Trip to Oregon first stop was Acorns & Threads

Where I met up with these love zoom friends who are avid cross stitchers I know from Acorns & Threads.  It was so lovely of them to come to visit with me in person.  The classroom annex is a lovely place to stitch.  We had to shift to make room for more stitchers the day I went on the First Thursday stitch.

I left the group early so I could drive up to Bend where I stayed for 4 nights and explored and met up with some more friends. On the Friday I met my friend Michelle at Black Butte Ranch.  They have a small quilt show just before the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It was a bit of a challenge getting there as there was a car fire causing traffic delays our friend Carrie couldn’t find parking so she headed back to Sistrrs to do some shopping before the big event.

The quilts are made by residents in the Black Butte Community,  the winds were quite brisk so some of the quilts were flapping away.  They had lovely taped harp music and it was delightful to sit and enjoy the venue.

Te Sister’s mountains off in the distance.

This and the next quilt were made by the same person same pattern just different fabrics.

Wandering around the Teachers Pavilion I ran int 3 of the 4 Twisted Sisters.  The fourth was on a cuise in Norway!  They are always a colourful group of women.

This year I missed the firemen putting up the staff quilts on the side of the Stitchin’ Post building.

This was a fun scrappy quilt the different fabrics especially in the tree trunk wer quite wonderful,

On a closer look there wa a little lonely green sheep.

So many wonderful greens and browns and a kit if thought went into this piece.

Next to the tree quilt was this amazing piece by a second artist.  It looked so textural and real.

It was cooler than usual but it’s so hard to manage to see everyone.  Sometimes an overall view is the best way to enjoy the show.

But some pieces need that up close and personal photo.

These were all in a row and were breath taking.

I love crow quilts especially when a full moon is involved.

In the teacher’s pavilion there was a display of Sue Spargo wool quilts.  Several years ago I lucked into buying a kit for the Peacock and on this trip I found the pattern on sale so it will become another wool project on my to do list.

HomeGrown which I saw in 2019 when I took a workshop with Sue in Calgary at Out of Hand.

Earth ‘N’ Twig another older block of the month by Sue.

Squash Squad by Sue Spargo stitched by her friend Tonye Phillip’s on display in the Stitchin’ Post.

Rooted a newly released Lite block of the month a good one trying Sue’s style of wool embellishing stitching.

Of A Feather also a new released block of the month pattern.

On the Sunday after there is an event at the 5 pines Resourt just outside of Sisters.  Sarah Fielke an Australian quilter the the guest presenter,  I’ve started several of her blocks of the month.  This is one that caught my eye after it had commenced.  I’ve done most of the appliqué blocks but not the pieced ones.

The one on the right is another that I’ve started but not finished.  I really don’t have a lot left to do one it.

Folk Tales most of the inside appliqués are done but not the borders or pieced sashing.

Enjoying the quilts and walking amongst the pines is a lovely way to finish a busy weekend.

This was Sarah’s trip out of Australia since July 2019 coming to Sisters is one of her favourite trips to take.

The quilt on the right is another block of the month.  These are all published and she has video tutorials for you to access each month.

Sarah loves making quilts with words.

 On a construction note the new exterior is starting to be revealed on the cul du sac side  some have patios finished others still needing railings and glass sidings to be added.

They’ve been removing the scaffolding from the top to the second floor and removing the construction curtaining.  When I leave my condo I now come out to natural light which took a bit to get used to after 4 months of blue tinged light.

I came home to new windows throughout my condo some finishing was still needed to be done and they ended out taking my big window out again as the frame wasn’t quite square.  But they had it back in within 3 hours so the finishing carpenter could do the wood trim for me.  Now to decide what colours to paint in which room and what kind of window treatments ti I want to get.  The old vertical Venetian blinds went to the garbage recycling when they came down.

A few of my purchases, the Peacock pattern.

I couldn’t resist this cute notepad perfect for in your handbag or tote.

Some mini buttons for some cross stitch patterns I bought.  I went back to Acorns & Thread for Biscornu Wednesday.  I didn’t have one to stitch but I did buy two patterns and linen for them.  They were out of the patter when I was there the previous week.

