Central Oregon Shop Hop!!!

...and boy were we hoppin'!!! Each shop was so inviting and there wasn't a one that didn't have a wonderful spread of nourishment to keep the energy up! It was like going to a class reunion where you run into so many people you recognize and know. "Quilter watching" and checking out what is being purchased...there was no way to not catch the "quilter's spending virus!"

So many raffles and Jean Wells out at the Stitchin' Post was even teaching a class during the shopping frenzy! Now that is an quilt professor with a cool head on her shoulders.

I even picked up a tip for any quilters out there still looking for lodging for the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show! Vaughn Dee Wells has a condo available for rent in Eagle Crest. Located on the canyon and if you wanted to play a round of golf...that is also available! It sleeps 6+ and for $1500 you can rent it from July 3rd-10th! Divided up between a group of quilters you will still have money left for shopping. You can get more information by contacting her at wells@bendbroadband.com
Hope to see you at the show!

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Quilt Show by Phyllis, Part Two

I know, I know, I was going to post the Shop Hop today and save Phyllis's quilt show for Saturday...but there was no way that was going to happen!!! I took over 140 photos of the Shop Hop and I am too pooped to go through and evaluate them...besides I have to be at work by 6:30 AM! I even missed the royal wedding!!! but I tried to DVR it, and hopefully will be able to watch it this weekend...after all, I am sure that I am related some how! My boss wouldn't give me the day off to stay up and watch the wedding...I feel sorry for my patients today...I am going to need several cups of coffee to get through this day! Can you tell how tired I am...my dad used to call it "diarrhea mouth"...he said, if I was ever kidnapped that the kidnappers would pay him to take me back because I was non-stop oral thought processor....oh well....at least you have a very awesome slide show of Phyllis's quilts which are truly spectacular! Enjoy!

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Phyllis of Sisters, Oregon Part One!

The quilters of Central Oregon are so lucky that Phyllis decided to retire in Sisters, Oregon. But, maybe we owe a big thank you to Frank, her husband. He was a former smoke chaser stationed in Camp Sherman in the late 1950's and always wanted to move back and call it home. So, one year he brought Phyllis on a vacation...during the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! Thank you Frank!

Phyllis is the type of quilter who can juggle several projects at the same time...and yet manages to actually finish them! After spending time viewing "her space" you understand the true nature of what drives her...Love. Love of family and friends which is expressed in the creative process of her quilt making. Most of her quilts are of a very personal nature...whether it be a few seeds from her father's garden, or a piece of her mother's dress. Her living room has become a place to create. Not only by herself but, with friends. I love the oak dining table she has in the middle of the room for friends to gather and stitch. Which brings us to the generosity of spirit she brings to quilting. She wants to share her ideas, patterns and tips with anyone who has the desire to learn. She has taught classes, given guild presentations, been the Featured Quilter at the 2002 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Featured artist at the 8th Annual Sisters Art Stroll and will continue to shine in the quilting world!

I know you will enjoy slide show #1 which includes a peek at Phyllis world and some of her favorite ideas both for organizing and decor. Saturday's post will be a real treat...her quilts!

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I Am One With The Wool!

I so look forward to my Woolie Tuesdays. The hand work allows lots of conversation and I am blessed that this group of Woolies is into recycling. They will scrounge wool where ever they can and then we split it up and share! There are regular visits to the thrift store and closet raids which provide some very nice vintage wool to go along with the wonderful colors that QuiltWorks has for sale. Life is busy at QuiltWorks getting ready for the Shop Hop! And, today was Marilyn's birthday...the owner of QuiltWorks!

This morning I drove out to Sisters to visit Phyllis who is an amazing quilter! I got some great tips, decorating ideas and a quilt show. I decided to divide the show into 2 slide shows, better to enjoy...I want to savor it like a fine wine or great piece of chocolate! So Thursday will be Part One which will include a peek at Phyllis's studio and tips. Then on Friday I will blog Part Two which will be a show of the many quilts she has made. So, lots to look forward too! Thursday I will be spending the day Shop Hopping and will share the damage...I mean purchases I made!

PS. HH won the battle with the prehistoric spider!

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Honey Do Day or rather Quilter Do Day!

