What a Day!

Today was a out and about day with my guests, Rosy and Teresa.....and what a day it was. We hit the high lights in Portland and South Portland and finished it off tonight with a sail on Casco Bay with my dear friends Jay and Janice. How lucky are we!

Thank you Rosy and Teresa for getting me out into my beautiful city....and thank you Jay and Janice for getting us out on the bay! What a day!

Spending My Profits

My guests were delayed so I made a quick trip to Folly 101 this afternoon to deliver the matches. Blue, red, green, gray, and teal were the match colors....and you can see why.

It rained almost all day yesterday...which we really needed. But today was crisp and cool and it eventually cleared up to a perfectly blue sky. I love the view of City Hall at the top of Exchange Street....just up from Folly 101.

I was quite taken with the buoy pillow for reasons that are probably pretty clear....so I spent a little bit of my profit and it came home with me.

And this is where it landed. All ready for my guests.

And here's the other guest spot. Rosy and Teresa are sisters....and they'll have the whole upstairs to themselves with their own bath. Do you like my night stand? It's going to come in handy for craft papers or fused fabric....I found it by the side of the road for free. Yay!

Matches and Netflix

I'm at the condo getting ready for house guests from Wisconsin but I took some time to watch several episodes of House of Cards on Netflix and cranked out a match order for Folly 101. I'll take my guests to the store in the next day or two to deliver them....The Old Port is always a fun stop on the tour.

My table in the studio is a little small for this job....but I enjoyed the view from my dining room. Some day I'll get artwork on the walls....but for now I'm enjoying just the fresh paint.

Comfortable Swinging

This could have been the swing I grew up with. Instead of a field path our swing was along Gibbs Lake Road and it hung from the limb on the other side of the tree. But it had the same view. There was a ditch at the edge of the yard we would fill with leaves in the fall to jump into from the swing.  

This image was found Pinterest and it links back to a
DIY page on making your own tree swing. 

Our swing seat changed from time to time from boards to tires...but my favorite version was a big old couch cushion. It made for very comfortable swinging.

I remember racing outside after dinner trying to be the first one to the swing. Anything we did after dinner was the best....but today I'm celebrating swinging.

I wrote about the three trees in our front yard a while back and shared this picture. You can see the tree on the right that had the big limb for the swing.  See the resemblance with the view?

July Progress

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."
Pablo Picasso

I spent a good chunk of the morning working on my July project and it felt good to be back in my sewing room.  I'll share more on the progress....but I'm at the point where I know I'm going to finish on time and it's going to be just fine. Yay!

Test Guest

My friend Anita and I made a quick overnight trip to Portland.  I had blinds installed today and new paint colors to see so we turned it into a little get-a-way. It was fun having her as my first guest....and I teased her that she was my "test guest."  She was a good sport.

Because of lighting and layout (and my photography skills) this condo is hard to photograph. And, I didn't get things cleaned up and put back together until late this afternoon so the lighting was especially difficult...but I'm quite happy with my new pops of color.

The green is rich and cheerful....and I love the sightline from the kitchen into the living space. The color frames the windows and cupboards nicely like I had hoped and will be a nice backdrop to my artwork.

The new purple stairway wall is bold and unexpected....and I love it. In both these spaces artwork will make a big difference.

Most of our time was at the condo....but Anita and I had to make a quick trip the hardware store and we both made 29 cent purchases that made our day! I'll keep you wondering.....it will be Anita's and my secret.

Thanks Anita for being a great "test guest."

40 Years!

It's been 40 years since I graduated from Edgerton High School in Edgerton, Wisconsin and there's been a flurry of "old school" photos on Facebook from classmates.

This is my page from the senior yearbook....a young 18 year old who had no clue how interesting and full her life would become.



I'm tucked in that crowd....can you find me?



We were the Crimson Tide....and these were red and white striped overalls.  Yes....we had a lot of school sprit.










From 1st through 6th grade I went to a small country school just a few miles from the farm....but for kindergarten I had to go into town.  Can you pick me out of this photo?  This is where is all started.

Going Green

For the kitchen in the condo I'm going green....a bold citron green. I'm in Lexington today....but Pete is painting today.  I'm not afraid of this color....I've used something similar somewhere in 4 houses in a row. It was my kitchen color in Madison...and I really liked it.  I love my sister LaVonn's green kitchen and Connie used to have dark cabinets like mine and her kitchen was green...and I loved it too.  

I knew it would be OK when I held it next to my favorite tiles in my Lexington kitchen that will eventually hang in the condo. Here they are below hanging in Madison. The new green is a little different....I didn't paint a sample so we'll. I'm going back up tomorrow to check it out.

 

There's not a whole lot of wall space in the kitchen....so I think the green is going to make a nice frame for the dark cabinets and the bay window. Looking out to the dining room/living room is neutral....so the green will be a nice pop of color.

The picture below was taken a while ago before the main area was painted and now I have a new fixture over the table.  I'll share the "after" soon! 

Beach Walk

I stopped in Ocean Park, Maine for a beach walk with Jane on my way back to Lexington today. There was a hazy fog which actually was quite lovely and helped tone down the sun a little.

 

And you not only get the beach when you go to Jane's....you get her gardens too which were in their full glory! Thanks Jane!

Pretty Amazing

When you stop and look, life is pretty amazing.  

I was stopped in my tracks when I saw this stunning hydrangea at my friend Rachel's in South Portland.

Trial and Error

After some trial and error this afternoon...I finally have the basic concept and layout for my July project. I think it's going to be a happy little piece. It helped to cut a viewfinder out of paper to see what was going go land on top of the little 6 inch canvas. I'm not exactly sure about the edges yet but I'll figure it out. I do like it when some of the image wraps around.

Stitching and outlining will make a big difference.  I think I might outline the lily in black to really make it stand out....I may have to practice first. Then I can stitch a stem and leaves without adding any extra color. I do like to keep pretty true to the color scheme so I won't add any green.

Working in front of the window in the studio is delightful almost all day long until the sun comes around the corner in the late afternoon. But these pleated shades do the trick...and the best part is they came with the condo.

I cut up a lot of pieces and made a decent size mess before I landed where I did. But luckily most of the scraps are useable for another project. Even small pieces of fused fabric is valuable.

I did a digital experiment this evening to see what black outlines around the lily will look like....I think it adds a lot. 

I would like to think I could do this a little loose and sketchy with free motion quilting.  But I will probably chicken out and do it by hand more precisely. We'll see. I will take it back to Lexington and finish it up there where I have more resources and supplies. I'm not fully set up in the condo yet. I also need to remember to add a a little JOY somewhere on the piece.

Gentle Reminder

Paul and I had a "Field Trip Friday" yesterday and our destination was a lovely wedding in Farmington, Connecticut. The reception venue had beautiful gardens and grounds....including this splash of orange lilies. It was a gentle reminder that I need to get going on my July project. I can't believe the month is already half over.

Today we're back in Maine for a little stretch and I took a break from cleaning the paint sanding dust and played around with a lily.

I drew a little pattern using the only things I had at the condo....a legal pad and a pen.  I cut fabric petals and fused them together.

I like it...but I'm wondering if it's too small. It's going to look a lot better outlined. Tomorrow I'll play around with a background and some sort of vase and that will help me decide if it needs to go bigger. I could also add a few simple buds.  

Mother Bulbs

I was pretty excited to get this picture from my sister
LaVonn today.  All her pots of rain lilies are blooming
at the same time....they are the mother of my bulbs.