Kristin Shields Quiltmaker

November Stitches :: This Week

This has been a busy month (are there any that are not?).  Here's a sampling of what's going on this week.  I am taking a once a month wool club class with Tamra at the Stitchin' Post. It's based around Sue Spargo's Bird Dance pattern.  I already have plenty of wool and embellishments, so I started a new project!  Silly me.

I taught my own class: Whimsical Journal Covers on Wednesday. It was a small, but very fun class.  Above is my fox I stitched on as a demo.  Below is Jeannie's dog, my pattern inspired by Scrabble.  So cute!

Lindsey was excited to make a cover to fit a different sized journal. Isn't that pretty fabric!  I forgot to get a picture of the other student's journal, but she did a pieced strip version that was really pretty.My fox is done and when I get a chance I'll be finishing up all these other journal covers to put in the shop.

Above is the quilt that's been my nemesis lately.  I got really, really tired of putting together all those little squares.  I will love the final product, but not the process.  Below is the little project I nearly finished while avoiding the one above.  This one is created from demo pieces from my Portland guild Improv class.  I love it!  And, best of all I love the process too.  If I know one thing about myself, it's that I need variety!

Lastly, hand quilting has been my nightly project for several weeks.  I am making good progress on this one and will update when it's finished!  So, what are you stitching on this week?

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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Boy am I a lucky gal!

When we decided to move to Central Oregon 8 years ago, I had no idea how living here would change my life.  We are so lucky to be in this place that draws quilters from all over the world!  This past weekend I was in quilter's heaven when Gwen Marston came to town.  Gwen did a presentation for the Sisters Guild on Wednesday evening.  Here she talked about her medallion quilts in solids and her folk art applique.

I was especially pleased to see some of her series of tree quilts.  These minis are quite wonderul with their variations, many of which were inspired by antique quilts.

On Thursday I had a full day workshop with Gwen on making the Medallions in solids.  This is my piece which will be added to soon.

My leftovers ended up in this little piece which I will finish off for my November AAQI quilt.

On Friday, I was so excited to take part in the second annual Folk Art Retreat held at the Five Pine Conference Center.  Sue Spargo joined us for 3 days of folk art, wool and stitching goodness.

I had come prepared to do a Halloween inspired quilt and made good progress on it.  By the second day I had lots of fun shapes to add to my growing piece.  This will be finished off with a couple of borders and lots more applique and stitching.  On the last day I spent much of the time some learning new embroidery stitches.  I am all ready for a winter of stitching!

It is always good to catch up with Gwen.  She is just as cute and funny as always.  She is so supportive and would really like to see me start teaching some liberated quiltmaking techniques.  That is a goal of mine and so I have begun to write up a class proposal.  In the meantime, I have considered getting myself a Singer Featherweight for a travel machine.  Any thoughts or considerations you would have for me are very welcome!

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!

Sue Spargo style

I'm taking a trip in the Way Back Machine, come along for the ride!  First off, way back in early July, at Quilter's Affair, I took two classes with Sue Spargo.  One was this class called Travel Journal, based on Sue's quilt, Tree of Life, that she made to celebrate her 50th birthday.  Her's included 50 birds, plus lots of other animals, like dogs, fish, butterflies, etc.  Mine will include the important dogs in my life, many birds and our goldfish who still live at our old house.  Oh, I just remembered I'll have to include my childhood kitties too.  I have not had time to work on this since then, so it looks much the same, though now has a little Scrabble on it.  

I also took Sue's Leaf Play class, but realize now that I never got any photos from that.  It was basically an embroidery tutorial to learn ways to embellish.  As you may know, Sue is known for having heavy embellishment on her quilts.  That was a lot of fun.  Sue's style is in my mind right now because tomorrow I start a 3 day retreat with Sue and Tonye Belinda Phillips!  I can' t wait, it should be tons of fun.  Now, I've got to get my supplies ready.  I'll be back next week with more photos from Way Back When.