My friend and I decided to take a drive today up to Suavie Island, an island in the Columbia River north of Portland. It’s a rural island with lots of farm land and homes, natural places, Fram stands and other fun stuff.
It was a beautiful day and it really looked like fall. There were lots of pumpkins still in the fields, corn being harvested as we drove by, and not very many people for a Sunday.
There were still a lot of flowers growing in the fields. This was a field full of hydrangeas.
I’m not sure what was in this field but it was really colorful.
My boys were very happy to get a chance to take a nice swim in the Columbia. I think they were totally surprised to find themselves in the river.
It was nice that the beach wasn’t crowded so the dogs could really get some good running and swimming in.
We stopped at a large farm store before we left the island and headed for home. There were pumpkins everywhere!
When we got home we dug in and started arranging fabrics for my Libby quilt. I decided that I was definitely going with the black background fabric… mostly because I wanted this quilt to be completely different from the one we made a few days ago. It will definitely be different! I can’t wait to see it come together.
It took a little more time to select the final 12 fabrics I needed and to get them arranged in the right order on the design wall so we could start cutting. We labeled each piece A through L so they correspond with the cutting chart in the pattern.
That’s the final set of fabrics and an idea of the final arrangement. My friend pressed all the fabrics and I cut them into the strips that would later be sub cut for the quilt.
Then we ordered some tacos for dinner and picked them up. Tacos are never a bad idea! They were really yummy.
After dinner we hit my sewing room again and sub cut all the fabrics. We also pressed and cut all the background pieces.
It’s all ready to go up on my design wall tomorrow afternoon. We might be able to have the center of the quilt sewn together tomorrow evening.
I’m going to play Pickleball all at the church in the morning. Then after lunch we’ll head off to my long arm quilter to drop off four quilts. It’s always so exciting to drop a finished top and back off to be quilted.
I’m starting to feel sad that I have to go back to work on Thursday. My vacation has gone by way too quickly.
It was 90 degrees in Portland yesterday so we decided to head for the coast and cooler temperatures. We were in the car and on our way at 8:30 am and were on the beach a little after 10 am. Guess who was really happy about that…
While we were on the beach we saw tons of pelicans. They were flying just off shore and were diving in the water. I’ve never seen so many pelicans on a beach visit. You can see them in this photo… the little black dots just above the horizon line. So many pelicans!
It’s about a mile to the end of this beach from the parking lot. Once we got to the south end and turned around, I looked up and saw a bald eagle flying north and quite low over head! That’s not something you see every time you visit the beach. He flew a little north and landed on this tree and sat there, just surveying his kingdom, as we headed north on the beach.
We spent about an hour and a half on the first beach, then hit the car and headed south to Tillamook, OR, to visit a little fabric store there. Astoundingly, we didn’t buy ONE piece of fabric at that store!
On the way back north to Cannon Beach we stopped and got some ice cream and drove to Manzanita beach to eat our treat with a view of the ocean. And after our dessert in the car we hit the beach one last time to let the dogs have another romp.
Bender and Rico were very appreciative of this opportunity to get their feet wet… and their heads… butts… etc… It’s really nice that my boys don’t feel the need to go very deep in the surf. They’re pretty happy with just getting their bellies wet, but occasionally get a little surprised by some waves.
As you’re driving south on Hwy 101, the Coastal Highway, the first view you get of this beach is from the cliff in the distance in this photo.
It’s a long, gorgeous beach with tons of room for every person and every dog. And it was a perfect day to get to visit TWO beaches!
Before long we were back in the car and headed back north to Cannon Beach. We wanted to visit Center Diamond quilt shop before we hit the road home for Portland. It was already around 4 pm!!!
We made it to the store in time and looked at a lot of fabric and bought a few pieces. The staff there is really friendly and they all read my blog so it was like talking to old friends! Hello to the ladies at Center Diamond!!! Oh, and a couple of them got to meet Bender and Rico!
