Our recent trip to Grants Pass, OR and Eureka, CA yielded some great sign finds.

Grants Pass welcomed us by telling us, “It’s the climate.”  I’ve got news for them.  Their rain wasn’t any more special than our rain at home.

There were plenty of fine looking places to stay.  Darn, no vacancy at the Crest.

Looks like the Flamingo has gone to monthly rentals only.

The Bunny was tempting.

Almost Heaven–hey, isn’t that West Virginia?

Dining options were also plentiful.

This one tempted me the most.

Although I do like Italian food.

We could have shopped at the Court House Market if we wanted to cook our own dinner.

Or perhaps Spadoni’s.  We could pick up a bottle while we were there.  Must be California!

Easier just to slip into the Wonder Bur for a drink, I think.

However, a martini at the Shanty might be better.

There were lots of choices of movie palaces, like this on in Orick.  I wonder what kind of vacuum they use?

Ah, the Rogue…

…I believe I went to a movie with him once.

Of course, how could on not prefer the Ritz?

Bob’s favorite–a place for doughnuts!

And speaking of Bob…

…we could have picked up a fine used car, either at Bob’s or…

…at A-1 Pre-Owned cars.  I wonder which is better, used or pre-owned?

All that glitz and pretty neon.  Eye candy!

One of my current fabric lines is Christmas Memories.  It’s a small line, with an adorable panel and a companion snowflake fabric.  The line comes in Blue or Red.  When I got my sample fabric, I whipped up a quilt from the red colorway.  Much to my delight, today at our Redwork Club meeting I got to see a completed quilt top in blue!

Earlene did all the stitching on this one.

She did a fantastic job.

I just love how she did a little red in each block.

In some of them it’s quite obvious.

In others, you have to really look for it.

This wasn’t her original plan.

At first she did everything in blue…

…except this little dog’s tongue.

But once that was done…

…she thought every block should have a little red.

So she carefully unstitched a little bit in each block.

I think the result is fabulous!

Her are the two quilts, side-by-side.  It’s so funny, when I’m looking at the red one, I think I like it best, but when I’m looking at the blue one, I’m sure I like IT best!

Oh, I’m so fickle!

Woo hoo!  The new Quilts and More Magazine is out with my All Dolled Up project in it!

It’s a folder that holds the “paper” dolls and dresses from my Dolly Dear collection of fabrics.

It makes the perfect gift for a little girl, and what a great take-along in the backseat of the car or in church.

The dolls and dresses will provide hours of entertainment.

The dolls are stiffened with Timtex and the dresses have batting fused to the back, so everything is easy to move but has plenty of cling.  No tabs to lose like when I was a girl!

I had a ball designing this project.  Just yesterday my mom said she wishes she were a girl again so she could play with them.  😉

This project joins the Let’s Play Paper Dolls quilt…

…and the Dress Up Time up quilt.

 

My friend Debbie at Quilting Possibilities has started doing a Wordless Wednesday post on her blog.  I love the idea, although I may find it hard to remain wordless.  But, I shall try!  Here’s my first attempt (explanation exempted!).

More quilts from the quilt show in Houston.

Patriot’s Dream by Barbara Shrout,  The name is inspired by a line from America the Beautiful—“O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years…”  I love the curved edges.

Barn Raising by Lauren Semple.  Isn’t it amazing what can be done with half-square triangles!

Standing Strong by Sharon Dixon.

The Secret Life of Dancing Tulips by Jeanne Brenner.  The title refers to the dancing tulips subtly quilted into the border.

I love the shading achieved by different tones of the same color.

Sunflowers 2 by Charlotte A. Hickman.  I think sunflowers are such happy flowers!

Black-Eyed Susans and Yellow Mexican Hats by Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert.These two flowers grow wild along the roadside in Texas.

Portraits of Flora by Timna Tarr.  What a great use of many, many fabrics!

