Whidbey Spin ~

The Madrona weekend is here and we had a blast!  How many years have we been going to Madrona?  I am not sure, perhaps this is our third or fourth or fifth....but the first year one of us has taken a class...so we are slowly graduating into two days of Madrona.... next year, perhaps we can all get into a class or two!

Once we have had the Madrona adventure, we head to our beach house on Whidbey Island for our anniversary weekend. We arrive on Friday night and then we knit and spin and weave and make quilts....all weekend... plus we laugh and tell stories and make memories and hang out with the best friends in the world! I was able to spin on Saturday.... you can see how close we are to the beach.... perfect place for creative spinning, knitting, quilting, weaving.... perfect place to relax!!!

Island Quilting ~

Another great tradition of our Island weekend is lots of fabric to make lovely quilt tops! There are several friends on our weekend that have amazing eyes for color and color organization. This year was no exception as my sister shows her lovely quilt top for 2012 weekend! Lots of great colors and inspiration, and all sewn by the time we had to leave on Monday morning! Way to go!!!

Sisters Quilt Show ~

The day of the quilt show arrived. The Sisters Quilt Show is the largest outdoor quilt show in the world.My sister and I have been attending for years, and love everything about the show. The inspiration of seeing hundreds and hundreds of completed quilts is staggering. This year there were over 1300 quilts on display outside!Some of my favorite quilts each year are the western quilts with cowboys and cowgirls and horses and campfires and all-things-western.Always the second Saturday in July, and I highly recommend this event if you have an interest in quilting.

Tosh outside ~

Since I had the outdoors to myself while hundreds were inside taking quilting classes, I decided I could also knit on my Tosh shawl. This one required a bit of counting, and so I sat in the sunshine and knit and counted.I made great progress on this shawl and the pattern and yarn are working well together. Doesn't this yarn look stunning in the sunshine and leaves! A wonderful feeling to be knitting on so many projects and feel the progress! Ahhhh, vacation!!!!!

Quilt Class Qiviuk ~

While my sister was taking a quilt class from 8:30 to 3:30, I was knitting outside in the lovely Oregon sunshine. I did many rows on the amazing Qiviuk scarf, and often wonder how I can put it down to knit on something else. The yarn is lovely and soft, yet so thin I get a little nervous that it will break. I always feel so happy, and relieved, when I get to the end of the row and have the correct stitches. Not sure why such a short pattern can be confusing...lots of knit-in-the-back-loop and knit2-together-in-the-back-loop and other many-word-instructions. So far, so good, and the lace pattern looks good!! I emailed my sweet friend that gifted me with this precious yarn to thank her again!

Almost done ~

This quilt started out as the beautiful kaleidoscope colors in the beginning of the weekend, and turned into the cutest bunnies.

We couldn't believe how much Marion accomplished on this quilt this weekend!

Oh so cute! Keep up the great work, Marion!!!

Knitting by the Sea ~

This is the great place we stay for our knitting, quilting and beading weekends.


A super location with a quaint town, a knitting shop, a consignment shop, a great bakery and coffee shop! Look who we found in the quilting shop (below) having a good time with my knitting! AAACCCK!


I wonder if he had ideas of holding my knitting for ransom, or taking it on vacation and sending wild postcards of my knitting in a far off land?!

Done and Done ~

Lisa's sweater is done ~ and so very beautiful! She blocked it on Sunday and wore it home on Monday.....sweet! Doesn't it look great!!! Hurrah!!!

Kathy's quilt top is done ~ she'll have our favorite quilter do the quilting back in Michigan. Isn't it stunning with these borders! Bravo!!!

What a great weekend for finishing projects, starting projects and learning new techniques and having a blast!

Piece-full, too ~

This quilt is being pieced by our dear Marion, also of the pumpkin hat and tractor sweater fame.

Very talented lady, there is nothing that she can't do - and she does it all with such style and grace!

Very inspiring!!!! Wait 'till you see how this one turns out (you won't believe it!)

Piece-full weekend ~

Several of us were knitting this weekend, but there was also some inspired quilting. Very "piece full" indeed!


This quilt is being pieced by my sister ~ very beautiful use of Asian fabrics.


My favorite fabric is the parasols ~ isn't this great!! Wait 'till you see how it turns out!

Lovely weekend ~

For Valentines' weekend, we are having a Yarn Yoga away for the weekend...


Three days of knitting socks, knitting sweaters, quilting and fun fun fun....and some special guests that celebrated Valentines' Day in a wonderfully romantic way!

