Knit One Quilt Too

Scenes from Portland

 

A couple of weeks ago Chloe and I had a girls' trip to Portland where we did all the stuff the boys aren't interested in.  We went to the Portland Art Museum where Chloe did the Steve Martin pose (if you click the photo you might be able to see better the Annie Leibovitz photo of Steve Martin). 

 

We found an impromptu garden in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

 

We went to our favorite place for treats (okay, I admit the boys might have been a teeny bit interested in Saint Cupcake!).

 

We also spent an afternoon at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. 

 

 

 

All this is to say I do have things, crafty things, to show you, but I need to download the photos.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks and the next couple will only get crazier.  Stay tuned!

Black Sheep Gathering 2009

  

My friend Sarah and I had a ball at Black Sheep yesterday!  She went with the idea of testing lots of spinning wheels and I with the intention to not buy yarn.   Tools and fiber were on the list though and I got several of those!  Here's Sarah at the Woodland Woolworks booth trying out all the wheels.

 

And here she is at the Fricke booth with her new purchase!  It's a Fricke single treadle- a great price for a very nice wheel. 

 

Capistrano Fiber Studio (booth above) had the most wonderful hand dyed fibers!  I ended up with two of the superfine Merino rovings and one 2 oz hank of superfine merino/bombyx silk roving.  Such beautiful colorways- and she has an Etsy shop!  Below is the merino/silk roving that I couldn't help start spinning last night.  The spindle is from Ken Ledbetter and is one that I already had.  I did bring it with me though and when I got to his booth I got to meet Ken and tell him how much I love my spindle!  The stone on top is Jasper and the whorl is curly maple with a walnut shaft.

 

Here are the other fibers I came home with.  On the top left is a pound of Blue Faced Leicester roving (from From Barn to Yarn), to the right are two hanks of pin drafted Romeldale/Romney roving in a natural color from (Bel Tine Farm).  Below those are the two hand dyed superfine merinos from Capistrano Fiber Studio (colorways Brandywine and Sangria).  The last one is a sampler pack of interesting fibers (1/4 oz of each): organic cotton, American Bison, baby camel, bombyx silk, cashmere, tussah silk/linen (from Herndon Creek Farm).

 

Lastly, I've been admiring the Jenkins Turkish Spindles online for a few weeks, but really wanted to see them in person.  I found this beautiful spindle made with Amboyna Burl (2.3 oz).  I also got a pretty little yarn gauge from Herndon Creek Farm made from Red Narra.  The fiber there is my favorite merino from a local sheep named Monica.  Every now and then I go buy another ball of this roving.  I'm not sure what I'll use it for eventually, but it's so easy to spin with.

 

And here's the reason for being there.  Isn't this one a sweetie with those locks over the eyes?

Confetti Quilt

 

I have finally gotten around to making the confetti quilt as directed in a tutorial by Lady Havertine here.  I've admired this simple way to get an interesting and random arrangement of squares and rectangles since I first saw her quilt on Whip Up.  I decided to give this a try with a black background as a donation quilt for our local Alzheimer's Association.  These quilts are given to Alzheimer's patients who repond to them by touch.  

Some of our guild members came up with this idea and it seems that textured fabrics are very evocative for Alzheimer's patients, bringing out long lost memories.  Since I don't have anything but quilting cottons I decided to go with the visual texture.  Hopefully this will work pretty well also.  It's also pretty small- only 24" square, but they requested ones that aren't too large. 

 

As for quilting, I just went around the squares, but since I added the red side borders to make it a bit larger, I thought I'd try some word quilting.  I alternated hearts with love.  Very simple and yet, when their loved one is gone, I hope the quilt will bring some measure of comfort to the family members who inherit this quilt.

2009 Block Contest

Well it's that time of year again.  Pretty soon this blog will be full of quilts and quilters in Central Oregon!  The Sisters Quilt Show is less than a month away.  This year's Block Contest fabrics are all shot cottons- some of my favorite solids of all!  This year's show features the Gee's Bend quilters as well as Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, so with that in mind I knew I had to do a free pieced block.  This one was so much fun to do.  I got it done on Sunday, just in time for the Monday deadline.  I used all five fabrics and didn't add any others.  This would really be my year to win one of the block collections so I'm putting a wish out to the universe.   If you're interested in the contest for the future, check out the contest info here as well as my past blocks here and here.  I'll post photos of other entries after the show!

