and to think that I saw it on Addison Street

Look who I saw on my way to my car!
If I don't get to work by 8:00 a.m. I can't park behind my building. There is a lot of competition for the parking slots. I've had to park in an alternate lot on Addison Street twice this week. Good thing the weather has been nice. I hate walking in the rain, with all the stuff I have to carry. Anyway, it's been fun to see the new or relocated shops that have popped up. There is also one called LaLa Land, which seems to sell children's clothing - I don't understand the name, but the shop looks cute. The bridal shop fills a space recently vacated by The English Garden. I'm sorry to see that one go. It was a cool gift shop.

The Cat Traps are working!

Look Who Came to Visit

I think I'm going to have to stop saying "I'm not a dog person", because I am!
I was visited by this adorable fluff-ball yesterday afternoon and, of course, I had to brag about my 'grand dogs'. I even showed pictures. (You gotta work with what you got!)

International Quilt Festival April 2010 in Chicago

Wow! This was the best quilt class yet! This year I only took two classes, but one was 2 days long and I loved every minute of it. It was taught by David Taylor - called Picture Applique. (Check out his web site davidtaylorquilts.com) I choose an ambitious project and it will take a long time to complete, but I'm sure I will. The large picture is the size the quilt will be. It is of Amy's dogs Lucky and Rufus. Such a sweet picture. It will be fun to see it come to life.



After starting to piece the quilt together, I quickly realized that I had too many tiny pieces, so I revised some of the design and will do the rest as I go along. I also didn't have enough usible fabric, which was disappointing. I guess I'll have to shop, (It's hard to say that without smiling,) tho I had bought dozens of pieces of fabric. This is the first actual quilting class I have taken. Some of the more experienced students showed up with suitcases full of fat quarters! 100's of pieces!!



The Goat Quilt is Tinker, from David's barnyard collection. You can view them all on his web site. The detail and uniform stitches, all by hand, are incredible. The whole thing is created with small pieces of fabric, carefully chosen, and appliqued in place. Additional machine stitching and hand embroidery add detail, then the piece is quilted in tiny, even stitches. INCREDIBLE!

Facade or 'what to do with a blank wall'

This charming street scape is a facade. The building owner spent tons of $$ to create a charming walkway, where an alley used to be. He even recreated some old Elmhurst stores - Honey Girl's and Hesse's.



I didn't make it clear, this was a blank wall of brick before the amazing make-over.

My son Joey and the guitar he just made

We just celebrated Joey's 39th birthday! I remember a comedian (George Burns?) kidding about being 39. He never admitted to being any older, and - that seemed old to me! Go figure...
anyway, I gave Joey a card that said - My three favorite words are - 'That's my son!' So true.

Joey has been working on this guitar for a long time. It's beautiful, isn't it?

Mixed messages, or is that massages

My new neighbor across the hall.


The big signs says "Open, Come In"

The little door knob hanger says "Please do not disturb, I'm with a client"

I guess you get to decide.