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Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

Sunday Potpourri

Sunday, May 13th, 2007

I owe lots of e-mails to so many of you. I just have not been feeling very well. The crappy virus is the lingering type. Mr C and I have both been suffering from coughing and sniffling and sinus headaches. It has taken all my energy to do what I have to do.

I have been working on Passages for a show that opens next week here in Portland. I am quite happy with it. I did some handstitching with perle cotton. I was struck by the beauty and the necessity of the quilted markings on fabric to give texture, depth and definition. Here is a sneak peak:magicstitch.jpg

And look at this quilty cuteness. Viola finally received her quilt today and her mom sent me these photos.

viola.jpg

viola2.jpg

Isn’t she the cutest? Look at her checking out my quilting!

Yesterday, I found these gorgeous cookies that look as if they are dye-painted.

dyepaintedcookies.jpg

I took them for our snack today. We went on a hike to one of the many waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge. We went with M & M and their mom and dad. Here are M & M sliding down a lovely boulder.

milorockslide.jpgmiarockslide.jpg

Here is the watery display:

oregonhike3.jpg

oregonhike4.jpg

Mr C and Miles entertained themselves a la Andy Goldsworthy, building a stone cairn.

cairnbuilding.jpg

I have uploaded a few more photos to the Virtual Iraq War Protest. Just click on the bumper sticker in my side bar. I am still sending out bumper stickers so if you want one, let me know by sending me your snail mail in the contact form at the top of this page.

A Beautiful Day at the Beach

Saturday, April 28th, 2007

It was a gorgeous day in Oceanside today. Not too warm, but sunny and bright. We were happy to have Linda show up today to spend the remainder of the week-end with us. We took a walk on the beach, and I got some great beachy photos. Here is a sampling. To see the full set of my beach art, go to my flickr set.

skitterbirds2.jpg

3arches2.jpg

turquoiserope.jpg

sanddollar.jpg

butterflykite.jpg

I brought lots of projects and lots of good intentions for getting work done here, but having fun with friends has taken precedence. I haven’t laughed so hard, so often, in a long time. We have shared silly and serious stories as we have spent time getting to know each other. Terry and Beth are wonderful story tellers. Terry can do great imitations of annoying and endearing people who have inhabited her life. So, so what if I didn’t get a lot of work done.

I did get the center of Viola’s garden quilted. I just did simple diagonal lines of quilting with some stitching in the ditch to hold things together. I am going to quilt some butterflies, dragonflies, flowers and leaves in the borders.

quiltingviolasgarden.jpg

Terry offered to teach us how to make the fabric house from the pattern that she designed, but I really needed to get the quilting finished today. So I observed the process as she taught Beth.

makinghouses.jpg

Here is Terry’s finished house:

terryshouse.jpg

And here is Beth’s front. Look at the cool stone fabric that she used.

bethshouse.jpg

I would like to try Terry’s pattern and then attempt a more modern house design.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up and head back over the coastal range to the Willamette valley and home to Portland. The back of Beth’s SUV will be roomier because several bottles of wine, decadent snacks and nutritious breakfast food has been consumed by us. But, we will take with us a stronger bond of friendship and memories of our retreat on the Oregon coast.

Art Quilt Claremont Day One

Saturday, April 14th, 2007

It is day two of my travels, but the first full day on class work. Yesterday, I arrived to a brilliant and beautiful California. Here is the coastline from the plane. i think that might be Pt. Reyes.

cacoast.jpg

Here is the Golden Gate Bridge.

goldengatebridge.jpg

The Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline.

baybridgesf.jpg

Here is the first dessert du jour – a lemon tart.lemontart.jpg

Here is Deb Roby chatting in front of a Susan Shie quilt.

debyak.jpg

Here is the wonderful Rayna Gilman.

raynasilkscreen.jpg

This morning we did found object screen printing. Here are two pieces I did.

foundobjectprint.jpg

foundobjectprint2.jpg

This is my favorite. It is done with torn paper.

tornpaperprint.jpg

This afternoon we did gelatin printing, but I will show those another time. I am tired and I need to get to bed.

I Feel a Rant Coming On

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

I am getting so weary of the stuff going on in Washington. The misuse of the Patriot Act (didn’t we see that coming). The Blue Dog Democrats who are holding back action that needs needs to be taken to halt the actions of an immoral administration. The abuse of the injured soldiers when they do make it home.  All those people running for president so early in the year.

But what put me over the edge to ranting today was this interview with Hilary Clinton that I found on this political blog:

I also asked her about the comments by General Peter Pace that homosexulity is “immoral.” Clinton has opposed the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, so I asked her if that law — signed by her husband in 1993 — was a mistake, and if homosexuality is “immoral.”

“General Pace has clarified his remarks, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is not working,” she said. “We are being deprived of thousands of patriotic men and women who want to serve their country who are bringing skills into the armed services that we desparately need, like translation skills. And one can argue whether it was a good idea when it was first implemented, but we now have evidence as to the fact that we are in a time of war — when we really need as many people as we can to recruit and retain in an all-volunteer army — we are turning people away or discharging them not because of what they’ve done but because of who they are.”

But is it immoral?

“Well I’m going to leave that to others to conclude,” she said. “I’m very proud of the gays and lesbians I know who perform work that is essential to our country, who want to serve their country and I want make sure they can.”

Oh, Hil, you have shown your true colors. You are just one of those politicians who waltz around this issue hoping you will garner a few votes from the Christian right. I  happen to have a gay daughter and that anyone thinks she is immoral is abhorant to me. That you could not bring yourself to come out and say it, too, is denegrating to all the homosexuals in this country and their families. You should be ashamed of yourself. You will not get any votes or support from me and I intend to work hard to make sure you do not get my party’s nomination for president.