Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2013

Don't forget to scroll down to the previous post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway. All the details are there at the end of the post.  I am heading out of town for some R&R.  More on that when I get back!

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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2013 Fiber Arts Stroll

What a marvelous time we had!  Chloe came to help me with sales and that was a huge help.  I hung 5 of my completed quilts and some of the mini's I have for sale.  I think they were a big hit.

Chloe brought some of her own hand crafted items for sale so our table was a bit crowded.  Here she is just finishing up a sweet little narwhal stuffie.

Chloe's end of the table was filled with whimsical animals and fake food.  She loves to create in 3D and really has a talent for it.  My friend Jan stopped by just when I was taking photos.

This is the piece I worked on when time allowed.  I started it last year, but thought it was time to do some more work on it.  I used some of my handspun to show how I use it for couching.  Of the items I sold, cards with animals seemed to be a favorite, as well as the inspiration packs and the handspun skeins.  

I won't have time to list new items for a few weeks probably, but I have the shop up and running again.  I've also replenished some of the Inspiration Pack colorways that were unavailable for a while.  For locals and those visiting Sisters, I plan to have my sales items with me while I'm in Sisters for the week.  If you want to look at what I have just leave a comment or email me (or just flag me down!).  Thanks!

Introducing: Workshops & Lectures

I finally have my Workshops & Lectures page up.  See the link in the header.  I will probably be tweaking it a bit as time goes on, but I wanted to get it in place in time for the show, which is only  6 days away!  

The Fiber Arts Stroll is today, from 12-4 in Sisters. I'll be in front of The Culver House just a few doors to the right of the Stitchin' Post.  I'll have lots of goodies for sale and will also be showing my process for using vintage linens in textile art.  Please stop by, I'd love to see you!  

Here are some of the items I'll have for sale:

• Hand Dyed Inspiration Packs- 6" squares
• Hand Dyed Mini Inspiration Packs- 4" squares
• Blank Greeting Cards of My Original Textile Art and Quilts
• Postcard Sets of 4 of My Patchwork Cats  **Edited to add:  I learned to do the cats in a class with Jude HIll.  She considers them her own design.  I will not be selling cards with this design anymore.**
• Hand Stitched Tree and Owl Ornaments
• Original Textile Art
• **NEW**  Handspun Yarn for Embellishment in 10 Yard Skeins

Anything left after today will go back in to the shop eventually, but for now I have the shop in vacation mode.  I will post here when it's back up and running.  

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!

Bright Lights, Big City

This project came out of a fascination that I developed a few weeks ago with the blog Daintytime, a creation by Sherri Lynn Wood.  Her Mod Mood Quilt Along had attracted my attention in the past, but I finally got around to trying it.  I actually didn't do the whole mood part of the quilt along.  I just went with the colors that appealed to me at the time.  This is the first project in this series.  I have some other wedges and waves in blues and greens that I may do something with some day.

The piecing was fun.  Doing all the wedges was really fun.  Putting the curved pieces together, not as much fun.  I did do hand applique on some of the really curvy parts and had to really work to get the corners filled in with one small piece of black fabric that has a very slight batik pattern.

Quilting it turned out to be fun too.  I know my quilting isn't perfect, but when it's dense like this the imperfections don't show as much.  I did a black facing to finish it off and have already put on the sleeve and label. I find deadlines very motivating, don't you?  It is now within 100 days of the quilt show and I still have a lot I'd like to accomplish.

This piece is hard to photograph well in my studio.  Most of the photos here are pretty good for showing the colors though.

This last one is a bit dull, but shows the whole quilt.  I decided to have the top curves go off the edge of the quilt.  It started to look like a cityscape to me.  A city cradled in the bottom curves.  I am debating on whether to offer this one for sale at the show. 

Freshening Up & Looking Ahead

Well, after a good two weeks of near total sloth, I am ready to start the new year!  I spent my holiday reading, drinking tea (and occasionally wine, beer and spirits too!), going to the movies, skiing (a little), enjoying a beautiful white Christmas, spinning, knitting and generally staying far from the studio and my computer.  It was really nice to take time away.  

Now, I have lots of new plans and projects, new ideas and a fresh perspective.  That all starts with a new look to the blog.  Below are some glimpses of new projects in the works.

A little something for the Inauguration.  Do I have time to finish it?

A project for the Modern Quilt Guild's 2013 challenge.

A brand new idea for the Novel Idea Quilt challenge for 2013, based on the book, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Finally, the most amazing thing arrived in the mail- the brochure for the 2013 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  Even though I knew it was coming, it was still a surprise to turn the page and see me there!  I've got a lot to do in the next 6 months and I'll be sharing the behind the scenes here as I go along.  Wow- what a year this will be!