Exciting news: group of 4 quilts may be published

The past two years, I have taken a week long design workshop with Jean Wells. In 2010, I took her Intuitive Quilting class then in 2011, Intuitive Quilting II. Jean is an amazing teacher. She has a gift of knowing which question to ask or just the right moment to check on your progress. I feel that I started to grasp quilt composition and enjoyed every minute. The workshops are offered at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters. A week devoted to quilting is, for me, an ultimate luxury. It's enough time to sink your teeth into a fairly complex project and make enough progress that you have some optimism that you can finish when you get home.


Here is a group of 4 pieces I started in the 2010 Intuitive Quilting workshop. I am pleased with the composition and am particularly happy with the quilting. I wanted the quilting lines to amplify and complement the piecing lines without overwhelming the small quilts mounted on the larger background quilts.

The exciting news is twofold:  first, Jean is writing a new book! Second, Jean asked me if she could include photos of this group of pieces in the book. I am thrilled and honored to be asked. There are no guarantees as the publisher, C&T Publishing, has the final say. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

4th of July with Dear Friends

Traditionally, we barbecue on July 4th with our cherished friends and neighbors:  Glenna, Peter, Acacia and Ezra. They have three dogs:  Reuben, Mia and Lizzie. Reuben and Mia are brother and sister bull mastiffs. Reuben weighs over 137 pounds (solid muscle!), Mia weighs about 90 pounds and Lizzie, the pug, weighs maybe 25 pounds. Nickel's first 4th of July holiday began by meeting Reuben, Mia and Lizzie.


Meet Reuben, a giant (literally) sweetheart. He loves to sit in deck chairs so he can observe the goings on in the back yard as well as be close to his peeps.

Nickel meets Reuben nose to nose.

Hi Reuben ... you're kinda big ...

 Struttin' with the BIG dog

Mia readily adopted Nickel. She's a great mom and is entirely willing to do her part in raising this pup.

 Yea! Mia runs really fast

And after all that running, you've just got to cool off. And isn't this the best bird bath ever? It's just the right size!

 Made for me

Well, I splashed out nearly all the water so Peter needs to refill the birdbath.

 Helpin' Uncle Peter

Gulp Gulp Gulp

 Ahhhhhhh ...

 My best friend Acacia

Harry with three tired goldens:  Frankie on the left, Nickel in the middle, Benny to the right. Benny is still doing well, thankfully. In his most recent lung x-ray, the mass was smaller and less opaque so the chemo drug is at least slowing the cancer down. We are grateful.

Family portrait

Nickel Discovers a Water Bottle

On a whim, I tossed a plastic water bottle in the yard. Nickel thinks it's an awesome toy ... if only he could get a hold of it. It took him many tries before he discovered that he could grab the cap.

 Found the cap

 Can I roll on it?

 This is fun!

And a rose in our yard ...

Nickel's First Swim

We took Nickel for his first swim on July 1. Frankie came too because he's an expert swimmer/splasher. There were no theatrics. Nickel calmly walked into the shallow end of the lake, kept walking and simply started swimming. What could be easier?

Nickel's very first swim

Frankie is impossible when we go swimming and has been that way from his very first swim. For the most part, Frankie is cooperative and eager to please but not so when he hits the water. He swims well away from shore, then swims and splashes, splashes and swims, bites the splash, swims and splashes ... as long as he wants. No amount of calling, toys or food bribes convince Frankie to leave the water he so adores. 

So, when Nickel actually came when Harry called, he got lots of praise and treats.

 Nickel gets a treat from Harry

 No time to chat ... gotta swim more

You do know there is only one toy, one stick, one treat. And the dog who has it is the envy of all. Frankie is happy to give up the stick to Nickel since he'd rather be swimming anyway.

I want Frankie's stick

Sleepy Nickel Puppy

Nickel does sleep occasionally:

 Droopy Eyes

... and he does have a rather sweet face ... especially when he isn't into some form of mischief!

