Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

A Handmade Christmas :: 2014 Edition

This Christmas was filled with handmade gifts as usual around here, but maybe not the sort you'd expect.  Above are Chloe's new earrings handmade by my sister-in-law Anna (they match her hair!).  Below is the tiny bit of sewing I did this year- a hooded scarf for Chloe.Chloe's 2014 edition hand carved Santa for me does not disappoint!  This one is so sweet, about 4 inches high.  His beard goes down and curls around the base along with the fur on the edge of his coat.  Chloe's previous hand carved Santas can be seen here.

I had Cheryl's family this year so they got several handmade's including the painted ornament above, a knitted Bandana Cowl for Cheryl, a knitted Turn-a-Square hat for her husband Mark, and a quilted zipper bag for Mark's mom, Marge.  I also made two other hats for my Mark and for Ryan.These next few things were not really handmade by me, but include handmade effort.  I got one of Ryan's old paintings custom framed for him.  He was happy to see this one again!My biggest project this Christmas was making photo books.  I used two services to create the books.  Blurb is my go-to for a fantastic family photo album.  I started with a photo album of our trip to Ecuador last Christmas.  I spent hours and hours (and hours!) organizing and editing thousands of photos.  Over 1300 photos went into this book for Mark along with text from my journal.  I used every single one of the allowed 240 pages too!  Whew!  While I worked on that I thought it would be neat to do a much smaller, simpler book for Ryan.  His is called Ryan's Galapagos and includes his favorite part of the trip, lots of animals.  Shown below is the back cover.  I use Adobe Lightroom to make the Blurb books which always requires a bit of relearning since I don't use it that often.

As if that wasn't enough, while I worked on the Blurb books I discovered another service called Artifact Uprising and wanted to try it.  They offer smaller, more intimate soft cover books that have a great price.  I decided at the last minute to make one for my sister and her husband.  Below is that result.   

First I had to get the photos, so I searched their Facebook accounts and saved the best photos of them and their animals to my computer.  I used Photoshop Elements to square the photos, then used Lightroom to change the color to sepia to unite all these different photos.  This little book is called an Instagram book.  While these photos are not all from Instagram, some of them were and were already square, but some needed to be formatted to fit the square templates in this book.  I think it came out really great and I think they were very touched to see photos of their current 2 dogs and 2 cats as well as some of their previous pets that have since passed.

Well, our family is a pretty creative one and many of you may know that my sister is a fused glass artist.  She had my brother and his family though and I haven't seen any of those gifts yet.  I'm sure they are wonderful.  So, did you have a handmade Christmas?  Tell us about it! 

SAQA Central Oregon Mapping Project: A View from Above

The newest SAQA Central Oregon exhibit is now being displayed at the Stitchin' Post on the new art gallery wall.  It looks fantastic!  I've given the artist's name and title of each piece below.  Remember to click to see these photos larger.

Sisters Times Three by Sharon Carvalho

Development Maze by Grace Grinnell

Inman Railroad Yard- Atlanta, Georgia by Julia Jeans

Paris, 1867 by Charlene Kenny

Underneath Me by Pat Pease

Beneath the Surface by June Jaeger

Top of the town, Tuscana by Sarah Kauman

Midway Geyser Basin by Betty Gientke

Manzanita by Jean Wells Keenan

The Great Reef by Dianne Browning

Dream of Poliphilo by Leotie Richards

The Hub at Night by June Jaeger

Consider the Raven by Judy Beaver

Edgar Vineyard Tract, Cherry Valley by Jan McBrien Tetzlaff

Deschutes River Walk, Bend, OR USA by Patti Stewart

Roundabout Bend by Kristin Shields

Usumbara by Bevalee Runner

Carolina Moon by Joan Upshaw

Sonoran Desert: A Bird's Eye View by Mary Stiewig

Winn Farm by Robin Green

Sisters Three by Torrie Gordon

Win the Day by Debbie Groshong

My Weekend :: Journal Covers

Last week QuiltWorks put out a call for mini class ideas.  It took me a few days to come up with an idea, but I think these are so much fun and quick to do that they'll work perfectly.  These mini classes are intended to be small projects that can be done perhaps as holiday gifts.  

