Year: 2013

Three Months, Quickly

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Call me the worst blogger. Or, one who simply takes a 3 month unannounced leave of absence. You know, for fun. The truth is, we went on a few trips, I made a few maps, the holidays came, and then suddenly the calendar is tipping towards New Years. A quick photo-recap of the last few months: October: We spend a short weekend in Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding. October: I played a supporting role in another friend’s wedding here in Portland. October/November: We spent a fantastic week in Florida with my family. Disney World, a beach house, extended family and many celebrations were involved. November/December: I spent every extra moment (it seemed) working on maps for the shop. I’m really happy with my new framing technique, creating ready-to-hang maps. December: I participated in Whole Foods’ Etsy Craft Fairs, which were a great introduction to the world of fairs. Look at my cute little booth! December: A little relaxation in a busy month. Christmas: Celebrating the Solstice and Christmas with lots of food and candles. A …

Birthday Quilt #2

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Another quilt!  I recently finished this one for a friend’s birthday, and I’m so happy with it. I promised it to her last September, so it only took a year to produce! She chose all the fabric (which I love), and the pattern, which is the Prismatic Quilt from Kathreen Ricketson’s Little Bits Quilting Bee.   It’s a great pattern, and I’d definitely use it again. The back of the quilt uses a fabric I fell in love with, Menagerie for Sarah Watson’s Indian Summer collection. The entire back is covered in these friendly faces–it’s like being hugged by forest friends every night. There’s nothing better than the feeling of satisfaction after completing another quilt. Whew!

Picnic at Cathedral Park

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Every month I’m attempting to have an Adventure, wherein I explore a new place. Later this month I’m actually quite busy traveling for weddings and family vacations so those definitely take care of October! But last weekend I went on a mini-adventure in Portland to a park I’d never been to, so I’m counting that, too. It was the perfect day for Early Fall: sunny and 70s, with brilliant colored leaves poking into the blue sky. Jesse and I grabbed some books, packed a picnic, and took off on his recently acquired motorcycle to North Portland! Our destination was Cathedral Park, a photogenic green space right under the St. John’s Bridge. It’s easy to see how the park got it’s name from those tall Gothic arches, perfectly framed in succession. Above, on the bridge, even taller arches stretch upwards, crowning the river with their turquoise beauty. The St. John’s Bridge is by far my favorite Portland bridge. I’ve been into picnics this year, and keep pinning inspiration like crazy onto my Picnics and Outdoor board …

Field of Goats

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Want to hear something really “Portland”? We live near a field of goats. Every day I ride past them on the bus and they’re always grazing and nibbling, or lounging in the sun on top of their goat-hut. A year ago there were only a few, but now it seems like a whole herd resides in the grassy lot. Big, small, horny, black, white, and spotted. Their home is located in an empty lot in the warehouse district, and they are tended to by the sawmill gentlemen across the street. I like to take neighborhood strolls that magically end up near the goats so we can watch them. If the gate is unlocked and someone is inside, we can slip in and visit them. Lucky day! They eat grass, scratch their horns on their house, romp about and play King of the Goat House. This spring the goat field saw two baby goats (I was told their names and promptly forgot, but one was something like Chester). These guys are so friendly and eager that they’ll …

Finished Birthday Quilt

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I finished a quilt! This is one of the projects I’ve been working on all year, going back to it in between other things. It’s laid in my WIP (work in progress) pile for months, so now that’s finally done and in it’s intended home, it feels so good! (forgive these back-lit pictures…) The pattern is Oh Fransson’s Paintbox Quilt, and I also used her tutorial. This is the first log cabin-style quilt I’ve ever made. It came together well, but all those pieces?? What a drag. 80 blocks of cutting, piecing, sewing, and pressing gets old. Which is why it took me all year and many breaks! After I made one sister a quilt (which I’m now realizing I never posted pictures of…), my other sister decided she needed one. When she visited last December we pored over quilt designs, then headed to the fabric store to pick her favorites. I started, then stopped soon after, sick of looking at red, black, and white. The nice thing about rotating projects is that I can …

