MORE QUILTS FROM QUILT SHOW

 Here are some more quilts from the Oregon Quilt Festival held in Salem, Oregon.  This first one is another one with houses in it.

                

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For some unknown reason, my computer won't let me download any more picture to this blog, so I'm afraid that this will be it!  Thankfully, I will be getting a new computer in the next couple days and hopefully, everything from this old one will transfer over.  I was trying to find my "Life Story" that I had been working on and I finally did find it in the cloud, but it said that it might be compromised.  I'm hoping that it can be saved.  Yesterday I went through a lot of pictures and deleted a lot that I just don't really need, so I hope that will help the transfer.

Guess what?  Spring has officially arrived!  We have been getting a lot of rain in celebration.  My daffodils have been blooming for a couple weeks already!  I want to plant a lot of flowers this spring.

Happy Spring!

Oregon Quilt Festival, 2025, Salem, Oregon

I will start out with the quilt that I picked as my favorite.  I'm sorry that one side is cut off.  The blocks were so perfect and it is my type of fabrics and blocks.

There were so many amazing quilts and I couldn't take pictures of them all.  

Rob Appell was one of the special speakers at the show and my friend, Sandy and I had our picture taken with him.

Here are  some house quilts - I love them!

My computer is giving me problems, so I'm going to close this post before I loose it.  I will post more pictures later.  I'm getting a new computer this week, so I will wait till it get it going before I do another post.  

Thanks for visiting.  There are more quilt shows coming up.  The Willamette Valley Quilters Guild, that I belong to is having a show in June.

 

Two quilts finished and a Pillow

 I have been so busy and would like to promise that I will be better at blogging, but I wouldn't dare promise that.

This first quilt was the BOM for my Gone to Pieces guild for last year.  When I started it, I didn't realize that it was going to become a quilt, but I felt committed to finishing it, so I did.  It is the Blue Pear Block of the Month by Minick and Simpson.  I decided to make the pears green for some odd reason!  It definitely isn't perfect, but here it is.  I just now noticed that I put the rectangle of small squares on the lower left in the wrong place.  It is supposed to be on top of the star block.  I also put in pinwheels instead of circles in the lower middle.  When I started the BOMs I didn't realize that it was going to make into a quilt and I used some background fabric that wouldn't be enough for a whole quilt, so it has 2 different backgrounds.  I'm not sure what I will do with it - probably donate it,

I just finished a pillow that I had wanted to make ever since we got a new couch 1 1/2 years ago.  It was fun and easy to make. 

And finally, I just finished a cat quilt that I will put up for sale in my Etsy shop.  This is my favorite quilt to make because it's fun!  I enjoy picking out 48 different fabrics and they are easy to put together. I don't know how many I have made, but quite a few and have sold them all.  

I will be posting soon with pictures from the Oregon Quilt Festival that I attended two weeks ago.  

I have a confession to make.  I started selling things at craft show to use up my fabric - I now have more fabric than ever and people are giving me the reproduction fabrics that they don't want any more.  Also, I decided to not do so many craft shows so I will have more time to work on family tree and history, which is fine, but I haven't made much progress on that.  I keep getting more ideas of items I want to sew.  I think I am addicted!  At time's I think it is keeping me sane, but what if it is doing the opposite?

Thanks for visiting and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy New Year! 2025!!!

I have been very bad with posting lately.  But I thought I would post something with maybe some goals for the new year.  I already finished an old UFO.  This is my "Zip Up Tray Pouch."

The pattern is for a tray that you can fold up and close with a zipper. 

This is open...

And this is closed.

I also finished the top of a donation quilt made with strips that I plan to baste this week - maybe (Picture to come after it is quilted).  I want to get this quilted ASAP, but I also have travel plans for next weekend.  

