Snowy Travels

We recently did a show in Spokane, WA. We drove from there to Gardnerville, NV. As we were driving though Northern OR we encountered our first snowfall for this Fall/Winter season. We actually had a bit of everything - sun, rain, sleet, hail and snow. I feel like the postman - "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds".  It seems like it started a little early. Maybe it is going to be a wet winter. There are definitely a lot of areas that can use it.

We stopped in Lakeview, OR for the night. There was snow on the ground and it was about 28 degrees. When we woke up in the morning, there was about 2" of snow on the ground. Alan had to scrape the windshield and windows. I was in the hotel loading up the luggage cart so I missed that fun.

Sunrise at Goose Lake on the Oregon and California Border

This picture was taken about an hour after we left. It was slow going for a lot of the drive. The road was quite icy and slippery at times.

This is just outside of Alturas, CA. When we left there was far more snow on the hood of the truck.

This area is very rural with lots of farms. We saw barns overflowing with hay. I want to do a series of Barn Quilts. You can see some of the pictures that are the inspiration for that on my Ideas for Future Quilts Board on my Pinterest page. We passed several barns with snow covered roofs which opened up another set of options when I start designing the quilt. Here are a couple of them. There were no cars behind us so I asked Alan to stop so I could get fairly decent pictures.

Now all I have to do is find the time to turn my idea into a quilt or quilts. Someday :)

Carol

Jenny's Stockings

We met Jenny Hope at the Ridge Quilters' Guild Quilt Show in Paradise, CA. She stopped by the booth and told us about the stockings she made, her way. We asked her to bring them so show us. So Sunday morning she brought Show and Tell.

Jenny made these as wedding gifts for her sister's grandson and his wife. She used the Heartfelt Angel pattern for the new bride. She stitched out the designs and then colored them in with crayon.

His and Hers Stockings

The only guideline was that he wanted fur inside. He likes cars so if you look closely you'll see Matchbox Cars down the side of his stocking. A soft furry animal print is the lining and trim on his. What could be softer than a stocking lined with Minkee for his wife's? Jenny added pink pompoms and some crystals to hers too.

Rather than just a solid back on them, Jenny used pieced star blocks. What a great idea!

Stocking Backs

I love that Jenny took these designs, changed them up and made them unique. I'm sure that the lucky recipients will love them for many Christmases to come.

Happy Stitching,

Carol

Columbia River Barge

We never know what we're going to see in our travels. On Tuesday we drove through Oregon on our way to Spokane. Or travels took us along the Columbia River. We saw this barge traveling up the river.

It's a little blurring because I had to take the picture through the windshield on the driver's side of the car while we were moving. You can see the windmills in the background. There were miles and miles of these along the route. We drive past these all the time but some of the ones we saw today were the biggest we'd ever seen. You can see why they are there though. If you look at the water you'll see white caps on the river. The wind was really gusting. So I'm sure these generate a significant amount of energy.

PIQF Traditional Quilts

There were so many gorgeous quilts at this show. While many shows seem to be leaning toward art-type quilts, there were many traditional quilts on display. The piecing and quilting on some of them was extraordinary. This post features what I consider Traditional quilts.

This one is a Log Cabin quilt. I love how the dark blue blue logs accentuate the blocks. But even more I like the illusion of curves. There is a quilt in the From Marti Michell Log Cabin ABCs Book that has that same illusion.

Here is a beautiful pink floral wreath applique quilt. I really like the colors used in the flowers. The lime green  accents add some sparkle. The quilting compliments the design nicely.

These on point star blocks take something relatively simple and turn them into something so much more. I think the striped fabric used around each block and in that small inner border adds a lot of interest to the quilt. The quilting between the block form quilted sashing  and cornerstones adding another design element.

While the shape of this quilt may make you think art quilt, the piecing of it says traditional.

The center of this quilt reminds me of something you would see looking through a kaleidoscope. I really like the striped border and especially the mitered corners. So many times a border like this is done log cabin style but in this case the mitered border really adds to the quilt.

These stars really caught my eye.

When I looked closer, the quilting in the pastel colored stars made me take a second and third look at the quilt. Again, the quilting really complimented the quilt nicely.

Close Up of Quilting

Here's another eye catching quilt. I love the colors in this one. You have to appreciate all those perfect points.

Talk about precision piecing; this quilt was incredible! You can get an idea of the size because I have the award winning ribbon in the picture.

 At first I thought it was a single fabric for the center and the points. But on closer observation, those are individual, tiny diamonds. The workmanship was absolutely amazing!

Close Up of Piecing and Quilting

These are only a sampling of the quilts on display.Watch for future posts of other quilts from the show.

Pacific International Quilt Festival 2012

We returned to Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) last week.

Thursday seemed to be the busiest day of the show. At least the crowd waiting to get in was biggest that day. I had one of the people at the entrance, who is much taller than I am, take a picture of the crowd waiting for the doors to open.

Crowd on Thursday Morning

This year the Mayor Jamie L Matthews of Santa Clara declared Thursday, October 11, 2012 as Quilt Day in Santa Clara and the whole week as Quilt Week, complete with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to open the show.

Portland to Tucson Adventure Part 3

Set up for the Tucson Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival was on Wednesday. We always get to the venue early so Alan can get a prime unloading spot. Then we visit with our friends or I sit in the truck and work. If we're close, like this time, I will often try to get some work done before set up. Since set up wasn't until noon, I decided to stay at the hotel and do the laundry and take care of some things I couldn't do during our three days in the truck.

After he'd been gone for an hour or so Alan called and prepared me for more vehicle related bad news. One of the truck tires had a bubble in it. No one in Tucson had a tire. So he found someone who would get one and it would be ready to put on the following day.

Throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday, Chris from Bulldog Emergency Repair kept in touch with us. It was going to take a few days so we just decided to stay at the hotel for the weekend, rather than drive all the way to Blythe on Friday or Saturday to just turn around and go back there again on Sunday.

Over the course of the day on Wednesday and Thursday we learned that one of our fellow vendors had their truck stolen a couple weeks before. Fortunately they were doing a class for a guild and all of their product was with them. But still, that isn't good any way you look at it. Another vendor had to leave their vehicle and rent another one because their transmission broke.

We left at about 7:30 on Sunday morning, heading to Southern CA for the Pomona Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival. We stopped at Zip Travel Center this time.

I got my chocolate chunk cookie. These cookies are made by Prairie City. I like to put it on the dashboard so it gets warm and the chocolate is gooey. It tastes like it just came out of the oven. Yummy!

We got to Blythe and picked up the trailer. Chris from Bulldog Emergency Repair was very thorough and helpful throughout this whole ordeal. We are very grateful for all he did for us!

Bulldog Emergency Repair in Blythe, CA

We arrived at our home in Southern CA at about 3:30 on Sunday afternoon. I am always glad to be home but this time it was such a relief after so many little mishaps. Here we are parked safe and sound.

I always say a little prayer at the beginning and end of every day when we're on the road asking for and giving thanks for a safe journey. While this has been more of an adventure than I'd like, things could have been so much worse. No one was hurt. We weren't in an accident. Nothing caught on fire as a result of all that smoking. This was all just things, and money going out, but those aren't the important things in life. We have been on the road doing shows for 8 years and this is the first really major issue we've ever had. I feel very lucky and blessed to be able to say that. 

The End