Portland: The Pearl

Background

The PEARL District is an area of Portland formerly occupied by warehouses, light industry, and railroad classification yards and now is noted for its art galleries, upscale businesses and residences.  

The area had been undergoing significant urban renewal since the mid-1980s, including the arrival of artists, the removal of a viaduct, and the construction of the Portland Street Car and has since been reclassified from industrial to mixed-use.

Learning how the area got its name and how impactful that was to our artistic heritage, it somehow demanded to be represented in fabric.

Please go to our Blog Site (http://pineneedlequiltshop.blogspot.com/2014/12/susan-beal-shows-off-pendleton-wools.html) and read about Pearl Amhara.  A truly informative and inspiring story.

Because of the history of the area, and because of the renovation that it has experienced, it reminded me of the juxtaposition of Traditional Quilting and Modern Quilting and the common relationship of both.

Quilting has undergone a transformation as well and this exhibit will be a combination of that journey.

WestSide Modern Quilt Club, sponsored by The Pine Needle in Lake Oswego Oregon, would like to invite you to participate in our 2015 project entitled: Portland: The Pearl

Project Description

Our mission is to create a 32” x 44” finished piece representing your interpretation of a Pearl District image.

This exhibit is not necessarily a pictorial exhibition, but rather a Modern-style representation.

The quilt exhibit will be hung in a magazine-style format with facing quilts which will act as pages and will debut at the Portland Northwest Quilting Expo September 24, 25, and 26, 2015.

This challenge is open to anyone interested in participating.  It is not required to be a member of the WestSide Modern Quilt Club.

Below are some ideas for your information but, of course, you can develop any image that you find inspiring:

The Armory

Union Station

The Alphabet Streets

Lovejoy Columns

First Thursday

White Stag Sign

Powell’s Books

Jamison Park

Urban Renewal

Loading Docks

Weinhardt Brewery

China Town

Portland Street Car

Pearls/Iron/Black Jewelry/ Gardenia (Look up the story of Pearl Amhara on the Pine Needle Blog site to understand this input into the area)

North Park Blocks

NW Industrial Triangle

To name just a few ideas………

We have someone doing our COVER and someone doing our Table of Contents page, so your assignment, should you choose to accept, is to create a Modern quilt of Portland: The Pearl.

Requirements

Each piece must finish at 32”x44”.  Each piece must have a rod pocket (see below)

Rod Pockets

Rod pockets should be flush with the top, or at the bottom edge of a binding (if the binding is not larger than 1/2" wide). The rod pocket or sleeve should be a double pocket so the rod does not touch the back of the quilt and finish at 4" wide. The length of the rod pocket or sleeve should be equal to the width of the quilt, or no more than 1/2" shorter than the width of the quilt.

Expo Entry

Each piece must have an entry form found in the NW Quilting Expo flyer or on line at nwquiltingexpo.com.  It is free to have your Portland The Pearl quilt showcased at Northwest Quilting Expo.

However, if you desire your piece to be judged (optional) you must then follow the guidelines of NW Expo for judging.

Each quilt must come with a type written (75 words or less) ….description of the theme of your piece. Including your name.

Preferably with a copy sent to friends@pineneedlequiltshop.com.

Due Date

Each completed piece is due August 15, 2015

Our Big Reveal Pot Luck will be at Millennium Park in Lake Oswego on Wednesday, August 27, 2015. (Last names beginning with A-G bring a hot dish, H-P bring a salad, Q-Z bring desert).

Please do not reveal your quilt to anyone prior to the Millennium Park Pot luck.

Once you have decided to work on this project, we would appreciate a phone call or email letting us know of your intent, only so that we have an idea of how many pages will be in our exhibit.  Not mandatory but appreciated.

Last year our Bridges of Portland was elected to hang at the PDX airport. This year I am working with the City of Portland Travel to see what they can do for us. I will keep you all informed.

I WANT your work exposed!!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the store (503-635-1353) and ask for Geri.  I will, hopefully, be able to answer any questions you may have.

