I found them! I found my curtain rings! After looking in every drawer and cabinet three or four times for a week, I found them under a small pile of fabric scraps on my cutting table!
So I took a few minutes tonight, while my sewing room is all torn up, to get my NY Beauty wall hanging up on the wall.
And now the next thing on my list is to get my sewing room back in order. Oh, and I have to adjust that curtain rod. It’s not even and it will drive me nuts!
My sewing room is a mess… Truly a mess. I still have piles of indigo batiks sitting in bins on the floor… sitting there since I was working on my Wensleydale quilt. I have stacks of fabric all over my chest of drawers in that room. I’m thinking the state of my sewing room might be part of what is keeping me out of there!
We had a good weekend. Saturday found us at Rico’s sheep herding lesson. We had three weeks off so he was really happy to be out there again with his wooly friends and he did such a great job! What a good kid.
On our way home we stopped at the field with the creek to let the boys run. They haven’t been there for so long and they really had fun.
Bender took off on his own and headed through the trees and brush for the creek. I heard a big splash and then I could hear his collar tags as he was shaking off. He came back looking like this.
I’m pretty sure he took a nose dive into the muddy part of the creek! He didn’t seem to mind.
Here he is in the “before” photo.
There were several other people in the park with dogs. They all kept their distance, but as we were getting ready to leave a man who was with some dogs came up and was asking me about border collies. One of the dogs he had with him, his “grand dog,” was a border collie, corgi, cattle dog mix and it was really cute. He said he had always wanted a border collie and had recently purchased some property and was anxious for a herding dog.
My boys, of course, were good boys as we conversed. They never looked at him.
It was a really beautiful day. It was good for all of us to get out.
As we were heading for the freeway to make our way home I saw a sign for “U-pick” peaches, so I made the turn and picked ten pounds.
A good summer peach is my favorite fruit. I eat a LOT of them every summer and I don’t feel at all guilty about it.
I picked a nice little harvest of my strawberries this evening. I’m going to have them with my breakfast tomorrow.
I played pickleball today for almost four hours! I had a blast but was sooo tired by the time I was done. I can see the benefits of my lessons! I’m doing a better job of holding my own out there with the better players. And I’m loving every minute of it.
Another work week on deck. I’m starting to plan some vacation time in September. I need some time away!
I still haven’t had the motivation to get into my sewing room and get busy. I keep realizing how happy I am that I’m not in a creative funk, like I’ve suffered occasionally over the past year. I think I just burnt myself out with some feverish projects. So this little break has been good for me.
I’ve been busy. Work is hectic because we’re doing a database conversion and we’re going live on the new system in 10 days. So I’ve been consumed during the day and exhausted at night.
Our Summer has continued to be gorgeous and I’m so happy that I’m getting a good tomato crop for my evening salads.
I only grew sun golds and sweet millions this year because they’re the tastiest. I usually grow more cherry varieties and end up only eating these two. So I went for broke in planting this year. They are so tasty!
A week ago today I drove up to the Tacoma area with my brother and sister in law. The traffic was terrible and it was a bit of a stressful drive. But we ended the evening at my 96 year old aunt’s home and my cousin and his wife joined us for dinner. We ate spaghetti with the sauce I made, with a salad made from my SIL’s Garden lettuce and tomatoes from my aunt’s garden. We bought some nice baguettes on our way out of Portland and they made yummy garlic bread. It was a tasty meal and everyone loved my spaghetti sauce. My aunt was very happy to have some left over.
We got up Saturday morning and hit the road for my other cousin’s vineyard in Hanville, WA. It was a gorgeous day and it only took us about 1.5 hours to drive there.
My cousin has about 7 acres of grapes that he purchased about ten years ago. He’s trying to raise his grapes organically, so no pesticides or herbicides. This also means a lot more work. It’s a beautiful area and it was so fun to see, literally, the fruits of his labor.
Harvest is usually early in the fall, so these grapes have a good deal of growing to do.
