Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

Willamette Valley Weekend

Now you know what I like to do when I'm not quilting!  I hope you enjoyed this photo essay of our trip to the valley over Labor Day weekend.  As much as I love the high desert, sometimes my New England trained eyes long for the lush, green views of the Willamette Valley.  We had a very nice visit with Chloe too!  If you're interested, here's a list of the places we visited:

Champoeg State Heritage Area
Methven Family Vineyards
Red Ridge Farm
Durant Vineyards
Vista Hills Vineyard
Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey
The City of Carlton
Yamhill, Oregon Quilt Barn (see this cool Pinterest board!)
Elk Cove Vineyards

Favorites from Portland

Some of my favorite pics from Portland.  The first four photos are from the Portland Japanese Garden which was so cool, green and shady on a sweltering day.  The last four are from the Portland International Rose Garden which was a riot of color.  

Speaking of color, I am working hard to get together more Hand Dyed Inspiration Packs.  Better get back to work!

End of Year Crunch Time

I have been so busy for the past week, I haven't had time to photograph the kitty quilt, let alone do any sewing.  Ryan had his senior awards assembly, where he was awarded the Lifelong Learner Award.  He was so happy and we are so proud of him!

I left the award assembly last Thursday and headed right over the mountains to pick up Chloe from college.  She and her roommate cleared out of their dorm for the last time.  Next year, they are both off for semesters abroad in the fall, and then plan to get an apartment.  We took a time out for a fun photo shoot.

These two will certainly be lifelong friends, and, yes, they've been asked many times if they are sisters, if not twins!  

I did manage to get my quilts registered for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show before all the hoopla.  I have 18 quilts registered for my own exhibit, plus 4 quilts for other special exhibits.  I had my goal set to have it all finished by the end of May because I knew things would go a bit crazy after that.  This coming weekend Ryan will have his graduation.  I will be back next week with photos of the cat quilt and more of what's going on in the studio!

Season's Greetings from Oregon!

Last weekend I drove over the pass to pick up Chloe at college.  I got held up for about a half an hour while a wreck was cleared and took a few photos. 

The snow plow brigade is good to see.  I arrived safely in McMinnville and Chloe and I did a little shopping.

La Rambla was especially beautiful and all decked out for the holidays.  

We spent quite a bit of time choosing treats to bring home from Honest Chocolates.  I love their displays, shop policies and the decadent chocolate, of course!

We then went to Portland to spend the night and see a show.  We went to Santaland Diaries, which was a fun production.  The theater is right by Powell's, so we stayed late there browsing.  With a storm coming I was in debate about whether we should try to get home on Sunday, but the call of home won out and we made the trip.  It was slow and the snow level was down pretty far, but we made it home safely.  

It's good to be home and know we don't have any more travel for while.  This little tree is right in my kitchen window view and always makes me smile.  

Oh, and great news, the ducks have returned!  We hadn't seen them for months, ever since the house across the street started being built.  They took a snowy walk the other day and I had to capture it again.  We are settling in for what looks like a white Christmas.  I wish you a bright and peaceful holiday!

October

October means the start of the autumn color, but it also means Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Here I am 5 years now from diagnosis, feeling better than ever!  And, I had my mammogram today.  It seems fitting to me to do that in October.  That was my schedule before the big shake up and it's still my schedule.  However, I get a little tired of BC pink, so here you have a lovely view of the Deschutes River from our mountain bike ride yesterday.  It was so much fun to get out on the bikes again!

Today I finally have some time to make a breast pocket for Melanie's project.  Melanie Testa, author, artist, and breast cancer survivor is trying to collect 1000 breast pockets to highlight breast cancer survivors who decide against breast reconstruction.  Read more about it here.  I'll post a photo when it's done.  In the meantime, I challenge you to make one too.  The deadline is October 22 and you can email Melanie for info on where to send them.

Summer

Dyeing season.

Is that not the most beautiful laundry you've ever seen?  

Fire Season

This was today's smoky sunrise, courtesy of the Pole Creek Fire burning NW of Bend, in the foothills near Sisters.  As of now the fire is burning into the wilderness, away from residential areas.  Let's hope it stays that way.

I spent the weekend doing a whole lot of dyeing. Stay tuned this week as I post some photos tutorials of my dye process.  In fact, if it's easier for you, subscribe to my blog by email.  See the button on the right.

See you later! I've got some ironing to do!

Camp Sherman Holiday

For Labor Day weekend we took out the new Airstream to try her out.  We headed to the beautiful Central Oregon destination of Camp Sherman, on the Metolius River.  This is a beautiful, wild and scenic river with a very small community of mostly small National Forest cabins and campgrounds.  It was idyllic!

You can get a lot of different stuff at the Camp Sherman General Store.  Lots of gourmet food items and fly fishing paraphernalia.  

The trailer was a dream to use!  I just love the classic look, modern indoor style and that hatchback which makes for great airflow.  

We have been to Camp Sherman before, but had never toured the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery so that was first on our list.

We also had to make a trip to see the Head of the Metolius.  The river bubbles out of the ground here, but the view is truly stunning!  That's Mt. Jefferson in the background.

We also took several river walks from the campground.

We had a very dirty dog for the whole trip, but Scrabble got one bath the day he decided to take a cool dip in the river.  

The weather was perfect and we did a lot of relaxing.  What a lovely end to summer vacation!

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...  

Picking time

We took our annual trip to the Hood River Fruit Loop this weekend to pick apples.  We came away with a few more goodies besides.  Lots of apples for sauce and pies, strawberries for jam, and pumpkins for the porch.  Saturday was cloudy early, but brightened up in the afternoon.  

If I were to pick another area of Oregon that I really love, this would be it.  So many farm fresh goodies abound in the Hood River valley.  It's always a lovely trip!

This week will be another busy one for me.  I have a week long workshop with Rosalie Dace.  I have heard many good things about her classes, so I hope I have lots of good things to report.  See you back here before too long.