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Archive for the ‘Condo Life’ Category

Slow Stitching

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

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Well, I made a decision about using this fabric. None of my hand-dyes were playing well with it. Since the piece only needed to be 12 inches square, I thought it best to use just the two fabrics I purchased from Elin. I tried several different layouts and settled on a centered layout.

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I walked down to the needlework shop on my street and found some embroidery threads to use. I also have some hand-dyed perle cotton from Laura Wasilowski.

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I have been very busy with SDA database and spreadsheet work. I finally finished today and so started doing some stitching. I have also made progress on the Pooh Bear sweater. I am working on the front, now.

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We had a fun local SDA meeting on Sunday. One of our members did a presentation on natural dyeing. Yesterday, my condo art quilters met for sharing and talking and then out to lunch. The condo we went to is at the other end of the street car line from me. So I have been busy, but it still feels like April is taking so long!

Day 6

Sunday, December 6th, 2015

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This is the extent of my Christmas decor this year -our fake birch tree on the deck with lights. I just have not felt like going to the storage room to retrieve things and put them out. I hardly slept last night because of pain in my knees and I have not been very active today.

I binge watched Broadchurch on Netflix (2nd season). Mr C says he does not remember it so I am watching it by myself. I also got quite a bit done on this sweater. I have the sleeves on stitch holders while I knit the body of the sweater in the round.

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Tonight was our condo holiday party. It was lots of fun to share food and drink with all of our neighbors. We hardly see people most of the time as we come and go. Here is Mr C with our good friend, Bonnie. She belongs to Trinity and we had dinner at her condo a few years ago and she is the reason we live here, because we loved her place. She is a fiesty 80+ year old woman.

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I actually feel pretty good tonight – must be the result of imbibing some good wine.

 

 

Life in the Fast Lane

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

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My life is full, fun and fantastic, but time gets away from me. The main reason I am a bit distracted this week is the visit from my two Oakland girls, Lisa and Clay and they brought Wilfredo!

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Four adults and two dogs are getting along just fine in our condo. My son in law, Jack, has named it The Congdo! We have had such a good time with them, and they love our neighborhood. This week, Lisa is participating in an ICON conference and tonight is a meet and greet at the Portland Art Museum. She has her books to and some prints of her work to sell and examples of all the work she does. Saturday, she is doing a workshop session on the business of illustration.

Every one gathered here for the 4th of July. We had great food and it was fun to have every one here. We could watch fireworks from our windows. We had some great salads and kabobs.

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These photos were taken by Steph for her 3191 blog.

I have been working frantically to get my two big quilts done for the High Fiber Diet “What’s Blue to You” exhibit.

Lisa took this photo of me with my blue picasso woman and posted it on Instagram.

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I got 760 likes and 72 comments. The comments cracked me up.

This is the Sky Blue Pink quilt as of today. I think it might need something more. I am disappointed with the wonkiness of the bottom. Not sure what to do. The photo at the top is a detail shot of the hand stitching on the cheesecloth section.

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Today was STASH day at Gale’s home. I just love spending a morning with my friends, chatting and eating. Reva brought her vintage t-shirt quilt At our next meeting, we are going to help her tie it. It is to unwieldy to do machine quilting.

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So that is a bit of what I have been up to. The other part of my life is so left brained. I am helping SDA with membership and database issues on the website. There have been some problems with work done by some previous employees. We are slowly getting it under control. We have about 4000 members and people join and renew in various ways – phone, mail, and online. I get a real sense of satisfaction as I troubleshoot issues.

 

A Busy Week

Thursday, May 22nd, 2014

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I didn’t realize that a week had gone by and I only posted Wordless Wednesday. I am a bad blogger. But, I have been very busy. We had the opening of the New Heaven, New Earth show last Friday. Here are my two pieces in the show.

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We had a good turn out at the reception and have sold a few pieces of art. We gave a Genisis award for best interpretation of the theme. It was won by a quilter from Montana who used to be a member of Trinity and comes back in the spring to be in this show.

On Saturday night, we went to a gala dressup fundraiser dinner for an organization that provides quality experiences, such as summer camp, for abused children — Sparks for Hope. We were invited to be at a table put together by one of Steve’s former co-workers. I was thrilled to be able to get into the dress I bought for Lisa and Clay’s wedding. Speaking of which, how great is it that gay marriage is no longer banned in Oregon! State by state, we are winning.

Sunday, I took part in a forum at Trinity. The artists in the show talked about our inspiration and other things. I also sat at the show on Sunday afternoon and got a sale, just as I was packing up!

I have spent a bunch of time getting my studio set up. Almost there! Today, I wrangled four 2 foot by 4 foot insulation panels and taped them together and covered them with flannel to make a 4 x 8 design wall. It was a bit hysterical as my studio is not that big so there is no place to lay stuff on the floor. I guess I could have gone out in the hall!!

The photo at the top is of my tjaps and printing blocks on display in front of my encaustic experiments. I have utilized the back of the door for some hanging storage.

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We also put up lots of shelves for storing stuff where I can see it.

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I have also been to a couple of meetings this week — High Fiber Diet on Tuesday night and SAQA on Wednesday, followed by lunch with a group of friends.

We continue to get the condo in order. I hung a bunch of quilts and other art in the hallway and bedroom

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I hung Motherlode in the entry way and realized it has the complete color palette of our new home!

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One of my aspen quilts graces the hallway.

I also hung some of my work in the bedroom

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We bought a nice little glass topped desk at Crate and Barrel for my desktop computer. It is a lovely place to work and look out on nature. It is in the bedroom.

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This is the really cool walnut dresser that we found when we went on our hunt for Midcentury Modern furniture.

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That wall needs some more art, don’t you think?

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Our chandelier arrived this week, too. And with much ado, we got it installed.

Today, we walked up to the Rose Garden from our home. It is a good hike — straight up — but it only takes about 15 minutes to get there. Portland is known as the Rose City and the rose Festival is happening, soon. Here are some photos. The first is a view of  Big Pink from the garden.

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Walking home is a breeze because it is down hill most of the way.

 

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A Peek at Our New Home

Sunday, May 11th, 2014

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We had our first guests today. Stephanie, Jack and M & M came over a Mom’s day meal prepared by Mr C. He grilled skewers of marinated meat and purchased salads and appetizers. I was not allowed to participate and he got mad when I changed the napkins on the table – couldn’t help myself!! Stephanie made strawberry shortcake and made special gluten free biscuits for me. It was delish.

While we had the house looking spiffy, I took some photos. Above is the view towards the fireplace from the dining area. Below is the view in the other direction. I love all the windows in the dining area – this is where we get the view of Mt. St. Helens. (Click on photos to see them larger.)

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Here is the table set for dinner.

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And Mr C, slaving in the kitchen. You can see that we live in a very compact area, but it works.

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This is the room that I call the multi-purpose room.

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I have my Janome set up here, the sofa pulls out to a queen size bed. The TV is onthe left and on the right is a credenza with my printer, thermofax and old carbon based copier that I used to make the screens. There is a big closet to the left of the Janome that is holding a lot of my sewing stuff and current quilts. I have not hung any art in here. That is next on my to do list.

Here are two views of our deck.

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The door at the end of the deck is our bedroom.

 

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This is looking up our hallway towards the kitchen and living area with Lisa’s painting of birches. We still have lots of room in the hallway, bedroom and entryway to hang more art – going to hang some quilts.

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This little plaque is in the entry way. It has graced the entrance to every house we have ever lived in.

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I made some progress on my studio. Mr C is going to hang some simple shelves on brackets for me. I need to make more floor room. I am anxious to get to work.