Sunday, July 14, 2013

SISTERS QUILT SHOW

It was a perfectly beautiful day yesterday and I went to the quilt show in Sisters, Oregon with my DH, BIL and SIL.  We went early so we could get there while it was still cool.  


The first picture I took was of this piano quilt and it is one of my favorites from the show.


I'm sorry this picture is so blurry, but I wanted to tell you that Katie's mother entered it in the show.  It was because of Katie showing this on her blog that I made the same quilt.


Of course, I loved the Dear Jane quilt.


There were too many amazing quilts to take pictures of them all, but here are some others.















It was a wonderful day!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

ANOTHER HISTORIC HOUSE AND SISTERS, OR

I had the chance to visit the home in Newberg, OR where Herbert Hoover lived for a time during his childhood.


Happily, there were some quilts on the beds.


 This was his room and what a wonderful quilt he had!


We spent a couple days in Sisters, OR where there are lots of preparations going on for the quilt show on Saturday, which I will be going to.  It is a very cute town with lovely scenery to see.

Our camp site
Lori, from Humble Quilts, came for a short visit to our camper.  I showed her a few of my quilts and she brought one of her quilt tops that she finished while at her retreat.  I should have taken a picture of her with her quilt top, but you can see it if you click on the link.  It's the green and red one, but you'll have to scroll down to find it.



Three Sisters Mountains

I'm hand quilting this doll quilt as one of my travel projects.  I'm beginning to doubt that I will get it all quilted by the time we get home, which should be sometime next week.


Thanks for visiting!

Friday, July 5, 2013

A SPECIAL CONCERT

My DGS is in London right now with the Oregon Ambassadors of Music.  He was selected by his band teacher to be part of this group that gets to go to Europe for a 2 week tour where they will play 10 concerts in various cities.  The lucky guy is there now.  We were able to hear the band at Lewis and Clark College in Portland the night before they left.

On the way to the concert we could see Mt. Hood from a bridge in Portland!

Another view of Mt. Hood in the distance (about 50 Miles?) from Lewis & Clark College.

Statue of Sacagawea.

Mansion at Lewis and Clark College.
The campus is beautiful and it was such a pleasant evening (after a hot day) sitting amongst the tall trees and listening to the band.  It was amazing how professional they sounded after only three days of practicing together.  DGS plays the trumpet and he was sitting in the middle of the back row, so I couldn't really get a picture of him.  He & DGD do not want their pictures posted on the blog, however, so even if I did get a picture, I couldn't show it to you.  I wish I could.

My DGS is very musical and plays the piano and organ in addition to the trumpet.  He even has an organ job at a church.  We are very proud of him and happy he has this opportunity!

Oregon Ambassadors of Music Band
We're getting anxious to get home on one hand, but hate to leave on the other!  It has been a wonderful visit!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

HAPPY 4TH!!

My DGD's Bricks and Stepping Stones designed by Bonnie Hunter top (minus border) is finished!  We love the way it looks!  Except for the black and white 4-patches, it is a charm quilt.  She plans to put a black border on it.  


Hoping you have a wonderful 4th of July celebration!


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I have finished 24 Ohio Star blocks that I will use to make a donation quilt for children's hospital.  It will be for a teen-aged boy and is made out of men's shirt fabric.  I took pictures of two lay-outs and want your opinion.  The first one is must mixed up and the second one has diagonal rows of the same color blocks.  I'm leaning towards the second one.



The blocks measure 9" finished so without sashing, this part will measure 36" x 54".  I will be adding a border to bring the size up to the requested size, which is large enough to cover the bed but not hang over (because of the side rails).  Do you think I should add a narrow sashing also?  I kind of like the blocks right next to each other.

I don't know what fabric I will use for the border, but it would have to be darker.  I'll wait until I get home to see what I have on hand.  Out of sight - out of mind!

I hope there is a boy who won't mind the pink looking fabric.  It is actually kind of a coral color and white weave, but looks like pink at a distance.

This is our last week with DS/DIL and then we will spend a few days in Sisters and a few days with BIL/SIL - then return to Texas.  We're looking forward to going home, but have had a wonderful trip and good times with family.

I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July and that it isn't too hot!

Friday, June 28, 2013

A DRESS FOR ABBY AND SOME PROGRESS

I made a dress for Abby this week with a pattern and fabric I had purchased before our trip.  The lace came from a garage sale.


I got a piece of eyelet from another garage sale and made another bolero jacket for the dress.


I finally finished the baskets for May.  I did finish all 12 of them, but they didn't all fit on this chair.  Now I need to get the June baskets prepped so I can work on them and maybe get some finished before we get home and the July baskets are waiting for me.


I made about 10 more of these Ohio star blocks out of mens' shirts and also bought more shirts at garage sales in preparation for Bonnie Hunter's workshop in September.  I needed more light colored ones for the contrast.  The Ohio star blocks will be for a donation quilt and I will try to get some more of those made.


DGD and I worked on the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt again yesterday and almost finished the top minus the border.  One more row has to be put together before it can be joined.  Not sure yet what the border will be, but some fabric was pulled out for the backing.  I'll be taking it home with me to quilt.

Progress is being made!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

BRICKS AND STEPPING STONES PLUS DEEPWOOD ESTATE

The first two rows of DGD's quilt top are sewn together.  I took a couple pictures to give you an idea.  
on the couch

on the floor
I hope she has time to sew this week.  Today is out as she has a babysitting job.  

