What I really mean is The Generosity of New Friends!

There are so many nice people in this world, and now I know three more of them–Sheri, Regena and Jodi!  Here they are with my “old” friends Connie and Robin.

I’d met Sheri and Regena oh-so-briefly when they came to the final Anna Lena sale, and I knew Jodi from her blog.  After my recent post about the apron program at Pomeroy House, Sheri emailed to tell me about a stack of aprons she had that had belonged to a friend, and I said, “Oh, I’d love to see them.”  That led to a visit yesterday from Sheri and the two others.  I was quite excited–a day of looking at old aprons and making new friends!  What could be better?  Well, sharing it with Connie and Robin seemed like a good idea, too!

I promised to make lunch, and the girls arrived just before noon.  It was fun to set a fall table.

I couldn’t believe that Sid’s Market still had strawberries, and they were nice ones, so I figured one more strawberry whipped cream cake was in order–probably the last one of the season.

But then, to my surprise, I discovered they had each brought me a gift!

Regena brought me her world famous chocolate chip cookies.  They are absolutely delicious and I’m wondering if I should hide them from Bob!

Now, amazingly, Sheri brought me a giant bag of vintage aprons.  The aprons I thought I was just going to have a look at–she gave them to me!  There were so many of them–more than two dozen.  And they were all different styles and eras.  Well, here, have a look!

There’s this wonderful aqua and orange one set off with the black panel in the middle.

And check out this vintage organza one that has a fancy hankie in the front.

And I love the patchwork style apron.  One of the fabrics is a novelty print with pianos and musical notes on it!

Every apron collection should have a gingham apron in it–and this one did–an aqua one!

It was decorated with ric rack–and the way the ric rack was stitched down was so adorable.

And here’s a pretty pink floral.

Do you remember cobbler’s aprons?  I do.  When I was a teenager working at my dad’s grocery store, I had to wear on everyday!

And look at this bib apron.  It has gathers over the hips.  Not the area I usually want to accentuate!

The print in this little pink number was sooooo cute–and the double rows or ric rack were sweet.

This bib style just says “grandma” to me.  The print was very pretty, but you could see by looking in the pocket how much it has faded from the original brightness.

Don’t you love the red and aqua print in this one?

The red insets in the side of this one made it look classy!

This one still has its tag attached–look by the left pocket.

This bib apron was made from quite a complicated pattern.

And this circle apron had a scalloped bottom edge.  Why didn’t I think of that for my Saucy Circle Apron!?!

Simple but classy.

There were lots more, and I love them all!

And, last but not least, I opened the bag from Jodi.  Inside was this adorable house wall hanging!  Of course the colors are perfect for my studio!

It was a delightful day.  Thanks, ladies!

Who would have ever thought that neon signs would evoke feelings of nostalgia?  But lately I’ve been noticing them when I travel.  The town of Prineville, Oregon was full of them, like this Real Estate sign.

And this men’s ware shop.

Even the jewelry store had a cool old sign.

Mitchell, Oregon is just a wide spot in the road, but look at this cool hotel sign.

Bend, Oregon has been a boom town in the last couple of decades, but this old sign is still shining bright.

A few weeks ago in Fife, Washington, we passed this cool old sign.  I only saw the sign, but Bob saw the little hamburger stand.  When we went that was again last weekend, we decided to try the burgers.  Good choice!  They’ve been in business 60 years, and boy, do they have it figured out!

Nearby was this old motel.

You can tell I’m starting to obsess about these old signs.  Ah, well, another harmless addiction.  If you love them, too, send me photos of your favorites!

Bob and I were lucky enough to go to a Mariner’s game with my mom and dad recently.

We enjoyed a great meal in the Diamond Club first.

Even the Babe was there to greet us!

Mom and I are anxious for the game to start.

It was a great game.  The Mariners led all the way–and the Moose kept us cheering.

This was the view from our seats.  The best part was, we got a win!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a fun time.

On our way home last weekend, Bob and I stopped at Cabella’s–and what should be in the parking lot–vintage trailers!

There were members of Sisters on the Fly there with their camp trailers set up for us to visit.  How wonderful!

Here’s the Hillbilly Hilton.

Love the copper stove and the diamond plate back splash.

The Thermos as vase is inspired!

Doesn’t everyone want their own Camelot?