I decided to make today a Quilter Do Day! I have lots and lots and lots of projects in various stages. Like there isn't a quilter alive who does not live the same life! And my schedule today is packed...so here is how it started and what I have planned for today...

0300 woke up

0315 fell back asleep

0430 woke up to a chirp on my phone...a Fabric Stalker sent me a text that she is still waiting for a flight out of Denver and has been in airports for 18 hours, starting in NYC. She is trying to make it back in time for ShopHop on Thursday. I told her to make a cardboard sign and start trying to get donations for her shophop! I cut out a binding.

0500 I hear HH in the shower, make coffee, check email

0530 have coffee, eat yogurt/banana...love that fruit is now zero points on WW

0600 empty dishwasher, fill dishwasher...boring huh...

0700 sew binding together and sew it to the quilt.

0730 pick up sewing room, make some choices for today...

0800 caught a tyrannosaurus of a spider for HH to get rid of when he gets home...now, I am awake!

After a shower the rest of the day will be spent checking out a sewing room in Sisters, Oregon and then at noon the Woolies meet and I am going to take my table runner that has the stapled pieces to share...and now you know why my head hits the pillow by 8:30 PM. It is going to get harder and harder as it staying light longer. Hope you are having a "Quilter Do Day!"

The 2011 Material Girl Challenge

I would have posted earlier but I wanted to post the 2011 Material Challenge Quilts from the competition this afternoon. Then when I got home I was so tired from the weekend I fell fast asleep for a 2 hour nap!!!! I am not a nap taker....but boy do I feel good now. We'll have to see if I can sleep tonight.

The weather today...well to put it mildly was schizophrenic. Right now the sun is shining, an hour ago it was snowing and before that it was pouring rain...ah, Spring in Central Oregon!

Back to the challenge. The rules were to use a piece of batik that was purchased at QuiltWorks last year and to make a quilt using 2 blocks named with the same letter as the makers name. My 2 letters were A&B so I pushed the rules a little and made an applique block and a Birds In The Air Block. Your quilt could be any size. The outcome was spectacular and in most cases it was hard to determine who the maker was. They were numbered and the voting began with the top four quilt sharing in a kitty of cash where each entrant paid $1. The ballots were tallied by 2 members who did not compete. There were 18 contestants and after all the ballots counted, the quilts explained we shared in a catered lunch by Tate and Tate...what a great Monday to be off work!!!

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It's A Wedding...oh, and Happy Easter!

Needless to say, I was exhausted when dropping into bed last night! It was a full day of input and none of it had to do with quilting...well that's not quite right. I spend over and hours at the Verizon store getting a Droid phone and one of the apps I had my older son download was a quilt calculator! I swear the process was almost as bad as buying a car. Because it took so long we just made it to the future wedding venue on time to meet the parents of the bride. They were lovely and we felt comfortable immediately.

The wedding will be at McMenamins Edgefield, 2012 http://www.mcmenamins.com/54-edgefield-home. The brides father is an artist in resident for McMenamins and the bride herself has worked at Edgefield in the past so there are lots of family memories intertwined with all of the McMenamins, especially Edgefield. It was a perfect day to take a tour since Portland had it's first 70 degree weather day. The grounds were starting to show their beauty and there was a wedding going on in one of the areas. The planning has taken on an early start since the bride was accepted to graduate school back east and will not be phsycially available for much of the decision making...but, in this day and age of high tech I am not sure that will be much of a problem.

We wrapped up the full day at McMenamins Blue Moon http://www.mcmenamins.com/319-blue-moon-tavern-grill-home with our sons, DIL, future DIL and grandson...our very favorite person! Before our heads hit the pillow we were both snoring....

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Disneyland for Quilters

Yesterday HH and I headed over the mountain with anticipation. We will be meeting the parents of the bride at the potential venue! Sundays blog is going to be all about the venue and the future couple. So, if you only want to hear about quilting...skip Sunday's blog! In the meantime have I got a treat for you! I have been evaluating my projects, all 1000 of them! I know I am being a little dramatic...then again, am I? Do I really need another thing? I have meditated, enjoyed happy hour and cried over the state of the list of things I want to make and if I should add another thing to that list. The bottom line is, I love quilting. I get excited over the people who quilt, the people who sell quilting supplies and every new fabric/pattern/notion that comes down the line.

