If you don’t know what it is, an “i spy” is a quilt where you use conversation prints, hopefully with every piece being different. Several different shapes can be used for the pieces and I decided to use hexagons. (I’m having a total love affair with hexagons this summer but that’s a whole different post.) I figured I would need 165 hexagons for the size quilt I wanted and there is no way I have that many different conversation prints in my stash. So I asked all my quilting friends for any interesting fabrics that they were willing to contribute. I was especially looking for sports prints, fishing prints and beach stuff. I wanted things that matched Karina’s interests. Well, I just got the greatest stuff. Susan even had a print with Russian nesting dolls which is perfect because Karina was adopted from Russia.

I considered several different ways to set the blocks and in the end put them in rows with a rainbow of solids gradating from yellow at the top to lime green at the bottom. My sister used primary colors when she redecorated Karina’s room so I think this will complement it perfectly. And since Karina is not a real girly girl, I chose this floral for the border.

I’m really pleased with how it’s turning out. I just took my mom’s quilt off the long-arm today so I need to get these borders sewn on and I can quilt this one next. I can’t wait to get it done and send it off to Karina. I hope she likes it.

Everyone one picked very different colors and I love them all.

In our previous tuffet class, one of the students had shared an article from Quilters Home that featured a square tuffet. I decided to make one to match the new loveseat in our TV room. I used some old upholstry fabrics that were leftover from this and that. The sewing and stapling of the cover were a bit more difficult than the round one, but I am satisfied with the result.

And it looks great with our new red loveseat.

I want to change the curtains and I think this room will be done. Although is a room ever really done? Not for me. There is always something that needs to be tweaked or pictures that need to be swapped. I like my house to change to keep it interesting. Anyhoooo, very fun project.

Janet made her special chocolate chip cookies. They are the best I’ve ever eaten.

I could not resist eating both. Delicious and pretty too.

Lynda has recently retired and she is on a crafting bender. I can’t believe how much she gets done. Lynda and Viv have gotten hooked on these knitted bracelets. I think they are terrific and I want to learn how to make them and I don’t want to learn how to make them all at the same time. I’ve got so many projects to finish and I just can’t afford to get hooked on something new.

Lynda made the purple necklace and bracelet to wear to a wedding and they look so nice. It is wonderful to hang out with such talented women.

I left South Carolina after my sophomore year of college and since then, our lives have gone down very different roads. We have kept up with each other all these years, but the only spent time together is when I’ve been back south to visit family.

This week Kitty came out to Portland for work and stayed an extra three days so we could hang out. It’s been just great. There is so much warmth and history between us and we’ve just picked up right where we left off.

When I asked Kitty what she wanted to do while she was in Portland, her response was “Eat and Hike” Request granted! Yesterday we went to Pok Pok for lunch. If you live here and haven’t been there, it’s a must. Pok Pok serves Thai food and was voted Portland’s restaurant of the year in 2007.

Delicious coconut cocktails! I mean, it’s vacation, right?!

Full and happy after a great lunch.

Today we headed out to the gorge to satisfy the hiking request. I decided on Eagle Creek because it’s the quintessential gorge hike. We got there early and had a perfect day.

After our hike, we headed back to Portland and stopped at Fleur De Lis for a sandwich. It’s one of the best bakeries in the city and it didn’t disappoint today. And tonight for dinner, the whole family was here and Ricked cooked a great dinner: green beans with heirloom tomatoes, fennel and apricot salad, roasted potatoes and grilled pork loin chops. Everything was locally sourced and delicious. We all sat around the table until well after dark chatting and laughing. Perfect ending to a great day.

Still silly brothers. Rick is the oldest of five and John is the youngest and it’s been a blast to hear all the stories that John tells from when they were kids. Funny how Rick’s never told us these stories!

We headed out to the beach and got one afternoon of sun. John and Spencer are from Miami and get sun all the time, so they thought the cold and clouds were pretty nice.

Father and son at Multnomah Falls. Look at those beautiful curls!

And can’t you tell that Liza looks like the LePage side of the family?

