Where Did My Rut Go?

Some people hate getting into a rut. I actually like it. I prefer to think of it as a routine that keeps me grounded and centered. Alas, my rut seems to have smoothed out into an ice slick, and I'm skittering all over the place.

I did finish my fabric postcards for the swap. When I mail them today, I'll have fulfilled all my swap obligations and be ready to get back to my own work--specifically, the landscape quilting class I'm taking at Quilting University. It's a relatively short class--3 sessions over 4 weeks. We've covered lessons 1 & 2, which were about painting fabric, and then painting landscapes on fabric. Here are the landscapes I've had time to create:

Lesson 3 will be about quilting and embellishing the pieces, so I'm looking forward to that. I have another Quilting U class starting in a couple of weeks, so I've been busy ordering supplies for that.

This has been a month for travel, too. We were back in Galveston last weekend for our grandson's 8th birthday. We had been promising we would take him to the beach all summer, and finally fulfilled that promise. He had never been to the beach, and the look on his face when a wave washed over his feet and shifted the sand under them was priceless. He had a great time and has decided he wants to move to the beach. Our little dog Max loved the beach, too; now she's seen snow & surf, and it's hard to tell which she loved better; we had her on the leash but she SO wanted to chase the seagulls. She usually completely ignores birds, so there must be something about the beach that brings out the runner and chaser in her. We all (with the exception of Max) enjoyed Moody Gardens and the aquarium and rainforest, too. And of course, I was able to get more pictures.

I'm traveling to Atlanta on Sunday for a conference. I'm hoping to find a few minutes to sneak away to a fabric shop, or a gallery, or something soul-nourishing.

And once I get back home, I'm going to start working on carving that rut back into my path. It will take some time and involve quite a bit of coffee, journaling, and deep breathing, but I believe it can be done.