Had a great time last weekend at Quilt Expo in Portland.  This is what greeted us!  Wouldn’t it be fun to have one of these?  Maybe I could cover one of Bob’s tractors!

There were so many beautiful landscape quilts.  The thread work on this one was amazing.

Check out the quilting on this–its different in each of the strata and really adds a lot to the overall effect of the piece.

I am so in love with this wall hanging.  I have used pinecones as a decorative accent in my house, and would love to have this piece.

I could rotate it with the one for fall!  Exquisite!

And how about this one?  It just makes me think I’m in the mountains in Colorado.

Another gorgeous piece set off with amazing quilting.

I loved this beach scene and the creative holder.

Another great beach wall hanging.

I’m amazed at the perspective in this quilt.

How do people create these amazing pieces?

This must be Italy.

You can really feel the movement here.

Incredible!

Superb!

Unbelievable!

I’m running out of adjectives!

I think you can see the stunning quilting on these quilts.

And how impressive are these points!?!

I recognize this as a Marie Webster pattern from the early , early twentieth century called Windblown Tulips.  Great choice of fabrics here.

Nosegay is one of my favorite quilts.

This is a pretty picture, but it was more amazing in person.

The gradation in color and the “loose” blocks really made this quilt interesting.

I loved how the prairie points made the perfect edge on this quilt.

And isn’t this charming?

Do you see the stars or just the patchwork blocks in this one?

Wow!  I want to make one of these!

Amazing barns.

This flag quilt had stars in the feathered quilting.

I have more to come….

Every year our local School Foundation has an auction.  This year, the theme was Superheroes.  You were encouraged to come as your favorite superhero.

Robin, The Boy Wonder, was there.

Here he is schmoozing with Clark Kent, aka Superman.

I guess I don’t know my superheroes well enough to recognize them all, but I’m sure this superhero is fighting for our school children everyday.

As is this one.

Is there really a superhero called Rip Current?

Ah, I do remember the Incredible Hulk.

And Popeye, of course!

I didn’t think Cat Woman was a hero, but, whatever.

And Poison Ivy???  But she sure looks cute.

You didn’t have to limit yourself to a comic strip or movie superhero.  To some of us, superhero means different things.  Like Gene Simmons, for example!?!

I must tell you that, many years ago, I had this lad in my preschool class.  See how tall he looks compared to everyone else?

Perhaps these boots have something to do with it.

Ah, I like Ghandi as a superhero.

I planned to dress up as Abigail Scott Duniway.  She was an Oregon Trail Pioneer and fighter for woman’s suffrage.  All those women are my heroes.

The auction was a huge success.  Everyone involved is a superhero for our kids!

Our theme last week at Redwork Club was monograms.

Here’s a beautiful “M” to start us out.

Happy E brought these two “P” linens.  When we asked her why the “P” she said….

“Oh, these were Mrs. Fishers!”  Well, that cleared that up.

I believe this is teeny, tiny cross stitch.

Another “M”…

…and a pretty pink “H”

The white-on-white is very pretty and subtle.

I’m sure women weren’t supposed to draw attention to themselves!

One of our members had made this for her aunt.

And now for the “More.”

Cortne’ had recently been given this 1930′s postage stamp quilt.

It was a feast of fabrics!

Loretta finished her Flower Basket quilt top.

She decided to do her butterflies in gold floss.

I think it turned out great!

And I just had to share with you the labels that Linda puts on her quilts.

These are hand embroidered.

She does an amazing job!

The Rod Run to the End of the World (also known as Ocean Park) was this weekend.

I don’t know how many cars are there, but it’s a lot.

How to decide which ones to take pictures of???

It was really quite easy for me…

…just take pictures of the orange one!

There were lots to choose from.

But then I thought I should take a few aqua ones, too!

There were a lot of convertibles at this year’s show.

And I know this one isn’t orange or aqua, but I really liked it!

Love the wide white walls on this one.

More aqua.

And more.  Do you love it, Monica?

I remember learning to drive a stick shift in a certain boy’s station wagon that looked a lot like this!

Now, it’s not what I’d call orange, but this creamsicle was quite pretty.

No detail left undone.

And here’s his little brother!

There were some nice orange pick-up trucks.

And aqua ones, too.

This one was in the parking lot.  I wonder why he didn’t get to go to the show.

This orange flatbed has chrome and orange sides.

Even the guys working the show must like orange.

I remember a lot of these from high school days.

This one was a particularly pretty shade of orange.

I always wonder why you have to have cables on the hood.

This got me to thinking about a boy with a purple Road Runner…..

And look at this–a hot pink car with an orange engine.  When I was in high school, my bedroom was decorated in hot pink and orange!

Black and orange is a good combination.

But I think I like all orange best.

It’s amazing how spotless these cars are.

I wasn’t familiar with “Boss.”

But there were two of them!

I love looking at the cars, but under the hood doesn’t do much for me.

Bob, however, seems to like looking in there.

My mom always told me not to ride on motorcycles…

…or in Corvettes!

In 1966 my mom drove a Mustang, very much like this.  My brother got to learn to drive in it.

