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Archive for the ‘Quilting Friends’ Category

Kicking Back and Getting Connected

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

m&mlunchondeck

It is summer and this blog will occasionally succumb to gratuitous photos and posts about the grandkids. They came to spend the day. Here they are lunching al fresco on the deck and in the sun.

Here is Mia with a mouth full of watermelon.

miaandwatermelon

Mr C and Miles made a couple of trips to the Dollar Tree. I think Miles is beginning to understand the tenuous quality of their merchandise, if you know what I mean. Mia and I took Scooter for a walk around Reed College campus and then pulled weeds in the garden.

This afternoon, we had a rousing game of Go Fish for Art, using the Impressionist deck. Mia said she liked learning to pronounce the names. I used my best French accent for them!!

Yesterday, I went shopping to spend some of the money I made as registrar for the conference. I upgraded to Leopard on my desktop computer and also got the maximum memory. I also bought this:

iphonecase

Oops, wrong side:

iphonewallpaper

And here are the apps:

iphoneapps

Yes, I got an iPhone and I am loving it and I don’t even have the bubble wrap app, Terry!! (sorry for the lousy photos!) I have spent quite a bit of time today adding my contacts and learning the ins and outs. The keyboard makes texting so much easier. I must say, I have quite mastered the little thing. And don’t you love the lime green case that I got? I also love that wallpaper in the second photo. As a senior citizen, I got a way better deal on the monthly service, too.

Fiberfest is going on over at Reed College. I think it used to be Art & Soul and was in another location. Kathyanne White, an SDA friend, is teaching a couple of classes. They have a vendor’s night open to the public on Friday night. I’m planning to go over. I have invited Kathyanne to come over for a glass of wine tomorrow night. I guess I better get the studio cleaned up.

In a Purple Haze

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

purplefog

I did it. I finally made it into the studio and took the rotary cutter to some fabric. I looked at the original piece of shibori fabric and suddenly saw a murky forest of trees and vines. I need to do a 12 inch square piece for the SAQA auction and got inspired to cut this up and assemble an abstract landscape.  The piece of fabric was not large enough so I had to add some other fabric for a forest floor and sky. Here is the original fabric. I had not looked at it from the other orientation!

violetfolded

I seem to be getting some focus back. I am generally more tired than I like to be, but it is peak allergy season for me. I managed to do a deep cleaning of the fridge and filled it up with goodies from the local farmer’s market.

I forgot to show you one of my new acquisitions. I am a big fan of Karen Miller’s Katazome work. She cuts the most gorgeous stencils. I saw an oak tree at her show in Philomath, but it was not for sale. She had another which I acquired. I need to decide whether I want to stretch it or hang it loosely. Here it is:

karensoaktree

And so my purple haze seems to be lifting or at least transferred.

Inspiration

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

stashoregongarden

Today, four of the STASH group went on a field trip to the Oregon Garden in Silverton. A Frank Lloyd Wright house is next door to the garden and Reva and I toured it without Terry and Gale as they had already seen it. Here is the group waiting for the tram to give us a leisurely ride around the garden.

Here is the FLW designed house, known as the Gordon house. It was originally built nearer Portland and was moved, a few years ago, to its current setting. It was due for demolition – imagine that. The design for this house was a modification of a family home which FLW designed for Life magazine. (Note: I should have mentioned that FLW called these Usonian Houses. Click here for more information about the house.)

gordonhouse

Here are some interior shots. Here you see how the interior matches the exterior, an FLW design element.

exterior

For the less expensive family home, FLW designed these windows with an abstract wood design instead of the stained glass windows in his higher end homes.

gordonhousewindowdesign

The floors inside and out are stained concrete.

gordonhouseview

The kitchen was small and was designed so as not to be seen from te living area. How cool is that paneled refrigerator – original to the house.

gordonhousekitchen2

gordonhousekitchen

The house had 3 bedrooms – 2 up and one down and 3 full baths.

When the house was moved, the top half was moved intact. The bottom half was dismantled and only the built-ins, windows, appliances, etc were moved. The rest of the first floor was rebuilt and then the top floor was reattached. Pretty amazing.

After lunch we toured the garden and then did a little bit of walking around the water features. I got these interesting and inspirational shots.

lilypads

bullfrog

bullfrogeyes

inspirationfoliage2

inspirationfoliage

giganticleaves2

You can see all of my photos from the day on my Flickr Set.

