Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Hello!  I have been working hard for the past couple of days to update the blog.  If you are reading this in a blog reader, the details may not be apparent.  To get the full effect, please go to the blog itself.  I have changed around and updated the items in the header and sidebars and added those cute little social media icons on the right.  Don't know how I missed using them before!  

I also updated the Workshops page and made a new Tutorials & Ideas list in the right sidebar.  One thing that took a fair amount of time was to go through every single old post and add the category "solids" to the relevant ones.  It turns out I have lots of posts featuring solid fabrics.  Since they are a big deal for me this year, I thought it was an interesting exercise.  I added that list to the Tutorials & Ideas page under "A Passion for Solids".  If you are wondering why I am feeling so strongly about using solids, take a look at those posts.  It's a link to the category solids, so it will update and change whenever I add a post with that tag.

I would love to hear from you if you find anything amiss on these pages, or if you have any ideas for other changes I could make.  I will certainly consider them.  Also, I would love to hear if you have an idea for a tutorial.  I haven't done any in a long time, mainly because I haven't had any great ideas.  I'd love to hear from you.  

This weekend is the one where I put sleeves on my QuiltCon entries.  I have my work cut out for me after dilly dallying with the blog for two days.  I hope all is well with all of you!  ~Kristin

A Fresh Start

 

Here's to a fresh start in 2015!  I've got a clean studio, some inspiration and a stack of fabric.  Let's see what becomes of it.  What's up in your studio?

SOQS 2014 :: Animals

Animal quilts at the SOQS run the gamut in style and technique, but all are fabulously creative and big crowd pleasers.  I love this dragon above.  Ryan has requested a dragon quilt some day.  Who knows when I'll get to it, but I can get some inspiration here.  ** Remember to click to enlarge all the photos and see details.
This Charley Harper inspired quilt is based on his poster, "The Alpine Northwest".  It was in the Portland Modern Quilt Guild exhibit, but seemed to fit this collection better.

Love the upside down owl!The lighting is not good on this quilt by Pat Busby, but it's such a beautiful piece!  I remember it from a past exhibit, I think the Alice in Wonderland one?

June Jaeger's Pet Portrait exhibit is really special, partly because many of these pets are no longer living.  These pieces are made by June's students and she has a new book out with the technique! Check it out here: Best Friends.  June is Jean Wells' sister and also lives in Central Oregon.This frog is so cool because it's so huge!  This is a bed sized quilt.  Totally awesome!This giraffe was in the Teachers' Tent and is made by Vivienne Moore.  Those sections are all pieced.  So cool!

This last bunch are the Whimsical Cow quilts made by students of Mary Lou Weidman.  These are just so much fun!  I was planning to go back on Sunday to really take them in, but was not feeling well.  At least I have these photos.

Well, that was fun, wasn't it!  Next time I'll post the California State Park quilts.  They are really amazing too!

SOQS 2014 :: Around Town

This post is dedicated to shots around the town of Sisters.  Many were taken early, before the real hoards showed up.  Above is the mural on the downtown public restroom!

Waiting in line for coffee, why not look at quilts?

The Quilt Block Contest always draws a lot of attention!Beacham's Clock Shop is always dressed up for the day with some of the classiest quilts.

The Quilt Activity Area is a place for new quilters and non quilters to try out some sewing, regardless of age.  I worked here for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

These next bunch of photos are of the calendar quilts which got the prime spot on the front of the Stitchin' Post.

Lots more to come!  I've organized the photos into groupings that make sense to me.  Upcoming will be categories such as: modern, animals, special exhibits, California State Park quilts, art quilts, colorful quilts, etc.  Stay tuned!

SOQS 2014 :: What Would We do Without Firefighters?

Without firefighters we wouldn't have this gorgeous display!  In all seriousness, as we are thick in the middle of fire season here in the west, we are all very grateful for these brave people who put their lives on the line for us.  But they also do other work for the community that warms our hearts.  We love our firefighters!

If you are lucky enough to get to town before 8 am, you will get to see these quilts being hung.  It always looks fabulous.  These quilts are for the Stitchin' Post Employee Challenge and let me tell you they are some pretty talented quilters there!  The theme for these quilts was, "It takes a village", which is certainly true.

