Back from fishing

Hello everyone.  I've been acclimating to being home after a lovely family fishing trip in Idaho.  I didn't do any fishing myself, but we floated down the Teton River.  For preparation I took a class in fly-tying and here is the result (a grey nymph and a wooly bugger):

Just four of us went on this floating trip, which took about 5 hours.  Uncle Paddy, our host and guide, my son, grandson and me like Cleopatra (well, maybe not quite) in the stern of the boat.  We learned so much about river life...the beautiful fish and the vast variety of insects in different stages of development. This is the Teton River:

We saw a mama moose and her baby.  This is the mama:

Here's a caught fish.  Three fish were captured and they all went back in the river to rejoice with their friends.  We encountered a special reverence toward fish.

I hope you can see the big fish here, in another river, waiting for food from onlookers, who aren't allowed to catch them.  It's a special protected spot.

This is from one of the many antler arches in Jackson, Wyo:

There are lots and lots of elk and deer.  Each year their antlers fall off.


Here's a view of the Tetons, taken after riding a chair lift.  Heights make me nervous, but I actually enjoyed this ride...very quiet, not too far off the ground...a chance to be in the treetops and then some...

This is one of the Mesa Falls...so much fine spray and mossy response:

Whilst lolling about, I made some progress on my grandson's quilt!  Nine-patches and some ancestors.  Not a final arrangement, but just trying to take a look at it so far.

And here's what I did yesterday, in the sunshine of my back yard...beginning 4 new felting projects...hmm, lots of possibilities...

Summer's winding down...back to the happy grindstone.  That's all for now! 

August Celebrations

Hello everyone... it's not even quite the middle of August and the days seem so much shorter, the light hinting at autumn.  When I was little, a very long time ago, the summer was full of birthdays, and it still is so, even if some of the dear ones I celebrate have moved on into the zone of mysteries.  Lately my love of geometry has been reviving so I made this caprese salad, using a tiny heart cookie cutter to shape the mozzarella!

Since my family has been visiting, I cleaned up my car...this is the still life I composed for the dashboard...it's a celebration of my trip to Mt. Lassen (pine needles, piece of bark and some dancing lichen) and the jacaranda blossoms that fall into one of my favorite parking spots. I like having this in front of me especially in times of annoying traffic.

Here is a frog I made in celebration of my Auntie's 90th birthday!  She likes frogs.  I won't be going to the event itself because my family has a fishing trip lined up.

Lastly, here is the geometric assortment that assembled in the sink after my birthday celebration!  I am now 67!  Sorry not be giving a view of the pie and the cake, but I was too busy eating and being merry.  I was not allowed to do the dishes...only take the picture...

That's all for now...

A New Assortment

Hello everyone...here is some news from this home front...a welcome visitor:

I decided to concentrate on my grandson's quilt because he will be visiting soon, but in the meantime finished this felted piece:

 view CC license

I saw these 2 arimatsu pieces on Glennis' site, and could not resist them, thinking I would cut into them for my grandson's quilt, but it is hard to do, they are so beautiful as is:

And then, as I've been absorbing ideas from Jude's classes and learning techniques, I suddenly came up with a new plan for my grandson's quilt.  In the ongoing Magic Diaries class, Jude talks  about design/theme etc., in a way that encourages us to use what we like of her sharings to cultivate our own pathway through the thickets of life.

I've discovered that I love sewing little squares together by hand to make 9-patches.  Most of this fabric comes from my trip to Mt. Lassen, which was in hiding the entire weekend...I found a little quilt store that was closed.  I peered into the window and suddenly the owner appeared and invited me in.  I gravitated toward the red (L's favorite color) checks and here we are.

The main theme of this quilt is to introduce my grandson to his ancestors from the maternal branch of my side of his family.  Now that I have a structure for this, I have a better idea of how to construct squares around the other photographs, which are all different sizes, in order to unify the over-all look of it. (I hope!)

So it's a new beginning with lots of room for development.

That's all for now...

Agnes, after life...

Hello everyone.  Good heavens, it's been almost a month since my last post.  I've been mulling things over a lot, keeping busy, and changing gears a little.