These three are made to fit a standard US composition book, which means they'd be perfect for any age of student, journaler or artist.  I started with a tutorial I found online, but made my own changes, such as adding interfacing so they are a little sturdier than they would be otherwise.  These three are made with an oatmeal colored cotton/linen blend as a base, then scraps of commercial and hand dyed fabrics are used for the applique.

I also had fun with the sketchbook approach. I love the sketchy black lines.  In the case of the horse and owl, I used actual sketches from my journals to make the designs.  The bird I drew out free hand and it's definitely more stylized.  I happen to really love the more quirky designs myself.

Also, I've been trying out writing words when I do my machine quilting on some projects and thought it would be fun to add here.  The secret is to go over your lines multiple times.  Once or twice just doesn't look as good in my opinion. 

I added pockets to one of the covers, but they all have a ribbon book marker.

This last one is done on a smaller journal and uses Osnaburg fabric for the base.  I've figured out how to measure and fit any size of journal.  It's also a less ambitious cover design which might appeal to some.  I'll let you know when the class gets scheduled.

Doorway to the Past

Here's another older work in progress that I just finished.  This one is not really that old, as things go.  it's from last fall's class with Jean Wells.  This was a sample from an exercise where a composition is traced from a photo.  This one is from a window that Jean photographed.  This week I layered it and machine quilted it with cotton threads and some metallic thread that really twinkles in the sun.  It's hard to capture that with a camera though.

This little art quilt has just been listed in the shop.  This week I will be in a workshop with Elizabeth Barton, author of Inspired to Design and Visual Guide to Working in a Series.  The next few weeks will be super busy, but I'll check in when I can.  Also, if you want to follow my Instagram feed (my IG name is kristinshields), you might see various glimpses of what's going on as I go about my days.  By the way, did you know the buttons on the right that say Etsy, Facebook, Flickr Quilt Gallery, Instagram, etc. are clickable?  Just click to visit any of those sites.

Benny & Shrimp :: Like Chalk and Cheese

Last night was the quilt reveal for The Undercover Quilters Book Club.  Our August meeting is always fun.  Even though we see each other's quilts in progress throughout the year, the final reveal is always a surprise.  This year, our 5th Anniversary year, we decided to change things up and each do a different book from the past 5 years.  We got to choose our favorite from about 30 possible titles.  My book is Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti.  The story is about farmer Benny and recent widow and city girl Shrimp, who are about as alike as "chalk and cheese", meaning, not at all!  My quilt depicts the Swedish winter, the deliniation between rural and city life, and the sense of time passing.  Throughout the book, they both consider their biological clocks and how they are ticking away in their mid-thirties.  

I enjoyed the making of this piece.  It's created on crinoline and has acrylic paint to soften the edges of the randomly sewn background patches.  I experimented with metallic thread (and love it now!) and did a lot of the stitching with the top just on batting.  Then I added a backing and did a few quilting lines to stitch it together.  The final hurdle was the black machine stitched trees, which I was so afraid to do.  In the end, about a week ago, I just got out a bit of sample cloth and practiced a bit, held my breath and did it on the quilt.  It was not so difficult, but every time I try something new I break a little more out of the box.  That's something I hope everyone tries!

All of the quilts from our books will be on exhibit at this Saturday's Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild show in Pioneer Park, 10-4.  Hope to see you there!  If not, I'll be posting photos next week.

