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Archive for the ‘My neighborhood’ Category

A Bittersweet Day

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

I am still having fun playing with my new camera. Right now, it is kind of hit or miss. I get some really good photos and some not so good, and I don’t know what I have done differently!! This is a photo of one of the weeping willows on the golf course near us.

Today is bittersweet because it was a really gorgeous day and I enjoyed time with friends, but tonight, I found out that someone I care about is going through a rough time. I wish that I were closer so I could be of more help. Her e-mail tonight brought me to tears.

This morning, Steph took some head shots of Terry and I for the Twelve X Twelve book. She hasn’t sent them to me yet. I hope we got some that will work. Reva came by and we talked and shared some work and then went out to lunch. Here is Terry showing Reva her Doug Fir Quilt.

We took Terry out to lunch. I always enjoy time with my good friends and getting out of the house.

Mr C has been busy building me another raised bed. This one is up near the kitchen on the side of the garage and will be home to my herbs and maybe some tomatoes and rhubarb. Next, we have to get some soil delivered.

I took Scooter to the Rhodie Garden for his afternoon walk and, of course, took the new camera. Here are the good ones!

I have been having a little pain in my shoulder in the back. I thought it might be a pinched nerve. Tonight, I reached back into the corner of the kitchen counter to plug something in and ouch, it got really worse. I think I need to call the Dr. tomorrow and find out what is going on. I did manage to paint some silk tonight for the volcano piece. I couldn’t get the right colors with the Colorhue dyes. It is so much easier to get the right color when you are mixing paint.

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

Let the Quilting Begin

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

I finished fusing Mother lode to the batting and found a great batik for the backing.

I had to run to Fabric Depot to find some thread for the unusual color palette of this quilt. Several dollars later, I was back home and started the quilting.

Tonight, I had a wonderful time at a Literary Round Table at Trinity. We listened to some Leonard Cohen music and discussed the meaning, poetry and spirituality of his lyrics. So now I have Leonard’s music running around in my brain. One of my favorite lines is from Anthem: There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in. This has so much meaning for me, an imperfect and “cracked” being.

Finally, the pink season and pink snow has come early to Portland.

Posted in Construction series, My neighborhood, Spiritual Life | 2 Comments »

Going in Circles Again

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

I am starting on the second irrigation circle piece. It is a bit larger that the silk piece, which I am stitching by hand with hand-dyed thread in my spare moments. I am going to use my shibori fabrics for the circles on this piece.

I marked out the grid on a piece of felt. It is sturdier than batting and will not stretch out of shape.

The last few days have been full of various activities. I have done some cooking — a Key Lime Cheesecake for a dinner party last night. Tonight, I made White Chicken Chili and cornbread muffins for a family dinner.

This morning, I took Scooter for a walk in the Rhodie Garden. It is certainly beginning to look like spring.

Daffodils are on the way.

The first Rhododendron blooms .

And some cherry blossoms are beginning to burst out.

When we moved from upstate New York to California in 1976, one of the things I loved most was having spring come in January and February. This is a bit early for Portland, but I will enjoy it.

Posted in Bird's Eye View, My neighborhood | 7 Comments »

Composing an Abstract Landscape

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

I spent a couple of hours in the studio this afternoon. It is still quite hot here in Portland and my basement studio is the coolest spot in the house. We have AC, but we barely every use it.

I used my shibori cottons and linens for the sky area.

The ground area has various shades of yellows, red and oranges and some wonderful printed indigo fabrics that Kristin sent me. I have been saving them for this piece.

The yellows and oranges are to represent the color of Aspen leaves.

The fabrics are tacked to a Teflon sheet until I am satisfied with the arrangement. Then I will fuse them to batting and quilt the background before adding the tree trunks and whatever else I decide to use.

This is a piece that has been percolating in my brain for a long time. I seemed to have a mental block. I finally had a breakthrough in how I wanted to do the background.

On another note, I need some help from the bird watchers out there. Yesterday, when we were at Reed College, Mia told me that she saw a strange bird and she thought it might be a cross between a duck and a stork. I barely caught a glimpse of it scurrying into the shrubs. He seemed to have long legs and a long beak and a furry roundish body.

Today, I was walking Scooter over there again and there was the bird again. I got these photos with my iPhone. I couldn’t get in close so I cropped these so you can see them better.

He does not have web feet. His beak is quite orange and longer than a normal bird’s beak. We think it might be a blue heron baby because we are right across from Crystal Springs reservoir where they often can be seen.

If anyone has a guess as to its identity, please let me know. I am afraid that he is separated from the nest and wonder if I should try to call someone to rescue him.

For my USA readers, have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration. Our little Portland family will gather for some great food and fun. We will shun the places with crowds of people!!

Posted in My creations, My neighborhood, shibori | 4 Comments »

Back to the Scrap Bin

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

I had a horrible sinus headache today and am losing my voice. There is something in the air that is making my allergies go bananas. I managed to put away all of the SDA registration materials and get rid of the table that has been part of my office space for 6 months. It was cathartic. It gave me energy. I straightened up the studio and put away fabrics I had been auditioning for the SAQA piece. I got a burst of energy and decided it was time to make another scrap piece. For this, I used fused silk scraps that were left over from the big liturgical piece I did 3 years ago. I fused some color strips and cut curvy strips and arranged them on the silk background and did some simple quilting. Here is a detail: