Shrine and Botanical Gardens

 Shrine flowers.

 A young hummingbird resting at The Grotto.

 Bank of windows in the Meditation Chapel.

It's a brilliant Fourth of July morning and as all Pacific Northwesterners know, the real beginning of summer.  The urge is to go out and take some photos but then the realization that the camera is broken, the victim of a fall (let's just say it involved a rambunctious puppy on a leash in the same hand as the camera; my bad).  Also, feeling a little blue about missing the fireworks tonight at the beach house.  I'm a little grounded right now, getting ready to move my mom into assisted care tomorrow.  But we'll still go out for a drive today to enjoy the sun and have a barbeque later.

So, just sharing a few pictures from a recent outing at The Grotto with a couple of friends in a newly-formed sketching group.  One of my PAC friends, Sandy Keating, is the force behind our group...we hope to get out in the Portland area once a month to draw and take photos.

Modern Cross

  I've loved this quilt design since spotting it on the cover of Susan Beal's book, "Modern Log Cabin Quilting".  So, it came to mind when planning to make a baby quilt for a friend who was expecting her first child; a young woman I've known since she was a baby herself.  It really is a simple log cabin pattern, so all of the fabrics begin as 2-1/2 inch (I think) strips.  It was a lot of fun picking prints from my stash and setting them off with white Kona cotton.  The top photo shows the back, which is mostly Kona "Robin's Egg", with a pieced inset and some added embroidery.  I'm happy to say all is finished and on it's way to the sweet new baby, Taryn Rose, who was born last week!