Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

The Snow Child Exhibit Opens Today!

This very nice article appeared in the Go! Magazine this morning.  I am so excited to see this exhibit.  If you are local, tonight's reception is from 5-7.  Tomorrow, QuiltWorks is having an open house all day and artists are coming throughout the day for an hour or two to meet anyone who stops by.

Dave and Marilyn are the owners of QuiltWorks.  They are great supporters of the quilting community.  I am so pleased to see two of my quilts with them in this photo!  My Snow Child quilt, called The Spirit of the Wood (being held by Marilyn), and my monochromatic quilt, the pink one on the right, called Not Your Grandma's Hanky.  The March exhibit came down yesterday and the gallery is now filled with about 60 Snow Child artworks.  There are quilts and other types of needlework and fiber art.  It's sure to be a great evening!

Girlfriends

Our guild retweet (thanks Mom!) was so much fun.  Most of the ladies will remain nameless to protect the innocent, but I don't think my girlfriend Erin would mind me sharing her photo.  She was hard at work finishing her son's quilt that was started at a retreat several years ago.  We had our snacks and required reading (mostly Gwen Marston!).  Happy smiles when the top was done!  

I worked on this project (Girlfriends) first of all.  In preparation of the retreat I went to my UFO stash and looked for things to bring.  These two birdie blocks were done and ready for something (anything, really).  I decided to do a medallion quilt, a la Gwen Marston.  First I added the wild print border.

Then I made a bunch of little 4" liberated shoo fly blocks.  I made over 20 of these, not knowing for sure what I was going to do with them.

I thought about them going all the way around, but then realized that there needed to be another border between the shoo fly blocks and the wild print.

I made some wildly bright string borders of mostly Kaffe Fasset prints.  Then I realized that it was mashing up the wild border print.  So, I needed something in between.  I almost thought I didn't have anything when I found some of the solid green.  

That was just the thing.  At this point I decided the thing was getting to be too wide, so I added the shoo fly blocks to just the top and bottom.  it's not done yet though.  I want to add one more border and bring in some more green.  Then I think it will be off to a machine quilter to finish so I can get on with other things.

We had three days of nearly non stop sewing, meals that magically appeared, door prizes and games. I worked on two other projects, but will reveal them in time.  Meanwhile, I may or may not confirm that we had a humping iron (oh the hilarity of a pop up iron gone crazy), several versions of the chicken dance and a world class jump roping demonstration among the entertainment.  What a great weekend with my girlfriends!

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2012

This year's show turned out to be the most memorable since I moved here 8 years ago. My sister, Cheryl, is visiting for the show and it was great to play the hostess and show her around. But first, I came in early to help with the quilt hanging. Here's my team hanging quilts in the Teacher's Tent. **Click the photos to enlarge**

These hippos were done by Janet Fogg.  Can you imagine doing this kind of quilting?  Wow!

On my way over to meet Cheryl at the Sisters Coffee Co., I happened to pass by the Rosalie Dace student exhibit and there was my quilt!  And look at the beauty right next to it.

Here are more of the amazing pieces in this special exhibit.

After getting our coffee we headed up to the Peter Pan quilt exhibit by the Cover to Cover Book Club Quilters.  This was a very nice exhibit with lots to entertain the kids.

We had 17 special exhibits to see so we went on a mission to find them all.  Along the way we found several fun quilts.

That's mine!  And right next door, these cute doggies.

This special exhibit was really wonderful.  This group of quilters posed a challenge to themselves that they each had to dye a yard of fabric, then cut it up to pass out to the others.  All members ended up with a swatch of each color and had to make a quilt.  These two are my favorites.  Such whimsy!

The Stitchin' Post employee challenge is always fun to see.  In fact, I got some great photos of these quilts last night at the Picnic in the Park.  I am going out of order here, so will post those tomorrow.  Meanwhile, here are three favorites.

The Small Wonders exhibit was looking good!  When we went there, fairly early in the morning, there were still lots of yellow tags (meaning they hadn't sold yet).  I hope they sold by the end of the day!

My great pleasure of the day was to meet Andrea Balosky, Bill Volkening and his mom, Liz.  There were several missed photo opps today, but I did manage to get this one of Andrea and I holding the two AAQI quilts that she donated and I bought!  She was such a delight to meet!  Bill is also a great guy.  He will be doing a showing of his AAQI collection and I offered to let him borrow my collection (7 strong) to add to his 12.  They will be at a winery in the Willamette Valley in September and October.

