Trip to Oregon

I wanted to share a few more photos of my recent trip to Oregon.  My mom, sister, and I spent two days at the NW Quilt Expo in Portland.  We took three classes, enjoyed shopping in the marketplace, and also spent a bit of time looking at the quilts on display.  My favorite quilt was the sweet cow pictured above.  Below are some photos of some other quilts.  All were amazing!























Another treat while in Oregon... we went the Cirque du Soleil show called "Kurios".  My parents have been to some Cirque performances in the past but my sister and I had never been.  It was a real treat!  I would love to go to another Cirque du Soleil show in the future if I have a chance.









Left to right: Mom, Dad, sister, and me.

NW Quilt Expo

I've just returned from a trip to Oregon. My folks live outside of Portland.  My sister and I both traveled to Oregon and we went to the N.W. Quilt Expo with our mom while we were there.  I've been to the Quilt Expo before but never took any classes. This time around, we took three "take and make" classes.  At the Quilt Expo, we also did a lot of shopping in the market place.  The photos above and below show two potholders I made from a kit I purchased.  The kit included everything I needed to make the pot holders.  Now I know how to make these fun potholders so I can make more with fabric I already have.  I just had to purchase some batting which is suitable for potholders. 



Below you can see my Puppy Pillow.  This item is made from plush fabric.  This class was sponsored by McKay Manor Musers.  Their designs are adorable.  I think this company is a mother/daughter collaboration and the mom taught our class. She was a really delightful lady.  We got no where close to finishing our pillows in class; I worked on this a bit more at my mom's house and a bit more once I got home to Colorado.  If you like the looks of this pillow, I encourage your to check out the McKay Manor Musers webpage.  You can find it HERE.

By the way, that's Brutus behind the Puppy Pillow. Great photo bombing, BruBru!



Next we took a Velvet Pumpkin class.  This was a project we were able to finish in the allotted time frame.  The pumpkin is made from some hand-dyed velvet and a REAL dried pumpkin stem.  The pillow is filled with some dried beans, dried barley, and some poly-fil stuffing.  We used a hot glue gun to attach the stem to the pumpkin.  I would love to make a gazillion of these pumpkins if I could get my hands on some nice velvet and some dried pumpkin stems.



The last class we took was for a table runner called "Jingle All the Way".  This class was taught/sponsored by Fabric Depot, a fabric store in the Portland area.  The kit or "pod" is from Maywood Studio and the designer is Kimberbell.  All of these fabric pieces for the table runner (except for the binding) were pre-cut.  I did not finish this project in class either.  This project made me realize I could really benefit from a very BASIC quilting class.  The binding on my table runner is a disaster!  I am convinced I can never launder this table runner for fear the binding will unravel. 



Back at my childhood home, my mom had some goodie bags for us (patterns, sewing notions, craft magazines, etc.).  She even took the time to make up a kit for us to learn the paper piecing technique.  We did not have enough time to devote to this while visiting, but I took the time to work on it once I got back to Colorado.  I love how it turned out!  And the paper piecing technique is right up my alley.  I sort of turned the paper pieced square into a really big pot holder/trivet.  I look forward to trying out this technique some more! 



After this crazy fun sewing frenzy, I am back to working on some knitting projects.  I splurged on a fun kit from Biscotte Yarns for my birthday back in September.  I'll have that finished up soon so I can show you what I've made.

Visiting Oregon: Tualatin Hills Nature Park

My family moved from California to Oregon in 1977, just after I turned nine years old. We always called these woods "Saint Mary's Woods" but now the area is called "Tualatin Hills Nature Park". When I was young we rarely ventured into the woods, as there were no paths.  I do remember walking in the wools twice  with my fifth and sixth grade classes. The woods are very near to the grade school I attended. When I go and visit my parents in Oregon, I try to go for walks in the woods first thing in the morning. So beautiful and so peaceful and so vastly different than the high mountain desert landscape here in Southern Colorado. I had a bad case of "Kodak Fever" but I so wanted to capture this scenic beauty. 

Walking in the woods in Oregon..

Took this photo of a slug for my mom because I know how much she likes slugs... NOT!!!

I am thinking this is some serious fungus. 

You can see the fungus growing on the side of the stump (above). It's on the side of the stump on the right. 

The photo above is my favorite.