 Show day was super hot.  We are in one of the longest running heat waves I've ever seen since moving here and there's no end in sight.  Yesterday we had a huge electrical storm go through the area.  Some spots had a short burst of heavy rain and some nickel sized hail.  It was crazy, but now hot spots are flaring all over eastern and central Oregon.  I'm sure these firefighters are awfully busy this week.  I'm grateful they had some free time on Saturday to help the quilters put on a fabulous show.

I had a few hours in the morning for running all over town to take photos and then worked two back to back volunteer shifts.  I missed quite a bit of the outlying areas, but still I've got about 150 show day photos so I think I'll parcel them out a bit every day for the next week.  Stay tuned for more!

** Don't forget to click the photos to enlarge!

Three Quilts*

Las VentanasBright Lights, Big City

Cape Cod Memories

I found out that these three quilts were accepted into Fabrications: The Art of Quilting!  This is a local art quilt exhibit in the month of March here in Bend.  It is the only juried exhibit of art and contemporary quilts in Central Oregon.  The first year I entered, none of mine were accepted.  Last year, one was accepted.  This year, three!  I got the call yesterday, but then heard last night that they may have miscalculated the exhibit space and may not have room for all three.  If not, I think the last one will be left out.  I'm okay either way.  It's a wonderful exhibit and I'm proud to be a part of it!  If you are local, the exhibit is in Franklin Crossing in downtown Bend and the reception is First Friday, March 7, 5-8 pm.  The quilts will be up for the month of March.  

* I'm sad to say that Cape Cod Memories will not be in this show, but the other two will and that's pretty fine!  I hope that Cape Cod Memories finds an exhibit at some point.  I think it's a really neat quilt and it is the sort of thing that you need to see in person and up close to get the full benefit.

What I did today

It's been another busy few weeks.  Mark had to have 2 back surgeries in the past few weeks!  The first time, it didn't quite fix the problem.  In fact, the problem got much worse.  He's doing a whole lot better now, in fact, better enough to assist me today in a little photo shoot!

I needed to get a good banner shot for the Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild website.  This was the vision I had from the time I started the blog and I'm so glad it worked out so well. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the mountain is looking quite resplendent in its winter finery. You can check out the blog here and consider joining us!  The quilt was made as a joint project by several members of the guild a few years ago.

I am working on a few more Christmas ornaments for the shop.  I'll post here and on Facebook when I get them finished.  I hope you have an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving and start to the Holiday season!

Happy October!

It's been a glorious month here in Oregon!  Well, except for yesterday when we had pretty horrid weather.  It's been several continuous weeks of warm, sunny days and cool nights.  Just perfect for making great fall color.  

I've been able to get out and enjoy the weather despite a full week workshop with Rosalie Dace (magnificent, by the way), a terrible cold with asthma that lasted about a month, and a project deadline.  

The asthma is under control now and the project on deadline is nearly done.  I'm working on a facing as I put this post together.  Things are finally falling into place.

Meanwhile, Halloween is approaching!  I do love Halloween even though I no longer have kids to go trick-or-treating with.  I like to answer the door and see all the fresh faces coming by.

And I still love to decorate.  Oh, and the candy.  Everyone likes that!

Enjoy some spooky fun.  Happy Halloween to you, where ever you are!

Love in Bloom :: The Language of Flowers Quilt Reveal

Ta-da!  Love in Bloom is finished, just in time for quilt collection tomorrow.  Our guild show is on Saturday and it is our plan every year to have that be the debut display for our book quilts.  Last night was the quilt reveal meeting.  Our quilts this year are inspired by The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  More on that below.

I had lots of fun with the embroidery here.  The story is set in San Francisco, so I wanted to have the bridge, the city and the flower fields on the other side of the bay. Not realistic, but that's okay.  It's folk art!

The city wouldn't be complete without some city buildings, a few painted ladies and a cable car.

The flower fields are signified with tiny french knots and the bay seemed a little lonely, so I added the sailboat.  The border is full of flowers that I'm calling dahlias. In the language of flowers, dahlias are for dignity.  

Below are the quilts from last night's reveal.  We have twelve members and 10 of us managed to make enough headway to get ours nearly done by last night.  The other two are encouraged to keep on going, but finishing a quilt each year is not the point.  The point is the friendships we've created.

