• Farewell My Sweet Prince

    Many friends know of my cat Koshka – our refugee from Afghanistan but those of you who know me personally, know of my other cat Bosco who has quietly lived with us for nearly 20 years. Sadly Boisco passed away yesterday afternoon, dying in his sleep as peacefully and quietly as he lived. As if by a miracle, the clouds parted and provided him a last ray of the sunshine he loved so much, to bathe in as he laid on our bed and his spirit left in that ray as it faded as if the Sun God Ra was taking him with Him into the west. I am heart broken – Bosco was like a child to me from the first night when I saw his fuzzy little face and cradled him in my arms to the last morning when I cradled him in my arms again to say farewell as I left for a class. My husband stayed with him the whole day so he did not die alone. Even Koshka senses he is gone and wanders from room to room mourning him though they were not friends. I and my husband will miss our quiet sweet little prince

    Bosco: 1999 – March 1, 2018

    Farewell Sweet Prince,

    You died as you lived – with quiet dignity,

    I wept as I cradled you in my arms for the last time and the skies wept with me before they paused to grant you one last ray of the sunshine you loved so much, to bask in before the Sun God faded taking your soul with him on his journey to the west.

    I weep once more and the skies join me in my grief, our tears mingling as we bid you safe travels to whatever sweet heaven awaits you.

    You were prince among cats and you will be missed.

    Bosco – 1999-2018
    Gone from our arms but not from our hearts

  • Let it Snow…

    This is a double en tender here. it is of course a reference to the recent snowy weather we’ve had but  also refers the sprinkling application process in which you add the fabric confetti by the pinch  to the quilt surface.

    I taught my confetti class at Montavilla Sewing Center in Gresham yesterday, braving the roads that were slowly recovering from our winter weather. I had three students, a fourth who really wanted to attend begged off at the last minute, she had farther to travel than the rest of us and felt it was going to be more challenging than she wanted to tackle.

    For the class, I had a handout with two patterns, one was little more than a branch that could be fused and then embellished with confetti foliage, the second option was a simple landscape scene with a tree on the shore of a lake. To my delight, each student came with an idea already in her head or even partially composed. I try to gear my classes to cut across all skill levels from an enthusiastic beginner to an accomplished adventurous stitcher but it always gives me a thrill to see the quilter partially or fully fledged follow their own inspiration.

    Here are the projects that came out of yesterday’s class


  • Love Letters and Other Sweet Things

    To all the sweethearts out there, Valentine’s Day is coming in a couple of weeks and what better way to express your affection than with a lovely fabric Valentine that hold concealed pockets to tuck notes, flowers or chocolates into. This will be the project for my upcoming Art Journal Quilt classes at two locations – Pioneer Quilts and Montavilla Sewing Center in Gresham. The class will be at Pioneer Quilts on Friday February 2nd and at Montavilla Wednesday February 7th.

    The mini-quilts are decorated with hearts cut from pretty fabrics – some are simply fused on but others are clandestine pockets that you can tuck little treasures into. Those of you who enjoy embellishing will find plenty of options to apply decorative braid, lace, beads, buttons, sequins and/or decorative embroidery or stitching. As this project goes together very quickly, there will be plenty of time to complete your Valentine before Valentine’s Day.

    Now for a word on what we consider ‘romantic’ design and color. Growing up and participating in Valentine’s card exchanges at school, the cards were pretty much red, pink and white. Walk into the card section of a store as I did yesterday and you will see a vast ocean of those very same colors but what do YOU think of as romantic? You will see in my two photos that one of my quilts was created in a sort of Victorian style with salmon colored brocade, black velvet and floral prints with black lace and pearls while the other is a Renaissance Fantasy of a vibrant silk brocade, gold silk, exotic embroidered braid with beads and a little golden key (to someone’s heart). The beads on either side of the bottom beaded fringe are the result of one of my last last Journal Quilt classes I had at one shop where we made embellished fabric beads.

    I do hope you will consider joining me at one of these two sessions to make your very own Valentine for a sweetheart or just for yourself, after all – you deserve a little love too. Contact the shops for more information or to enroll.

    Victorian Romance
    From Romeo to Juliet