I haven't had much to say but I've been working hard. The Christmas postcards are completed and will go in the mail tomorrow. They're pieced and padded with a little felt to make them slightly puffy. The members of the group like to have them just mailed so they are postmarked. But I have these great cellophane envelopes I'm going to use. The Christmas mail is so crazy I'm worried about them getting damaged. So I'll have each card hand canceled and them mail them in the envelope. I've made 30 cards so my best friends will be receiving them also. A few of them already have a complete collection of my cards since I always make a few extra to share with them.

I've also started some preliminary work on my next "Ruth McDowell" project.

When I was taking the workshop, the first day was spent with a ruler and pencil tracing the photo and then drawing lines on tracing paper over the tracing to make it pieceable. It occurred to me that I could use the EQ6 tracing capability to do the same thing much faster by skipping the first tracing step and drawing the lines directly over the photo. So, I'm trying it with this project and I can't believe how much easier it is. This is what the working grid looks like in EQ6 with the imported photo in the background:


Here's what the drawing will look like which I will eventually print and enlarge to actual project size:


This is just a rough first attempt and will definitely need finessing but I did this in about 45 minutes versus the hours it took me using paper and pencil. After the holidays, I'll get back to the spice quilt and finish the sweater I'm knitting from my handspun llama - the back and fronts are finished.

I usually don't post non-art related topics. But I'm so happy with the construction on my house. A previous post shows the demo process and the unfinished porch. Well, the porch is finished and I can only say I wish I had done this years ago. I love it. Not only does it change the exterior of the house but the interior as well. I didn't realize how much the 2-story enclosed porch cut off light. The entry hall and the second floor hall are so much brighter - especially the second floor where a window replaced the door onto the porch and it is open to the sun. In the spring I'll refresh the mulch and maybe even plant boxes for the railing.