Another quilt shop...

You may remember that I promised to tell you about another quilt shop I visited last summer.
This beautiful quilt shop is in Sisters which is in central Oregon. Everytime I go to Portland I spend a few days there with my friends.


You are welcomed by quilts floating outside.


Inside there are many quilts on display and everything a quilter may dream of...


(I bought the fabrics to make the quilt in the middle of the photo above!!!)

There were also lots of Sue Spargo quilts on display.


I think that the Stitchin' Post is owned by Jean and Valory Wells. There is also an outdoor quilt show every year in July. But unfortunately, I can't be on vacation at this time of year so I've never been!!





The town is very charming ! There are many antiques and there were a few things I would have brought back but couldn't put them in my suitcase!!






And last but not least.... Nature!!!! Indeed, nature abounds in this area as well as in all the Pacific Northwest!!







I hope you have enjoyed this little trip and I will post about other places I have visited : England, Ireland and different regions in France...

I thank you for your nice comments on my previous posts and wish you a wonderful weekend.

Until later,

Machine piecing

Do you remember that I wanted to give it a try ?

I decided to start machine piecing the blocks of the Civil War Tribute I receive each month from "Les Secrets de Marie". This month I had to piece 4 identical blocks measuring 15 1/2 inches. And I suddenly realized that it would take me quite a long time to prepare the pieces and hand-stitch them so it was time to start a true friendship with my sewing machine!!!
Indeed, I had only two choices!!! Either handpiecing the CWT blocks this year and doing nothing else on the arts and crafts side or machinepiecing them and doing other things as well!!! And you know that I'm also stitching the Mystery Quilt BOM by Born To Quilt and The Lady's Cabinet by Judy Odell, not mentionning a few other fun things besides...

Though the first block was not a disaster, it was not measuring the right size at the end. Same thing with the second and third blocks!!!!!
At this point, I was about to throw the machine through the window when I suddenly remembered the prize I had paid for it!!!! It immediately brought me back to my senses! LOL

So I started surfing the web to find clues to help me and found the solution in a tutorial about how to get the perfect scant 1/4 inch in Nathalie's blog. I immediately contacted her to have more tips to help me getting the perfect points. And it worked!!!!! Thank you very much, Nathalie, for your help :-))
It might not be perfect but now I know I can do it and I stitched this block with great pleasure and no stress. And it measures exactly 15 1/2 inches as required!!! Yipee!
Maybe you'd like to see it ?


And now a closer view :


Among the few other fun things I mentioned before are a hooked rug I started with Beatrice Meilhac at Quiltmania's quiltshow and the Blueberry Cottage of L'Atelier Perdu. So that will be for another post...

Have a great weekend,
Until later,

Maggie Bonanomi and a bunch of "Muguet"

In France, on May 1st, people buy a bunch of lily of the valleys ("muguet" in French) to bring home. So to celebrate May 1st, here's a small bouquet.


I also wanted to share with you the two folk art books I particularly like. I've had them for quite a long time. They are a real source of inspiration for me. The two books are from Maggie Bonanomi. As far as I know, there is another one that should be ready very soon!!!





The two project photos are from the books!

This is where I found the inspiration for the sentence "Gather up all the fragments so that nothing is lost" that I wrote on the banner of my Mystery Quilt block 1.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Until later,