• 21Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting, travels abroad Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show – Save It ’til Sunday

    In the past, the Sisters Quilt Show has always been a one day affair.  This year, they added a few activities on Sunday and called it Save It ’til Sunday.  I attended a lecture given by Jean Wells at Five Pines Lodge.  As usual, Jean had great slides and lots of inspiration.  But, the best part was the setting…

    …and the quilts on display around the cabins at Five Pines.

    As you can see, the setting was beautiful.  Just look at the wildflowers blooming everywhere.

    I’m sure those trees weren’t planted with a quilt show in mind, but how perfect!

    The dappled shade made the temperature just lovely.

    And the layers and layers of quilts were real eye candy.

    As you wandered the property, there were lots of quilts to see.

    I think there’s really something special about quilts displayed in this kind of environment.

    It just makes me want to put up a clothesline and hang quilts outside everyday!

    There was even a stream running through the property.

    The path followed the stream.

    The middle quilt here is a stack of knitting needles!

    This quilt looks like it could have grown right in its setting.

    There’s something so fresh about daisies, and the size of these was great.

    I’m crazy about this sunflower quilt where the flowers are made from New York Beauty blocks.

    Another stunning New York Beauty quilt.

    And look at this quilt that captures the colors of a trip to South Africa, as well as the animals.

    It was a truly amazing exhibit.

  • 19Jul

    The High Desert Museum in Bend had an exhibit called Quilts: Bedding to Bonnets, so we decided to check it out.  It was in a small gallery at the museum, but a very lovely exhibit.

    Like most people, I tend to forget that the art of quilting–stitching fabric together with tiny stitches, wasn’t always used just for bedding.  I took photos of the descriptions of the articles in the exhibit and will share them with you!

    “Petticoat.  Machine quilted white cotton with hand gathered waistband and cotton batting.  C. 1860.”

    “Petticoat.  Hand quilted cotton with diamond pattern.  c. 1875.”

    “Petticoat.  Calico prints.  c. 1880.”

    “Bonnet.  Quilted silk with wool batting.  Used as winter hood.  c. 1860.”

    Bed jacket.

    “Comfort on the Trail 1841-1868.  Quilts were a much-needed commodity on the Oregon Trail.  Referred to as bedding, quilts could warm bodies, cradle treasures and provide quick cover from the elements.  Guidebooks recommended two or three bedding articles per person to be sufficient.  Quilts were bartered for river passage, supplies, and other necessities.”

    “When tragedy hit the Trail, quilts were used in burials to wrap around the body, as no time could be spent to make coffins.”

    “‘The bodies were wrapped together in a bed comforter and wound, quite mummified with a few yards of string that we made by tying together torn strips of cotton dress skirt.’  Catherine Haun, 1849 diary of her travels on the Oregon Trail.”

    “Princess Feather with Star Pattern.  Quilts like this one were often used in political fundraisers for the Whig’s Party.”

    “To achieve green, the fabric was dyed yellow then blue.  c. 1850.”

    “Sunflower Quilt. Sunflower patterns are appliqued on.  The densely quilted top has a shell pattern around the border.”

    “Red, white and double pink colorings with novelty prints in the Indigo blue.  c. 1850.”

    “Silk Fan Quilt. The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 was held in Philadelphia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The Japanese exhibit influenced Americans to adopt Japanese styles and motifs throughout their homes. The Silk Fan Quilts was a popular motif for decades after the exhibition.  c. 1890.”

    “Whole Cloth Quilt. This white-on-white cotton quilt was made by Sarah Dibble Conley of Minnesota, 1856-1950.”

    “The variety of quilted designs showcase the quilter’s talent.  The quilt’s unique feature is that it was made of one large piece of cotton, which was expensive to buy in the day.  c. 1900.”

    A lovely little vignette.

    “Women’s Relief Corps Ribbon Quilt. This quilt consists of ribbons of the Womens Relief Corps from the Oregon Pioneer Association Meetings.”

    “These meetings were held around the state of Oregon and in other states.”

    Participants were given ribbons to wear, showing what year they had crossed the plains.  If you note below, there is also a ribbon that says “GAR.”  That stands for Grand Army of the Republic.  It was also popular to hold reunions for those who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  This ribbon would have come from one of those gatherings.

    c. 1925.

    “During the Great Depression, women continued to quilt with renewed enthusiasm.”

