We went to Canyonlands National Park a few years ago and it has been on my list to paint since then. Mesa Arch is the place I’ve had in my to-paint folder from this trip, but I have taken a while to decide how to tackle it. I think as the process for this is different than most of the images I paint, I want to share with you the way I am going about it.
Read moreHappy Trees
Over the weekend I finished up four of these tree pillows (two for me, two for my cousin). I found the pattern online, altered it a little (as for me it wasn’t quite working), and made them into pillows.
After all the sewing I needed some time outdoors, so Cory and I went to the Salmon River.
Walking along the Salmon
Cory and I have loved exploring around the Salmon River. It’s some of my favorite forest- the river is as clear as glass, the forest mossy with large old growth trees interspersed.. Idyllic. We found a new-to-us trail on this river recently and went hiking, with plans to go back on more trails we saw while out there.
If the news feed is bringing you down, remember to take a walk in the trees.
Latest sewing project!
My friend's birthday was Monday so I made her a quilt! She and her family bought a house a little bit ago and she’s been working so hard on it, while working full time, that I wanted to make something to go in the new house. So, thought I would post and share what I have been working on the past couple of weeks.
Polar Bear Quilt
I was looking through fabrics online for the quilt I made Cory for Christmas, when I stumbled upon this polar bear panel. I had to have it. Polar bears have been a favorite of mine my whole life! I decided immediately I would make a quilted throw for winter time. I like that it works for the whole season instead of being designed around a holiday. I sketched up my plan and bought batiqs, this aurora print that was in the series with the panel, Kona solids and the pinkish purple flannel clouds that I used for the backing.
I started this quilt with a rough doodle of what I was thinking before getting to work.
The top before quilting.
Hand quilting took forever as this time I quilted swirls through the sky and border and followed along lines of major design elements in the panel.
Before the quilt I made a polar bear pillow to make it a set for us to have out in winter. It was a fun way to use my holographic thread in the quilting of the pillow top.
Christmas 2024
Hey all!! Sorry for my absence. I swore I was ahead on Christmas and everything I had going for the end of the year and then.. you know what they say about your best laid plans, right?
My friend Megan came to stay with us for our birthdays (hers is a day before mine) and for Christmas. We went to birthday donuts at Pip's (for the best made to order donuts around), had boxed seats at Oregon Ballet Theater's Nutcracker performance, hiked to a wonderful waterfall, had Christmas Eve mass, Christmas at our friends’ and took a day trip to the ocean. And we shopped. (Pendleton, Pioneer Quilts, and Portland Leather are kinda musts if you visit me)
All of this in a rental car as ours had some chaos going on due to a call to AAA after a dead battery.. Oh and our basement started to get water coming up THROUGH THE SLAB?!?!?! So a major reorganize, new shelving, things given away on Market Place and a panic attack later, and it seems ok? .. (Thanks Emerald for coming over last minute to help- you are the BEST and I love you)Anyway.
I wanted to share some of the things I made this year for gifts as I am finally in the clear to share them all!!
Throw pillow covers for Teresa who loves dahlias and purple! (A great excuse to use some holographic thread)
A hiking-themed quilt for Cory. It’s a super-oversized throw, almost full size I think? -Backed in Eddie Bauer flannel for extra cozy warmth. The mountain panels were a gift from our friend Megan who bought them on a trip to Alaska! The indigo is a batiq with salmon swimming all over, there are pikas, elk, topography lines with campers and Jeeps, and a leaf batiq as borders and binding. I am really proud of how this came out from the drawing I did beforehand.
I made a pair of these ship-printed pillows for my cousin Danny. He’s retired Navy and has the COOLEST house full of art (I blame Kathy for that hahaha) and I wanted to make them something as they’re some of my favorite people.
I made my friend Megan this tote after she liked this Tula bunny fabric on some other projects I had made. Technically, I gave this to her for her birthday, but it was over the holidays, so it counts.
Cory and Megan at bday donuts!
Not pictured are the three tie blankets and a small painting that were also made for Christmas and escaped my camera..
-Important side note- We made our 100 hikes in 2024 on Dec 31st! It sure was close this time, but with surgery and then the car I think we did ok!
Happy 2025 and I hope your year is full of color and creativity!
Redwoods 2024
Every year Cory and I have a goal of 100 hikes/year. This year has been hard to keep up with our numbers as life has thrown us some obstacles. We lost both of my remaining grandparents (my dad's parents) to start the year, which meant a trip to Oklahoma. Then I wasn’t feeling totally myself as I had a very large ovarian cyst and needed surgery- but that meant lots of tests over several months before I had the surgery, then time to heal following it. While figuring out what was going on with me we made a month long trip to Missouri and Iowa, for my mom's birthday and Cory’s dad's memorial service. We hiked some on the trip and in Yellowstone and Badlands National Parks, but not as much as we usually do and I wasn’t as up for it anyway with the discomfort I was in.
