home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for November, 2013

Sunny Fun Times with the Bay Area Peeps

Friday, November 29th, 2013

TheReason

This little cutie is the reason we are having our Thanksgiving in the Bay Area. We had an uneventful drive, with a stayover in Yreka on Tuesday night. Mark called to say he had just realized that Paige’s daycare was closed on Wednesday and he wondered if we could come there in the afternoon to help out. Yippee!!

So instead of going to Lisa’s for the afternoon and evening, we went directly to SF and spent some great time with our little granddaughter. We went to a couple of shops to pick up some stuff for dinner that night and the next day and then took her to the park while the cleaning people were at the house.

precitaparkpaige

We had lots of fun. Mark picked up fresh crabs from the Chinese seafood market and prepared them for us for dinner. Jayme arrived just in time, having finished her day in her surgery rotation.

Yesterday, Lisa, Clay and the two of us did some food prep here and then headed back to Mark’s for our Thanksgiving Day meal. Mark did the turkey on the grill and the rest of us took turns in the kitchen preparing different parts of the meal. It was all delicious and it was special to have the time with them and Paige in the middle of it all, hamming it up for our entertainment. Here she is with Poppop, playing her little red piano..

popoppaigepiano

lisaclayselfie

I love this photo of Lisa and Clay taking a selfie.

Today, we went back for leftovers, after a nice walk with the girls and Wilfredo. Then we went to Lands End for a hike.

weatheredsentinels

 

I always love seeing these weathered Cypress trees acting as sentinels at the edge of the bay.

foggylandsendlookout

A foggy view of the bay.

paigenewsunhat

Paige in her new sunhat.

paigehikelandsend

Ready for the hike.

 

goldengatebridgelandens

The Golden Gate Bridge.

ittakesavillage

Time to restrain the child in a backpack. It takes a village to get her settled in!

markjaaymelandsend

Back on the trail with Mom and Dad.

Here are the hikers at the end of our walk.

landsendhikers

Tonight, the girls took us to the movies to see Philomena. Excellent film. I highly recommend it. Judy Dench is terrific, as usual. It is a very compelling story.

Off to bed. In the morning, Mr C and I are going to the DeYoung to see the David Hockney exhibit. By the way, the weather is beautiful here in the Bay Area.

A Glimmer of Light at the End of the Tunnel

Monday, November 25th, 2013

binsofsalefabric

Just keep moving, I tell myself. This is all the fabric that I have deemed of little use to me. Don’t worry, I still have plenty, especially the white prepared for dyeing kind!! Those bins contain commercial prints, batiks, some hand-dyes, dupioni silk, other silk, organza and vintage Japanese textiles. I have separated them into larger pieces and scraps. I think I will let people fill a larger bag with larger pieces for one price and a smaller bag with scraps for less money.

Today, I found so many items from a previous time when I attempted to do traditional quilting. These will be available.

miscstufftosell

I have these two storage units empty and they will be for sale.

colorclothbins

clothstoragebins

I received word yesterday that this quilt was juried into the Oregon Exploring Layers show, debuting in February. That’s right – Walking with Scooter and Mr C.

walkingwithscooter

The new quilt I entered in the show didn’t make it. I was a bit disappointed, but really, the leaves were a bit problematic for me so I may take them off and screen print new ones. I also think the photo of this may not do it justice. Actually, as I sit here and look at it, I see lots of problems!!

takingleafpreview

In the evenings, I have been working on the sweater for Paige. I just need to knit the sleeves and put it together. I was hoping to have it done for our trip this week, but it will probably not make it until Christmas.

paigesweaterbody

On another note, The Fabric Bee will be contributing a pack of 10 printed fat quarters for Virginia Spiegel’s American Cancer Society fundraiser which she has titled Fiber 5K. There will be drawings for other great prizes, too. Click on the logo in my sidebar and it will take you to the page showing all the prizes donated to date. I will let you know when the race starts.

Fiber5Kroute400

Not sure when I  will check in again. We are heading to California tomorrow. I am really looking forward to time with the CA peeps, especially the precious Paige.