Kit Stafford :: White on White

The Owl and the Pussycat by Kit Stafford

I was sorting through my recently uploaded photos this morning and found this set that I had forgotten about.  These photos were taken on Fiber Arts Stroll day.  Sarah and I got in to Sisters at about 11:00 so that I could get set up.  First thing we did was to stop somewhere for coffee and, lucky for both of us, it was Navigator News that we chose.  I had no idea there would be such a special exhibit there!  I was blown away by these lovely artworks by Kit Stafford.  Kit is the daughter of the famous poet William Stafford.  My quilt, Longing for Connection, was inspired by one of his poems.  I had not known much about Kit, except as his daughter, but she is a longtime Sisters resident who is very much a part of the art, music and poetry scene. 

When we got there, the labels weren't up on these art pieces, and Kit wasn't there.  I got to chat with one of the employees who was preparing the labels and I mentioned that it was too bad Kit wasn't there, because I'd love to meet her.  As it turned out, she stopped by my booth later and said hi and I got to say how much I loved her work.  She said that her one and only "quilt" class had been with Janet Bolton a few years ago and she made these pieces after that.  She doesn't do much sewing nowadays.  Boy, that makes these pieces even more special.  You'll note that these illustrate fairy tales and nursery rhymes and are made so inventively with vintage textiles.  I consider myself lucky to have seen them.  Most were framed under glass and I only had my cell phone with me so I did the best I could with Photoshop to crop and enhance the photos.

Kit Stafford (no label, so I'm not sure which story this is)

The Three Little Pigs by Kit Stafford (note the bbw)

Kit Stafford (no label, so I'm not sure which story this is)

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe by Kit Stafford

Little Red Riding Hood by Kit Stafford (sorry for the reflection, but this was my favorite!)

Tiny Red Riding Hood detail

This last piece was the only one with color.  It's a fantastic map quilt all sewn by hand. It reminds me of the work of Valerie Goodwin, but I'm not sure if that was the influence.  I really love the detail!  So, are you inspired to get out your old linens and work some magic?  I know I am!

Fiber Arts Stroll!

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Fiber Arts Stroll.  I will be there to demonstrate watercolor techniques on fabric, which is how I did the fabric postcard above.  I'll be in front of Melvin's Fir Street Market from 12-4pm.  

I'll also have for sale many of the items I sell in my Etsy store, including hand dyed fabric Inspiration Packs, greeting cards and small art pieces.  Hope to see you there!

2014 Fabric Postcards/Mini Quilts

Despite the blog silence lately I've been working away in the studio, getting out to enjoy the sunshine and taking care of things at home.  One of my latest endeavors was to try out the watercolor on fabric techniques again.  I need to prepare for the Fiber Arts Stroll where I'll demonstrate this technique and I also needed to make some postcards for the Wish Upon A Card fundraiser.

This stack is only one set of cards.  I have more in progress, including the Michael Miller Challenge cards.  These won't all go to the fundraiser. I think I'll put some in the shop and will post here when I do.  In the meantime enjoy these!  The next two are made with the watercolor technique mentioned above.

The following cards were all created with a watercolor transfer technique that I learned in a class with Carla Sonheim.  This is such a cool technique!  It takes some practice and patience with the transfers and there were a few that didn't make the cut because they didn't transfer properly, but boy it's fun to do!

All of these cards have batting inside rather than something really stiff. I experimented with lots of kinds of batting, one layer or two, and still didn't come up with a favorite.  One layer seems too thin if it's a thin batting.  They also all have traditional bindings, so they really are mini quilts.  Ready for framing too!  

Unplanned Show and Tell

At the March meeting of the Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild, I was suprised to find some of my work on display.  Joanne brought her wonderful SOQS 2013 block contest quilt.  She got my trailer block and it was very nice to see how it turned out!

Our speaker was award winning framer, Myrna Dow, owner of High Desert Frameworks.  Myrna does all sorts of charitable work in our community, including framing over 80 fabric postcards for the Wish Upon a Card project for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  Last summer she bought one of my small fiber pieces for herself and this was the first I got see of it since.  Myrna framed it beautifully!  What a treat it is to see your work once it's gone out into the world!

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.