Friday 31 October 2008

Happy Halloween! This is one of my favourite holidays of the year.... I spotted this pattern on a driving holiday in California, but it took me several quilt shops before I could find a shop with a copy to sell. I had lots of fun finding the different browns for the picket fence, the tops are 3-D. I embellished with some fun buttons. The spider in the corner is a removable pin and the cats have green bead eyes. I reversed the moon, changed the bottom of the ghost. The cat tails are also 3-D, this was one of my first pieces I tried to machine quilt.
My friend Ethel Snow designed the pumpkin quilts, I decided to have some fun and make each of the four sides a different fabric. The dancing witches have candy buttons as a treat. The pumpkin stems are 3-D.
This was the first of 4 block exchange quilts I did with friends. You each made one 12" block or equivalent and 4-4" blocks. There were 5 of us in the group. I utility quilted this with Perle cotton in 2000 while recovering from heel surgery. I added additional blocks to make it a large twin size.
This is a fun quick quilt that I made with fused leaves that are also button hole stitched.
One of my friend's adores Halloween, her birthday is in September and I designed the cat and pumpkin applique for her. She got the table runner top as a gift and then quilted it for herself.
This is the same basic table runner but with the pumpkin pattern that was part of it.
I call this wall hanging "Where's Jack?" I had fun adapting the pattern to paper foundation piecing. I didn't have enough of the pumpkin print to go around the corners, so I used a orange and black polka dot print...bet you didn't notice it at first! I designed a sunflower quilting design for the two sides, leaf vine for the bottom. Then on the top left you will see a crescent moon and star and bats flying across the top.
I call this quilt "October Weekend with Jane Sassaman." I took a weekend class in October with her. It is raw edged but finished with satin stitch applique. The piece is about 11" x 18."

Monday 13 October 2008

Happy Thanksgiving weekend...Friday I found some frost along the quay! I walked down to my friend Rita's to visit and quilt with some friends. This sunflower is one found in my friend Rita's garden.
This one has a different centre than the one above.
This one was being visited by a ladybug.
These two were being close and cozy, but are from two different plants.
This one was just starting to develop its lovely yellow petals.
This chocolate coloured flower looks good enough to eat and appears to be floating.
This bee was busy on this flower for quite some time.
All these sunflowers were in Rita's garden! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Lewis and Clark statue in Seaside Oregon...looking out over the Pacific Ocean. This gateway is the entrance to Portland's Chinatown.
Red is a very important colour in the Chinese society, these red lamp standards really attract attention.
We came upon this unexpected view of the state capitol.
These fish were on display at the Red Lobster restaurant we had dinner.
Don't these pumpkins make you think of autumn nights and sitting by the fire?

Friday 3 October 2008

Colours of autumn on the west coast of Washington and the Oregon Coast. Last week I drove down to Oregon to go to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland. Before the show we drove down through Washington state. These heart shaped leaves are coloured from beige to red on the same tree.
I'm not sure what these seed pods are but the red/pink colours are almost neon.
This tree has the same heart shape leaves as the leaves in the first picture.
As we drove north along the Oregon coast from Tillamook, we came across this interesting sky, with breaks of blue coming through.
This formation is called Twin Rocks, through the fog you can see there is a hole/arch in the left rock.
This co-operative young seagull showed off his feathers for me.
The different vistas along the coast are incredible, each corner bring a new view to enjoy and take your breath away.
Thursday morning found Haystack Rock on Canon Beach shrouded in fog and mist.
The sign says it all...
These starfish lights are in the downtown shopping area of Seaside, Oregon.
Friday morning the sun shone, so we went back down to Canon beach to walk along the beach.
The earthquake could happen on the other side of the ocean, not just here on the West Coast.
Haystack Rock without the mist and fog, I like the reflection in the receding water.
We didn't try the food here this time, but maybe on our next visit!
This has to be one of the prettiest manhole covers I've ever seen.
Heading home after the quilt show, we stopped in Centralia, Washington. There were several pretty murals in this town, but I liked this one best.
In front of the mural were different varieties of sunflowers.
Some were hiding in the shade of others.
Some had bees checking them out.
Some had a lot of petals.
Some were bowing their heads.
This sign caught my eye, I wonder how often all the beds are full?
Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland Oregon was amazing. Janet Fogg was a featured quilter. I've seen her quilts at APNQ in Seattle Washington, but never so many in one place before. I enjoy how she used so many different greens to represent the spikey leaves of the pineapple
Don't you feel like you could hop onto this bike and smell the daisy!
I wish I could get into the driver's seat of this woody and take a drive down the beach and enjoy the sunset and fresh sea air.
I like how Janet incorporated the flower motif into the wheel cover of the car.
Living on the west coast, I love to see how bears are related to in quilts. This grizzly looks to have been disturbed while in a private moment.
I love the look of expectation in his eyes, as if to say, okay, you've got your picture, now move on and let me be.