A Rose

This is one of the last roses of the year.

Little Ms Small

Sometime in late July I took my little cat, Small, into the vet about an eye infection. After some treatments and a couple of return visits it was determined that she was in fact suffering from a tumour growing under her inner eyelid. The eye specialist thought she also had tumours in the lymph system so even if I had, had money to remove her eye it would have been to no avail. It was a kind of stressful summer watching Ms Small get sicker, but until the last few days she seemed to find things to enjoy all around her.

I had Small about eleven years. I found her in the backyard hiding among the grape leaves. I left her out there, (in the summer) thinking that perhaps she had just sneaked out of her own yard. But after a week of my leaving food out, she began to arrive at my door at about six am yowling for her breakfast and so I decided that she was mine and I brought her in. She was so small I assumed she was a six -nine month old kitten, but on our first visit to the vet for health and teeth inspections and a tummy shave to see that she had already been fixed, the vet told me she was about two years old and Small became my cat.

Late this Summer

And here just a day or two before her death -- sleeping on the back of my challenge quilt. I put a towel on the table for her to nap on as I quilted and she seemed contented with the towel until I walked away from the quilting, when she would give a little stretch and move over on to my unprotected quilt.



I guess Sam and I are doing okay now. Sam seems to miss her more than I would have expected and not just her food, but he definitely misses that too. I had no idea how much of her food he must have been eating. His bowl is always empty now, and he is always needy and asking for love. It helps a bit, gives me something to focus on in addition to the missing Small. She was a good and loving friend I miss her.

Challenge Quilt 2010

Here is the top of my challenge quilt -- before quilting.

I have begun the process of quilting it, which is a darned good thing as it is due in less than one week. I have also found that there is a slit in the fabric around one of the border geese so along with the quilting I will be removing the one flying goose and replacing it. (edit: And then it turned out there was a slit in the fabric around another so I had to replace two of them. )

Autumn

Autumn has definitely arrived. And it has been a gorgeous one. After early rains it has been sunny and moderate which seems to have encouraged the development of the most gorgeous red leaves.





But it is not just the leaves that have been beautiful. Flowers are still in bloom. I thought this rose bud looked amazing in the late afternoon sunshine.


And I do not know what this clematis was doing blooming for a second time this year.

Reds And Greys

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a couple of different projects. Including some of my UFOs. I have made at least a little progress.


I think this piece has reached its maximum size. I am not going to add a border, just binding. I've also done some work on my "challenge" quilt and I will post pictures of that before long.

Sisters VII

I really should get this show on the road and post a larger collection of Sisters' images but I still haven't finished cropping them so...

But here are a couple more.

Red!

I really wish I had gotten a picture of that red and grey quilt at the left of the image. I'm still working on my red and grey piece and I am sure I'll be doing another in the near future and I would just love to see that quilt a little better.

Sisters VI

A few more quilts from Sisters 2010. I believe these are the products of a quilting workshop.

Puss in the Corner

Here is yet another quilt in progress.

I saw this exemplar when I followed the link from her Birding Blog to her quilting blog. I'd never noticed the block before, but this really appealed to me. Immediately I thought it would work with some of my bright fabric. I was thinking specifically of oranges and aquas of which I had plenty. It is bright and certainly different from my model, but I am basically pleased.



Except now I have to figure out what to do about the back. I knew what I was going to do, but my piece of fabric is not big enough for the back. Oops now I have the back figured out, I am going to add a row of blocks and it will work.

Sisters V

Orange Marmalade
Originally uploaded by alice_knitter

Orange Marmalade
By Beth Durand

This quilt was hanging in a courtyard set up for eating so I could not get the whole quilt without people munching, tables and waiters, but I thought it was lovely (and not small) and I was saddened by the very low asking price.

Sisters IV

Although they were not 100% successful, for the most part I was impressed by how well the quilts hanging on any given wall or area complimented one another. I guess with well over 1000 quilts they had plenty to chose from and plenty to be buried under as well -- overall I was impressed.

Sisters III

Here are a few more quilts from my trip to the Sisters Quilt extravaganza. As you may have guessed I love looking at quilts. Every time I look at other people's quilts I am inspired. There are so many things I have yet to try.

Colour Block Quilt -- In Progress

I still have oodles and oodles of images to post from the Sisters Quilt show, but first some images of the quilt I have just been working on. I was inspired to do a quilt made of simple blocks or strips of colour when I saw this one. Of course, once I began it was not all that simple. As I worked on it I was designing it as a vertical piece (and a blanket) like the one that inspired me, but I plopped down in a chair while talking on the phone and I saw it hanging horizontally on the ironing board and I kind of like that. So we will see. And I haven't decided what I will do to finish the top, I am seriously thinking of doing a band similar to the quilt that inspired this project, but I am not yet sure. Again, we will see.

Hanging on the clothesline -- I liked the light shining through it (and glaring in the camera lens).



And a detail because I love the stained glass effect.



And finally laying on the carpet without the benefit of solar glow.

Sisters II

More Quilts from the 2010 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Exhibit

This was the 35th annual outdoor quilt exhibit in Sisters. Apparently there were about 1400 quilts on exhibit this year. I am sure I missed many of them, but even so the exhibit is a sensory overload. So many quilts and people and wonderful sunshine.

Hens And Chicks

There is something about the way these little fellows grow all crowed together that just appeals to me. It also would make a nice model for a quilt pattern.