I got to learn to drive in a 1970 GTO!  I didn’t even know my mom was hot back then!

And look at this cute toddler.  Isn’t she adorable?

“Hey Mom, I want out of this car!”

“Maybe I can do it myself.”

“MOM!”

“Let’s try another one.”

It was a fun day.  Perfect weather, good burgers.  Maybe next year my car will be ready for the show.

My Grandpa Kennedy bought it new in 1954 and gave it to me in 1970.

I drove it for a few years and for the last five we’ve been doing a frame off restoration.  (I just learned that “frame off” jargon at the show yesterday!)

About six months ago, the Peninsula Quilt Guild did a Nine-Patch Block Exchange.  The only rules were that the blocks had to be red-and-white and 6″ finished.  Here’s the stack I made.

We each made 24 blocks and swapped them, so we all ended up with the same blocks.  But, it’s what people did with their blocks that’s incredible!

Ethel turned hers on point and framed half with red and half with white.

Cherry did a version of the Disappearing Nine-Patch.

Cortne` framed hers with yellow and set them on point….

…and used her extra blocks on the back!

I think that’s Glennys hiding behind this quilt.  She made her quilt bigger by framing her blocks and adding pieced setting blocks.

Jan also slashed her blocks.  I love the appliqued black stars!

Renee used alternate appliqued blocks.

And don’t you love Ann’s setting with the yellow and white?

It’s similar to this quilt which I had in my photo archive.

And Lynda made a table runner using a Jack’s Chain setting.

Way to go ladies!

Today a representative of Camp Victory picked up the pillowcases you had all so generously donated.  There were 114 of them!

There were cats…

…and dogs.

There were cats with yarn balls,

and cats with careers.

There were sushi cats…

…and surfing cats…

…and hungry dogs.

There were sports pillowcases…

…and dancing hippos.

There were dragonflies…

…and butterflies…

…and ladybugs.

There were rainbow dolphins…

…and flowers…

…and people from around the world.

There were mermaids…

…and clotheslines.

There were stars…

…and stripes and polka dots.

Even Elvis made an appearance!

There were many, many more.  The 5 – 18 year old girls who attend Camp Victory will no doubt be thrilled with their new pillowcases.  I am humbled by your generosity.  Thank you.

So, did you do it?  Did you join the Nine-Patch Project and make a Nine-Patch block everyday in June, July and August?  I have to admit that I did mine in spurts, but I love the result.

I’m going to cut them up…..

…and arrange them like this.  You can see different arrangements for the Disappearing Nine-Patch in an earlier blog post.

I just went through my photo files.  Here are some other ideas for Nine-Patch blocks.  This is a vintage quilt I own.

I recreated it for an issue of Designers’ Quarters Magazine.  In this version, I kept the centers all one color, but turned the blocks on point.

I love the Outline Stripe I used for the binding.

This is the quilt I got from my Grandma Ikey when I got married in 1974.  It’s just a simple Nine-Patch with muslin setting squares, but it has a flannel backing and kept me warm on lots of cold nights!

I took this picture of a vintage Nine-Patch at Pomeroy Living History Farm.

Here’s a modern red and white Nine-Patch that I found of the web.

I took this photo at the Eureka Quilt Show in Montana last month.  I think it’s really cool.

How cool is this?  Black Nine-Patches with coordinating backgrounds and triangles to put them on point.

I believe this quilt is a part of the collection at the Latimer Textile Center.  What a great combination of Nine-Patches and Rail Fence blocks.

This is a well-loved vintage Nine-Patch from the Eureka Quilt Show.  It’s interesting how the sashing is only vertical.

And speaking of vertical sashing, look at this cute baby quilt made by Marla J.  I love her use of colors and how she set the blocks on point.

Another vintage treasure from Pomeroy House.  This one is actually a 16-Patch, but I couldn’t resist including it.

And there’s something to be said for two color quilts.  These Nine-Patch blocks set on point with plain setting squares makes a Single Irish Chain Quilt.

Last week was the Washington State International Kite Festival here on the Long Beach Peninsula.

The beach approach is lined with vendors.

It’s traditional in my family to have mini-donuts during the Kite Festival!

But the real action is on the beach!

There are people and kites everywhere.

All of these photos were taken by Keith Schwartz from Beachdog.

He even went up in the City of Long Beach’s Fire Department bucket truck for some great aerial views.

This gives you an idea of how big some of the kites are!

We have a boardwalk near the edge of the dunes.  A great place to watch the action!

We also have a dune trail that’s a part of the Lewis and Clark trail.

There are some great historical markers along the trail.

I wonder what Lewis would think of all these kites!  Hmmm…..I wonder if Lewis knew Ben Franklin?

These kites are called “revs.”

A new world record was set at this year’s Festival-64 kite flyers and 64 kites.  It beats the old record of 54 set in Bristol, UK

The kites were flown to the music “Eye in the Sky” from the Alan Parson’s Project.

The formations were amazing.  It was like kite ballet!

So were these.

And these reminded me of the Blue Angels.

It was a fantastic week.

Hope you can come next year!