Years ago when I lived south of Oregon there was a house in San Jose, California called the Winchester House. It was a bizarre house built by one of the heirs of the Winchester rifle family. She believed, if she stopped adding on to the house all the victims of the Winchester rifles would come to haunt her. Thus, the house had stairways to no where, doors that opened to solid walls and oddly added rooms. I totally get her! If I stop purchasing fabric or creating UFO's all the quilters who have passed before me will come to my sewing room to torment me! I swear it is true!

Also, I need to stop worrying! So what if I don't get it all done in my life time! One of my recent favorite projects was a UFO of a wonderful departed quilter friend and I know she loved iit and therefore I love it! But, I do need to be more decisive. So instead of visiting 3 quilt stores on my way to Portland I only stopped at one...the Disneyland for Quilters and specifically Woolies! Although the shop has all kinds of wonderful fabric, the slide show mostly is about Wool. Pioneer Quilts http://www.pioneerquiltshop.com/ will soon have a web store but in the mean time if you see something on this blog you are interested in, they do take phone orders!

Enjoy the slides and join me in adding more to your list...I am sure it is way to short!

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Office Max, The Best Quilt Supply Store In Town?!

The thing about being a quilter is you are always on the learning curve. You never reach the other side and get to say, "There is not a thing left for me to learn, I need to choose a new passion...this one is boring!" I am reminded of an old movie that my sons loved where this cute little robot keeps yelling, "Input, Input." I continue to purchase books, magazines and take classes because there is always something new on the horizon. And, it is not necessarily a difficult new technique. It could be something as simple as what Gayle of Sew Many Quilts shared during our last BOM meeting. She is a fuser like myself. We fuse our wool. But, over time on a big project which you have been twisting and turning to stitch or it might have been laying around long enough to look like it might turn into a UFO, some of the pieces start to lift. This was happening on one end of my table runner. I repressed the pieces but, once they start to lift it is hard to get them to stick again. Hence the new quilt tool...The Stapler! Gayle was at Market a few years back when one of the "big gurus" in the wool world told her after a conversation about losing a leaf off her project, to just staple it! It doesn't hurt the wool, there is nothing poking you from the back and when you have stitched the loose piece down you just take your nail or a little nail file and lift it off the back!

That is what I did as you will see in the next series of photos! The only thing is I hate the stapler I found in the house and am on the hunt for a cute one....

The BOM

Oh boy, after getting up at 4:00 AM and spending a full 10 hours at work the thought of my Green Pieces BOM was daunting. But the idea of missing our last group meeting and picking up some ideas...well I just couldn't miss it! I arrived a few minutes early and look who I ran into! The Rib King! Andy, Jane's (Fabric Stalker) DH. He is now known as the The Rib King because of the fabulous racks of ribs he cooked for the Fabric Stalkers to enjoy on our recent retreat. Just so you can be green with envy...Andy was at Sew Many Quilts to pick up Jane's sewing machine that was in for a tune up! Yeah...the guy is a quilter's dream husband.

The BOM meeting was relaxing and the best part is that I was assisted in picking out a new border for my Green Pieces BOM. I knew that I couldn't live with the border provided (not a big floral person). Gayle of Sew Many Quilts has been plugging along with us and we all agreed that this was a fun BOM to work on...or should I say, play on...

I woke up this morning to falling snow and a white landscape! What happened to April Showers bring May Flowers. For us it seems April Snow brings May Schizo. I am off to work but it will be a short day...cause you know what I have to do...work on the Material Girl Challenge, and challenge is the operative word!

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Anxiety Mode

When ever I am in anxiety mode I will find a way to do anything but address what I am anxious about (Material Girls Challenge). I find that if I distract myself sometimes the answer comes. In my college dorm they had 2 study carrels for each floor. A room as small as a closet with a built in desk 4 walls, no windows, nothing on the walls...didn't work for me. I need activity, distraction and then I would be on a 24 hour study marathon. I think that is what is happening in regards to the challenge. I have a piece of batik (yuck) which I need to incorporate into a quilt of any size, wall hanging to king. Completion date is Monday. It is Wednesday, I work today and Thursday and we are leaving Friday to meet the parents of the bride. SEEEWWWW, Tuesday was the day! Instead of hunkering down I took Enzo for a walk on the Upland Trail to the top of Awbrey Butte...can you tell?!