Socks for Sis

 

These are the Through the Loops Mystery Socks (on Ravelry) from last November.  I had them done down to the middle of the foot and pulled them out to finish for Cheryl.  This is yummy Fleece Artist sock yarn that really looks fabulous with this pattern.  Cheryl got them just a few days after her birthday and was totally surprised.  The heel is the eye of the partridge which is fun to do once you get the hang of it.  So, another finished knit.  Meanwhile I've been doing lots in the sewing room too.  More on that later...

Homestead Quilts

Last weekend we took a camping trip with my parents to the Fort Rock region of southeastern Oregon.  We were lucky to have perfect weather after so many weeks of thunderstorms.  We had a really fun time checking out the Homestead Village Museum in Fort Rock.  This is a hands on museum made from a collection of historic buildings moved to the site from the surrounding area.  Each building is furnished with antiques or replicas of the items that would have been there at the time of settlement.  We had such a wonderful time exploring the site.  My favorite artifacts are the quilts.  I don't think these are all from the time period of the early 1900's, but they are interesting nonetheless.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed that!  The High Desert Museum here in Bend has just opened a quilt exhibit that is supposed to be pretty spectacular.  I hope to get out there in the next few weeks for a look and I'll post photos when I do.

With Love Tote

 

I whipped out this sweet tote this afternoon in less than an hour.  It's a really neat free pattern that was brought to my attention when I stopped by the guild's community quilts sewing day.  They were making these bags to sell at our summer quilt show.  They gave me the pattern and the 1 yard of fabric needed to make the bag.  This bag is a perfect size and weight for a market bag and easy to carry in the back of the car for all your shopping needs. 

 

I really love this print.  On the selvedge it said it's an Alexander Henry print from 2004.  I'm discovering that Alexander Henry has some really great designs!  You can find  the pattern here at Lazy Girl Designs (not to be confused with Lazy Gal Tonya!).  It's a very cleverly made design from 1 yd of fabric and has a lining.  I also like the way the handles are put in, under the folded over band at the top.  I added the box corners which are not in the pattern.  I do think it would also be great in different sizes and maybe with longer handles.  Lots of opportunities for customization.  Sadly, this one is not for me to keep, but after I made this one I made two more in less than an hour! 

Project Improv Strikes Again

 

Second to last one of these batik PI quilts is done!  I like this one and had some fun with the free motion quilting.  It's going to stay with me for now, though in the future I may give it as a gift, or even try to sell it.  It would look great as a wall hanging.  I think my favorite block is this one with the little orange center.

 

I have one more set of these PI batik blocks, but that's for a Christmas present so I won't be able to show it here for a long time.  Meanwhile, I've been hand quilting and working to finish a few more quick quilts.  I hope to get my sewing room cleared of most of the WIP's this summer.

If you haven't been keeping an eye on Lazy Gal Tonya's blog, get over there and check out all the new posts with word quilts.  They are something else!  Some people are just so inventive with their free piecing!

Happy Birthday Cheryl!

 

Happy Birthday to my sister Cheryl!  She's a fabulous glass artist, quilter and knitter.  She loves to travel and garden and has made the house she shares with her husband into a wonderful expression of their personalities. 

Last year she came to visit us for the Sisters Quilt Show where she displayed this quilt.  Cheryl was always a cat lover and this quilt commemorates all the kitties through the years, including Charlie and Cricket, our childhood cats.  She also loves her doggies- in the photo is Bonnie.

 

Cheryl, I hope your birthday is as fantastic as you are!  Have a good one!

For others

 

Keeping my commitment to the quilt guild, I've been working on charity quilts for our community quilts program.   The guild only asks for one quilt per member per year, but I always like to do several.   This is also another way to get the stale fabrics out of my stash.  Many of these have been hanging around for over 10 years and it was time for them to go!  I have at least 2 more of these simple quilts worth of patches to sew up.  I was also trying out some Quilter's Dream wool batting  and decided I just don't like working with it.  It's nice and cozy in the quilt though.  I will use up what I have for these donation quilts and go back to Dream Cotton for most purposes.  I'm still trying to decide if I prefer the Dream Cotton Request or Tuscany Silk for hand quilting.  Both needle nicely.  More on other quilting project coming up!