My DS that lives near us has just gotten a job with a different airline and we can fly free, so I plan to do that on Thursday to go to our grandson's first time to play his violin in a concert on Saturday night.  He is 14 and has been taking violin lessons a couple years and is making progress with it.  If I am lucky, I might get to see his brother in a wrestling meet.  

I went to my favorite quilt shop last week and while looking around, I saw a back pack made up that was new.  I had been looking at various back pack and bag patterns there for a while, and this time I decided to get the new back pack pattern and everything needed to make it!  I have never had a back pack before and thought I might be able to get by without taking a suitcase on my trip.  Here is the back pack.  (Actually, it was easier than I thought it would be.

I have tested putting the clothes I plan to bring into it and I think it will work.  I will only be gone 4 days, so I don't need a lot.

I have been working on a quilt called "Double Duty" that I saved from the October 2017 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.  I had started it last spring but didn't get very far.  Now I think I have about half of the blocks needed for a good size quilt which I will donate.  It is made with 2 1/2" HSTs and each block is 12" finished.  I have over 30 blocks and I'm not quite sure how many I will use to finish it.  

A few other projects that I have begun are:

    

1. Blue Pear Block of the Month by Minick & Simpson.  This was the BOM for one of the guilds I belong to and I only have one more block to make and the top will be finished.

2.  Grover's Hothouse Bouquet - this is a wall hanging that I bought last year at the Salem Quilt Show.  I started it and then had to put it aside for other projects.  

3.  Table Cloth that I am making out of fabric by Tildasworld.

I will continue to try and find any other projects that need to be finished.  Thanks for visiting!

 

Some Christmas quilting done

 It's been a while again!   But I've been busy sewing Christmas items.  Even though I haven't been vending much this year, I decided to participate in a craft show over last weekend, however, when we went to set up our booth, we found out that it had been cancelled, so we went back home (to our advantage, it was only about 2 miles from our homes).  Since that was cancelled, we decided to join in on a Christmas Faire in Dayton, OR that we did last year.  It will take place the second weekend in November.

Here are a few of the items that I have made:

Christmas lap quilt

Table Runner

Table Runner

These deer are in front of the house next door to our house.

This poor deer was all alone (except for the neighborhood kitty on our neighbors car).  The deer didn't look very healthy and wasn't with a

 group of friends or family.  I felt sorry for him (or her?).

We have been having lovely weather here, cool at night and pleasant during the day.  The leaves are changing and it will probably start raining soon.  Hope you are enjoying your changing weather too.

Basting: Not my favorite job!

I've been super busy lately.  One of the things keeping me busy is basting my Trail Mix quilt.  I had a few smaller items to baste first and then I had to force myself to baste Trail Mix.  Yes, force!  Here is a picture of one section of it on the table I use to do the basting.   I'm not sure when it will get quilted.

I place the backing, batting and top so that the center lines up with the pins taped on the table.  I have large safety pins (closed) taped on each end of the table and one in the middle so I can feel them through the fabrics to make sure the quilt layers are right in the center.  I learned this method from Cindy Needham on Craftsy.  Once the section on the table is all pinned, I pull the quilt one way and continue pinning, then pull it again making sure that the batting and backing are nice and flat, then pin that section, until I'm finished.  I works quite well, even though I don't enjoy it.

My quilt guild has a "circle" for scrappy quilts and one month we were supposed to bring orphan blocks so they could put them together for a donation quilt.  The left-overs were distributed so we could make a smaller quilt at home and bring it to the september meeting for donation.  I came home with a bunch of small blocks and added some when needed.  This is what I came up with.  It's a small quilt for a child.

I'm also continuing to work on Christmas projects.  I plan to try to take more time to continue working on my Dad's life story.  I have most of it typed up, but need to integrate more stories from some different tapes that he made.  He had lots to tell and it has been fun to listen to him telling about his life growing up in Chicago.