Then I decided to implement an organization tip I read about on the Internet. When we last moved a few years ago I culled my magazines but I still had a nice pile I kept dating back to 2003. These had projects in them that I would "some day" make. But, could I even remember the projects or which issue they were in??? And the magazines were taking up valuable space in my limited area. The tip was from Brenda who is Pumpkin Patch Primitives. I read a blog where she ripped out or saved patterns in a file. Tuesday morning while I was supposed to be working on my challenge I flipped through all the magazines, tore out the projects I wished I could make....put them together with the pattern insert needed (very important), placed them into a clear plastic sleeve and filed them under the appropriate category. I didn't want to keep the whole magazine with post-it notes as they took up space and for me if I filed them in a binder I would never see them again either.

This is the pile of magazines I started with.

This is the pile of patterns in sleeves I ended up with! More shelf space! My categories were Wool, Embroidery, Quilts, Table runners/wall hanging and Misc.

Nice clear file and lots of room for future patterns ripped from magazines or downloaded from the Internet.

I decided to keep this file on the top of my cutting table because for me "out of sight, out of mind" and then I will be encouraged to flip through it the next time I need a new project! Finally I started working on my Challenge Piece but I have a long way to go!

Tick Tock...Time Is Running Out!

I wanted to give you the heads up on a quilt show coming up! Marie, a Woolie follower sent an email about the Mid-Valley Quilt Guild's (Salem, Oregon) up coming show this weekend. http://www.midvalleyquiltguild.com/ Check it out! I am unable to attend because we are meeting the parents of the bride! and getting a peek at the wedding venue.

I decided to write a short tale about a sweet innocent quilter who has gotten herself into a pickle!

A long long, long, time ago, in an old historic building a decision was made to have a quilt challenge. Unbeknownst to the sweet innocent quilter, a plot was being hatched to create a challenge using Batiks! This poor sweet quilter was allergic to batik fabrics and wasn't going to participate in the challenge. But, alas the devious Queen bought her a piece of the challenge fabric for her birthday. It was the only batik she possessed because to touch a batik...gave her the creeps!

Time pasted, the sun and the moon doing their dance around her world when, the sweet quilter realized she had lost her challenge fabric! Mon dieu! "Oh well," she said, "I guess I can't take part in the challenge...the news spread like wild fire and she found several pieces had been left for her by her evil....as in EEEEVIL Material Girls!

Now, we are a week to the day from the unveiling of the Challenge Quilts and the poor sweet quilter has yet to start her piece...oh well I work best under pressure.

Enjoy the slide show but know that...they look like nice people who create beautiful quilts...but they are dangerous!

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Monday, Monday...how sweet you are....

Most of my life I have had the Sunday night dreads but now, every other Monday I know I am seeing my Material Girls! This month because of my weekend schedule I will see them today and next Monday. I didn't have the Monday's a comin' blues last night even though it was the end of my retreat. The sun is out, I didn't gain any weight at retreat (always a plus) and I get to see the Material Girls...but first Enzo is giving me the "stink eye" and needs a run in the park. So off we go to get our exercise! Hope your Monday is a sweet one!

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A Creative Quilt Storm, Day 3

Today was one of those day where I got up at 5:00 am, Robin had the coffee going and we started sewing. I was still in my PJ's until around 3:00 pm when I decided I needed a walk to stretch the legs and back out, finally taking a shower at 4:00 PM and putting my PJ's on again to continue my quilting marathon! Phew, it was a creative quilt storm for sure!

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Peek A Boo, I See A Fabric Stalker

It seems the last few quilt retreats have taken on a different tempo. No longer are we feverishly running a sweat shop with the machines running full speed ahead. No longer do we count our success by how much we get done...now, it seems we cherish the moments more, enjoy the process and take breaks for a dinner at Hola's, http://www.holabend.com/ Ahhhh, life is sweet when you are a Fabric Stalker.

