Jumping Pictures

Some quilters have trouble finding time to make anything for themselves, among all the gifts they make for others. That is not a problem I have! Almost all the quilts I have made go to one place, which is my closet.

They are so much more than just quilts to me. The represent a design process, from the initial idea to the last stitch of the binding. I've spent hours with these quilts, and I feel like no one will love them as much as I do. I can't imagine handing them over to someone else.

That doesn't mean I'm not willing to try. A friend of mine is going through a tough break up at the moment, so I thought maybe it was time to make a quilt for someone else. I knew I wouldn't be able to let go of the quilt if it was a pretty involved one, so I stuck with something simple. I even used prints, which I don't normally do.

It was interesting to go shopping for prints. It took me awhile to find a range rainbow colors that I thought went well together, and if I had it to do over I would pick an orange with a smaller print, but I don't think my friend will mind. The whole thing took less than two hours to iron and piece, so that was a plus.

This past weekend, in addition to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild sewing night, I went to the beach with some friends. It was very spur of the moment, and we had a good time.

When we actually got to the beach, I had assumed it would be like other beach trips that involved walking up and down a stretch of sand. I didn't realize that my friend would be interested in taking a series of "jumping pictures".

Apparently, jumping pictures means jumping the in air and trying to catch a moment when everyone has their feet off the ground. After a lot of false starts, the ladies of the group got one.

The guys were next, and managed to get a lot further off the ground than we did.

The more we did, the more I realized that it's impossible to a) not throw your hands in the air while jumping and b) not look like you are having an awesome time.

We tried to get a group shot of all of us in the air, but it didn't quite work out. I really like this picture though, because everyone has a genuinely happy expression on their face.

All and all, a pretty great weekend.