Bob was excited because it was made by Bell Manufacturing in Kalispell, a company he remembers well.

I love a woman who knows how to carry out a theme.

Check out this adorable aqua one.

Monica, are you drooling?

I’m drooling over the appliances inside.

And the detail on the dinette benches.

The sister of Camelot’s trailer has one, too, and she calls herself The Queen of Pamelot!

Aren’t the outdoor vignettes adorable?

Pamelot evidently subscribes to the Karen Snyder school of collecting–more is more!

Another aqua beauty.

After orange and aqua, my favorite color combo is pink and aqua.

There’s so much to like here–like vintage linens!

And more vintage linens.

A cowgirl at heart!

Why, yes, I’d love to join you for a hot beverage, thank you!

But then they had to go….

I think Lola may need a little sister!

I had so much fun a few nights ago–I sewed something just for myself!  I made a Lilly Apron.

This pattern was designed by my friend Michelle at Busy Bee Quilt Designs. I bought the pattern back last May at Quilt Market, and have been meaning to make one for myself ever since.  Good intentions, you know.  Well, I thought it would be fun to have an apron to wear when working my booth at Northwest Quilting Expo, so finally got my fanny in gear and sewed.  This is the result.

Michelle’s directions were great.  I think if I hadn’t decided to make it reversible, I would have been finished in about two hours.  As it was, it seemed like a good idea to make it reversible.  From start to finish, I spent no more than three hours on this.

I liked it so much, I didn’t take it off for two days.  Bob thought I was crazy, but, hey, it’s important that I keep up my image!  I want to make one out of each of my fabrics.  Wow!  That would be one big stack of aprons!

P.S.  I just found this photo of Michelle at Market, wearing the original Lilly apron.  Isn’t she adorable???

Woo Hoo!  I spent the afternoon with David Bromstad!

Truly, I did!  He was appearing at Ecohaus in Seattle, talking about his new paint colors with Eco-friendly Mythic Paints.  I was there waaaay early, so I could sit up really close!  I was in the third row from the front.  You can see Bob up there in the yellow shirt, holding my place for me!

HIs “stage” was this big truck with the side open and cans of paint stacked up inside.  The paint cans made a great backdrop.  You can also see the easel and canvas there.  During the afternoon, he painted a painting and it was raffled off!

He talked a bit about his history, then asked for questions from the crowd.  I didn’t want to jump up and ask the first, question, so I waited and asked the third question!  My question was, “I always love it when you step outside the norm and do something different, like the fire hall or the gym.  Have you ever considered doing an Airstream?”

To which he replies, “We came THIS close to doing and Airstream.”  At that point, I said, in my best sarcastic voice, “REAAAAALLLLLY????”  And he asked, “Were you the one that submitted that?”

I confessed that I was.  He said he really pushed for it, but that HGTV has nixed it.  That was the same thing his producer had told me.  Well, darn and double darn!

He moved on, answering lots of questions, even one from this little guy.

Then he started his painting.

He tried to talk and work, but had a bit of a difficult time doing both!

He had his trusty spray bottle and did a drip design.

It wasn’t all that exciting–at first.

But then someone yelled, “Turn it upside down.”  And he did!

That, and a little purple, and it was finished.  No, I didn’t win it.

But I did ask him afterwards if it was worth resubmitting the Airstream idea, and he said, “Yes.  Absolutely!”  So get ready, we may need another email campaign!

As a dedicated fabric designer, I take my research seriously.  Since my designs are based on prints from the 1920′s, 30′s and 40′s, it’s important that I surround myself with materials from that era.  Recently, even though I was on vacation, I took time out from my schedule of spa pampering and relaxing and devoted an afternoon to research.

In other words–I went to the antique mall!

I’m always on the lookout for quilts, quilt blocks and tops that let me see a good representation of fabrics, like this Apple Core.  Why look–this quilt maker used red AND orange.  Way to go!

She was also very frugal.  Over half the pieces in this top are pieced.  In other words, she didn’t have a big enough scrap to cut out an apple core shape, so she pieced her scraps together first.

I have an image of Sunbonnet Sue in my mind–the Sunbonnet Sue that my Grandma Kennedy made.  All other Sue’s are compared to her.  This Sue comes pretty close–and she has some pretty fabric in her dresses!