I look forward to working with you.  I am SURE it will be the Talk of the Town!

Geri

June 2015 WestSide Modern Quilt Club Meeting

Guest Speaker - Marie Deatherage

Marie has been quilting seriously for 6 years. She tends not to be a "social" quilter and after retirement became a hermit to finish all of her projects. Now, more recently, she is focused on marketing her new book, Pieces of Portland.

When she was younger, she watched her grandmother quilt. G'ma was a hand-quilter (stitching 16 stitches an inch) and quilted on a frame that took up the entire living room. Her mother also became a quilter after she retired.

When Marie started quilting, she really had no plan. She only took one class and just dove right in.

 "Window Frames" (on left) was one of her 1st quilts. 

The challenge quilt pictured on the right was made out of one "layer cake".

Marie then "discovered" Kaffe Fassett's fabulous fabrics (on left). They were so colorful and bold.

"Zipper" (on right) was simple and with bright peacock colors.

Marie then started getting back into more solids and created this log cabin (on left).

Further expanding on her love of solids, she created this quilt on the right and the one pictured below left.






Marie then got re-intrigued by Kaffe Fassett prints and created this small throw (right).

Marie had so many quilts she decided she would like to have a show and approached a mattress store in the Pearl District and showed them on the 1st Thursday Art Walk.

A friend was taking pictures of quilts around Portland and the idea for her book was born. One-of-a-kind quilts are a special feature in the book. This disappearing nine-patch (left), was made for the book and the quilts in the book are based on experiences of places and people around Portland.

Marie found a printer in Illinois and has just received the first printing at the beginning of June. She is working on a website: quiltlandia.com. The website for the book is piecesofportland.com



Tips and Tricks

• Lay paint chips around the project to match them. Then bring the paint chips with you when shopping for fabric. You can even share the paint chips with others for joint projects.
• Save your selvages when cutting them from fabric. If you run out of fabric, you will be able to find it again using the numbers from the selvage.
• Don't over-buy your Wonder-Under! Buy what you need! Soft-fuse is also a great product. Remember: don't use fabric softener on fused items!
• Throw a fabric sheet in the dryer with your project - it is great at taking off animal hair.

Show and Tell

"Speed Dating"

Scrap Bag quilt

Lauren Teubner created "Speed Dating" (left) in the Studio 429 class. 8 different people worked on it. They each had one hour to work on it.

Colleen Barnhardt created this scrap bag quilt in two motifs: a traditional one (pictured on right) and a more organic one.

Betsy Biller

Disappear 9-patch

Betsy Biller created this modern design using bright fabrics (left).

Kathy White created this red, white, and blue disappearing 9-patch that she is donating to Quilts of Valor.

Connie Brown's grandmother made this 48-state quilt (left)so Connie had to finish it up making pillows for Hawaii and Alaska!

Connie also finished this quilt (right) for her nephew. 

 Karen Nelson created this quilt (left) in Rachel Kerley's "Splat" class.

Kay Wagner utilized hand-dyed fabrics and fused them into this amazing wall hanging.

Front

Back

Malory Jarboe finished this blue and gray quilt adapting The View pattern to fit her needs. Both sides were of equal interest!

 Ellen Kane self-quilted her "lightening" quilt (left).

Pam Raby finished her "Sequoia" quilt. She will be teaching a class in the fall featuring this pattern (soon to be in the store).

 Pam shows off the "Splat" quilt made for her by a dozen people including Rachel Kerley. When Pam saw Rachel's original quilt hanging in the store, she immediately fell in love with it and conspired how to get one for herself. Little did she know one was being made for her as a gift!

Fat Quarter Raffle

The group was asked to bring a fat quarter in either red or yellow. The fabric was assembled and Betsy Biller was the big winner of the fat quarter collection! Congrats, Betsy!

There were no other announcements or business.

Next Westside Modern meeting will be Wedsday, July 29th.