This next quilts wasn’t at the show in Houston, but there’s a reason I’m showing it here.  It’s called Checkerboard Vortex, maker unknown.  It’s quite famous in the quilting world, appearing in many books and at the recent Red and White quilt exhibit in New York.  This quilt was made around 1920!  In the book Twentieth Century Quilts 1900 – 1950 it’s described as, “Extraordinarily contemporary in its design, this amazing quilt is a triumph of precise design and piecing, and it it an astonishing precursor to the art of Vasarely.”  Like many others, I’m in love with this quilt.

Incredibly, Nora Ronningen has made her own version of the quilt which she calls Vortex in Variation.

I could hardly pull myself away.  It was stunning!

Preserve Nature, Preserve Self by Susie Johnson.  Did you know the gingko tree has been around for 270 million years!?!

Redwork Revisited by Susan Dague.

The maker used old kitchen transfers for the designs on this quilt.

I think the sashings are great, too!  They are just half-square triangles.

One of the exhibits was called Text on Textiles.  In the display area were several old typewriters.  Wow, an orange one!

Ethel’s Diary by Eileen Campbell is a great use of photos and words on a quilt.

I remember pressed tin toy typewriters like this one!

This adorable portable is a lot like the one we have that Bob’s grandfather used in his “Tailoring Parlor” in Libby Montana in the early 1900′s.  The carriage flips forward and the whole thing fits into a case!

Salvaged Words by Jette Clover.  There are pages from vintage books used on this quilt!

I’ve used words and photos on labels, but not as the main focus of the quilt.  This is from my Dearest Brother quilt, which tells the story of Anna Lena’s life.

Hmmm, that might make a good blog post!

One of the best things about going to Market in Houston is the quilt show.  One of the worst things is that there are a lot of the areas that don’t allow photography.  Bummer!  I did, however (legally) take pictures of a lot of quilts.  Half of them are in this post.

Pinned to the Past by Michal Tammy Waschsmann.  This quilt was made to hold pins she collects.  Pretty clever, huh?

Dixie Dingo Dreaming by Susan E. Carlson is based on a photo of her dog Pippin.

La Luz by Betty Busby depicts a hiking trail in Albuquerque.

Outback – Beyond Broken Hill by Eileen R. Campbell.  The birds are called corellas!

One exhibit was about eating heathy!  This is called Delicious Bouquet by Nita Markos.

Galactic Daiquiri by Cherie Gooler.

Fruits + Vegetables = Good for You and Your Heart! by Dea L. Larson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the O Canada exhibit comes this quilt, Vancouver Cityscape at Dust by Terry Aske.  I was really taken with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheel of Teal by Marilyn J. Farquhar.

Skating by Joyce E. Seagram.  This reminded me of all the skating trips I took with my mom and sister.

This quilt was in the Traditional Pieced display.  It’s called Star Medallion with 96 Baskets b Kathleen McCrady.  It’s hand pieced and hand quilted.  She finished it one week before her 85th birthday!

Weitverzweight by Brigitte Morgenroth is all silk!

My Favorite Things by Meiko Sasano,  She was inspired by flowers painted on porcelain.

Both the appliqué and quilting were exquisite.

Carnival by Monica Troy.

YoYo2: Trip Around the World by Helen Remick.

It’s always fun to have a bit of whimsy, like Answering Nature’s Call by Kathy Augur Smith.

A lovely, traditional quilt.  Sawblades by Myra Hall.

Churn Dash Exchange by Kathleen Poznick.

More to come!

Oh, I love it when it’s time for the Bloggers Quilt Fest, sponsored by Amy over at Amy’s Creative Side.  This is a time for people all over blog land to show what they’re working on or a favorite quilt.  I’ve decided to show my Bavarian Rose quilt, since it’s the most recent thing I’ve made.

One week before I was leaving for Quilt Market, I got my sample fabrics–2 yards of each.

For some crazy reason, I decided that I’d appliqué 32 roses for the quilt!

Mind you, I’m not really much of an appliquer, except for some hand buttonhole work I’ve done in the past.  But, I persevered and got them done, using a buttonhole stitch on my Elna.

I also made three other samples for Market.  A bag…

…a Laptop Sleeve…

…and a little stitchery I call Gretel.

And to top it all off, I found a vintage tablecloth at Market that perfectly matches my new collection!

I see curtains in my future!