Cool weather project

I got a kit last year when my friend Pat was closing her shop in Wisconsin. This was her own design and I think it's really cute!  I started the quilt last time I went to Wisconsin but finally sat down to work on it last week while we were in Oregon, where we had very chilly temperatures!!

One morning it was 28* and a small puddle of water on the firepit cover had an icy top!! Brrrrrrr

I just need to sew on the borders for it to be done! 

I'm leaving for Wisconsin in the morning so I'm not sure I'll get it done before I leave. 

Mind you, now that I'm back in California the weather is the opposite extreme: it's 100* at my house today!! 

I'll have lots of fun pictures to post this coming week. 

Featured quilter

Quiltworks honored a local quilter by displaying some of her quilts. She lived in Saudia Arabia for 16 yrs and traveled extensively all over the world. You can see the influence of the variety of countries she visited as shown in her quilts!

I think this quilt was part of a different display. Here was another one. 

The weather here in Central Oregon changed drastically. The temperature was 28* this morning and it stormed this afternoon. Here is a view of the storm approaching!

Usually you can see the Cascade mountains out this window. Not today! Just some very serious rain clouds. 

It was so cold that I decided to work on a quilt I started earlier this year with snowmen!! I'll show you a picture tomorrow. 

Stars and more quilt show photos

Today's block for the Stars in a Time Warp is based on a bronze-style print. I'm a bit limited here in Oregon but used what I had. 

I love that flag fabric, which I have in blue as well. Or had. I used it all up!

Here are some more California State Park quilts:

I love the different views from this one!

So realistic!!

California gold rush!

Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of the featured quilter!

Central Oregon weather is definitely fall-like!! Down into the 30s tonight with a high in the 60s. I don't mind!

A fun project

Again, being in between projects is always tough for me. I have been working on a swap, and some blocks for the trip around the world, and a small wall hanging for me to bring to Wisconsin next week. But I was looking for something a little more substantial.

I had bought a pattern last year at a quilt show for a bag. Who needs another bag? This was adorable in the sample. So I bought the kit and brought it with me up to Sunriver in case I needed a diversion. 

The directions were terrible! My fabric is going horizontal instead of vertical. I didn't have enough fabric for the bottom. The straps were supposed to be the same as the bottom but the instructions made them impossible to turn inside out so I abandoned them and used some fabric that I had, which I think is more fun anyway.

So now I am scouring my fabric stash, which is very limited, so I can make another one or two. Now that I have figured out the pattern I think I should be able to whip up another one or two pretty easily. I bought more fusible interfacing today just in case.

I still have more pictures to post from the quilt exhibit at the local quilt store. I better do it soon because she has a new exhibit starting now and there is a little party on Friday night that I hope to go to. 

Faded dye star and new machine set up

I found some dull-ish fabrics which look sort of faded so I used them for my Star in a Time Warp!! Up to date am I, save for a few older ones I'm still struggling with. I didn't want this to be too normal now that I'm into the wonky stars!!

The colors photographed much brighter then they really are. Trust me:  they look faded. 

My dh arrived yesterday so he helped me move a desk from our other house (which has been sitting in the garage) Into my sewing room to try it out. I decided I could have two machines at my disposal this way; switch off between the 1080 and the 301. It isn't a sewing table at all but might work out. When we sold our other house, most all the furniture went with it. This desk was one of our favorites so we kept it. There's not really any place else for it. 

What do you think?

And on the other wall is my old Bernina 932 in the sew eazy table along with the treadle, which I used yesterday when the power went out!!  I'm not sure I'll leave them like this but for now, I can play with 4 different machines and I like that. 

I'm still trying to figure out the cutting table situation. I'm using an old kitchen cutting island which is much too small but works for now. 

No design wall yet. That'll come. I'm sharing the room with Emma and her crib so I might wait on the design wall until she gets into a bed. 

She just turned 3 so I doubt it'll be long now. 

Here she is with her "purse" and her nightgown that she won't take off! Note the dead California grass! 

Great little quilt show

I've mentioned that my favorite quilt store in Bend (Quiltworks) has a monthly little quilt show. I met Lori there today and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that the quilt show they had for the month of August was a collection of small quilts that were made in honor of the California State Parks system.

Last year I saw a few of these quilts at PIQF but Marilyn had all of them on display. The challenge was for a Quilter to depict a particular California State Park in a quilt. There were parks I didn't know existed. Some of them were just spectacular and I took a lot of pictures. I hope you enjoy them.  I was really lucky to have gotten to the shop before the end of August!  Not to mention lucky that I was able to meet Lori too!

I think this is Emerald Bay near Lake Tahoe, which has the bluest water you can imagine! Hard to believe this is a quilt and not a photograph!

I think this is a park in Carmel, near where we live in California.

This is Donner State Park near Lake Tahoe. We took our kids camping there every year when they were young! The statute depicts the Donner  Party, which is quite a colorful story of survival in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter in the 1800s!

San Diego

Redwood trees up north.  This quilt was 3-D

I'll post the rest tomorrow. She also had a featured quilter's quilts and they were equally spectacular. I'll post them in the next day or so as well.

Turkey red day

Today is a first for me! I'm doing the Stars in a Time Warp on time!! I drove up to our cabin in Oregon a few days before my family so I have some sewing time! Woohoo!!

This week's block is using an older turkey red. I wouldn't know an older one from

a newer one, really, so I played around with what I have. Mind you, my stash here in Oregon is pretty limited. Here are two different versions, very different from each other. 

I'll call this normal. 

This one is the odd ball and I definitely like it better!  There was a sample on Barbara Brackman's blog that used different points so I decided to give it a try. I love this flag fabric, and cut up every piece out of this 5" square. 

Hope to get lots done! Will take a break and meet Lori (humblequilts.blogspot.com) for lunch tomorrow!  I tried to get her to come sew with me for a day but poor thing has too much going on these days.