Garden Divas in the Rain

Last week I got to visit one of my favorite cities, Portland, Oregon, for a few days of class with the talented Columbia Stitchery Guild. I love everything about Portland... the weather, the shopping, Powell's Bookstore, the gardens, the architecture, the galleries and museums. This glorious tree is at the amazing Japanese Gardens.

Portland is, also, the hub of the modern crafting movement and host to many creative events for crafty entrepreneurs. One day after class I was treated to a visit to the Portland Craft Museum. There was a intriguing show about weaving and as we wandered upstairs we notice a great activity in their classroom space. About two dozen people were sewing, either by hand or machine. A group was sitting around a table and all free-style embroidering on a single large table cloth. Others were stitching up quilts. They were all participating in a Craft Party to create quilts to send to Japanese disaster victims. The event was sponsored by Etsy. I felt honored to be a small part of this crafty momentum.

Upon my return, my friend Linda Teufel, editor of Dragon Threads and fellow Bernina Artisan, came for a visit. It's such a novelty to see your teaching fellows and not be "working", too. When I picked Linda up from the airport, she was easy to spot because she was dressed in Garden Divas!

She made two of these wonderful shirts... one for herself and one for me, too! The pattern is from Indygo Junction and called Mismatch Medley. It is a perfect way to feature several favorite fabrics at once.

I really like the way she has sprinkled the pink and turquoise throughout with a base of black to hold it all together. The edges are serged, which adds some extra detail and texture.

Even the sleeves are different fabrics. This looks great with a pair of slim black trousers or capris and summer sandals. It looks right at home among the flowers in the garden, too!

She let me choose the fabric combination for my shirt and I decided to stick with a conservative blue, black and green pallet. The results are far from average, though. It even looks wonderful with jeans!

Thanks, Linda! As always, it is delightful to see the fabric put to such good use!