Travel – Artquiltmaker Blog

Portland: Bolt

Bolt is a shop I have visited before. It is not in the same location. Since the last time I visited, a few years ago, they have moved twice. The last shop, on the same street, was tiny. This shop is much larger and has a lot more fabric. It is not specifically for quiltmaking, but they have quite a bit of quiltmaking fabric. I think they have more garment and bagmaking fabric and supplies.

I was pleased to see that the shop seems to be doing well.

The entrance to the shop was open and welcoming, but also sucked me right into the love that is fabric. This image gives you an idea of the size of the shop.

I immediately saw some canvas that I loved. I really tried hard not to buy it. I have a lot of bagmaking fabric already. See below whether I succeeded or not.

I was amazed at the amount and variety of notions they had. I only took a photo of one side of the display. There were also a number of other types of stitching notions to my right. The number of Sashiko thread colors they had was amazing.

In the shelf on the bottom (right) is a lot of interfacing.

I thought their book choices were interesting as well. I didn’t see the standard C&T books. Most of them were new to me. I really liked the idea of the Feel Something Make Something** book. I deal with stress and my emotions by sewing, so this is very apropos. I’ll see if they have it at the library and take a look before I buy it.

The section behind the books was home to most of the quiltmaking cottons. Closest to the books was a rack of toweling cottons. I was surprised and pleased to see so many different options at many of the shops we visited. I wish we had the variety in the Bay Area.

In the area behind the toweling fabrics were the other quilting cottons. I saw a number of fabrics that I had also seen at Sewlarium including the new Ruby Star.

Bolt - Quilting Cottons — Bolt – Quilting Cottons

I was pleased to see a very few Martha Negley vegetable fabrics. Unfortunately they had taupe and beige backgrounds. As much as I love Martha Negley, I don’t want those colors in my palette. Some of her fabrics had beautiful purple and aqua backgrounds and I long for colors to return.

The photo shows some wools, some bags and some solids.

There was thread, buttons and zippers on the other side of the shop.

Bolt also carried a lot of fabric on rolls. Some of these were various garment fabrics and some were other heavier fabrics. I know there was some canvas on rolls, too.

The button selection wasn’t as good as Josephine’s Dry Goods, but they had most uses covered.

Bolt fabric and supplies - 2024 — Bolt fabric and supplies – 2024

I bought some fabrics to make some bags. Yes, I succumbed to the canvas! I am thinking I will use the Superbloom tote bag pattern. That could change as the fabrics would be great for a Poolside tote.

As you can, maybe, see these are canvas fabrics. The fabric on the left will be a bag for my aunt and the fabric on the right will be a bag for me. Perhaps I will solve my going-to-class tool tote problem. I have to think about what my aunt would like and would use. As for me, I still have the idea that I want to make a Sheffield tote for myself.

Bolt
2904 NE Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211
503.287.2658

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Portland: Josephine’s Dry Goods

I know I talked about Sewlarium the other day, but Josephine’s Dry Goods (JDG) was actually the first shop we visited. In comparison to the other places I know in Portland, I am not sure where it was. I let Amanda drive and I just entertained her. 😉

JDG is described as a luxurious fabric boutique. This shop reminded me of the first shop, Satin Moon at 23 Clement Street, I visited in the City when I first started to sew. Both shops are not just quiltmaking stores. They are sewing stores with a tendency to specialize in garments and garment fabrics.

Gardenia by Sally Kelly - border print — Gardenia by Sally Kelly – border print

JDG had quiltmaking cottons, including some designs I hadn’t seen or colorways I hadn’t seen. One was Gardenia by Sally Kelly from Windham. Unlike many quilt shops, JDG did not have the whole line. I thought the border print was gorgeous. With a black bodice, this print would make a fantastic dress. The colors of the flowers were so vibrant and lovely.

JDG- left of the front door — JDG-left of the front door

Much of the fabric was on rolls, which I always find interesting. There were velvets, silks, a lot of Liberty lawn, linen – a lot of linen, suiting fabrics, some chiffons and all manner of other garment sewing fabrics.

A number of the garment sewing fabrics were set with a drape of fabric flowing off of them, the way House of Fabrics used to display fabric, but you don’t see in quilt stores at all. I think it shows the drape of the fabric. Not all the fabrics were displayed that way. I think they displayed the fabrics as required for the type of fabric. I think that shows a thoughtful owner or manager.

Just out of the photo, above, behind the fabric, was a couch where two men (husbands?) were parked.

This photo captures the front of the shop to the left of the front door. You can see some of the fabrics in the photo above from another angle.

You can also see some of the finer fabrics that were on rolls. The green in the top roll was amazing! It was a velvet, but not a thick one, so, perhaps, velvet-like. I would love a dress made out of it.

In the back of the photo, against the wall, you can see some silks and various Japanese fabrics. I think most were either silk or linen. Right in front of the leftmost wall display are the Liberty fabrics.

JDG - left side of shop — JDG – left side of shop

There really was fabric everywhere and there were also a lot of customers on a Thursday when we were in the shop. I was kind of amazed.

The photo, right, shows many more of the rolls of fabric. I thought that would be a good place to find some oilcloth that would go well in my dining room, but no luck on that front. I did see a linen stripe in teal that, in a different color, might be great for reupholstering my wingback chairs. Mom didn’t like the width of the stripe.

From where I was standing above, I could turn and see towards the front of the shop. This was an aisle of notions. The button case is on the right. It reminds me of the button wall at Britex before they moved. So many buttons! I was tempted to buy some crystal and rhinestone cluster buttons. I don’t have a project, so I passed.

In the back of the photo is a rack of garment patterns by independent designers. The way the patterns are displayed makes it hard to see the front of the pattern, which means it is hard to know what kind of pattern you are looking at.

