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Archive for the ‘House and home stuff’ Category

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Checking in from the Craziness

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

Here is a sneak peek at my gray Twelve x Twelve piece. I have some finishing touches to put on it and then get it photographed for the reveal on Tuesday.

Other than relabeling two quilts and packing them up and sending them off to SAQA and Art Quilts Lowell, I haven’t done much in my studio.

The construction of the deck is taking over our lives. I spend most of my time providing support to the Mr C and Mark. This is what one side of my studio looks like.

This is the view out my sliding glass doors of the studio.

I love this view.

Here is the view from the dining room which has sliders exiting to the deck.

And here is the long view of the deck. There are some sunspots on the photo. It is a gorgeous day.

The decking material is ipe, which is a Brazilian hardwood. They delivered it on Thursday, but did not have oil in stock. The wood has to be oiled before it is installed. I did an internet search and found a suitable product and picked it up. I will probably get involved in oiling the wood at some point.

Look what I harvested from my raspberry patch today – yum, yum!

Lisa, Clay and Wilfredo arrived on Thursday. Scooter wants to play with Wilfredo, but he is a bit too large and exuberant for Wilfredo.

I had some quality time with M & M while Steph had some appointments. We had a nice walk in the Rhodie garden.

Tonight, Steph is making dinner for her siblings so that Mr C and I can have a quiet evening together. I can just imagine the conversation about how to deal with us old fogies!!

Well, that is all the news from here for now. I will have a nice rendezvous on Monday, but will share that later. Hope you are having a great week-end.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, Family, House and home stuff | 4 Comments »

Winter in July

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

There is a lot going on around here. Family partying, deck construction and a very happy dog, enjoying every minute of it. Even so, I managed to finish my Twelve x Twelve piece, which you can’t see until July 12. I also finished this little piece. I should have measured it before I came upstairs. The photo was taken in the winter at the Oregon Garden so I have titled it Northwest Winter. Click it to see a larger version.

Here is a detail:

I fused some of the gray shibori fabric to black felt and then appliqued the handstitched piece to that using a really nice random looking satin stitch which is one of the programed stitches on my Jamome. I am quite happy with this little piece. I hope to get a couple more done.

Our son Mark is staying with us for awhile to build our new deck. Jayme flew back to San Francisco this morning as she needs to get to back to work on a research project which is her summer activity. They spent most of the week-end out in the gorge with Steph and family. Everyone got together here at our house for the 4th of July.

Here are Mark and Mia playing fetch with Scooter.

And Miles couldn’t wait for dark to sparkle.

There have been some glitches, but the work on the deck is proceeding. Here are the two of them checking the plans.

The first thing is to prepare the holes for the rebar and concrete for the deck footings. Mark is cutting holes in the concrete patio outside my studio while Mr C breaks up the concrete.

All of the openings now have the rebar in place. Tomorrow, the city inspector comes back to sign off on them and then they can pour the concrete.

Mr C is working so hard with Mark. You all know how spoiled I am, but I am really pulling my weight and doing all the dog walking, the clean up from my cooking escapades and trying to keep the house in ship shape order. Lisa and Clay are arriving on Thursday, with Wilfredo. Tomorrow, I have to move Mark into the smaller guest bedroom and get all the bed linens laundered and replaced. I am also going to have M & M for most of the day.

All I can say is, I am so happy I finished the gray colorplay quilt done early.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, Family, House and home stuff, My creations | 5 Comments »

My Exciting Life

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

I am feeling so much better that I have been spending the last two days doing some much needed cleaning. As many of you know, Mr C prefers to do our cleaning rather than have someone come in to do it. I hate regular housekeeping — dusting, vacuuming, etc. However, I can really get into scrubbing and purging various locations in the house. In the last two days, I have done the kitchen cabinets, the master bathroom cabinets, the pantry and the fridge. I also helped Mr C do some purging of the garage and it got power washed.

So, I have not done much studio work. I have done lots of hand stitching on the gray piece. I have to say that I love the piece so much. I am not sure if the value is working, but I don’t care because I love exploring the elements that I have included. I am looking forward to sharing it on July 12th.

