the BIG quilt show!

Chris and I went to the BIG OR quilt show in Portland this last week!  The quilts were awesome!!! and neither one of us had a camera or a smart phone to take pictures...  I did look for my camera before leaving and didn't find it (under a pile of fabric) until I got home.  Needless to say we will be back to Portland next year (with cameras).  

What I can show you are all the fun stuff I bought while there. (I just took the pictures minutes ago!!)  The vendor booths were as good as the quilts as they came from all of our favorite quilt shops and from quilt shops we never heard of.  So that being said, here is what came home with me....

The last one will be my traveling project....

I am frantically working on a second quilt challenge for the quilt show held in Silverton, OR in January.  The fat quarter fabric is the flower print which I am thread painting on - that is the time consuming but easy part.  I've auditioned a few different backgrounds for it and think I just might stay with the batik block one.  Only two rules for this challenge:  you have to use the flower print and it cannot be bigger than 36" by 36".  

It is hard to see all the thread stitches but it is there.  After the stitching I will come back and add a lot of beading, then there will be spots that are cut out so only the flowers, leaves, and stems are left.

This is a 6 X 6 batik block which will probably be made into a 7 X 7 block.  Still not sure how this will end up.

Happy quilting!
 

 

Finshed!

The challenge quilt is finished! if you don't add the hanging sleeve or tacking on the stupid 6o's Peace Hippie Bus.  I am pleased with how this one came out... and I did it in all of 3 weeks.  Now that must be a record setting quilt.

Without bus....

With bus....

Close up of bus.... (which is only temporary until after it comes back home).

This quilt challenge is judged on a popular vote.  If you have enough friends to drop in and vote on your quilt (wonder how many times I can talk the husband into driving into town and voting????)  or if you happen to work at the quilt store then you  can be the big winner. Now this might work in my favor as all my stitching is not evenly spaced....and I did not use the panel.... but what the heck, I like it and will either hang it or use it somewhere. So in the end I am the big winner just for liking the end result.

Then we come to the knitting project.  I have been faithful in picking up the needles every day (great excuse for sitting on the couch in front of the TV).  Can a person be termed a couch knitter instead of a couch potato?  The directions said "no matchies" but when you veggie it is so much easier to do whatever came before.  Is it enough to find new knit patterns and use them over and over again.... I promise the back will be different.

Happy Veggie Days!

Not Enough Hours in a Day!

There never seems to be enough hours in a day to get everything done that needs to be done.  I've already given up on cleaning the house, mowing lawns, cooking, dishes....  (ok, so I really still do all those things!)

The secret would be to finish all the projects that I have started instead of seeing something new to try and going for it.  So this is where I am on old and new projects.

The 'old' project is coming along only because there is an Oct. 31st deadline on it and I could be looking at carpel tunnel hand surgery before that date.  So if the challenge quilt is going to be ready I have to stay with it!

Handy Bill (dear husband) has made an extension table to help me with the top stitching on this quilt.  

This really helps to take the weight of the quilt and makes it easier to slide it under the pressure foot on the sewing machine.

See how well the extension works.  And this is as far as I have gone with the challenge quilt.  Due date Oct. 31st.

I do finish a few projects...

The hanging bags are so much fun.  What you can't see in the pictures is all the beading that has been added.  Four more of these are in the embellishing stage.

Then we come to a new project.  While having lunch downtown with Chris (remember her from my other quilting blogs) we discovered two new stores in the old downtown part of Roseburg.  One was the bead store which has seen me 3 times already and a new YARN store.  

Sharon, the owner, had me hooked when I saw a knitted vest in the window and found out she gave lessons....  so I am knitting a strip vest.

It is really quite easy as you knit this sweater vest in strips then sew them together.  It is being made in all my favorite shades of blue, green, and purple!  It looks a bit wocky as the yarn and pattern is changing but the blocking will straighten all of that out.  It is also being made up as it goes along.  

Happy Days with Long Lists of Fun Things to Do!