Quilts in a Tree

Just a quick post to share some quilt photos I took while visiting the parental units (borrowing a phrase from my baby sister here) last week.

Got Pink? in a tree

Since school is about to start, I took my youngest (the only one still living at home full time) to visit her Mississippi grandparents.  We had a good time doing what we always enjoy doing - eating and talking. This time we threw in a few quilt shops and quilt photo expeditions.

Gateway Oak

Michelle asked me to take some pictures of quilts she had made because I am constantly giving her a hard time about not taking pictures and posting her amazing quilts on her blog, and my mom suggested taking pictures by the incredible Gateway Oak alongside the highway in my hometown.  

My birthday wall quilt

 I'll let my sister share the pictures on her blog of the quilts she made (as soon as I email the photos to her!), but in the meantime, here are a few reruns.  I took the birthday quilt my sister made me home to show my family.  It was difficult photographing this one in the huge oak.  

Let's try again

 It was impossible to get a photo of the entire quilt and without a person in the background which was my goal.  I love how the tree bark is reflected in the tiny center strips of the quilt.

I can't wait for Michelle to show you the pictures of her quilt I took displayed on the Gateway Oak.  The oak tree is a perfect backdrop for that particular batik quilt with its greens, tans and browns.

More Got Pink?

I don't feel I ever really took any good pictures of the Got Pink? quilt I made for my mom several years ago so I took that one along on our photo shoot.  

And another one

 The more I see this quilt, the more I like it!  I still don't have a decent enough picture of the quilt, but I sure love this one!  It's super soft and cuddly.  I may have taken a nap or two with it while visiting my Mom.

And another

In addition to the photo shoot here, I took quite a few pictures of other quilts in my Dad's backyard.  I will email those to my sister right now, so she should have them up on her blog right away soon.

Do you take your quilts out on a photo expedition?  

Where is the most unique spot you've encountered for photographing quilts?

More Adventures in Quilt Photography

I tried to show these pictures last week in one of the posts eaten by BlogPress.  I am home now with my laptop, so I can finally post about the last two weeks' fun.  I hope you aren't sick of seeing this quilt by now, but I need to show it one last time, completely finished and photographed at one of my favorite hiking spots.

Peace, Love and Happiness resting at the rocks.

Almost two weeks ago, I celebrated a really big birthday.  I started this quilt at last year's Gruber's retreat (tomorrow I will share pictures from this year's retreat).  The name says it all:  Peace....it is a peace sign after all, Love.....Amy Butler Love fabric used exclusively in the pinwheels, Happiness....happy to sew with friends.  Wouldn't it be nice to also photograph Peace, Love and Happiness in my happy place?!

Can you see my happy place waaaayyyy up there in the distance?

I thought this was a brilliant idea.  Let's just say only on my birthday (and probably just because it was my 50th) could I get away with such a thing!  The group except for my daughter who would rather do anything than hike wasn't opposed to hiking Beehive Basin, and my husband and daughter are used to me stopping to take pictures of wildflowers along the way, but the challenges of hiking and photographing a quilt are another matter entirely.  The experience ended up being similar to this adventure in quilt photography rather than the ease of photographing my recently finished Liberated quilt.

Quilt wrapped in plastic to protect against the dirtiness that is the inside of my backpack.

Do you know how much a quilt weighs?  This one weighs 3.8 pounds.  That's not much, but it is rather bulky and took up my entire backpack.  Luckily, since it was my birthday, others carried what they considered the essentials:  food, water, bear spray.  Did I mention this hike is an all day hike?  Unless you are younger, in better shape, not walking with two kids and two unwilling teenagers, and not taking photographs, you can probably do this hike in two-three hours.

That's me in the middle with the messy hair.....not the young blonde on the end ;-)

So we are hiking along fine on a very hot and sunny day and stop at "the rocks" to eat lunch, take our obligatory group photo and rest before starting the second and hardest part of the hike to the top.

New camera with wide angle lens for turning 50!

Did you know that quilts come in handy as a tripod for taking photos with the self-timer feature?  The kids (and adults) roll their eyes at me when I suggest the group photo, set the timer and run into the picture, but I think they secretly enjoy this part.

Look at those angry skies.

While resting at the rocks I notice really dark clouds hovering over my happy place, so I suggest we take quilt photos at the rocks just in case we don't make it to the top.  I direct my husband to hold up the quilt so I can take a photo.  I wasn't counting on the windy conditions and the fact that four people would be needed to hold the quilt down.  It's a good thing the cousins were visiting!

The cousins realizing the quilt is a peace sign....."cool"....

How many people does it take to photograph a quilt?!

 I have to thank my family for being such good sports about this.  The wind was blowing all over the place, hats were flying off, and I was a little bossy.  I didn't hear any complaints about how many pictures I took (don't worry, I won't show them all), and no one rushed me to finish.  Again....only on my birthday.....

Yeah, it work's better when the kids are holding the bottom and the tall people are holding the top.

"OK, can we go now?"

 By the time we reached the top of Beehive Basin (and we did make it to the top), the rain was coming down hard and then we got hailed on.  That plastic bag protecting the quilt came in handy for holding my camera too.  I pulled out my cell phone and snapped a quick pic of the two teenagers at the top, but there would be no quilt photography going on here today.

Beehive Basin on a sunny day

Celebrating my 45th birthday

Learning photoshop is on my list of things to do....maybe I'll photoshop the quilt into the pictures I took on my 45th birthday.....

Of course, the sun was shining and the wind had disappeared by the time we reached the rocks on the way down.  I took advantage of the situation and had my husband take a few photos of me holding the quilt.  I AM smiling!

