This is a shout out to my darling hearts at home. Majella and I are having a wonderful time - please know you are in my thoughts and I miss and love you all.
May 22, 2013
Portland Weird - Part One
What can we say - weird and proud of it.......stay tuned for part two.
We still have lots to share with you - our relationship with free wi-fi is a little trying at times but know that we haven't forgotten you all back home. Talk again soon........Lisa and Majella
London calling
Liberty Garden is one of our favourite quilts and it was so lovely to see it in a different colourway - love the greys. We can't wait to make the new quilts that have taken our fancy at market.
Put a bird on it
Heather Bailey surprised everyone at market with her gorgeous booth complete with an enlarged version of her new stitchery patterns. I have to tell you stitcheries and tapestries are on their way back - just in a hip modern form for the new quilter. We can see lots of ways to use them - quilts, cushions, even on your jeans and they would make a wonderful inner border for a quilt.
Heather and her husband Isaac were both a delight to meet and we look forward to her stitcheries arriving in store.
Just in case you were wondering she used a large tapestry needle and she said it didn't take any longer than stitching her smaller design - quite a feat if you ask me!
May 17, 2013
30 mins with Victoria Findaly Wolfe
First cab off the rank for our school house experience this year was Victoria Findlay Wolfe. This lady certainly has a cutting edge about her - not only in he way she presents herself but also on the way she designs and works with fabrics.
It was a treat to her her talk about her earlier life, her move to New York and how that has influenced her quilting journey.
And don't you just love the purse....made from her new range of fabric - yummy, yummy, yummy......
My brain is just about fried and I have to be up in 7 hours for my first day of Market. First thing in the morning we have a class with the queens of appliqué Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece o' Cake.......can't get much better than that.
Goodnight from Portland.......Lisa and Majella.
The best things are pink
We have just had the most fabulous day at Schoolhouse. We have rubbed shoulders with some of our favourite designers and our sewing souls are overflowing with all of the wonderful quilts, fabrics, projects and stories we have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing today. Nearly too many blessings in one day. If everyday was like this you would burst with joy.
Our new best friend Tula had us totally under her spell. Her dry sense of humour had us falling of our chairs with laughter and of course her fantastic quilts were a treat to see and touch. Her sense of style and colour along with her unique outlook on Quiltmaking is totally enthralling.
We will have more photos from her booth tomorrow when market opens.
Onto the next snapshot........
May 16, 2013
The wheels on the bus......
What a day we have had visiting gorgeous shops both quilting and antiques. The first shop for the day was Hollyhill Quiltshop and Mercantile - this shop was breathtaking. Filled with fabulous displays, beautiful samples. Jan's son Brian styles the store and writes the blog for the store - a great blog to add to your reading list. We then headed to Salem (not the one famous for witches) to Greenbaum's Quilted Forest - the ladies here were very warm and we definitely felt very welcome in their store. A nice variety of fabrics - some of which just happened to jump into my parcel. After lunch we carried onto The Speckled Hen - a quaint little shop situated on her property amongst a Forrest of amazing Hemlocks and Red Cedars. Our last quilt shop was The Pine Needle situated at Lake Oswega, a very picturesque suburb of Portland. This shop is well known for its range of flannels and batiks. They also had a lovely range of bright fabrics. Last but definitely not least was a stop at Monticello Antique Marketplace - Majella and I found an amazing array of furniture, antique nick nacks that would look absolutely drop dead gorgeous sitting in Precious Time. We had very sad faces - we couldn't bring any of it home - sadly our cases are just not big enough.
Off to classes tomorrow all day so time for bed as we have a huge day ahead.
Hope you are all well...........Lisa and Majella
May 15, 2013
Voodoo Donuts cast it's spell
We have just returned to our room after another lovely day exploring Portland. We discovered a fabulous donut shop called Vodoo Donuts - we saw some ladies with a pink box on their table and we kindly enquired where to find them. The hunt had begun. On arriving at the store we were confronted with a plethora of choice - what to do - so being sensible we asked for the most popular and in our box we received a Lemon Chiffon, Portland Cream and a Vodoo Doll with a pretzel stake (never heard it called that before) and no I am not going to tell you who got the top or the bottom. Needless to say the statement on the box is right and it was all delicious - even the homeless man asked us for a donut instead of money on our way home.
We visited some lovely shops today all with something special to offer - some may have been good for the body (maybe not the waist though), some were great for the image and others were just beautiful and inspiring for the creative soul. Boys Fort had a great sign in the window that read "keep your shop and your shop will keep you". So don't stop supporting your local shops as they support you not only with fantastic goods and service but they are a place to seek comfort, friendship and inspiration.
We are off on a day trip of the local quilt and antique shops tomorrow so will have my Ipad to take plenty of shots along the way.
Thinking of all our friends, customers and loved ones at home......... Lisa & Majella
May 14, 2013
Hello from Portland
Our trip started off exceptionally well. Stepping onto the travel glide at Brisbane Airport the little man states "make sure to take hold of the handrail at all times", which is near impossible as you are wheeling two bags that have a mind of their own whilst also holding your handbag.
We arrive at Sydney International and while we are running for the boarding gate Majella's bag starts hopping from wheel to wheel. We are laughing our heads off while the gentleman behind asks Majella if she is hiding a small marsupial in her bag. A nice way to start our travels. Oh and if you were worried that we were running late - we weren't - a United staff member saw us walking calmly along the shopping strip to the gate, asked if we were going to San Francisco - yes we eagerly reply - he replies - quick RUN. So we did - we are very obedient travellers. Majella thinks he saw the glazed look on our faces and thought I can have some fun here!
So we are now sitting in our hotel waiting for our bags to arrive at our hotel so we can unpack, have a shower and head to bed for a restful nights sleep. Positive thinking.
Hope you are enjoying reading about our adventures - more to come so stay tuned.
Happy stitching........Lisa
May 13, 2013
The roster is done
We are sitting at Brisbane airport awaiting our flight to Sydney/San Francisco/Portland. The roster is now complete and Roland and Patrina are now in charge of the shop for the next few weeks. I know you will be well looked after as Majella and I are tripping around looking for delicious, new and exciting things for the shop.
We will keep you posted as much as we can.
Qantas is calling so it is time for us to fly......