Tonight, Terry and I met up again at the High Fiber Diet meeting. Terry was in the spotlight and got to tell about her art quilting journey. I learned lots of new things about her and saw some quilts I had not seen. I should have been taking photos, but was so enthralled with her presentation, that I forgot!

I did get a photo of a guest from Alaska who lives an amazing life, working out on the Alaska pipe line.

lindapowell

She has a wonderfully written blog. She does not blog often, but when she does, she writes beautiful stuff. Her name is Linda Powell. Her blog is called Sweet Dream Baby. I particularly recommend this entry: to walk is to dream. Linda is a fiber artist and a friend of Bonnie Bucknam. Bonnie is our current coordinator and keeps our meetings interesting and moving along.

And to close, I just had to share this silly photo of Scooter. He looks like he has a doofus grin!

sillyscooter

Guess Who Came to Dinner

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

roastedveggies

…and is staying for awhile. It is my handsome son, Mark. He arrived yesterday afternoon to help Mr C install some new steps down to the garden from the front yard.

markjune

Here is a closeup!!

markjune2

Tonight, we had a big family dinner. I made the roasted veggies up there and some other good stuff. Stephanie is flying to San Francisco in the morning to do a photo shoot for her friend Lorena’s catalog of things she sells. So M & M are here over night and tomorrow. They haven’t stayed overnight in a while so I am very happy to have them here.

mylittlehippie

Today was the last day of school and Mia is showing Grandpa her third grade yearbook.

miasteve

Miles was recently diagnosed with high functioning autism. I love it when I can catch him in a happy, animated way.

milesjune

milesjune2

milesjune3

Oops, he caught me.Wow, is he ever growing, right in front of my eyes.

I also had a lovely lunch with Terry, June and a couple of SAQA members who were visiting the area – Sheila and Joanelle.

Here are Terry and Sheila, who is from Sand Point, ID. I love this photo of Terry.

sheilaandterry

And this is June and Joanelle. I was sitting next to Joanelle, who is from Huntington Beach, CA, so I only have a profile.

juneandjoanell

They all went on to the Portland Art Museum to see the Escher exhibit and I came home to go to the Farmer’s Market and prepare dinner for tonight. I am going to take Mia next week.

Here are my couch potatoes taken while Mr C was walking Scooter, who had an exhausting day helping in the yard and playing with kids. They are watching Mythbusters, one of their favorite shows.

couchpotatoes

In case you are interested, here is a before picture of the area where new steps are going in. The new steps will be on the right and the old steps will be removed.

gardenstairsbefore

Pardon the Pause

Monday, June 8th, 2009

scooterjune8

First, a Scooter update. He is a growing boy. Loves to annoy Maggie. Is housebroken as long as we get him outside several times a day. He is still calm and loving. His favorite spot is down in my studio and he also likes romping with the big dogs on the Reed College lawn. I am going to take him to the groomer’s this week for a summer hair cut. Mr C does not want him to look like a poodle!!

I think I have finally recovered from the conference frenzy. I was quite ill over the week-end. Every joint in my body ached and I could barely get out of bed. Today, I feel great. Lots of sleep seemed to be the cure.

Since I haven’t done any thing creative of my own, I want to share lovely, handmade gifts with you.

First, is this beautiful piece by Sue Reno, which she gave me when she was here for a visit last month. I have always been a fan of her work. It is titled, Plume Poppy #32.

suereno

Today, I received a package from Belgium. In it, was this lovely piece of art from fellow Twelve X 12 artist, Francoise Jamart. The message on the card said, “From a new Grandma to a seasoned Grandma.” She has a beautiful new granddaughter. She also sent me some wonderful fabric. Thank you, Francoise!!

f

francoisefabric

I also took some photos of some purchases I made in KC. I bought this great lime green shibori kimono jacket and an apron in red (no photo of the apron).

greenshiborijacket

I also purchased some Ink Aid from Kathyanne White who taught a class on printing on uncommon surfaces. I want to compare it to Golden’s Digital Ground.

inkaid

I have one more report to write and my expense account to assemble and then I am done, done, done. The conference was an incredible experience. As Judy said to me one day, every one here understands what I do and they value it. Well, she didn’t use those exact words, but you know what I mean. The other thing I loved is the cutting edge techniques and art that was part of this conference. My mind is still reeling. I want to get back to work in the studio!!