After that quick visit with Andrea, Bill and Liz, we headed out again and caught up with Featured Machine Quilter, Helen Brisson.  Her work is always innovative!

This one was seen in the Portland Modern Quilt Guild's special exhibit.

So, by early afternoon, the clouds were building in Sisters.  Everyone was on high alert that a storm was expected to blow in soon.  Cheryl and I hurried to see as many more exhibits as we could. 

We came along my Second Chances quilt, The Moon Above Sees it All, hanging on the Shell Station wall (of all places!).  Had to get a photo with it!

On the way to the library to see the Novel Idea Quilts we found some extraordinary pieces in ManLand.  I just love this one.  The words are created with a marking pen on the fabric.

We hurried on to the Teacher's Tent since Cheryl hadn't seen that yet.  It was the last thing we had planned to see and see it we did!  And then the skies opened up and we had a ferocious storm, pouring rain, cracking thunder and lightning.  We were stuck here until a friend showed up with a car and we made a run for it.

The quilts were all down by 3:30, well before the official 5:00 end of the show.  The quilt and bike raffles were held inside the Stitchin' Post instead of on the lawn.  I happened to run in to friends near the Quilt Show Office where we had all offered our services to help with the quilts.  As it turned out they had plenty of volunteers and sent us on our merry way.  Since the town had nearly cleared out by this time, though the sun had come out and the streets were on their way to dry, we decided to go out for margaritas and appetizers.  A fitting way to end this extraordinary day.  I heard someone say that it hadn't rained like that at the quilt show for 25 years.  I don't know if that number is correct, but I'm sure it's been a very long time!  

Tommorow are the Save it for Sunday events and Cheryl and I will be there.  Maybe we'll hear more about how this year entered the record books!   

Small Studies with Gwen

I just came off of a blissful class today with my all time favorite quilter, Gwen Marston.  As I wrote on the label of another quilt from a class with Gwen, she's a Rock Star!  This time it was her Small Studies class based on her beautiful book, 37 Sketches.  Oh, and by the way, she's made more since then.  I believe she said she was on #48 now.  We were lucky enough to see the 12 above in person and I tell you, they need to be seen in person.  I couldn't really fathom the size of these little squares just by looking at the book.  They are so lovely and the refined single binding sets them off beautifully!  

Gwen is such a cutie, so full of life, so supportive and such a great teacher.  Nobody could ask for a better classroom experience.  Unfortunately, she has confirmed that she will be retiring at the end of next year.  I hope to see her as many times as possible before then and hope to see her in what limited teaching roles she may have after that.  

Now, let's see the quilts!  Above are my two in progress and below, finished.  These measure under 9 x 12.  These small studies would be great AAQI quilts. I'm not sure that I want to donate one of these two, but I know I will be making something in this style for AAQI!

Below are some of the other quilts from class.  I wish I could have gotten photos of them all!  There's such magic in these little gems.  I can't wait to make more.

Above is my friend and fellow Undercover Quilter, Martha's, piece.  I love her way with color! 

This was my only class for this year's Quilter's Affair, but I will be back on Thursday for several lectures, on Friday for the Picnic in the Park, on Saturday for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, and again on Sunday for the lecture and tour with Gwen.  I will post more when time allows!  In the meantime, if you see me, please introduce yourself, I'd love to meet you!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Saturday was parade day here and you know how I love a parade!  It all started with brunch here at the house. Homemade cinnamon rolls, two kinds of egg dishes, hot spiced cider and fruit~yum!

Our spot to watch the parade was just down the road a bit.  It was chilly, but the sun warmed our backs and it was a spectacularly beautiful day.

Once again we had all sorts of adorable four footed creatures.

We had friends and family to share the day with.

We had lots of clever displays, including this little smart car/vacuum!

Santa's sleigh was filled with all  the goodies a Central Oregonian could need- mountain bike, kayak and paddle board.

The Polar Express float was just about my favorite.  Very clever!

Any beer drinkers among you might enjoy the CyclePub which is seen regularly on the streets of downtown.

Of course there were llamas!  I wouldn't skip the llamas.  Love these guys!

This is my favorite photo of the bunch.  Just look at that little tongue sticking out.  I think this dog did that the whole way along.

The Wells Fargo wagon is a comin' down the street.  