Two weeks ago Bob and I were headed to Kalispell, Montana.  For a change of scenery, we drove past Libby Dam, and through the town of Eureka.  Imagine my surprise when we discovered it was the Eureka Outdoor Quilt Show that very day!

See the girl in the yellow vest?  She was part of the Quilt Police!  I guess there really are Quilt Police.

There were more than 450 quilts displayed around town.

And Eureka isn’t a very big town.

But it sure is charming.

Great looking new buildings.

Lots of “Western” themed quilts in the show.

You’ll see another member of the Quilt Police in this photo.  They were everywhere, but it wasn’t an unruly crowd, so they didn’t have much to do.

The quilts looked fabulous out in the sun.

I love this center medallion with the delectable mountain blocks around it.

There is a lot of work in the medallion quilt!

I recognize this Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilts as having been made from an Eleanor Burns pattern.  I did one myself years ago.

Tennessee Waltz is always impressive.  You see curves even though there really aren’t any!

This quilter really achieved a “fractured” look with her choice of color placement.

The edge of this Double Four-Patch really adds interest to the design.

A pretty Picket Fence border here.

In my opinion, brights and black always look good together.

Hollyhocks and nighttime sky?

Lovely and interesting star quilt.

This block brought a smile to my face!

Another great center medallion block.

And another Tennessee Waltz.

I believe this Center Diamond quilt was done by an Amish woman from nearby Rexford, Montana.

Isn’t this unusual and pretty?

Believe it or not, this is a new quilt.  The quilt maker really captured the feel of an old wool quilt.

Interesting Nine-Patch setting.

I love the use of color here.

Lovely cross stitch.

Look at the amazing hand quilting on this quilt.

And don’t you love the graphic design of the Jigsaw Puzzle quilts?

This Bow Tie quilt is newly made, but made from vintage feedsacks.  It reminds me of my Tie One On quilt.

It’s amazing how graphic a simple Nine-Patch can look when set on point like this.

At the end of town is a public park filled with old buildings from the area.

They were ALL decked out with quilts.

The quilt at the top of the schoolhouse won the People’s Choice Award.

The old library.

It looked like a picture postcard!

Even the train station was decked out.

I think these two guys are doing their Lewis and Clark impression…”We proceeded on.”

There were quilts no matter what direction you looked.

It was a bit windy, but everything stayed secure.

Layers of quilt….

The irregular ends of the sashing strips on the Tulip Quilt are very interesting.

Hunter’s Star.  I’m going to be teaching this at our Retreat this fall.

This Broken Star with Lillies is a stunner.

Of course I couldn’t resist the Thirties Sampler.

The Flying Geese sashings on this quilt are so nice–and the quilting is very special.

I’m a sucker for Pinwheel quilts.

This pile of quilts was in the General Store.

I was delighted to see Jackie Robinson at the show.  This is just one of the quilts she had displayed.

This vintage Nine-Patch in a strippy setting looks like it was well loved and well used.

More Pinwheels.  This time with an interesting alternate block setting.

I think String Quilts are my new favorites!

Fabulous Art Deco design.

After two hours of looking at quilts, I could have used a “Moosage,” but it was time to head down the road!

Bob and I just enjoyed a great week in and around Kalispell,  Montana.  I always know we’re getting close to “home” when we start seeing signs for the Clarkfork!  CLARKFORK!

For a change of scenery, we went through Libby.  There are several of these eagles around the town.  They’re quite impressive.

And the river is very rocky!

Bob had good luck fishing, though!

We decided to take an even more scenic route and go past Libby Dam.

It’s on the Kootenai River.

It was built in 1975 and Bob remembers traveling through the area before the dam was built.

The reservoir behind the dam backs up for 90 miles–clear into Canada!  The  lake is called Lake Koocanusa–Koo for Kootenai, Can for Canada and Usa for USA!

It was really windy.

If you don’t believe me, ask this tree.

Good to know!

They aren’t kidding.

Rock is everywhere!

I wondered what these big plants were.

Turns out they’re called mullen.  They were very plentiful!

I couldn’t resist snapping this  photo.

As we got closer to Kalispell, someone had planted orange flowers–just for me, I’m sure.

I love these old granaries.

Maybe they’re common in farming areas, but they are unusual for me.

Gotta snap a barn or two!

Along the rivers we saw lots of osprey nests.

We visited Flathead Lake.

This is called a Bruck–a bus/truck combination.  It took passengers and freight from Kalispell to Whitefish to catch the train.

We met some people who live on Whitefish Lake–this is their incredible view.

They took us on a two hour boat ride around the lake.  Amazing vistas and amazing homes.

Of course you can’t be this close without a visit to Glacier National Park.  This year  is the 100th anniversary of the park.

Cool, huh?

We drove the Going to the Sun Road.

Photo op!

There were about 6 mountain goats sunning themselves here, but no place to pull over to get a good photo, so took this  out the window of the car.

Glacier is an amazing place.  If you don’t believe in global warming, how’s this for a statistic.  100 years ago there were 200 glaciers in Glacier Park.  Today there are only 50.

A sign to add to my neon sign file.

And it’s good to know that Montana is open!