Peering into Portals

For the past week, I've been working on a commission for a couple in Portland who wanted me to make a piece using colors from their bed quilt and a rug they have in their bedroom. They wanted a big piece for over the head of their bed that wouldn't smash them if they ever experience an earthquake.

I sent them photos of the finished product today, and even though I got pretty loose with the color scheme, they said they loved it. It's a thrill for me because they're a couple with great artistic taste (judging from the art in their home), and both of them are artists...she's a wonderful photographer and he's a painter.

Here's a photo of the quilt and a couple of detail shots.

The quilt is 39 1/2" x 47".

This quilt is in keeping with my "Circles" series, which I've now re-named (per my wise brother Joe's winning suggestion) my "Portals" series. So that makes this one "Portals #4."

We Have All Our Ducks in a Row

As some people already know, we live right by a river called the Little North Fork of the Santiam.

This morning a mother duck and her ducklings were napping on a rock right by our beach. Jim took this photo from a distance so as not to scare them off.

When they finally left their cozy napping spot, Jim saw them paddling up the river, and he counted 18 ducklings! He even counted twice, and there really were 18 of them.

Can one duck hatch that many babies at one time?

Maybe she runs a nursery school for ducks. Be sure to click on this photo for a bigger look.

Josh and Lori - Cute as Ever

Saturday, I went to a 90th birthday party for Lori's grandmother, Lillian.

The party was at Lori's aunt and uncle's beautiful home in Portland. Her aunt (Mary Ann) just sent me this photo of Josh (my son) and Lori (his wife) at the party.

Thanks, Mary Ann. Great photo!

Jim Got an iHeart

The past several days have been focused mainly on my husband Jim. His cardiologist recommended that he have an implantable cardioverter defribillator (ICD) put in under his chest skin. He has heart disease, and is at risk for future problems.

He had it implanted Thursday (we call it his new iHeart), got out of the hospital Friday, and now he's a bit sore and quite tired.

The ICD is a miracle (in my view). It monitors the heart rhythm continuously, and can detect ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and will deliver counter shocks a few seconds after a dysrhythm has started to convert it back to a normal rhythm. It guarantees rapid treatment, even if Jim's far from a hospital (which he usually is, since we live in the boonies).

Here's a photo of the device. It makes a lump under his shirt, but that's okay.

What's amazing is that he'll get another device in the mail soon that will pick up data from the ICD, and transmit it through the phone line to his doctor. That way the doctor can keep tabs on Jim's heart, and his ICD.

Isn't this all just so incredible?



I've been doing lots of gardening and sewing, so I'm very contented. I'll post some photos soon.

Out Out Damned Critic!

I decided to re-work #3 in my Circles series. This is the final version.

It's pretty wild, and I'm a little sick of it by now.

When I revise something this much, I find myself intellectualizing the process, and it becomes un-fun. I guess it's because I'm engaging my "inner critic" who can be extremely hard on my work. By the time I've finished doing something like this, I can't tell if I've over-worked it or under-worked it, if it's done or not, or even if I think it's a success or a dismal failure. I have to put it away for awhile and look at again in a few months. Fortunately, not all my studio quilts do this to me.


So now, it's on to my next piece. I'm still using the circle motif, but this time I want to make a piece that's less busy and uses a quieter color pallette. Here's my start. Who knows how it'll end up.

The Truth About Cats and Cynthias

Today's a lazy rainy day in Oregon. Mostly I've been reading and doing stuff in my studio. Nothing very exciting.

Here's a photo that Jim took of Phoebe and me chilling out in front of the TV. Note the dexterity of my left hand in operating the remote. Heaven forbid that I should ever disturb Phoebe.
I've been thinking a lot about how much making art quilts soothes but excites me, focuses my mind but expands my thinking, and gives me something to do that I love, but frustrates the bageezus out of me sometimes.

Making them teaches me so much about myself: how scary it is to be doing something that not everyone likes or understands...how impatient I can be when things aren't working...how strong (or weak) I can be in the face of other people's suggestions as to how I should do things.

Maybe I should look at these awarenesses as metaphors for the way I am in general. It seems like by age 60, a person would know everything there is to know about themselves. I must be a slow learner.

Daring Door

This is what I've been doing for the past few days. Painting the door to my studio.

I decided to paint a quilt on it, using just a few colors. Jim says it's "interesting" (translation: Uuuuuugly). Oh well, I like it, and it's my studio...so there.

Man with Clippers and Manhole Covers

It's cool and cloudy this morning. A perfect day for trimming the bonsai tree...according to Jim.



Don't these calla lilies look Georgia O'Keefeish? I'm tempted to cut them and bring them in the house, but I'm afraid they wouldn't last very long.






I've been continuing my so-called Circle series. I already posted Circles I. Below are Circles II and Circles III.

Circles II was only partially quilted when I got sidetracked on an idea for #III. I don't usually let myself start a new piece until what I'm working on has been completely finished, but this other idea was brewing so ferociously that I was losing sleep. I vow to finish #II soon. (Let's see how long that vow lasts!)


Here is Circles II.



















This is Circles III


I think I might re-name my series "Manhole Covers I, II, and III." What do you think? It seems a little more imaginative than just calling them "Circles."

Peruvian Gourmands

Yesterday, we had some friends over for a Peruvian dinner. Everyone brought something to add to the meal.

Here's David putting together an appetizer which included yellow potatoes, peppers, egg, olives, and a sauce that was yummy.
I had to take a photo one of his creations. Check out the ears, mouth, nose and beard. The green sauce tasted better than it looked!


Here's the group on the deck waiting for something to eat. It's a fun group that gets together every few months for an ethnic dinner. It's up to the host to decide what ethnicity we're doing. Since I'd been to Peru, that's what I chose.

Paris or Bust!

Today, I'm dreaming of Paris. If all goes as planned, my daughter Kelly and I will be going to Paris in early October. We'll board a river barge and float down the Seine, stopping in places where the Impressionists painted, lived and struggled. We'll get to see the changing light as they painted it, and we'll go to Monet's garden.

I'm almost afraid to post about the trip, because I don't want to jinx anything. I've been to Paris once before and loved it. Kelly's never been to Europe, so this is even more exciting for her.

I plan to take lots of photos. Maybe there will be some grist for my studio quilt circle series.

Here are some photos I saw online of Centre Pompidou in Paris. I definitely can get some design ideas from these.

To Be or Not To Be

I couldn't resist posting another trellis flower photo. This is a passion flower, and we don't get many of them because the plant hasn't completely matured. But oh what beauties they are when we get them.

Here's a photo of what I'm working on in the studio. I've decided to try to do a "circle" series that started with the red and green one I posted a couple of weeks ago.

This one is blues and greens, the circles are bigger, and it's been a bit of a challenge, but very fun. I'm struggling now with values. I'm trying to use warms and cools in only three values, but sometimes I think I should have started with a wider scale of values so the circles would stand out more.

I heard a funny on NPR yesterday. A guy who grew up in the Bronx had the nickname in the neighborhood of Shakespeare Calvetti. He got the name because he'd stand in the hallway of his building saying, "Two be, or not two be, which is my apartment?"