Piano in the afternoon light

I love winter light. Our house has rippled old glass windows and thin curtains to let in the hazy winter Los Angeles light in the most beautiful ways.
I took this pic just now of Z, playing the synth in the afternoon light as baby and I snuggle on the couch. A rare quiet moment... Most of my time is spent shuttling little people around, not sitting and resting with the boys. The peace will be over in less than 5 minutes... But it is beautiful for now.
These pics were all so pretty, I couldn't decide between them for a favorite.
Which do you like?

More baby gift quilts

I made these quilt tops in December when I was on the marathon quilting frenzy... I used the scraps from my nieces' and nephews' quilts to whip up these baby quilts for some friends, but they lay unfinished until I got the speed quilting inspiration the other night...
These are for a family who has a boy and a girl 14mo apart... My kids are 18mo apart, so I feel for those moms... It's a hard hard season.
I thought knowing that someone who has been where they are is thinking of them would be encouraging...
Once again, I'm doing my best to bust my stash and use up what I have. I've made it through January without buying any fabric.

Simple sewing

These are so fast and easy! I have a baby shower for an awesome family this weekend.... Another foster family who has experienced love and loss of a child and they recently got a call for a beautiful baby girl abandoned at a hospital that they get to adopt... What joy!!!
This sweet baby girl needed a quilt from Auntie Lala (me...) but I've got a busy week... So I dug around and found these beautiful bird panels that I'd never used and whipped up some tiny quilt tops as we watched a movie last night.
I then quilted them to some fleece for padding and then sewed that (right sides together) to some vintage chenille that my pal Tifanie gave me... Flipped it right side out, top stitched - and wow are these sweet! (and SO fast, no pinning, no binding)...

sorry, i forgot

for those of you friends who emailed me, asking to be on our update list for foster care, etc... I'm sorry - I lost my list!
please send another email to me about it. and i'll be better at updating...

Detail images of urban neighborhood blocks

Too much fun!
I loved making these. Loved it!

Think I am going to bring them to my new art class tonight... It's a collage class through Art Center (yippee!) - I'd met the professor at an exhibit recently and we'd gotten to talking about quilting and how it's a little respected art form with lots of rigidity - until recently. I think these will illustrate my point. :)

When I look at these up close, my thought is - "I want to live in that world"... Then I realize... I do. This is what my world looks like from my point of view...

Bee Happy - my month - urban neighborhood #2

Bee Happy - my month - urban neighborhood #2
Originally uploaded by libertyworth

Here's my second Urban Neiighborhood block!
It's styled after our own house - though the mushroom-Snow White style roof is missing... I was hoping the fabric choice would communicate that.

I'm super happy with how these came out - and also with how fun it was to make these!

Keeping the faith

I said I wasn't going to post about foster care for a while, but suffice it to say foster care can be confusing, frustrating and as one blogger put it "emotionally traumatic".
Things are quiet so far this week, but there is always, always the unshakable thought that as mothers we were not designed to love someone and then have to let them go, especially to a situation that is often less than desirable.
I keep this piece of paper up in my sun visor in the car so that I look at it a few times a week. It's helpful to remember who is really MOST aware of everything, even more than overworked social workers and overwhelmed lawyers and judges.

we have a winner!

the magic number was 6.... and so that means that miss Nicole wins the charm!
hooray!
Nicole, you'll have to send me an email with your request and address!
thanks for playing everyone!

Bee Happy - my month - urban neighborhood #1

Bee Happy - my month - urban neighborhood #1
Originally uploaded by libertyworth

I styled this square after our first place in a 2 flat in Chicago.

The assignment was to make a home/neighborhood square that would look urban and would reflect a place that the bee members like. I asked them to incorporate a house number that means something to them.

since I live in LA - I didn't want blue skies... smoggy gray herringbone, instead.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Now I have to do my other square - which I think will be representative of our current house.

Great gifts

Gifting is a love language. It seems that there are just some people who have a gift for gifting, and those of us who love to give gifts, often seem to attract gift giving friends too. Tori is one of those friends for me, she always finds great gifts to send my way and I delight when I find good ones to send to her.
My Christmas gift this year from Tori was these two adorable notebooks and a glasses case - all made my local artists in her new hometown.
What a treat they were to open.
Thanks, Tori! And thank you, local Starksville, MS artists!