Now, feeling so much better and really wanting to spend some time outdoors, Cory and I went to the redwoods. It’s such a great place to explore.
Friday: We revisited Trillium Falls Trail and the loop trail at Ladybird Johnson grove. We have hiked these before and enjoyed them so much- this time they were just as wonderful as ever.
Looking up through a hollow tree
Funky fungi
You can just see ocean in the distance- it was more obvious in person.
Saturday: We had a rough start to the day as we had a flat tire when we went to leave our hotel so we had to deal with that first. We walked around Eureka a bit and got lunch at their CO-OP grocery's del while we waited for our car. When we got our car we headed south toward the Humboldt Redwoods State Park- only to find they had not fully aired up our tire! We went back, waited more, had it checked, aired, and left, finally on our way. We hiked the Drury-Chaney Grove this time. We’ve been to the Humboldt Redwoods before, but not this grove and not this trail. It was getting late and the sun had just set when we were done.
Sunday: While driving to find a hike up north and on our way home, we stopped along a beach for a walk. The fog was heavily rolling in but time on the beach is always a good time. We decided to take the scenic drive through Prarie Creek Redwoods State Park along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. We saw seven male elk resting together and continued on to look for a hike. We ended up stopping at a trail that looked promising and had a great hike through some very large old growth trees. Part of the hike followed a stream and that was beautiful also. We took a few different trails for the hike so I’m not completely sure it has its own name. We started near the Goose Pen tree.
Halloween Project!
Ever since last year's Halloween quilt (and matching pillows) I’ve had leftover fabric in my stash that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. I thought maybe a table runner, but I had awkward amounts left. After talking to a friend I decided a tote bag. That would use up most of my scraps and some leftovers from other projects, plus the inside would be lined with what I had a lot of- the Jack-o-lanterns! I didn’t want another year to pass with Halloween material haunting me!
I’d text my sister feeling like I should get on to another project when she sent me a link to the free pattern for this skull block by Bonjour Quilts. I got to it and made the whole tote in a day- a VERY long day.
The quilt whose leftovers I was using:
Bonneville Dam
A trip to the fish ladder at the Bonneville Dam is always worth the time. If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a fish ladder, it’s the way fish pass through dams to continue their journey up river.
The Bonneville Dam is the last dam on the Columbia River before the ocean and is an Army Corp’s of Engineers site. They have people who are fish counters that count how many fish and of what type are passing through each day. They also have large windows that are open to the public for viewing along with information about what fish are being seen, when to see different kinds of fish, historical and current counts. There is a small museum about the area when you walk into the visitor's center and some floors below a movie you can watch about lamprey and their importance to local tribes. The fish windows are what drives myself and my family to visit and I would recommend anyone go if they have the chance.
My dad for scale, ha!
After the fish window, I recommend driving to the fish hatchery and watching the enormous sturgeon swimming around. They are like living fossils and are native to our river!
This was my parents’ second trip to the dam and on their request. So I’d say they recommend you go too!
Recent Makes
In getting back to normal I’ve made a mission to get some planned sewing projects done to thin out my fabric stash while I map out my next paintings (think animals!).
While I can’t share EVERYTHING, as some are gifts that have to wait a while to be given before I can share, these should be OK.
This snake pillow is for my friend Karin for her 50th bday. She is the only friend of mine who has snakes, and had two of her five die of old age fairly recently. I thought a pillow with Tula Pink's “Hissy Fit” snake print fabric would be perfect for her. I’ve been calling this Luna in honor of her one snake that died. No pattern, just cut to suit the material and show it best.
I made this table runner after buying this Tula Pink material (center) and not wanting to compromise the ombre effect. I measured a table runner I had already to base the size off of and then used leftover backing material from my Barbie quilt for the reverse side (sunflowers!). It’s fully reversible which I like as it takes up less space but I get my choice of two totally different designs.
I’ve been on a bit of a totebag kick as I think they are both fun to make and fun gifts to give. The material from this is leftover from quilts I have made and is mine. I wish I could put that speckled batik EVERYWHERE!!!
When I bought the snake print fabric I intentionally bought more than I would need for the pillow as I thought my niece would like the snakes also. I had leftover green from some other projects I’ve done and it perfectly matches the leaves in the pattern. I’m sending this to my niece ASAP, so even if she sees this post, I’m not too concerned. (Hi Skye!)
I made these a while ago but haven’t shared. They are just a large bear paw block as a pillow front, mirror imaged to go on either end of the couch. I used holographic thread to quilt them, which I have been experimenting with a bit. I love the effect!