I was really excited about one piece of fabric I bought. It’s the black version of the fabric we used for the background of my friend’s aboriginal quilt that we finished a couple days ago.
I had the bright idea to use it for the background of MY Libby quilt instead of the white.
When we got home we picked out the brightest Aboriginal fabrics I have in my stash and tossed them up on the design wall on top of this black fabric.
We weren’t convinced that the fabrics popped on the black fabric the way we though they would. So we tossed them up on the white fabric and played around a little.
I was convinced until a few minutes ago that I was going to use the white fabric, but now I’m not so sure! I need to decide because our plan is to start on this quilt top tomorrow!
Today started with Rico’s weekly sheep herding lesson. He was brilliant, as always!
Before we headed home we stopped at a little quilt shop that has a ton of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric. Country Manor Quilts is in a metal barn out in the country near where Rico has his lessons. They don’t have an online store so you’d have to visit if you’re ever in the area. Here’s the aisle with her substantial KFC collection.
I only bought one piece of fabric… the contrast color way of Roman Glass… one of the new fabrics. It’s pretty amazing!
No idea what I’m going to do with this fabric. But I’m happy knowing it’s in my stash!
Traffic was terrible on the way home so it took a while to get home and get some lunch. After lunch we headed off to Pioneer Quilts in Milwaukie, OR, to buy some fabric for the backing of my friend’s quilt. We ended up with this vibrant green Australian Aboriginal design.
It looks great with the quilt top. We worked together to get the backing measured, cut sewn and pressed.
Have I mentioned how nice it is to have someone to do all the pressing? And… have I mentioned how much I HATE making backings???
Some time in the last few days I made two self-binding napkins out of some KFC fabric from my stash.
They’re made with two pieces of fabric, one cut larger than the other. Then the larger piece becomes the mitered binding. Here’s the tutorial I followed.
There’s a video that goes along with it.
They were really easy and quick to make. Although the corners on my first one weren’t perfect. I’m planning on making more and selected some fabric combos as we finished up in my sewing room tonight.
I love using cloth napkins. I go through a lot of them so it’s good to have a selection on hand. Plus, these look amazing with my Fiesta Ware.
Our plan for tomorrow is to start working on my version of the quilt we made for my friend this week. On Monday I’ll play pickleball early in the morning, then we’ll head off to my long arm quilter to drop off three of my friend’s quilts and my sunburst log cabin quilt that is for my brother. I washed and dried the wide backing for this tonight. My friend will press it tomorrow morning.
Have I mentioned how nice it is to have a friend who is good at pressing?
My vacation started 1.5 weeks ago. I have another week to go and I’m pretty sure it won’t be enough. Each vacation just reminds me how much I want to retire.
My friend Linda arrived a week ago. We spent the weekend at my brother’s place outside Coquille, Oregon. It was a beautiful and relaxing weekend. We didn’t do much, but we did take a couple quick trips to the coast to enjoy ourselves and let the dogs have some fun.
On Sunday I was in a short sleeve T-shirt and shorts on the beach! It was absolutely perfect weather. We all thought so.
I think they must have run five or six miles!
These photos were taken on Seven Devils Beach just north of Bandon, Oregon. On Sunday we also took a drive to Shore Acres and Cape Arago because we heard there were resident whales there.
We didn’t see any whales but we did see hundreds of sea lions at Cape Arago. It’s a beautiful part of the Oregon coast.
We stopped on our way home and picked up some fresh ling cod and had home made fish tacos for dinner.
Mmmmm.
Then we finished up the evening with a family tradition…
We drove back to Portland on Monday and took a more scenic route to avoid three hours on Interstate 5. It was another gorgeous day.
That night we decided to dig in and start cutting fabric for a quilt we wanted to make while my friend is here. It’s the Libby Quilt by Kitchen Table Quilting.
