On the Design Wall

Here is a picture of the baby quilt I am working on for Debra's project. Don't worry, the borders are all the same size and not nearly as wonky as the picture makes them look. The blocks ARE wonky, on purpose. I had fun working with these bright cheerful colors. If you can believe it, I had all of the fabric and some of the blocks already in the stash.

Here's a closeup of the cute "bug" prints. I'm hoping this is unisex enough. I think it will make a great play quilt. Hope to get to the actual quilting this weekend.

Here is one of my latest experiments. I did the stitching first and painted second, using Stewart Gill acryllics and Dharma Pigment Dyes. When I am painting fabric, I usually use a combination of whatever I have (acryllics, dye paint from Dharma, inks etc.) Once upon a time I used to do a lot of watercolor and ink drawing. Though more abstract, this reminds me a little of that long ago work.

Goodbye and Hello

Last week was one of extreme contrasts, to say the least. Early in the week we had the trauma of saying goodbye to one of our old dogs, Kelly. She had a day and night of seizures, followed by the loss of any ability to balance herself or stand. Although we couldn't be sure of the cause without extensive testing, given her age of 15 and the vet's opinion, we had to let her go. We adopted her from the pound when she was about a year old, just after my son Andy's 11th birthday. He used to joke that she was his "high maintenance pillow". Kelly was a good companion, and she will be greatly missed.

On a much happier note, right after that I left for a few days for San Francisco to visit my son and his girlfriend Blair. I got a good package deal from Expedia, so I booked a long weekend for a visit. I am still clomping around in my heavy boot, which was a little inconvenient for traveling, but it was worth it to make the trip. I still was able to use mass transit most of the time, and when I got too tired to walk any more it was easy to get a cab.

The city is always so exciting. I don't think I would want to live in an urban environment now, but I love to visit and take it all in. I enjoyed seeing Andy's new apartment, too. It's tiny and expensive, but oh what views! We did some of the usual "tourist" things, but mostly we ate good food, drank some organic sulfite free wine, and talked and talked and talked.
I also got to spend some more time with Blair, and she is a lovely, sweet and thoughtful girl. Lastly, to make this at least a little bit quilt related, I spent time browsing through this store. Every kind of fabric you can imagine is there, including things like high end imported Italian silk. I just enjoyed taking it all in. The top floor has remnants, and I did find a few little treasures that may find a purpose one day. The notions floor also yielded a few affordable goodies. All in all, a very enjoyable time. Andy thought it was pretty funny that while his visiting friends are excited by the close proximity of pubs and clubs, his mom was ecstatic over finding a huge fabric store to explore.