June mini? Or is it July's?

I have honestly lost track of whether I finished my June mini or not... how sad, right??

This is what I recently finished.  It'll cover BOTH June and July!! And I think I get a gold star for completing a top that has been sitting for at least 3, maybe 4 years!  AND, not only that, but I used up ALL the leftover fabric in making the second top!!  Can I hear a WOOHOO??!!!

This first top was more work than I anticipated.  The main reason was that at the time I started it, I didn't have my design wall up yet in the cabin and I was trying to work on it with a very small "design wall" I made, that was maybe 15x24"... I had half the top on the floor!  Didn't work very well.  This definitely requires that you see the whole thing at one in order to line up the pieces correctly.  I don't think I made any mistakes...



And then I decided that I really didn't want any scraps from this project nor did I want to add to my stash by putting any of the fabrics back into "storage" so I cut all the rest of the fabric into 2-1/2" strips and made something called a Jelly Roll quilt.  Very complicated, right?  HEEHEE


Now I just need to run it over to the LQS (which just happens to be having a 40% sale) to find a border.  DONE... June and July minis are done (well, they need quilting but that's another story)... What do ya think, Wendy Reed???  Do I get a ribbon or what???  vbg

I've also been keeping up with the Moda Blockheads II in red/white/blue.  This is the latest block:  Note that my points are not meeting exactly, which honestly doesn't bother me, because once it's in the quilt, you'll never notice.



I've also been doing most of the Splendid Sampler blocks (except for the applique ones, which I just didn't have the time for when we had the kids at the cabin).  Doing the same red/white/blue so I can combine all the blocks into one project.


I like the construction of this star because there aren't really points to match.  My stripes almost match. VBG

I have more projects to show you but will save them for later in the week!

More Sisters quilts from the show

I'm going to share some more pictures of quilts I really liked.  It's so funny because my friend Lori (Humble Quilts) posted pictures of quilts at the show, many of which I NEVER saw!!  That tells you how large of a show it is!  Definitely it's an experience I highly recommend!


I didn't love this quilt but I liked the construction of the blocks and the layout.


When I saw this one, I thought of Kevin H and thought it'd be a great Quilt of Valor quilt.  I also love the variety of stars on the top and bottom!



As I recall, this quilter wanted to put her town onto a quilt.  That's my friend Claire in front admiring this FUN quilt.


Not sure you can tell but this is the BACK of a pretty modern quilt.  I thought the back was super interesting.  LARGE flying geese!

Front of the same quilt. Here's a close up.  Notice the quilting  of flying geese in the orange/yellows... The purples are TINY pieced flying geese!


Lest you think I've crossed over to the dark side (Modern quilters), don't worry. VBG


I actually bought a quilt at the show.  First time buying one from the show... will probably be the last as their system for checking out was pretty archaic and very very slow... But this one spoke to me and was not expensive.  




This next one was a mystery class taught by Lawry Thorn, one of my favorite teachers in Sisters.



Super cute fabrics... love the background.  And, of course, the Moda Grunge large polka dots are my favorite these days!  I have them in many colors!









There were a lot of quilts using Laura Heine's patterns, which are just adorable.  I thought this was too cute.  Another one of those that I admire but know that I'll never make.


I did get some sewing done during that week, after the kids left and when Claire was here at the cabin with me.  I'll show those to you next.  Don't want to overwhelm you.

We drive back to California tomorrow to babysit this weekend.  Monday I will get to pick up the little Eli from day care, now that his mom has started working.  I'm looking forward to seeing the kids but my dh and I are always sad to leave the cabin.  Good news is we'll be back in a couple of weeks, with the kids for their vacation.

Sisters Quilt Show

Every year, second Saturday of July, is the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It's just such a spectacle and great tradition.  I've been going for years with friends and each year I still  love it.  It is primarily sponsored by the Stitchin Post, which is a large store in the town of Sisters (which is a charming little western town about 20 miles west of Bend with a population now up to 2,000!).  This is their employee challenge which is always hung on their outside wall.



Here is a look at the store and street from the front.  The main street is closed to cars and the town goes all out in decorating!  There are baskets of flowers at every corner and every sidewalk seems to have flowers:


It's been very warm this week in Central Oregon so we started very early and drank lots of water.  We were completely wilted by lunch time!
Here are some of my favorite quilts!  I will say that we noticed a big jump in the number of modern quilts vs traditional.










These little pieces of this postage stamp quilt appear to be 1" finished and were just perfectly pieced.  I thought the setting was really interesting.  The tag said all the fabrics were Jo Morton's fabric lines.




This was in the teacher's tent (a special section of the show where the teachers from the week's classes hang their samples for the classes they were teaching) and was made by Kathy Doughty, from Australia.  We happened to meet her while admiring a different quilt, which contained her fabric and she told us all about that!

