More travels! Lots of photos ahead!

John and I took a field trip over Spring Break; Ralph had to go to school, poor guy! John and I visited my sister Laura, who held her own feet to the fire in order to finish the first draft of her research project so she could play with us. Hooray, Laura, you did it! (Seriously, Laura is awesome!)

Laura took us on the grand tour of Washington, D.C. We got off the Metro rail right at the Mall,

then walked to the Washington Monument

and the WWII Memorial

Honor Flight from Kansas, singing the National Anthem.

and the Korean War Memorial

and the Lincoln Monument

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here."

"Here you go, the Washington Monument!"
This is Laura's town!

and the Viet Nam War Memorial, including the Three Soldiers and the Women's Memorial. (No photos, it feels too personal, somehow.)

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the National Gallery of Art, and spent hours looking at the collections there, including

Ginevra de' Bencithe only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas

Thinker on a Rock - 1997
Barry Flanagan

Yes, we're dressed alike. Sisters.
It wasn't intentional,
but neither of us could be bothered to change.

We didn't realize the NGA closes earlier than many other museums in D.C., so when we were being shooed out of the gift shop, we took the underground passage to the East Wing and dashed through a few of the modern art exhibits:

"Cakes" Wayne Thiebaud

Calder mobiles

An ice cream at the Smithsonian Natural History museum, and a quick look at the Hope diamond, then back to Laura's for dinner and lots of gabbing!

To be continued...

Appropriate for Fall

I haven't been here for a while. That post about Emmy and Sadie was out of desperation, even though I tell myself this is an obligation-free zone. Still, I want to keep you coming back for more, and you might give up on me if I don't show up. This post might end up being a doozy, if I manage to fit in all I want to!

I've been busy making things. The creativity is rejuvenating to me, but the isolation of staying in my sewing space is a little depressing. Hmmm, I need to figure out how to exploit the former and diminish the latter... actually, I know I should stop watching old British detective shows on tv while I work. I am really enjoying Netflix streaming through John's wii! I've already gone through a lot of funny old British shows.

Last weekend, I had lunch with two of my sisters-in-law. Here we are at Big Sky Cafe in SLO, where R's paintings are on display!

And here we are at Gopher Glen in See Canyon, after buying apples:

The weather is rainy, very unusual for this time of year! But it makes for a very nice fall atmosphere. It was conducive to making a fall leaves quilt I've had in my head for some time. I had some complicated patterns in mind, but decided I wanted to finish it this season, not a year from now, so I went with a simple idea. I'd hoped to finish it in time to give as a gift during M's visit, but Ralph can take it to her later this month.

I've also been busy making Poppy a Strawberry Shortcake costume for Halloween. She and I looked at some online over the summer. We found this one:

Which is pretty cute, but the reviews said it runs small, and that it's poorly made. About what you'd expect for a costume.












The next size costume was this one:

Again, cheap manufacturing, and what's with the sassy pose in this picture? I couldn't see paying $40 for the dress and tights alone.

When I offered to make it, Bethany and I agreed it would be a dress Poppy could wear normally, not just as a costume. Bethany also asked me to model it after the original Strawberry Shortcake doll.

It's hard to sew for someone who isn't here to try it on, but I put a couple patterns together and made this sweet little dress out of cotton sweatshirt fleece. The eyelet pinafore is made from fabric that was once curtains in Bethany's room when she was an infant. *aww*

I modified the embellishments on the pinafore to take advantage of the eyelet, and made pockets and a massive hat, and this is what I'll be mailing to PA this week:

I already sent Poppy green-striped tights to wear with it, along with a sparkly pink pair. You can see here how much she loves them already!   *goofy girl*

I can't wait to see pictures of girl+dress+hat+ tights (on legs)! (Hint, hint, Bethany!)
I hope it all fits!

I titled this post "Appropriate for Fall," and I planned to segue into a bunch of costumes online that are Not Appropriate for Fall. I think I'll save them for a separate post. I don't want to pollute this one!

procrastination

When I have a big job ahead of me, I procrastinate. When I was supposed to be working on a paper for school, you could very likely find me playing solitaire on the computer. Multiple games. I just work better when the pressure's on, but I've numbed the anxiety with something mindless.
Sometimes I'll procrastinate on something like cleaning the bathrooms by reading the newspaper, or my favorite blogs. Sometimes I'll procrastinate weeding the garden by cleaning the bathroom. Maybe I'll procrastinate cooking dinner by weeding the garden. There's always something that's a little more engrossing than the big task I'm meant to be doing.
So, here's John. Possibly procrastinating a school project. Or maybe he's just practicing a little pre-vacation recreation. After all, school will be out in a few days!

John's distraction of choice? He's coloring. In a coloring book. Actually, a very cool, funky book Kathryn gave him a year-and-a-half ago for Christmas. He's doing a very nice job, and intends to hang the picture on his wall when he's finished. Hmmm, I see the artistic gene trying to poke its head out once again!
I wonder what else John will be doing this summer?