 

Time Out for Some Creativity

Friday, November 22nd, 2013

8x18spiralprint

 

I took some time out from the sorting and purging for some creative time. I needed to get a print done for the current queen bee of The Printed Fabric Bee. She wanted blue spirals, 8 X 18 inches.

I started with one of my pieces of fabric that was over dyed with indigo. It was basically blue and yellow. I first printed small blueish spirals with a stencil.

small spiral stencil

Then I mixed up some  turquoise Dynaflow paint with this Liquitex iridescent medium. The directions said that a transparent paint works best and that it would be darker before it dried.

 

irridescentmedium

I used this large stencil that I made in a workshop with Jane Dunnewold.

largespiralstencil

One I finished the spiral printing, I thought it was a bit lifeless and needed some red.

spiralprinting

And so I got out some red fabric paint and some sequin waste and added some red. Here is a detail shot.

sprialprintdetail

It was fun even though I had to keep running into the storage room to find my printing equipment.

Yesterday, I finally finished the office decluttering. I kept getting sidetracked with meetings – SAQA was here on Wednesday and on Thursday, I had an SDA conference call in the morning and a Trinity Arts meeting for lunch. On Wednesday, we also celebrated Miles 12th birthday. He is wearing his new gray suit, on his birthday list. His mom found the cool hat at a thrift shop. We went out for sushi and then had a birthday mud pie at their home.

milesbirdypie

Also on his list were a new robe and slippers and some good toffee. We obliged by gifting him with those items. He loved his new robe so much that he got ready for bed early so that he could wear it. I love the rare times I get to spend with my growing grandchildren. I miss the babysitting days.

milesinnewrobe

Here is how my office looks now. I feel as if I am in some strange place.

declutteredoffice

Today, I started sorting and setting aside fabric for my studio sale on December 6th. I have so much fun folding and fondling fabric. I have worked my way through the fabric that reads as a solid in greens, blues, purples, reds, oranges and yellows. I have sorted out those that have small prints and a pile of marbled fabric.

fabricsortingI hope to get a lot done tomorrow. I am taking a break to get my hair colored in the middle of the day.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, November 20th, 2013

ww11-20-13

What I’ve Been Up To

Monday, November 18th, 2013

paigemakessalad

Here is your bit of cuteness. Paige making a salad for her aunties. Can’t wait to see her next week.

I have been plugging along with the cleaning/sorting/purging. It has been slow going for the last few days because I have had so many commitments taking up my time. My goal is to finish the downstairs before we leave for California next week.

On Friday, Mr C and I drove to Eugene for the Oregon Diocese Episcopal Convention. I did a meet and greet at the Trinity Arts table and passed out the prospectus for our next show. We were sitting next to the Episcopal Integrity table. They are a group that supports the GBLT community.

episcopalintegrity

On Saturday, I should have gotten more done, but I took time out to make some Tibetan dessert for the reception to open our annual Trinity Arts holiday exhibit which features artisans from around the world. This year we have handmade items from Tibet.

So, I was up early and off to church to help set up and sell the lovely things. All proceeds will go to a school in Tibet.

These silk hangings are gorgeous and all hand made. Both of them sold right away.

Tibetanhangings

I loved this bag and if it is still there next week, it may come home with me.

Tibetanbag

I did come home with this beautiful scarf – totally my colors.

tibetscarf

I forgot to mention that on Saturday night, I got to hear and meet one of my heroines,Sister Simone who started the Nuns on the Bus. It was such an inspiring talk and then she had a long question and answer session. She is really sharp with the answers and quite the sense of humor.

sistersimone

Today, I didn’t get down stairs until the afternoon because I had 3 Constant Contact newsletters to format and send for SDA state reps. Tonight, we took a break and went to the symphony. It was wonderful. It was our first concert of the year as we missed the first one in our series.

So, there you have it. Tomorrow, I hope to get in a full day of purging. I shall persevere. And you know, it is cathartic.