Jane Davis and her lovely flowers in a vase.  The red flowers are created with wool applique.

Cindy O'Neal and her incredible portrait quilt.  Cindy is getting really good with the portraits.  Look for more fabulous-ness from her!

Janelle Rebick's quilt includes the thread painted bee.  So wonderful!

Betty Geintke's quilt has incredible silk work. It shines from within.

Martha Sander's daisies literally leap off the quilt.  This is going to be fabulous!

Sally Black's flowers were inspired by the design on her i-Phone cover!

Sandie Woodbeck's lovely flower basket was finished despite some recent health challenges. Isn't it pretty!

Susan Mondry's Language of Flowers was made with a vintage linen that had some flowers and their meanings- pretty cool!  She added some sweet patchwork and more vintage linens.

Wanda Barkhurst made this incredible quilt with fused bits of fabric that are 1/2" square, I believe.  She embellished her work with hundreds of beads and the cool looking fence.

And this is me.  My quilt was not quite done last night.  I'm so glad it's ready now though.  If you are in the area, the Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild Quilt Show in the Park is this Saturday, 10-4 in Pioneer Park in Bend.  Hope to see you there!

Let's Celebrate!

First of all, if you are new to my blog, welcome!  The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show was incredible this year!  What a fantastic year to be the Featured Quilter.  The weather was picture perfect and my whole experience was incredible.  I talked to so many lovely people and heard many wonderful comments.  It was really one of the most fabulous days of my life.  To celebrate, make your way to the bottom of the post for a little announcement.

My quilts were hung at Ponderosa Properties, just near the Sisters Coffee Company which is always abuzz.  I had a lovely grassy area with quite a bit of shade for most of the day.

When people asked which was my favorite, I always said it is Ryan's quilt.  It was so funny, when Ryan was actually there he kept hearing his name.  He was also very shy about it.

The Lone Star, standing alone, but looking great!

I had several requests for commissions and had to explain why nothing was for sale. Although I had to politely turn them down, it's nice to be asked!

Several comments about the Obama quilt, only one negative comment though.  Someone asked if any president could be in the show!  Had to laugh at that one.  I also pointed out that my quilt was meant to be historical rather than political.

I got photos with lots of friends that made my day.

Jean Wells, founder of the SOQS.

My sister, Cheryl.  I'm so glad she could make it here for the show.

My mom, Carolyn.

My dad, Jim, and Bo.

Janelle, fellow Undercover Quilter.

Cathy and Pris, Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild friends.

Jessica and her sweet daughter.

Marion, amazing wire sculptor and quilter.

Ryan and Mark

Laurence and Betty Dyer, owners of Ponderosa Properties.  Laurence makes these beautiful wooden jewelry boxes and he gave me one.  Such a special gift!

Tonye Phillips and Sue Spargo.  They did a beautiful job hanging my exhibit and they also took down!

Last, but not least, my dear friend, Sarah.  Sarah took hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos during quilt week.  I feel like I had my own personal paparazzi!  I'm so glad my mom got a photo of us!  

Celebration Time!

And now, to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I would like to offer free domestic shipping on orders over $25 in my Etsy shop (use coupon code SOQS2013).  In addition to the mini quilts and ornaments, I have added the new Inspiration Packs, greeting cards and handspun skeins of yarn for embellishment.  The first 10 orders will also receive a special gift with their order.

I am heading out of town on Wednesday, so orders that come in before 8pm PDT Tuesday (tomorrow) will be shipped on Wednesday.  Orders coming in after that time will ship when I get back, the week of July 29.  

In addition to that, leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing for a bundle with a selection of goodies from my shop: hand dyed fabric, handspun yarn, greeting cards and maybe an ornament!  Last day to leave a comment is July 28.  I will choose a winner on the 29th.  The coupon code is only for US addresses, but for the drawing, I will ship anywhere!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi and to those who are just learning about my work.  Thanks to Ann Richardson and all the volunteers who make such a great show every year.  It was truly a dream come true!

**  Photos in this post were taken by me, my mom and Mark.**

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Thank you everyone!  The comments are now closed.  I'll be choosing a winner later tonight.

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