JDG - cutting counter — JDG – cutting counter

The front of the shop has a nice big counter. I would LOVE a cutting table like the one they have.

They rip all of their fabric and that sounds always makes me cringe. I know why they do it.

Above the counter, probably for their website, they have a camera setup that looks pretty sophisticated.

I didn’t buy anything. I might have bought the Gardenia border print, but I didn’t have a project plan, so I restrained myself.

____________________________________

Josephine’s Dry Goods
2609 SE Clinton Street
Portland, OR 97202
P: 503-224-4202
Info@JosephinesDryGoods.com

Portland: Sewlarium

Sewlarium - Portland — Sewlarium – Portland

As is my habit, I went out with Amanda to fabric stores while I was in Portland last week. She found some shops which we had never visited.

Sewlarium is a new shop in Portland. I visited twice, once with Amanda, once with Julie.

It has been open since January and is owned by a young man named Zachariah. That’s right! A YOUNG MAN. He said that he is active in all the local guilds and his business has been slowly growing.

One part of his business is quilting. He has a longarm and is getting more longarm clients as people get to know him. He got his longarm about a year before he opened the shop and is still building his skills. The longarming he does is hand guided edge to edge using pantographs. He practices a lot on charity quilts from local guilds. Zachariah has a relationship with other longarmers if someone needs more sophisticated custom quilting. It seems to be normal to have a longarm in a shop now. It seems reasonable that small businesses need as many income streams as possible

Sewlarium - entrance — Sewlarium – entrance

When we walked in, we saw patterns and notions. He had a whole rack of Elizabeth Hartman patterns. I don’t want to make her patterns, but I always enjoy looking at them. The ideas are so funny. There were some I have never seen, such as Cats in Pajamas.

Around the patterns were a basket of toweling fabrics in various holiday motifs. There was also a display of Guterman thread. He also had some Aurifil in neutral colors near the cash register. Just out of the picture was a new display of new Ruby Star Society fabrics and some Alison Glass-looking fabrics from Moda right near the front door. Zachariah also had some notions near the front door.

Sewlarium - front of shop — Sewlarium – front of shop

I noticed that he had some of the Dropcloth Sampler kits on the wall with the notions.

There was fabric tucked everywhere, including under the cutting table. The fabric in the shop was very well curated.

Sewlarium - Eversew — Sewlarium – Eversew

Speaking of that, I saw a lot of the ‘Start to Sew’ and ‘Start to Quilt’ box kits around the shop. I think those kits might be related to EverSew machines which he also had in the shop. Full service!

I also saw quite a few panels. The second time I went in Zachariah was working on a panel kit making a monkey backpack. It was very cute.

I only saw one quilt kit (Tula Pink, of course).

Sewlarium - Tula True Colors — Sewlarium – Tula True Colors

Zachariah had good fabric. He had the new Ruby Star line, as mentioned, and most, if not all, of the Tula True Colors. He was also knowledgeable out fabric, which made me think he he has been quiltmaking for awhile, though I forgot to ask.

All over the shops we visited were Bigfoot. As you can see there is a panel hanging over the True Colors. This is just one of the various Bigfoot fabrics we saw.

Sewlarium - from front to back of the shop — Sewlarium – from front to back of the shop

Sewlarium - behind the longarm area — Sewlarium – behind the longarm area

Sewlarium - sale and interfacing room — Sewlarium – sale and interfacing room

Sewlarium - back notions area — Sewlarium – back notions area

Sewlarium - pre-made binding — Sewlarium – pre-made binding

Julie showed me some pre-made binding that actually looked cool. Aside from it not being washed, I think the pre-made binding would be a good option for some quilts. It would certainly save time.

I really liked this shop. It was open, clean and fresh looking. Zachariah was really friendly and chatted with us, but not too much.

The best thing about the shop was the wall of zippers! He had about 30 coils of #5 zippers on the wall. You could choose the one you wanted as well as the amount. It was fantastic. No online shopping required, though he does have an online shop if you are not in Portland.

He had a few zipper pulls, but I think he needs to stock up on a greater variety. I am sure that is in the cards.

The thing about these zippers is he said he was a bag guy, as in he enjoyed making bags. He lamented the fact that he has only a few bag patterns and no samples. I told him I knew he will get to adding more bags and more samples. I suggested having a Friday night bag club like the guild has after meetings. Poor guy has a lot on his plate so we’ll see.

I bought a few fabrics to make bags I have in mind plus some of his fabulous zippers!

Sewlarium
3236 N Lombard St.
Portland, OR 97217
Daily: 11am - 7pm
CLOSED TUESDAY
(971)400-0446

More Travel to Portland

As you might have noticed, I visited Portland last week. I am off of my January and October schedule, because of work. However, I finished my contract last week and have a little time off.

Again, I took my mom so she could have a rest from her caregiving duties.

We drove up, spent the night in Medford, then continued on to Portland. We try and stop at a wide spot in the road for a cinnamon roll for my sister. The bakery has amazing pastries, most of which I cannot eat, but my sister LOVES. It is a cheap thrill for my sister (the one setting up Recovery Ranch Sanctuary), so I try and stop. There is nothing else there except a gas station. It has been a scary place to stop in the past. They have completely rehabbed the gas station since the last time we visited and now the area doesn’t feel as scary.

We stopped in Cottage Grove for a break. My mom is a terrible navigator. Google Maps and she do not get along, so we got lost. We saw this cool painting, however as we meandered through the old part of Cottage Grove.

We are not staying at our usual AirBnB, but are staying closer to my sister. We have settled in pretty well. The house is cute and clean. The kitchen supplies leave a lot to be desired. We like to cook together, which I suppose other vacationers don’t do, so we are making do.

