Stitchin' Post in Sisters

Freddy Moran is coming to Sisters!

Jean was recently teaching in California.  While there, she had the pleasure of spending some time with Freddy Moran.  Jean was very taken with Freddy's new "collage quilts".

 

Now Freddy will be joining us at the Stitchin' Post during Art Quilt Symposium week!  Freddy will be teaching a three-day workshop called "Patchwork Collage~Freddy Moran Style!"  Freddy begins with a patchwork of black & white large-scale prints and then builds her collage from the background toward the foreground in bright, bold color.  Click here for more details about the workshop!   

Here are more photos taken by Jean while visiting Freddy's House~

 

A self-portrait...?

A peek at Freddy's stash...

and scrap bins (remember...let nothing go to waste!)

What fun to sneak a peek into a working studio that isn't "airbrushed" for a studio magazine.  I like to see where REAL women create! 

(We'll stop there, as you DO NOT want to see where this real woman creates!) ~Tamra

 

Emerge from the "Cocoon" of winter into the warmth of spring!

Spring is in the air and Val's new line of fabric "Cocoon" begins arriving this week!  Cocoon is rich with vibrant colors for spring & summer, beautiful butterflies (both large and small) and playful swirls that just make a girl want to dance!

Here is little Miss Vi doing just that...
in her new Twirl Skirt
made with coordinating Cocoon fabrics!

Valori was a guest blogger at FreeSpiritFabric.blogspot.com on April 5th.  You can read what she has to say about her new fabric line and download a free pattern for her April Little Tote.  In addition to the new fabric line, Valori will be unveiling new patterns and sewing cards at Quilt Market in May.  Here's a sneak peek at what's coming:

Val's little kitchen helper, Miss Livy, wearing her new apron...(mommy has one, too!)

 

Photos from Barbara Shapel workshops

Barabara Shapel was teaching in our classroom last week!  She taught a one-day workshop on "The Art of Machine Quilting" and a three-day workshop called "Waterdance."  I had the privilege of attending the three-day workshop, and all I can say is...you missed a good one!  Barbara is a fantastic teacher as well as an incredible machine quilter.

Here are photos of some of the quilts she shared in class:

The owl quilt is solid black fabric on the back but appears to be two-sided because of the "thread-painting" method Barbara uses for quilting.  REALLY amazing!

 

Here's Barbara with the teaching sample she made during the Waterdance workshop: 

Click here to see a Facebook photo album of student work!

In addition to learning how to make the beautiful Waterdance quilt, Barbara taught us how to make our quilts reversible with simple piecing of the backing fabric, and then how to add thread-painted details in the quilting.

 

Simple straight-line quilting across the moon, using invisible thread on top and in the bobbin.  Barbara says, "Keep it consistently inconsistent."

 

 

Wave quilting is made using long sweeping lines along the pieced waves on the front on the quilt, and then filled in with "bubbles."  Barbara uses a wide variety of threads including polyester, rayon, variegated, and metalics on the top and in the bobbin to create the two-sided quilting.

I loved the workshop and Barbara's teaching style.  I accomplished more work than I usually get done in a classroom setting, I learned new piecing techniques in class, and I can't wait to try the quilting techniques at home.  The next time Barbara Shapel comes to Sisters to teach, do something special for yourself and take a workshop with her...you'll thank me for it!   ~Tamra

Snow quilts?

A friend sent pictures of Simon Beck's "Snow Art" which resembles quilting blocks and medallions.  Jean wanted to share some images with you, as they are so incredible and truly beautiful!  Anyone want to meet up at HooDoo and try making some of these? 
Enjoy! 

 

Here is a link with a little bit of story about Simon Beck.

You can see even more of Simon's work on his facebook page.

Sharing work from Jean's Intuitive Color and Design 2 Workshop

Last fall, Terri attended Jean's "Intuitive Color and Design 2" workshop.  Today, she sent in a photo of her completed project which she refers to as her "Greece project."  She said that other than the color, it is completely different than what she had started in class.  I think it is just beautiful and very calming to look at.  Great job Terri!

 

Jean is currently in a transition phase with her workshops.  Her new book "Journey to Inspired Art Quilting" will be out this summer.  She is, of course, designing a new series of workshops based on the new book.  The first workshop (at the Stitchin' Post) will be November 16, 17 & 18, 2012.  Reserve your space today!