Sisters

The Mountains from the Edge of Sisters

This year for the first time ever I attended the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. I took many pictures and not nearly as many as I would have liked. At some point in the process I suddenly realized my memory card was filling up. It is easy to reach sensory overload looking at so many quilts in the hot sun -- all in one day. But I think looking at all those quilts and my photographic reminders will improve my quilting. It will take me a month or two or three to post them, but here are a couple images to set the scene.

This is where I was dropped off by the bus -- at City Hall and the Start of the quilt walk for me.

Here is blocked off main street full of people admiring the quilts.

Quilts hanging on City Hall. Unfortunately, I only rarely managed to capture quilters names -- I will post those I got.

2010 Mary's River Quilt Quild Quilt Challenge

Scrap It Your Way

This challenge is intended to help members reduce their stash. With the downturn in the economy, people are packing their lunches, watching their pennies and stretching their dollars, and the Challenge Quilt Committee wants to help. Each brown bag challenge packet contains two fat quarters of coordinated fabric to use as a starting point for your project – a quilt, a wall hanging, wearable art or maybe even a reusable quilted bag for shopping—REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.
Participants are allowed to trade fabrics with someone else if desired.

Guidelines:
1. The two fat quarter fabrics must be used on the front or outside of the project.
2. Participants must use their fabric stash for the top. However, the back of the quilt or
wearable art can be newly purchased.
3. Challenge yourself to do something different/new—try a new block, technique, or machine quilting design.

This is my fabric for the challenge

My initial selection was something all together more horrible. Actually one of the prints was a very old fashioned sort that I buy on occasion, but which I can never figure out how to use. Luckily the woman sitting next to me was as horrified with her initial selection of fabric, as I was with mine, so we made a swap. But now even though I rather like these and I think I have things that will work with them, I have made no progress and my deadline is fast approaching.

UFOs#2

Objects I forgot when I made the first list

9. Yellow and Blue Crib Quilt – which I have been hand quilting for years and which is sitting in the living room. How on earth did I forget it? And it is the first quilt I ever started -- obviously not the first quilt finished though.


10. Sawtooth Stars on a Navy Ground – another one I was actually working on as I wrote the list. It is now pieced up to, but not including the borders. I can’t figure out exactly what I am going to do. I want the border to be relatively substantial (4+ inches) because I want the quilt to be a bit bigger. The quilt is based on the Sawtooth Star quilt on page 40 of the second edition of Quilts, Quilts, Quilts by McClun and Nownes. I don’t want mine to be exactly the same – but neither do I want it to be different just to be different. I now have an idea!

11. I have several strips of pieced stripes of greys and lavenders – at least some of which will go together to produce a wall hanging.

12. Alternating Greens and Peaches wall hanging – largely but not completely quilted. Actually much of this quilt has been quilted twice so it is not exactly on my oh what a fun quilt list.

13. Shades of Green – A quilt I started after I wrote the first list. About half the blocks are partially completed.

Winter I

Winter I (detail)

UFO #4 joins the rank of the finished.

This is my third in the Seasons Series (I have begun working on a second version of Winter). It is intended to reflect a Willamette Valley Winter -- multiple shades of grey. Grey and more grey day after day. (It is virtually summer and it is still grey.)

Reds And Greys

UFO #6
Well this is where I am with this unfinished object. It seems to have moved to front and center on the to do list. I would like to move it aside so I can sew the binding on one of the other unfinished objects, but with all these little pieces it may take me a while.
The center square is about 10 inches in its current unfinished state and includes 72 bits. I have very little idea what came over me.

Another Clematis

My Clematis

I've been doing some gardening and lots of photography but I have also been working on an update to the UFO list as well as on my quilting. What I haven't been doing is my stretching, so I need to get that back on the to do list.

Spring Tulips

UFOs

Here's a list of my unfinished Objects (quilts only this time so as to not be too daunting)
I have big hopes of finishing the bulk of these up, in the near future, as well of course of starting some new things.

1. Spring Jazz -- it is at the sandwich stage. Needs quilting, I have an idea about what I would like the quilt pattern to be -- something with jags that runs across the quilt, which reflects or mirrors, but not exactly, the pattern of the blocks.
2. Quilt with no name -- needs a binding and a hanging sleeve (I guess) both of which I am all in a dither about. I have no backing fabric to make the hanging sleeve, so what to do? I am leaning toward some sort of green for the binding and with a little work I should be able to pick one.
3. Crown of Thorns (more or less) wall hanging -- needs to be made into a sandwich. I have fabric picked out for the back, so no thinking required.
4. Winter I small wall hanging -- needs to be made into a sandwich
   
5. Winter II -- very much a work in progress
6. Reds and Greys Half Squares -- lots of little half squares made but as yet I have no clear idea how they will go together.
7. Blues and Yellows Half Squares
8. Circles -- I think a majority of the blocks have been made, but not all as you can see by the photo, and the layout is a long way from being decided.

Second Nine Patch

Finally the photos of my second finished Nine Patch. The fabric selection in this version are slightly darker, that is to say I used more darker fabrics than in the first version of the quilt. It even includes at least one fabric not used in the first. Despite this the two have a very similar feel.

The multi colour edge band contributes most to the difference in "feel" between the two quilts. Along with the very different and much darker back to this second quilt.