We also came up to help the YM settle in to his new apartment. Unfortunately, he hasn’t moved yet, so we couldn’t help him. As a result, we didn’t do very much beyond seeing friends and family and visiting quilt shops. I visited Josephine’s Dry Goods, Sewlarium, Bolt, Feather Your Nest, Knitted Wit, My Quilting Loft, Just for Fun (Vancouver, WA).

We did go out to Scappoose where my great-grandmother lived. We tried to find the house my mom remembered. When we found ourselves on a gravel road heading into a tree tunnel I put a halt to the expedition. The town looks REALLY different that my Mom remembered. I only remember riding a pony in my great-grandmother’s front yard, so I was no help. I was disappointed I couldn’t help take Mom down memory lane, but it is possible the house was so extensively remodeled that it would be unrecognizable. It was bad enough that the town was so different.

Elephants snacking & cooling off in their house

One elephant going to different play and snack stations

We also went to the Oregon Zoo (formerly the Portland Zoo). I am always anxious about visiting zoos, because I feel bad for the animals if the enclosures are terrible. This zoo is amazing. There was a path that visitors could follow through the Pacific Northwest ecosystem. The animal enclosures were placed strategically so you could see where they fit in. While still enclosures, they are pretty amazing – large and full of interesting elements and toys, places to hide and play. The elephant enclosure is enormous. It winds around a large area of the park so they can wander, if they want. They have a house where they can go to cool off. There also a couple of pools and lots of space to walk. It isn’t the wild, but they also don’t have poachers shooting at them. The black bear enclosure was similar. The bears could run around, go up and down hills, in and out of various structures and hang out in pools. One bear took a drink then sat in the pool so his feet and rear end got wet. It was funny. I also enjoyed all the walking, though I had to hold Mom up when it was time to go. She hadn’t walked so much in a long time.

The Zoo had an exhibit near the Condors with this wonderful sculpture.

This piece is made from plastic garbage that washed up on a beach somewhere. There is an organization, Washed Ashore, that is trying to bring awareness to the problem of plastic garbage. They work with artists to make various artworks. The artworks travel or are installed somewhere to help bring awareness of the longterm problems of plastic and garbage to people in an accessible way.

'Antique' store finds — ‘Antique’ store finds

While out with Amanda in Gresham, we stopped at an antique store. I was sort of looking for postcards to send, but the ones I found of Oregon sights were too expensive for my purposes. I found a small selection of other places that were only $0.25 each and I bought a few. I also found a red Tupperware storage box that I have been looking at on Etsy. It was a good price, in good shape and I didn’t have to pay shipping.

In the window of that shop was the oddest looking quilt. I couldn’t see all of it, but it was a definite mishmash.

I see a large 9 Patch piece, then some appliqued hearts above the 9 patch section. There are also a few hearts on top of the 9 patches. There is a vine piece in the corner that may have been for another quilt. In the left hand corner is an elephant. I couldn’t tell if it was a panel or appliqued as there was too much glare. The very sad part was that this quilt was being sold for $59.99. 🙁 As strange as it is, it definitely has a story to tell.

We both needed outfits for my niece’s wedding, which is coming up this weekend. We saw a Lesley Evers shop and were both able to get lovely looking and unique (not weird) outfits for the wedding. I have shoes. SIL#3 wants us to wear hats, so I have to figure that out, but it was such a relief to get that chore (mostly) off of my list.

Retreat Projects

I brought 4 projects to work on. I was able to work on all of them and make significant progress.

Colorblocks 3 - quilted — Colorblocks 3 – quilted

First, on Friday, I buckled down and quilted the Colorblocks quilt. You will see some in progress posts after already knowing that I finished the quilt, but that is the breaks with my blog. 😉

Colleen did a better job of quilting Colorblocks 2, but I am not unhappy with my work.

As you can see, I have to take out the pins, trim, add binding and a sleeve. I also need to enter it into the Fair. I am really pleased I got to quilt it at the Retreat as it was a lot more pleasant to do an unpleasant job in the company of others.

After that chore was done, I was able to have fun with my three other projects. They are all Diagonal 9 Patch quilts like the one I made for my great nephew.

First, I started out by cutting some strips with the Accuquilt, then subcutting the strips into the sizes I needed. I did this and just sewed. I used 2.5 inch squares I had been cutting and saving from scraps.

After awhile I had a good start on all three. After I saw what I had for this version of the pattern, I did some match and began sewing the ‘A’ blocks with determination. After awhile I ended up with a lot of ‘A’ blocks, so I finished the ‘B’ blocks I needed and laid the quilt out.

I still had to fill in some of the blocks, but eventually I was able to make a square quilt (8 blocks x 8 blocks). I started putting it together on Sunday night and was able to finish in time to get some tickets before the final raffle drawing.

My second project, with the same pattern is for my nephew’s new baby. After I made a few blocks, I decided I needed to select darker squares, at least for the patches that are next to the background.

The background is a lot more painterly/ watercolor-y than it would be if I had used white or a light color background. I started off with about a yard and will keep making blocks until I run out.

Baby Barney-Liang Diagonal 9 Patch - show diagonal — Baby Barney-Liang Diagonal 9 Patch – show diagonal

I think it looks like a watercolor quilt from the 1990s (?).

The blue lines indicate the background. You can use the photo above for reference. I think the fabrics will blend a little, but I think the effect will be good.

Finally, the last quilt I started using this pattern is a much more controlled palette. This is for another great nephew. I made a quilt for his sister and thought I had better make one for him before I sent hers off. They are both teenagers and might not be as understanding as my older nieces and nephews.

I kind of felt like I should work on a bag, but I wanted to do a lot of piecing. These quilts fit the bill.

Making these blocks is somewhat addictive. I want to make more and more until I have enough to make them into quilts. I don’t want to stop!! It was great to have so much time to sew. Of course, it is never enough, but I was pleased I was able to take advantage of the opportunity for so much uninterrupted sewing time.

