Portland, Oregon

Life in Oregon

We moved to Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, in January 2001 and remained until 2024. The house was twice as large as our Washington home - great for welcoming all the friends and family who came to stay. We also had the luxury of separate art studios, a wood workshop for Mike, and a patio where Elizabeth could experiment with strange smelling chemicals for dying and rusting fabrics.

There was a walled garden where Elizabeth, with the aid of a succession of gardeners, created a very attractive garden that was featured in the local newspaper. When the grandchildren were small, a large area was devoted to a playground with a castle, pond and waterslide.

She particularly enjoyed the beautiful neighborhood with plentiful trees, friendly neighbors and wide-sidewalks bordered by flower-beds and fruit trees. We were grateful for this during COVID as we were able to go for long walks while many people in other areas had to remain indoors.

Martin was already in Portland and soon after we arrived, his family found a house right across the street. It became a common sight to see the two grandchildren crossing the road to our house, followed by the two dogs and the cat.

Oregon Opens up a New Life

The move to Oregon represented a new chapter for Elizabeth, with greater freedom and opportunities to explore the beautiful and diverse scenery. Oregon offered us a rich cultural life with theater, art museums, and music. Discovering the rich world and tradition of art quilting and fabric design became a central part of her life as well as creating a network of friends. She also discovered the freedom offered by having her own car, and she loved to jump in the car and head off wherever the whim took her. She often returned not quite sure where she had been, as she would take whatever side road appealed to her.

Family Vacations

We regularly made the 3 hour drive to Seattle to keep in touch with Matt’s family. Marcus and Alex often came to stay in Portland so the four grandkids kept in touch. Elizabeth was very family oriented and was the driving force in arranging family get-togethers for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other occasions. During these family reunions, Elizabeth helped establish many of the family traditions that continue to this day and which forged a strong and supportive extended family. For many years the whole family got together for a week during the summer at the Sunriver resort in Central Oregon. More recently, the Sunriver get-togethers moved to Christmas, and the summer meetings moved to Newscowin, one of the Southern Oregon beach resorts.

Christmas Pudding

In England there is a tradition of making Christmas puddings - a rich, dark, steamed dessert that includes a variety of fruit and is flavoured with rum and brandy. What alarms Americans is that this is mixed with suet, the fat trimmed from around a cow’s kidneys, which has a high melting point that makes it useful in cooking. In every country Elizabeth discovered sources for suet, alarming butchers when she explained this would be used to make a dessert.

In Oregon when the family met for Thanksgiving everyone would stir the pudding, take a spoonful and make a wish. Even family members who did not particularly enjoy the pudding came to enjoy making it.

Our nephews and nieces in England fondly recall other traditions she established such as party games, always bringing gifts, and always finding time to chat with everyone. Matthew and Martin recall many of the same games at their parties in Venezuela and El Salvador.

Quilting

Oregon is one of the main US centers for quilting and fiber arts, and Elizabeth became actively involved with 3 fiber arts groups which became the focus of her social and artistic life. There were also fiber arts workshops and meetings around the state and she became actively involved in the organization of several quilting groups. Sisters, in the high desert, is the Mecca of art quilting and Elizabeth always tried to get to the annual quilt show and workshops. Often the workshops involved trips to the surrounding countryside with its incredible views and clear light. There were also several visits to scrap yards to find metal for rusting to create exotic fiber designs.

Mike tagged along to several meetings and a couple of times he would be having a coffee on his own, and would be adopted by groups of ladies who said “you must be a quilting widower who has been abandoned by your wife”.

Her technical expertise and vision were reflected in the fact that she was able to sell more than a dozen quilts (one was traded for a case of top quality pinot noir!), and her work was shown in many galleries around the state.

Quilting Groups

Quilting also enabled her to develop her organizational and networking skills as she traveled around the state, helping to found the Oregon chapter of SAQA (the International Studio Art Quilt Guild), promoting new quilting groups, and helping organize the regional group and shows and conferences. Our large house and garden proved ideal for quilting meetings and lunches, and several times a large tent would be erected in the garden for summer or Christmas parties with the group.

She became particularly attached to the Euro-Quilters, a small group of Brits and one German. In the early years they would work on an art project, or an art challenge, but as time went by, more time was devoted to socializing. In May 2026, two years after we had moved to Seattle, the Euroquilters, Sue, Rosemarie, and Gill, drove up to Seattle for the day, and Murano’s Chef Nora laid on a special lunch for them (with salmon, chicken and exotic cheeses) in our apartment. The Euroquilters made for Elizabeth a lovely lap quilt with scenes from Oregon in love and friendship. For the return trip their truck was loaded with 20 boxes of fabrics and quilting tools and books that Elizabeth had collected over the years but could no longer use. It was an emotional day for Elizabeth, both to see her dearest friends, and to say farewell to her fabrics and sewing machines. At the same time she was very happy that everything was finding a good home.

Exploring Oregon

Oregon is a beautiful state with a fascinating and complex history, and we had the opportunity to travel to all corners of the State. We enjoyed several trips to East and North East Oregon, where we enjoyed the dramatic scenery, and learning about the wild history of the robber barons and struggles over land rights. We also enjoyed several trips to Southern Oregon to the Gold Coast and trips up the Rogue River on the mail boat.

We greatly enjoyed the magnificent Columbia River (which runs through Portland) and we stayed in many of the delightful hotels along the river. Our favorite was the Skamania Lodge with its magnificent views and wonderful walking trails.

Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach, which was only a 90 minute drive from Portland, was our favorite beach resort and we usually visited two or three times a year, and in all seasons. The steep and winding Route 26, although beautiful when covered with snow, was also icy and treacherous in the winter. On several occasions the road became too dangerous to transit, and we had to unexpectedly extend our stay.

Our favorite place to stay in Cannon Beach was the Seasprite On The Estuary, where we enjoyed watching the seagulls at the turn of the tide awaiting the small fishes and other creatures swept down the river. We also enjoyed watching the shadowy figures of the elks wading across the creek at dusk en route to the town center to eat all the flowers in the boxes outside the stores (much to the annoyance of the store-owners). The apartment had a beautiful view of both the beach and the estuary, and first thing in the morning Elizabeth would sit with her first cup of coffee watching the changing colors of the sky and the water; and she would sit there again as the sun was setting.

In November 2025, the whole family joined us for what we knew might be Elizabeth’s last visit to Cannon Beach. We spent the last evening enjoying a meal at our favorite restaurant, “The Wayfarer”, followed by a show at the Community Theater. It brought Elizabeth great joy and satisfaction to share the evening with the family that she has so lovingly helped raise.