“Have Quilt Will Travel” isn’t just a play on words from the late 50’s, early 60’s TV show “Have Gun Will Travel.” To quilters of Lebanon, Oregon’s Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild, it’s spending summer weekends this year, traveling around the Willamette Valley with the guild’s “Quilted Car.” To these hardcore quilters, they are actually living those words!

Creating car quilts is a Willamette Valley thing

The idea to create a true “car quilt” was born when Peggy Christopherson saw a car quilt made by Karen Wells of nearby Jefferson, Oregon. Karen had quilted her ...

Peggy Christopherson, Mary & Giff Jones and Noel (Moist) Storms look for the jacquard weaver's signature

A FRIENDS HOME IN LEBANON, OREGON, MID-1930'S...Luella Allen found a historic jacquard woven coverlet “at friends home in Lebanon,” in Oregon. In the mid-1930’s Luella gifted it to Kathryn Cornwall Smith.

In 1985, KC Smith passed the coverlet to Giff and Mary Jones for safekeeping. On Saturday, 20 December 2008, the Jones brought this bit of Lebanon’s heritage back home.

Lebanon's heritage... 1840s jacquard woven coverlet
The coverlet may have been woven in the 1840 era in Virginia (West ...

Seattle couple donates historic jacquard coverlet to Lebanon
Donation 4pm, Saturday, December 20, 2008

LEBANON, OREGON Saturday, December 20, 4 pm...At a small ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. GT Jones, of Seattle, Washington, will donate a bit of Lebanon's heritage to the Lebanon Museum and community of Lebanon.

For more on how Giff and Mary Jones received the coverlet and planned their gift back home to Lebanon, check out Lebanon's Woven Coverlet on the Alaska Quilt web site.

Came west on the Oregon Trail
It's possible this beautiful coverlet was woven in Virginia in the early 1800 ...

LEBANON, OREGON November 18...The Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild (SSQG) Post Show Evaluation Report tells, in almost academic detail, how the show was a major success.
However it was people’s comments that told the true tale. As Guild President Peggy Christopherson says, “Everyone had real positive, good words about the show.” According to her, attendees, tourists and locals alike, said, “It’s alive,” “It has so many things to see and do,” “There’s fun galore and lots of beautiful quilts to see.”

Big benefits: Tripled attendance, Increased local business, New promotion of Lebanon as place to come
These ...

LEBANON, OREGON October 12, 2008...The annul quilt show in Lebanon is definitely “Quilting Outside the Box.” This weekend the show will become famous with quilters playing the very first ever game of Quilt Block Scrabble. While it is not going to be as famous as the Sister s’ Quilt Show, this year the local show is trying to bring more tourists to Lebanon.

The 6th annual quilt show —which will feature more than 100 quilts along with quilting and other textile arts fun is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the gym of ...

SOUTH LEBANON, OREGON, September 25, 2008... What is Quilting Outside the Box?

Is it art quilting?
Is it art quilting, surface design, wearable arts, mixed media, embellished quilting, crazy quilting, beading, silk ribbon work, and fabric painting—to mention a few?

Is it Quilt Block Scrabble?
Is it a modified Super Scrabble game played on a 7 foot quilted board — 21 x 21 squares = 441 vs. standard 225 — with additional quadruple word and quadruple letter scoring blocks in the outer 3 rows/column and played with quilt pattern names as found only in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia Of Pieced Quilt ...

COME--Quilt Outside the Box
In the Box [Married 45 years] in Lebanon, Oregon, August 29, 2008...“What’s Quilting Outside the Box?” you might ask.

Actually it’s the Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild 2008 annual quilt show on October 18 and 19. The fall show will answer that question with unique quilting vignettes, art quilts, a strawberry quilting bee, a liturgical quilting lecture, kid quilters and a quilted car. Guild quilters also show their visions of “quilting outside the box” in a challenge competition.

HAVE LOTSA FUN--Outside the Box
All this “outside the box” quilting and sewing fun will be ...