We spent the first hour or so walking among the rows of grapes as my cousin explained how he’s improved the land and how he takes care of the grapes to get the best crop. It’s a huge amount of manual work.
My cousin’s corgi joined us for the tour of the grapes.
It was interesting that the different varieties of grapes look so different. I think he’s growing at least six or seven different varieties.
While we were walking the rows we spotted a few special tiny visitors. Only about an inch long!
The countryside is so beautiful up there! It really reminds me of the Willamette Valley of Oregon… rolling hills with beautiful green fields surrounded by Douglas fir trees.
The bakery had a selection of my cousin’s wine for sale.
It was such a gorgeous day! From my cousin’s vineyard you’d never know the water was so close. What a wonderful treat. And his winery is up out of the Tsunami zone, which is always nice.
When we got back my cousin showed us the actual winery. He’s been building this over time. This is where he presses the grapes, makes the wine, ages the wine in barrels, and bottles and labels the finished product.
We finished the tour in the newest part of the building where the wine ages in oak barrels.
This section of the winery is still under construction and will eventually contain a small tasting room for customers. Each of those barrels is full of wine and I remember my cousin telling me that each one each will fill about 300 bottles! Can that be true?
My cousin pulled a sample of each of his varieties from the barrels for us to taste.
It was fun to taste how different the varieties are. Some had notable acid, some were fruity, some were nutty. They were all really good!
We probably took about an hour to taste all the wines and eat a little lunch.
That’s my cousin in the overalls. You can tell that we interrupted his work!
We got back to my aunt’s house in time for dinner and got to spend some time with my aunt, which is the thing she likes the most.
My other cousin and his wife, from dinner the first night, joined us for breakfast Sunday morning. They brought each of us a collection of home made jams and jellies my cousin’s wife made.
Because I told her how much I love a spicy black berry jelly she brought me a big jar of that one! These will also be thoroughly enjoyed throughout the upcoming long winter.
We drove back to my place Sunday morning. My brother did me the huge favor of hanging some curtain rods for me that will be used to display my hand made quilts. One in my bedroom is heavier duty and will hold various throw size quilts for display.
The other one is a smaller one hung above my sewing table and will hold wall hangings that I’ve made.
The quilts will be hung on the rods using curtain rings with clips attached. I purchased two different size rings several months ago and I can’t find them for the life of me. I’ve turned my house upside down and can’t find them anywhere.
I know that if I want to find them all I have to do is buy more!
Since my brother had to stand on my sturdy sewing table to put up this rod up, my sewing room looks like a tornado came through.
I have a feeling I might have put the rings in some wire basket drawers in the closet in my sewing room. I haven’t had the time to wade through the carnage yet to check there.
I’ve continued to take pickleball lessons and some friends from pickleball have joined in so it’s more of a class now which is working really well. We all went together and bought our teacher a gift certificate to an online pickleball shop. He was so touched!
In addition to lessons, I’ve been playing at least three times each week recently. And I’m having a blast!
My boys say hello! They got to hang out with Ernie while I was gone last weekend.
Just checking in to let everyone know I’m ok. I’ve been really busy. Life is good. I’m actually enjoying a bit of a break from sewing. And I’m very happy that I’m not feeling a creative dry spell. I just need a bit of a break.
Maybe it’s because this summer has been so glorious here in Portland. It was hot today, but the temps have been so lovely and the days are just one gorgeous one after another.
Our summers can be glorious, but they can also be short. I always feel like I have to take advantage of every summer minute while they’re here, because they’re gone so quickly. The days are already getting shorter and before you know it, it will be dark at 5 pm.
So I’ve been sort of obsessed with pickleball the last few weeks. I’m continuing my lessons and am LOVING them! The man who is teaching me is really a lovely man and he’s a really good teacher. He works me really hard in my lessons and I love it. I’m exhausted by the time each one is over. People at my club are commenting on how much better I’m playing! It feels really good to see things coming together. I’m not a morning person and I’m meeting my coach at 7:30 am before work and before anyone else is on the courts. And I love it!
