SISTERS, OREGON: Part One

Hello!!! I'm back from a twelve day jaunt to beautiful Sisters, Oregon!

My Mom and I took in a week of classes, lectures and events, enjoyed the outdoor quilt show, and wrapped up with a Tula Pink quilt walk - led by none other than Tula Pink!

There is so much to share, it was hard to decide what to post first. . . Weirdly, I'm going to begin at the end. This sight signals "almost home" for the folks around here.



Alberta vista - unedited snapshot
FreshofftheFrame.com

I took this shot (with my phone) out the car window - after I pulled over, of course - and it is completely unedited. Isn't it gorgeous???
There's nothing quite like coming home!


"Save it For Sunday": a quilt walk with Tula Pink

(Yep - Still working backward!)

WARNING - PICTURE HEAVY POST - grab a snack and settle in!

THE butterfly quilt - a Tula Pink icon.

THE butterfly quilt
FreshofftheFrame.com

Tula Pink points out how the butterfly feelers are quilted.

Tula Pink
FreshofftheFrame.com

In the distance is a second butterfly quilt. Tula made it for one of her little sisters, which I thought was pretty cool. Tula is a quilter, just like the rest of us! She makes ALL of her own quilts, and Angela Walters quilts them.

FreshofftheFrame.com


You may recognize this quilt from the cover of Tula's one hundred block book.

FreshofftheFrame.com


Tula's "REJECT" quilt - she made it using colour swatches rejected during manufacturing and thought, why not call it what it is? (See what I mean??? A real quilter, using up scraps, just the way WE would!)

FreshofftheFrame.com


After growing up in the city, Tula visited her Mom who had married a farmer. She saw weird and wonderful plants growing in the fields and was inspired to make this quilt. She called it "Beanstalks". When she showed it to her stepfather, and mentioned her inspiration, his dry response was, "You know that's corn, don't you?". Ha!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Tula shared many delightful details and stories as we walked along. Of course, I paid special attention to the quilting. I won't bore you with a thousand close-ups (you're so lucky), but hopefully the texture that shows from a distance indicates how amazing it is!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Tula likes to keep the story going from the front of the quilt to the back. For example, she used her "Prince Charming" fabric line to make the next quilt . . .

FreshofftheFrame.com


. . . and continued the story on the back with a custom printed character from the line. So perfect!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Here is how the quilts were hung. Poor trees!
"Save it for Sunday" is an annual event, so I suspect they leave the bolts and use them again and again.

FreshofftheFrame.com


I wanted to see how the hexagons were stitched in the quilt shown above, so I flipped up one corner for a peek and found another pleasing back!

FreshofftheFrame.com


If you have deep pockets, some of Tula's quilt backs can be purchased from i heart tula pink.com, a site run by Tula's Mom. (I am not an affiliate or anything, just thought you might be interested!)

FreshofftheFrame.com


The anchor is another of Tula's iconic designs. . . oh, and I learned how to quilt the wavy swirl design from Angela on Friday! It wasn't part of the class, but when she asked if we had any questions, guess what I asked about! She is so generous, and happily drew it out so I could see the path she uses.

FreshofftheFrame.com



FreshofftheFrame.com


The venue was spectacular, as you can see!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Five Pines Lodge in Sisters, Oregon.

FreshofftheFrame.com


The quilts really shine in this setting.

FreshofftheFrame.com

The quilting on "Space Dust" is quite fun - Tula had given Angela a picture of a NASA space launch and said it was what she wanted for the quilting. Ha! Angela rose to the challenge, quilting in the flames, smoke, a planet & star, and even a little ladder into the "ship" with an alien at the top! Too cute!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Angela also quilts Tula's name, and the name of the fabric line used, into each quilt. She never tells Tula where they are, so Tula has to find them on her own. She finds most of them as she binds, but apparently some have yet to be discovered!

FreshofftheFrame.com


Seriously beautiful surroundings plus creative and funny storyteller = an experience to remember!

FreshofftheFrame.com

As always, my photos are unedited "point and shoot" shots, taken with my Android phone.  I'm sure they would look better "touched up", but I like to keep things real. They are a fair representation of what I see in the world, and that's what matters to me!

Feel free to share my photos if you feel so moved . . . but if you do, please play fair and leave my name on them. Linking back to my blog would be even better!


Try, Learn, & Grow!
Carole
P.S. Thanks so much for visiting and sharing your thoughts! I love hearing from you, and do my best to reply in a timely manner...whenever I have an Internet connection, that is! Have a fabulous week.

Comments

  1. ahhh ~ thanks so much for sharing these!! (You could have posted the thousand closeups :-) That is so fun that Angela hides that stuff in her quilting for Tula to find!!
    You're right - the setting is just perfect (as is your 'coming home' picture) I can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventure!
    p.s. Thanks for your help ~ the wavy border didn't end up giving me any trouble :-) I did, however, quilt a nice wrinkle/fold in the back : / I'm going to handstitch it down best I can ~ I think once it's washed and dried and crinkly, it'll be just fine....

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds and looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing. The story about the beanstalks/corn was hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, thanks for the detail shots on the quilting of Space Dust - I missed out on some of the from the more distant photos of it! It sounds like Tula gave a great tour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for giving me the chance to see the quilts. It's a place I doubt I'll ever get to so I'm glad I can visit thanks to you and your pics

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a wonderful, inspirinig walk throught the woods!! What a great venue for sure! THANKS for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the views!! Can't wait to see more :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love her fabric and her quilts are amazing, I am BIG fan (my phone case is the owl from her full moon forest line). What a great experience for you, thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wait! I still have some of my snack left. Show more, show more! :) And some of us like to see the close ups of the quilting. Just sayin'.

    Sounds like you had a great time, and your homecoming pic is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh thank you for sharing - what amazing inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful pics and quilts and nature! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful photos with us!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That sounds like such a great quilt walk, I love it when there are stories attached to making. And beautiful quilts and setting too, the only disappointment to me is that 'Tula Pink' does not look like 'Tula Pink' :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. An experience of for a lifetime! How awesome Carole! Tula & Angela's work is breathtaking! They are both really wonderful and down to earth women.... I'm a fan for sure! The setting for the show is so different and fun. You and your Mom must have had a blast. The story about the corn and beans made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So pleased I finally came across this post. Wow that quilting is truly sensational. What a great opportunity to see them up close. Thanks for the photos as you see by them the quilting 'makes' these quilts.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments make my day! Thanks so much for taking time to leave me a message.