LEBANON, OREGON, November 20... Surfing quilt guild websites, one finds quite a range of ideas & non-ideas. This leads to the question — What is a good set of reasons & designs for a good quilt guild site?

Most quilt guild front pages you always skip
Many sites have front pages that are static. They don’t really serve any function.

In contrast — E-commerce sites, news sites & similar sites have proactive front pages.

Front pages need newsy info designed to attract public
Look at big quilt shows (Sewing and Stitchery Expo ), flower shows (Philadelphia Flower Show), fair websites — Their front pages have news ...

Great new quilt show needs more planning, more publicity

LEBANON, OREGON, October 22, 2007...Its a relief to have the 2007 Santiam Scrappers Quilt Show behind us.

Bigger Show But Less People
But I was really disappointed at the turnout. We had so many beautiful quilts and only about half of our usual attendance (never very good any year). But those who did attend really enjoyed seeing the quilts! We have some really talented people in our guild!

New Location Needs More Planning
We were at a new location this year and it seemed to take forever to figure out ...

LEBANON, OREGON, JUNE 23… In a year of quilt shows, Lebanon’s Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild presents a new mid-summer event. It’s an old-time quilting tradition–a Bed Turning. Several quilts are layered on top of one another. As each quilt is turned back, it reveals another beautiful pattern. You’ll see antique and family quilts as they were meant to be seen--on a bed. As you view each handcrafted quilt, you’ll hear stories behind the quilts. Stories of quilters’ lives, quilting techniques and skills used to sew these coverlets of cloth and comfort.

The June 23rd Quilt ...

EUGENE, OREGON — For the best listing of quilt shows & related events in Oregon (and a few nearby states), check out the Emerald Valley Quilters website.

Cindy Dietrich is doing a great job keeping all these fun quilting (and related) activities listed in the Emerald Valley Quilters web calendar.

Cindy is EVQ's webmaster, and a fine master and commander she is! Keep up the great work Cindy!

BTW Emerald Valley Quilters live down in the fabled land of ducks, in and around Eugene, Oregon. Occasionally, they allow smaller beavers to quilt with them.

“Another Bloomin’ Quilt Show” at Tom’s Garden Center on Mother’s Day Weekend
NORTH ALBANY, OREGON, MAY 12–13, 2007 — Mother’s Day quilts and blooms at Tom’s Garden Center offer an incredible range of color to brighten Mother’s Day weekend for gardeners, quilters, and most of all, Mothers. The Second Annual “Another Bloomin’ Quilt Show” will decorate Tom’s Garden Center in North Albany with over 40 handmade quilts. During the show, these quilts, made by Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild of Lebanon, will complement Tom’s flowers and plants in the main hall. Flowers and quilts ...

By Peggy Christopherson

In 2002 a few quilters here in Lebanon helped me convince about twenty other quilters of the benefits in forming a quilting guild. Thus, the Santiam Scrappers Quilting Guild was created.

I really like doing quilting things with other quilters. When I moved here I didn’t know even one person. So I stopped by the local quilt shop! I knew I would be able to meet other quilters who would eventually become good friends. And that’s exactly what happened!

Some of the Santiam Scrappers activities I really enjoy are...
...Meeting and talking with other local ...

MID-VALLEY, OREGON — Quilting has a long, strong heritage of family quilting, quilting bees, and quilting frames (with little girls sitting “underneath the quilting frame at grandma’s house.”)

Nowadays the little girl may be sitting beneath the frame singing to her iPod, but there are still quiltings, quilting bees and quilting frames.

As all these quilts accumulate, some go in the baby’s crib, others hang on the sewing room walls, and some even are used as bed covers.

In the past five years Peggy has made a quilt for all six of our grandchildren—even Carter, our only grandson ...

2008 JUNE– STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, LEBANON, OREGON… A few local Lebanonites are considering developing this idea for June 2008. They are asking the following five questions –

• Would mid-Willamette Valley gardeners and quilters enjoy a major, local, 3-day flower and quilt show with garden displays, judged flower arrangements, juried and judged quilt competition, art quilts, heritage quilts, local art, workshops, speakers, and a commercial vendors marketplace?
• Would Lebanon benefit from a major new tourist event at Strawberry Festival?
• Would Lebanon’s businesses and organizations like to have $5,000 to $8,000 new income?
• Would Strawberry Festival like to appeal to a ...