One thing I forgot to mention the other day was the fabulous thread catcher that Claire made each one of the retreat participants. She wanted to work through some of her stash so she made 20 of these!!! They are large and amazing.

We each got to pick the one we wanted. I know this one isn’t turquoise, but the turquoise one that was left was not to my taste.

Now I have two thread catchers. I’ll have to figure out how to use them both.

Return from Retreat

I got back from the guild retreat on Monday night. I had time to relax, look at my projects, unpack as DH was out at a class.

Friend Julie was much more organized than me and took some photos of getting ready to leave. I thought about it several times as I packed, but it just didn’t happen. You can imagine what my living room looked like: bags, sewing machine, tools all piled by the door ready to be loaded into the car.

SIL#2 and I drove down to San Juan Bautista on Friday where they have a Retreat Center. The guild went there last year, too. We couldn’t get into the sewing room until 2pm, but they have a quilt shop in SJB that is a great place to visit. We got there a little late so we went straight to lunch with the group and then looked around SJB and went to the quilt shop as well as the Rock Shop after lunch. The Rock Shop had charms and tiny lobster clasps that I started using to make zipper pulls. They didn’t have as good a selection of clasps as they did last year and the ones I was able to buy are a little small.

I did take photos of my setup at the retreat center.

We each got one 6 foot table on which to work. I put some of my larger bags, like the ruler bag and my Sew Steady storage bag in the car so they wouldn’t be getting in my way with limited space.

The space worked out well for me. I sew in such a small space anyway that the 6ft table was plenty for all of my tools and supplies. In the background of the photos you can see two Tupperware storage boxes with a load of baking in them.

The room is large and there were about 20 people in attendance.

Friend Julie sat next to me, on my left, in the corner, which was an upgrade from last year when she was right in an aisle and kept getting bonked as people walked by. Bonnie, the Retreat coordinator, was on the other side of me. Rhonda sat across from me with Peggy the Charity Queen next to her and to my left. SIL#2 was in the corner across from Julie. I was happy with the people around me.

Across the room, Michelle and Nicki, who has been absent from the guild since before COVID, were the anchor in the other side of the room. They had a lovely little set up with a lamp and a vase of flowers. I was envious of the lamp as the light changed throughout the day, but had my neck light and that worked very well. I need to put a lamp on my list. I have one I often bring, but didn’t even think about it this time.

To the right from Michelle and Nicki was the rest of the group. Anna, LeeAnn, Sue, Nancy and Joelle were behind Rhonda. The Cravens covey was over there by the cupboards with Amy, Christine and Claire. I thought the setup was really good. There were no design walls, but we used the floor and the cutting tables and any horizontal surface we could. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked.

Peggy's Scottie Dog donation quilt — Peggy’s Scottie Dog donation quilt

People, as you might expect, worked on a variety of projects. Peggy finished at least two quilt tops. One was an adorable Scottie Dog pattern made from 2.5 inch squares. She claims to have over 2,000 2.5 inch squares to use up, so she is a master at coming up with new patterns in which to use them.

I made a few green strip donation blocks, but these two efforts were the only charity projects going. There was no incentive to make charity blocks or quilts, which was a shame.

Rhonda worked on a class project quilt from about 8 years ago. She was able to finish the top and the back, which was a great achievement in my mind since the project had been languishing for so long.

Rhonda’s project served as a great discussion starter for various ways of putting quilts together. I, of course, talked about chunking. Others talked about the webbing method, which I have to try some time.

Bonnie's Christmas circles — Bonnie’s Christmas circles

Bonnie get my prize for determination. She started a quilt at last year’s retreat and finished the top at this year’s retreat.

I really like the design. I am not sure what tool or pattern she used to make the quilt, but it is great. I like the delicate line of the curves. I want to make Black Jack from Color Girl Quilts, which also has circles, but is not the same sort of design. Perhaps I’ll have to have a year of circle quilts?

MaryC's Buffalo Plaid — MaryC’s Buffalo Plaid

MaryC, sitting in the Covey of Cravens, was churning out quilts and various projects like there was no tomorrow. She showed us her Buffalo Plaid quilt.

I was impressed with how it really looks like plaid even though the fabrics weren’t particularly plaid- like. She chose the right colors to make it look like a plaid.

Friend Julie brought her City Sampler quilt project and it is a beauty. Seeing hers I am embarrassed at mine.

Christine's Anna Maria quilt — Christine’s Anna Maria quilt

Christine was on a finishing jag. She finished a silk table runner and I am really sad I didn’t get a picture of it. She also finished this Anna Maria Horner pattern. The back was a fabulous large flower print that everyone loved.

I think Christine had the right idea by bringing binding and sleeves to work on. It seemed like she was showing us finished pieces every 5 minutes.

My favorite quilt was probably Joelle’s scrap quilt. She made the lines of piecing on adding machine tape** (do you know what that is?). I like Joelle’s work. Her quilts have a clean, precise look to them that is very appealing. This quilt is no exception.

I also like the way she has sort of gradated the colors. I sort of want to make one of these, but I also don’t.

SIL#2 brought her Accuquilt Go Baby** and cut up scraps, some of which she used to make pinwheels. One of our nieces is having her second baby in August and the pinwheel quilt will be for that baby.

I am not sure how big she is going to make the piece, but she said she will probably put sashing between the pinwheels. I guess she doesn’t want to make another dozen pinwheels, but wants the quilt to be larger.

Claire's Make It Work donation quilt — Claire’s Make It Work donation quilt

Finally, Claire worked on some donation projects. This one is made from many 16 patch blocks that I made, so I was excited to see what she did with the bits. This is one of her ‘Make it Work’ projects.

One of the reasons I enjoy the retreat is seeing other people’s projects. I like to see people’s progress and how they problem solve.

I’ll talk about what I worked on in another post.

