Colors -- micro and macro

Sometimes you just don't have time to catch your breath -- and I don't mean because of the 100 degree plus temperatures outside.  I've been busy all this week with "stuff".... mostly errands and other boring yet necessary tasks, but there has been some fun thrown in the mix, too.  My Dynamic Composition class with Jane Davies is probably one of the best online classes I've ever taken.  I feel as though I am finally internalizing some design principles that I've read about, but never really used. Here are my pieces for our lesson on cruciform shapes:

On Saturday, I went to The City Quilter for an "in-person" workshop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (She blogged about it here).  We splashed paint on fabric (a great way to turn the "uglies" in our stash into something useful) and had a wonderful time cutting and pasting our collages into fun mini-quilts.  Thank you, Julie, for a terrific class!  This is my sample from the class -- I stitched the petals down, but haven't decided what (if anything) I will do with this, so the background is not yet quilted:

Probably the most exciting thing for me, though, was trying out my new macro lens. I've been out every morning at 6 to catch the best light... but what I am learning is that this lens really requires a much steadier hand than the standard lens.   Most of my shots were not perfectly focused, or were only partly focused.  On the other hand, I am realizing there is a whole world out there that I've never even seen!

Uh, oh.... I need a new obsession like I need a hole in the head.

And if this isn't enough, I tried using the new lens in lieu of a scanner to copy some photos in an antique album that once belonged to my husband's great-great grandmother.   I couldn't resist this cutie pie:

"Little Ida May"