Sea Glass Quilt Finished

Posted on April 6, 2021 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I took my completed Sea Glass quilt to the ocean for a few pictures several weekends ago. It was beautiful weather, although the wind made it pretty tricky to get good pictures. We rented a yurt for camping and had a great time! We were so glad to be in a yurt instead of our tent because it did get below freezing at night. Brrr!

I did free-motion quilting using Glide thread in Cool Mint. I used large, open swirls that reminded me of the beach. For the backing, I used Luxe Cuddle in Seal Aqua Sea. My HQ Avante handled the cuddle backing perfectly!

Free-Motion Quilting on My Sea Glass Quilt

For binding, I opted to use a fabric that wasn’t part of the BOM. I had some Zuma High Tides in Aquamarine by Tula Pink in my stash that complements the blues and turquoises in the quilt. I think it really accents and frames the quilt very nicely. Those little anchors are too cute!

I did machine stitch the binding to both the front and the back because it is pretty difficult to hand sew through the cuddle fabric. I knew that this quilt was going on a bed so I also liked the extra durability of machine stitching.

Here’s a look at the completed quilt with the Pacific Ocean in the background:

We found some interesting cliffs a little farther down the coast so I asked my hubby and son climb up on a log to hold the quilt for a picture. It really helps having a teen who is now taller than me!

I have a full size futon bed in my guest room so this quilt will make a nice covering. The luxe cuddle backing is so soft and feels so good against your skin. I’m sure my guest (aka my sister) will love sleeping under this quilt during a future visit.

This Sea Glass quilt finish is the result of a year long block-of-the-month program through Fig Tree & Co. Although the BOM program is over, you may be able to purchase a pattern on their website.

I really enjoyed making a quilt with this soothing color palette, and I’m really glad to have another WIP completed!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Baskets in the Woods

Posted on October 30, 2020 by nwquiltedcat

Remember my post about making fabric baskets? Well, I couldn’t stop with just one, and so I made 4 similar baskets for a group of quilting friends.

I wanted to get a picture of the baskets all together in an outdoor setting. So, my family and I took a weekend drive to a beautiful little lake, with falls colors beginning to emerge.

I placed all 4 baskets into a plastic bag, and I took them with me on the very short hike. It was only 1 mile around the little lake, with a some heavy brush in a few sections.

How cute are these baskets all lined up on a log with the lake in the background?

We had a great time, having this little lake all to ourselves. It wasn’t chilly, but there was a beautiful cloud hovering over the lake surface and providing a misty backdrop to our time here. The foliage was quite wet, and so our pants became soaked as we walked around the lake, but we didn’t mind at all.

The maples were starting to turn color, with many trees displaying vibrant yellow leaves and a few turning towards orange and red.

I hope my friends like their fabric baskets! Getting out in nature is one of my favorite things to do, and it really helps me deal with times of stress. I can’t wait to go again!

Take care,

-Jen

A Traveling Quilt Takes an Adventure!

Posted on July 15, 2020 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

Last week would have been the 45th anniversary of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt show. I had planned to take classes the week before with my sister, but the classes are postponed until 2021. We decided to have a mini retreat together for some sewing and hiking.

We had fun sewing on small projects in our hotel room, visiting local quilt shops while maintaining social distancing protocols and wearing masks, and hiking in the great outdoors.

I took my Adventure themed traveling quilt with me. I made the center foundation paper pieced block from a pattern called “Camping” by Quilt Art Designs, but without the road and camper van. I also paper pieced the word “Adventure.” My quilt then traveled for about a year around the United States, where 5 different quilters added sections. In return, I added sections to the other quilters’ traveling quilts, all with different themes ranging from Harry Potter to books to gnomes.

Here’s a look at my center block, with and without the word, Adventure:

“Camping” center block

“Camping” center block with “Adventure”

Each quilter was free to add her own ideas to the quilt, keeping with my theme of travel and adventure.

Marianne added an inner border of foundation paper pieced mountains
Katie added the next border of foundation paper pieced arrows, a squirrel, a campfire, a fish, and a lantern
Kitty added churn dash blocks (one of my favorite blocks) to the top and bottom
Gigi added a mountain range in the day to the top and a mountain range in the night to the bottom
Jenn added the final left and right borders of trees

I received the quilt back this spring, and then decided to custom quilt it using ruler work and free-motion.

Quilting close-up

More quilting

Here is a look at the finished quilting with my dog quilt inspector:

Completed quilting on Adventure quilt with Pepper “helping”

My sister then helped me to photograph this quilt while in central Oregon last week. It was quite windy so it was difficult to hold the quilt still and get a good picture.