I really love when family comes to visit. We’ve lived far away from both sides of our family almost our entire marriage, so it’s such a joy to spend time with them. I love the eating and laughing and sharing stories. It’s the best.

Along the way, we were treated to the sight of gorgeous wildflowers. These tiger lilies were my favorite. I also loved the Indian paintbrush.

There was one area where the trail was in the open along a ridge. You can see it here.

And here’s the top with Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the distance.

There was also great views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. It was truly an amazing vista and you felt like you were on the top of the world. I loved it. Definitely worth the climb.

It was an eight mile hike through forest with lots of beautiful scenery along the way. And always the sound of the river.

I mean, I’ve been sewing for a gazillion years and even though I don’t sew a lot of clothes these days, for some reason I felt pretty confident that I could figure this out. Well, it took several yards of muslin and a lot of tracing paper, but I now have a dress that looks just like that picture, only blue. I must say that I’m pretty pleased with myself!

How did I do it? Well, I bought the fabric at Josephine’s here in downtown Portland. It’s a beautiful cotton voile. The gals who own the store are so knowledgable about their fabrics and garment sewing. I showed them the picture and they recommended this New Look pattern as a starting point.

The New Look pattern got me the gathered bit in the center of the bodice. I still had to add gathered rectangles of fabric to get the section above the lace.  I wanted the dress to be high up on the neck in the back with a center zipper so I needed a different pattern to get that part.

I also had the challenge of the armhole. The dress in the original advertisement has sleeves. They are little cap sleeves but they are definitely set in as a separate sleeve. So I needed a pattern that would get me an armhole. The Prairie Girl pattern by Favorite Things got me the back and the armhole curve and it also has a similar sleeve to the dress in the advertisement.  I used tracing paper and just kind of melded the  patterns together. I would make a muslin, try it on, pin in any alterations, see how it fit, trace a new pattern with the changes, and so on, until I got it just right. It was quite the process.  When I got the pattern just right, I realized that I needed to line the dress because the voile is very sheer. OMG! I felt like I needed an engineering degree to sew the dress together.

It was a long process, but I enjoyed the challenge quite a bit. I’m going to wear the dress this weekend to a dinner party. Nobody there sews but it will make me smile to know I did it.

I’ve already bought another voile and am going to try and tackle this dress next. I’m a woman obsessed.

Many thanks to darling daughter for the great photographs and the awesome new header for this blog. She is so talented!

I got home yesterday and am finally rested and unpacked and am ready to get back in the swing of things. Here are a couple more projects from the week.

For these pajamas, I used an old McCalls pattern for the pants and a pattern from  Amy Butlers’ In Stitches book for the kimono. The fabric for the kimono is an Alexander Henry that is at least five or six years old. I’ve been saving it for just the right project. I think I picked well. They are very comfortable and I wore them every night.

Linda spent the last two days working on this clothesline tote. She got the wonderful handles from A Common Thread. It’s not finished but you can tell it’s going to be gorgeous.

Jennifer spent the week working on album blocks. She is making two matching twin size quilts for her extra room. Here are some of the blocks.

There was lots of knitting going on all week. Nothing got finished so I didn’t take any pictures. I also spent a lot of time working on a new summer dress. It was such a project that I’ll give it a special blog post in a few days. We did do a bunch of sewing but it was also a wonderfully relaxing week. These were taken out at our friend Bettys’ house in Black Butte. It was bliss.

Last night we went to hear Sue Spargo’s lecture.   It was wonderful to see her quilts and hear her personal life journey. She is so inspirational. Sue’s style is very different from my own so although I have long admired her work, I’ve never tried to make one of her patterns. Last night’s lecture made me realize that I don’t need to make one of Sue’s quilts, I need to make my OWN quilt. Her quilts are very personal and all the applique elements on them have an emotional connection to her life. It set me to thinking………….

Today we did the garden tour and saw some lovely homes and gardens.

Of course we’ve been sewing too. Many things have been completed or are in progress. Here are our machines at the ready.

Here is a messenger bag that Lynda is almost finished with:

And here is a lap quilt top that Lynda finished yesterday. She has been super productive.

The rest of us have been sewing too, really we have. I’ll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.