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

 

Central Oregon Shop Hop winners...

Thanks to all you "shop-hoppers" for making this weekend fun and lively~  the Stitchin' Post is pleased to announce our store winners for the Central Oregon Shop Hop Drawings!

$25 Stitchin' Post/Twigs Gift Certificate goes to
Patty Lieuallen of Madras, OR

$50 Stitchin' Post/Twigs Gift Certificate goes to
Janet Sehon of Bend, OR

The winner of our in-store drawing for Lawry's tablerunner
made with this year's theme fabric "Soul Garden" by Carolyn Gavin is
Gary Marr of Salem, OR

Enjoy your new tablerunner!

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!

Meet Marrell...

Marrell brought in a finished quilt top from $5 Club a few years back (possibly 2009-2010?)  This was a Block of the Month Club project.  Very bright and "springy."

Here is close-up of the detail work on one of the baskets:

Marrell plans to donate the quilt to the Women's Ministry Tea & Auction at her church in Redmond.  So generous~ beautiful work Marrell!

Free Event this Friday!

You are invited to a special event this Friday afternoon!

Dear Jane Show and Tell
with the always fun and entertaining
Ann Richardson!
3-5 pm
(refreshments will be served)

Ann is welcoming back alumni of the Dear Jane Club to share progress made on their Dear Jane Quilts.  Everyone is welcome to attend this free event and be inspired by the precision piecing that goes into these tiny 4 1/2" blocks.  Come be amazed!

Take a look at our Facebook album to see a sample
of the talented work of these dedicated quilters
then plan on being here this Friday!

 
Be there, or be a 4 1/2" square! ~Tamra

"Santiam Pass"

"Santiam Pass" by Jean Wells-Keenan and Patty Bently

 

Jean has been working on a collabrative project with Patty Bently, an oil painter from Portland, Oregon.

The art above, called "Santiam Pass," is a a set of five separate panels.  Pieces 1,3,and 5 are paintings by Patty, while pieces 2 and 4 are quilts made by Jean.  The art will be on display at the 2011 Sitka Art Invitational Show to be held November 4, 5 & 6 at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon.    

The two artists came up with the idea of commemorating the 2003 B&B Complex Fire along the Santiam Pass.  A simple sketch of the landscape and selecting a color palette were the starting points.  Jean first pieced the land in panels 2 and 4, then sent the work to Patty, who did the preliminary paintings on panels 1, 3 and 5. 

After the base work was complete, Jean and Patty met again to plan the placement of the tree snags and the details to be added to all five panels, that would unite the panels into one flowing work. 

Jean added the tree snags, quilted her pieces, finished them with art facings and returned the panels to Patty.  Patty finished the paintings and took the peices to a framer.  The quilts hang free from the top and the paintings are stretched over frames that are about 3/4" in width. A dimensional feeling is created when you look at the piece.

If you are in the Portland area, stop by the 2011 Sitka Art Invitational Show and enjoy all the marvelous artwork on display November 4-6th.

Meet Jenny!

This is Jenny, employee here at the Stitchin' Post
for the past seven years! 

This quilt was pieced by Jenny and quilted by Laura S. (also an employee of the Stitchin' Post.) This quilt has been generously donated to the Kiwanis of Redmond, Oregon!  The Kiwanis are having an Octoberfest fundraiser on November 5 (5:30pm) at the Convention Center, where this quilt will be part of the auction.  For more information about tickets to the Octoberfest event, please contact Kiwanis of Redmond.

"Sew Oregon" Statewide Shop Hop begins today!

Today is the first day of "Sew Oregon" 5th Annual Statewide Shop Hop, which goes through October 22nd.  We already had ladies in the store at 9:10 this morning, ready to have their passports stamped and to pick up their free block pattern!   Click here for details about the Shop Hop.

Here is the block we are handing out:

We're looking forward to meeting visitors from all over the great state of Oregon! ~Tamra

P.S.~ Did everyone see Jean Wells & students on OPB's Oregon Art Beat last night?  If you missed it, the episode will air again this Sunday at 6pm!