Giveaway Winner!

Posted on February 24, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Last week, I blogged about a Downton Abbey tea party and fabric trunk show that I attended at the amazing Fabric Depot in Portland.

I had a Downton Abbey themed thread pack to giveaway and used a random number generator to pick the winner today.

The winner is . . .
Alexis from Cob Cottage Craft- congratulations!!!

Alexis, please email me your contact details at quiltedcat07@gmail.com, and I will get the thread in the mail to you.

On Sunday, we took an impromptu drive to the Oregon coast to enjoy a walk before the rain moved back in to the area. We got about 2 hours of dry conditions before the rain and winds prompted us to go have lunch. The temperature was about 50 degrees so a little chilly, but very nice for February!

I saw a flock of seagulls perched just inside the surf and snapped this photo:

Seagulls at the Oregon Coast in February

For those of you still buried in snow, I hope this ocean photo brings you a smile!

Enjoy,
~Jennifer

Homespun & Holly Holiday Workshop!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

This weekend, I was delighted to attend the 5th annual “Homespun & Holly” holiday workshop at one of my all-time favorite quilt shops, Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe!

The event features 4 different holiday themed projects by some very talented designers! The projects are not revealed until the event. Participants rotate between the 4 designers so each attendee gets to make each project.

My first project station was with Karla Eisenbach of Sweetwater. She had such a fun little tree ornament project called “Embellished Trees.” She provided enough materials for each person to make 5 of these little trees, and I was able to complete 2 during class.

Embellished Trees Kit

2 Completed Trees

Karla also designed one of my favorite fabric lines called “Mama Said Sew.” I brought my completed project from the Star Surround QAL and asked her to sign the label. Here’s a picture of me and Karla with my quilt featuring her fabric line (I’m the one in the solid black shirt):

Jennifer and Karla with quilt featuring Mama Said Sew fabric

For my second project, I rotated to Debbie Busby of Wooden Spool Designs. Her project was a cute little holiday felt wreath called “Crazy Hex Ornament.” I finished about half of this project in class and finished the rest at home. Debbie had this great little tool called the “Clover Chaco Liner Chalk Wheel” that we used to draw around our hex template onto the black felt. I must get one!!

Crazy Hex Kit

Finished Ornament

I arrived at Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs’ station for my third project. I was so excited to meet Anne because I had just finished sewing on the outer border of her Merry Merry Snowman quilt just the night before. I asked her to sign my quilt label. Her project was my favorite because it featured an adorable little snowman popping out of a mitten called “Cozy Christmas!”

Cozy Christmas Kit

Finished Snowman in Mitten

Snowman and Mitten

For my last station, I went to visit the cheerful sister duo, Barb & Mary of Me & My Sister Designs! They had the cutest little scissor and bead project for us that only took a short time to assemble. As a bonus, they had a short game for everyone at the table and the top 6 finishers won a free pattern! They also took everyone on a “field trip” to Hollyhill’s companion store across the street featuring Christmas fabrics, quilt kits, and decorations. This store is called Boughs of Holly and is a wonderful place to visit!

Bead Kit and Free Pattern

Completed Scissors Bead Fob

Lastly, Brian and Jan, the owners of Hollyhill and organizers of this wonderful event, gave each attendee a special gift. Inside the package, I found yummy chocolates, a snowman ornament, a pattern, thread, and 2 Aspen Frost mini charm packs to make the pattern.

Homespun & Holly Gift Bag

I had such a great time and really hope that “Homespun & Holly” will return in the future. I’d like to thank Brian and Jan as well as the wonderful staff of Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe for making this year’s event such a treat! I’d also like to thank all the talented designers who came to visit and share their special projects with everyone!

I’m so inspired to finish up my holiday sewing and crafting projects!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Modern Trees QAL Top Finished and Beach Pic

Posted on October 13, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Sunday everyone!

This weekend, I worked on completing my table runner top for the Modern Trees QAL, hosted by Christa at Christa Quilts!

Rather than making a quilt sized project, I decided to make 5 improv tree blocks so I could have a cute little wintery table runner. I added a dark blue inner border which really complements the trees well. The next step will be to add the backing and do basting. Since my project is so small, I’ll probably do the machine quilting at the same time so stay tuned!