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Customer Appreciation At The Stitchin Post!

I know, I am at retreat out in Sunriver...but, I had to come back into town to weigh in at Weight Watchers and that meant I was only 20 miles from the Stitchin Post that was having their customer appreciation event. And you know, life is tough these days and you just have to pick up your kudos where you can! I swung by the house picked up Enzo for a trip out to Sisters. He started gripping that if he had to go to Sisters we had to stop and buy him some goodies, which led to a side trip to PetSmart.

The Stitchin Post was decked out and they were having different items on sale each hour...but first, I dropped my notice card in the drawing box for a new sewing machine!!!! Then Jackie sold me on the new Snap set for attaching snaps to purses or anything else you want snaps on! It isn't one of those ugly snap setters but a pretty purple one. And you get to use a hammer. Sounds like a win/win, cute and lethal!

June Jaegar of Log Cabin Quiltworks http://www.logcabinquiltworks.com/was helping out and showed me her new patterns...oh man are they cute. I had to get one because it looked like something I could get done before I turn 80!

As I wander around I spotted Judy from Checker Distributors http://www.checkerdist.com/. I used to order from them when I had my long arm. She had a whole display of books and patterns. As she explained to me, every quilt store cannot order every pattern, book or notion out there but, and this is the exciting BUT...you can go onto Checker's site (they are a wholesale supplier only) look for whatever you want, then call you local quilt shop and see if they will order it for you! Sweet! So, I ordered 3 patterns and 2 wire adaptors for my little quilt hanger to change for the seasons which will be delivered to the Stitchin Post next week.

I had a wonderful little side trip diversion, saw lots of quilt girlfriends, walked out a satisfied customer (totally appreciated) talked with Jean, Val and June about a future trip out to check out their sewing digs...and am now ready to head back to Sunriver and get bring my little fat quarter surprises to my fabric stalkers!

Check out the slide show and if you see something you like you can hit the link for Stitchin Post on the left side of the blog and order it up!

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Fabric Stalkers...Back In The Saddle Again!

I didn't think it would come fast enough! Another retreat! The Fabric Stalkers plan about 3 retreats a year and although we had one this winter...it was a looooong winter and we are ready for another one! We started a couple of years ago renting a house in Sunriver which is only 10 miles south of town. It is a destination resort with about 1,000 permanent residents but in the height of vacation season will balloon to 10,000. There are tons of vacation rentals, several golf courses, miles of walking/biking trails, restaurants, fitness centers and swimming pools...as in several pools. Every so often there is one house where the renters rarely leave because they are feverishly quilting away! We are checking in today and staying till Sunday. This retreat there will only be 7 of us attending and, as with all groups the tempo changes by who shows up. I got up 3:30 AM...yes, that's right! because after work yesterday I was tooooo tired to figure out what I wanted to take with me to work on! My last 2 hours of work were in a class on how to use a new medication pump...my pump kept shorting out because I couldn't stop drooling and I have a bruise above my left eye where I fell asleep and bumped my head on it.

Tomorrow I am going to leave the retreat and travel to Sisters about 35-40 miles the opposite direction because it is Customer Appreciation Day and there is no way I am going to miss out on being appreciated!!! So I'll have some good shopping photos!

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Woolie Man

What a day! My "baby" comes into town to clean up business. He will be moving to Illinois since his fiance was accepted to graduated school there in June. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Enzo is now my youngest and I think he will be a "failure to launch" and will stay with us forever! And, that my son will be getting married and moving across the United States. I told him I didn't want him staying in no "dives" on the way east, that I was sure there were quilters across the US that would put up a really nice boy...no dice! This is his and his fiance's adventure and he is planning it with the meticulousness of an accountant.

So after a day of running here and there, dropping him off our car insurance (who would have thought I would feel sad about that!) We stopped by the Woolies. It was a special stop because 2 of the 3 Fairy Godmothers are Woolies! Along the span of time my son in his "little boy" days picked up 3 Fairy Godmothers. It has been an amazingly sweet gift for my son to know, that no matter where he was and what he was up to, he had Fairy Godmothers. I can't even remember how the name was given but, it has stuck and the delicate thread of relationship has meant so much to me and to him.