Real art ~

On the way to the Sisters Oregon quilt show, there is an amazing group of art work in a horse pasture, with the three Sisters mountains in the background. They are metal sculptures of a cowboy and cowgirl and cow dog herding horses across the field. It is magnificent, framed with the mountains. We look forward to seeing this each year, and as we neared the corner we realized that there were real horses grazing amongst the statues!

It was even more magnificent! We pulled over so I could take pictures ~ can you tell which are the sculptures and which are the real horses? These guys came up to investigate my picture taking ~ they were so beautiful! (See the cowboy, cowgirl & cow dog in the back?)

Here's a view with the mountains.

Here's a video so you can see the difference between horses and sculpture

Quilt fun ~

There were hundreds of great quilts at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this year, as always. We didn't sense a certain theme or pattern to them this year, just a great variety of creative handy work ~ and all of them done! Hundreds and hundreds of finished projects! what a concept~

Here are some fun ones: A rooster, for all of us chicken lovers

A flamingo, for all of us flamingo lovers

Two quilted car covers... I'm not sure why....but it was interesting...?

I'm not sure I understand these... but they are fun!

Yarn and Quilts ~

We had a great time on our Sisters Oregon weekend to see the famous outdoor quilt show. The famous Stitchin' Post also has yarn, as this picture clearly shows the sign above our heads. They had a great selection of yarn this year, and I ended up getting some on sale ~ bamboo and silk, how can one resist a sale on bamboo and silk?

I will post a picture of the new yarn soon....

Sisters fun ~

Yes, we are having a blast in Sisters Oregon at the Outdoor Quilt Show weekend. My sister and I are trying to figure out how many years we have been making the trip to Sisters in July, as we know we missed a few years when my kids were wee ones... but not too many years.... In the last 5 years we've been taking a sewing class the Friday before the Outdoor Quilt Show, and that has been a good additional tradition for us.

Here we are during another great sister's tradition ~ an island vacation for relaxing, knitting, sewing, beading and great friends!!!

Do you recognize these hats, from one of my favorite knitting books, Hats On? These were such fun to knit!

Sisters Quilt Show ~

As you read this, I am enjoying the Sisters Oregon Outdoor Quilt Show. It is always the second Saturday in July, and always an amazing display of creativity, inspiration and talent. There are hundreds and hundreds of quilts on display, including every color combination, style, tradition and age. Each year I go with my sister, and we have an amazing time! Here we are, outside the Stitchin' Post, owner Jean Wells, that started the Outdoor Quilt Show 34 years ago with her own quilts. She started an incredible tradition. Check out their website to see pictures of all the quilts displayed along the main street and side streets of Sisters!
P.S. In the last several years, Jean now sells wonderful yarn at the Stitchin' Post! That's where I bought my first Jitterbug yarn!

Together Again ~

We look forward to these weekends together to relax and knit, or relax and quilt...and lots of laughing too. This is our Presidents' Weekend ~ the 4th time for this weekend, the 5th time in total as our first trip here was in September 2003. Here are "the usual suspects" behind one of my sister's quilting masterpieces.

Hey, what movie is that quote from?

Better with friends ~

We just finished a delightful weekend of knitting, quilting, laughing, shopping, strolling around and sight seeing....all of these are better with friends.

When it comes to sight seeing, that is better with friends, and even better with hats!!! :)

More about our weekend, coming soon!

Christmas Joy ~

Happy Christmas to all of you! Another Christmas tradition that gives me great joy is my Christmas Quilt. I made it from a "Quilt Block a Month" pattern/kit by the Sisters, Oregon Stitchin' Post. The pattern/kit was given to me by my sweet sister as a birthday gift. It was loads of fun to sew, as the colors are not traditional "green & red" and the designs are whimsy and fun. I pull it out of the closet at Thanksgiving and reacquaint myself with all the blocks and shapes and colors and whimsy and delight.... I love this quilt!!!!!

Home Again, Home Again (Jiggity Jig)

Coming home from a trip is always a great feeling ~ being reunited with our family and sharing what has happened while we were apart. Catching up on the "goings-on" and recounting stories and funny moments. A really Great Surprise occurred when I walked in the door and saw my birthday present from my sweetie ~ he had made a quilt rack for my batik quilt & he hung it up as well. What a beautiful welcome home surprise!
P.S. Quilt made in a class from Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon during the summer quilt show week. In addition to fabulous fabrics, they also have a great selection of yarn!