Making Hay While the Sun Shines

May 2nd, 2013

cruciforms

 

The sun is certainly shining, and I am attempting to keep moving through my daily to do list. I had two great days with friends. Something I have not been able to do in a while. It was wonderful! I felt rejuvenated.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Del Thomas and Terry and her daughter. Terry made a delicious salad and had rice crackers for me and tangerines for dessert. It was perfect. Del brought some small pieces of work from her collection and I really loved seeing the beautiful textile art. I had to rush off because I was scheduled for an SDA Conference Staff conference call. I didn’t get home in time so I had to pull off into a parking lot and call in from my cell.

Today, I started a new piece. I am starting with those little cruciform blocks. I have some dye-painted silk that I made in a workshop two or three years ago. I decided to Mistyfuse it and play around with some fused segments. I like what is happening.

dyepaintedsilk

 

We are have such luscious weather. It is like July in May. Scooter is too hot so he is going in for a haircut tomorrow. I took an hour this afternoon to run to the nursery to get some more plants — veggies, herbs and some flowers. Tomorrow, before it gets too hot, I will get out and do my planting.

moregardenplants

 

I will leave you with this pretty photo I took at the Rhodie Garden this morning.

sunnyrhodieday

Posted in Fusing, My neighborhood, Quilting Friends, The Farm | 3 Comments »

Wordless Wednesday

May 1st, 2013

WW5-1-13

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | 1 Comment »

The Visitor from Down Under

April 30th, 2013

269965_10201148046209948_1188271331_n

Brenda Gael Smith, one of our Twelves from Australia, was here in Portland for a quick visit with Terry Grant and I. Terry picked her up at the train station. She had been in Seattle visiting friends. We all met up at a fun restaurant and had dinner. This morning, Terry brought Brenda over to my house. We spent the morning looking at quilts and just talking about the Twelve project. We are going to show the 20×12 quilts here in Portland at Quilt Expo in September.

We then went in search of a food truck pod so that Brenda could have that quintessential Portland experience. After enjoying some Mexican fare, we went off to Powell’s book store, another necessary experience. The photo up there of the three of us  was taken there in front of one copy of our book that we found on the shelf. I snapped this photo of myself with the book.

todayatPowells

 

Next, we stopped in at Josephine’s Dry Goods, a wonderful, upscale fabric store. No money spent there. Around the corner is The Playful Needle, a great place to pick up embroidery type thread for hand stitching.

yummythreads

 

I did spend money here.

morenewthreads

 

And these that I think will work with my current project.

newthreads

 

Here is a detail of the stitching I have done so far.

landscapestitching

Terry dropped me off at Whole Foods where Mr C met me and she took Brenda to the train station for the next leg of her journey, visiting friends in the Tri=cities area of Washington before she flies home at the end of the week.

It was a lovely day and a nice day away from the computer and my current work load.

Tomorrow, I am heading over to Terry’s house for lunch with our friend, Del Thomas, who is passing through town on her way home from a workshop on Whidby Island. She is bringing some new art quilt acquisitions to show us.

 

 

Posted in 12X12 challenge, handstitching, Quilting Friends, Quilting Purchases | 1 Comment »

Better Results?

April 27th, 2013

montañas y lunasbackground

 

Here is the second discharged piece after getting thrown in the washer and dryer. I did simpler stitching – just horizontal. I think I could have stitched the lines a little closer, but it has nice texture. It shrunk more in one directions than the other. It started out square. Here is a detail shot.

mtsandmoonscloseup

 

I am going to crop out a twelve inch square for my SAQA auction piece. I am titling it Montanas y Lunas (mountains and moons). I plan to do some hand stitching on both  pieces. The other piece will be larger and titled Undulations. Here are some perle cotton auditions.

threadaudition1

 

This is a gorgeous variegated hand-dyed thread by Laura Wasilowski of Artfabrik fame.

threadaudition2

 

I am not sure where I got this thread. I think it will add some nice color to the Undulations piece.

I got the results of my gall bladder ultrasound, and I have a remarkably healthy gall bladder and all the other organs and abdominal parts that showed in the scan were in great shape. So, I am going to stop worrying about that. I think I have found the reason for the hives on my legs. I realized that we changed soap in the shower at about the time the itchiness started. I have stopped using it and so far so good. I will now stop being a hypochondriac — at least until the next symptom arises. I am an old lady, after all.

We have had a run of gorgeous weather. I planted by veggie garden yesterday and replenished the herb planters.

herbplanters

 

There is room for a few more herbs. Mr C came after me and cleaned up the deck.

Here is the garden bed with a few weeds and looking a little disheveled.

gardenbedblankslate

 

I went at it with the hoe and turned up the earth. Love it!

gardenbedsprepared

 

I planted lots of lettuce for now.

lettuceplants

 

This year, I planted the squash and cucumber in the ground next to the planter box so that they have room to spread out.

squashandcukes

 

I am going to wait to plant tomatoes, and I still have room for some other plants like eggplant and peppers.

I really enjoyed getting outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

Posted in Felting, handstitching, SAQA, Surface Design Techniques, The Farm, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Full Disclosure

April 25th, 2013

defussedquilt

 

Number one – I am on serious overload of picky, time consuming left brain stuff that I need to do to keep afloat.

Number two – I need some balance in my life. I need to take some creative breaks to keep myself sane.

Number three disclosure is that shrink-a-dink textile I have been working on.

This is a closeup of what it looked like when I last took it out of the dryer.

blackfuzzyquilt

 

Eeeuuw! I was about to throw it in the trash, and then my creative wanna be, Karen, commented that she had had this very problem and almost got carpal tunnel from picking out the fuzz. What? She removed the fuzz? So, with renewed enthusiasm, I went after it last night. I decided there must be an easier way. I grabbed my needle felting brush pad and used it. This is what it looks like, now, – the brush that is.

blackfuzzbrush

 

And this is a detail shot of the stitched piece – much better.

defuzzedquiltdetail

 

I still wish it had shrunk a bit more. I may throw it in hot water and the dryer again to see what happens.

I discharged another piece of silk for another attempt at this.

newdischargedblacksilk

 

I have been neglecting the stitching together of my 3x3s so for the last two nights, I have done some stitching. These have been stitched together so far.

3x3update

So, there you go. A look into my crazy life.

 

Posted in 3 x 3, Discharging fabric, My creations | 1 Comment »

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