Quilters Affair in Sisters, Oregon

Nothing is better than teaching in Sisters, Oregon.  OK, maybe Hawaii but I am stuck on the mainland for a while.  Jean and Valerie at Stitching Station in Sisters have set up a fun and wild week of mad stitching fun in July . If you have never been there, put it on your list. It’s great!  I am teaching a 2 day Hibiscus class, a 2 day new Hidden Beach class and a 1 day Bird Of Paradise class. I promised my students the supply list, color charts, and a little more information to get you ready for the class and here it is!

Let's start with the fabric first, the most important part.  I always say It’s all about the color and that is so true but what if you feel a little timid about how to choose color?  Here is a tips to help you in selecting your fabrics that I learned from Alex Anderson: More is always better.

First, realize that you may have to buy some new fabrics.  You will be making a beautiful art quilt that you will be proud to show off.  I guarantee it.  You are paying good money to take this class and to come to this wonderful retreat. Why would you not bring the best fabric you can?  Treat yourself to making a great quilt, which starts with beautiful fabrics. You don’t need yards of it for this class but you do need the right colors and values in that color to make this work.  The largest amount is ½ yard, the rest will be ¼ and 1/8 yards.  Fat quarter yards work great!  I personally have always been on the quilting budget, so I have had to be careful with the pennies I spend on my fabrics.  That is where the color chart comes into play. 

I have made a color chart to help you choose fabric colors and amounts. In class, I will help you make your color chart with the fabrics you bring.  The key to making a successful color chart is to bring more fabrics choices than are on the chart.  Example: if you can’t decide between 2 fabrics, just bring both.  That way we, together, can select the right colors for you.  You don’t have to know it all before class - I am there to help you, which is why you are taking the class!  Now, breathe.

Next supply you will need is Steam- A- Seam 2.  I don’t use the Lite because it doesn't stick as well as the 2.  It can be purchased in packages or by the yard - it doesn't matter but you will go through it like candy. When I say to bring 6 yards I mean 6 yards.

Another important tool is the scissors you bring to class.  You can’t build a house using a TV remote, right?  Do yourself a favor and bring some good, comfortable scissors.  You will need large ones (8”) and a small pair.  I did a blog on good scissors called Running With Scissors - you may want to read it before class. It’s kind of funny, too.

If you have any questions please email me.  If you can’t find Steam-A-Seam 2, you can buy it from me. Here’s the link to my web site. They will also have beautiful fabrics and Steam-A-Seam in Sisters.  

Now, download your supply list or I can mail you one if you don’t have a good printer.  I look forward to meeting you and playing with color. 

Hibiscus Class

Hibiscus Supply List:

• Background fabric cut to 28"X 28" in a color you want your flower on.
• Tweezers or stiletto to help you move small pieces around.
• Sharp scissors in a variety of sizes - this is your most important tool for this technique.  I like large (8”), good quality scissors for cutting.
• Sharpie markers, fine tip and bold in black
• Pencil with eraser 
• Small post-it notes
• Glue stick
• Straight pins - I like the larger ones with the yellow round heads.
• 6 yds. Steam-A-Seam 2 - I like the 18”width, but any size or packages will do.
•  Teflon pressing sheet (optional

To finish your quilt at home:

• Sulky Rayon 30 weight thread, in colors that match your project
• Jeans Denim needles or Top Stitch needles in size 12/80 or 14/90
• 1 yd. batting -I like Dream Cotton in the lowest loft,Request.
•  1 yd. backing fabric

A Little Quilt History from Nebraska

Art and creativity today is always influenced by the past. Even when we think we are being so original it still has ties to the past.  So it’s important to know where we came from and what were they creating?  As I get older, I really appreciate the women that molded my life and art today, even the ones I never met.

In my first year studying art at junior college, I remember being so bored by art history class.  I loved the impressionists and wanted to just study from that time period forward.   But we had to start at the beginning.  Why do we have to know this stuff? I would ask my art teacher.  She would very wisely say To be able to stand upon a firm foundation to create.  I didn't really know what she was talking about at the time but I sure do now and I can’t get enough of the history of artists, their art, and the whys and hows of their work.  What was going on in history that influenced their work and there lives?

When I use the word artist I am also including quilters. Yes, quilting is art even though it has been a much under-appreciated art form.  You can see the art so clearly when visiting the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.   This is one of the must visit sites for the art quilter.  I had the privilege of getting a private tour of the museum this last week while speaking and teaching for the Nebraska Quilt Guild. 

OMG!  Don’t mess with Nebraska - they got it all going on.

The first exhibit I saw was on the history of indigo painting and dying in America.  It was fascinating as it covered all the different processes and colors of indigo. There were many processes for adhering the indigo to the cloth over the years so it would remain permanent.  America loves its blue!

I learned so much about the process of indigo dye and all the different colors of indigo. You can see that in the quilt above.

One color sometime makes the best statement.

I love this one.  This quilt is called Britchy Quilt and was made by Maggie Smith in 1980 in Greene County, Alabama. It's hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  She removed the pockets which give a great block of deep blue.  I love the fading of the indigo jeans and  how she put this together.  Pure art.  I see a little Gees-Bend in this one.