    “American Legion Auxiliary Quilt. Community quilts like this one were made with bold, original designs and a strong sense of purpose.  The people whose names were embroidered on the quilt were involved with post 9 of the American Legion Auxiliary in Salem, Oregon.”

    “Past officers names are designated with titles.  Two of the names also have gold stars.”  I believe those two women lost sons during the war.  c. 1931.

    I don’t know why there weren’t individual signs on these quilts.  I know this pattern as Hummingbird or Snowball.

    Even a utility quilt like this Nine-Patch was made to look beautiful with its four block setting, green sashing and pink cornerstones.

    This darling Noah’s Ark Quilt was undoubtedly a kit quilt.

    This Ohio Rose in yellow is absolutely gorgeous.  Both the applique and quilting are exquisite.  I love the swagged border.

    If you look closely, you’ll see that this butterfly quilt has yellow sashing, but it has faded to almost whilte.

    In another section of the museum was this wagon with another vintage quilt.  I snapped this photo both for the quilt and the canvas that says 1852.  That’s the year my great-grandmother crossed from Missouri to Oregon Territory.

  • 18Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting, travels here Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show Part 6

    Special Exhibits are always exciting to see.  There’s a quilt guild in the Portland area called Cover to Cover Quilts.  Every six months they read a book and make a quilt based on it!

    I’m sure you can guess their latest project–Alice in Wonderland!

    Even the Mad Hatter was there.

    And the Hookah smoking character.

    And the Cheshire Cat.

    Oh no!  Alice goes down the rabbit hole!

    Most of my knowledge of Alice comes from the Jefferson Airplane Song!

    The Cheshire Cat.

    “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” (Actually, I am, but I wanted to get this post up before I leave!)

    Another great exhibit that I enjoyed was this one, sponsored by Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest from Salem.

    Fiber Artists were asked to make their interpretation of a tree.

    They were amazing.

  • 17Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting, travels here Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show Part 5

    Sisters is located in Central Oregon.

    It’s on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains.

    All the area beyond Sisters is high desert–sage brush, junipers and lava rock.

    It’s as close to the old West as you can get.

    If you love the outdoors, it’s a great place to live.

    I always think of quilts like these as Central Oregon quilts.

    They are so influenced by the the world around them.

    I find them truly works of art.

  • 16Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting, travels here Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show Part 4

    These are what I call the Novelty or Pictorial quilts.  Some are whimsical and some are works of art.

    This VB bus sure fits the whimsical category!  I love the attention to detail, like the tiny barbecue and the ice chest!

    More summer fun!

    This reminds me of gathering eggs in the hen house.  Yes, I’ve really done that!

    I wish this were our forecast!

    Around the edge, this quilts says, “There’s No Place Like Home.”

    Hmm, I wonder if I need a quilt like this in my potting shed?

    What little boy wouldn’t love this quilt?

    OMG!  Isn’t this adorable.  I’d even like it without the robot.

    I was delighted to see this.  It’s made with my friend Glenna’s fabric.

    So was this one!

    Aye, the pot o’ gold!

    Isn’t this charming?

    This butterfly quilt was for sale from one of the antique dealers.  Even though butterfly quilts are my favorites, I didn’t buy it.  I already have one like it in my collection.

    Who says orange doesn’t look good with pink and green?

    Moon over the mountain?

    I love this cat pattern.  Not so much the “things” in the borders.

    I thought this was very whimsical.

    I wonder what the inspiration for this quilt was.

    Very pretty.

    This Mammy quilt was nicely done.

    Great fabrics in the clothing.

    I’m starting to see some interesting and modern versions of the Grandmother’s Flower Garden.

    I love sunflowers, and the pieced backing on this really makes it sparkle.

    Wow!

    The bird in this quilt looks more real than the lady’s eyebrows!

    The realistic ones fascinate me.

  • 15Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting, travels here Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show Part 3

    When I was organizing my pictures, I decided to do a separate section for applique.  Like all quilts, it’s amazing how diverse “applique” can be!

    It’s always so interesting to see how the same pattern is done by different people.

    This looks like it was a fun challenge.

    Here’s an Asian inspired quilt.

    The mottled green in the leaves and stems of this quilt are really cool.

    Wow!

    Not only is the applique on this quilt stunning, so is the quilting.  Imagine being brave enough to quilt with black thread on white!

    This quilt was wool.

    Here’s a lovely Baltimore Album style quilt.

