After a great afternoon with friends, I came home to find a big envelope (a big envelope is what you want -- a small one isn't good news) from the Quilt Show in Paducah. I'm so excited! My quilt, "Hot Dresden Nights," has been juried into the show in April. Now, I have paperwork to fill out and a quilt to get down off the wall to wash and reblock. It's kind of bagging in the middle from hanging for so long. I may try the trick of putting another hanging sleeve on bottom and inserting a piece of wood to weight the quilt and keep it hanging straight until show time.

I'm beginning to think about another show quilt, but I haven't come up with a probable design in my head yet. When I made the dresden plate quilt, it wasn't intended as a show quilt, I just made it because I liked it. In the past, I haven't entered quilts of my own, but I think I'm more interested now.

Anyway, wish me luck.

We dodged the snow bullet last night. Good -- but not. Sometimes we close because of bad weather and I get to spend the day in my studio unexpectedly. The streets are clear, so here I am.

Have you ever heard of the book "The Artist's Way," by Julie Cameron? It's a twelve-week program that is supposed to help you unblock your creativity and get rid of the negativity that holds you back. I've just begun the exercises. Each week, you do exercises in addition to two regular exercises that are done every week.

1. Morning pages -- you do a "brain dump" as soon as you wake up. You're supposed to write 3 pages and it's supposed to help you get all the stuff out that you'd be distracted with during the day and enable you to be more creative without all the stuff weighing you down. It's difficult for me to wake up 30 minutes early to write, but I'm trying. I do find that it helps get the day off to a good start. A counselor advised me to do "stream of consciousness" writing daily once. I did it for a while, but then let it go. I have to be more dedicated to this program.

2. Each week you have an "Artist's Date" with just you. It can be something as simple as going to the stationary store for a great pen to write your Morning Pages with or visiting a museum, art gallery, park, etc. As it turns out, I've been having Artist's Dates for years and didn't have a clue that is what they were. I love browsing around in antique stores, etc.

Anyway, that's what's new with me. You might want to check out the book. It may take me 24 weeks to do it, but hopefully, I'll be able to stick with it.

I am totally new to this "blog thing." This is a test to see if I can figure out how to post. Hopefully, in days to come this will be developed and become something interesting and worth reading. Thanks for your help, Jane.

Heard and Seen by Johnie May

This is my cat, Johnie May, back when I first brought my new Schnauzers home. She looks very pleased and excited to have a couple of energetic dogs to play with, doesn't she?