We saw a quilt made on this pattern and with Australian Aboriginal fabrics in a quilt store in McMinnville, Oregon, a year ago. We bought all the fabrics at that time but only now got around to making it.
We got the fabric pressed, cut and labeled that night for this puzzle of a quilt.
We got the center part of the quilt up on the design wall on Tuesday and started sewing.
We finished the center that evening.
The pattern instructions were really detailed and it worked well to have everything organized on the design wall, I did all the sewing, Linda did all the pressing, and we helped each other keep it all in order.
We took yesterday off from sewing. I went out early and played pickleball at the church and had a blast! Then we took a quick trip out to the same fabric store in McMinnville to pick up a few pieces of Aboriginal fabric. We were tired when we got home so we had a good dinner of grilled salmon, potatoes and a salad and then watched a movie before bed.
Today we dug in and made the four corner pieces for this quilt. They went pretty quickly because the pieces are big.
We compared each corner piece with the center to make sure we had the fabrics arranged correctly.
I sure do like having someone around to do all the pressing!
The part I was most worried about was getting all the corners marked accurately and cut well so the quilt would actually be a true rectangle. All those strips would eventually be cut on the diagonal so terrible wonkiness was a real possibility.
To avoid wonkiness, we marked the line to cut the angles on each corner piece. We had to arrange the pieces on the back of my portable design wall on the living room floor to get it all flat.
Then we marked the line to trim off all those corners to make a straight line. Before cutting, I sewed a line of stitching inside the marked line to keep those bias edges from stretching.
Once that line of stitching was done, I trimmed off the corners.
Once all four corners were marked, stitched and cut square, I sewed them to the center of the quilt top. Then my friend did the final pressing.
And just like that, this quilt top is done! We weren’t sure we were going to love this once it was done, but we DID when it was all sewn together and we could see the woven affect.
Here’s some close up photos because I love the eye candy!
The pattern for this quilt is very detailed with all kinds of charts and graphs to help with the construction. It was a good idea to keep the pattern handy and refer to it often.
We just might whip one of these up for me while my friend is here, but I think I’m going to do it with brighter and more colorful Australian Aboriginal fabrics… for a completely different look. We were too tired to go through my stash tonight.
It’s going to be over 90 degrees here in Portland tomorrow. We’ll have to figure out a way to stay cool.
It’s been a long time since I posted. I’m always a little torn about posting when I don’t really have anything to say. But, nevertheless, here goes.
I’m continuing to enjoy my summer, but I’m feeling sad that the evening light is rapidly fading. It’s always nice to have the heat of summer ease off, but it makes me sad to know that it will soon be dark before my work day ends.
And this year, with all the pickleball I’ve been playing, I’ve started to dread the winter months where my play will have to be limited because of the lack of indoor pickleball opportunities.
In the mean time I’m making the most of the lovely summer days. I’ve been really fortunate to have my teacher get me into an indoor pickleball group that plays at a HUGE church not far from my house. They are better pickleball players than I typically get to play with so it’s been really challenging… but a huge amount of fun!!! I played there this morning and had an absolute riot… and I’m totally exhausted! It’s really fun to see my level of play pick up wo that I can play competitively with higher level players.
So, besides pickleball, what’s been going on? Mostly dogs.
My boys had their annual check ups last week. Everyone checked out although Rico has gained four lbs!!! So he’s on a bit of a diet to get back to his slim and trim physique. We had to wait a long time at the vet. I’m really glad I took a toy in with me to keep Bender and Rico distracted during the long wait.
Since Bender turned 10 in April we did the senior blood test, urine test and fecal test. The great news is that he pooped AND peed right after we left the vet’s office, with a vet tech in attendance. That way we had the samples we needed!!! Win! Plus, it’s really nice to have a senior dog come away with such a glowing exam!
Over the weekend I decided that these two boys were disgusting and I brushed them both and gave them hose baths in the back yard.
