A momentous day!

It has been a lot of time and effort.  No, I am not talking about my 3rd grade graduation... that was almost two years ago.

Joan finished her guitar quilt!

When we got to Mark and Cindy's today, she had less than half of the background to quilt.  In the shape of flames...

While Joan worked on that, Cindy was putting together her Christmas tree.  Well, a quilt of a Christmas tree...

Here's the finished guitar quilt...

The photo does not do it justice - there is a lot of detail work in it.  Straight lines on the wall to the left and the ceiling, and flame shapes through the rest of the background.  It looks great!

While the ladies were doing quilt stuff, Mark and I were making music.  We spent most of the afternoon working on recording one piece.  A scratch track, then bass and drums.  I did a track with acoustic guitar, Mark did a piano track.  And then, a sax synthesizer track that absolutely blew me away!  When Mark was done with that, I could hardly talk.  He said, "I think I'd like to make a change at the end of that track."

I was surprised to hear this come out of my mouth: "No!  That was spectacular - it flowed, it built, it shows emotion!"  Then I remembered that what he and I do is a collaboration - we work together really well and are able to bounce ideas off each other and offer constructive criticism.  "OK, if you want to do another whole take, let's go for that... but this track is a keeper."  OK, there may have been some other things that came out that aren't family-friendly... along the lines of "don't mess with it."

We worked on it some more.  Then, in playback, we listened to that original solo.  Pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.  Mark is a very talented musician; I don't know if he is aware of how much I enjoy listening to what he does.  Oh, sure, we both bring something to this music collaboration - I provide the rhythm and vocals, but his work on the keyboards is exceptional.

We ran out of time today to the final tracks; possibly some strings (Mark on the synth) and I will do the vocals.  All in due time.

For now, it is time to head for home.

And, next time we get together, Joan will be working with her new sewing machine!