Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

A Digression :: Maple Pepper Pecans

Are you enjoying the holidays?  I love Christmas and have music playing whenever possible.  I have been busy as a bee this past week.  Thankfully, the shopping is done, cards are sent, and these lovely little packages are ready to gift to the neighbors.  I thought I'd also post the recipe here if you'd like to try making these sweet and spicy pecans (see below).  Beware, they are addictive!  They are perfect for a salad with fruit, cheese and mild greens.  They are also great cocktail party nibbles.  Enjoy!

Also, you can see my newest tablerunner on the table. While there's so much I can't show on the blog right now, I'm happy to share this little project that I made a few days ago.  I needed a new Christmas tablerunner and found a little Moda charm pack called 25th and Pine in the stash.  I backed it with a bright red reindeer print, so it's double sided.  Fun!

This is just a small selection of my Santa collection. Most of them have been hand carved.  All of the small ones here (6) were hand carved by Chloe!  I've done previous posts about them if you'd like to see more.

I haven't forgotten my promise to show photos of my quilts that didn't make it into QuiltCon.  In the meantime, go and read what some other bloggers are saying.  I'll be back with that soon.

Quilty Habit

The Silly Boodilly

Stacey in Stitches

Latifah Saafir

Kristin LaFlamme

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Snow Day

 

It's been another crazy, busy week.  I finally got a breather today, but woke up to a fantastic snow storm.  It was so pretty today that I took two photo walks and haven't gotten to the sewing yet (I will in just a minute though).  Tomorrow I'll post about the sewing stuff that's happened lately!

Red, White and Blue

Last year I started collecting red, white and blue fabrics that had a nautical theme.  I wanted to make a quilt for Chloe and meant to get it done last year.  I didn't get to it until about a month ago, but finally decided on a perfectly normal chevron.  There's not a liberated seam here at all!  As it turns out, Chloe prefers non liberated quilts, including this one.  She was surprised to find it on her bed when she was home last week.

She loved it so much she took it back to school with her.  She is staying at Linfield for the summer as she works on a couple of research projects.

After I made that one, I had some leftover fabric and cut up triangles, so I started another perfectly normal quilt!  I know, so unlike me.  However, I didn't have a lot invested in this one so it was easy to experiment with it.  I decided to try a machine quilted spiral which came out pretty nice.  Once you get started it is just around and around for 2-3 hours (including breaks).  I really like how this came out. 

The only thing about it is a pronounced wave.  I am really having a problem with that lately, but I think it's because this one wasn't basted very heavily.

I thought this one would look good hanging on the porch for July 4th, so I need to figure out how I'm going to hang it.

Hola and Happy New Year!

I'm baaaaack!  You know it's bad when your husband mentions the lack of blog posts for over a month!  Okay, getting back in the swing of things always takes longer than I think it will.  We got back on New Year's Eve, unpacked, did laundry, and repacked to take Chloe to college again.  Got back and it still took a week to feel like I had the house under control.  Then I didn't feel well for a while.  

Well, just now, I was sewing and realized this is the exact light that makes sewing a real joy.  That midwinter sun is low enough to come right in my studio window.  Perfect!  

On the machine now is a project for the Riley Blake Challenge for the Modern Quilt Guild.  I decided to do an improv/liberated log cabin variation called Housetop.  This is also doing double duty for my Mt Bachelor Quilters' Guild challenge (Log Cabin Variations).  I just started this last night, my first sewing in over a month.  Feels good to be back.

Our trip was absolutely fantastic!  I will have more to say about that soon.  I also have thousands of photos from our trip to go through and will be compiling a slideshow at some point.  I'll post here when I do, just in case you're interested.  I did get an awful lot of great animal shots.  

The new year is shaping up to be busy.  I've got lots of projects with deadlines already, works in progress that I'd like to finish, contests, challenges, etc, etc, etc!  What's on your plate for the new year?  New ideas and projects?  My word for the year is REST.  I want to get plenty of it.  Last year was pretty busy and exhausting.  It was a big one for us all.  This year, I hope to recoup some energy and refill my tank.  

I still have openings in my teaching calendar so if you have a group, guild, or shop that would like me to come speak and teach check out the links in the header.  Thanks and have a wonderful 2014!