Yesterday we went back to Salem to tour Deepwood Estate.  It was a rainy day and I forgot to bring my good camera, so these pictures were taken with my phone and it wasn't light enough for most of them to turn out.  The house was built in 1894.


It cost $15,000 to build it, which was a lot of money for a house in those days, but it had all the modern conveniences, including indoor plumbing with hot and cold water and even electricity!  There were lots of stained glass windows, even in the bathroom!

Lovely window in the stairway.

Original bath tub was not a claw foot.

Entry way stained glass with a replica of Thomas Edison's light bulb in the light fixture.
The rest of the day yesterday I spent working on a dress for Abby.  It's a sun dress, so I need to get it sent soon.  It has a little bolero jacket and she will be able to wear it to school when it starts.

We now have a son living on the Atlantic Coast, one on the Gulf Coast and one near the Pacific Coast! Are they trying to stay far apart from each other or us?  That is my question.  Of course the one who just moved to the Atlantic Coast did it on orders of the Air Force, so they didn't have much choice in the matter.  I can't wait to see their new house - maybe this fall.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

SEWING IN OREGON

It's been a busy week, but I managed to get some sewing accomplished for me.  I started this quilt before leaving home as I had been wanting to make it for a couple years.  Actually, ever since I saw it at Lori's home when I visited her probably 3 years ago.  I had the pattern in Quilt Sampler of Fall/Winter 2005 tagged, but then misplaced it and couldn't find it until recently.  So far I have over 50 blocks done but none are sewn together yet.




I also worked on my DGD's quilt with her.  She has been super busy with working, being a bridesmaid today, etc., but we managed to get a couple sewing sessions in and the blocks of the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt are getting sewn into rows.  I meant to get a picture, but didn't, so will do that for next time.  It is really looking great!

There are 2 cherry trees in the yard, so we picked some yesterday.  Yummy!!  The trees aren't producing a lot this year because they trimmed them last year, but the few that are there are luscious.


One day we went to Salem to see Deepwood Estate, but it was closed due to the illness of the tour guide.  Hopefully we can make time to go back.  We tried to see it 3 years ago and it was closed then too.  It looks like an awesome old house.


We are sure enjoying the Oregon weather!  The nights get down to 48-50 and the days haven't gotten any higher than about 82 or 83.  We can handle that!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

CAMPING NEAR THE PACIFIC OCEAN!!

Since everyone is either in school or working, we decided to go to the coast for a few days, so Monday we drove to the Tillamook area to camp.  Yesterday we headed up the coast to see some sights.

I'm hiding behind the truck so you can see more of the gorgeous view!

This "Octopus" tree is near the Cape Meares Lighthouse.  It is very strange!

View from Cape Meares - it is awesome!!!

Cape Meares Lighthouse  - we took a tour.
After lunch in Oceanside, we headed to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook .

Quilt "block" on the outside of the building.
They had an exhibit of the quilts by Lura Swarz Smith and I took pictures of two of them.  Her work is amazing and she a well known art quilter.

This quilt has pictures of the actual post cards that her parents sent from their honeymoon in 1944 and the quilt depicts the scene of her mother placing them in a scrapbook.  Very unique!!

This is a very famous quilt of dancers.  I love how she put quilt blocks in the dresses and background.
I'm sorry I don't have the names of the quilts with me - I left my notebook in the camper and we are at the rec center which is the only place we have wi-fi access.  I'm also not sure I spelled her name correctly.

The Latimer Center has two large work rooms where people can gather to work on their projects.  A group of knitters was there yesterday.  One room has a lot of looms in it.  They also sell items made by people who belong to these groups:  quilts, jewelry, knitted hats, etc. etc.  

After this, we went to the Tillamook cheese factory to buy some cheese (we had seen the way they make it previously, so didn't do that).  Then we went to the Munson water fall south of Tillamook and enjoyed the 1/4 mile hike to and from it through the forest.

Time to go and enjoy the area before we go back to DS's home tomorrow.  Thanks for visiting!


Sunday, June 9, 2013

OUR TRIP TO OREGON

I have a couple photos to share from our trip to Oregon where we are visiting our son and family.  

Photo of me beside large tree near Moab, UT

We camped at the County Fairgrounds in Burns, OR.  The full moon was shining and we were the only ones camping there.  When I went to the house of the manager to see if we could stay there, he opened the door in his long johns!
The next night we camped in Sisters, OR at this City park.  Maybe we'll camp there again for the quilt show in July!

I went to another quilt shop with the Quilting Babcia.  This one is going out of business and everything is on sale.   When my GD found out, she wanted to go too, so I went again the next day and bought more fabric, but didn't take a picture of all of it.  

I have been doing some piecing this week.  Below, I'm piecing 9-patches with the leftover blue fabric from my basket BOM.  I don't have my May baskets all appliqued yet, but they are pinned on and ready to go.  I think I finished 4 of the 12 and this week, I'll get the June fabric!  I also have been piecing some sawtooth stars that finish at 4".  I plan to make pillowcases for our bed with the stars in the border.


My GD turns 21 on Thursday and wants to spend her birthday sewing with me.  I have done some of the piecing on her Bricks & Stepping Stones quilt and she wants to have all the bricks out of different fabrics (she needs 180).  She has gone through all my fabrics that I have with me and also purchased a lot.  I told her I would quilt it when she finishes it.

Thanks for visiting!