The biggest complement my coach gave me the other day was, “you are a fighter!” He knew that I had a couple weeks of frustration when playing, and he liked the way I worked to figure out what was wrong and kept fighting, instead of just giving up. He and I are a good match for coach and student.
I’m heading up to Washington again this weekend to visit my 96 year old aunt and take a drive up to visit my cousin’s winery. My brother and his wife will join me. I’m looking forward to a nice weekend out and about. A friend of mine (the one who owns Ernie) will come and stay with my boys. I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce this weekend so my aunt won’t have to cook dinner.
Before you ask… I don’t have a recipe. I just make it up as I go! Hamburger, Italian sausage, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs and lots and lots of mushrooms. Cook it for hours. Easy peasy!
To get ready for the trip I had to take my car into the shop for an oil change. While it was there they told me that one of my tires was unsafe to drive on. So I got to buy a new set of tires. The last time I bought tires was seven years ago! I drive so much less since the pandemic hit. It’s the lack of the work commute that’s making the difference.
These tires were not cheap. I wish they brought me more joy. But it is nice to know that I’m safe on the road.
I’m happy to report that I’ve been enjoying my home grown tomatoes for a couple of weeks. I only grew two varieties of cherry tomatoes, but I chose the sweetest ones — sung olds and sweet millions. They are soooo good!
I also have some wonderful blooming things on my patio. First is crocosmia.
It’s the most gorgeous color of deep orange-red.
My new hostess are also blooming… the prettiest pale purple blooms.
The apples have started falling from my tree so Bender is having a heyday. I had the sliding door open this morning as I worked and heard “crunch, crunch, crunch” and looked down to see Bender eating an apple next to me. I picked it up and threw it outside and Bender was sure we were playing fetch!
On Sunday a friend of mine from Utah contacted me and said she was coming into town to look at houses. She has recently retired and she and her husband have targeted the Pacific Northwest as the place they want to spend their retirement. She flew into town on Monday evening.
I spent most of Sunday scrambling to get my house ready for company. She just left for home this morning.
It was so much fun to have her staying here with me while she explored houses, neighborhoods and communities. I’ve known her for many years and originally came to know her through dogs. We did dog agility together for many years when I lived in Utah. After I moved to Portland she got into quilting. I helped her learn paper piecing during one of my vacation visits back home.
And recently she and her husband have started playing Pickleball! It’s like we live parallel lives. She brought her Pickleball paddle with her so we could play together. We played THREE times on Tuesday! I had a lesson early in the morning and she joined at the end. Then we drove to another park and played for 1.5 hours. Later that evening we ordered some takeout and ate dinner on the patio. Then we headed out to practice some Pickleball. and then last night we went and played for almost three hours, then finished up with some really good Mexican food. We had so much fun! I’m really hoping she ends up living close enough to me that we can play Pickleball, quilt and hang out with our dogs on a regular basis!
That’s us documenting the fact that we were playing Pickleball!
My only recent foray into anything fabric related was a purchase I made of 3/4 yard of this wide backing fabric that I found on Etsy.
Why on earth did I buy that? I saw this string quilt on a Kaffe Fassett Collective Facebook page last week and absolutely fell in love with it. This fabric appears in every block in this quilt, and it’s so fantastic and this fabric makes the quilt extra special and I so good combined with Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics! This gorgeous quilt was made by Kathy Polnaszek.
I asked Kathy what that fabric is and she told me it’s this.
A quick internet search directed me to a quilt store that only had it for sale in 3 yard pieces. Remember, this is a wide back!!! I was really lucky to find a 3/4 yard piece on Etsy.
I just LOVE string quilts and have been wanting to make another one. I’ve made several over my years of quilting and love making them. So my take on this will be in my future some day.
My dogs absolutely loved having my friend here. They definitely know when they’re in the company of someone who loves dogs! Rico really fell for her. Bender discovered quickly that she was willing to throw his ball. She even got Bender back into his balancing stunts.
