Very little to show

How does more than a week slip by with so little time spent stitching? It is never my plan, but we all know what happens with even the best laid plans!

I have completed most of the ditch stitching on my version of the Primitive Gatherings 10th Anniversary SAL from a year ago (was it just a year?).
Mine ended sooner than most. I realized it would be too large to hang in any of the spots I have to hang quilts if I added all of the rows. 
I'm still formulating the quilting designs, but it is coming together in my mind.

Finished up my project from the class with Stacy of Buttermilk Basin.

 Not sure what I am going to do with it, but it was a fun project to make.

 This little pile of scraps is all that remains of a small bundle I received recently from another blogger. A swap is in the offing. Mine is pieced and now needs to be basted for quilting and binding. All will be revealed soon.
In the meantime, have you ever studied the fibers of your fabric up close and personal?

That is as much of it as I will share for now. : )

 When I take down holiday decor my dining room table is the staging area. I gather everything from around the house and then start packing it all away. As I was doing so I remembered that I had posted a photo at this time last year as the red/white/blue all came down. It seemed to me that there was so much more this year--and I was right.

2015

2016

I did kind of get carried away there in the red/white/blue fabrics for a time, didn't I?
 
I guess that is all for now. Maybe next time I will have made some amazing progress on a project or two, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you!

Until next time, 
Janet O.
 

Stitchin' with Stacy at My Girlfriend's

Had a great time on Monday of this week in class with Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin. I had a couple of days with her back in January of 2015, which you can read about here. It was very fun to  spend another day with this amazing designer.
These are the classroom samples of the project we made.

The one on the left was made by a store employee and the one on the right is Stacy's sample.

Look at some of the wonderful things she has designed recently--these were newly introduced at Quilt Market this past Spring. (You can click on photos to enlarge them.)

This all went down at My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe in Logan, UT. We met in what they affectionately call "The Attic", but it really is a wonderful class space on the upper level of the building. Here is shop owner Kris Thurgood introducing Stacy. (Or is this Stacy introducing Kris?)

As Kris told us would happen, she quickly became everyone's BFF.

 And she held our attention as she demonstrated her techniques for working with wool.

Once we got going, we worked at our own speed and Stacy would move from table to table demonstrating the next steps, answering questions, and keeping us laughing.

Stacy's gift for designing is something she feels compelled to share, and we reap the rewards.
She is as genuine and real as they come.




After a few hours of "hard work", we moved to the bottom level of this 3 level shop and were treated to a catered lunch.

 Then it was back to work. Boy, they are such slave drivers here! : )

In the evening there was a trunk show, where we were treated to more of Stacy's stories, and the stories behind many of her designs. I will only show a handful of my favorites up close.

There was a sweet story of how this one came to be.

Though I don't do much embroidery, this one caught my attention.

Loved this, but have no place in my home to hang something this size.

This was very fun.

 
































Of course, we finished up with time to shop--and shop we did! 

 
I wasn't going to buy kits--I have so much wool at home, but these two small holiday kits leapt into my arms. Funny how they do that.









I made good progress on our class project. Everything here is fused and stitched down. Still needs berries on the wreath, the black background, the "Joy" banner, and the backing.









This fun pincushion went home with Stacy, a gift from the shop--in honor of her vintage truck series of patterns.

Shop owner, Kris, and her cute daughter, were among the many people that pulled this off. The employees worked tirelessly to see that our needs were met--from having all of the supplies and tools we needed, to making sure there was an endless supply of snacks.  I've said it before--they really know how to throw a party.

My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe has events at least once a month. Meg Hawkey of Crab-apple Hill is coming in September. You can find out more here, if you are interested. There were women from at least four western states in the class I attended.

My vintage truck is almost completed. Still needs the banner, backing, and stitching around the edge.

Shouldn't take too long to finish this up--that is one of the things I love about wool projects.
Until next time, 
Janet O.

From My Mother's Scraps--Part One

As I put the last stitches in the binding of this basket quilt I began to wonder just how many projects I have made using the scraps from my Mother's quilts. This creation was a product of the scraps from...

...this quilt my Mom made. (Sorry about the quality of the photos of my Mom's quilts. Most of them are photos of photos.)

She always gives me random pieces of leftover fabrics, but sometimes there are orphan parts leftover from making the quilt, too. There were lots of "bonus" triangles with the scraps she gave me from this, so I sewed them together and created the basket quilt above.

