Renee Plains comes to visit The Loft

I was excited to be able to see Renee Plains of Liberty Star for a few minutes yesterday. She makes the trip over from Arizona a few times a year to teach at the Loft. Here she is with my sister Kathy in the check out area of the shop.

.......and here she is standing in front of some of the blocks to my mystery quilt, Folk Branches...

.....I almost got all of her class in....They were having a great time! Renee is a wonderful teacher. If she is ever in your area, be sure to take one of her classes. The classroom in the Loft is a little "cozy", but we always have a lot of fun.

.....and here is part of the wool room in the shop.....through the door you can see the kitchen/notion room....The old wool rabbit by the lamp is one of mine.

....and this cupboard holds a lot of the projects from "Crazy at Home"....Almost all of my samples are at the Loft. People are always asking if my house is full of my creations, but they very rarely make it out of the shop.

Gene and I have a full day planned today. We are off to little league games for our two oldest grandsons....and the zoo later today with another....and lots of last minute errands before I head back to Portland on an early flight tomorrow.....So I best sign off...

A visit to The Country Loft

My first stop last Friday was at The Country Loft. The store was in the middle of a shop hop (San Diego Cruisin' Quilters) and so there was a lot of excitement. As you walk in the front door the first thing you see is the display over the mantle. Didn't Sharon do a great job of bringing Spring into the store? (The doll and two stitcheries are my designs...:)

This is the table in the middle of the living room....The quilt is by Liberty Star...and the Peter Rabbit is mine.....I think that he is trying to take a rest!

This cupboard is tucked into one corner of the living room....and as you can see chock full of samples....

.....and this little table is right next to the door. Lots of great things and we haven't even gotten out of the living room!

Next time I post I will show you a little more of the wonderful things at the Loft. It was such fun to be back in the store and see my friends there.

I hope that you are seeing signs of Spring in your neighborhoods. San Diego has been beautiful this week. Megan tells me that Portland has been rainy, so I best soak up the sunshine. Bye for now.....Jo Ann

Home in San Diego

Greetings from San Diego! I flew home late last Thursday night and I have been having a great time hanging out with Gene and seeing the rest of my family.....It has been warm and sunny since I got here and I am trying to figure out how to dress so that I am not dripping....:)))) I know that it is hard to feel sympathy for this kind of a problem!!!

I headed off to the Loft on Friday and I realized that I haven't posted the March block for Folk Branches....So here it is "House Branch".......I am going back in the next few days with my camera and I will take some photos of how cute the shop looks. I'll be back soon to share them with you.




Happy Stitching.................Jo Ann

Antique Finds

When I spent the day with Debbie, she took me to her favorite antique store. If you are ever in Portland you might like to visit it. It is in southeast Portland and is called Monticello. We had a great time going around the booths not once, but twice (you never know what you will miss the first time around). I immediately displayed some of my finds on my table (the wool runner is one my sister Kathy made when she was teaching my class for me for "A Little Bit Crazy".....it is from Crazy at Home) I loved the old tin cash box and the architectural piece and the old spool (the watering can is always on the table :)

I also found this great bread pan....perfect for storing all sorts of stuff, but especially my wool. The wool in the paper wrappers is part of Debbie's collection that she hand dyes. I have really enjoyed using it.....

.....and finally I found this great old box. I am not sure exactly what I will use it for...but I love it and I know it will find a home. Gene always tells me that our house is full of things like that! I am not sure that he sees them as the treasures that I do.

My mom is coming for a visit to Portland tomorrow. Mom's trip almost got postponed because my sister Kathy had emergency surgery last Wednesday. She is out of the hospital and on the mend and my mom will still be on her way. She will stay a week and then I am flying back with her to San Diego. It's time for a Gene hug!!!

Megan had her last "Ippy" treatment on the 22nd. She had a pretty painful reaction to it....This week she is feeling better, but still not 100%....She has a scan on Friday and we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that she is responding to the drug.

I tried to post this on my blog twice yesterday.....A technological wizard is not lurking in my body......:))) ....so here it is now...somehow writing it for the 3rd time is not as fun! Bye for now....Jo Ann

Debbie's Wool Crazy and Nick's Quilt

Last week when I wrote, I told you that I would share Debbie's Wool Crazy blocks. She made these as sample's for classes she taught. As you can see she used some of my designs (more in her fall block) and then branched out to her own. I love how people take the initial concept and add their own designs or incorporate designs from other patterns they have made. It makes it so much fun to see them...

I am not sure if she plans on making four, but they would be great just made into small quilts! Keeping with a holiday theme she can incorporate them in with her fall and Christmas decorating..