I had a garage sale with my 2 walking buddies (neighbors) yesterday and today.  I got rid of some stuff to make more room in the garage and shed.  It's a relief!  It was real hot yesterday and from now on the weather will be cooling off day by day.  I saw something about the Harvest Sun is supposed to appear much larger than usual this month,  I think around Sept 18?  (not sure of the exact date).  I do enjoy the fall season.

Thanks for visiting!

 

Quilt Top Finished

 This quilt top was worked on all last year, mostly at craft shows.  I decided it would save time to take a sewing machine (my Featherweight) and get some sewing done during breaks in selling to customers.  And there were a lot of breaks.  People would show interest in the sewing machine, but I don't really think it helped me sell more items.  Anyway, the pattern is "Trail Mix" designed by Mabeth Oxenreider.  I was always drawn to scrappy quilts, especially ones that had the "lines" like this one has.  

The pattern is in  "Scrap-Lovers' Quilts" published by Better Homes and Gardens.  I've had the book for a long time and finally got around to making it.  As you can see, there is a lot of sewing involved!  It measures approximately 77" x 115".  I need to get the quilting done in time for a guild meeting in September because we are having a UFO challenge and it was picked from my list.  I just finished putting the borders on.  It is too big for my design wall, so it is folded in half.

I plan to get it basted next week along with a couple small donation quilts.  Basting large ones like this is not my favorite activity! 

Thanks for visiting and happy quilting!

County Fair Ribbons

 The Yamhill County Fair was last week and I entered some quilts and won 3 blue ribbons.  Two of them were for baby quilts, Half and Half designed by our blogging friend, Joanne Kerton (Canuck Quilter) and a Peter Rabbit quilt from a book about Beatrix Potter.

 One ribbon was for this doll, Mary Pickford Hill Colonial Doll, pattern from Etsy.  The reason I could enter 2 baby quilts is that the Peter Rabbit quilt has hand embroidery, and therefore is in a different category.

I live in Yamhill County and this fair is the oldest one in the state of Oregon.  In the mean time, I have been working on some Christmas table runners and lap quilts that have finished tops.  And I am working on the Double Duty quilt (pattern from the American Patchwork & Quilting, October 2017 magazine).  I'm not sure how big I will make it, but it is fun to piece.  I have tons of 2 1/2" squares cut to make this.

My pictures aren't very big because I couldn't get the pictures to load the regular way, so I had to drag them onto the blog and couldn't make them any bigger.

I had a birthday and went shopping at my favorite quilt shop, Boersma's, which is only a mile from my house!  They give 25% off any regular priced items for your birthday, so I spent some $$ there.  It is always fun.  It doesn't look like a lot though.  Remember when fabric was $1.00 per yard?  If not, you are too young.  I am OLD!!

Soon the weather will be changing and that usually happens around September 1 here and the rains start.  We don't get much rain in the summer (if any).  We are tired of the heat and looking forward to fall.  Where does the time go?  It goes too fast now it seems.

Happy quilting!

Happy Independence Day!

 This is a special day for us because one of our sons was born on the 4th of July - quite a few years ago - not telling you how many!  We wish we could see him today, but he lives in Florida and we live in Oregon.  We hope to be able to go there soon.

I have a few patriotic quilts hanging and took pictures to show you.

I've also been doing a lot of sewing lately.  I finally finished this baby quilt - the pattern is in a book about Beatrix Potter. I think I showed it before, but it wasn't finished then.  I just finished doing some more quilting in each hexagon this morning and I'm happy that it is finished.

Another project was for a wedding gift for a relative and I made these table runners from a set of fat quarters.  The one on the left was mailed for the wedding and the one on the right might be entered in the county fair at the end of the month.  I also have almost enough blocks for a donation quilt (only 5 more to go), am almost finished with a "Trail Mix" quilt which is very scrappy and big and at least 2 other quilts started.  How come there is only 24 hours in a day?

I used to do a lot of cross stitching and when I got involved in quilting, I didn't do much, but I recently got the urge and I made these 2 small designs.  I might order 2 more from this designer.