And tonight my dogs are wondering why I’m so boring.
I’m very happy to report that after 1.5 years since my last one, I got my hair cut on Friday! And it feels wonderful!
She gave me a full styling, but I’ll let my natural curls fly on a daily basis! My hair was such a mess and needed to be cut badly.
And one last thing I’ll share with you tonight… on a walk through our neighborhood on Monday I ran across another free pile and came home with this.
I’ve been slacking for a few days. I took off work Friday, Monday and had a holiday today. So I’ve been resting and recreating for a few days. And it’s been wonderful.
Thanks to those of you who reached out to see if I was ok.
So, what did I do during those five days off? Mostly I played with my boys and played pickleball! In five days I played Pickleball five times! I’m actually taking some lessons in an effort to get better. A guy I met and had a lot of fun playing with in one of the clubs I joined offered to give me some coaching. It’s been really fun to concentrate on things that will help me get better and he’s a really good teacher. I’m already seeing my play improve. He’s working on becoming a certified pickleball coach so we can both get something out of this.
This photo was from a class I took last week with one of the clubs I belong to. I’m in the very center with a Kelly green t-shirt… standing next to the net,
In those five days off I didn’t spend one moment in my sewing room. I think I had been pretty frenzied for the last month or so ago and I just needed a break. Luckily, the break wasn’t needed because I’m feeling a creative dry spell. I just needed to take some time off. I’m feeling ready to get back in there and am anxious to start something new.
So, over the last week or so I’ve seen a good number of people on social media and on blogs posting all their quilting/sewing finishes in the first six months of 2023. Amazingly, these people actually FINISH pieces… they don’t just finish one stage of them.
So I thought I’d share my finished pieces for 2023. Except that I’m going so share things where I’ve finished significant stages, and not a finished, quilted and bound item. Although there are a couple of those thrown in.
The first half of the year has proven to be a good one for finally wrapping up some unfinished projects, with a couple new things thrown in.
January started out with finishing my Jewel Frames quilt top. The blocks for that top had been languishing for a few years in a box. It was time to get this done.
This will be a second quilt for my bedroom. I still need to make the backing and get it to my long armer quilter. There is really no hurry on this one.
I had a bit of a Frankenbag kick in January, making one for a friend of mine who was going on a cruise in February, and an extra made from the same scraps left over from my Jewel Frames quilt.
The biggest finish in February was the starburst quarter log cabin quilt that I’m making for my brother. This is another one that had been sitting in a box for quite some time. All I had to do was sew the rows together and add the setting triangles and borders. My friend helped me finish it all up when she visited in February.
This is ready to go to my long arm quilter.
The next February finish was my friend’s Aboriginal Fabric 16 patch that we made while she was visiting. I forced her to make a 16 patch and she didn’t love it when we started. But by the time we were done she had fallen in love with it.
This really makes me want to make one for myself! It would be perfect in my living room.
The only thing I finished in March was my Jumble Quarter Log Cabin quilt top made from left over blocks from the quilt for my brother. I feel like I spent every waking moment in March on this thing!
This is currently in the hands of my long arm friend who is trading quilting for some quilt tops. It will be fun to see it done.
The only thing I finished in May was something that was truly finished. I sewed the binding on my NY Beauty wall hanging. This had been sitting unfinished for such a long time!
Sewing on that binding was a bit of a break for me since I worked on Wensleydale blocks all throughout May. I finished sewing the quilt top together in early June.
I thoroughly enjoyed making these blocks and am really happy with how it turned out. I do plan to make another one, but it will be out of Australian Aboriginal fabrics. I’m still formulating that idea before I start cutting and sewing.
And finally, in June I finished sewing the blocks together for my Japanese X & + Quilt. This is another project that had been sitting unfinished for far too long.
It still needs borders but I’m calling it for June.
I’m happy to have a short work week coming up. I have pickleball to play!!!
Luckily, my boys are pretty easy and are happy to get some cookies and an occasional walk.
agilejack 