Yoga bunnies and the Summer Pillow

I finished my Summer Patchwork Pillow today!

The yoga bunnies that Andrea gave me like it.

I made it from two packets of Valerie Wells charm squares that I picked up at the Stitching' Post when the Feet & Forks went to Sisters, OR. The chain stitching went really quickly.

And the diagonal quilting took no time at all.

First photo shoot was on the back deck with the Buddha statue from my daughter and a blown-glass corn necklace made by a friend.

Second photo shoot was on the couch, where Yoga Bunny finds peace and happiness in front of the sunny back of the pillow.

It was a good day, which I started by making French toast for myself. I don't think I've made French toast since the kids lived at home!

I had breakfast accompanied by Dr. John on Pandora. Since he passed away a few days ago, I've been listening to him a lot. I've always liked his New Orleans, loose, swampy, swingy, voodoo sounds, and what goes better with French toast than New Orleans?

Then I walked and snapped this photo of a peaceful spot in a neighbor's yard.

I'll end with another quote that someone shared on Facebook ...  good advice.

 Have a colorful day

Words for a good life

A good life is also a collection of colorful bobbins! Some of the ladies at quilt guild wore these colorful necklaces yesterday. I love them! They're thinking of making more to sell at our annual quilt show in the fall.

Today's yoga wisdom comes from Tammi, who reminded us as we started our practice that:

We can choose what

we let into our space 

and we can choose

what to keep out. 

And the ever-present Facebook wisdom presented this one, which reinforce's the yoga advice:

Have a colorful weekend

Getting centered with the yoga bunny

Today's post about getting centered was triggered by noticing the magnetic centers of flowers on my walk, but while I was lounging on the couch this evening looking at my yoga rabbits (thank you, Andrea!) ...

... I was seized with the idea of a traveling yoga bunny getting "centered" on her trip. (Remember that commercial with the traveling gnome?)

So I took her on a little trip around the house.

One stop was the North Cascades of Washington, in front of a spectacular photo taken by my son on a backpacking trip.

After that, it was quilts and a salt block.

She met a friend along the way!

(I think I have too much time on my hands.)

Tomorrow I MUST do something productive.

 Have a colorful day

Tacoma and Nancy's garden

The Feet and Forks took on Tacoma yesterday, exploring the city streets and then eating at the new McMenamins. I love the way Kandi, Nancy and Joyce look like they're actually in front of the sea in this photo of a huge mural we came across.

We wandered up and down stairways and alleys and back hallways, into intriguing shops and through obscure little parks, but I didn't snap into photo taking mode until I saw the giant ocean mural.

I debated whether to show this totem pole, billed as the largest in the world. I was suspicious when the plaque said "made and carved by Alaska Indians" and presented to the city of Tacoma in 1903. "Alaska Indians" is pretty vague, and some quick online research revealed that it is suspected to have been carved by white men on Vashon Island and then used as a tourist gimmick. Judge for yourself: the-strange-history-of-the-tacoma-totem-pole.

I think it's shameful. But there's no shame in these majestic cedars growing among the city buildings.

Then we entered McMenamins and wandered more dimly lit stairways and hallways connecting the multi levels and five restaurants and bars. We even found a tiny hidden bar behind a fake door. To say the decor was overdone is an understatement, but I think that was the intent. There are hundreds of vintage glass chandeliers and light fixtures, for starters.

You can read more about it here:  https://www.thenewstribune.com/entertainment/restaurants/tnt-diner/article229294674.html

After we polished off our food at the Pub with a sweeping view out over the waterway, we headed back to Gig Harbor where Nancy gave us a tour of her garden. She is a Master Gardener and was on the Gig Harbor Garden Tour some years ago. 

Her garden is a special treat of lush plantings and outdoor "rooms." Bold lines of the Calla lilies and hostas ...

... are juxtaposed with delicate Columbines

... and these tiny blue blooms

tucked among the ferns.

Last but not least, a bunny! This is one of my daughter's five baby bunnies from the rabbit mama and papa who she rescued. It's not really a giant ... she posed it on a miniature chair from her vintage shop.

Have a colorful day 

"Put a bird on it"

Linda P.'s blue bird.

As I was going through the photos from our last Sew Day, I realized that we had, as they say in Portlandia, "put a bird on it."

Carolynn's bird table runner.