First in the news department...my little dog Agnes, who died at the end of February, sigh, is pictured on the cover of the magazine Quilting Arts, the June-July issue.  My friends from the Central Valley who gave Agnes to me, have a cousin, Joan Sowada, who came over one day to photograph Agnes and then constructed the fabric picture of her that's featured in this issue of the magazine.  It perfectly captures one of Agnes'  'looks' and her funny little under-slung jaw, full of kindness and determination.

And here is a little felted piece I made of my little pal, may she rest in peace:

Well, I've wanted to post these as part of a farewell to her, and I was going to put in some examples of moving on (part of which is writing a book about her...she has quite a story), but actually there is still a lot of emotion going on and it might be a better idea to take a walk, get some coffee, you know...

That's all for now, but I'll probably be back sooner...

Backyard, beyond, and back again

Hello everyone!  I've been busy preparing things to sell at an open studios event that happened a little more than a week ago.  Now I have to replenish my stock of feltings!  Being occupied thusly has kept me from being here with you, so this is a catching up of sorts.  One of my favorite backyard birds is the California towhee...they do a little dance to stir up bugs and other fine edibles.  They are related to the speckled towhee which only visit the neighborhood occasionally...here is one from the big park nearby:

I'm sorry it's a little out of focus, but look at his charming beard that looks like upside down flames.

In the beginning of the month, I went on a trip to Mt. Lassen, which was hiding behind a cloak of fog and rain, so I'll have to return in better weather, but I found a place with a good cup of coffee; out behind was this old Ford with charming flames...

I wandered in the woods a bit and came upon these lovely horses, waiting for riders:

Now, back to the hummingbird...here is the one who built a nest in the apple tree, then fled because of a nasty encounter with a crow.  She abandoned her nest but came back one day to say hello and pick up some stuffing from the old nest to take to her new abode, but she didn't disclose the location:

And here is how that story played out in my imagination.  It's called "Hummingbird considering the risks of living in a neighborhood with crows."  I'm happy to say this piece has gone to live with a good friend.

That's all for now...

Wardrobe work!

Hello everyone.  My bathrobe has needed help for quite a while.  First I thought Replacement...but I'm so fond of it.  Then I asked myself what is its worst feature and could I fix it.  The answer...sleeves! and yes...
So...here are the sleeve ends which I cut off:

And here is the improved version:

To do this I deconstructed an old nightie that also needed help...the rest of it is going to become a summer skirt eventually, maybe soon!  Jude's classes have definitely helped me become braver about this sort of thing; my classmates have all been inspirational, particularly Deb and Grace. Thank you!

Next, sigh.  The little hummingbird from my last post has gone away...she was sitting on her beautiful little nest, but the neighborhood crow ended that happy story.  Not that there is just one crow...there are many, many.  This happened last year also...the squirrels and the crows are very dominant here.

Here is another trivet/prayer mat,  "bee star":

It's one of several prayers for the underdog, for example, that the hummingbird might evolve to not so easily attract the crow.  I just finished reading River of Doubt by Candice Millard, about Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing adventures in the Amazonian type jungle, and how life in the jungle there evolved.  So, it's easy to see how a crow can find a hummingbird nest...I wish mother nature could assist the hummingbird a little more here.  Seems like I should be able to help. 

That's all for now!

Hidden treasure

Hello everyone.  I've been a bit absent lately.  Not sure why. Just because, I guess.  Here, but not here.  Anyway, I've missed you and I want to show you a discovery from my last train trip which took me through Grand Junction, Colorado.  There is a beautiful old station there that has been partially renovated, but the work seems to have stopped...this is a view of it from the upper level of the train:

Walk around back and look through a grimy old window...(this is a reflection of me doing that):

See the little arch above the camera? That is this:

You can't see this from the outside, for some reason.  It's one of the windows in the top photo.  If only someone would buy this building and finish restoring it.  Another nice thing about Grand Junction is there is a little store there that sells interesting items.  They used to have produce, but that stopped.  One of my wishes is that Amtrak let local craft people and farmers sell good things at the stations.

Here is a backyard visitor!

and Voila!... something I've been working on...the bluebird of happiness taking a night flight...

There is an opportunity to sell things coming up, so I've been making a little collection, to see what will happen.

That's all for now!