We took these pictures at Balancing Rocks, which are volcanic tuffs.

Adventure quilt at Balancing Rocks with Mt. Jefferson in the background

Adventure quilt near a volcanic tuff

I really enjoyed my first experience as part of a traveling quilt/round robin group. I even got to meet one of the quilters in person in July 2019 at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, where she brought me the next quilt in line for my additions. I hope to participate in another one in the future.

Happy quilting!

Jen

Quilter’s Affair 2019 Classes

Posted on September 25, 2019 by nwquiltedcat

This year, my sister and I took 2 classes at A Quilter’s Affair in the week leading up to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

For our first class, we decided to take an English Paper Piecing class (EPP) with Violet Craft because we really haven’t used this quilting technique before and we both thought it might be a great technique to do while traveling.

We used the Fruit Basket pattern, and we both picked the strawberry for our practice block, and we learned some great tips in the class.

Start of my strawberry block:

Strawberry 1

Here’s a pic of us together with our strawberry blocks in August when my sister came to my house for a visit. I’m on the right with the blue shorts.

I have started working on the pineapple block, but I must admit that I haven’t made too much progress. I’ll pick it up again when the weather turns rainy, and I do less hiking and yard work.

For our second class, we took “Gertie’s Birdies” with Sally Frey. We used the pattern Feathers by The Pattern Basket. We signed up for this class because birds have a special inside meaning to us and these chunky little birds just looked so cute.

I made 3 birds in class using the Sweet Tea collection by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics plus some solids by Cherrywood. I love these fabrics because they remind me of summer!

Here is a look at the birds from other quilters in the class at the end of the day. My 3 bird blocks are in the top left:

I’ve finished another 3 bird blocks in the months since our class. I plan on making 3 more so I can complete the smaller quilt, which will be a perfect little summer wall hanging.

The Quilter’s Affair is so much fun, and I’m glad my sister got to come this year. We hope to go again next year!

Here’s a view of the Three Sisters during an evening hike we took:

Happy quilting!

-Jen

Giraffe Abstractions Quilt!

Posted on August 26, 2016 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

In July at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt show, I had the opportunity to take the Giraffe Abstractions class by Violet Craft with my sister.

I finished about 1/2 of the quilt top during the week, working on it during the 2-day class and in the evenings at the hotel. I wanted to finish the quilt quickly since I had a visit to my sister’s house in August so I stitched like crazy during the rest of July and early August at home. I also wanted to take the finished giraffe on a little, unexpected journey! The piecing is all done with Aurifil #2000 and the quilting is done with Superior OMNI in light grey.

This beautiful quilt is entirely foundation paper-pieced. I used Violet’s recommended colors for the giraffe body. For the background, I used the modern Me + You Batiks. I love how it turned out!!

Here is my giraffe on her journey to celebrate the National Park Service 100th Anniversary at Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park!

Giraffe at Continental Divide, Yellowstone NP

Giraffe at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone NP

Giraffe at Grand Teton NP

I have a large stack of to-do quilting projects to tackle next, including an Instagram mini quilt swap and a Scrappy Skylines Quilt-Along. I may start the Elephant Abstractions quilt next, but who knows? 🙂

Happy quilting!

~Jennifer

Sunset at the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds

Posted on June 1, 2016 by nwquiltedcat

Hello everyone!

I didn’t do any sewing over the Memorial Day weekend. Instead, my family and I went camping near the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon. The weather was perfect! It can get really hot here in the summer so we were happy that day time highs only reached about 80 degrees for hiking.

There are 3 different units within this monument, spread out over some distance requiring several hours drive time. Having a whole 3 day weekend, we were able to visit all 3 units. In the past, we’ve usually limited our visit to just 1 or 2 units.

We hiked the short Leaf Fossil Trail, mainly because I wanted a comparison picture of our son from the last time we visited. Look how he’s grown!

Leaf Fossil Trail, age 3

Leaf Fossil Trail, age 10

For the first time, we got to see the spectacular Painted Hills unit at sunset. The Painted Hills are quite beautiful at any time of the day; however, sunset is a truly beautiful experience to sit and watch the light.

Here’s a picture that I took around 1:30 in the afternoon. Notice the beautiful red colors really grab your attention.

Painted Hills during mid-afternoon

We returned later that same day to catch the changing light during sunset. It seemed like every minute brought out different hues and tones in the hills. The sun bathed the hills in gold and the reds turned more orange-y. I think the clouds added an extra layer of depth to this photograph!

I took this picture about 8:30 in the evening.

