I spent a lot of time with M & M this week-end. I took some photos of them in the backyard this afternoon. so here is some gratuitous cuteness:

Here is Mia going

and coming…

And the adorable Milo, “fishing”:

Here is a hint of fall in our backyard:

Lisa is here until tomorrow evening, but she is spending the night with Steph so that she can take Mia to school tomorrow and then they are having breakfast with Alicia. Today she looked at houses and neighborhoods as she ponders the possibility of joining the rest of us here in Portland. I hardly dare say it out loud for fear I will jinx it! We had dinner at Steph’s tonight, with the two of them cooperating on the meal and it was delish and a joy to be fed by my girls.

You Are 10% Left Brained, 90% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you’re left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you’re right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

This is not surprising is it? I laughed when I saw the description of a left brained person ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù that is Mr C to a T. Opposites do attract.

It is Saturday morning. Lisa is here from San Francisco. Steph and family came over for cinnamon rolls and coffee. Now the adults have gone garage saling. M & M and I have been playing with my jewelry . They love to sort through all my stuff and try things on.

We have just finished tracing their hands so that I can embellish them like mine. Have a great week-end!

Karey Bresenhan, Director of the
International Quilt Festival in Houston, has asked the Quilt Art list to make fabric hands for a display at the quilt show this fall. Here is what she says on a web page about the project:

I fell so much in love with the Creative Spirit Center’s
idea of a three-dimensional hanging installation of “creative HANDS”
that we created “A Show of HANDS” for this fall’s International Quilt
Festival in Houston. This will be a special exhibit of HANDsome,
HANDS-on, HAND-picked quilts that people with gloved HANDS can touch–a true
laying on of HANDS to warm the heart and heal the spirit! I’m planning
for folks to walk through this magical “forest” of one-of-a-kind
HANDmade art HANDS hanging from the ceiling–literally HANDS all around–to see
the quilts. It sounds wonderful to me and I think visitors to the show will
love experiencing it first-HAND! We want this to be a visually stunning
exhibit, a HANDS-down show favorite, that will make people clap HANDS in
delight when they step into the exhibition…but we need more HANDS! In
other words, we’re short-HANDed!

Today is is cool and rainy in Portland, a great day for a fun, short-term project so I made a hand for the display.

First, I traced my hand on to two layers of felt and cut it out.

I grabbed some of my fused silk scraps. I saved even the smallest bits from the commission quilt.

I placed the scraps randomly over the two sides of the felt hands.

I added smaller strips to the top and then fused them to the felt using Teflon sheets.

Then I cut up some fun yarns and ribbon and layered those on top.

Next, I pinned a layer of light gray tulle over each hand.

I free motion quilted over the tulle to encase all of the embellishments. I wrote my name on another piece of silk and fused and stitched it to one side.

I trimmed each side and glued them together and then zigzagged the edges. I made an hole with an awl and attached a chain for hanging.

This was lots of fun and could become as addictive as making postcards. I am thinking of different ways and designs for doing these. I invite you to do one. The address where you can send them is on the web page link above.

I’m excited because the energetic and lovable Lisa is flying in to town for a few days.

Today I had leftover cookies and treats from last night’s get together. On Wednesday’s, Mia gets out of school early, and she loves cookies. So I called her Mom and invited them to tea to fill the time between end of school for Mia and end of school for Milo.

Normally, eating in the living room is off limits to M & M, so it was really special for her that I set up the table in the living room by the big windows. We got out the good china tea cups. I served sparkling apple juice and Earl Grey tea. She had some apple juice, some tea and a mixture and lots and lots of cookies.

Then she pronounced that she would like to do this every Wednesday. She is such a delight. She loves school so much that she wants to go on Saturday and Sunday. I wonder how long this will last.

It was fun to sit and drink tea and visit with Mia and her Mom. Mia says that the teacher tells her to sit bottom to bottom and back to back which made us chuckle because she has a very difficult time sitting still. Stephanie said, “Does she have to tell you that often?” The answer was yes.

Miles gets out at lunch time on Mondays and Fridays, so we will have a special date with him, too.

Reasons I am happy today:

• I am over the virus. I had a miraculous recovery yesterday. There is something about feeling so bad that makes you appreciate life when it is gone! Thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes. While we lived in Sonoma County, I was plagued with allergy problems. I had sinus infections, asthma, etc. Since we have lived here, I have been really healthy so this week-end’s fever was unexpected. Even Mr C noted that it has been a long time since I had to stay in my jammies for a day.

• I saw my oncologist yesterday. I didn’t tell him that I stopped taking Femara. I thought I would wait for his prognosis. I love a doctor who sits next to you with all the paper work and shows you how he came to his conclusion! There are 4 criteria for deciding further treatment; tumor size, size of clear margins around the tumor, the pathology of the tumor and your age. I had the lowest score on all but the pathology, he ranked that at 2/3. But when totaled, it gives me an almost nil chance of invasive cancer or recurrence of cancer. So no follow-up treatment was necessitated. I did the happy dance. My extremities and pain are improving each day.

• STASH (Second Tuesday at Somebody’s House) was at my house last night. An evening of chatting, drinking wine and sharing work is always therapeutic. I invited Reva, a neighbor and quilter and former Californian. She is going to become part of our group. Last night was bittersweet as member, Terri (not Terry Grant), told us she is moving to the DC area to be with her sweetheart. They have been carrying on a long distance relationship for two years. I am happy for her and sad for us.

• Because STASH was coming, I did some major fixing up and cleaning in the studio. I hung art quilts on my wall of fame (work by other quilters). I am going to try to finish organizing the studio before I mess it up again and take some photos to go on my website and I’ll post them here. too.

Now for something art related. Here is a link to my Picasso Head. You, too, can create one. If you do, please send me a link so that I can see it.

Oh, and a PS. If you haven’t seen Little Miss Sunshine, yet, I encourage you to go and have a wonderful wacky experience that will make you feel so good.