As you might have gathered, I really like Portland. I went again last week for a break and to see the YM. He has finally moved back to Portland, so it is much easier to see him. it is also much, much easier to get him home for a weekend, though we haven’t tried that yet.

I saw this double rainbow on the last day I was there. I went out for a walk before the long drive and felt like it was a good sign.

Mom didn’t come this time for a lot of reasons I had to accept. It was also a time where I could use a little break on my own. The drive was long, which is the down side of Mom not joining. Mary M was out of town, so it was a hotel in Crescent City then another long drive from there to Portland over Grant’s Pass. I am really glad there are audiobooks. At some point I am going to have to break the drive into three days, but for now two days was ok.

The weather felt like summer when I left.

As mentioned, the first stop was in Crescent City. It was a lovely evening. I went for a walk to stretch my legs after I checked into the hotel. The scenery was great. This is a lovely time of year.

The next day I drove over Grant’s Pass which is a nice drive through a forest, but felt fairly sketchy when I stopped. Fortunately, it is only two hours from US 101 to I5.

When I arrived in Portland, I felt like it was definitely Autumn. There was rain during the week and I wasn’t uncomfortable wearing a pullover over my t-shirt and a fleece jacket.

At the Arthouse in Portland, I set up my sewing area. It was a two room sewing area that I shared with food prep and eating. Sewing and measuring were in the dining room while cutting and pressing were in the kitchen

The kitchen has a nice big island, which made it great for cutting.  It was also a good height so my back didn’t hurt from cutting out the Holland Pouches. As the week went on, more and more space was taken up with sewing.

The chair in the other room, which you can see on the upper left, is the one I used for sewing. I forgot to take a photo of the dining room where I sewed.

The ruler bag Amanda made me is great for traveling. It holds two rotary cutting mats (different sizes), my sewing machine mat (the Undercover Maker Mat), my June Tailor ironing pad** as well as the wool mat, numerous rulers and my small seat cushion. I forgot to bring my Sew Steady table, but I didn’t really need it since I worked on bags and smaller projects.

The Arthouse didn’t have an ironing board, so I used the wool mat I received as a gift last year. I have used it, but I haven’t had a chance to really use it a lot.  It wasn’t great for pressing yardage, but it worked really well for smaller pieces. I was pleased that it worked so well.

I quickly found that it was better to have the iron and the mat switched. I put the mat where the iron is, in the photo above, and visa versa.

I forgot to bring my needlepoint project, but it was ok. I had some ripping out to do as well as hand finishing and there are always cell phone games.

In general, the sewing went really well. It was nice to have a long stretch of time to work on various projects.

I did go out and about a little bit.

One day, I went to lunch with Amanda on SE Hawthorne. We didn’t go to any quilt shops for once, but we looked at the different shops in the neighborhood.

We walked by this cafe and reminded me of the buildings in California Adventure, especially the Carthay Circle restaurant. The Bagdad is owned by McMeniman’s. The spelling of the name made me think of bags, like handbags, and dads. That made me laugh.

I don’t usually visit thrift stores, but they had some interesting and well organized shops. They weren’t junk shops. The stuff looked carefully selected.

I don’t remember the name of the shop where I saw this leaded glass window, but I really liked it. I thought it was interestingly complex without being over the top. The glass choices were excellent, too. It would be a great quilt as well.

We went to lunch at a fried egg restaurant. Shockingly, we ate fried egg sandwiches! Mine had the best gluten free bread I’ve had in a long time. Portland as great GF bakeries and restaurant options. I always eat way too much when I am there.

On my way back to the car, I saw this sign. I had been thinking about this sentiment before I saw the sign. Is it true? Do you think well behaved women make history?

I am sad that I didn’t get a better picture of it. Eyes are a fabulous lenses and cameras just don’t do the same sort of work . 🙁

There was also rain in Portland. Not downpours, but enough to clean my car. It was nice.

I saw this group of leaves with dew one one of my morning walks. I thought the arrangement was beautiful.

I was able to get out and walk almost every day. It was good to keep up my exercise routine. It is fairly easy in Portland, which is another reason I like visiting.

The house has a lot of art, thus the name, Arthouse. Each time I go I see different paintings and mixed media pieces, but there are a few that I see over and over. This one by Maude May is a favorite.

The YM and I got to spend a bit of time together. I helped the YM do a bit of job searching, house hunting and things that were easier with a car. I provided moral support and a ride for his job searching efforts. I had hoped that my magic wand would work by the time he left, but sadly no luck. He has some opportunities and got a little bureaucracy done with my help.

I also went over to the temporary place he is living and met Penelope. I enjoyed meeting her and got to play with her a bit. She is a feisty girl. When she plays, she puts her claws out right away. The ribbon toy I waved at her immediately got wrapped around her and her claws. Cats I have lived with in the past would let go after a bit, but Penelope hung on and that was the end of playtime.

I briefly visited Sewlarium to pick up some thread and try to get the YM interested in maybe hanging out there. That was the only shop I visited in Portland.

On the way home I stopped at Ocean Waves in Eureka. I haven’t been there in awhile. Friend Julie and I didn’t go when we drove through Eureka on our trip in July. I bought a charm pack to use as the starting point for a quilt for a friend who lost her daughter in a car accident this week. I’ll use some of the other fabrics I bought recently, too.

Of course, I couldn’t resist some Philip Jacobs prints.

I wanted to stop at Springville Quilt Barn again, despite the danger of more fabric. However, they are only open Monday-Thursday and I was driving through on Saturday. That happened on the way up as well. Maybe next time.

I did stop at Stitch. I bought a gift, which I won’t show now, but I always find something fun there.

I have some of the Tula dots, but they seem to be hidden somewhere. I bought another piece to make the Hackney for me. The others I just liked. I’ll have to think of something to make with them quickly.

This was a wonderful view from north of Eureka. It has similar topography to the Oregon coast.

There was a better view from the car, but the narrow, windy road prevented me from take a picture through the windshield. This one isn’t bad and you get the idea.

There were A LOT of political yard signs all over Portland. I saw both parties represented. I really liked this one.

I also saw a lot of political ads on TV. Two of them were about the same candidates from different angles. When I realized that the commercials were about the same candidates I really watched both ads. It was interesting to see the same information (facts??) spun in different ways. 

I was glad to go on the trip and hope to get back to see the YM soon.

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.