A new photo/fabric piece

This week I started a new desert photo/fabric piece. I'll stretch it over a 16"x20" frame when it's done. I took the photo of the magnificent saguaro as storm clouds were moving in several years ago. I printed it on an 8"x10" piece of cotton, which is as large as my printer can handle, then I needed to paint fabric for the borders to make it bigger.

I'm not used to mixing stormy colors. I figured a dab of black with one of my blue paints would do it, but my black Setacolor fabric paint was totally dried out. Panic! Then I remembered some ancient Colorhue dyes that I bought at the IQA-Chicago Festival in 2007 that I haven't used in probably 10 years. They can be mixed with paint, so I added a drop of black Colorhue to my blue and tada! I bunched the fabric up a little to let it dry, and this is the result.

The card stapled to the bag of dyes shows that I bought it in 2007 -- 18 years ago! I could have raised a child from birth to college in the time I've had those dyes, and they still work just like new.

I decided it was time to use those dyes, so I colored some silk organza the way I was shown at the quilt festival, putting the dye and fabric in a baggie and squishing it around until all the dye is absorbed. That's it! No fixative or batching. You can iron it dry and it's ready to use. 

I didn't put enough blue in to color the whole piece of organza, so I colored the rest with a mixture of pumpkin and canary.

This time I painted it on so I could be more targeted.

I also baggie dyed another piece of organza with the pumpkin and canary and love the result. You can see how the color is intensified as you put more layers on top of each other. That's what I like about working with organza and other sheers.

I bordered the photo with some crinkled green silk from my scrap bag and then added another border of the blue organza that I just dyed.

Then it was time to pick embroidery thread colors.

I looked at some of the fancy stitches that I used on a crazy quilt project for inspiration ...

... but I ended up using my good old big cross stitches because the desert isn't fancy or delicate.

I still have more stitching to do, and then I'll think about adding beads and maybe dove feathers that I collect from my back yard. I think the feathers might be too big and distracting, but I like the idea of them blowing around in the storm.

It's 95 degrees outside, so now I'm going to settle down in my nice cool house and stitch.

Have a colorful day

Spokane and family time

Last week I got back from a week in Spokane where I had some great family time, with little Juniper being the center of attention. My son, Keith, flew out from Madison to meet his niece for the first time and she adored him. My ex even showed up, so the whole nuclear family was together for the first time since Julia's wedding two years ago.

My sun hat was a big hit with Juniper, who looks like a real life Sunbonnet Sue. She's so cute I can hardly stand it! It's really hard living so far away from her.

She loves, loves, loves books and knows every image in every one of her dozens of books. They had to cover their "new" vintage couch that we're sitting on with a sheet because the cats think it's a giant scratching post.

She loves dogs even more than books and talks about them enthusiastically and constantly. (They have three cats and three bunnies, but no dogs.) She met this gentle dog one day at the park. And did I say she loves parks and playgrounds? Here she is with dad Jade headed for the slides.

Their house, which they bought last year, looks like a cute cottage, and the front and back yard are full of activities.

My kids had the same turtle sand box when they were growing up. She plays in it nearly every day with the neighbor kids.

And the kid is organized, just like her mother. While Julia was clearing out the fridge, she let Juniper "help" and Juniper carefully put every item on a separate floor tile on her own with no prompting.

At the end of Keith's visit, he and Dave drove directly to the North Cascades for a backpacking trip that took them on the challenging hike up to the Desolation Peak fire lookout tower, which was popularized by Beat writer Jack Kerouac's "Dharma Bums" and "Desolation Angels."

They hiked in through rugged terrain about 16 miles over two days and then climbed over 4,000 feet to the tower. They were among the lucky ones to get a permit to camp near the peak, meaning they didn't have to hike down on the same day. Those days are past for me, but even Keith said it was tough.

Have a colorful day

Colors of Gig Harbor!

I just got home from a jam-packed trip to visit old friends in Gig Harbor, WA, and then family in Spokane. Today I'll post about Gig Harbor, which was sunny and hot my whole visit.

The first morning I got together with the Feet and Forks for a lovely stroll through Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. We wandered through acres of forests, meadows, a Japanese garden, wildflowers, ponds and waterfalls. Just beautiful and so peaceful.

Then we went to the waterfront town of Winslow on Bainbridge for lunch at Doc's and poking around town a little. I love the rock person by the harbor!

I had a delicious salmon burger at Doc's.

I stayed with Carol, who has a large lot full of fruit trees and flowers. Here she is under her arbor holding some berries that we picked.

She has an absolutely enormous fig tree and she couldn't pick them fast enough. Every day she processed more, dehydrating and freezing them. The raspberries and blackberries below are from her yard, and she also has blueberry bushes and peach, apple and pear trees.

I baked the brownies.

Another day a few ladies from the Woolies came over to Carol's for a potluck and to show me their current work. Judy is working on a quilt pattern from Fig Tree & Co. in soft oranges, pale green, cream and grey.

Later was a gathering of the Yoga Girls at a patio table at Cutter's Point. We started at least 10 years ago, I think, with members coming and going. We all met at yoga classes at the Y. I miss our potlucks that we had once or twice a year, which included husbands.

The two Lindas from Sew Day and STITCH came over for more inspiration and food!

Linda J. just took a class to make a quilt block painted on wood that she'll hang on her back yard shed, reminiscent of the quilt blocks you see painted on barns. I'd love to take the class. She also made a cute thread pouch with a diagonal zipper. You can never have too many pouches.

Carol and I spent a few spare hours wandering around downtown Gig Harbor, soaking in the scene. All those empty chairs were set up in the park early on the morning of the weekly outdoor evening concert.

We popped into a new donut shop, Fusion (AM donut cafe/PM cocktail lounge), where Alberto boxed up our choices and then threw in a free one and gave me a Fusion mug "because you're visiting." Fusion started in Tacoma and just recently opened in Gig Harbor near the post office. Definitely go there!

Then Carol was off to Canada with another friend and I spent the last day with Joyce, hitting up our favorite lunch spot on the water, the Devoted Kiss, for our usual spicy chicken wraps and potato salad. 

Fortified, we headed to the Harbor History Museum where there was a unique show of recycled items stitched into containers and wall art. The chart below shows that the artist, Bella Yongok Kim, works with items a lot of quilters use in our art: plastic mesh bags, plastic packaging and fabric scraps. Her artist statement says that she draws inspiration from the Korean tradition of Jogakbo -- a patchwork form rooted in sustainability and resourcefulness.

At the history museum we also toured the recently refurbished 100-year-old Shenandoah, a 65-foot purse seiner fishing boat that was donated to the museum.

We took a quick walk on Joyce's beach before dinner ...

... stopping to check out Joyce's apple trees on the way up to her house. My friends are all such great gardeners, unlike me.

Here she is with her husband, Bruce, in front of a mural in the pocket park that Bruce established in what had been a weedy lot by the Purdy Bridge. The bridge connects Gig Harbor to the Key Peninsula, and Bruce wanted Peninsula visitors to see something more inviting than weeds when they came over the bridge. It's now a lovely little park on the beach, with the Orca mural as a centerpiece.

They took me to Massimo's on the water for an Italian dinner, where we had an astounding view of a setting sun turned fiery red from distant wildfire smoke. Then it was off to the airport the next morning for my flight to Spokane. I'm sorry I didn't get to see all of my friends, but there's just never enough time.

A view of Mt. Rainier from Gig Harbor and another from the plane above the clouds.

Have a colorful day