Wet and clean Bender…
They were both in need of brushing. I got a grocery bag full of hair out of them, and I could have gotten more but they were both pretty irritated with me by that point. It’s nice to have them both clean, soft, and fresh smelling!
Luckily, all the walking we do means their nails never need trimming!
I had a lovely visit from some old friends about a week-and-a-half ago. I was in a choir with Brent and Jerry for quite a few years when I lived in Salt Lake City. They make their way to Portland every few years and always schedule time to get together with me when they’re here. I hadn’t seen them since well before the pandemic. It was really fun to see them again.
We had a great time reminiscing about old times, choir trips, and friends.
We’re having a lovely cool week. We’ve had some heat recently so it’s nice to see it cool down. We’ve even been getting some stinky smoke from British Columbia and Washington state wild fires.
And Bender’s favorite part of summer is apples. Here he is enjoying the last apple to fall from our tree this season.
Last Thursday night poor Rico kept me and himself awake a good portion of the night as thunderstorms rumbled for hours!
It’s so hard when dogs are sensitive to thunder. I’m really glad that, even with all our rain, we rarely get thunder storms. But the one the other night was a good one!
This week is my final work week before I head off on 2.5 weeks of vacation. We’re all very excited about it. Even Rico! When I asked him if he wanted to go on vacation, this was his reaction.
“Well, yes! Yes I DO want to go on vacation!”
This afternoon it looked like someone was already on vacation!
Here I am, continuing to enjoy a lovely summer in Portland. It’s been hot the last few days. Over 100 degrees, as a matter of fact. It’s supposed to be cooling off on Thursday. I will be ready for milder temps. And the air is really dirty and smoky. today We’re supposed to see that clear up as well.
So, guess what I’ve been doing. Of course I’m working. But I’m playing A LOT of pickleball. And with my continuing lessons I’m really seeing some improvement in my game! I also located a new drilling partner from the club who is interested in getting together a couple times a week to practice. We got together on Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday morning. He enjoys drilling just like I do. And he’s really appreciative of the drills I’m bringing to our practice. We ended our practice on Saturday with a few games with some people who were at the courts, and then went and had a casual dinner at a nearby pub.
They do say Pickleball is a very social activity! I was thinking earlier today how many new people I’ve made friends with since I started playing. It’s been so good for me after the isolation of the pandemic. And I love that complete strangers will just ask you if you want to play a game or two.
My teacher was telling me the other day that I’m too impatient… that I want to see too much improvement too fast. I found this image and shared it with him. He said it was me to a T!
I was on the courts for a lesson at 7:30 this morning and practiced until a little before 9. then we played a couple games before I headed home to work.
I had some friends over on Sunday evening for a birthday celebration. I was really hoping we could eat outside on a lovely evening, but it was still 100 degrees when they were here. So we ate in the house, but the dinner was good. And it was simple, which makes me even happier. I make the same meal for my friend’s birthday every year: Grilled salmon, oven roasted potatoes, Waldorf coleslaw, and desert is fresh peaches over vanilla ice cream. All accompanied by a nice bottle of wine.
I’ve been enjoying left overs for my lunches this week.
While my friend was here she asked if I would make her a table topper for Christmas. I have made her two in the past.
She wants one made in the same shape but said she wanted something with burgundy colors for the holidays. So I just took her back to my sewing room and we opened some drawers and pulled some fabrics. Here’s the first pull.
That’s probably not the final selection of fabrics, but it’s a good start. I think this collection of fabrics will work really nicely in a 16 patch.
I think my friend enjoyed helping pick out fabrics. She’s not as bold with color as I am so I think one or two of these make her a little uncomfortable! I think she will like them better when they are finished in 2 inch squares.
My tomatoes have been going crazy and they’re so good! I had so many that I took almost two lbs to my pickleball teacher this morning!
Rico had his regular sheep herding lesson on Saturday. It wasn’t nearly as warm as it’s been the last few days, but he still gets hot.
