)  I'm discovering a creative outlet I never dreamed existed in my previous world of more predictable pre-planned quilts!

This small jewel is 16x48 and fits nicely as a runner on my kitchen table or hangs easily in several skinny wall spaces in my house.  Each fabric is different, even the backing and binding - my first charm quilt.  Many thanks to Mary Mashuta for the circles!  I found the idea and pattern in her book, Cotton Candy Quilts.

Please click for larger view

Please click on image to get a closer look

Please click on image to get a closer look

Please click on image to get a closer look

An InLinkz Link-up

Postcard swap.....

The creative and organized artist and swap hostess, creativelenna, has completed another successful swap.  The theme for this swap was, "A Summer's Day."  These three postcards arrived safely in my mailbox yesterday and what a lucky girl I am to have them!!

As always, please click on each image if you want a larger view ;-0

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Being a beach girl myself, the carefully constructed beach scene is perfect for me!  Amanda in California has captured a relaxing seaside day with layers of water color, rubber stamps, collage elements, and even bits of real seashells glued on.  And the little fish swam all the way to the back of the card, which is as carefully created as the front....  Thanks, Amanda!!

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When Tiffiny (also in California) created this sea horse postcard, little did she (or Lenna) know that it would end up with a woman who counts these tiny oceangoing pseudo-equines as her second-favorite (after giraffes) critter.   Tiffiny created a wonderful underwater coral habitat for her glittered guys and added an informative list of sea horse attributes on the back of the card.  Thanks Tiffiny!

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And what says summer better than a picnic complete with ants...?  Barbara in Illinois crafted a three-dimensional scene so perfectly.  The basket is woven from paper strips, the sandwich is created in actual layers with two slices of bread, some lettuce peeks out, and is that bologna we see in that sandwich?  A red checkered tablecloth and colorful napkins are arranged on the "grass" background, and there are even tiny ants made from the tiniest fuzzy craft balls I've ever seen.  Thanks, Barbara!

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If you've never done a swap, especially not one with Lenna, might I suggest that you jump in and give it a try?  FUN!!  FUN!! FUN!!