Sisters, Oregon

It has been a long time since I posted. So much is going on with the renovation that by the end of the day I just don't feel like doing much else than sitting down and zoning out for a bit.

The trip to Sisters was just a fabulous get away with my quilting peeps. We drove down to Portland the first day and spent the night very close to Fabric Depot. Had a nice meal at the Olive Garden. I've never been to an Olive Garden before and I would certainly go back again if I had the chance. I don't know if there are any in Canada.

The next morning we drove to Sisters - via the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego -- I was so excited what a fabulous little shop!! I bought a great kit there to make a Civil War basket quilts. Beautiful fabric!!

Then we spent two nights in Bend. What a lovely little town. We had a great meal at the Deschutes Brewery Restaurant. I bought Jim 3 -- count them 3 - T-shirts!! Jim was of course happy to be rewarded for his hard work as he had to spend the weekend painting the ceiling while I was having fun. I also rewarded him with one bottle - a large bottle of the Deschutes Red Chair IPA - which he said was "brilliant" For all you out there looking for a brilliant IPA.

The next day we spent at Sisters. What an amazing experience. The whole town does such a fabulous job of this show. I think it should be on the "to do" list for all quilters.

I uploaded a few of the pictures I took as we wandered about. The weather was amazing. There were lots of spots to get out of the sun for a bit as well.



Look at the crowds by early afternoon.








They did such a wonderful job of hanging the quilts - with like quilts hung together. I think this was a row of quilts that were classes done by Valori Wells.




These are two very beautiful quilts. The woman in the picture is reading all about the quilt.
It was great to have all the information about the quilts but it would be impossible to read it all in just one day.








These are the women from Gee's Bend - signing autographs for their book. When one member of our group asked them to sign her book they broke out into a song - she recorded it on her camera.


This was a group of quilters that belonged to a Barbershop Quartet and spontaneously sang a few songs.


A couple of lovely basket quilts. This is a close up of one - it is similar to a block I had in mind for some fabric I had bought last year.



I love the way this quilt was hung - tucked away behind a tree. The work that went in to planning this show must be a full time year round job. I was just so well planned and laid out.







A friend and I were admiring this quilt and the two sisters that made the quilt were right there and talked to us for a bit. This is their first quilt in the Sisters show and they had been to the show last year and were so inspired they wanted to enter their own quilt. So I got a picture of them together with their quilt.




And we got an opportunity to listen to a little talk about design and colour by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston.



It was a great day at the show. At one point in the day our little group was taking a rest in front of the Stitching Post and talking to various quilters. I guess the woman next to me was talking to someone in our group about where we were from and when she found out it was the Lions Gate Quilt guild she asked if they knew Pam - they said you are sitting next to her..... too funny .. she was a quilter from the Vancouver area that read my blog.... so Hello to Marge!!! - and yes I am still busy with those darn reno's!!

In the afternoon a small group of us left the show and went back to Bend so we could go to the High Desert Museum and have a look at the display of quilts from the 18's and 19's century. It was a wonderful collection and I was able to take quite a few pictures without my flash that turned out quite well. We wandered around the rest of the museum as well in the short time we had. Great place to visit - we saw the Birds of Prey exhibit - a couple of eagles and owls. I am glad we got to the museum as well. Bend, Oregon and area is a place that I think I need to go back and visit again..... maybe next July!!!!

Back from Calgary and a couple of pictures of Hunter

I am back from Calgary. It was a long and tiring drive yesterday. There was so much traffic - lots of trucks and RV's doing well below the speed limit and very difficult to pass most of them. Unlike the U.S. the main Canadian highway that runs from B.C. to Alberta (Highway 1) is just a two lane highway for large parts of the trip. The highway is being widen and parts of it through Banff National Park and Yoho National Park are under construction -- with a speed zone of 70 kms an hour. It seemed I was always stuck behind some large line up of slow moving vehicles. Then once I got close to Vancouver there had been a number of accidents and the drive from Chilliwack onward was at about 10 kms hour - mostly in 1st and 2nd gear!! So the trip ended up taking about 2 hours longer than my usual 11 hours.

It was great to see Hunter. He was very excited to see me and didn't make strange at all -- I think he remembers the hugs and kisses and cuddling that Nana gives him! He was very happy to see me.

We had a great Canada Day at the park with Hunter and a few other friends and their grandchildren.

Here are a few Hunter pictures.



Hunter had a little Canadian flag - it looks like someone just snatched it out of his hand in this picture. He is so cute - and has just the sweetest smile - his whole face lights up when he smiles.



Our little gathering at the park. Isn't that just the cutest face!! It was a very good day at the park - all the little ones were happy and had a great time.

Here are a couple of cute pictures. Hunter is not quite walking yet but he did not like the feel of certain textures - like the grass - on his knees. So he would do this little "elephant walk" on the grass. My parents have a carpet hallway runner that he didn't like to put his knees on as well. He would crawl all around the living room rug and the kitchen floor but as soon as he got to the little carpet runner he would get up on his feet and hands.







There was quite a bit of work done on the house while I was away. The drywall has all been installed - taped, mudded and sanded. The new fireplace has been installed in the living room/dining room. Jim worked very hard yesterday to get the place all clean and free of drywall dust before I got home. The kitchen floor tiles are going in on Thursday -- just as I head down to Sisters Oregon. The cabinets are supposed to go in on July 13th -- just a I get ready to go work a couple of night shifts. I seem to be missing most of the renovation right now. I sure hope that it is all getting done right! It is hard to decide if I would rather be around and make sure things are getting done right or be away and just worry from afar. I don't know which is more stressful. But all in all the whole thing is stressful - so at least I got to spend some time with Hunter as I was stressing out about the kitchen cabinets - the drywall and the floor tiles. The trip to the Sisters quilt show has been planned for a very long time - so I will try not to feel too guilty knowing that Jim will be painting as I wander around a fabulous quilt show. I will bring him back beer!