The Good, the Very Good

 First up, my friends, is the visit and dinner with one of my favorite quilt artists, Mac Barnes

 The process he is showing here is from the left over T-shirt quilt he made with the YMCA shirts.

These were lefover knits he had already reinforced with fusible interfacing.

https://www.instagram.com/macbarnes.art/

Mac  uses:

Pellon P44F fusible interfacing for his T-shirt quilts.

It is always delightful to have quilty talks with Mac.

 He will be teaching a T-shirt class in the above workshop series.

You can watch it for free, or you can pay $49 like I did, and watch the 30 workshops forever.

Below:  a picture of my 37 year old niece.  She is in the spectrum and has recently been diagnosed with Mucus Ovarian cancer.  Below she wears a chemo hat specially made for her by my friend Sally Cato, 

And what my Portland family does, the minute I leave.

The cold does not bother them a bit!!!!

Christmas deliciousness.....frozen cranberries with a Rosemary tree, out of the freezer, enjoyed with Champagne for a treat

Lucky me...A recipient, once more , of a beautiful piece of Christmas original art from Linda Swanecamp.

Mrs. O'Quilts  has recovered some from her trip...enough to make four blocks of Railway scrap patch

The progression of a baby quilt:

At age 3. Aoife's first card to her grandmother. 

A few days ago, when I first landed from the red eye, Portland to Charlotte, I was in such joint pain and so exhausted, that I thought I would have to tweak my obituary.

Two days resting and deep breathing, a bit of pool and a bit of walking.

I am better...motivated to sew tonight and check out a good book from our library.

Even though my body rebelled from the damp cold weather in Portland, my heart was warm with family.  It was a wonderful way to get ready for a New Year.

Merry Christmas Eve…in Portland

  

      OMG  OMG  African fabric sale for $3.49 a yard….Need has nothing to do with it…Collecting fabric and sewing fabric are two different passions….sigh…. I could not help myself…

http://FABRICSONSALE.COM

Just saying…got so excited….Hopefully a bit will be awaiting me once I am home.

The 16 patches I finished while visiting here.:  I was going to sew them together as one patches when I remembered the Marcia Derse, the Australian and the Africana fabric I have at home…Once more..excitement at fabric….So I am waiting….also did a potholder top with the scraps.

Always keeping a few hexes in my bag.  I am glueing them now.

It goes way faster than thread.  I press them with a.hot iron to set them and plan to stitch them together with a sewing machine!!

My girl made Aoife a new Christmas stocking.

All quilted and lovely

Aoife pushing cookie treats to the neighbors

Getting ready to go

My poor sister is spending Christmas Eve alone in the hospital CMC main with her daughter.

Alexis has had an allergic reaction to the chemo and will not be released until she can keep food down.

So stressful for our family.  This is a mucus type of ovarian cancer.

All the hospital restaurants are closed.

I feel so sad for them both.

Aoife and Rosie waiting for Santa

Home made crackers.

A lovely evening with my girl and her girl and her man…of course  I am wrapped in a woolen blanket by the new fireplace

Merry 

Christmas

Eve

Portland is Good to Me…More Friends and Such

 

Aoife is totally adorable when sleeping…especially under the angel Christmas quilt I made for her mother 35 years ago..Xxoo ox

My fellow travelers from my ALS support group…It has been almost 9 years since my dear man left us…These friends have loved ones who suffered the same fate…We have survived this trauma because of each other. Once again, we met in Portland for dinner…Nothing like friendship

Thank you Denise for the homemade Kiwi jelly…from your back yard..

Below the jelly roll I brought with me…and easy sew.

Horrified, I found that strips were not the same size…some were 1/4 inch bigger than others.  I usually do not buy jelly rolls because I am a scrap quilter….I have a number of ones that have been gifted to me.  They are perfect for times in groups that I need to talk and sew and listen and sew

Now sewing four strips together for 16 patches.

A random Portland parking sign…Never heard of the app:  Parking Kitty.

Love the reindeer in a quilt patch dress

 Learning the quilt thing early

Making Great-great-grandma’s Swedish sugar cookie recipe

And leaving them to cool right in front of me!!!!!!

I notice that I left behind in Charlotte the presents I had collected for my daughter…Oh, well.

Call from my sister, due to side effects of her first chemo treatment, Alexis is in the ER…doctors orders…Sigh…this life of ours..!!

My SIL made this for the front porch

And my 100 year old antique quilts are being used as a tent for Aoife…Sigh..again..

We all played Christmas Bingo….Aoife loved it…so much 3 year old fun

We can , at times, celebrate joy this season.

Portland Quilting Friends….and More..

The third day in Portland I slept all day and wanted to go home….Portland weather delighted my arthritis…Next day, I was up and at ‘um and enjoying this darling!!!

Loving the dollar store version of Joy!

A quilter looses no time getting that machine set up.

I brought a random jelly roll with me…Here starting a 16 patch..Easy and fun

Good Vibes friends in Portland…sad to miss some great ones…

The ones we had here are terrific.  We have been on an online Quilt group since 2020, thanks to Suzette.

We had never met before now…Love…

Our Dawn never lets a second go by without a needle in her hand.

Here we are at the Kennedy School restaurant…she is sewing away

Below some of her flimsies:

Yours truly , helping to keep Portland weird !!

A big Thanks to Helene for this handmade peacock. Xoxo

I so love my quilting friends xoxo xoxo

 

Portland and More

 

At three and a half years old our Aoife is smart as a whip…so quickly they learn at this age

At Powell’s book store, I found this interesting book….a forward and preface about epidemics and art from the Covid chaos.

Look who found a spot for herself at Bolt fabric store….Nice of them to have a children’s corner with handmade dolls.

Below an interesting  story:  I joined Pan Am in April 1969.  For at least 3 or 4 years, one of these wooden Santas and later wooden snowmen graced the dinner tray of each economy passenger…How flying in the yesteryear differs so much from flying now.  I found these decorating all the door molding of this Portland antique home.  My SIL has an eye for whimsy.

Next story:   After working for the airlines for 20 some years, I am well aware of airplane cancellations or delays…weather or mechanicals…So I brought cheese and pretzels in my carryon bag…just in case……Well!!!!

I was pulled out of line at the airport security because the “cheese” looked. Like an explosive and had to be scanned by an anti-explosive device.  Hmmmm. Over 75 years , old folks no longer have to take off their shoes…wowow

Random old lady standing outside Bolt….the fabric store walkable from my girl’s house.

Doing my part to keep Portland weird!

Finally Aoife’s hair is long enough for ponytails.

The birthday party in Portland.  Both my sister and I have December birthdays.

Aoife loves birthday parties

Back in Charlotte….a great family Christmas picture…love…

My sister leaves tomorrow night.  Her daughter has her first chemo for cancer on Friday.