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.  

Fun with MOO

A quick post just to show you all some of the photos I used for my latest MOO order.  The first group are photos I used on blank greeting cards.

This time I also got some postcards made and will sell them in sets of 4 patchwork cats.  These are really fun!

I am totally swamped with last minute stuff related to the upcoming Fiber Arts Stroll on Sunday and other things in general.  Such a heady time!  I also realized that I took all my quilts to the quilt show office and forgot to get photos of the two most recent ones before I took them in!  I hate when I forget the photos.  So, that will have to be a post for another day.  

At the Fiber Art Stroll I will be demonstrating my process for using vintage linens in textile art.  I will also have greeting cards, postcards, hand dyed fabric inspiration packs, hand stitched ornaments and a few original fiber art pieces for sale.  If you are able to stop by on Sunday I will be on the shady porch in front of The Culver House, just to the right of the Stitchin' Post.  I look forward to seeing you!

If you see a design you would like to buy before I can get them up on Etsy, you can email me or leave a comment.  We should be able to work something out.  Greeting cards are $4 each, postcards sets are $6 each, plus shipping.  Thanks!

**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 the cats anymore.**

Back to the Cats

Starting to puzzle the blocks together, thinking about how to do the faces, hoping I can get it done for the show (but not going to make myself crazy to do so!).  What's up with you?

Adventures with Caran D'Ache Neocolor II: Hibiscus, Houses and Candy

Further adventures with Neocolor II!  The basic idea with these pieces is that I painted directly on a piece of muslin. First I ironed the muslin to a piece of freezer paper to make it easier to draw on.  I made my design with Neocolor II crayons.  Then I went over it with the textile medium/water solution.

For the hibiscus I let the fabric dry, heat set it with the iron, removed the freezer paper and then washed it under the faucet.  I then ironed it again to dry the piece.  The hand of this one is much softer than the butterfly piece.  I layered it with two pieces of thin batting and quilted it.  Then I did a pillowcase finish with a backing fabric and went around the whole thing with a topstitch.  This has a nice heft and feel, but isn't as stiff as the Fast-2-Fuse cards.  I think I like this better. I certainly like the edges better.

I couldn't resist making some little houses too. I painted it with the basic directions above, but with this one I was impatient to get it done and didn't want to wait for it to dry.  After painting, I placed it between a couple of pieces of regular paper and ironed it with the freezer paper still attached.  Because the paint was still wet, some of the color transferred to the paper when ironed, so it has a softer look, almost a bit antiqued.  The hand of this one is also softer than the butterfly even though I didn't actually wash out the textile medium.  I then layered it with two pieces of thin batting, quilted it, did a pillowcase finish with the backing and topstitched all around to close the opening.  I just love this one!

This "Spice Drops" piece is another 12 x 12 for the theme "candy".  This one was done as above with the painting done on just a piece of muslin attached to freezer paper.  After drying I removed the freezer paper, washed it, ironed to dry and then went on as with any other quilt- layered with batting and backing and machine quilted it. This is my least favorite.  The batting was rather thin for a whole cloth quilt and it just seems so flat- texturally and color-wise.  I love the butterfly one so much that I think I will go for that technique over this one if I try it again.  However, the postcards turned out great.  It's such a fun way to make a little piece like that!  The two postcards are going to the Wish Upon A Card fundraiser.

Here's "Watch Your Step" with the binding partially on.  I thought it needed the bold binding to frame it rather than a facing.  

The Spirit of the Wood

My Novel Idea quilt is done!  The Spirit of the Wood was inspired by The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which was chosen as the Deschutes Public Library Novel Idea Book this year.  This fabulous story was itself inspired by the Russian folktale of The Snow Child or The Snow Maiden.  It is set in Alaska in the 1920's and tells the story of a childless couple who somehow come to know a small girl who survives in the Alaskan winters in the company of a red fox.  Previous posts are here and here.

I read this book during the snowiest part of our winter, just after Christmas, and it was magical.  There are so many passages that are evocative of the time and place, so many opportunities to be creatively inspired.  I took notes and could have made a dozen different quilts.  It was very hard to pare it down to the things I most wanted to have in my quilt.  In fact, if I had the time I have two other ideas I'd love to make into quilts!

The fox was the very first thing I wanted to have here and it was a bit of a challenge to try to get an approximation of the colors and the eyes.  Faces are always a challenge for me, but in the folk art tradition, eyes do not have to be symmetrical and perfect.  In this quilt, the Spirit of the Wood may be the fox, the owl, or even the trees.  I needed a title that wasn't just "The Snow Child" and spent a 1/2 hour browsing the pages to find something that would fit.  How perfect is this name given that embroidered "S"!  

While there were many different animals mentioned in the book (I made a list of over 30), I didn't notice owls.  However, this one just begged to be included and adds the touch of color I wanted up there by the moon.

The "S" could signify snow child, snow, snowflakes, snow angels, stars, swan feathers, spirit or even Shields.  I think it looks a bit like a cloud in the sky.  

Subtle elements I included are the snow angels and swan feathers, both important to the story.  In addition to the wonderful plot of this book, there are many references to hand sewing and embroidery.  I tried to emulate Mabel's hand stitched snowflakes.

The book title is couched to the bottom of the panel with some of my hand spun yarn and embroidery floss.

The panel itself is made from a vintage table runner that already had the crocheted edging.  I cut it in half and dyed it in indigo last summer, before I knew about the book project.  I love reusing vintage textiles this way.  In fact, the "S" fabric is an indigo dyed vintage hanky, the snow is made from two different vintage (and well used) kitchen linen towels.  The edging at the top is an indigo overdyed linen table cloth.  It's the only part that was machine sewed because I was running out of time and my fingers were too sore to contemplate hand sewing it down.  The trees and fox were hand dyed by me (except the trunks which are a commercial batik).

I hope you enjoyed this mini tour of The Spirit of the Wood.  This piece will hang in the QuiltWorks gallery for the whole month of April.  The reception is Friday, April 5, 5-7 pm and there will be 50-60 quilts in this Snow Child exhibit.  I've seen many of them and it's going to be amazing!  We hope the author will have a chance to see the quilts when she comes for her lectures the first weekend of May.

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!