Finally, Santa came!  What a great parade and a perfect day. I'm looking forward to this week.  I have a studio that needs a thorough clean up and then I can get back to work on some old projects and some new ideas. I always look forward to that!

Janelle Rebick

My friend, Janelle Rebick, is this month's featured quilter at QuiltWorks.  Janelle is a multitalented fiber artist and a member of my book club, The Undercover Quilters.  I hope you enjoy this slideshow!

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Walking in late October

It's been glorious this week despite some really cold nights.  I've been walking around the neighborhood and can't seem to leave the house without a camera.  Today, Ryan and I went with some friends on a Bend Haunts walking tour of downtown.  Come along with me!  Above, our house decked out for Halloween (pun intended).  Actually, it's pretty light on Halloween, but I thought it would be nice to show where we started.

Around the corner is this lovely house, just dripping with fall leaves.

Shortly you come to the Newport Bridge, our gateway to downtown.

The tour started at the old Reid School, the first school in Bend.  This historical building is now home to the Deschutes County Historical Society and museum.

Our tour guide told us many stories about local sites that have had murders, suicides and ghost tales.  It would have been spookier at the later (night-time) tours, but then I wouldn't have these great photos, so just pretend it's dark and spooky.

McMenamin's Old St. Francis School has been remodeled and now sports a pub, hotel, theater and fabulous soaking pool.  On a side note, I was watching old episodes of Oregon Art Beat online yesterday and found this great story about the artwork at the McMenamin's locations.

There are stories about ghosts and hauntings here.  A couple staying at The Nunnery house (above) found the morning after they arrived, a photo of themselves sleeping, on their cell phone- creepy!   They didn't stay another night.  I wouldn't have either!

I just love the style here!

The old Bend Firehall has held restaurants for many years, but there are ghost tales here too.

Across the street is Hospital Hill (now hotel hill).  

Yesterday's walk took me past some leaf piles

and the footbridge

to Baked, an afternoon bakery that had a lovely pumpkin display to keep Scrabble company while I was picking out my delicious fresh baked bread.

Hope you have a wonderful Halloween weekend!  I'll be back with more spooky stuff soon.

Contemporary Folk Art Retreat

The Contemporary Folk Art Retreat with Sue Spargo and Tonye Phillips took place at the historic Camp Sherman Community Hall, about 15 minutes from Sisters.  It was so beautifully decorated and a really lovely space to do a bit of stitching.

Actually, we had three days of stitching and it was really just heaven!  Below is the class sample, a pretty bad photo.  I didn't realize my camera was on a funny setting and never did get a better one.  At least you can see the idea.  It was a blend of Tonye's whimsical houses and Sue's wool and embroidery.  Of course, most people took off in their own direction after getting a little inspiration from this and all the other pieces on the walls.

The piece above is by my friend Jan Tetzlaff.  She has a wonderful eye for color and loves to incorporate words and/or letters into any quilt she does.  

Above is from Janet Wilson, a fellow Jude follower (makes us sound a little creepy- Judite??).  Anyway, I think the blues were hand dyed indigo that Janet made.  Her mushroom houses will be just darling!

This piece is by Marian Shimoda, another retreat friend.  Marion will be teaching Whimsical Wired Angels at the Stitchin' Post in December!  I will be there with bells on.  Marion is so very creative and makes all sorts of intricate small dolls and other beautiful pieces.

And this is mine.  I've already added a bunch more applique.  I think my favorite is the Seuss tree!  I have several of my hand dyed fabrics in the piece, both cotton and wool.  The border has indigo dyed fabrics.  I'll post an update some day soon!

Eat. Breathe. Quilt.

Way back in early July, during Quilter's Affair, I was fortunate to attend the Quilter's Picnic in the Park with some fabulous friends.  We had the most fun time!  Tonya, Jessica and Sarah made the evening amazing.  We had a yummy dinner, a hand quilting without a hoop demonstration by Tonya, and lots of laughs.  Thanks gals for a great evening!

Look who I got to meet!

Finally, Lazy Gal Tonya and I are in the same place!  It was so great to meet her- like old friends.  We had a nice dinner at Los Agaves Mexican Restaurant and then attended the Gee's Bend quilter presentation.  While waiting in line I did a mini show and tell and of course, we had to get a photo of this quilt, Love Always, our collaboration.  Tonya made the letters and sent them to me and I made the rest.  

I've got more to share, but it will have to wait.  Two more long days ahead.  See ya!