Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

So, it's been a while, has it not? I had all the best of intentions when starting this blog, but sometimes life just gets in the way--you know? Anyway, to keep the update brief, I reinjured my shoulder/back at physical therapy and it was like starting from the beginning in healing again. Bummer. So there hasn't been any crafting of late.

But I did manage to finish and deliver the baby quilt for Carole's new baby boy--Maddox--before the reinjury. And man (if I can toot my own horn here) did it turn out great. I'm totally pleased with it. Part of me (a very small part) wants them to keep it tucked safely away, so that it will never be contaminated with baby poop, drool, or barf; but most of me is realistic and wants it to be used for it's purpose of warmth and comfort, even if that does mean gathering stains and germs along the way. (Really, isn't that what life is about...surviving while gathering stains and germs? No??) Anyway, here are some pics of it while it was pinned out and ready for quilting.





I used the Toad in a Puddle quilt block from Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift book. But Carole doesn't like baby colors that much, so I went with primary colors and played around with the color scheme to accent different parts of the pattern. The letters in the center of the blocks don't spell anything; they were chosen because the picture was cute and actually fit in the designated space. Anyway, I'm completely pleased with it. I even backed it with flannel. Maybe sometime soon I'll be able to post a picture of the baby its for.


Around the 4th of July I also went to visit an old friend of mine near the California/Nevada border in a little town called Quincy. It was the weekend of the High Sierra Music Festival and it was pretty cool. (Not weather-wise; weather-wise it was baking in hell hot...which I kind of liked. I'm a hot weather person.) Anyway, I had a great time. The music festival was cool (next year I might want to go and camp out for the whole weekend). And I had a great time visiting with Katie--we've known each other since before kindergarten. Crazy, right?! And because it was so hot, we went swimming in a swimming hole that was freezing ass cold. Good times. I have some pics from the music festival.


This was the fire dancing show. It actually wasn't as cool as it looks. Half of it was "I'll just dramatically wave my arms around while holding candles" type stuff. Not cool. And some of the costumes were ridiculous. Like this guy. His knit/stretchy pants had biker flames up the sides of them. But some of it was cool. So it was alright.



And this is a shot of the Floyd Family Players (I think that's what their name was). They are a group of drummers and percussionists that walk around the festival at night playing great heart thumping sets of rocking music. That guy with the whistle, he holds up signals with his hands and everyone just follows along. Seriously, they were awesome. And they had cow bells. COW BELLS PEOPLE! In my best Christopher Walken voice: "We need more cow bell!" Ah ha ha. Loved it.

And I got to see Katie just starting to show. Yup, another one of my friends is pregnant. She's got a boy due in December. The baby making and baby gift making never seems to end!