Stitching Hands Studio

The Santa Line Up

Tonya asked for a picture of all of Chloe's Santas together.  Here they are from left to right, 2007 to 2011.  I love them all!

Better Late than Never

Chloe finally got her high school graduation quilt just before she left to go back to college.  This is a liberated quilt, but with some structure. She picked out all the fabrics and found a quilt online to inspire me.  She liked the perfectly square squares, no wonkiness here!  I did check that she was okay with little inserts to add some interest.  I really like how it came out. 

I was running out of fabric and ended up piecing the back.  I had this one quilted by a local long arm quilter, Kim McCray, so I had to add a lot of muslin to the edges of the backing to make it big enough for the machine.  She quilted it with a circular spiral pattern, a very nice counterbalance to the squares.

I think she likes it!

This quilt matches her dorm room bedding (come to think of it, her at home bedding too).  She took it back to school to keep her warm on winter days.  Whew!  Another must do quilt is done!  I have one more baby quilt and then will get back to some other projects.  How's your New Year going so far?

A Handmade Christmas:: 2

My second handmade gift was this adorable owl from Chloe.  I can see that she had a fun time digging around in my scrap bin!  He's so cute, just my sort of gift.  One more coming up next!

A Handmade Christmas:: 1

Introducing my 2011 Hand Carved Santa, specially made by Chloe.  I've gotten one of these every year for 5 years now and it's another treasure.  He's very small- about 2.5 inches tall, but oh so sweet!  The details are marvelous.

There weren't as many hand made gifts this year, but there are a few, so I will post them this week.  Hope you are having a relaxing in between week.  I love this time of year.  It's so nice to have time to take stock and make plans for the new year.

Here Comes Santa Claus

Saturday was parade day here and you know how I love a parade!  It all started with brunch here at the house. Homemade cinnamon rolls, two kinds of egg dishes, hot spiced cider and fruit~yum!

Our spot to watch the parade was just down the road a bit.  It was chilly, but the sun warmed our backs and it was a spectacularly beautiful day.

Once again we had all sorts of adorable four footed creatures.

We had friends and family to share the day with.

We had lots of clever displays, including this little smart car/vacuum!

Santa's sleigh was filled with all  the goodies a Central Oregonian could need- mountain bike, kayak and paddle board.

The Polar Express float was just about my favorite.  Very clever!

Any beer drinkers among you might enjoy the CyclePub which is seen regularly on the streets of downtown.

Of course there were llamas!  I wouldn't skip the llamas.  Love these guys!

This is my favorite photo of the bunch.  Just look at that little tongue sticking out.  I think this dog did that the whole way along.

The Wells Fargo wagon is a comin' down the street.  

Finally, Santa came!  What a great parade and a perfect day. I'm looking forward to this week.  I have a studio that needs a thorough clean up and then I can get back to work on some old projects and some new ideas. I always look forward to that!

A parade for my birthday!

I love parades, no doubt about it.  This year the Sisters Christmas parade was on my birthday, so off we went to this adorable little town for it's short and sweet parade. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This girl seems to be always plugged in these days!

There are lots and lots of animals in this one and nary a marching band.  I do love to see all the variety of beasts though.  Llamas, dogs,

Ryan and Scrabble,

miniature donkeys, 

beautiful horses,

greyhounds,

the occasional beautiful vintage truck.

newfies,

and the big man himself!  Santa came into town in style.

After the parade, this is my favorite place to step in for a coffee.  They really do it up for Christmas!

I had a marvelous time doing my part for Small Business Saturday.  I found some interesting rustic fabric at the Stitchin' Post that I can't wait to try and some beautiful vintage buttons at the antique shops.  Later, we had a delicious dinner, presents and gingerbread cake at my parents' house.  My mom also really knows how to decorate for the holidays, so those photos will show up here soon.  The owl portrait is a gift from my sister!

It was a very good day.   Thanks for all the nice birthday wishes.  Happy Sunday to you!

PS: Don't forget to comment on the previous post to enter the contest for one of my handmade ornaments.

PPS:  All the photos here were made with my iPhone!  I had no idea this little gem would be so much fun to take photos with.  I got a phone, computer and pocket camera all in one.  Thanks Mark!

Over the river and through the woods to Portland we will go

Friday was our first big storm of the winter and of course, the day I was heading over the pass to get Chloe for her Thanksgiving break.  The drive over the pass was super slow, but beautiful.  We spent the weekend in Portland before heading home.  It was so nice to spend some one on one time with this grown up girl.

Portland was in fine form, with some real sun and cold temperatures.  We did tons of shopping, walking and eating.

Portland is well known for it's food carts which pop in places all over the city.  We found one that was new to us and had some real gourmet waffles.

We saw this totally cool Kodachrome window in the Anthropologie store.  

Saturday night we went to an amazing production of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol.  The writing, acting and set were so well done.  I would love to see more plays at the Artists Repertory Theater.  Now we have a whole week off to bake, make stuff and hang out.  Bliss!

A November Habit

I"ve been contributing to the habit group at Flickr.  Only a couple of mine have been published on the habit blog, but it's been an interesting exercise nonetheless.  A daily photo and just a few words. I may continue beyond November...  

Walking in late October

It's been glorious this week despite some really cold nights.  I've been walking around the neighborhood and can't seem to leave the house without a camera.  Today, Ryan and I went with some friends on a Bend Haunts walking tour of downtown.  Come along with me!  Above, our house decked out for Halloween (pun intended).  Actually, it's pretty light on Halloween, but I thought it would be nice to show where we started.

Around the corner is this lovely house, just dripping with fall leaves.

Shortly you come to the Newport Bridge, our gateway to downtown.

The tour started at the old Reid School, the first school in Bend.  This historical building is now home to the Deschutes County Historical Society and museum.

Our tour guide told us many stories about local sites that have had murders, suicides and ghost tales.  It would have been spookier at the later (night-time) tours, but then I wouldn't have these great photos, so just pretend it's dark and spooky.

McMenamin's Old St. Francis School has been remodeled and now sports a pub, hotel, theater and fabulous soaking pool.  On a side note, I was watching old episodes of Oregon Art Beat online yesterday and found this great story about the artwork at the McMenamin's locations.

There are stories about ghosts and hauntings here.  A couple staying at The Nunnery house (above) found the morning after they arrived, a photo of themselves sleeping, on their cell phone- creepy!   They didn't stay another night.  I wouldn't have either!

I just love the style here!

The old Bend Firehall has held restaurants for many years, but there are ghost tales here too.

Across the street is Hospital Hill (now hotel hill).  

Yesterday's walk took me past some leaf piles

and the footbridge

to Baked, an afternoon bakery that had a lovely pumpkin display to keep Scrabble company while I was picking out my delicious fresh baked bread.

Hope you have a wonderful Halloween weekend!  I'll be back with more spooky stuff soon.

Tea continues and a bit of early Autumn

Tea is No Minor Beverage continues, with lots of added stitching.  

I didn't notice until I took these photos, that my stitching has echoes of the pattern in the saucer.  It's funny how the mind works.

Meanwhile, early autumn in Bend has been glorious this week! It's been just lovely during the day and I can hardly wait to get out for a walk. Yesterday Ryan and I took Scrabble for a walk to the library and stopped for a few photos along the way.