 

That's so 252 billion seconds ago...

Ok~ quick math here:  252 billion seconds ago is roughly eight years, which is approximately when I started this quilt!

This was the quilt I started in Lawry's Absolutely Beginning Quilting Class Fall 2003, when I first moved to Sisters (all my friends in Portland said I would have to take up quilting if I was going to live in Sisters!)

I finished the quilt top by the final day of class and actually had quilted several lines of "in the ditch" quilting along the sashings.  That's when I decided this quilt was just too big for me to handle on my basic Kenmore machine.  I talked to a long-arm quilter who said if I picked out the "invisible thread" quilting I had already done, she would be happy to quilt this for me...by the time I finally got around to and finished "un-quilting", she was no longer quilting for hire!

Last year I hired Cindy, from here at the Stitchin' Post, to do the quilting.  She did a fantastic job making each block special, with beautiful feathery hearts & circles.  Cindy has a great eye for visualizing what quilting motifs will look best in each area of a pieced top.  So the quilt has been sitting in a corner of my sewing room for yet another year, quietly whispering "binding...binding...binding." 

Now finally...this is my first UFO of 2012. I didn't quite make January, but I'm just so happy to have this quilt finished.  It was an anniversary gift to my husband in 2004, when it was just a finished top.  It was a birthday gift to him in 2011 when it was three layers quilted together.  And this week it was a Valentine's gift to him in 2012 as a finished quilt.  He's waited a long time to snuggle under this quilt!

For everyone working toward the 2012 UFO Challenge, I hope you too are making progress.  Thank you D.M. for giving me the "kick-in-the-pants" I needed to finish this project...!  ~Tamra

 

 

Suzy likes red!

Meet Suzy!  Here she is with her recently quilted Log Cabin In The Round~ It's so beautiful! 

Since September, Suzy has been diligently working in what she affectionately calls "Suzy's Sweat Shop."  Although this quilt has red in it, this is not typical of most of Suzy's quilts!  Most of her quilts have ALOT of red!  (If you could peek at the backing you would see that it is of course RED!) 

Our very own talented Cindy Y. did the long-arm quilting.  Great job to both ladies!

Congratulations Kathy!

Kathy brought in this sweet little quilt she started in December!  The quilt features paper-pieced blocks of farm animals mixed with charm squares surrounding a paper-pieced barn in the center. Complete with an embroidered label on the back...To Owen~  It is a gift for her new grandson, due to arrive in May 2012!

 

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!

 

Notice the big smile! 

The label on the back of this sweet quilt says
To Noah~  
Yes...TWINS! 

Congratulations Kathy~ and beautiful job on both quilts!

February Yarn Special!

Andrea and Val have been busily redesigning the yarn department!  They have been moving fixtures and tables, making the entire department very spacious and more comfortable for customers and our Wednesday Knitters!

In the center of everything is the display for our Monthly Yarn Special~

This month's featured yarn is Ella Rae Classic 100% wool, perfect for felting!  10% off all Ella Rae Classic during the month of February AND a receive a free pattern with purchase of Ella Rae Classic.  (Customers may choose between Felted Tote and Aunt Maggie's Slippers!)

If you're available on Wednesdays, join us for Sit & Knit (1-4 pm or 5-7 pm.)  Bring a project to work on while enjoying a spot of tea and making new friends.  Or, just stop by and say hello~ the conversation is always very lively!

Pull up a chair...

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a while (...and I get to see some pretty cool quilted items around here!)  Can you guess who made it?

Jean brought this awesome chair into the store Thursday morning!  She started it just after Christmas and worked a little bit at a time between her other numerous projects.  The chair will reside in the entry of her artfully decorated home.

Here are some photos of the work in progress:

Jean machine-pieced the covers for the chair, and then fashioned them into a slipcover (which can be removed if necessary for laundering.)  Most of the construction of the slipcover was also done on a sewing machine.  Only a small section needed to be hand-sewn to create the curved corners for the top of the chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a detailed close-up of the intuitive-style gentle curve piecing for which Jean is so well known:

You can learn more about this type of quilting in Jean's book Intuitive Color and Design.

Jean doesn't have any plans to move into the upholstery business, but it is always fun to create new quilting challenges~especially when they turn out this great!