Thursday 10 August 2023

Trip to Oregon first stop was Acorns & Threads

Where I met up with these love zoom friends who are avid cross stitchers I know from Acorns & Threads.  It was so lovely of them to come to visit with me in person.  The classroom annex is a lovely place to stitch.  We had to shift to make room for more stitchers the day I went on the First Thursday stitch.

I left the group early so I could drive up to Bend where I stayed for 4 nights and explored and met up with some more friends. On the Friday I met my friend Michelle at Black Butte Ranch.  They have a small quilt show just before the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It was a bit of a challenge getting there as there was a car fire causing traffic delays our friend Carrie couldn’t find parking so she headed back to Sistrrs to do some shopping before the big event.

The quilts are made by residents in the Black Butte Community,  the winds were quite brisk so some of the quilts were flapping away.  They had lovely taped harp music and it was delightful to sit and enjoy the venue.




Te Sister’s mountains off in the distance.

This and the next quilt were made by the same person same pattern just different fabrics.



Wandering around the Teachers Pavilion I ran int 3 of the 4 Twisted Sisters.  The fourth was on a cuise in Norway!  They are always a colourful group of women.



This year I missed the firemen putting up the staff quilts on the side of the Stitchin’ Post building.


This was a fun scrappy quilt the different fabrics especially in the tree trunk wer quite wonderful,


On a closer look there wa a little lonely green sheep.


So many wonderful greens and browns and a kit if thought went into this piece.


Next to the tree quilt was this amazing piece by a second artist.  It looked so textural and real.


It was cooler than usual but it’s so hard to manage to see everyone.  Sometimes an overall view is the best way to enjoy the show.


But some pieces need that up close and personal photo.


These were all in a row and were breath taking.


I love crow quilts especially when a full moon is involved.


In the teacher’s pavilion there was a display of Sue Spargo wool quilts.  Several years ago I lucked into buying a kit for the Peacock and on this trip I found the pattern on sale so it will become another wool project on my to do list.


HomeGrown which I saw in 2019 when I took a workshop with Sue in Calgary at Out of Hand.


Earth ‘N’ Twig another older block of the month by Sue.


Squash Squad by Sue Spargo stitched by her friend Tonye Phillip’s on display in the Stitchin’ Post.


Rooted a newly released Lite block of the month a good one trying Sue’s style of wool embellishing stitching.


Of A Feather also a new released block of the month pattern.


On the Sunday after there is an event at the 5 pines Resourt just outside of Sisters.  Sarah Fielke an Australian quilter the the guest presenter,  I’ve started several of her blocks of the month.  This is one that caught my eye after it had commenced.  I’ve done most of the appliqué blocks but not the pieced ones.


The one on the right is another that I’ve started but not finished.  I really don’t have a lot left to do one it.


Folk Tales most of the inside appliqués are done but not the borders or pieced sashing.


Enjoying the quilts and walking amongst the pines is a lovely way to finish a busy weekend.


This was Sarah’s trip out of Australia since July 2019 coming to Sisters is one of her favourite trips to take.


The quilt on the right is another block of the month.  These are all published and she has video tutorials for you to access each month.


Sarah loves making quilts with words.







 On a construction note the new exterior is starting to be revealed on the cul du sac side  some have patios finished others still needing railings and glass sidings to be added.


They’ve been removing the scaffolding from the top to the second floor and removing the construction curtaining.  When I leave my condo I now come out to natural light which took a bit to get used to after 4 months of blue tinged light.


I came home to new windows throughout my condo some finishing was still needed to be done and they ended out taking my big window out again as the frame wasn’t quite square.  But they had it back in within 3 hours so the finishing carpenter could do the wood trim for me.  Now to decide what colours to paint in which room and what kind of window treatments ti I want to get.  The old vertical Venetian blinds went to the garbage recycling when they came down.

A few of my purchases, the Peacock pattern.


I couldn’t resist this cute notepad perfect for in your handbag or tote.


Some mini buttons for some cross stitch patterns I bought.  I went back to Acorns & Thread for Biscornu Wednesday.  I didn’t have one to stitch but I did buy two patterns and linen for them.  They were out of the patter when I was there the previous week.


Some tiny Mill Hill beads for the two projects,


At the shop they had a stack of 3 biscornu that were stitched on 3 different counts of linen.  They did the crab one as both the smallest and largest sizes.


Then they made the dragonfly and frog one the middle size and stack them  one on top of each other.


These are the linens u got.  A soft turquoise and two blues which are different in real life,

I also bought a third pattern while I was away which has arrived.  An octopus and coral design.



Monday 3 July 2023

June update along with other stuff..

I got some new charts I particularly love this line by Primrose Cottage.

I love lemons and this will be a cute pin keep.


More bees.


I also like crescent moons and rabbits.


One more.


My present piece I’m working on.


Random Threads by Erica Michaels.


This was to be a pillow but I decided to frame it.


I decided to finally stitch this needle roll I purchased many years ago.


It’s called the Roadrunner Needle Roll.  It’s still available but the roadrunner fabric is out of print.


The outside of mine.


Inside with a needle under each label.


And the left side of the roll.


The whole roll opened up.


All rolled up and ready for a new project.  Finished on June 30th!


A favourite bee stitched framed and just back from the framers on July 1st.


After taking a picture two weeks ago I went to start stitching on Halloween Eve and realized I was of by a stitch so some Euripides entailed and I’m back on track.


Not very much left before this piece will be heading to the framers.


I am so glad I didn’t do the suggested patchwork stitching and only used the outline and filling threads.


My walk along a very deserted Quay boardwalk this afternoon on the recognized statutory holiday for 
July 1st.  I was quite surprised how quiet it was.