So, even though I didn't get any pictures of Peace, Love and Happiness at the top of Beehive Basin, at least I have some of Lone Mountain in the background.  It's all good!

Quilt Stats:  Peace, Love and Happiness; 73ish" square; started July 2011, finished July 2012; fabric is Amy Butler Love prints for the pinwheels, Kona Snow for background, Kona Teal and Ash for the backing, scrappy binding; quilted with a walking foot using Connecting Threads; pattern design, quilt made and quilted by yours truly.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you made it all the way to the bottom of this post!  Stay tuned...tomorrow is retreating at Gruber's.....

Friday Finish: Liberated

I'm giving BlogPress another try, and I hope I don't regret it.  I'll be home and reunited with my laptop next week.  After spending way too much time on BlogPress (works better with my photos than Blogsy), I emailed photos from one device to another and am typing this on a very old laptop while having internet issues....we'll see what happens.....

I have other posts that are still unwritten (i.e. disappeared somewhere), but I want to show you this quilt that I finally finished yesterday.  I started this quilt a long time ago mainly using fabric leftover from my oldest son's Artist Palette quilt (imagine what I could make with all the solids and shot cottons I have acquired since!).  The actual colorful strips have been completed for over a year now, but then I mulled over the color of the "sashing" and even after that was decided, stressed over how I would quilt it even before I had picked out a backing fabric.

I really wanted to show this quilt at our Gruber's retreat, so I finally just went for it:  going with the gray fabric on the top, choosing a bright purple (Kona Eggplant) solid for the backing without any thought of the consequence, quilting with silver thread even though that meant some of the quilting would show on the front and definitely on the back, and quickly choosing a binding from leftover fabric which just happened to also come from my oldest's high school graduation quilt.  (Lots of leftovers from my son's quilts!)

Really....why do I stress over making these decisions....once the choice is made, the actual piecing and quilting doesn't take that long!  Maybe I will remember this lesson next time and a finished quilt will not take me over a year and a half!

My daughter and I walked to the ski bridge for a picture taking session.  She took this one of me holding the quilt.  This was much easier than the all day hike we took on my birthday to photograph my Peace, Love and Happiness quilt....but that's for another day.....

Quilt stats:  Liberated; 49"x66"; started January 2011; completed July 12, 2012; fabric used consists mainly of Kona solids with some shot cottons, corduroy, silk and linen thrown in; thread is Silver by Connecting Threads; quilted with a walking foot in a square pattern starting in the center and working out to the edge; pattern is improv pieced coin strips, made and quilted by yours truly.

Next week when I have access to my computer and pictures, I have lots to show including a recap of my Gruber's retreat, quilt photo shoot while hiking, a birthday quilt and maybe a grandbaby picture or two to share.

In the meantime, Happy Friday!

What's Up Wednesday: Independence Day

It's Independence Day here in the States....

 and we are celebrating with friends, family, fireworks and flags flying!!!

 What are you plans for the Fourth of July?

Have fun, be safe and enjoy your independence!

What's Up Wednesday: Missing

I am heading home today, and besides the obvious (Leo and his parents), here are some things I will miss:

Taking one handed cell phone pictures while rocking Leo...

Visiting local coffee shops where my coffee is served in a soup bowl....

 Seeing Mt. Rainier on a sunny day....ok, this has only happened twice this trip.....

Watching a movie at the newly-upgraded-to-digital local movie theater (I highly recommend The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie)....

 Admiring flowers that don't grow in Florida....

Browsing antique shops for items that won't fit in my carryon bag....

Seeing random cool things while driving.....

Shopping at locally owned bookstores......

Watching my son watch his son....

Adventures in Quilt Photography

Who knew trying to get that perfect shot of a quilt could be hazardous to your health?!

Has anyone ever gotten a concussion from taking quilt pictures?!!!

What about the flu?!

My (well, our family's) Christmas present from my sister is this beautiful gift quilt she made and shipped to us in Montana just in time for Christmas!

She even embroidered all of our names...including Max!

I just LOVE it and wanted to take a million the perfect picture to show everyone.

  

The weather would just not cooperate.  There wasn't enough snow for my skiing husband's liking...the sun didn't make an appearance for days, but the wind sure did!

The day we flew home, the wind disappeared and the sun and snow arrived.  Isn't that always the way?  

That morning (very early in case you can't tell by the lighting) I convinced my husband to help me take pictures at a location I had scouted for just this purpose. 

Did I mention the temperature also dropped quite a bit?  I suggested he take pictures from the cozy warmth of the car, while I stood outside and held up the quilt.  

He kept trying to get me and the mountains in the picture, but I was envisioning the quilt in front of the Christmas-like trees with the sparkling lights.  I convinced him to switch places and let me take the pictures ;-)

That's when I slipped and landed flat on my back....right as another car pulled up.  Ouch!!! 

How about some humiliation to go with that headache?!  

It's nice to know others take pictures of this beautiful scenery....but somehow I think I was the only one out there adding a quilt to the vistas ;-) 

Still trying to get that perfect shot, I made the kids join us in hiking up the ski bridge.  By that time, the wind was back and it was getting even colder.  

For some reason, I didn't get any of these type Hey Girl comments ....

(OK, if you haven't seen the Handmade Ryan Gosling site, go there now!)....

....instead, mine were "Hey Rene', tell me again why we are taking pictures of the quilt outside?"

or "Hey Mom, how many pictures of quilts do you really need to take?!" 

and "Hey Mom, take the picture already....it's freezing out here!"

Next time..... I bring the tripod!

All joking aside, my family was very supportive in this adventure, and we all really love our new quilt!!!!

Thanks so much Michelle!!!!!