Have you heard of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show? It’s not a bunch of relatives hanging quilts together but a town called Sisters in Central Oregon that one day a year goes crazy and puts over a thousand quilts all over town outside! It’s super awesome and this year I was lucky enough to go check it out. Not only that but earlier in the week I took a class by Carolyn Friedlander in a coordinating event called A Quilter’s Affair. Somehow I just found out about this even though it’s been going on for forty years! In addition to all this awesomeness I stayed with a group of awesome women at a legitimate RANCH and sewed all weekend. So pretty much THE BEST THING EVER. Want to see what I worked on?

First of all the light in this place. THE LIGHT. I would challenge you to find people more in love with light than those living in climate’s like the valley in Oregon where there is so little light to be had in the winter (and fall and spring). WE LOVE IT. I whipped up this #RainbowPicnicSewAlong so quickly. I changed it a little bit. I had a 6″ (finished) square die for my Accuquilt so I used that. Making the quilt 10 x 12 blocks (60 x 72). I’m excited for Rachel to post the next steps, I bought my canvas backing today!
Hand-sewing outside. Yes please! I’m making little sweet patches for a much loved thrifted quilt with my new found needle turn appliqué skill.
The Moda Building Blocks was fun for a while (it was a local shops block of the month club) but I had such trouble with my seam allowance. I decided to call this good after making a few filler blocks and will be quilting this and donating it this fall.
Swoon Quilt! I had a bunch of these blocks cut out since the last Craftcation so I made myself sew them up. It actually wasn’t so bad once I got going (and read the directions!). And I really love how it turned out so there might even be more swoon blocks in my future.

I have been making this style of quilt for a while to highlight a favorite or orphan (leftover from another quilt) block. Sometimes I use four blocks as in this quilt I sold on Etsy. I love the simplicity of these quilts and the ability to showcase large prints (isn’t that alphabet fun??).

Alien Alphabet quilt 41 x 53 for sale on Etsy here.

Elephant quilt 54 x 64 made for my friend’s son.
These simple quilts make trying new things such as quilting techniques (the loop pattern on the elephant one above), different batting (playing with Dream Puff), and different fabrics (I used a “minky” type on the elephant one) less intimidating. If something goes wrong you haven’t spent a ton of time working on a top, and stitches are easier to pull out with less piecing.
This is also a good go to for charity quilting as these tops whip up quickly. I’m working on another type that also pieces so fast (and uses only 9 fat quarters!) that I’ll share soon. It feels so good to bust through the stash and participate in my guild’s charity work.