 This next exhibit was 100 years of Quilts and their photographic history.

Quilts were used a lot in family pictures.  Do you have any old pictures of family with quilts?

This little girls has a crazy patch dolly quilt in the corner.

 This is a photo of Bertha Neiden and her award winning quilt. She was very proud of this quilt and rightly so. Someone even wrote on the picture that there are 10,222 pieces in this quilt.  She counted?

The museum has the original quilt in its collection.  It was damaged in a flood and the colors bled but that gives it a water color effect that I love.  She worked in a garment making plant and made this from the scraps.

The fabric looks like velvet but it is 100% cotton and has the look and feel of Cherry Wood fabrics. NOTE: I did not touch it.

Then there was this great picture of the Cherokee lady from Oklahoma Territory quilting an Irish Chain.  They met at the church once a week and quilted together.  Someone listed all their names on the back of the photo.  That is what my great-grandma Lula Youngblood-Standlee did and she was Cherokee.  Quilting is in my blood.

Nothing says America better on Saint Patrick's Day than a group of Native American women working on an Irish Chain Quilt in red and green.

 A blizzard blew me into the state of Nebraska but the quilts and quilters lit my fire. 

Hilo Adventure

Traveling is sometime a little tricky so I have learned to always be prepared and decided not to take a flight to Hawaii from San Francisco but to go out of LA because San Francisco can sometimes have fog early in the morning so, to be safe, let’s go out of L.A.   Well, do I have egg on my face?  Los Angles was fogged in the morning we needed to leave for Kona.  So, we made a detour to Ontario, CA to wait the fog out and we missed our flight.  Of course, Betty in row 9D is in a panic over the delay and can’t make her flight and we all have to hear her talk to all 14 family members - that’s 14 different calls on her cell, as we wait on the plane for a gate.  Oh, by the way, did I mention she was a LOUD talker?

Thank God I was flying in a day before I had to teach at Quilting on the Beach in Kona, Hawaii. When we finally arrived in LA we had to change our plans which meant standing in a line forever to get a new flight and now we are going to catch the next flight at 5pm to Hilo, which is also on the Big Island of Hawaii.  I ask the reservations girl on the phone how far Hilo is from Kona.  It’s an island can’t be that far, right?  She says it 65 miles away.  Well, she was wrong!  It takes 2 hours to get to Kona from Hilo and we were arriving at about 9 pm so our hosts ask one of their teachers if she could put us up in Hilo until tomorrow when Robert (our host in Kona) could come and get us.  Well, it was a nice surprise to an exhausting day to find our hostess was Phyllis Cullen, a fiber artist extraordinaire.   She and her husband, Mark, just moved to the island from Chico, CA 6 months ago and her house was to die for and I was in heaven.  Here are some wonderful pictures of her studio, house, and their gardens.  So the fog turned into a great surprise. Thank you, Mark and Phyllis!

The driveway to the house is a cave of palm trees with orchids out of every other one.  Amazing!

Phyllis's dreamy studio.

 Some of Phyllis's beautiful quilts.

Joe in front of Phyllis's quilt.

Mark and Joe

Mark went out and cut these bananas off their tree. They were so sweet.

The view.

Phyllis is making her way through the jungle to show us her waterfall.

The waterfall.

                                                                               

Their yard was like a botanical garden.  I think my next quilt idea is coming from the pictures I took there.

We eat the guavas right off the tree.

  Now we just have to figure out how to make a living in Hilo!

Gold Coast of Oergon

I was invited to teach for the Azalea Quilters and the Gold Beach Quilters, both on the beautiful west coast of Oregon right past the California border.  If fact, if you blink, you will miss the sign that says Welcome to Oregon.  It only took 7 hours to drive and that’s good because there aren't any real airports very close.

This stretch of highway is called The Redwood Highway and starts around Santa Cruz and runs up to Canada (I think).  But really, it’s the same Hwy 101 where you can sit in traffic in Southern Cal for hours just to go 20 miles. But once you get to about Willits in Northern CA, the trees start to get really big and majestic.   

This highway runs the length of California to Oregon and beyond.  It’s one of the most amazing drives in the world.  If you have never been in the big redwood forest you need to put this trip on your bucket list.  Plus, this is also Big Foot country.  There have been more sighting here than any other spot. Everywhere you look there are signs that he (she?) was there.

I thought you might like to see my drive home and pictures I took along the way.   When the rain stopped and the sun came out,  WOW - what a beautiful day!  Keep your eyes peeled for Sasquatch, it likes it up there, too.


Side Note:
I also meet on this trip a wonderful woman who is a member of the Azalea Quilters. Her name is Diana and she has been using my technique a lot and she is really good. She brought 4 of her quilts to show me what she has made from my designs. It was a thrill and an honor to meet her and see her work. Here is Diana and her beautiful quilts.

Clematis from my book, Cutting Garden Quilts.

Apple Bowl from Cutting Garden Quilts.

Wisteria Lane from Skinny Table Runners and Quilts.

This is my all time favorite, Coneflower from Cutting Garden Quilts.

Diana and me.