    Sorry I don’t know how to photoshop out the sign that was hanging from this porch, but I thought the quilt was worth sharing.

    This Hawaiian sampler is so pretty.

    Another Hawaiian influenced quilt.

    Oh, I have the pattern for this.  It’s on my to-do list.  It cracked me up that the maker left the buds out of one basket!

    Note:  I get a lot of questions about this pattern.  It’ is from the book A Bouquet of Quilts from C&T Publishing.

    This quilt really popped!

    Does this say Flower Power or what?

    So graceful.

    The split leaves on this quilt are great.

    It’s hard to beat bright in my book.

    This is a very interesting combination of piecing and applique.  It’s done with Asian fabrics on a black background.  If you look carefully, you can see a bamboo design stitched into it.

    I think I may like poppies even better than daisies!

    This quilt makes me want to get out a Matchbook car and have some fun!

  • 14Jul
    Categories: Everything!, quilting Comments Off on Sisters Parade of Quilts Part 2

    Time to share some more wonderful quilts, like this Tumbling Blocks.

    This is a cool Tumbling Blocks variation.

    I wish I could think of the name of it.  It always reminds me of an aerial view of skyscrapers!

    As a lover of scrappy quilts, I’m always attracted to string pieced quilts like this one.

    This one isn’t as scrappy, but still used some string piecing.

    Ooh, Spider Webs!

    This was a quilt for sale by a vendor.  The little “strings” in it were about 1/4″ wide.  Why didn’t I buy it???

    A very pretty pieced and appliqued quilts.

    It has an interesting border, using string piecing.

    I thought the simplicity of this quilt made it very charming.

    There was a whole display of quilts made from these wonky strings.

    I really like this with the hand prints.

    I didn’t see a lot of Redwork or embroidered quilts.  This Halloween one from Yesterday’s Charm is pretty cute.

    And this Snowman Christmas was adorable.  Lot’s of work, but worth the effort, in my opinion!  The final block, Z, is the snowman snoring.  I’m sure the quiltmaker felt that way, too!

    Isn’t this an interesting variation on the Log Cabin?

    I’m assuming this was strip pieced, if not, Holy Cow!

    Braid quilts are fun to make.  I’m surprised we don’t see more of them.

    The addition of the cherry applique really perks up this plain quilt.

    Wow, I’d like to learn the technique used to make these “shattered” blocks.

    Wow, I’m loving this quilt.

    I think solids are finally coming into their own.

    I wonder how long it took this quiltmaker to collect all the right shades of blue?

    I’m crazy for daisies and loved this quilt.

    I thought this was really striking in its simplicity.

    This quilt is made with buttons!

     

    The quiltmaker added embroidery for stems and framed each block.

    Wow!  Talk about visual impact.

    I made a quilt like this for my Secret Pal in Guild one year, and cut one out for myself.  Guess I should dig it out an get it finished!

    This is a pretty color combination.

    Brights on black are a winner in my opinion.

    I loved this.

     

    Lots and lots more to come!

     

  • 13Jul

    My latest fabric line, Dolly Dear, is in stores and shipping now.  It has lots of pretty prints, but my favorite is the repeating stripe with the paper dolls and their dresses.

    I’ve designed a free pattern for a quit that I think any little girl would love.  The dolls are sewn into the body of the quilt, pockets are added around the outside edges, and the dresses are cut out so you can play dress up!

    I thought I’d walk you through the easy steps for making this quilt.  First, cut out three strips of the dolls and “frame” them with the Patsy Posy print.

     

    Sash them with the Pink Marigold fabric.

    Add borders of the same pink print.  I know they look really wide, but there’s a reason for that.  We’re going to add pockets!  At this stage, you need to quilt the quilt.  I stippled mine.

    Cut pockets and lining using the template provided with the pattern.  The front of the pockets are from the Dress Panel that goes with the line.

    I LOVE rickrack, and this seemed like the perfect place to use some!  Put the pocket front and lining right sides together, insert rickrack and stitch edges and bottom.

    Turn right sides out, press under 1/4″ at the top and top stitch closed.

    You’ll need twelve pockets.  When they’re finished, topstitch down around the sides and bottom.

    Fuse some batting scraps to the backs of the dresses and cut them out.

    Now you’re ready to tuck them into the pockets….

    …or dress the dolls!