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Quilts in Jackson

Traveling is a good time to get inspiration. Last weekend we went to Jackson for the Native Sons event, Discovery of Gold. I enjoy visiting these small towns in the boonies of California. I always find something interesting.

I thought the tile at one closed storefront would make an interesting row quilt – or the start of a row quilt. Look at the different elements between the ‘blocks’. I wonder if they relate to the shop’s original owner or wares?

'Checkerboard' pillow — ‘Checkerboard’ pillow

This trip, I spent a lot of time on my own because DH had a lot of meetings crammed into one day. Jackson has quite a few ‘antique’ shops. Some are more curated than others. I wanted to visit a quilt shop, but the closest one was 40 minutes away in Placerville and I wasn’t up for the drive. It was fun to wander around Jackson. I found a few gifts, especially a teapot I have been looking for for years.

'Checkerboard' pillow detail — ‘Checkerboard’ pillow detail

As I wandered around, my thoughts around Women’s Work and its value (or lack of monetary value) were rekindled. The cushion above had a very depressing price tag on it. I blame Walmart and the Dollar Store, fast fashion and always wanting a deal. $9.95! I couldn’t really take it in, though this kind of thing is why I don’t have a quilt business.

Really, I kept seeing a lot of quilts and quilt related items. I also saw a lot of crochet, but I can’t take photos of everything.

One thing I noticed was a lot of quilts. Not art quilts or high quality quilts, but a noticeable number of utilitarian quilts. After seeing the first few, I started photographing them and thinking about Women’s Work again. I’ll try to stay off of my soapbox, but the prices and the cavalier way in which most of them were displayed makes me wonder again about the value of women’s work. I also can’t help wondering if my work will end up in antique-thrift-junk shops. If the YM doesn’t want my quilts, I hope my nieces and nephews will divvy them up.

Someone clearly sews in one of the shops as there were a number of sewn items for sale, including bowl cozies ($8). You’d have to have a well oiled production line going to make it worth selling these for $8. It is, however, a great way to justify making stuff. I am not sure I would be satisfied making hundreds of bowl cozies, but to each his/her own.

I enjoyed the simplicity of many of the quilt designs I saw. One of my favorites was a yellow pinwheel quilt. I made a basket quilt with a yellow background once, called Cheerful Baskets, so I have a fondness for certain tints of yellow. The simplicity of this quilt really grabbed me. I think those blocks are about 5 inches, but possibly four inches since they are a 4 patch. The sashing gives the pinwheels space to breathe. The eye can see each pinwheel clearly.

I saw some cushions made with a crazy quilt design that were in bad condition, but still pretty. I wonder if they could have been cut from a crazy quilt?

Someone had the clever idea to reupholster a chair with a Dresden Plate. I am not a fan of that type of oak furniture, but I think the seat looks cool.

I saw this not in an antique-junk-thrift shop, but a higher end store that takes some stuff from antique-junk-thrift shops and upcycles it. There was only one of these chairs, but it might make a nice start to a collection of them in different woods and styles. The Dresden Plate could unify them.

There was a sweet child looking quilt that reminded me of the Laura Ashley quilt I made for a friend a million years ago when there was a Laura Ashley store in downtown San Francisco. I had just started quiltmaking then and found an early charm pack there. Charm packs as a concept didn’t exist as they do now, so it was really novel to find a pack of pre-cut squares.

Squares with embroidery quilt - detail — Squares with embroidery quilt – detail

The quilt isn’t exactly like mine, but it does remind me of the one I made.

The embroidery is some kind of vine or edge stitch. I like it. It adds interest to the simple design of the quilt, as do the flowers in the fabric. They looked like they were painted on, but I think it was just the printing process of the fabric used.

That violet (or lavender) with the yellow is a good combination.

There was also, what I think was, a yo-yo quilt. It looked different than other yo-yo quilts I have seen. It could be that the gathered side was face down in the display and I couldn’t see them. It is possible that people don’t know that yo-yos are mostly displayed/used with the gathered side up. On the other hand, this could be a completely different type of quilt or a yo-yo variation.

Welsh-style whole cloth quilt in Jackson

I also saw, what looked like, a Welsh-style quilt. Of course, it could be a regular whole cloth quilt using a color similar to those used in Welsh whole cloth quilts. I couldn’t see much more than the picture shows, though I did take another photo from farther away that shows a little more of the design. The vines and leaves are really nice.

It is clear that this quilt has been washed, if not used, but it looked to be in good condition.

I also saw a Basket quilt top. Again, this quilt has lavender. I wonder if that was a popular color in a certain era? 1930s? I know that a lot of 1930s reproduction fabric lines include a lavender colorway. One of the nice things about this design is how some of the baskets fade into the background. It could be from fading or it could have been designed that way. No way to tell.

I really like basket block quilts and have only made one. So many designs so little time!

QST quilt in Jackson - detail — QST quilt in Jackson – detail

This Quarter Square Triangle quilt is sewn together in a interesting manner. I am not sure if the quilt was pieced and then embellished with a blanket-type stitch or if it was sewn together with the blanket-type stitch. I can see both types of stitching on the detail photo. The scraps used in this quilt are quite bright and cheerful. It might be a newer quilt without fading or it is older and well taken care of.

Applique' quilt in Jackson — Applique’ quilt in Jackson

Finally, this is what is going to happen to all of my fabric when I die.

I don’t know that there are definitely 6 yards in there as I didn’t open the package. I do know that there were multiple similar packets of fabric. The fabric isn’t to my taste, but if you want some of it go to Jackson and visit Antiques On Main,1 Main St, Jackson, CA 95642. There are multiple vendors with a lot of different stuff. The one in the front on the right side of the aisle is where the fabric was.

One lesson? Label your quilts. Even stitch lettering with your name and the year are better than ‘artist unknown’.