I've had a few inquiries about this basket-within-a-basket block. The basket pattern can be found free on the APQ website here. I reduced my block size to accommodate the size of scraps I had.

I had one basket block leftover and I made this little quilt with it. This was hand quilted and then it was gifted.
My memory isn't serving me well on this and I'm not sure who received this quilt. I should keep records. I know to whom I have given things, but I can't always recall what went where (pathetic, I know). If this is in your possession would you let me know?

Mom made this Kim Diehl pattern to hang above their sofa. Can you see the close hand quilted lines in the border?

I made this table topper with the leftover 9-patches and scraps. It sits on the dining table that is near the sofa where Mom's quilt hangs.
Can you see the machine quilted feathers in the border? To each his (or her) own!
The colors in these two quilts really do match, it is just the lighting differences from picture to picture that make them appear not to be the same.





Another 9-patch quilt by Mom. I love how the 9-patch blocks are appliqued in the border as flowers on a vine.

 

Mom gave me a stack of little leftover 9-patch blocks from this one and I made this little quilt. I just finished this earlier this year.








Mom's last quilt (made last year--2015). You may remember seeing it, since I posted this picture when she completed it.

 

She had 2 flower blocks completed in her scraps, and lots of trimmings from her piano key border, but only 8 or 10 HST units from the sashing.  From those leftovers I made these two little quiltlets for my two daughters--pieces of their grandma's last quilt. In homage to Mom's feeling that it isn't a quilt unless it is hand quilted, I hand quilted both of them using the same motifs Mom had used on her quilt. I have enough pieces to make one for me, as well, when I get around to it. 

Just in case you are wondering, Mom does still love me, even though I machine quilt most of my creations now.     

If you have followed me for a while, you may have seen this batch of Pineapple ornaments I made for my Mom's birthday in 2013. This shows them displayed on her piano music holder.

When she would give me scraps from a quilt, I would keep them together so that each quilt's scraps are separate from each other. So I made a pineapple ornament from each of the scrap bags I have of her leftovers. In looking at each ornament, she can tell which quilt it represents.   

 

I took them to her on a tiny Christmas tree covered with a drape. She had to close her eyes while I uncovered it and then I let her open them. I loved her reaction.

When a niece of mine, that was especially close to my Mom, got married a couple of years ago, I made her these ornaments from some of Mom's leftovers, for a shower gift.

That is all of the finished projects I have from Mom's scraps. There are 3 or 4 other WIP that I will save for another post.

Until next time,
Janet O.

P.S.--I get to spend today in a wool class taught by Stacy West (Buttermilk Basin), and then a trunk show tonight. I am looking forward to the fun!

                      

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Last word you had was that we had been stranded after setting off for Oregon and had ended up coming back home in a tow truck.
The next day we learned it would be a long repair job on our van (still isn't done), so we rented a vehicle and headed to Oregon again that afternoon.
Spent lots of time in the car working on this.

 

Stars in the Garden

One of our first stops was in Bend, where I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Randy (Barrister's Block blog) for lunch. We talked and laughed and felt like we had always been friends.

Randy is a very caring, kind woman--and lots of fun!

Three Sisters in the background

The Dee Wright Observatory

We couldn't resist stopping to climb this.

Our objective was to get to Eugene to spend time with this little gal--and her parents, of course.










We also took a couple of hikes to LOTS of these.

Upper Proxy Falls

On the Sweet Creek Trail--one of many Falls

At the beach below the Heceta Lighthouse

We spent a few hours at the coast...

Heceta Head Lighthouse

...and visited this.

Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store, Restaurant and Bakery

On the way home we stopped off here to stock up on gluten free grains and have lunch in the restaurant.

Mt. Hood in the background

And we stretched our legs here.









When opportunities presented themselves, I stopped in at quilt shops and accumulated this.

Four shops in all--Quiltworks in Bend, The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Piece by Piece in Eugene, and The Gathering Place in Rupert, ID.

We arrived home Friday afternoon, and after unpacking and settling in, I finished the quilting on the little corner basket blocks and got the binding stitched on while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies .

Now it is ready for some hand stitching to get the back of the binding sewn down. This will be small quilt finish #41 for this year!!

Had a wonderful time in Oregon--looking forward to future visits. But it is also "good to be back home again" (I feel like launching into a John Denver song here).
Until next time,
Janet O.