     

    I also added rickrack to the binding!  There’s no such thing as too much rickrack, is there?  The kit for this quilt includes the 12-1/2 yards needed!

    Here are a few other things made with this fabric line.

    This adorable sundress is made with the Tossed Dolls print and lined with the Green Jumble.

    The body of this jumper is the fabric I call Bette’s Bouquet, and this pattern is perfect for showing off the doll dresses.  Both these dress samples were made by Renee.

    This pattern from Yesterday’s Charm is one of my favorites.  Carol O. made this sample for me.

    Nan stitched up the backpack for me.

    And I made this quilt, Dress Up Time, from the Dress and Purse panel.  More rickrack–two sizes!!

    If you think I’m in my second childhood, you may be right!  But, I must tell you, I didn’t play with dolls in my first childhood, so I’m making up for it now!

     

  • 12Jul
    Categories: travels here Comments Off on Sisters Parade of Quilts Part 1

    The Sisters Quilt Show was fabulous.  I took a lot of photos, of course.  As I got home and was looking at what I took, it occurred to me that everyone who goes to the show probably comes home with different memories.  Surely no one else took the same photos I did.  I guess it says a lot about who we are as quilters.  I find I’m drawn mostly to traditional quilts, but I also love looking at modern quilts—even though I may never want to make one.

    I just spent some time organizing the photos I took and grouping them together a bit.  So, we’ll start with the basics–the Nine-Patch.  It doesn’t get more basic than that, but it’s amazing what quilters can do with just a few squares!

    I apologize for the shadows on some of the quilts.  It was a bright, sunny day, which was lovely, but doesn’t always make photography easy!

    I think there’s something to be said for a two color quilt—and the sawtooth border on this is great, too.

     

    This quilt has a beautiful applique border.

    When I look quilts, I’m alway curious about how the blocks are set together.  Did this quilt maker do a square-in-a-square setting around each Nine-Patch, or did she make alternate Broken Dishes blocks when setting this quilt together?  The result would be the same either way.

    Here’s a nice combination of a Sixteen-Patch and a Four-Patch.

    I think this was the only vintage quilt I saw hanging in the show.  Interesting setting, with the single block in the center.

    Now things are really starting to change, but still the same basic grid.

    The alternate dark and light is good here.

    This block isn’t that different than the one above, just a change to two corners, but the result sure is different.

    Perspective is different when things are set on point, too.  Also, the darker outer blocks act as a cool border.

    More geometric quilts.

    This is an interesting quilt with some dimensional blocks.

    This Tennessee Waltz is very pretty.

    I thought this quilt was simple but elegant.

    This gives the impression of a Nine-Patch…

    …but the construction was more like a log cabin.

    Isn’t the border on this quilt great?

    And I’ve always loved this block.

    Color placement in this Triple Irish Chain sure makes a statement.

    And what about the Four-Patch?

    It’s pretty versatile, too.

    This was a vintage quilt that was for sale.  (No, I didn’t buy it!)

    This Tussie Mussie quilt was very clever.

    Usually I don’t like shadows on the quilts, but the sun dappling on this diamond quilt is kind of cool.

    Isn’t this an interesting geometric design?

    I’ve made a quilt similar to this called Spruce Root.

    At first, I thought these were half-square triangles, but one side is longer.  It really makes for an interesting design.

    Lots more to come!

  • 11Jul
    Categories: quilting Comments Off on Sisters Quilt Show

    I hadn’t been to the Sisters Quilt Show for a few years, so decided it was time for a trip back.  We drove over on Friday.  Of course, a stop at the Stitchin’ Post was in order.  To say it was crowded would be an understatement!

    As usual, the displays there were top notch.

    I love to look at the quilts on display.

    Inspiration everywhere!

    I’m gearing up to do a circle quilt, and loved this one.

    The dimension on this quilt was amazing.

    We stayed in Bend, but bright and early Saturday morning, we made our way back to Sisters.

    We weren’t the only ones who thought we’d get an early start!

    The impact of all the quilts on the buildings is incredible.

    I especially loved this butterfly quilt.  The stitching on it was wonderful.

    I just love seeing quilts blowing in the breeze.

    They had this “sidewalk” quilt that kids could add a block to.  Very clever, I think.

    And they were raffling this “quilted” bike.

    This was the raffle quilt.  It was exquisite.  With the sun shining through from the back, it really sparkled.

    Tomorrow I’ll start posting “the parade of quilts!”