Many of you have heard me say this before, but LOOK!  Quilters in the 1930′s used orange–real orange!  Not peach, not buff–ORANGE!

Besides quilt tops I find other things that are great fabric resources–like this little lingerie bag.

And, of course, clothes pin holders.  I have seen (and collected) lots of these over the years, but never one with feet!  Isn’t it absolutely charming!?!

Ah, the sacrifices I make for my craft……..

Our two oldest grandkids, McKenna and Justin, have been here visiting for a week.  Little brother, Jason, wasn’t very happy about being left home!

On our way home, we stopped in Seaside to break up the trip, and took time for a ride on the carousel.

I just love this photo.  We had to stop to watch the Young’s Bay Bridge be raised for a fishing boat to pass under.  Must be a guy thing!  McKenna and I waited in the car.

The favorite and most requested activity during the week was Gator driving.  I use it to water and fertilize around the yard.  As you can see, Justin liked being in charge of the spray nozzle!

While McKenna and I did a lot of Gator driving, Bob and Justin spent a lot of time on the John Deere A, now named Henry.  Bob was trying to fire it up one day and said, “Come on, Henry,” and after that, Justin called it Henry!

We baked Snickerdoodles, Papa’s favorite.  Okay, so I had a few, too!

McKenna made an apron from my Daisy A Day apron panel.

Here she is modeling the finished product.  I was so proud of her.  She did all of the sewing except attaching the waist band.  Her top stitching was lovely!

She chose this fabric for the reverse side, and we added the ric rack.  How fun!

We spent one whole day at Vista Park on the Columbia River.

It’s amazing how kids can spend hours at the water’s edge.  And grandparents can spend hours watching them and enjoying every minute of it!

We had a picnic and used the same plastic picnic plates that I ate off of as a child when we’d go to Chinook Park.

Now this was a bit of a stretch.  I had to put curlers in McKenna’s American Girl Doll’s hair.  Heck, I don’t even put curlers in my hair!  If it takes more than four minutes, then it’s not the hairdo for me!  But, it was in preparation for a very important party.  We invited the dolls and Great Grandma Bette for a tea party in the log cabin.

We spent the morning cleaning the cabin and picking flowers.  Of course picking flowers involved Gator driving.

Melissa and Kerstin wore matching dresses.

We had tea sandwiches and scones.  Our table had a daisy theme–daisy fabric in the table cloth, daisies on our bouquet, and daisies on my 1974 wedding china.

When Grandma Bette arrived, she was chauffeured to the cabin in –what else– the Gator!

She brought hostess gifts for both McKenna and me.  McKenna got a piece of cut glass that Grandma Bette has had for over 40 years.  What a treasure!

We didn’t forget dessert.  We had a strawberry whipped cream cake!

Yesterday, before heading out, we took one last Gator ride.  We went to the neighboring cranberry bog.

We took a little trip down a grassy road into the woods, and guess what we saw–a black bear!  It might have been this one, that son Doug snapped a  phone photo of in our yard last spring!  The bear ran off into the woods, and we turned around real quick!

We met their parents in Portland yesterday for the exchange.  Looks like Jason is happy to have his siblings back!

My granddaughter, McKenna, helped me with the random number generator–and the lucky winner is Nancey O.  Congratulations!

My daughter lives in Central Oregon, and last week my parents, my sister’s family, Bob and I spent some time there.

Central Oregon is high desert.  You wouldn’t know it when you’re at Pronghorn, thought!

My Mom and Dad have a “fractional ownership” in the Residence Club there.  I loved the sage blooming just outside the door.

We spent about three hours on a float trip on the Dechutes River.  What a blast!

One day Bob and I drove east through the Ochoco Forest to see the Painted Hills.

They were truly amazing.  The clay that forms them was deposited 33 million years ago!

We lunched in the tiny town of Mitchell.  It may be tiny, but it has everything, including this gas station.  Really.

These wild flowers were blooming along side the road where we stopped to take photos of the painted hills.  I think they’re black-eyed Susans, but I don’t know for sure.

One morning, Mat, Melissa, Ray and I hiked to the top of Pilot Butte.  That gets the old heart pumping!  But the view was magnificent.

We drank the local brew, Dutch Brothers.  I love their logo!  And the sunset isn’t bad either.