most recent quilt

here is my wonderful grandboy wrapped up in my latest quilt.  he looks so good in it and seemed to like it so much that it just might be a gift to him for xmas.

the next quilt

i am in the planning process of the next quilt which will be for my grandgirl's 11th birthday in Nov.

she seems especially drawn to greens currently... so that's what it will be... with some turquoise and purples thrown in.  this will be another "quilt as you go" adventure, using the tutorial here

and in a couple of days i should be receiving my order from Dharma Trading of their solar dyes which i will use to dye some fabric for quilting and might even try over-dyeing some of my not-so-favorite fabrics in my stash.

yesterday Pam and i went to Lake Oswego's Pine Needle fabric store for a wonderful day of stash enhancement.  they have the beautiful ombre fabric and had a perfect green (lower left).  if i keep it up, i'll eventually have some of every single color they have... that's my goal.  it looks so lovely in prayer flag type banners and in quilts, too.

this coming Saturday is the annual Summer Hummer at dome central and includes family and friends for an afternoon of bbq, lots of food and wine and celebration of life and love!  the tradition began many years ago as the celebration of the birth of our first llama cria.  the "hummer" part came from the fact that llamas hum a lot, so we had a big hummin' party for the baby.  there were probably 100+ people here, we bbq'ed a lamb, everyone brought food, we drank a lot of wine and beer and apparently all had a fine time.  memory blurs a bit, but the tradition continues, tho we don't roast a lamb anymore we do still bbq something, eat well, drink wine and usually now only have 20 or 25 people here.  so a lot of this week is devoted to getting ready to party.  party on....

from HONY (Humans of New York)

this was posted on Facebook today by Brandon at HONY.  his photos and the stories or quotes with them are something i look forward to every day.  he has a book coming out in october, which i'm thinking about pre-ordering (lower price!)

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

this woman and her poem made me both smile and tear up a bit.

She asked if I wanted to hear a poem she'd written when she was younger. (At what age, she couldn't remember) She then recited it from memory. I had her repeat it several times so I could get all the words right:

"Were I to dream,
then dream I would
of days that have gone by.

Your eyes would gleam
and so would mine,
but joys remembered are no longer mine.

I walk in a garden of memory,
reliving the joys and the sorrows as well.
I walk with a cane down memory lane,
perhaps there, joys remembered will remain.

Perhaps when my hair has turned to gray
and my face is etched with pain,
I'll walk with a cane down memory lane.
Perhaps there, joys remembered will remain."

next up... fabric dyeing

today i got an email from Dharma Trading Co. introducing a new dye product from Jacquard, called SolarFast which sounded interesting enough that i decided to order some!  i'm getting started on the next quilt which will be for my sweet grandgirl's 11th birthday.  we were fabric shopping with her mom when i was in Duvall last week and i noticed she was really drawn to greens... also to flannel.  so the quilt will be green with some turquoise and purples accents, and with flannel for the backing and maybe the binding.  after pulling all the fabrics from my stash which i thought might possibly work, i found a serious lack of greens, both solid and subtle prints.  so, besides going to a sale at Pine Needle in Lake Oswego on sunday, i'll try this solar dyeing thing while we have sun!!  i think this is the perfect plan.  stay tuned.....

	SolarFast dyes from Jacquard are a whole new way to sun print! Create cyanotype-like prints, photograms, continuous tone photographs, shadow prints, ombrès and more on fabric and paper. SolarFast is also great for painting, tie-dyeing, screen printing, stamping, and batik! Available in 14 intermixable colors!

dead tree downing

consulting  before topping the pear/shade tree.  Jim was the only one of 'em wearing a hard hat......














there's a rogue branch cut off and then just hangin'

 after a lot of shaking of the branches by the man in the tree, the branch finally came loose and crashed into the rhodie after grazing the fucshia  basket.  this was the only near-disaster, as far as i know.

that chipper devoured all the debris and branches in no time!

this dead tree was the major target of the day.  the tree guy is up there sawing branches off.

and then he felled it right beside the pieces of the upper half of the tree he'd already cut.  lots of firewood which will make our neighbor happy and keep him warm thru the winter.

very big very dead fir tree

tomorrow the "tree man" is coming to take down this very dead, very dry tree.  and none too soon, say i.  today there were thunder and lightening storms nearby, which i had great fear would come this way.  i think we are ok,  tho, til tomorrow.  this one was planted about 33 years ago and gave wonderful shade til  a couple of years ago.  no idea why it died.  if i manage to get up early enough i'll have photos of man in tree tomorrow a.m.

although i haven't seen any sign of it tonight, that bat is still in the house somewhere.  eeeeeek....

weekend stuff

and here's the blue-footed booby...  i think he's about the cutest thing i've seen in a long time!  wish i could see one in person.  you can read all about him here

my garden did just fine while i was gone.  went to seattle on monday for my sister's wedding, which was awesome almost beyond words!  after the wedding at the court house, then dinner, went home with Chris, Kate and kids.  enjoyed that time, then took amtrak back home wed. afternoon.

oh, yeah... the garden.  there are definite signs that there will be an eggplant crop, which pleases me... a lot!  there are 3 plants and they all have small fruit and lots of blossoms.

tomatoes are doing well and already had several small ones, with one of 'em big enough for making a BLT, my favorite summer treat.

and fuchsias are blooming nicely.  i love this one the best.

love the gerbera daisies, too.  i keep them in big pots so they can winter over in my studio.  also, so the damn gophers won't eat them.

i'm really really afraid of Johnny Depp!  you'd think that at my age i'd be past this kind of stuff... but i may be old, but i ain't dead yet.




and now i really must be brave and go get ready for bed.  there is a bat in the house.  it was flying around my room and when it went out, i closed the door.  now i'll need to make a dash for the bathroom and back hoping i won't get swooped at by a bat.   eeeeek

quilt... finished!!

here it is!  and "finished" trumps "perfect".  and i love it again, even after all the not loving it as i tried to fix the stupid.  biggest lesson i got from this project is i better damn well know what's the next step and how i'll get there before i start cutting!

this was a quilt-as-you-go project and i loved doing the cutting and piecing of the front and love how it turned out!  love the fabrics and the colors and that wonderful ombre fabric!!  and now to figure out which of the ideas running around in my head will be the next project.  am thinking it will be a wall hanging.

coming up.... sunday will be a gathering here of twisted sisters and friends to spin, knit, talk, laugh, graze at the bountiful table of pot-luck (which always far exceeds what we can consume) and, of course, fondle fibers.

monday i'm headed north on amtrak to go to sister Dinah's wedding to her long-time partner, in seattle. will go with brother Curbhead, sister Robin and her "close friend" Chuck.  following wedding will be celebratory dinner, then i'll go home with Chris, Kate and kids for a few days.  Jim and Tasha will keep each other company and i hope my garden will get watered while i'm gone as i want to have some big ripe tomatoes ready for BLT when i get home!  tis the season.