Maggie Maggio's Smashing Color Workshop

Last Saturday, I was so fortunate to attend Maggie Maggio's Smashing Color workshop at the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego. Maggie looks at color in a unique way. I understand more about color than I ever have before and can hardly wait to take her next class. I am also eager to mix an entire color triangle using polymer clay so I better understand neutrals and their undertones.


Here's a collage I made in class from magazine clippings everyone shared. I don't know that I've ever made a collage before. It was an interesting experience and definitely yielded a color palette that I'm eager to use in a quilt.

 And on the way home, I was rewarded with a beautiful sunset:

Nickel Loves to Wrestle

Wrestling with Benny and Frankie is one of the highlights of Nickel's day. Benny is typically gentle ... unless Nickel bits a lip or an ear too hard with those razor sharp puppy teeth.

 Huh oh! Benny's got me!

He's a LOT bigger than me!

 Bite his ear ... that'll get his attention

 Benny is my pal

 Catch me if you can!

After all that wrestling and running around, Nickel heads for the kiddie pool full of cold water. He leaps in, runs around a few times, leaps out, and runs like a madman to warm up.

 Brrr ...  that water is COLD

Digging as fast as possible in the sand pile is another good way to warm up.

 LOVE to dig

 Dig dig dig as fast as I can

Wrestle ... chase Benny ... quick dip in pool ... run around to warm up ... dig dig dig ... roll roll roll in the grass. Life is grand!

Are you a "fabric nerd" too?

In Luana Rubin's June 22 "Creative Nudge", she defines fabric nerds and I loved it! Here is an excerpt from her newsletter:

If you look up Nerd in the dictionary, it says:

1. a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2. an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.

However I think we need to come up with a third description of the word:

3. a brilliant but socially quirky person, totally obsessed with an eccentric or obscure hobby, who delights in gathering with like-minded individuals. Often has an offbeat sense of style and could care less what anyone else thinks.

I mean - really - we make our own tiaras and then get together to parade our creations through the aisles of quilt shows. We make matching patchwork outfits and go on quilting bus tours together. We see a quilt made out of a certain group of fabrics, and can't sleep until we have every single exact fabric in our sweaty little hands. Click here to read Luana's article.

I have yet to make a tiara, but I love quilt shows and have been known to rather fanatically go after a collection of fabrics. Do you? I'm curious ... how do you go about searching for a particular fabric? Any tips you'd like to share?

First Day of Summer

Nickel's first day of summer was perfect! Sunny, warm and not too hot. Activities included lots of wrestling with both Benny and Frankie ... Frankie is extremely tolerant except for sharing raw beef bones. Frankie has a definite, clearly articulated "absolutely do not touch" policy. Otherwise, he's up for wrestling any time and is doing a fine job teaching Nickel his "limitations".

Nickel is easily wrestled to the ground

Momentary standoff ... catching our breath

Let's play ball!

Happy Benny

I'm an angel ... truly, I am!

Border Woes With a Happy Ending

Have you ever gotten carried away with an idea or experienced a "feeding frenzy" at the cutting table of a quilt shop? After picking a group of creamy neutrals, dark sage green and a beautiful burgundy batik for the sample quilt for the Pine Needle retreat quilt, at 2am I remembered this pretty pink, gray and green floral ... thought it would be great for the border ... stitched all the blocks ... put it on the design wall and as you can see, it was way beyond bad ... it was HORRID:

Why so bad? Well, the colors don't work at all, the texture/scale of the print doesn't relate to any of the blocks or sashing, nor does the mood of the print. So ... senior moment? brain freeze? Honestly, it didn't look this bad on the cutting table.


All is not lost since it's a lovely print that I'll use in another quilt. Let's try a near-white lacey print ... maybe that will work:

It's an improvement but is too flat texture-wise as well as too light in value. This border choice simply doesn't do anything for the quilt. Third time's the charm?

Much better! The photo, however, shows too much of this creamy Stonehenge fabric. It's essential to get the proportions right when adding borders. I love the marble texture of this print with the blocks and sashing and envision a large, contemporary feather in the border. Stay tuned for the final choices!