Stitches in Bloom - A Quilt Show

The first major quilt show of the year in Oregon is this weekend.  Chris, a wonderful quilter friend, and I drove up yesterday to take it in.  It was held at the Oregon Gardens in Silverton just outside of Salem.  Since it was an almost 3 hour drive from home we left at 8 AM.  The driving time went by quickly as we talked the whole way....what do women find to talk about - well, just about everything!

You are not dropping in to hear about 6 hours of driving and talking so on with the show!

The quilt show is called Stitches in Bloom and the featured quilt was just that.  But for that quilt you will have to scroll through the whole blog to see it as there was no space large enough to hang it at the show.

 Notice the fog and the grass that we are parked on!  This is the over flow parking...

 ...but we made it!

The following pictures are only a small part of the quilts that were there, and not all the quilts had pictures taken of them.  They were all outstanding and made by the best in the quilting world.  

So sit back and enjoy!

 The show was broken into two buildings so Chris and I started in the closest and smallest one.  This quilt was a raffle quilt and it will go from show to show with a drawing sometime in the future!  It takes only one ticket to be a winner so I bought a ticket and so did Chris.

This building held the selected quilts for Oregon: State of Diversity 2. The following is only a few that were there.

Oop's rather dark.  This was one was made with raw edge applique.  Trying to match up quilts with quilters is a quess but I think this one is called "At Ocean's Edge" by Laura Jaszkowski.

The fish were painted on this one while the reeds are hand appliqued on.

And a close up.  Possibly "Spawn" by Kathy Blondell.

"Three Sisters: Clouds Rolling In" by Sheila Finzer.  Looks like a photo!

An odd one but colorful...close up follows.

"Glorious Pears" by Karen Bates.


These were only a few of the quilts in the first (small) building. From here Chris and I walked down to the larger of the exhibition building.  Again, the following pictures are only a few that were there.

Velda Newman was the featured quilter of the show.  This was only one of her quilts featured.  We sat in on one of her lectures and learned that this quilt took her a year to make.  I wish I had taken notes from her lecture.

A more traditional block quilt.

Isn't this a gorgeous one....I have close ups on it if anyone would like to see them.

If you are a quilter you know what Chris is looking at!  What does the quilt look like on the back....???

There was so much talent displayed here...

A pineapple quilt...it could have been because it was Friday but it was quite easy to take most of the pictures without a lot of women being in them. But then women are also very nice to move out of your way when they see a camera.

There were a few men but not many.  This quilt has a feathered star center and there were no cut off tips.

The following pictures are from the 2:30 lecture that Chris and I sat in on.  As mentioned before Velda Newman was the featured artist for the show.  The following quilt was taken out at the end of her slide presentation...

This quilt took Velda two years to complete.  


These have only been a few selected pictures from the many taken.  The show was awesome.  It was a fun day spent with Chris doing what we like best looking at quilts and shopping the vendors!  We both came home with vendor goodies!


Happy Quilting Days!

From Snow to Rains and Flooding

This week has seen us go from snow (just enough to be pretty) to rain to flooding.  There are a lot of positives about living on a river and then there can be the winter when you get the occasional negative.  

Bill and I have just came up from 'down below' and will be going back later in the day.  When the river comes up and leaves us with debris we start early giving it back so it can continue its trip to the ocean.

But the worst year was the year Sarah and Joe were married on the lower lot.  That winter we had a debris pile that was over 10 feet high, 30 feet wide and over 100 long (per Bill).  It took throwing, pushing, and finally 24/7 of burning before it was gone.  The following flood years have been a piece of cake compared to that one.  

So first the snow:

Just enough to be pretty and a treat! (Sorry Mom, I know you have been housebound with lots of this stuff!)

Then the rain and flooding:

This is the pump house that has the water tank and pump for the house.  Today is only Thursday and we are forecast for rain the rest of the week.  Up river is the mountains with snow....so the big question is will the river get that high or not.  


Since we were down below I had to check on what was left of the hornet nest.  If you go back to the summer blog you will find the story about it.  Earlier this winter most of it was gone since the nest is paper based.  Today there is only the last bit left.

But what was never noticed before was a bird's nest in the same tree.

Okay that was our excitement for the morning.  Now for breakfast and back to quilting.


Happy rainy day!

2012 - The Year of Possibilities

I made only two resolutions for the new year.  Most of you can guess what the first one was - start a new quilt, and the other to scan all of my mother's pictures that fill 4 paper ream boxes into a digital format.  The first resolution is a lot more fun but the second will be more rewarding when it is completed.

So on to the quilt.  This one has been on the table for a few months before being started.  I first saw it in Eugene in a quilt store, and then was lucky enough to come across the pattern at Joanne's. I love to do fusible applique and this one is filled with it.  It is also a great way to play with color.

Okay, it is also whimsical which is cute if you are partial to cute on your walls.   It has been a long cold winter so cute will work.

 All 12 squares are done separately before linking. The blocks have four layers: top, stabilizer, batting, and back fabric.   This way it is easy to add as much top stitching and embellishments.  Also, if one of the square doesn't come out then you are only out that one.

All nine squares!  Three more to go.  It is hard not to start putting the squares together but if I did I know I would want to move them around for color balance.  Also Bill and I are in a major discussion on what fabric to use for connecting the blocks.  He likes the red (or any solid color) and I like the black and white stripe.  But we are a couple of weeks away from having to make that decision.



Happy New Year!




 

Almost Made It For Christmas

Bill and I flew to Las Vegas this year to celebrate the holidays with JD, Kelly, and Makenna.  We had a wonderful time being with family.  So let the pictures begin...

 Santa found the new house and left plenty of gifts for all.

Now you can't have Santa arriving without making some cookies for him.  Makenna was a fantastic cookie baker.

The Sweitzer tradition continues!  But now the children read the story of "The Night Before Christmas" to the adults!

Christmas morning and the opening of presents!!  We are never too old to enjoy this part of the day.

 
Santa had a special gift for Kelly - you can't tell from the picture but she had the biggest smile on her face!  You know this lady believes in Santa!!!

Grandma's gift from Santa!  Flamingo toilet paper - I didn't think I was THAT naughty this last year!

Yep, JD in the kitchen.  He is waiting for the cinnamon rolls come out.

Then there was plenty of time to just relax....

And play, and....

And sight-see.  We also went to the Ethel M chocolate factory one evening for their amazing lighted cactus gardens.  Kelly has all the pictures from that...

Before you knew it the days just flew by and we were headed home. Thank you JD, Kelly, and Makenna for a WONDERFUL time.  We miss you already!

We hope everyone's Christmas holidays were as nice as ours was!

The flamingos live on for another year....

Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with only the best.