On Monday I spent the day with my grandson Nick. He had the day off from school and since there was work being done at his house he came over to my apartment. He has told me during the last few weeks that he wanted to make a quilt for his animals....and so when he first got there I had him draw some pictures of them....He picked one with his orangutan as his favorite. So I transferred it to tea dyed muslin with my lite box and then I cut out 14 more squares of plaids. Nick laid them out how he wanted them and then he helped me sew them together. As I guided the needle, he worked the foot pedal.....we hit some land speed records on some of the seams, but he had LOTS of fun! While he sat and played with his Leapster, I stitched his drawing....Then he helped me spray bond the backing, batting and top.....I utility quilted it and today added the binding.....As you can see, Nick is VERY HAPPY with the results!!

Of course all of you know that the attention span of a five year old does not allow for non-stop sewing....so after our "speed sewing" Nick had another first. He had never been on a public bus. Since I don't drive adventures with Grandma require a lot of walking and riding on MAX....but so far we hadn't tried the bus. It was a big success. Since it was a holiday and mid morning, Nick and I had the bus to ourselves. We had a great driver and he chatted with Nick the whole way. We took in a matinee and lunch and then we were on our way back......We topped the day off with a trip to the playground at Nick's school. I don't know if he was tired, but Grandma was ready to put her feet up!

Megan had her last treatment of "IPPY" today.....at least for this session....They will do tests in the next few weeks to see if it is working.....Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for its success!

My best to all of you and I hope you are finding time to play with your wool and stitch your day away.......My best.....Jo Ann

An adventure in Portland

Last week I got a message from Debbie Busby of Wooden Spool Designs. We have met many times at Quilt Markets and always had a great time in our brief visits....but for all of you who have gone to market you know that if you are in a booth, visits unfortunately can't be too long! Anyway, she knew I was in Portland and asked if maybe we could get together one day. So....on Tuesday I took the MAX (Portland's wonderful light rail) to it's last stop going east and Debbie picked me up and took me on an adventure. We drove through beautiful countryside and ended up at her home. It was such fun to see her treasures and to visit her studio. Here she is standing in front of one of the old wooden stands in her work area. The whole room was full of wonder.....



....and here Debbie is again in the middle of the room....every where you looked there was a bit of inspiration. Debbie is just like her smile...warm and welcoming. It was such fun to see her new projects that she is developing for Spring Quilt Market....They are still a secret...but I know you will all love them!

Don't you love how she used the stack of suitcases for a lamp stand. I forgot to ask if she uses them for storage too....but I know mine at home are all full of samples,etc. She later took me to her favorite antique store and sure enough she found a smaller case to add to her collection.

The antique paper stands add a wonderful look in her shipping area. I saw one similar to this later that day when we were shopping, but it was a little too big to carry back on MAX....so it had to stay at the shop. I love it, don't you?

All in all it was a great day. I of course found some treasures of my own and plan on sharing them with you. I also took some photos of Debbie's version of Wool Crazy. She has taught it at a local quilt store, Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe in West Linn and her samples are very fun.

We had snow in Portland yesterday morning. It only stayed for an hour, but it was so beautiful to see. My grandkids were very excited!

Visiting Debbie's studio made me come back and work on my mystery stitchery....I only have two more blocks left.....and I think I'll close and get to work....Bye for now, Jo Ann

Back in Portland

I am back in Portland again. Actually I came back on the 31st of January, but I spent the first 3 days wallowing in a cold! I wasn't much use to anyone....although Nick came home sick from school that first day and he had to put up with me! I finally felt like a human being by Thursday...and just in time, because Megan had planned a girl's weekend at the Oregon Coast!

Before I tell you about that, I wanted to share block #2 of the Folk Branches bom at The Country Loft.....remember that it is a mystery and won't be put together until the end. I now have the first 7 done, but you will have to wait to see them! Of course this is Heart Branch...right in time for Valentine's Day.

....and now onto the coast. I love the Oregon Coast. It is so different than the beaches in Southern California! We were lucky to be staying in Megan's friend's family home just steps from the famous Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. My sister Marlene is walking down the stairs to it. We had overcast, but calm weather during our stay and were able to trek up the beach both days.

Megan planned this trip, because her friend, Val came to visit from Iowa....This is a photo of Megan (on the right), Val (middle) and my niece Margaret. They have all been friends for years.
... and here we are our first night in the beach house. Gene had sent us all a gift for the weekend (head scratchers) and Margaret is showing hers off....It was such fun to spend some time away and just visit, eat, drink and be merry.

Can you see that Megan's hair is starting to grow back. The clinical trial drug that she is on now does not kill hair cells, so she is sporting a fuzzy head. So far it is dark, but she said she is just glad to get some back ! Sophie might like her Mom having her hair color!

Going on this journey with Megan has taught us all to enjoy each and every moment (maybe not the ones suffering with a cold).....but all the special little things of life.

Thanks everyone for all your messages and prayers. We all so appreciate them....

Hope you are having a great day and I send you all a special wish for a special Valentine's Day with those you love......Jo Ann