Here’s a look at the Modern Tree QAL table runner top:

Modern Tree QAL Table Runner

Yesterday, I took a drive with my hubby and son to the Oregon Coast to pick up several more Sew Oregon quilt shop hop stamps on my passport. The weather was surprising nice – no wind and about 60 degrees! We took a picnic blanket and ate lunch on the beach near Haystack Rock. The tide was still out far enough that many families and children were exploring the exposed tidepools.

Here’s a pic of the “Needles” rock formations just to the left of Haystack Rock (not pictured).

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Hope you had a great weekend!
~Jennifer

Sew Oregon Quilt Shop Hop!

Posted on October 6, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

The annual Oregon statewide quilt shop hop is on from now until October 19th. Sew Oregon kicked off this weekend, and I was able to hop on over to visit 5 out of 31 shops. Although I won’t be able to visit all of the shops, I hope to visit several more next weekend.

I really enjoyed visiting Pioneer Quilts in Happy Valley. This store had all 11 of the themed shop hop fabrics called “Pacific Adventures” on display. This fabric captures the colors and textures found in Oregon from the beaches to the forests to the mountains. Of course, I just had to pick up a 1/2 yard portion of each piece so I can make a quilt with it!

Here are the “Pacific Adventure” swatches:

Sew Oregon Shop Hop Fabric

Fabric and Passport

Along with featuring the shop hop fabric, each store that you visit will stamp your passport and give you a little packet containing a pattern and enough “Pacific Adventures” fabric to make a 6-inch block. For those quilters who visit all 31 stores, the grand prize is a Bernette Chicago 7 Sewing & Embroidery Machine. Wish I could take the week off work to hop to all the shops!

Hope you had a great weekend!
~Jennifer

Star Surround QAL Finish, Wicked Blog Hop, and More

Posted on September 16, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

The last two weeks have been very bittersweet. My grandfather passed away on September 8th at the age of 92. Although the whole family knew this day was coming, it was still quite a sad shock!

My grandfather absolutely loved the outdoors. He was an avid hunter and fisherman throughout his life. We decided to celebrate his spirit by going camping this weekend at Scott Lake.

Here are two of my favorite photographs:

Scott Lake at Sunset

Scott Lake in Evening

For the sweet part of the past two weeks, I finished the Star Surround QAL. Thanks to Melissa at Happy Quilting for designing and hosting this fun project!

I decided to straight-line quilt to echo the star shapes in each block using my domestic sewing machine while my cat helpers sunbathed just out of view:

Quilting the Star Shapes

Here is what my final Star Surround quilt looks like all quilted and bound:

Star Surround Completed Front

Star Surround Front with Three Sisters in Background

Star Surround Closeup

Star Surround Completed Back

The back also uses fabric from the Mama Said Sew line plus a label and some more Essex Yarn Dyed in black. I hope that enjoyed looking at my completed project with central Oregon as a background!

Finally, a bit of fun and wicked news! I have joined the Wicked Blog Hop, hosted by Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt. This blog hop runs from October 22nd – 31st so I do hope you’ll come check out all the great blogs featuring wicked Halloween projects.

Have a great week and happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Glacier National Park and Star Surround QAL

Posted on September 1, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

With summer winding down here in the Pacific Northwest and the kids almost ready to go back to school, I went with my family on a last summer trip to visit Glacier National Park. We did some hiking and saw wildlife from bears to goats to cute little rodents!

Although the mountains in Glacier were a bit obscured from local wildfires, we still managed to get a few good pictures.

Here’s Swiftcurrent Lake:

Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park

We hiked up to Grinnell Lake:

Grinnell Lake, Glacier National Park

I missed a week on the Star Surround QAL project so I had to catch up on the last 2 weeks once I returned home from Glacier.

Here’s a pic of the block surrounds pieced and ready:

Star Surround Pieces

Once I completed all these building block pieces, I could then begin assembling my 9 star blocks:

9 Star Surround Blocks

The last step to get all caught up with the quilt-a-long was to assemble the stars into 3 blocks by 3 blocks to create the finished quilt top. I decided to take a picture of the complete top outside in the afternoon light when, to my surprise, my Cow cat decided to check out the quilt and give his approval:

Star Surround QAL Top

Star Surround QAL Top Indoors

I had so much fun on vacation, but I’m happy to be back home!

Here’s a last look at one of our mountain goat friends at Glacier:

Goat at Glacier National Park

Hope everyone had a great summer and here’s to a great September!
~Jennifer

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Photo Gallery (post 3)

Posted on July 30, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

There were so many wonderful quilts displayed in Sisters this year. I spent about 3 hours walking around and admiring them, but still couldn’t see them all!