Some tiny Mill Hill beads for the two projects,

At the shop they had a stack of 3 biscornu that were stitched on 3 different counts of linen.  They did the crab one as both the smallest and largest sizes.

Then they made the dragonfly and frog one the middle size and stack them  one on top of each other.

These are the linens u got.  A soft turquoise and two blues which are different in real life,

I also bought a third pattern while I was away which has arrived.  An octopus and coral design.

Cow Parade at Back Porch Fabrics Pacific Grove, California

We drove from Redding to Yuba City and stopped in at The Rabbit Hole in Chico, it was late in the day and we didn't get to Honey Run Quilters this time.

 

In Pacific Grove we went straight to Back Porch Fabrics to see the Cow Parade curated by Mary Lou Weidman and Mel McFarland.  Cow Town is Mary Lou's quilt.  I like how she made the body of houses and that the o in cow has the shape of a muffin.  Very cute.

 Psycowdelic is also by Mary Lou, I like the swirling eyes and the peace symbol as a nose ring for the cow.

 Check out the hula girls hanging from the udder.

Mel McFarland made How Now Brown Cow.

 Isn't the red check and buttons cute as an udder.

 That bandanna around the neck with bola tie is also too cute.

Cowlifornia Girl is by Sue Cresse, sorry it isn't the best picture due to the light.

 Vin Cow is by Sandy Thompson, she has some great 3 D embellishments.

Great idea to use corks with wine charms for the teats.

 Got a nice oaky flavour to those grapes, love the shades on this one.

Mooy Cowlente was made by Tina Nippal, our talented cook at Mary Lou's retreat.

 Chick out those udders, are they not too cool.  I love the peppers hanging from her tail and the big hoop earrings.

Cowa Bunga was made by Michelle Groth.  She had lot of fun with her background.

 PanaMoo Canal was made by Susan Typpi, she purchased the mola while on a cruise through the canal with Mary Lou.

 Cute udder fabrics and those beads are lovely.

 

I love Moo was made by Mari Linfesty, she combined some hearts from one of our on line swaps in with her cows. The two calves are her sons and the bull is her husband.  She worked on this last year at retreat and it is so great.

A close up of Maris head, note the ear tag, it is her birth date.                                                                 

 This is her husband, also with an ear tag.

 The boys, also with their ear tags, notice the upside down heart as the end of her tail.

Dia de Los Mooertos was made by Patrica S. Woods.

 Check out the skulls and the skeleton.

 I like how she embellished these skulls.

Mooy Fiesta was made by Joanie Corte.

 Great use of rickrack.

 

Frosty Amoosement by Connie Donaldson.                                                                                             

 I don't think having icicles on your udder is very amoosing from the cows point of view.

 Cute ear muffs.

The Cow Jumped Over The Moon by Sandi Henschel...hey that is me, I was proud to be invited to be a part of this great display.                                                                                                                        

 Miss Moola at the Moolin Rouge by Sandy Fisher, sorry it is a bit out of focus.

Here is a better picture of her all glizted up to dance the can can.

 Love those tassells.

She eats the Daisies is by Rebecka Shaffer.

 Chocowlate was made by Patricia S. Woods.

 Love those cupcake buttons and the s'mores fabric.

 

Boo Moo by Molly Evangelisti very cute background for the lettering.                                                 

I like the spider web quilting on the background.

Pumpkins hanging from the udder!

And The Cow Says Boo! by Peggy Baldwin.                                                                                        

Eat More...Veggies by Kathy Collins.  I like all her green stars in the background.                                 

Cowafornia by Sue Cresse, check out the names of the movies in the cans.

The Grass is Always Greener...also known as Udderly Green with Envy by Pam Tooms.

Moolah A Cash Cow by Charlotte Lorenzo.

Check out those money bags!                                                                                                                   

And one last quilt Mary Lou's New Mexico quilt that is heavily embellished.  I was behind the cash desk and is amazing to look at, a lot of detail.

If you get a chance to get down to Pacific Grove before May 1st, please go, the show is wonderful and has so much to be seen.  Back Porch Fabrics, thanks for hosting this wonderful show and allowing me to take photos of it all.   I have some photos of the rest of the shop from a previous visit that you can check out here.