QUILTER'S BLOCK

It’s kind of like writer’s block, but only with cloth, not pen and paper. And I’ve got it!

 There are a wealth of distractions here in Refuge Cove that keep me away from the sewing machine. Actually my desire to sew is about nil - thus,"Quilter's Block".

But maybe it’s because of all the amazing distractions I have here in Refuge Cove. Like, my new garden fence (put up last year), recently fitted with a beautiful gate made by Tom.

Or playing in the dirt in my new greenhouse.  It’s 80% completed and plenty adequate for growing and taking advantage of our summer.

The hummingbirds are really keeping me busy. I fill 4 feeders every day. Those little hummers are inhaling a half gallon per day.

We’re still hoping to see more goldfish in our pond. Every day it’s the same answer…3! Two years ago, we had 17.

Our good friends and neighbors, Jim and Sharon, arrived yesterday and we helped them move. With hamburgers on Cortes first!

Tom’s latest garden project was to build my 3^rd raised garden box.

He asked me to check it out for size…what’s that all about!?????

I quickly filled it with dirt and plants….thankfully,  I haven’t seen him building a lid!

So quilting is the last thing on my mind, but I really should be thinking what I’m going to put in Sandie’s shop (Refuge Cove Gallery) this summer. My first QUICK little commercial project was to cut up a few of my old, undesirable pieces into 3”x6” rectangles and then I proceeded to making them into luggage tags.

And we’ve also been prawning, which is horrible this year because the commercial guys have totally scraped the bottom clean. So now we are trying our hand at fishing, which also hasn’t been too fruitful .

And then there’s my new Kindle. I’ve powered through 4 books in the last 3 weeks. That’s a lot of reading by me. They are: 1) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, 2)The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea, 3) Unbroken: A World War II Story  of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, and 4) Stoned into Schools: Promoting Peace with Education in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson. These all were great reads!

So, you can see, I’ve definitely been pre-occupied.

ESTADO DE OREGON

We now claim our legal U.S.  residence as Jacksonville, Oregon. After faking our U.S. address as Fairbanks, Alaska, for the last five years, it feels great to have  our little place in America. Of course not much will change with our seasonal migration between Refuge Cove and Mazatlan. Our Oregon life lasts for 6 weeks in April/May, plus the two months of October/November, the transition times for us.  Southern Oregon, in particular the Rouge Valley, is  truly beautiful. Neighboring towns to our small historical community are Medford and Ashland. Vineyards abound. It's a quick drive to the coast. We like it...a lot!

We just spent the last 6 weeks fixing up our cute little trailer. Midst all the projects, I did get some time to do some fabric play with friends! (Yes, we moved to a place where we know a good number of folks!...How wonderful is that!!??)  My awesome Fairbanks/Ashland friend Christine, hosted dye days and collage sessions. Look at the fun we had!

We had fun just letting loose in the dye studio!
We went from watercolor-like blobs to multi-step stamping all in one enjoyable afternoon.
And then we moved on to collage work in the style of Pamela Allen...I shared what I know with Chris and then pulled in Cynthia for another day.
Looked what we produced!

Lovely composition, Cynthia:

Christine, this piece just flowed out of you. It's so, so , so ....Christine!

I just couldn't resist those buttons!