Hector and the Search for Happiiness

This is a really fun movie.  I highly recommend it.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

I won this fabric several months ago.  My photo doesn't accurately show how it looks, which is too bad.  The background fabric has the most amazing lit from within look and a lot of depth...

And, ther eis progress on this quilt....

My odd design process

For me making a quilt is all about having a good time while I do it.  My approach maximizes the parts I like to do and minimizes or eliminates entirely the parts I don't like to do.  I don't like to have a complete plan to execute.  Instead I like to have a general idea and improvise as I go along.  Luckily precision is not my priority and I like things better when they are a little out of whack.  I do some thinking and dreaming and scheming about size and construction process.   I like a quilt that looks good from a distance but also has details that you can only appreciate close up.  I don't like to do much precision cutting and I don't like precision piecing.  I love color and playing with color.

I am usually inspired by my materials and a desire to enhance them rather than a plan to bend them to a design in my head.  This quilt is inspired by my love of Vicki Welsh hand dyed fabrics and by Wanda Hanson's Neapolitan quilt.  I love the work of both women and I know they are friends.  In my mind, this quilt celebrates that.

Vicki's colors are so beautiful with lots of subtle changes.   I like them so much that I've been intimidated by them, afraid I would destroy their beauty.   I've had some of her fabrics for years and could not bear to use them except in small strips.  But finally I have an idea that I like enough to cut them up (gulp).

Here is my simple plan.  I cut the fabrics into squares.  Then I find a batik fabric that enhances the hand dyed fabric.  I cut the strip and applique it to the square background.  My applique method is very simple, I just use a zigzag stitch. 

From a distance the quilt is all these beautiful glowing colors.

 From close up you can see the designs in the batiks and the subtle beauty of the background.

Right now I am working on choosing and applying the strips, which is very fun for me, because I am playing with color, which is my favorite part.  And I will get play with  color again when I decide how they best fit together. 

Mostly I don't care if anyone else likes what I do.  But this time I hope Wanda and Vicki will like how I am using the fabrics.  In any case, a big thank you to both of them for the beauty of what they do and the pleasure they provide me.

Half made things

Well, maybe not half made... partially made things.

We're back in Portland again

The heat wave broke and the weather is delightfully the way it should be.  Here is what the weather blog guy has to say about the historic heat wave.

Historic Heat Wave

It's nice not to be restricted to a few hours a day of decent weather.  And it's been really fun sitting on the porch watching the hummingbirds who are crazy for our bee balm.  There are usually three hummers chasing each other around.

Neither of us got a lot done during the heat wave but here is a wonky pillow I managed to make.

Here it is before it was sewn.

Escaping to paradise

It's been dreadfully hot here.  The afternoons and evenings are not fit for life.  So we drove to the coast for a hike at Cape Lookout.  It was paradise.  I couldn't stop smiling.

This is the very start of the trail and most of it is in the trees like this...

With views of the ocean like this

Cape Lookout is a 2 mile spit of land made by lava flows; the cliffs are 800 feet high.  Here is a photo of the spit.  When you are hiking it feels like you are deep in a forest.

It's not our first time on Cape Lookout but it's been a while since we hiked there.  You can see lots more photos of Cape Lookout on Google Images.

Cape Lookout Photos

Garden in the midst of the long long heat spell

Historic event that I wish I missed.

https://fox12weather.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/the-great-2015-northwest-heat-wave-a-historic-weather-event/

One toke over the line

 In celebration of Oregon legalizing marijuana.....