Modern Patchwork Magazine, July/August 2017

This quilt started as my submission for the Sisters Outdoor Show but I only finished it in time to submit for Quiltcon.  Since it is was original design, I debated and submitted it to Modern Patchwork Magazine for consideration instead.  Lucky for me, they accepted it and here it is.

I worked on it last summer at a PMQG Sew Day at Fabric Depot.  It worked out nice because there was room to lay it out and I could run over to the store side and pick out fabric when I was stuck.  I used the “Columns” from Garden Secrets for my color palate.  All the solids are Kona Cottons and there are various prints from Garden Secrets to add interest.  I actually used the 6.5″ templates from fellow PMQG member, Jen.  They are great and she has more sizes now.

Here is the back.  I used my signature “seer sucker” quilting.

Last night was our second night out at a local migrant camp this season and it marks my 21st year out there.  Others led BINGO while I took photos of families.  We’ll distribute the photos in two weeks.

Selvage Skirt

A few months back Deborah from my guild sent me an email with a selvage outfit and a note, “How about whipping one up for the quilt show?” It got me thinking that a skirt would be fun.  That’s when I found Linda’s and got to work with the selvage skills learned from Karen.

The front and back before trimming.  I drafted an A-line pattern from a combination of several skirt patterns I had on hand.  The selvages are on a 60 degree angle.

Sewn and ready for the elastic waistband.

For Father’s Day, Kevin and I left the Gumjuwac trailhead at 6pm and headed up to Lookout Mountain in the Badger Creek Wildernesses, east of Mt. Hood.
This time of year, trails are still snow covered in places.

And some are sketchy.  Look at the steepness.

From the time we got to camp until we were leaving the next morning, we were in a cloud with limited visibility.

On the way down, it was clearing up a bit.

Love the moss behind Swag.

Las Vegas, it was Fun!

My sister turned 50 in May and has always maintained that we’d all be going to Las
Vegas for her 50th.  She’s the third sister of five to reach 50.  My weekend is documented here and the next sister’s here.

Arrival into Las Vegas from Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and Oregon.

I made 14 zipper pouches using this pattern and Alison Glass & Kona cotton.

Once we were all in the hotel rooms, we gathered and added items to the pouches.

Our first adventure was a tour to the Hoover Dam.  Three of us booked it across the bridge to the Arizona end.

Heather is at the NV/AZ state line.

Hoover Dam tour.

Using science to make the water spit up.  Pretty fun.

Dolling up for “Love” by Cirque du Soleil.

After the show, we headed up to Old Las Vegas.  This is our niece with two dancers.

While the other sisters were at a show, my niece and I walked over to the Bellagio and saw two of the water shows.

My niece paid for her trip with a few wins.  Every time she put money in the slots she won something.

Our dad, brothers, her husband and in-laws all wrote notes about how lucky they were to have Christine in their lives.  I made a ditty bag with a USPS logo since she’s a postmaster to hold them.

I made a quilt for our St. Nicholas raffle a few years ago and my sister mentioned that she loved it.  So I made another for her birthday.  It’s from Boo Davis‘ book.

Five sisters on our last day together.

Four of us walked the strip to the Las Vegas sign.

On my return home, I found out that my son’s friend passed away from an illness. It is such a loss, but I am so grateful to have watched him grow from a young child who got locked in the freezer with Andrew in second grade to a college graduate, married man gracing our community with his kindness.  Chris will be missed by so many.

Yet Another Hedgehog Quilt

I think I can make these hedgehogs in my sleep.  The pattern is by fellow PMQG member, Elizabeth.  A brand new baby boy is the recipient of this 50″ x 60″ quilt.  It uses only Kona cotton and I quilted it with straight lines and absolutely LOVE the green binding ~~ can’t remember the color.

 

Pantone Challenge Quilt Voting Begins

There are 105 entries in the Pantone Quilt Challenge 2017.  You can vote for your favorite in all three categories here.  It’s going to be hard for me to choose.  Thank you to sponsors and hosts for another great challenge.

