Orange bowl finished!

I finished the big bright orange bowl and put sunglasses on for its photo.

I ended it by coiling the tail around a big button and tying the button on with heavy blue and orange threads. I hand stitched the tail to the bowl because I wasn't sure if glue would hold up.

Here are the first three of the Big Bowl series. I plan to make more and hope I can find a gallery or other shop to sell them here because shipping them would cost a lot due to their size, although they're very lightweight. The orange one is 16 inches in diameter and six inches high, so that would require a big high-postage box and might discourage people from ordering them.

UPDATE: A friend in Washington is buying all three bowls!!! Thank you Janet from the bottom of my heART!!!

I also prepped the canyon quilt for quilting (with gold thread). I tacked on the little bits of fabric, feathers and yarn with dabs of fabric glue (the pink glue pen in the photo). The yellow bowl holds the snippets until they get arranged -- had to take a picture because the colors work so well together!

Then I covered everything with Sulky Solvy ...

... and pin basted the quilt sandwich. The Solvy will allow me to do the quilting without the foot snagging on anything. Then I'll tear the Solvy off rather than washing it out because I don't want the quilt to get all rumpled from washing.

Have a colorful day

Bowl, canyon quilt and a concert

I'm still spinning out layers to my orange bowl. I'm going to keep going for another few inches with a turquoise rim with some shots of orange in it. I think.

It's mindlessly addictive sewing. Now if I could just find a place to sell them before they take over my house! All of the gift shops here seem to already have some version of coiled fabric bowls, although none  this big. 

I'm adding this border to my Grand Canyon quilt, then I'll be ready to sew down the fabric snippets, yarn and feathers. It may get done this week!

I'm spending a lot of time inside sewing because it's still over 100 degrees here -- 109 today. I think the monsoon season is over, so we haven't had any cooling rain in awhile. It officially goes until the end of September.

I celebrated last night with four friends at dinner and then a free outdoor Tucson Pops concert.

That's Beth, Debra, Kathie and Sandy toasting with their colorful drinks at Locale, an Italian restaurant exuding Tucson charm. And good prices, too. I had a pear, carmelized onion, gorgonzola and candied pecan flatbread for only $5! We also split a "starter" that turned out to be a big platter -- much more than a starter -- of polenta topped with a tasty ragout. And, since we had to kill time before the concert, we shared a big slice of tiramisu. But only because we had to kill time.

The concert was nice, although even though the sun had gone down it was still almost 100 degrees and we felt sorry for the musicians under those lights, especially the ones wearing suits and ties. It was a really fun night with friends and a good way to start the new week.

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Introducing the Material Girls

I finally hosted my first quilting group since moving here, just like old times back in Gig Harbor. Meet the Material Girls, a mini group of the Tucson Quilters Guild who all live in Oro Valley. We meet twice a month in each others' homes to stitch, chat and eat, and today was my turn to host.

I fixed Caesar salad ...

... fruit kebabs

... and pasta chicken salad.

I forgot to get photos of the brownies!

But here's another dessert. My daughter's 35th birthday was yesterday and she sent a picture of the cake that Jade made for her. What a guy! Here she is with me at her 3rd birthday when I was about the same age as she is now.

And this is how the Grand Canyon quilt is evolving. I'm thinking of wind in the canyon, scattered light, energy. I haven't sewn anything down yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll go with this. I added snippets of fabric, yarn and feathers and I'll probably do swirling quilting lines.

Compare to the sunset from my front porch.

Have a colorful day

Playing with sunset colors

Since I got back from the Grand Canyon, I've been itching to do a quilt with those colors. I was going to paint my own fabric, then I found this yardage in my stash. I can't even remember buying it but it's perfect.

I cut it on the diagonal into quadrants and like that effect, but now I'm stumped. 

I pulled out more fabric that goes with it, but nothing grabs me. I think I'll have to let it percolate for awhile. And should I make it a rectangle or square? Vertical or horizontal? The colors are more muted than what I would have painted, so that makes it a little hard for me to continue. How will I quilt it? Will quilting ruin it?

For a mental rest I also started an orange bowl with dashes of turquoise, inspired by my trip to Gallup for the pow wow and all of the turquoise jewelry and orange sunsets.

And the weather is finally cooling off enough (by that I mean dipping into the 90s for highs) to go to my first outdoor concert of the season. Catalina State Park hosts Music Under the Mountains once a month starting at 6 p.m. and going through sunset. This group, whose name I forget, was really good and their songs told great stories of the Southwest, Mexico and long friendships.

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Grand Canyon and Cameron Trading Post

When I was in Flagstaff last week my friend and I took a side trip to the Grand Canyon, including a stay at the beautiful and historic Cameron Trading Post. 

The colors of the canyon and its sheer size are breathtaking. In the top photo, the Colorado River is visible one mile below where we were standing on the South Rim.

A raven posed for me, 

most likely hoping I would feed him.

We tried to go up into the Desert View Watchtower, but it was closed due to employee sickness. But the gift shop was open and we spotted one of Don's books for sale, so I had him pose beside it. 

"Where the Sky Touched the Earth: The Cosmological Landscapes of the Southwest," is a  collection of literary nature essays exploring our connection to the universe. Amazon's review: "With the personal, poetic style of the very best literary nature writing, Don Lago explores how these landscapes have offered humans a deeper sense of connection with the universe. While most nature writing never leaves the ground, Lago is one of the few writers who has applied it to the universe, seeking ties between humans and the astronomical forces that gave us birth." 

I highly recommend it! He's written many other books, including a variety about the Grand Canyon.

We did a little hike in the forested area back away from the rim. It was a clear, beautiful day.

Next stop was the historic Cameron Trading Post and Hotel, constructed by Hopi stone smiths of sandstone, complete with dinosaur footprints in some of the rocks. Can you spot them to the right of my feet?

Here's another stone with swirling designs.

Lush gardens and fountains beckoned, and I took photos while Don read in the shade.

The masterful stonework continues inside with this massive fireplace in the restaurant. 

Views from the restaurant are breathtaking, and the inside is filled with spectacular Navajo rugs.

This 9-by-12-foot Storm Pattern rug was made especially for the trading post by Elsie Glander, a Navajo weaver who demonstrated her craft for more than 25 years in the post's rug room before passing away in 2020. 

The Storm Pattern, according to "A Guide to Navajo Rugs" by Susan Lamb, contains the Navajo symbolism for a storm. In the middle is a rectangle representing the center of the universe. Four rectangles in the corners stand for the homes of the four winds, or by some interpretations the four sacred mountains of the Navajo world. Zigzag lightning connects the corners with the center.

This is Vivian Descheny, the current master weaver in the rug room. She gets her wool from her own sheep and cards, spins, dyes and weaves it into award-winning works of art. Here is some of her wool that she has colored with natural dyes. The colors are so soft and remind me of the colors of the canyon.

Vivian dyed this orange ball of yarn with wild carrots.

The room is filled with rugs

in spectacular patterns and colors.

I picked up these little guides to Navajo rugs and Hopi katsinas, but I resisted the hundreds of pieces of Native jewelry. Maybe on another trip I'll succumb.

Even more rugs are in the Cameron's Gallery, where we met Merlin. He was a font of information about Native American rugs, pottery and other art, and we chatted with him a good while.

These two photos show even more sandstone work, this time on the gallery building.

The views from our room were spectacular. 

Sunset ...

... the Painted Desert ...

... the Little Colorado River Gorge.

And no blog post is complete without food, so here is my lunch the last day, Navajo fry bread topped with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate and raspberry sauce! I believe that covers the most important food groups.

Have a colorful day