Linda J.'s perky cardinal.

Linda J.'s owls.

I guess you could call us bird brains!

But Nancy and I bucked the trend. Nancy worked on a wool appliqué beach scene while I arranged squares for a pillow pattern that I picked up in Sisters.

Linda P. made us all these great project holders for Christmas, and mine was perfect for laying out the 81 squares and then rolling them up to take home. I love the cheerful colors of Valerie Well's Marmalade Dreams collection.

And I just realized -- the fabric does have birds! So Nancy is the only one who didn't "put a bird on it."

I forgot to get food photos at Sew Day, so I'll show you some from last week.

Spicy Thai chicken wrap and dill potato salad for me at Devoted Kiss after a good hike with Dawn through Seymel Park.

And Sherry's homemade chocolate sauce poured over my chocolate wacky cake after a day of gentle yoga and lounging at a cafe with yoga friends. Life is good!

Have a colorful day

Inner strength and the growth zone

A little quilt I made in 2003.

"You never know how strong you are

until being strong is the only choice you have."

                           

                      -- Bob Marley, musician

 The theme at the Y this month has been inner strength, so that's the topic of this post. Today's yoga wisdom from Jillian addressed that, keying off of the warrior poses.

Jillian does a Warrior Two pose.

"Warrior pose battles inner weakness

and wins focus.

You see that there is no war within you.

You are on your own side.

You are your own strength." 

And that leads me to this nifty graphic that showed up on Facebook recently:

Most of my life, I've tried to stay in the comfort zone. I don't like change because in my innately anxious mind, change can signal danger ahead. But as you know if you've been reading my blog this year, my well-planned comfortable life has thrown me a huge curve ball. 

I rapidly shot from the comfort zone to the fear zone, then I got a grip and shifted into the learning zone, educating myself about legal and financial options, for starters. Now I think I'm in the growth zone! I've set new goals and started dreaming about new creative possibilities. (So much fabric, so many stitches to explore!)

A picture I took along the trail on my recent trip to Oregon.

"Go within every day

and find the inner strength

so that the world

will not blow your candle out." 

            

                       -- Katherine Dunham, dancer

Have a colorful weekend

The Feet & Forks hike Oregon's high desert

Where to start -- five days and hundreds of photos from the Feet & Forks' trip last week to the high desert of central Oregon. I guess I'll just dive right in.

Hiking along the Deschutes River in central Oregon.

We hiked to spectacular waterfalls on the Deschutes River and Paulina Creek and in Tumalo State Park ...

... and through the eerie lavascape where the "Lavaness Monster" loomed.

We saw wildlife ...

... and plenty of rain.

Mostly we hiked along the river and had the trails largely to ourselves due to the drizzly weather. The previous week it had been gloriously sunny and warm, and I have a feeling that's when everyone was on the trails. We hiked about 25 miles together, and Kandi and Joyce did many more miles on their early morning walks while I was still lounging in bed.

Kandi is always up for a challenge. When she saw a fallen tree spanning the river to a little island, she immediately said she had to cross it. (That would never occur to me because I'm not a risk taker.) We cheered after she made it.

Besides rapids and waterfalls, there were beautiful placid stretches of the Deschutes, like the one below bordered by marshland in Sunriver.

Here's another peaceful view in Sunriver:

One day we explored the lava fields in Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which is within the Deschutes National Forest. Just as we got out of the car to begin our hike it started raining hard, so we jumped back in. Seconds later we were being pounded by hail! Not very desertlike.

When the hail passed, we grabbed our umbrellas and set out on a paved path through the lava fields. What we saw that day was the big chunky porous type of lava piled against dramatic skies. Another day we tried to hike in an area of obsidian (glassy) lava fields, but the road was closed due to late snowfall. It would have been interesting to compare the two types of lava, but that will have to wait for another trip.

This twisted tree adds to

the eeriness of the lava fields.

As always, I took photos of interesting texture and lines, like this pinecone ...

... raindrops on grass ...

... and swirling water.

And, since we are the Feet & FORKS, here are some food photos:

Sweet potato fries are one of our favorites.

We made daily trips to bakeries.

The flan at Hola in Sunriver was to die for!

I hope this gives you a little taste 

of the Bend/Sunriver part of beautiful Oregon.

Along the Deschutes on a city path in Bend.

Have a colorful day