Cherrywood Fabrics has been doing a challenge each year and showing the entries throughout the country.  This year's challenge was "Van Gogh" and quilters submitted their interpretations of that.  The setting was super crowded so I wasn't able to get any good pictures (or see very many of the quilts, either) but I did snap one picture:


There are many more pictures to share.  My dh and I are going for a bike ride before it heats up today.  Claire left early this morning so the cabin is once again eerily quiet!

Mini retreat

It's the week before the quilt show in Sisters and it's when we usually have a group sewing away at the cabin.  This year, it's just Claire and I as my other friends had conflicts.

I didn't get much sewing during the week when we had the grandkids but once they left, it's been pedal to the metal, sort of!

I did catch up with the Moda Blockheads II.  The first block is a whopping 24"!!



I had fun fussy cutting the stripes and the center from a fabric I found in Bend this week.



I have also been working on the Primitive Gatherings Freebie from last summer.  It requires the tiniest quarter square triangles that finish at 1-1/2"!  In hindsight, I realized I probably could've just done half square triangles... a little less work.  Now I need to finish the last couple of trees before I can attach all the rows together and start working on the border appliqué.


I really do enjoy wool appliqué.  I love that I don't have to turn the edges under and I enjoy doing buttonhole stitching with fun threads which I generally like to show!

Earlier this week I went with a friend to the Tour of Homes held here in Bend and saw this fabulous tile floor in a guest bathroom.  Loved it!


And one home had this fabulous piece (all the homes are staged so the furnishings are always so unusual!).  This one is a basket wrapped in newspapers!


And at one house, in a kid's room, they had fabulous framed pictures with various sayings.  I loved this one:


Quilt show is tomorrow!! WOOHOO!

A little diversion--

My husband took the kids back to California yesterday;  my son left Friday so I had a day to myself!  Of course the cabin is so empty!

What to do?  The weather in Central Oregon has been beautiful... not too hot, definitely not humid (my lips are ultra-chapped, it's so dry)... so I met a friend for a hike off a gorgeous area closed in the winter, because the altitude is so high.

I thought the hike was 6 miles.  BOY was I wrong... it was 9+ and the first half was mostly UP HILL!!  And I picked it!! @#$@#$

The scenery was spectacular and I'm sharing some of the pictures, just so you can see what this area is like.

This was the scene as I drove up to the meeting point/trail head:

The Cascade Mountains are truly magical.  They were formed from volcanos many years ago!  The three mountains to the left are called Three Sisters.  The mountain to the right is Broken Top.  The hike took us right in between the two mountains, South Sister (the tallest of the Three Sisters) and Broken Top.  We hiked past very loud and clear creeks and water falls, all from snow runoff!  The hike went through pine trees to get to the clearing for Green Lake.  
We did have to cross several creeks by jumping over some small rocks and I will admit that I FELL IN a couple of times!  Fortunately it was so warm that my shorts dried quickly and I didn't really mind the wet socks!  I must have gotten better because I didn't fall on the way back!






We found a place to sit, rest up and put our feet in the water.  Just next to me were such gorgeous wildflowers.  I had to take a picture.


Facts:  the Green Lake sits about 6500 ft up (we started at 5200!).  The South Sister (the mountain just above, towering over the lake) is a little over 10,000 ft.  In winter, the road to these trails closes because there's just too much snow.  I was told that the trail we were on was under 10' of snow!  We did pass a few patches of snow, but not many.

It was a great day, although I'm exhausted and can't seem to quench my thirst, no matter how much water I have been drinking.  And I drank throughout the hike!

On a quilty note, I did finish the backing for the Triangle Gatherings quilt and hope to deliver it to my LAQ friend this week.  It's sure huge.

My friend Claire is coming up this week for our annual sewing retreat so I'm hoping to get lots of sewing done.  This year it's a small group because of friends' travel and work schedules.  Quilt show in Sisters is Saturday (and sadly the forecast is for a very hot 90* day!!).

Triangle Gatherings quilt DONE!!

I've been working on putting together my Triangle Gatherings blocks into the quilt setting I ultimately decided on.  WHEW!!!  It used up about 75 of the blocks, leaving about another 25 still!  That's for another day.

It turned out to be just about king size so that'll fit my king bed!  I had to lay it on the floor in order to get a picture of the majority of the quilt!



I used different fabrics for the setting triangles and then the borders are all different as well.  I also decided to use smaller half square triangles for the corners (I used leftovers from the blocks, but cut them down a little to fit).

I also found the most adorable Tula Pink animal fabrics for a couple of the borders.








Now to tackle the backing!!  Then off to the quilter!

Happy Fourth of July

I can't say that I'm very good at decorating for holidays.  However, I do have a favorite quilt that shows my patriotic colors!





I made this about 4 yrs ago with a group of friends.  We each contributed some large red/white squares and blue/white strips to sew our own blocks.  I think the original quilt was called the Convent Quilt.  We saw it as a kit at a quilt store but I didn't buy it.  I was sorry for a long time until my friends came up with the idea to make our own kits and divide them up.  

It is one of my favorite quilts...maybe the simplicity makes it so appealing.  Not sure.

Hope you have a great holiday!