Traveling with Bags

As I was packing for my second trip in October, it occurred to me that I should show you the pouches I use when I travel. all the pouches that I made ARE useful. However, of the bags I use for travel, I only made one of them. ;0

I use various pouches instead of one big bag as I can designate them for various purposes. This also means I don’t have to have a large bag in a, possibly, small bathroom.

The Wonder Woman pouch (top left) is one I use for tubes and bottles that don’t fit in my toilet kit. It was a birthday gift this year and made by Angela.

The pouch on the upper right is used for vitamins and various OTC medications. It was made by Gerre and has hand embroidery as well as a clever use of zippers. I keep for getting to ask her about the pattern.

The red and teal pouch is from Amanda and was another birthday gift. It is perfect for various cords and my headphones. Yes, I made an charger case a long time ago. I did a great job on that case, but it was too big. When I went to Switzerland and Austria in April, I needed the space in my suitcase.

The turquoise stitch boxy bag is from TFQ and is probably the first pouch I ever used.

The pink and turquoise dotted bad has the most useful stuff in it: moleskin, scissors, post-its, tape, a power strip and all sorts of random things that I needed when I was attending conferences.

The Triple Zip pouch is what I use for jewelry. It isn’t great for jewelry, but it is okay. Until I find something different, it will have to do.

The whole point of this post is to show you how you can use different pouches and bags in daily life – or travel life.

The Quilt Loft

The trip home from Portland started off slow. It took us forever to get out of the city, which I expected. it was Friday afternoon, after all, and people wanted to get away. I was a little surprised, though, since we left around 1pm. I thought that was a little early for people to be leaving the office.

What I did not expect was slow traffic all the way down I5. It wasn’t stopped, but we only went about 40-50 mph (~70 kph). Finally, I was falling asleep at the wheel and needed a break. We stopped in Albany, because it was close and looked large-ish. Mom was able to find a quilt shop there, which was a bonus. We thought we could, also, certainly find a coffee shop, but no such luck. Note to Starbuck’s: please put your *amn outlets next to the freeway not in some secluded Safeway.

Anyway, it was worth a stop. I had never been to Albany, Oregon and the shop was worth stopping to visit. It is a mile or two off the highway, but the Google directions were good and the downtown street, where the shop is located, had a lot of charm.

The Quilt Loft is a large shop, though the interior also came across as long and thin. It covers two storefronts and held a lot of fabrics.

I was VERY impressed to see four longarms, controlled by computers working away when we were there. I was told later that one of the staff was an excellent custom longarm quilter and was working back there as well. I was happy to see a shop helping people get their quilts finished. I am sure it is good for their cash flow as well.

The longarm area was in the back of the second storefront (to the left of the main door you see in the photo above). In front of the longarm workroom was the notions, books and batting area. I had never seen rolls of batting in a quilt shop like they had in the Quilt Loft!

I didn’t check to see what kind of batting they had. You can see that the do offer a few choices.

Next to the batting area were notions and some books. The shop had a few books, but not a large book area that I saw. The books were mostly scattered around the shop. One I saw looked interesting, Scrappiness is Happiness** by Lori Holt. I thought there were at least 5 quilts I would make out of that book. However, I wasn’t in the mood to buy books, so I put it on my Christmas list. I don’t see this book on their website, but I am sure you can call them and they will ship it to you.

I didn’t think they had a ton of notions either. I was surprised to see Quilter’s Rule rulers. I am not sure I have ever seen these for sale in a shop. If I have it was either a long time ago or I just don’t remember.

As mentioned, the shop had a lot of fabric. Much of it was new to me, though I did recognize the manufacturers. I didn’t see any Tula or Kaffe. I always find it nice to see new and different fabric.

On the left of the photo (right) was a new line of butterfly type fabric. The main, or focus fabric had words on it. I thought the French theme would make a good future bag for my sister, but there was no more yardage. I was only able to find a couple of fat quarters. I can make some small pouches or, perhaps, a small Kit Supply Tote with the amount I bought.

The Quilt Loft for Hallowe'en — The Quilt Loft for Hallowe’en

I wasn’t able to visit a lot of shops on this trip, but the ones I did visit were decorated for Hallowe’en. They had projects on the walls and appropriate fabrics front and center. The Quilt Loft was no exception.

I haven’t seen that applique’ pattern with the purple back and black silhouettes before. I thought it was interesting. It looked like all needle turn applique’, which will never happen in my house. 😉

Some of the more modern fabrics were near the notions and batting. I found quite a few Allison Glass fabrics in that area. The staff who helped me said they were flying off the shelves. I also saw some of the Judy Niemeyer samples that are so popular at the San Mateo County Fair. I was pleased to see a wide variety of solids and not all of them (if any?) were Kona. They carry a wide selection of American Made Brands solids, which made me happy.

The shop also had different substrates. I didn’t see a class schedule, but they must have garment classes as well.

The classroom was in the first/main building behind all the initial fabric you see when you first walk in. It was large. It has a mishmash of chairs, but there were some comfy looking office chairs. The room also had three large tables, so I think people could spread out.

There were some interesting projects hanging there. As I said, I didn’t see the class schedule, so I don’t know which were samples and which were decoration. Regardless, this shop had a lot of quilts hanging up which provided a lot of inspiration.

As is common in many quilt shops, there was a nice looking seating area in the front. I liked the design of the chairs. Partners could be comfy while their other half shopped. If it hadn’t been raining the light would have been good, so someone could sit there and do handwork as well. I don’t know if the shop allows it.

I bought a few fat quarters and one half yard of a new Alison Glass fabric. They had the full line of her new fabrics and I couldn’t resist just a bit of it.

I also bought that red and white flower print on the left. It is an older fabric. I had some and used it up. I decided to grab one last FQ.