The light and shadows played across many of the quilts so it was difficult getting good pictures. I’ve created a slideshow with a few of the quilts so you can see some of the wonderful eye candy and maybe plan your trip to a future Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! If you made of these quilts, please let me know and I’ll add your name.

To see the quilts that I made and displayed in the show, visit here.

Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy!
~Jennifer

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Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, All About Cows! (Post 2)

Posted on July 20, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Saturday everyone!

This is my second post about the fabulous Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show from last Saturday, July 13th.

I wanted to highlight a really cute exhibit called the “Whimsical Cow Stampede” featuring cow quilts from the book, Out of the Box with Easy Blocks by Mary Lou Weidman and Melanie Bautista McFarland. This book is on my must-buy list!

These quilts all used the cow pattern with a twist!

Cow Tipping

Red White and Moo

Zoro the Boovine

PaniMoo Canal

Boo Moo and Mooy Fiesta

Moody Blues

I think these cow quilts are so adorable especially since I have a Cow cat.

We decided to have a picnic lunch outside of Sisters to escape the heat and went up to Scott Lake. You can see part of the Three Sisters in the background. This is quiet little lake with a small campground that we’ll probably camp at in the future. Just remember to bring mosquito repellent!

Scott Lake, Oregon

I have more to pictures to upload from the quilt show so watch for my next post coming soon!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Post 1

Posted on July 17, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I had an amazing time last Saturday looking at all the wonderful quilts displayed in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. I took plenty of quilt show photos and will post them over the next few days.

I’ll start by posting this great view of the Three Sisters:

Three Sisters in July

I love living here in Oregon, amongst these beautiful Cascade mountains and tall evergreens!

In this post, I’ll show you the three quilts that I displayed this year. The Hummer Storm quilt we found right away, but the other two quilts were a bit more difficult to find. We finally did find them at opposite ends of town.

I love this picture that my hubby took of my Hummer Storm quilt because you can see our son also taking a picture of me and the quilt with our little point-and-shoot camera:

Hummer Storm at Sisters

Here’s a look at Yahoo Stars:

Yahoo Stars at Sisters

And Happy Halloween:

Happy Halloween at Sisters

We started the day bright and early during the quilt hanging process. We finished touring the quilt show around 11:30 when our little guy decided he’d had enough of the quilts and wanted to go for a hike.

Proxy Falls, Oregon

I hope you enjoyed this first post on the quilt show. Stay tuned for more quilt photos in my next post!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Fabric Postcards for Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Posted on April 4, 2013 by nwquiltedcat

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show occurs on the 2nd Saturday in July each summer in the beautiful high-desert town of Sisters, Oregon. I try to attend every couple of years since the drive over is very pretty from the Portland area.

The show is having a fabric postcard contest called “Wish Upon a Card.” The postcards will be sold via silent auction and proceeds benefit local cancer patients. I decided to enter some cards and finished them up several weekends ago. Participants are required to use a 4-inch by 6-inch size for each postcard and must use Michael Miller’s Tiki Winki fabric to be eligible for prizes. Any postcards that do not use the fabric can still be sold for the charity, but they won’t be entered into the prize bucket.

Here are the 2 Michael Miller Tiki Winki colorways:

Michael Miller Tiki Winki Fabric

Both colorways are fun so I decided to use both! I used the brown/black colorway to make 2 postcards. For the first postcard, I wanted to use a Hawaiian beach theme. I found some great fabrics in my stash to complement the tikis so I could build a little coconut tiki hut on a beach. The surprise bonus is the little koa wood turtle coming up to the beach from the ocean.

Tiki Hut Tropical Beach Postcard

For the second card using the brown/black colorway, I decided to go “out of this world” by creating a tiki bar stop in space for a little alien! The alien’s spaceship has 5 hotfix crystals to add a little bling.

Space Tiki Ba

My final postcard uses the pink/blue colorway. After recently seeing the movie Hop with my 7-year-old, I thought a bunny on Easter Island would be the perfect use of the tiki heads!

Easter Island Postcard

These fabric postcards are fun and quick to make. I will make some more in the future to send to friends and family, although I’ll probably send them in a protective mailer so that they do not get damaged in transit.

If you’re traveling to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this summer, do stop by the fabric postcard silent auction. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Enjoy,
~Jennifer