Here he is trying to fill the roll of a real live Woolie...but his question is, "Pineapples? and why?"

Fairy Godmothers, Joann and Marilyn...hummm I didn't realize how short they were????!!!!

I couldn't visit QuiltWorks without looking around and I discovered that Marilyn and the crew have been working on a new basket block of the month that will be available soon. With Easter coming fast this new wool pattern is the cutest!

Understanding Personality Disorders

Don't you just love the title of this blog! I spent all day yesterday in a class on this very subject. I have to earn a certain number of educational credits each year in order to be employed. I try to choose the most interesting subjects but, this class was drier than I had predicted. Thank the quilt gods I brought a hand project along with me! Me, with little patience (I wonder if that is classified as a personality disorder???) am perfectly happy in most boring situations as long as I have hand work! The subject matter is fascinating and I love people watching! But, alas our presenter woke up sick this morning and so wasn't firing with a full load, both in the personality category or in brain tracking. Do you get it? Mr. Buehler, Mr. Buehler...Mr. Ferris Buehler!

Anyhooo, I did get to enjoy the company of 5 of my co-workers. Some of who were also doing hand projects and some were falling asleep. I did spend a few seconds watching a lady 2 rows up on the other side floss her teeth (I wonder if that is a personality disorder??)

Obsessive compulsive Personality is not the same as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the OCP is being dropped from the psychiatric manual. So all those quilters out there who have waaaayyyyy too much fabric, several pairs of scissors, a boat load of rulers...you are no longer considered as having a psychiatric disorder! It is now considered a personality trait. Wheeeew, I am going to sleep better tonight!

While sitting through the lecture I was able to embroider the bottom row of flowers, the water can and part of the hat. The class was worth it!

...and at the end of the day...my "baby" came home for a visit. So many changes in store for all of us this year! He got engaged a couple of weeks ago to a wonderful woman and is embarking on a new adventure in his life...I will quilt, quilt, quilt to control the anxiety a mother feels. Should be a productive year!!!

Gateway to Linda's

Gateway is named for a natural depression in the terrain north of Madras, caused by erosion of Trout Creek and its tributaries. It is in effect a natural gate for the railroad and vehicular traffic north and south through central Oregon. It is also the home of Linda, who opened her home and quilt room for all of our viewing pleasure. Linda's family has extensive roots in the community of Gateway. As you drive through it's main street you see the entire town in one glance. Off to the right is an old mercantile which is no longer open but has her last named in faded paint on the side of the building. The directions I was given, drive down the hill into Gateway, hers is the last house on the right. Simple directions for the beautifully simple life out east in the high desert. As I pulled into her driveway a beautful male pheasant ran across the road. I had never seen a pheasant in the wild...a really special place.

Linda has been quilting since about 1995 but as I found out...quilting is not her only love. Following behind her love of her grandchildren (she has 6 of them ages 8 mo.-8 yrs), faith and home...she adds crocheting, knitting and cross stitching! No wonder she loves applique...I see lots of hand work in her life. She leans towards the traditional patterns and her stash is managable. She has a wonderful way of storing her quilts and I intend to implement it at my own home. That is one of the things about visiting other people homes...is getting ideas on how they accomplish what they do and how they control their quilting chaos! lol Enjoy the visit to Linda's....who knows where I will go next?!

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Quilters Attic Terrebonne, Oregon

A couple of days ago I was going to be spending the day traveling around Central Oregon and decided to include in my trip a stop at the Quilters Attic. I ended up with an extra weekday off work because this weekend is mine to work. I pass the Quilters Attic http://www.quiltersattic.net/ on my way to Portland all the time but, HH is usually on a "pedal to the metal trip" to visit his boys and, when we are returning on Sundays they are closed. Since I was heading to Redmond antiquing it seemed a no brainer to just drive the extra 15 mintues to Terrebonne and meet a friend for some quilt shopping. It was worth the time...especially if you like quilting and antiques! To keep our energy up we decided to have lunch at the Terrebonne Depot http://www.terrebonnedepot.com/ excellent, excellent lunch!

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