I discovered BJ's Quilt Basket on Saturday. I ended up there almost by accident, as I'll explain later.
I was very impressed with the shop. They have a cozy spot where people can sit.
The supply of fabrics, books, thread and notions was impressive.
There was a lot of inspiration as well.
This was only part of the batik section. It was huge.
I'm guessing they have someone who can machine-quilt for you. I will have to find out.
The mascot of Bend is a dog. BJ's has a bunch of small stuffed toy dogs with name tags. When you put a bolt on the counter to be cut, but you aren't done looking, you put one of these dogs on your bolt.
The way it came about that I was there was this: I have been developing some T-shirt designs for my characters and needed a someone with an ink-jet printer to print the transfers for me. We have an ink-jet printer that hasn't been used in years because we did so little color printing, and the cartridges dry out if you don't use it often, so it needs cleaning and new cartridges. After calling all the print shops only to learn they just had laser printers, I started on the quilt shops in town. (There are three.) Davidene used to print my quilt labels for me at her shop in Park City, so I thought they might have an ink-jet printer. I struck out with the first two I called, but the third was BJ's. It turns out they also print quilt labels for customers and, once they learned that all they had to do was print on the transfer sheet, they were happy to do it. That got me into the shop, and I know I'll be back. I bought some fabric that caught my eye and got their permission to take the photos. Here's my fabric.
I plan to use some of each for costumes for my characters, but I got enough to put in my stash for future quilts. BJ's sells online as well as in their brick-and-mortar store.
Here's Billy wearing the first of my T-shirt transfers. I found some images online that are royalty-free. Eventually all my cast members will have at least one shirt that reflects their special talents or interests.
We went to the DMV on Wednesday to get a new license plate for the trailer and my Oregon driver's license. (DH took his test last week.) We knew we would be waiting awhile, so I took some knitting––a dish cloth I hadn't yet cast on. Three-and-a-half hours later, we left with the new plate and this:
It was actually a lot of fun, with people sitting around, chatting. I'm sure some people were stressed about being there so long, but everyone was pleasant, and the staff was really nice to work with. I didn't even get hassled by DMV over the Peggy-Margaret thing, and I've been wanting enough cotton dish cloths that I can use a fresh one each day. It didn't take long to finish that one up after I got home.
Thursday morning, we participated in a small-dog hike at Shelvin Park. It's only three miles out of town, but it's a nature reserve with hiking trails, a picnic area, rest rooms and a year-round stream. The dogs have to be on a leash, but it's still nice for them to be out in nature. There was only one other participant, a lady named Kathy and Finn, her mini Golden-doodle. We had a nice time and got in a 4-mile hike early in the day before it got hot. In anticipation of this hike, we got licenses for the pups on Tuesday, as they are required in the park. Not that there was anyone there to check for them.
Thursday evening we (DH, DBIL and I) went to Sisters for a free concert in the Fir Street Park. We took some beer and sandwiches, and sat on the lawn. The group that played was Town Mountain. They play Blue Grass and Blues music. They were excellent. Some children climbed a fir tree close to us or played on the grass, and some people got up and danced.
Friday evening we went into downtown Bend for the First Friday Art Walk, which takes place on the first Friday of each month. It wasn't just art. Most of the shops were open and had something to offer. Some of the shops had music.
Most of the open shops had beer (a Bend specialty, as I've been told we have more independent brewers per capita than any other city in the nation) or wine, or something to nibble on, and some places even had cocktails. It's a good way to become acquainted with the local stores.
There was some street entertainment, like these fairies making huge bubbles, which the children who were present really seemed to enjoy.
In this week's story in The Doll's Storybook, the dolls make ice cream. We actually made frozen yoghurt using a very simple recipe, and we have been enjoying it ever since with our DDIL's rhubarb compote. Yum!
The Missing Link is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray. The Wisconsin grands found Uncle Peter's name in the credits.
What's on my needles: Still the Trickle Brick Socks. I'm at the heel turn. Not much progress this week, as I've been working on dish cloths.
I was very impressed with the shop. They have a cozy spot where people can sit.
The supply of fabrics, books, thread and notions was impressive.
There was a lot of inspiration as well.
This was only part of the batik section. It was huge.
I'm guessing they have someone who can machine-quilt for you. I will have to find out.