I have enjoyed taking Scooter to the Rhodie Garden in the afternoons.

Today, Scooter went to visit the groomer and got his summer do.

A couple of days ago, he looked much chunkier!!

Tonight, we attended a dinner and lecture by Bishop Gene Robinson. He was the first openly gay priest to be elected a Bishop in the Episcopal Church. He is an incredibly gifted speaker and a man full of grace who is not afraid to speak the truth. Tonight he said he was going to do something his mother told him not to do — mix religion and politics. He spoke about his growing concern about the political climate in this country and how he wants the church to step up and speak out about the inequality — the concern that the poor are bearing the biggest burden of the downturn of our economy. I had just told Mr C this morning that I was so depressed with the crap that is happening in the Supreme Court and in Congress that I felt I was almost ready to pack up and leave for another country. Of course, I won’t. I will stick it out and hope the pendulum starts to swing back.

Sorry for the downer. Here is the gorgeous peony that was the centerpiece for our table tonight.

And, here are Jayme and Mark, kayaking in the San Juan Islands. Love this!!

Posted in 12X12 challenge, House and home stuff, Spiritual Life, This and that | 4 Comments »

Turning the Corner

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

I was happy to wake up this morning to no spinning rooms. My vertigo seems to have stabilized. I was a little woozy for a couple of hours, but took Scooter for a long walk in wonderful warm sunshine. I spent part of the morning getting ready for Mark and Jayme to arrive tomorrow. They just sent me a text that they are in Grant’s Pass and should be here by lunch time.

This afternoon, I worked on my Twelve by Twelve piece. I have to stop showing photos, now!! I also weeded my veggie beds and the landscaping in the front yard. I followed this up with some extreme grocery shopping and a trip to the 47th Ave Farm to pick up my CSA veggies.

I went out on a limb this month and entered 3 different quilt shows. Sea of Salt, which you see up there, is going to Art Quilts Lowell 2011: The Sea. This makes me very happy and has boosted my sagging morale.

We are really looking forward to Mark and Jayme’s visit. They haven’t been here in almost two years. They are stopping here briefly and then going up to the San Juan Islands for a little vacation and kayaking. Then they will come back here. Jayme will go back to SF, but Mark will stay and build our new deck for us.

Mr C has it almost completely dismantled. There is no turning back, now.

Posted in Family, House and home stuff, Juried Shows | 9 Comments »

Some Color

Monday, June 20th, 2011


I received a package of glorious color today from The Wool Peddler. These are wooly cupcakes in delicious color ways.

This is silk Sari Ribbon which I will use in felting.

A gorgeous pound of hand-dyed high quality roving that are ends and leftovers at a great price.

I love these silk fibers – can’t wait to use them in felting.

This is pulled silk fiber, made by pulling the fibers from remnants.

I knew I could not survive the virus unscathed. I now have sinusitis which is causing severe vertigo when I awaken in the morning. After a saline rinse and sitting quietly for a couple of hours, I can sort of resume normal activity. My Dr. is out of town until Wednesday, so I am biding my time trying to cope with another setback.

We had a nice family meal last evening for Father’s Day. It was fun to see M & M and get caught up on their plans for the summer. I gave some books and sketch books to use this summer.

I got down to the studio this afternoon and actually made a thermofax screen and printed some images. I had fun last Friday with Photoshop and a couple of photos I took 3 years ago. I turned them into black and white sketches.

That is Mark and Jayme in the photo above. I did a test print on muslin and then printed on two different organzas.

This is a white organza with a woven leaf print.

This is a dark gray organza. The print on muslin was much clearer.

I received a lovely message from Jane Dunnewold this afternoon, telling me how much she liked my piece that I did for the SDA Member’s show at the conference. She thought it was one of the top ten pieces. I really needed that boost. In case you have forgotten, you can see it here.

Mr C came down with the crappy virus this week-end, but today, he was back at work, dismantling our old deck.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, House and home stuff, screenprinting, Surface Design Association, Surface Design Techniques, thermofax | 7 Comments »

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