INTERNET, ACQC BLOG… Elspeth was neither an Elizabeth Barrett Browning nor an Emily Dickinson, however El’s special journal of her Alaskan life had something neither they nor modern bloggers have — Elspeth had quilts in her letters!

Elspeth sends her thanks to Theresa Hogue for writing an article concerning mid valley bloggers and for mentioning Alaska Chocolate Quilting Company’s Alaska Quilt in Oregon blog.

Elspeth encourages all readers of this blog to click over to the Gazette-Times (Corvallis) or Albany Democrat-Herald websites for her article.

Thanks Theresa. Thanks so much!

Peggy and Chris say Thanks Theresa also.

ST. MARTINS EPISCOPL CHURCH, LEBANON OREGON... The following story was is the March Snippets, the Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild Newsletter.

Fabric (and related items) Sale! Even though Sharon Reece’s recent eye surgery has improved her sight signifi cantly, she is still determined to reduce her stash and sewing paraphernalia by offering up lots of good stuff for sale at half price. Our meeting room at the church will house the event on March 17th. (And remember: we are ALL Irish on St Paddy’s Day!)

Some of the items she will be selling: Fabric (she and Rusty bundled over ...

LEBANON OREGON....Can't believe it's been so long since I posted to this blog. What have I been doing all this time? Well, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went in the usual rush to get everything cleaned, purchased, made, wrapped, cooked and mailed. I didn't get many Christmas cards out but I did make and finish a quilt for one of my granddaughters. She was the last of the grandkids to get a quilt other than the ones I made each of them when they were born.

Since the first of the year I have trying to ...

RICHARDSON HIGHWAY, ALASKA… 87 years after Elspeth created her Alaskan Honeymoon Sampler Quilt Blocks, five blocks have been rediscovered! These historic quilt blocks have been added to the Elspeth’s Quilt Mystery on the Alaskan Chocolate Quilting Company website.

Creating a special journal of a new life
It was June 1920 when Elspeth and William were journeying up the Richardson Highway by wagon. While traveling from Valdez up the almost 400 miles, heading to Fairbanks and their new life, Elspeth sewed 20 block of her first quilt.

As they traveled north through the long, Alaskan summer days, she kept a ...

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON...Where were we? We were at the 2006 Pacific Northwest Quiltfest. And getting there was quite an adventure.

The adventure began when Gail and I found out that one of Marina’s quilts, Penny’s Bird Brooch, had been accepted into the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest in Seattle Washington. This is a juried and judged exhibition of the finest quilts from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, The Northwest Territories, Oregon, Washington and The Yukon. Just having a quilt accepted for this show is quite an honor. Only 276 quilts out of over 500 entries were accepted.

So, now ...

SCIO, OREGON... Known for Linn County's Lamb and Wool Fair in May, Scio is a neat small Oregon town that used to have a chicken mascot and home made quilts at the Fair.

On July 11, Big Red, Scio's chicken mascot, met an untimely end with a tough dog. So next year, Big Red won't be pointing the way to the quilts in the school gym.

Big Red was a proud Rhode Island Red, but now he's dead. Read the full story of Scio's unofficial patrol rooster in Albany's Democrat-Herald on July 12.

But ...

LINN COUNTY FAIR AND EXPO CENTER, KNOX BUTTE RD, ALBANY, ORE... Several of the Wednesday Ladies went to the Linn County Fair to help with displaying the items in the textile division.The Wednesday Ladies are a Sub-group of guild who meet at my house on Wednesday afternoons to sew on Community Service Quilts.

Anyway, Jenny the division manager said she needed lots of help. Well, after we helped fasten quilts to polls and hand them up to a guy in a lift there didn't seem to be much for us to do. We did sort the items into ...