The mascot of Bend is a dog. BJ's has a bunch of small stuffed toy dogs with name tags. When you put a bolt on the counter to be cut, but you aren't done looking, you put one of these dogs on your bolt.
The way it came about that I was there was this: I have been developing some T-shirt designs for my characters and needed a someone with an ink-jet printer to print the transfers for me. We have an ink-jet printer that hasn't been used in years because we did so little color printing, and the cartridges dry out if you don't use it often, so it needs cleaning and new cartridges. After calling all the print shops only to learn they just had laser printers, I started on the quilt shops in town. (There are three.) Davidene used to print my quilt labels for me at her shop in Park City, so I thought they might have an ink-jet printer. I struck out with the first two I called, but the third was BJ's. It turns out they also print quilt labels for customers and, once they learned that all they had to do was print on the transfer sheet, they were happy to do it. That got me into the shop, and I know I'll be back. I bought some fabric that caught my eye and got their permission to take the photos. Here's my fabric.
I plan to use some of each for costumes for my characters, but I got enough to put in my stash for future quilts. BJ's sells online as well as in their brick-and-mortar store.
Here's Billy wearing the first of my T-shirt transfers. I found some images online that are royalty-free. Eventually all my cast members will have at least one shirt that reflects their special talents or interests.
We went to the DMV on Wednesday to get a new license plate for the trailer and my Oregon driver's license. (DH took his test last week.) We knew we would be waiting awhile, so I took some knitting––a dish cloth I hadn't yet cast on. Three-and-a-half hours later, we left with the new plate and this:
It was actually a lot of fun, with people sitting around, chatting. I'm sure some people were stressed about being there so long, but everyone was pleasant, and the staff was really nice to work with. I didn't even get hassled by DMV over the Peggy-Margaret thing, and I've been wanting enough cotton dish cloths that I can use a fresh one each day. It didn't take long to finish that one up after I got home.
Thursday morning, we participated in a small-dog hike at Shelvin Park. It's only three miles out of town, but it's a nature reserve with hiking trails, a picnic area, rest rooms and a year-round stream. The dogs have to be on a leash, but it's still nice for them to be out in nature. There was only one other participant, a lady named Kathy and Finn, her mini Golden-doodle. We had a nice time and got in a 4-mile hike early in the day before it got hot. In anticipation of this hike, we got licenses for the pups on Tuesday, as they are required in the park. Not that there was anyone there to check for them.
Thursday evening we (DH, DBIL and I) went to Sisters for a free concert in the Fir Street Park. We took some beer and sandwiches, and sat on the lawn. The group that played was Town Mountain. They play Blue Grass and Blues music. They were excellent. Some children climbed a fir tree close to us or played on the grass, and some people got up and danced.
Friday evening we went into downtown Bend for the First Friday Art Walk, which takes place on the first Friday of each month. It wasn't just art. Most of the shops were open and had something to offer. Some of the shops had music.
Most of the open shops had beer (a Bend specialty, as I've been told we have more independent brewers per capita than any other city in the nation) or wine, or something to nibble on, and some places even had cocktails. It's a good way to become acquainted with the local stores.
There was some street entertainment, like these fairies making huge bubbles, which the children who were present really seemed to enjoy.
In this week's story in The Doll's Storybook, the dolls make ice cream. We actually made frozen yoghurt using a very simple recipe, and we have been enjoying it ever since with our DDIL's rhubarb compote. Yum!
The Missing Link is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray. The Wisconsin grands found Uncle Peter's name in the credits.
What's on my needles: Still the Trickle Brick Socks. I'm at the heel turn. Not much progress this week, as I've been working on dish cloths.
What's on my sewing machine: More clothing for the cast of the stories.
What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No progress this week.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: Ice-cream Social. The dolls make frozen yoghurt and talk about ice crystals.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: Ice-cream Social. The dolls make frozen yoghurt and talk about ice crystals.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden. Not much time to listen this week.
What's in my wine glass: emBRAZEN Revolutionary Red Blend 2016, recognizing Showgirl and Spy Josephine Baker. Her story is interesting.
What's my tip of the week: Don't throw away or recycle those plastic jar lids. They make handy saucers for plants or to put under bottles of things that might drip and make a mess or damage the surface they're on, like plants, a wine bottle, salad dressing or oil. They can be washed in the dishwasher. This one was the lid to a jar of roasted nuts from Costco.
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.
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