Chiloquin Quilt Show

When we checked into the Rocky Point campground, we were handed a tourist "newspaper," with a guide to the Upper Klamath Lake area and a calendar of events. I was thrilled to learn that the Chiloquin quilt guild (I think they're called the Chiloquilters) was having a two-day show. Of course, I was there! The town was on the other side of the lake, but it was definitely worth the 25-mile drive. I met a designer from Chiloquin, Sandy Selk, and will be doing a post later about her and two wall hanging quilts I will be doing of hers. The pictures below are of quilts that caught my eye.

The one below is their raffle quilt, and I bought a ticket. They won't draw until September - but at least I have a chance to win!



This is a Sandy Selk design - from her Southwestern Icons series.

Missing Dad on Father's Day

(yes, I know the picture is backwards, but that's how the slide was scanned about 10 years ago)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my father - taken in 1968 while he was in Saigon during the Vietnam war. He looks a little tired, a little pensive, but to me he also looks kind. He made mistakes in his life - but he always loved us and was always thinking of us. It's been 9 years since he died, and I still find myself thinking about things I want to tell him and share with him.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. I wish you were here.

Hexagons in nature, and progress on my quilt

We're on a 6-week trip in our trailer, and one of our stops was Devil's Postpile National Monument in the Sierras west of Mammoth Lakes. The postpile is made of cooled lava, which formed into hexagon-shaped columns. This picture is taken at the top - where glaciers sheared off the tops and smoothed them into perfect pavestones.



Since we didn't have electricity the first week of our trip, I was able to get a lot done on my first quilt made from hexagons. The first section, which will be out to the white edges, is almost done. From there I'll continue outward in yellows and a color yet to be decided.


For pictures and descriptions of our summer trip, go to my travel blog, Wanderlust.

On the Road Again!

June Lake, California

This will be our first stop, tomorrow, and we'll be there a week. From there we'll go to Bridgeport, then Frenchman's Reservoir, then Eagle Lake, then in to Oregon to Diamond Lake. After that we'll go to Camp Sherman, while I enjoy the Sisters International Outdoor Quilt Festival July 11th. From Camp Sherman we'll go to Agness, on the Rogue River, then Crescent City back in California, then Shingletown, then Topaz Lake in Nevada, and finally South Lake above Bishop. We'll be gone 6 weeks. I'm taking the sewing machine, crazy quilting stuff, cross stitching pieces, hexagons, and lots of fabric. Don will fish. I will stitch, sew, or read. We'll take some hikes, visit some touristy places, and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountains of California and Oregon.

I'll post periodic updates when we have WiFi and electricity.

Bye for now!

America the Beautiful - finished top

This was the second quilt we worked on in our class. It's called "America the Beautiful," and was inspired by the song of the same name. It was originally published as a series quilt in Quiltmaker magazine back in 2002 and 2003. The designer of the paper-pieced eagles is Theresa Eisinger, and the designer of the whole quilt is Caroline Reardon. We learned a variety of techniques doing this one - string piecing for the mountain skies and plains, Flying Geese, stitch-and-flip, paper piecing, and a jillion half-square triangles. (Actually, 144.)

Hexagons, Hexagons

One night during out quilt class, one of the members (Sheri) showed us how to do English paper piecing. At first, I was interested in learning the technique, but was not too excited about doing lots of flowers. So I put it away, and didn't think about it for a couple of months. A few weeks ago I saw some hexagon sites, and began to get interested again - because I realized I don't have to do flowers! I can do diamonds, and stars, and all sorts of patterns, and even do little pieces with no pattern! I've been making lots of hexagons, as you can see, and I enjoy the fact that this is so portable.




Yes, this is a hexagon. An uneven-sided hexagon, but a hexagon no less. It's also the perfect size to take my hexagon-making kit with me.




I can keep lots of cardboard hexagons in it, scraps, scissors, thread, needles, and thimbles for when my fingers get sore. I put a couple of magnets in the lid to hold needles. Sheri says she takes her "kit" when she travels, so I'm going to give this a try while Don is driving on our trip.

Finished top: Victory Quilt

All done! This is the first quilt we worked on in our quilt class. It's an Eleanor Burns quilt, and I did 20 blocks. There are a couple that are duplicates, so there are 16 different squares. Once we get back from our summer trip, I'll get it sandwiched and quilted.

Crumb Chaos blocks

I think these are also called Mile-a-Minute blocks. I used Patti's tutorial and got rid of a bunch of scraps. I think I'll use these for a mini quilt or some kind of scrappy quilt - I just wanted to try the technique.

These will be a quilt some day...

Once in a while I'll spend a day making string squares. I used Bonnie Hunter's String Quilting Primer to get started, and so far have made almost 100 squares. They're 5 1/2 inches, and I think I'll need almost 300 to make a full/queen sized quilt. Or is it almost 400? I don't know right now. I just crank 'em out. About 5 hours of sewing produces anywhere from 25 to 35 squares.

Crazy Quilt: Blue Tones

This is my first little crazy quilt block, which I turned into a mini-quilt. I used a method where you start with a five-sided center piece, and build outward from it. It is embellished with lace, a silver brad (from my old scrapbooking days) and some buttons.



Stitches used on the seams:
1. double-laced backstitch
2. butterfly chain stitch
3. couching
4. feather stitch
5. cross stitch
6. fly stitch