The last cross stitching project that I had been working on before getting side tracked in quilting is below.  I didn't finish it and when I decided to do more stitching, I looked for it - everywhere I could think of.  I finally found it with the pattern and all the floss just waiting for me to work on it again.  I haven't done anything with it yet, but would like to finish it.  It is the second one by the same designer that I did and both of them have quilts in them.  At that time, before I started actually making quilts, I was already obsessed with them.

This is what it will look like when finished.

Last Sunday the Hubby and I went out to eat on the roof top of a local hotel.  It was such a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous.  We live about 1 1/2 Miles from the hotel.

We had to wear our sunglasses even though it was cloudy.

I just had to take a picture of the horse and carriage.  I asked the owner how much he charged for a ride and he said he will take a donation!  I was pretty surprised and would like to have a ride in it some day.  

I hope your summer isn't too hot.  We are supposed to get into the upper 90's this weekend.  I'm not too happy with that.  Thanks for visiting!

FINISHED MYSTERY QUILT

 I finally got around to quilting the mystery quilt.  As usual, deciding how I'm going to quilt it is not easy.  So I did what I usually do, I started by doing some stitch in the ditch around the main middle portion.  Then, by the time I finished that, and since the blocks are rather unique, I eventually got an idea and decided to just go for it.  I started by sewing a curvy line down the seam that divides the block from one corner to the opposing corner and I continued without stopping to make some loops along the edges and making swirls inside the squares.  I put 3 curvy lines in the inner border and in the outer border I quilted my favorite border filler, from Angela Walters "Free-Motion Quilting" book, called the Swirl Scroll.  I have used this design in lots of quilts and it is a lot easier than it looks.  

Here is how the back looks.

Here is a close up on one block so you can see how I quilted it.  I always have trouble when I have square blocks in a quilt because I usually don't want to do an "over all" design and then I end up doing each block by itself. 

How do other quilters figure out what to do?  

I love the way the professional quilters can do gorgeous, perfect designs and would love to be able to quilt that good, but it just isn't possible and I am happy that I can do my own quilting and not have to pay for someone else to do it.

One of the quilting guilds that I belong to is doing a block of the month from Minick & Simpson, called Blue Pear Block of the Month.  At first I wasn't planning to participate, but when I saw some of the blocks at the last meeting, I changed my mind and I made the first 2 blocks.  If you are familiar with that quilt, don't be too critical regarding the way I put my blocks together.  I did them the way I liked them, or regarding the block on the left, I ran out of the fabric and had to substitute the with a different navy.

What are you working on?

Mystery Quilt Display

 I just finished the top of the Mystery Quilt.  Here is a picture of it.  Since I was on a trip (more details below) I didn't really complete each step as it was given and until I saw the final picture, I just couldn't imagine what it was going to look like.  It really was a mystery!

The next step, of course, will be to find a backing fabric and then quilt and bind it.

I recently took a trip to visit my sister near Chicago and from there I went to Kansas City, KS to visit our youngest son and his family.  My husband joined me there and we had a wonderful time with our 2 grandsons, ages 13 and 15.  They are such sweet and loving boys!  The dog, Olaf, thinks I'm his grandmother too!

One night we were all watching a movie in our PJs and Olaf squeezed into my chair with me.   

Of course he had to be able to watch the movie too!  The family is so busy and one day I ran a errand for them.  As I was just ready to go home, I caught the word "quilts" out of the corner of my eye and thinking quickly, I turned into the shopping center to look for a quilt shop.  I found it and saw they were having a "going out of business" sale!!!  All fabrics were 40 - 45% off!!  This is what I purchased.  Some of the pieces are large enough to use for backings, but I don't yet know how I will use them.  See them below.

I didn't get the Christmas fabric there, but saw it in another town and decided to get it because I had never seen it before and I really liked it!

When we returned to McMinnville, this beautiful sight greeted us!

Happy quilting this spring!