SUNDAY

 I worked a bit on quilting Ribbons.

I finished the backing for the Pegasus quilt, one from Joe's Quilt Freedom Workshop.   I love it.  Still need to put a label on it.

And, to top off the day, I made another silly doodle sketch with watercolor.

100 PINTS RECOGNIZED

 I received a nice little package in the mail today.  It contained a Certificate of Recognition and a letter of thanks from Bloodworks Northwest for my 100 donations.

The letter said:

Dear Terry,

    On behalf of everyone at Bloodworks Northwest and patients in our community who've reached remission, made a recovery, and gotten a second chance directly because of your 100 donations, thank you.

    I'm thrilled and inspired to inform you that your dedication has earned you a place on our Tree of Life display recognizing milestone donors like you into this small family of heroes, 76 years strong, who've bettered our community, drop by drop.

    You've helped us recover from tragedies and natural disasters, pioneer new cancer treatments and blood research, and given people hope and a fighting chance in the moments of their lives when they needed it most.  That's what you've done, that's who you are, that's the gift you've given your community again and again, and it will last forever.

    So to honor you and your enduring kindness to the people who will never stop needing you, you name and number of donations will be engraved on a leaf and added to our Tree of Life.  Please fill out and return the enclosed form so we can make sure to mount your leaf in the Bloodworks Donor Center that means the most to you.

    Beyond our thanks, know there are people alive today because of your good deeds.  May their birthdays, time with family, and second chances be your thank you.

    It's an honor giving you this news, and we are all in awe of your tireless passion to save lives in our community.  You are truly bold for blood.

Sincerely,

The President & CEO of Bloodworks NW.

What a great letter, huh?!

OLD DOODLES

 I've started making marks in an old sketchbook I've had.  It's full of a handmade paper that is thin and unsized.  Water tends to spread out, but the pigments in watercolors don't go with it sometimes.  It's a difficult paper to work with which makes it fun, exciting and frustrating.  But I love the cover:

I thought I'd post the sketches I had done previously.  I did most of them at work when I was without other things to do.  A few of them are dated 2013.

FRIDAY DOODLE

 

SNAIL ROCK

 I left the rock, with the snail I painted on it, out in the wild at Lincoln Park this morning on our morning walk.  Good luck Snail!

FLOWER DOODLE 2

 I put some color on a watercolor page last night:

Today I used Walnut Ink and a bamboo 'pen' to imagine some flowers onto it.

Yuki found a hiding spot from where she could ambush Bentley and the dogs.

CACTUS FLOWER

 

FALL?

 Oh my, it's still August and leaves are seriously starting to fall now.

Seen on our morning walk in Lincoln Park:

ROCK PAINTING

 Hailey and I started painting rocks last week.  I've continued and have made more.  I've got them all sealed with several coats of clear.  They are ready to go out into the world.

BOUQUET

 I put some watercolor on the paper and after it dried I inked in some flowers.

VIRTUAL SEWING

 I joined a few members of the Seattle MQG and attended a virtual sew-in this morning from 10am til about 12:30pm.  That was fun.  It's nice to be with people who share a common interest and speak the same quilt language.  There was probably more talking than sewing going on, but I did manage to sew together my other project from Joe Cunningham's last Quilt Freedom Workshop.

This is another two fabric project.  Anna Maria Horton's Pegasus and Celestial Blue from Kona.  I never thought I'd find a project for this Pegasus fabric.  I love it, but it's some difficult colors.  And it doesn't photograph well.

It's small.  I'm thinking about adding some kind of border.  Hmmm.

HAILEY AND HER DESK

 Darrell and Hailey have been working on a desk for her all week.  She's been participating and learning a few woodworking skills.

They did a great job.

SEASON CHANGING?

 The Maple Leaves are starting to show their autumn colors.  Do they always start this early?

STILL LIFE

 I thought I'd do a still life painting this afternoon.  I used gouache.  I'm not very familiar with them.  

Learning.

ICE DYEING RESULTS

 Here's how those t-shirts we ice dyed turned out:

ICE DYEING ON A HOT DAY

 After my morning walk I stopped and bought a bag of ice because our icemaker doesn't work anymore and we needed it for our project.

I had put some PFD T-shirts into a soda ash solution last night.  This morning I squeezed them out, set up a table with a plastic sheet.  I got out my powdered dyes and Hailey and Victoria came up to the studio.  We folded and scrunched up the t-shirts and arranged them onto the screen over a tray.

After spreading the ice cubes over the t-shirts, they then applied the powdered dyes of their choice all over them.  This is such a beautiful process.

We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results.

PAINTING ROCKS

 Hailey is staying with us this week.

We painted some rocks today.

STARTING THE QUILTING ON RIBBONS

 It's going to be very hot today, up into the mid to upper 90's, so I started in the studio early.  I wanted to start quilting on the Ribbons quilt.  Being apprehensive about this project, I decided to start off on one of the easier parts, doing Pebbles in the 'inside' of the ribbons.

JOY IN OUR MORNING WALK

 It was another perfect morning for an early walk.  We've been going right after sunrise, usually around 6am, in order to have Lincoln Park mostly to ourselves.  We saw a sparkling ferry:

And on a trail through the woods, we saw Joy:

FRIDAY FUN

 This gorgeous Friday morning started out with a nice walk through Lincoln Park.  Jelly believes she's a much bigger, tougher dog than she appears to be.

For lunch, we ordered some food from Cafe Con Leche (Cuban), picked it up and took it down to the park at the end of Diagonal Avenue off East Marginal Way S.   We sat at a picnic table, near the shore of the Duwamish River and watched the boats and birds.  It was magical and the weather was perfect.

Back home I had to stop and admire the color on our Cone Flowers.