Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The last week has been a whirlwind of activity, and most of it not quilting. Although I did get one more block done for the CoT quilt, along with some pieced sashing bits. And I started another pair of socks, Lattice pattern from Dyed Jems Yarn Company, using a scrumptious yarn that varies between sage and periwinklie. Unfortunately, the label got lost so I have no idea what it is. The whirlwind was going to Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, seeing eight plays in four days, in three theatres. Such is the stuff dreams are made of. Yes, we saw Shakespeare (Troilus and Cressida, Henry V, As You Like It, and Romeo and Juliet), and sort of Shakespeare, an adaptation of the Merry Wives of Windsor, set in Iowa and re-imagined, very silly, and a mash-up that included Medea (Euripedes), MacBeth, and Cinderella (Rogers and Hammerstein). We also saw Seagull (Chekhov) and Animal Crackers (originally starring the Marx Brothers). We stayed in a lovely B&B, McCall House, within walking distance of OSF and several nice restaurants. We plan on staying there again next year. The breakfasts were fabulous (they are publishing a cookbook!), the bed divine, lots of pillows, a fluffy duvet that kept us warm when the nights turned downright cold, and Wi-fi so I could keep in touch reading my e-mail. We also checked out a new to us restaurant, Amuse, delicious but pricey, and a local hamburger/Mexican food establishment, Big Al’s, also good, not elegant, but yummy and a lot easier on the wallet. Then we went to our old standby, Standing Stone Brewery, great beer, bar (I had a yummy Mojito), and food ranging from seafood to pizza, with steaks in between and vegetarian options as well. We also had food at a variety of other places, Greenleaf, Grilla Bites, Munchies, and the Yogurt Hut. Ashland is a Mecca for foodies, we haven’t scratched the surface. We try new places each time we visit, along with visiting old favorites. We also got to visit with our DD who is attending Southern Oregon University. All in all, a lovely vacation.

Cornucopia of Thanks - sashing in progress

I still have two more blocks to make, but they will be hand pieced and are waiting for "hand work time". Meanwhile I have been stitching sashing. I have it broken into about 6 types, cornerstones done, horizontal inner sashing done, vertical inner sashing done, still left the blended sashings (horizontal and vertical) and the final outer sashing that is only half the width. The inner sashing is directional fabric, just to make things fun . This is a stash quilt, and I didn't have enough fabric to make all the sashing the same, so it is two different greens. They are the third and fourth fabrics from the left in the picture in the last post. The first two will be borders, along with one other fabric, not sure what yet. here is the whole design wall - and here is a look at how it looks when sashed. Blocks are 12", sashing is 6".

Cornucopia of Thanks BOM

This month I started leading the Cornucopia of Thanks BOM on the SBS and other Elm Creek quilts Yahoo group. The BOM is using the pattern from Jennifer Chiaverini's "Traditions from Elm Creek Quilts". I picked out some fabrics from stash. Our first block was Augusta And I also made cornerstones then I decided to make more blocks. And decided that the gold fabric did not play well with the cornerstone peach fabric. So made another Providence block. Then I made a bunch more blocks, having too much fun! These are the reject blocks that didn't play well with the rest, they will be a table runner. I like them together. Two more blocks to make, and a lot of sashing!