Painted Hills at Sunset, May 2016

On the way home, I naturally had to stop at the Stitchin Post in Sisters to browse the fabric. I picked up some National Park Centennial fabric by Hoffman and some fun birch tree and fox fabric from Moda. Since we love visiting and hiking in the National Parks each summer, I may make us some camping pillow cases with this fabric.

Fun Fabric from the Stitchin Post

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to our veterans who make it possible for us to enjoy the freedom we have to travel and visit amazing places!

Enjoy!

~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion Quilt

Posted on January 20, 2016 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Wednesday!

I hope to blog more often in 2016 than I did in 2015. I tend to post regularly to Instagram so check out my feed when you get the chance. I’m @nwquiltedcat.

I started working on the Aviatrix Medallion quilt by Elizabeth Hartmann quite some time ago. I last blogged about it back in June 2014!! My fabric selections are described here.

I finished maybe 2/3 of the quilt before I set it aside, distracted by all the things!! Last fall, I decided to finish the piecing and the quilting.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had the chance to visit my sister’s lovely home, nestled in beautiful pine trees. The binding wasn’t finished so I brought it with me and stitched it to the quilt over the course of several evenings.

Here’s a look at the finished quilt, in all her rainbowy goodness:

Aviatrix Medallion finished

Aviatrix Medallion Close-Up

I definitely need to get a better, in-focus picture showing the quilt up close. Not all the points match perfectly, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. I love the color explosion!

Here’s a pic from that same weekend. It was around 7 degrees or so and we went looking for some wildlife to photograph. So cold!! We came across this suspension bridge so our mom snapped a pic of us! I’m in the gray coat and my sister is in the longer, black coat.

Standing on a frozen bridge with my sister!

Happy quilting!

~Jennifer

An Anniversary Trip to Kauai!

Posted on January 17, 2016 by nwquiltedcat

Hello quilty friends!

My husband and I recently celebrated our 15th anniversary and decided to visit Kauai to celebrate. We went in December and brought out 10-year-old. It truly was a wonderful trip, and we had some really great family time together.

We took Captain Andy’s sunset dinner sail along the Napali coastline. The weather was perfect! Sunny, clear, rainbows! We saw early whales migrating to Hawaii for winter, spinner dolphins, a green sea turtle, and magnificent scenery!

Napali coast during Captain Andy’s dinner sail

Spinner dolphins

Double rainbow at Napali coast

We also enjoyed a very muddy ATV tour with Kipu Ranch Adventures. We went on a rainy day for maximum mud puddle splashing!

Kipu Ranch tour

I’ve always wanted to hike the famous Kalalau Trail along the Napali coastline. The full trail is 11-miles one way and requires backpacking in for an overnight stay. We decided to do the more popular 4-mile round trip section, starting at Ke’e beach and turning around at Hanakapi’ai beach. Someday, I would love to do the whole trail!

Overview of Hanakapi’ai Beach

Ian at Hanakapi’ai Beach

Rock sculptures at Hanakapi’ai Beach

Our son had the most fun just boogie boarding at the beach. The joy on his face will stay with me for a long time!

Ian at Poipu Beach

Ian and sunset at Popiu Beach

I also squeezed in a stop at a quilt store and purchased some beautiful fabric for myself, my sister, and my mom.

Kapaia Stitchery

I really loved visiting Kauai. It is a beautiful island with a laid-back pace of life. I hope to visit again some day.

Double rainbow near Hanalei

Mahalo!

~Jennifer

Wish Upon a Card Postcard, Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show, 2015 entry

Posted on May 31, 2015 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Sunday, quilty friends!

Back in April, I made and submitted a card to the Wish Upon a Card fundraiser that takes place each year at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. For my entry, I did use the Michael Miller challenge fabrics with the blue in the sky and the green in the middle meadow section.

I decided to feature the Three Sisters mountains with a flying geese rainbow arching over the mountains. Below the mountains are trees and grassy meadows.

Here’s a look at my card:

Wish Upon a Card Entry and Event Postcard

Wish Upon a Card Entry, Rainbow Over Sisters

The postcards must be 4 x 6 inches and are available for sale at two locations: the Chamber of Commerce and Sisters High School from July 6th-10th. Last year, I purchased my own entry, which may sound crazy, but the money goes towards the Wendy’s Wish/St. Charles Cancer Center.

If you are in Sisters during the Quilter’s Affair or the actual quilt show, stop by and check out all the amazing quilted postcards!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Spring Break Adventures!

Posted on March 30, 2015 by nwquiltedcat

Last week we had spring break here in Oregon. My husband and I were able to take Thursday and Friday off work to make a 4-day weekend getaway to the Oregon coast. We started in Newport and worked our way south to Gold Beach before returning home.

Here are some of my favorite pictures!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon