Truck Report 10/29/2010

Hey-la, hey-la, the truck is back!

Good Friday Morning, Woolfans! The Pendleton truck showed up on schedule late yesterday afternoon, bringing us a bevy of delights to make up for the lack of truck last week.

Here's what we got:

• 350 pounds of wooly worms
• 200 pounds of fuzzy selvage
• 150 pounds of blanket header

A little bit of everything! Happy crafting to you this weekend...


Reminder: the Woolen Mill Store will be CLOSED on Halloween -- Sunday, October 31st -- for our annual inventory. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: The Best Halloween Costume You Ever Made?

Poll time!

Halloween is a great holiday for crafty types. What's the best Halloween costume you ever made? It could be the most intricate, the most popular, or just the one that best inspired your Halloween spirits.

Let's hear it... and if you have links to pictures, even better!

Creative Customers: Holly's Shonto Chairs

At the Woolen Mill Store, we *LOVE* to see what our clever, crafty, creative customers do with our wonderful wool!

Customer Holly reinvigorated some dining room chairs using our Shonto fabric (which you can see here on the Pendleton website) -- don't they look fantastic? Six chairs total (two with arms and the rest without) got a makeover.

If you've got a project you want to show off, feel free to leave us a link in comments, shoot us an email, or bring your creation by the store so we can take pictures!

Truckless Report, 10/22/2010

Good morning, Woolfans, and a Happy Friday to you!

Almost any other Friday morning, we'd be letting you know what delights the Pendleton truck brought from our Pacific Northwest mills. But every once in a while -- for example, when the mills are closed -- we go truckless for a week.

Don't let that keep you from getting crafty this weekend! We still have a bunch of blanket header pieces in the $2 per pound bins, and thanks to a surprise delivery from our pattern rooms a couple of weeks ago, we have a lot of awesome jacquard remnants in our $5 per pound bins. And all our patterns -- including Burda magazine -- are 20% off until the end of October.

Have a creative weekend!

More Quilting Expo Pics

There was so much to see and do at the NW Quilting Expo -- it was almost too much for just one day. Good thing we were there for the whole thing, then!

One thing that really stood out was the rainbow of colors. Everywhere you turned, there was another dazzling array, whether in quilt form or fat quarters waiting to be turned into your next masterpiece.

Despite the name, the NW Quilting Expo went way beyond quilting. Check out this gorgeous pile of yarn, just waiting to be knit or crocheted into your next masterpiece!

But there were lots of opportunities to see quilting in action. It was pretty amazing to watch some of the computer-guided quilting machines blaze through intricate designs in seconds.

And the best part? You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy the NW Quilting Expo. If you're a fabric afficionado, a sewer, a knitter or crocheter, or just an admirer of crafty endeavors, it's definitely worth the trip. Hope to see you there in 2011!

Why Wool is Awesome #6: Sustainability

How long does it take for your hair to grow back after you get a haircut?

Most sheep only get a haircut once per year -- generally in the springtime. Why spring? Because warmer weather is on the way, and it can take up to six weeks for a sheep to regrow enough fleece to provide effective insulation from the elements. Sheep with extra-long fleeces may get a second cut each year.

Wool is a pretty dang sustainable product. The sheep are always growing more wool AND making more sheep to grow more wool! In fact, the annual shearing helps a sheep stay comfortable and healthy. Heat and humidity can cause stress and discomfort... and nobody wants unhappy sheep!

Pendleton has gone an extra step and gotten special certification for our Eco-Wise wool. Eco-Wise fabrics, blankets, and garments are manufactured in a way that uses less energy and water for a greener product from start to finish. Learn more about Eco-Wise wool and our Cradle to Cradle certification at the Pendleton website.

Quilts, Quilts, Quilts!

We all had a fabulous time at the NW Quilting Expo at the end of September! It was tons of fun to talk to crafty folks from all over about their projects, and the exhibition hall was a true feast for the eyes. Quilts from this year's contest were on display, with each one more breathtaking than the one before. Here are a few quilt pics for those who couldn't make it to the Expo in person!

This quilt was one of the ones hung across from our Pendleton Woolen Mill Store booth. Looking at it brings to mind watching the world go by from an airplane -- the ribbon of blue river running between rocks baked by a desert sun.

Doesn't this one remind you of a kaleidoscope? The colors and starbursts are just dazzling! Or maybe it's a spiral galaxy, millions of light years away. Could it be a fireworks display on the Fourth of July? This quilt definitely activates the imagination.

And this one looks like a stained glass window! Really gorgeous work. To be honest, it was hard to find a quilt that wasn't a fantastic work of art! Traditional styles and art quilts side by side, in every color possible. It was truly impressive and inspiring to spend the days surrounded by such incredible work.

Truck Report 10/15/2010

Good morning, Woolfans! The Pendleton truck showed up right on schedule, late Thursday afternoon... and we've unpacked the treasures within!

This is a good week for crocheters and weavers, because the truck brought us 400 pounds of fuzzy selvage!

Visit the store at 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd in Portland to check out the selection in person, or call us to place your order. Have a fantastic, crafty weekend!

Eat Your Heart Out, Love Bug!

Move over, Herbie -- we met a BETTER Bug at the NW Quilting Expo.

Can you imagine the time, effort, and awesomeness that went into making this quilted car cover? What an undertaking... and what an incredible result!

We'll have more pictures from the NW Quilting Expo over the next week or so -- some breathtaking quilts, gorgeous colors, and more!

Hunt that Halloween Spirit

The Pendleton Woolen Mill Store has the perfect craft class to get you into the Halloween Spirit: Felted Halloween Crafts this Sunday, October 17th.

Needle felting is a fun technique that can be used to add decorations to existing fabric or shape free-standing creations. If you're familiar with the basics of needle felting, you're ready to go! In a short time, you'll have a felted bat, ghost, pumpkin, and whatever other monsters are on your mind.


If you're completely new to needle felting, don't worry -- we'll be offering Needle Felting 101 and Needle Felting 201 in the upcoming months. Those classes are a great way to get the basics and beyond!

Felted Halloween Crafts
Sunday, October 17th
12-2pm
$35 (includes supplies)
No sewing machine necessary!

Call the Woolen Mill Store at 503-535-5786 to reserve your space in class!

Truck Report 10/08/2010

Ahh, Friday. Is there a lovelier day of the week? Perhaps... but Friday has such potential! Weekend plans are still ahead, lazy mornings to sleep in or hours to fill with your favorite activities.

Friday is also the best day of the week to check out the high quality mill by-products from our Pacific Northwest mills! We get a delivery from the mills almost every Thursday afternoon, and break the news first about what the truck brought right here on the Woolen Mill Store blog, every Friday morning.

This week, the truck brought us:

• Around 250lbs of selvage (the fuzzy stuff)
• Approximately 300lbs of blanket header

It's time to get crafty! Stop by the store or give us a call to place your order.

It's Time to Try a New Pattern...

... because for the entire month of October, all patterns are on sale for 20% off the ticketed price at the Woolen Mill Store!

We've got patterns to cover you from hat to slippers, and everything in between. Even our most popular pattern (Linda McPhee's Awesome Jacket) is on sale! This is a great pattern to use with Pendleton's Native-inspired jacquard fabrics -- the back and sides and front are all one piece, so you don't have to worry about matching seams. It's super easy, and extremely customizable, so you can make the jacket YOU want.

Truck Report 10/01/2010

It's another beautiful Friday morning at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store! The truck showed up late yesterday afternoon, bringing us high quality mill by-products for our bins.


This week, the truck brought us 286 pounds of bright, beautiful blanket header!


The larger pieces went to our $5 per pound bins (some pieces big enough to be blankets themselves) and the medium-sized pieces went to our $2 per pound bins (lots of bright colors and dazzling Native prints).


If you're local, it's definitely worth it to come see the treasures in person! Visit us at 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd in Portland, OR. If you're not local, give us a call at 866-865-9285 to place your order.