My boys have their annual vet check ups on Friday. I decided to take the entire day off. I’m guessing some pickleball will be played!
My upcoming vacation is on the calendar and my friend has made flight arrangements. I’ll be taking 2.5 weeks off. My friend will be here for two weeks. So we’re planning what we’ll do while she’s here and we’re planning what quilt we’ll make.
It’s Sunday night and I’m mourning the end of the weekend.
The big news for this week is that I finally decided to jump in and hang my scrappy KFC trip quilt above my bed. I needed more curtain rings for this larger rod. The package I had was only seven rings, which wouldn’t be enough to hold up this quilt.
So I ordered some from JC Penney and picked them up yesterday. It didn’t take long to get the rings in place and get the quilt hung this afternoon.
And I have to say… this makes me pretty happy!!!
I posted this photo on the Kaffe Fassett Collective Facebook page and one person commented, “A bit much.” It made me laugh!!! Like something made from these gorgeous fabrics is ever too much!!!
And that, you may not be surprised, is the only fabric-related thing I’ve done this week.
Instead, I’ve been playing A LOT of pickleball. I played Monday evening, took Tuesday off, played Wednesday evening, had a lesson early Thursday morning, then played a few games, then did some practice with a friend Thursday night. Then I met my teacher this morning at 8:15 for a quick lesson, then we played until noon! I’m exhausted and will probably be in bed early tonight. Well, early for me.
A fun thing happened during pickleball today. In one game I got what’s called an ATP, which stands for “Around the Post.” In pickleball, when your opponent hits a ball that goes wide, you can hit it around the post of the net and back on to their court without going over the net. The shot is typically very low and difficult to return. My ATP was the game-winning shot. The club celebrates ATPs with a photo of the player with a trophy.
I didn’t get to keep the trophy. How sad. It was a fun way to end a really good game.
I’m really seeing the result of my lessons during games. I played the first four games with my teacher today and then we split up. I think I only lost one game all day!!! And that was only by 2 points. It’s really fun to get to play with my teacher. He gives gentle suggestions during the game that help me remember what we’ve been working on.
It’s so much fun to see my improvement. And several of the people I play with have mentioned how much better I’m playing.
Yesterday, Rico had his sheep herding lesson down in Molalla instead of our regular spot. On the way home I stopped at a friend’s place in Canby, Oregon, to pick black berries. She has a lot of black berry bushes and had told me they were really plentiful.
Here’s a view of the driveway that takes you to the back of her two-acre property.
The plants lining that driveway are blackberries. They are pretty much everywhere in Western Oregon and Washington. They are not native and are terribly invasive. You see huge mounds of them all over the place.
Another fun fact about blackberries is that they have terrible thorns. They almost reach out and grab you and hold onto you! My arms and legs are pretty scratched up today.
I had one in my back yard years ago that literally ripped my pants right off of me!!!
My friend was right… there were a LOT of berries available for picking!
The berries can be very delicate when they’re ripe. I had juice all over myself!
I managed to pick four good size containers in the time I was there.
Look at how gorgeous these are!!!
And they’re so sweet and delicious! Nothing like eating a beautiful ripe berry right off the vine while it’s still warm from the sun!
Once I got home I froze the berries on cookie sheets first so they wouldn’t be frozen in one big clump.
I ended up with six quart bags of berries in my freezer. These will be so wonderful in the cold winter months!
My small cherry tomatoes are doing really well. I’m also getting larger tomatoes now from a friend who lives a street over. The arrival of those larger tomatoes means a BLT must be eaten! I had my first one of the season yesterday for lunch and it was sooo good!
Back to work tomorrow. We are scheduled to go live on our new database tomorrow, and there’s a lot of work coming up this week.
I have scheduled some vacation in September… 2.5 glorious weeks! My friend will be visiting again and we’re making plans fr what quilt we’ll make when she’s here.
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.
agilejack 