Not that this is a different shop than the Quilting Loft in Seattle, which I reviewed in 2013. I haven’t been to Seattle in awhile, but the website for the Quilting Loft is no longer, so I imagine the shop is closed as well.

The Quilt Loft
405 First Ave NW, Albany, OR 97321, United States
tel: +1 541 928 7242
Website: https://www.evilmadquilter.com/

Hours: Sun Closed
Mon 10 AM–5 PM
Tue 10 AM–5 PM
Wed 10 AM–5 PM
Thu 10 AM–5 PM
Fri 10 AM–5 PM
Sat 10 AM–5 PM

Email: Info@QuiltLoft.com or Info@EvilMadQuilter.com

Enigma in Use

I finally found a use for the Enigma Bag.

I plan to use it for small EPP projects when I am on the go. In this case, I have the pentagons that will be made into a ball in the bottom.

I was able to stock the bag with scissors, needles etc by using some other gifts I have received that haven’t had a home yet and I am really pleased about that.

Time for a New Suitcase

In case you didn’t notice, I just got back from a work trip to Switzerland and a side trip to visit friends in Austria. It sounds glamorous and it is exciting to say I went to work in Switzerland for two weeks. It is hard work, though, being in another location. I am so happy to be home, even though I was happy to meet my team mates in person for the first time. I am also happy I got to see some friends that I haven’t seen since 2016.

I prepared most of the posts for April 28-May 18 in advance, so you wouldn’t notice that I was gone.

This trip, I took more videos than I have in the past and used the panorama photo function more than I have previously. The views were even more dramatic this time than in the past. Or I don’t remember them being this dramatic.

There was quite a bit of rain while I was there and the clouds created most of the drama. The rain means that the landscape is really green, which I love.

I got to see friends, I was able to visit Basel, a new city to me and see some dramatic cityscapes. I also got to take several train trips, which I like. I moved around a lot, which is exhausting and it made me realize I need a lighter suitcase. My suitcase has been a workhorse, but it is getting too much for me to haul around, mostly because it is somewhat heavy even empty.

The worst part of the trip was that I didn’t bring any handwork. HUGE mistake that I will not make again.

Anyway, it was a great trip, but I am glad to be home.

Family Threads Quilt Shop

I visited Family Threads quilt shop in San Juan Batista before the Retreat. This is a great quilt shop. There was a wide variety of fabrics, lots of patterns, bag supplies, solids and good notions.

The shop was small, but they had a wide variety of fabric. They had many, many panels hanging around the upper part of the ceiling. This is only the second shop I have seen with so many panels.

The shop also had a lot of fabric. They also had a wide variety of fabrics I hadn’t seen. I saw a lot of novelty fabrics that I have only seen online. Now I know I can go to somewhere relatively nearby and actually look at some fabrics.

The bolts on the floor in the front were a wide variety of polka dots. You can see the main color. The dot colors were all different.They weren’t just white. Yes, I bought a couple of fat quarter packs.

In the photo, right, you can also see the panels mentioned above.

The isn’t exactly crammed, but every surface was well used. There are also a lot of different textures in the storage furniture. In the photo, left, you can see the interesting sides of the white shelf.

The shop had lots of pre-cuts and not just jelly rolls. The polka dots I mentioned above were all over the shop in fat quarter packs. There were different combinations, too. I saw some monochromatic packs in blue and others with a selection of rainbow fat quarters.

Family Threads notions + fabric — Family Threads notions

The shop had a good selection of notions as well. I was especially impressed with their selection of Creative Grids rulers. You can’t really see the rulers, which are behind the pre-cuts in the photo on the right. You can see a nice selection of some great fabrics in that same photo.

I was thrilled that I finally found a shop that carries Northcott solids. remember I discovered those at QuiltCon in 2016. I didn’t need any the day I was there, but I’ll go back and get some in the future. The solids room was also the shop classroom. Some people were sewing there the day we visited.

In the vestibule of the solids rooms was where they stored their bagmaking supplies. I was impressed with the setup. The drawers were labelled so it was easy to find different types of interfacing. You calso see straps and webbing stored. I liked this area a lot.

The shop had a LOT of sample bags and other small projects as well as a wide variety of patterns.

All in all, Family Threads was a great shop and I want to visit again.

Get a different view, though. Julie wrote a good post about what she bought, and the shop.

107 The Alameda, Suite D
PO Box 1203
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045

HOURS Mon-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-3, Sun Closed

Tel: (831) 623-0200

Website: https://familythreadsquiltshop.com/

BAM Retreat Downtown SJB

Before we could check in to the Retreat center we spent some time in downtown (old town?) San Juan Batista. We had lunch at the Jardines de San Juan. The food there was really good. We sat outside at a big table and enjoyed the sunshine. The restaurant was down the street from the quilt shop.

There weren’t very many people around the town as in it wasn’t packed, but there were plenty of people around.

After lunch we walked around the old part of the town. They had a lot of porches over the sidewalks and a lot of old buildings.

I couldn’t tell if this building was tin, but Julie and SIL #2 said it was decorative brick.

This building is a style that I really like, because of the big windows. I always thought it would be great to have a studio in a building like this, because of the light. I know that light isn’t good for fabric, but I really like working in a nice bright space.

In this building one of the shops was a candy and ice cream store.

There was a San Juan Batista Historic Park. There was a HUGE cactus, which had a lot of cactus apples on it. Julie knew that they weren’t ripe yet and what color they would be when they were ripe.

It’s interesting how many different textures there are on this plant.

There were also a lot of flowers and blooming plants around. I don’t spend a lot of time outside beyond my walks. I seem to enjoy it when I am outside. I also seem to take photos of a lot of flowers and plants.

BAM Retreat Other Projects

BAM Retreat 2023 - all the projects — BAM Retreat 2023 – all the projects

BAM Retreat 2023 - all the projects - detail — BAM Retreat 2023 – all the projects – detail

One thing we did was put all the projects, both finished and unfinished, up on the wall and take a picture of them. I thought it was a good way to acknowledge all the work we had done and all the progress we made.