This weekend, we hiked up to Paradise Park for our eighth night camping in snow for the year.  It was over 16 miles total with 3200′ elevation gain.  At 4200′ we hit solid snow and used a mix of snow shoes and micro spikes to get to our destination.

Our GPS was indispensable on this trip because this is what we were hiking through for a lot of the time.

In Split Rock, Kevin found these flowers.

Sunset.

Kevin’s night photography.

 

Until next time.

Boy Scout Ridge Again ~~ no joke

Due to work schedules changing, we shortened our hike and went up White River again last weekend.  Here are a few photos.  I had wanted to use some of these for my Pantone Challenge, but with the snow, it wasn’t a possibility.

Shortly after this, we put on our snowshoes.

The mountain was so incredible in person at this time of the evening.

10:15pm at night.  There were climbers up on the mountain?

3:50am in the morning there were a zillion of climbers making their way to the summit

Some first signs of spring.

Wildwood Blazes: Pantone Greenery Quilt Challenge

My “Wildwood Blazes” has been in my mind for many years.  I tried to make one a few years back, but scrapped it.  As everyone knows, I love to hike and many trails have blue blazes on trees to mark the way.  Portland has a series of trails in Forest Park with one being Wildwood Trail.  It is our go to when the mountains or coast range have miserable weather.  Nike has marked each 1/4 mile with a blue blaze and higher on the tree, a mileage marker.

In my quilt, I sewed 3″ scrappy blocks in “greenery” colors with one skinny edge being brown hoping to duplicate the feel of the forest with the browns and greens mixing.  On some trails, you can see the blue diamond blazes along several trees in a row as you look ahead, thus several blue diamonds in a strip.

“Wildwood Blazes” finishes at 31″ x 42″ and is straight line quilted in green except the blazes where I used a blue thread and my signature seer-sucker quilting.  I’m linking up with No Hats in the House and Bryan House Quilts for the 2017 Pantone Quilt Challenge.

… a close up.

This stone shelter at Balch Creek has been tagged once again after the city got all the graffiti off.

Just a few more photos Kevin took on our Mother’s Day hike last Sunday.

My previous Pantone Challenges can be found here and here and here.

And a story.  The Pantone color was released just before a trip to my dad’s in PA. My dad delivers my newspaper route from when I was in middle school.  One customer is Sherwin Williams.  I asked Daniel at the desk which color would be closest and he ended up mixing up a small batch and painted a swatch for me.  There are truly wonderful people in this world.  Here is the swatch on my quilt.

Ninth Selvage Quilt Arriving in Virginia

My sister and brother-in-law are moving back to our hometown in Pa from Va.  She loves green so I made her a selvage quilt and it should arrive today.  Using Karen Griska’s book, “Quilts from the Selvage Edge“, I made my first quilt back in 2009 and haven’t stopped.  Some of my other quilts can be found here and here.  This one measures 50″ square.  I did a tutorial here.

Last Sunday, we stopped at a windy Orenco Woods Nature Park where a recent installation of Patrick Dougherty’s Stockwork project provided a great backdrop.

From Trilliums to Snow

First off, here is a small piece I finished with a few orphan pieces.

Yesterday, Kevin and I hiked 15.5 miles with 4200′ of elevation gain in the Columbia Gorge.  Search and Rescue were practicing from both the top of Multnomah Falls as well as the Benson Bridge.

I knew something felt odd in my right shoe.  This is what I found back in the car.

Meanwhile, our son in Alaska was enjoying this view yesterday.

Last Saturday, I had a wonderful class with a gal I follow on IG.  Luckily, after making it to the Sunset TC, Barb from my Hillsboro guild retrieved me and drove me into Portland.

Two Hedgehog Pillows and More Backpacking

Using Elizabeth Hartman’s Hazel the Hedgehog pattern, I made two pillows for an auction at St. Edwards in North Plains this weekend.  The tea benefits two families.

And for the first time in nearly 30 years, we skipped the Easter Vigil at church and headed to the mountains.

After so many nights with fierce winds, we snuggled up under trees.

Easter morning.

The White River.

That makes six nights in our tent this year ~~ all on snow.