Friday, May 30, 2014

Inspiration from Quilter Martha!

The finale: Let me introduce you to Martha!


(This was us in the Carriage Quilt Shop in Des Moines, WA)
If you have read the blog Q is for Quilter you probably know a little about Martha. It was my pleasure to meet her in person although I got lost getting to her house in Bellevue, WA, eventually I made it.

This quilt greeted me as I entered her house. Martha uses mostly old/vintage/antique fabric to remake quilts. The repros these days are authentic, so she uses them when she has to. 

Isn't this little quilt adorable? This one and the next are mourning quilts for special animals who have passed on.

Martha does most of her piecing and quilting the old fashioned way. (templates, scissors and by hand!) 
These are ones she has made. On the pinwheel quilt she didn't like the way the seams came together in the intersection so she appliqued the blue circle over it. I love creative quilters! (check out the beautiful wavy edge)


I love the butterfly setting and see the prairie points? I need to keep my quilting energy all the way to the edges!
WOW!
Another cool border and edge. 

Some more wow!

Here is a top that instead of taking apart and using the pieces she may finish this one the way it is.

Martha collects old coloring books, embroidery books and so much more. But look how she utilizes them!




More coloring book embroidery!

It's nice to peak into a quilters stash. Most of this is vintage.

Here are a few of her tops waiting to be quilted.
This is one of my favorites.

Martha gets quite a bit of her stash from old quilt tops Some are in good shape, some are not.


Look what she gave me! The pieces (other than the pink and green) are too small for her to take apart and use. I was thrilled to pieces and will be such a lovely reminder of my evening with Martha. (her dear husband fixed a delicious dinner while she showed me her quilts)

So, as you can see my few days away were a good time to decompress from work and the stresses of everyday. Quilters are the best and the hospitality was outstanding!
Thank you Juliann, Laurie, Linda and Martha for making my trip north a very memorable one and letting me share a peek into your life.
Love you ladies!!

Have  a wonderful weekend.



Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Inspiration from Quilter Linda

I met up with Linda on my trip to Seattle. I've been corresponding with her about a year, mostly about exercising, but as you'll quickly see she is quite the quilter! After our meeting and shopping at the Brooks outlet we went a few minutes down the road to Keepsake Quilting.
I'm not a very good "selfie" taker, but I tried. Lots of fun samples in this shop.
From here we went to a class at her gym, then went to get cleaned up at her house. Of course I find it so much fun to see other sewing rooms. 

I'm glad I'm not the only one that makes quilts out of season. This is on her design wall. Linda does beautiful wool applique. 
Like the rest of us quilters, Linda has a few tops. There are touches of wool applique in this country style quilt too. Don't mind the date, I know you can relate!!

This was a fun and bright reproduction quilt. Looks at that wonderful fussy cut sashing!

 This quilt makes me want to start a small 9 patch with shirtings immediately!

All of my friends have ladders to display their quilts...except me! I need one!!

Look at this! We all know quilts look better in real life, but this had me beyond gobsmacked! This is a border for Kim McLean's Sprigs and Stars quilt. It was stunning!
I don't know if this is ALL of the leaves, but it is plenty. I was duly impressed and inspired!

Along with the quilting and gym workouts, Linda is a breast cancer survivor. She was also in a severe accident early this year and is still recovering.

She has recently joined a group of survivors to climb Mt Adams! How's that for inspiration? If you want to read more about this and possibly donate to Linda O. and Team Survivor please click HERE.


I made one more stop at a quilters home and you'll love this one too.
Happy Wednesday!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Inspiration from Quilter Laurie

Let me introduce you....
This is Laurie B. I met her when she emailed me a couple of years ago and told me she read my blog and would be a vendor at the Coburg Quilt Show.  (I've gone twice) She sells vintage tops, quilts and lots of sewing items.  She also lives a short ways from where I stay in N. Seattle. She invited me to her house to see her collection.  The photo above was taken in La Conner where we went to dinner. 

Isn't this eye catching? Laurie has a special knack for decorating with her vintage and antique finds.

Some of Laurie's antique and new doll/small quilts. 

Look at those quilts! They didn't stay folded up for long. 
I think I ran out of descriptive words for all the quilts I saw!!
Laurie's sweet husband built her the sewing studio and Laurie has worked her magic here too.
Isn't that creative what she did with the door fronts? 
I could have taken a lot more photos. I'll leave you with a little more inspiration.



These little hst finish about 1/2". A whole quilt of them! 

More inspiration to come!


Friday, May 23, 2014

Quilt Shop Hopping

Why is it when quilters get together we have a need to go to quilt shops? It's not like we need more fabric....
I made my way to a few in the Pacific NW area.
Loving Stitches Quilt Shop- Marysville

Keepsake Cottage- Bothel 
Carriage Country Quilts- Des Moines

I try not to play favorites but I loved Carriage Country quilts. They had wonderful repros and lots and lots of shop samples. 
My mini getaway is coming to a close but I have a few quilters to introduce.  I'm sure you will be inspired like I am inspired! 
Have a lovely weekend!




Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Adventures With Lori

If you want to only see sewing, I'll show this first. My little Primitive Gatherings wool applique project. I've only got it prepped and don't know how much I'll get done. But I will have it, just in case!

My first stop "The Parlor" in Portland where my daughter works her magic. I didn't have time for lunch but was on my way.....
Does anyone recognize this place? 
This is the view from my deck for the next couple of days, Darn, is that a ladder? I was so excited to be enjoying the sunshine I wasn't paying attention to my photography skills.

I went to the water to enjoy my old stompin' grounds. What a pretty sunset.

More to come!
PS If you look at my other blog, I met up with a fellow friend and blogger!



Monday, May 19, 2014

Scrappy Monday

I had a partial block left from THIS QUILT. It was one a group of us made for Jill while she was sick. 
I had to make 2 corner blocks and one strip of flying geese, but think it will make a nice table topper and a reminder of my dear friend Jill Reid. (I have one of her other published quilts on tap to make later this year) 

And I'm all caught up on Pam Buda's Market Day pieces.

Adventures await me this week. Have a wonderful day!!