What a great day!

Yesterday. was a good day. A very good day. I accomplished some big firsts for me--learned some basic quilting skills and began a small quilt, and I jumped almost the entire beginner novice course at Loch Moy! Whoo-hoo! I am proud with a capital P :) And, I got my camera back (which Mike and I somehow misplaced at Loch Moy) which means I snapped some photos of my recent jewelry photos (see below).

My school's community is rich with artistic talent; in every grade, we have at least one parent who is an artist and/or musician. That means our halls our lavishly decorated, our silent auction is full of lovely artwork, and our students have the opportunity to learn from these working artists-parents who moonlight as after school instructors. Really, it's a great gift. One of these parents, Pam, is exceptionally talented fiber artist. She creates pieces that are whimsical and delicate, and I am a big fan. She has been kind enough to invite me into her home studio to learn the basics of quilting. It's been a goal of mine to improve my sewing and learn to quilt for, oh, about 2 years. I thought I would surely have the time this year with my more relaxed schedule. No, no. So I was delighted when Pam agreed to teach me about quilting this summer. Today I learned the basics of selecting appropriate pieces of fabric and the steps of the piecing together the smaller swatches to create squares. We are working on a log cabin quilt, and I successfully made 3 quilt squares! So cool! Hopefully we will have a finished piece at the end of our third meeting next week.

And in other things art, my time in the jewelry studio came to a close this weekend (at least until September when classes resume); it was with much resignation and the clawing of fingernails that I left! Ha! Really, I wish I could have just a few mores hours! I designed a neat piece for my artist friend, Jaclyn, but I was barely able to start it. Bummer, but I did finish the lingering pieces on my to-do list. I am very happy with how my dress piece turned out (title "primp"). I will be submitting three pieces to the art jewelry show that MICA is hosting. I am hoping that at least one of my pieces will be selected. We'll see!

Here are some photos of the work I submitted and two commissioned pieces:

My final piece "Primp" made of copper, brass, plexi glass, paper, and semi-precious stones


Close-up of "primp"


The back of "primp" with it's dainty little secrets :) I am loving adding details to the backs of my pieces!


"sprout" made of brass, copper, mesh wire, and paper


The front of "bloom" made of brass, copper, silver, and paper


The back of "bloom", again with a nice detail


Another frame piece, this one commissioned by Maria


And, finally, earrings for Megan, who has become a repeat customer :)

And finally, to cross country! My friend April and I took our ponies to Loch Moy today; their competition course is open this week for schooling. I actually had intended to work more on cantering longer sets and get more comfortable with achieving rhythm on the course. The smallest of the jumps on course (beginner novice) were still quite large for me so I had only planned on jumping a few of them. Well, we ended up jumping almost the entire course with a few novice jumps thrown in! I admit I was nervous at first (and even nearly launched myself off over the second jump), but after a bit, we really got into a groove. Caesar was a rock star, eager to jump anything and helping me achieve that aforementioned rhythm in between fences. I think he was happy that I was doing less and letting him do his job! Plus, he likes jumping bigger fences! So, I am very happy with the xc school; it's not only the hardest course we have done, but I feel I put in one of my best rides. What a good feeling!

April with Caesar and Gracie and my pal, Linn, with her pups in the foreground (thanks for being our ground person, Linn!)

Tomorrow, Mike and I are headed up to New York for the wedding of my dear friend, Beth. On Sunday we will continue on to Block Island, Rhode Island, for a mini-vacation. Should be fun! I'm sure I will have photos to post!