Swamped!

Last night I did not go to bed till after 4am. I did not have to travel or pack, and I was in my office before 9:30am this morning.  So what was I thinking!  Last night I stayed up later than I have ever done in college in order to finish working on a fabric pattern, which Nick and I have named "Swamped!"

Believe it or not, these caterpillers and snails came to life
after many hours spent sketching space ships and flying saucers.

This particular design had to adhere to the “Baby Boy” theme in order to qualify for submission to the Project Selvage contest, run by Spoonflower and Michael Miller Fabrics. One lucky winner gets to create a baby boy and a baby girl collection of fabrics (6 prints each), and travel to the International Quilt Market in Housten where the collections will be "debuted."

By no means do I aspire to win this contest. After years of working in the software industry I have learned (I think) to set reasonable, “measurable” and achievable goals. So I would consider it a great honor if my design makes it into the first round—the sponsors review all submissions and choose 75 designs for the Spoonflower community to vote on. Wish me luck!

Projects' Update

It is only March, and Nick and I have already taken two vacations this year! Craziness! (Both vacations had to be timed just right to match up with our families.) Here are a few things I have been working on between all the traveling and my day job.

Even though my “fabulous” rabbit fabric pattern did not take the Spoonflower community by storm, I was still quite happy with the results. (I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up!)

But before working on more fabric patterns, I decided to participate in the sock design contest, held by Oregon based company, Sock It to Me.  The finalists are supposed to be revealed on Monday, and you might be able to vote for your favorite sock design on Facebook. 

Here is one of my designs.  Click on the image to see all 5 of my submissions.

Late last night before going to bed

Helen:  What is "alligator" in Russian?
Nick:  Алягрушка?

Today's Snapshots from Shark Valley in Everglades National Park

One of the largest allitgators we saw today

Me, taking a photo of the large beast

This "little" alligator walked out into the road and lay down for a little bit. After a minute or so, the alligator got up and finished crossing the road--apparently a rest stop was required.

A male anhinga drying his feathers.