Oregon Coast: Manzanita

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My September Adventure happened at the very beginning of the month, when my parents came into town for a visit. We ate our way through Portland (an Adventure in itself, but one I didn’t document well, being too busy stuffing my face.) After our fill of treats, we headed out to the Oregon Coast for a couple days of exploring. Rain was in the forecast, but since the coast is fickle and funny, the days were gorgeous and full of sunshine! We started out at Cannon Beach to see the always beautiful Haystack Rock, then drove south on Hwy 101 until we hit Nehalem Bay. Protected by Neah-kah-nie Mountain and surrounded by a trio of little towns, the bay is a quiet inlet of the ocean. The calm waters are popular for fishing, and we also spotted a few herons lazily flapping. That day we took a short but challenging hike up the nearby mountain, ending on a craggy cliff overlooking Manzanita. Fog covered the town when we arrived at the top so we took …

Hello Fall, with a Bag

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I made a bag! A good autumnal bag, all woolly and fuzzy and with the colors of fallen leaves. Now, if only the temperature would cool from this crazy 90 degrees so I could use it! On my last visit to my neighborhood fabric store, Bolt, I fell in love with this fuzzy fall plaid from Robert Kaufman. I really should have found some Pendleton wool to be a true Oregonian, but this works. When I saw the fabric I had visions of a entire dress, but I scaled back to a bag, which probably works better. The straps are leather, locally made from Doe Handcrafted and purchased at Bolt. I lined the inside with a heavy cotton that feels a bit like burlap, and added a pocket. The bag is big enough for a book (always required for my bags), wallet, phone, with space for anything extra that might jump in. Now I need some chilly, sunny weather, a hot coffee, and a street lined with leaves to stroll down, bag in hand.

August Adventure: Weekend at Crater Lake

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I’ve vowed this year to get out of town once a month and see something new. This is August’s Adventure! Ever since I moved to Oregon five years ago, I’ve wanted to visit Crater Lake. It sounded so beautiful and pristine, and so worth seeing. It was the 6th place to receive a National Park designation, in 1902, and is the only National Park in Oregon. It’s remote location in Southern Oregon puts it a 5 hour drive from Portland, well off the main highway, so we’ve just never been able to get over there and visit. Until now! August marked our 4th wedding anniversary and we decided to celebrate by finally seeing Crater Lake. It was a fast, exhausting trip, but completely worth it. The lake is located in a 5-mile wide crater leftover from the eruption of Mount Mazama. Because there are no streams or inlets, the water comes completely from rainfall and snowmelt, giving it its stunning sapphire color. The best way to see it is from the Rim Drive, a 33-mile …

A Peek at Home

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I took a few pictures of our humble home, and thought I’d share them. I’ve already talked about my big world map, so here are a few other nooks of our apartment! These are the type of photos where the mess is all pushed to the side, so it’s a tentative, faux cleanliness. I try so hard to keep it tidy, but the mess inevitably creeps. The couch we bought last year at a tiny furniture restoration place: it’s recovered in turquoise herringbone Pendleton wool. It’s a little smaller than what we were looking for, but we fell in love with it. The quilt is the the first big quilt I ever made (it’s only falling apart a little bit), and both the pillow and the framed piece are embroideries I finished in Amsterdam. The embroidery says “The wereld is mooier met jou,” which translates from Dutch as “The world is more beautiful with you.” Our filled-to-the-brim bookshelf is across from the seating. Our little ‘bar,’ holding a small collection of precious things: the white …

Strawberry Shrub

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After picking strawberries on Sauvie Island earlier in June, I had too many juicy jewels to know what to do with! So after eating as many as we could and freezing a batch, I decided to turn the rest into shrub, or drinking vinegar. I’m late to this party as lots of people have been making and drinking this for awhile now–it was made popular in Portland by the restaurant Pok Pok. It may sound weird, but it’s actually delicious, tart and refreshing! I can’t take all the credit since Jesse actually made most of this batch, but I was there, supporting him and trying not to get in the way. (I did anyway.) We used this post for recipe guidance, though the nice part is that you can pretty much wing if you get the main ingredients: fruit, sugar, vinegar. This batch was made with the cold press method, using apple cider vinegar. After letting it sit for a few days, we had a beautiful fruity vinegar concentrate. I’ve been mixing it with bubbly …