Mary C's KaleidoBloom — Mary C’s KaleidoBloom

Other people made amazing projects as well. That big amazing quilt with all the curves is Mary C’s project, Kaleidobloom, Crafty Nomad Block of the Month project. I have seen the pattern and many people in the guild are working on, but I wasn’t very impressed until I saw the blocks on the wall.

I think there is just a border or two left, but I wish those corners would be built out some more. I’ll have to wait and see before I make some pronouncements beyond: awesome!

Lynette's project bag — Lynette’s project bag

Lynette, bagmaker extraordinaire, and my partner in bags for the Ultimate Carry All Bag-a-long. Lynette showed us her project, which uses a bag from Amazon**.

She cuts off the top and adds fabric to the bottom, then boxes the bottom using a 1 inch square. The bonus is that she doesn’t have to insert a zipper and the plastic bags are pretty inexpensive. She is working on developing a project that uses the bottom part of the bag as well. She may do a class or tutorial. I said I would be her tester, so you may see a few of these here later.

Amy worked on her Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern, Metro Twist. Amy’s looks awesome! I love the Tula Pink True Colors dots and stripes she used and want to make one exactly like it. 😉 This is made with the Quick Curve Ruler, a ruler I thought worked very well. Amy talked about the certified teacher from whom she took the class and getting that person to come to the guild. Somehow that morphed into Amy and I teaching the class! If we do it, it’ll be fun. We’ll see.

Anna's Kaffe Fassett quilt — Anna’s Kaffe Fassett quilt

Anna finished a Kaffe Fassett quilt she has been working on for awhile. It looks a little like a watercolor quilt. Remember those? She has a goal of only working on UFOs this year. This was encouraged by the President’s challenge, which is to work on (and maybe finish?) projects that have not been worked on in over 6 months. I plan to finish some of the bags from the 2018 Crafty Gemini Organizer Club. Remember I gathered all the pieces and parts recently? I just haven’t done anything about it yet.

Melinda and Mary M were working together to make a quilt for Mary M’s daughter. They used an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called Allie Owl**. The owls were quite large and will make a lap quilt. The pattern shows brighter fabric; these fabrics look nice, too. I was really amazed at the size.

Some of my blocks are under the owls.

Deb is a new member and this was her first retreat. Where I worked on 3+ projects, Deb worked on one project and she ended up with a quilt top.

I haven’t seen most of the fabrics she used in awhile. Some of them looked like aboriginal style fabric. This pattern doesn’t look like one that I have seen, but there are some elements that look familiar. The zigzag sashing looks like a Streak of Lighting quilt, but the blocks don’t fit with that design. It’s definitely interesting.

Melinda, Bonnie, Amy & Julie's projects — Melinda, Bonnie, Amy & Julie’s projects

Melinda, Bonnie and Julie have their projects above Amy’s Metro Twist. Melinda’s blue and brown piece will be part of the San Mateo County Fair climate change challenge. It depicts the amount of rain in sort of a graph format that her hometown got this winter.

Bonnie has been working on the circle piece for a few months. She had some acrylic templates made by Tap Plastics and has been steadily making progress. It looks good.

The piece with the fuchsia in the middle to the right of the circle piece is the back of a quilt Julie is making. She wrote a post about it recently. This back goes on the Stitch Happens quilt I talked about recently. I really like the little HSTs surrounded by the fuchsia.

Maria and Alison's projects — Maria and Alison’s projects

Maria’s climate challenge is on the left of this picture. I didn’t have a chance to talk to Maria about her piece, but I will later.

Alison’s blocks are underneath it . They are from the Tula Pink City Sampler book**. She is using some of Denyse Schmidt’s fabrics she got in some swaps.

You get a peek at another one of my blocks.

It is amazing how much we got done in a short amount of time. I love seeing everyone’s projects.

BAM Retreat My Projects

This will be a multi-part post on the recent Retreat I attended. I have to split it up, because I don’t have enough time to write a big long post right now.

I had a couple of specific goals in mind. I wanted to finish a Mother’s Day gift and I wanted to finish some gifts I am taking to my work colleagues later this week. Then, if time permitted, I planned to start a new quilt.

First, I was able to finish the Mother’s Day gift. It is small and you’ll have to read the post on May 14th to see what it is.

Second I finished the three I Spy pouches I started. I had some of the fabric cut, but not all. I cut the cork, yes cork, at the Retreat and sewed the pouches together. I cut quite a number of strips wrong, so will have to make some pouches out of odd sized strips.

In between, the top two projects, I worked on donation blocks. You saw some of these in the post a few days ago about donation blocks for April. I don’t think I mentioned that I used kits the guild team had prepared. The squares frayed a lot and made me quite crazy.

Scrappy Celebration - first blocks — Scrappy Celebration – first blocks

After these, except the donation blocks, were finished, I started a new quilt. I had a fabric pull from a couple of years ago that I wanted to use. I had some options and finally decided on a plan. This quilt is from the American Patchwork and Quilting Sew-a-Long. It is designed by Lissa Alexander. Because I seem to be incapable of following directions as written, I resized the EQ8 project to include 12 inch blocks rather than 6 inch blocks. The straight nine patches are quite large, but they provide some space for viewers to rest their eyes. Also, the small squares in some of the blocks above are much easier to sew when the entire block is 12 inches finished.

I missed the Sew-a-Long, which started in February, but this project is super easy. The pieces are, mostly, standard sizes and easy to cut. I think even beginners looking for a second or third project could do it.

One of the things I wanted to do to start was to use all the fabrics I selected to see how they worked together. I didn’t quite succeed, but I was able to use a lot of them. So far, so good.