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

My Language of Flowers quilt top is finished and I'm getting ready to start quilting.  Unfortunately, I had a set back last week when I woke up on Friday, got out of bed and was hit with a wave of vertigo.  It was just awful, so debilitating.  I managed to get somewhat stabilized on Friday, but spent the weekend doing some hand sewing and other art projects outside.  Actually, it was a nice alternative to the busy weekend I could have had.

The city started to come to life, the flowers are all in place. In fact, a hummingbird visited me today as I was doing some last minute embroidery.  Guess I must be doing something right!

On Monday I ice dyed a 2 yard length of fabric to use for the backing and binding.  Now, I'm working on cleaning the studio enough to get to the sewing machine to start quilting.  Seriously, a month of dumping things in here has left it quite a disaster.  Tomorrow is the quilt reveal at our Undercover Quilters meeting and I will show it here as soon as I can.  I also have photos from the special studio I got to visit.  More on that soon!

**PS**  I never heard from Penny G., so we chose another winner- Mathea!  Mathea, I have sent an email, please contact me to give me your info.  

Castle Peeps

Castle Peeps is a quilt that started last year.  I was inspired to make the free pieced castle towers to match the border fabric.  I had a small piece of the fabric with the people and fussy cut them to fit the windows.  I made the blocks with the scrappy colors because it was all looking a bit too green.  I like the punch the colors add.

I finished the top and put it away until the retreat in March.  I started quilting it, but I couldn't decide exactly what to do in the sky until I got a suggestion from a friend to do a dragon.  I loved the idea, but wasn't sure I could execute it well.

It's been sitting around since then and today I finally decided to get down to it and get it done.  I went to Google images to search for a dragon shape I liked, and drew something free hand.  Then I transferred it to freezer paper.  I ironed the freezer paper to the sky area and stitched around it once.  Then I removed the freezer paper and stitched around the outline once more.  I filled in the details with more double stitching lines.  You can click the photos to see even more detail.

Then I completed the rest of the sky with swirls and clouds.

I'm pretty pleased with it!  This would be a great crib quilt, but I plan to keep this one for a teaching sample.

In the Night Garden

Well, finally, I got some photos of this quilt!  I've been waylaid by numerous things over the past couple of weeks, mostly good like graduation, some more concerning issues due to various medical complaints.  Things will be fine, but I've just not had the time or inclination to do any sewing.

When I first thought of this quilt I wanted to make some cats that would seem to glow on an indigo background.  I had some indigos and found new Japanese prints to round it out.  I think the end result meets the goal I originally had.  There are 9 cats with various facial expressions which were so much fun to do.  **Edited to add:  I learned to do the cats in a class with Jude HIll.  She considers them her own design.**

I knew that this was one quilt that I wanted to machine quilt myself.  My machine quilting skills are improving steadily, but I have trouble when a quilt gets to be too big.  This one worked fine.  It measures 41" x 52".

I decided to quilt an overall swirl in blue to blend in but have an organic, maybe celestial feel.  I left spaces where I could add in some flowers and other garden elements with a variegated orange thread.

I like the back too.  The main backing fabric is a cool batik I found recently and I added a strip of the border from the front for some interest.  

This week I had visits with an interviewer and photographer from the local paper.  Very exciting, but also nerve wracking.  The special publication will come out on June 28 and will be available for free all over Sisters.  The show is just about 1 month away and I still have some finishing things to do with a few of the quilts, plus some other projects that need attention.  More soon!

Congratulations Ryan!

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We had a fantastic graduation weekend!  It's all there in this slideshow if you'd like to see.  Things will get slightly back to normal this week and I will get that cat quilt photo.   Be back soon!

To Boston with Love

Things came down to the wire and then Sarah brought these three flags over.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Liberated letters and a heart.  So nicely done- thank you Sarah!

Kayla made this one with a sweet bird fabric.

Christy made the hug flag- more liberated letters!

Lindsey made these sweet heart flags.

I made one more with XOXO, more liberated letters and it rounded out the number to 10 flags.

Don't they look marvelous together?  They are on the way to Boston and will hang at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts!  They will be on exhibit from May 23 to June 16.  If any of my blog readers have a chance to visit I'd love to see photos and hear all about it.  Wish I could be there myself!  I am still collecting quilt blocks for Boston.  The link for instructions is in the side bar.  I will be sending them on Wednesday, May 22.  Here are the two I've made so far: