I hadn’t been to Seattle in a long time. As I found out, it had been much too long. My love for Seattle was rekindled on my recent trip and I am resolved not to stay away so long again.
The coneflowers above were growing in what Seattle-ites call a parking strip. It is the space between the sidewalk and the street. When I was a kid we had one of these as did most of the streets I frequented. We do not have them in the Bay Area that I know of. Definitely not in the City or my neighborhood.
The parking strips in Seattle are filled to overflowing with flowers, trees, vegetable gardens, anything you can think of. It is hard to get out of the car, but beautiful in summer.
We walked down to downtown Ballard where the locals were celebrating summer with a Farmer’s Market and a Street Fair. TFQ shopped for vegees while I looked at things that might inspire my quiltmaking. I love the blue with the leaded and beveled glass that is expands the light that can get into buildings. Did you know that my first, and probably best loved, job was in a stained glass store?
Making leaded and stained (when you paint on glass) glass panels is very much like quiltmaking. I gave up making leaded glass when I went to college. I was thrilled when I found quiltmaking, because of the similar techniques. Quiltmaking has its hazards and sharp points, but working with glass is 100 times worse in the pain department and very hard on the hands. Very beautiful outcomes, though.
I thought these vegees looked very sculptural. I liked the mostly smooth texture and the two colors together. They might be Kohlrabi. I saw the sign, but was so entranced by the look that I don’t remember.
There is something about abundance in art that is very appealing. Another example of repetition?
The light is very good on this plant. I am constantly looking at TFQ’s plants and considering them for my garden. Her garden is beautiful; my “garden” is sad, neglected and pathetic. I think about it a lot. I hope that counts for something.
This is a Borage plant. TFQ has it in her garden and I think it might have been a volunteer. I think my other most recent interaction with Borage was in one of the Lady Julia novels. I love the flowers.
And the green tube is what some marketer thought would sell Borage hand cream. If I were buying on packaging alone, I wouldn’t buy this hand cream. What a waste. The real Borage plant is so beautiful and this packaging is so uninspired. Really, it has nothing to do with the plant at all. Do you think that green on the tube is the same as the stem of the plants?
One of the things -one of the many – I love about going to Seattle is the fabric. I was very restrained at the fabric shops, partially because TFQ lets me paw through her fabric to my heart’s content.
Above is a picture of The Great Unwashed, TFQ edition. She let me look through it and it was difficult not to stuff bits into my suitcase to take home. She is buying a lot of what we are calling ‘fruit salad’ colors- pinks, peaches, soft greens, etc. The new fabrics were, simply, wonderful.
Looking through them got me in the mood to pick out colors for a new project. Hhhm…..
Working in TFQ’s workroom is fabulous. I never want for a piece of fabric. There was an Art Gallery turquoise I was lusting after. I should have just taken it. I told her I loved it, though, so she probably would have noticed…
Sigh.
I really wish I had the means and time to come to Seattle once a month Working just really gets in the way of everything.
**Nota bene: I am still creating posts off of my phone, so pardon the weird, uncropped photos and any typos. We’ll get back to regularly scheduled programming soon.