The last bit of my trip that I really wanted to talk about were the grates and grilles and other metal work. The Art Institute has collected pieces, parts and sections of buildings around Chicago that were being renovated or torn down. As you may have noticed from some of my inspiration photos, I have always enjoyed architectural details. Making a building beautiful (as opposed to striking or memorable) seems to be the greatest gift an architect can give a city.
I never really thought much about grates and grilles until I was standing in the second floor stairwell/lobby area of the AIC. For those of you who know the place, it is outside the Impressionist gallery. There, the curators have displayed a variety of pieces, many of which are metal. I know I have seen them as I have walked by buildings and there have even been a few times when I have ridden in one of those elevators where you have to close the door, but I didn’t really think about them as a source of inspiration until I saw them hanging on the wall. It is interesting how a museum will do that to me.
The Fisher Building Elevator Grille, above, is only the upper portion. I don’t think they had (or maybe I just didn’t photograph) the lower portion. I do think the round part looks like some kind of serpent. Not so great for quilty inspiration, but I could go with the general shape and proportion. What really grabbed me was the background. Those lines and curls would make great background on a quilt.
Manhattan Building Elevator Grille, 1889-91
This is a really elaborate elevator grille. Sometimes I wonder if the artisans or designers felt like they got one chance and went all out. Do you every do that?
I like the spirals in the middle, but in general I think this piece is top heavy. Stand on your head, look at the picture and tell me what you would think of it if the bottom were the top.
I think the spirals would be good quilting designs. I like the way there are different sizes of spirals and they go in different directions.
Manhattan Building Elevator Grille, 1889-91 detail
The close-up shows even more detail within the spirals and you can see the heavy part on top very well. I think it would be a good idea for me to take some kind of architectural history class so I would know what the official names of the various shapes are called. Dohickey isn’t very descriptive or precise.
The other thing about this detail is that it shows one thing I try to do in my quilts: the viewer gets a reward by getting close up. See the little dots and divets in the spirals? Do you see the wing shape in the largest spiral?
Window Keystone, 1872
I don’t know what a window keystone is, but the design would make an interesting piecing challenge. The way the piece is made makes the design seem like there is no ‘block’. I think this would probably be a similar piecing issue to the Spiky Stars piece I designed and created a number of years ago.
Window keystone, 1872, detail
I also like the slight curve of the motifs. I wonder if this is one of those motifs that could be sewed using straight lines, but would look curved? I don’t think so, but I also haven’t put much thought into it since I took the photos. Looking at the detail makes me see real curves in the piecing. I also like the interlocking knot look of some parts of the design. I think I would like a job where I designed useful items that would add to the beauty of everyday surroundings.
Schiller Building Block of Stringcourse
I am kind of partial to ovals, though I haven’t done anything with them in quiltmaking yet. These are really interesting pieces, partially because I have no idea what they were used for it and it fascinates me to think about these being added to a building because they were beautiful.
I really thought there were beautiful buildings in Chicago and it made me lament the dearth of classic (IMO) creativity in building today. Of course, things are a lot more expensive and these types of details may be prohibitively expensive, but I think their lack also makes us poorer.
These pieces would definitely make for interesting quilting designs and some complicated, but interesting piecing challenges.
As I said in my previous post about the Samplers, the textile exhibit was small. Despite being small the quilts on display were excellent. Perhaps not excellent in the that they were the best of the best, but excellent in that they were interesting. There were interesting choices of fabric, interesting corner treatments and interesting block variations. We all seem to go for perfect, especially when we run out of fabric and, yet, I find that antique quilts with an odd patch of fabric are more interesting. I often think “why would she choose that particular fabric?” and that thought leads me into a whole day dream about the woman that made the quilt.
The Star of Bethlehem was a stellar example of a quilt. The museum called it a bedcover. I wonder why? I’ll have to ask a curator friend and see if she knows.
Star of Bethlehem, 1830 detail
The colors are a really good combination. The red, green and yellow are a combination I used to use a lot when I drew and colored with felt pens. The viewer is rewarded with the fabrics when viewing close-up. They are interesting and add a lot of movement to the quilt
The borders are another excellent part of this. In reality, the whole quilt is about the borders. It is kind of a border round robin idea.
Star of Bethlehem, 1830 detail
The detail of this quilt is great. The photo (left) is a detail of the center. I love it that this quiltmaker sewed so many inset seams, not only in the center, but in the whole quilt. I would love to know the maker (or makers).
The other thing is that the points are really well done. I know that points matching is not the be-all-end-all, but when the points matching is well done, it is a joy to behold.
Again, in this detail, you can see the nice combination of the red, yellow and green. I think the tones of the colors are interesting. Not greyed, not bright. Not sure what I am seeing, but it is interesting.
Star of Bethlehem, 1830 corner
One thing I like to do is pay attention to the corners of borders. It is sometimes hard to know now to make a corner meet, especially if your piecing is a bit off. In this example the corner is a bit off where the two parts of the border meet, but the quiltmaker really did a nice job making that flower shape. I really like it. I also like that it is a bit off. It gives the quilt humanity, soul.
Keep in mind that I had to take photos of these quilts with no flash. Thus, the colors in the photo of the corner look more yellow than they were.
Pincushion & Burrs, 1830
I have never heard of this pattern with the name Pincushion and Burrs. It is also, according to the information card, called Square and Swallows, which sounds familiar, but not very much. I am pretty good with blocks, but I haven’t paid a lot of attention to quilt designs that have an all over name. Something to put on my bucket list, I guess.
I really like the border on this quilt, but the overall quilt is a great blue and white quilt. The little bird feet add movement and interest to this piece. I am not a huge fan of two color quilts; I don’t hate them, but I just think there is so much good fabric, why stick with just two? However, when I see a quilt like this, I think about making a two color quilt.
Pincushion & Burrs, 1830, detail
In addition to showing you the birds’ feet in this photo, you can also see the quilting. The quilting includes bunches of grapes, which are difficult in the best of circumstances. These are well done. The thing I like about this quilting is the double row of stitching that border the plain blocks. You may have to enlarge the photo to see them.
I also like the slight curves in the center of pieced blocks (applique’). I think this could be made, partially, like a Drunkard’s Path is made.
Pincushion & Burrs, 1830, corner
Again, here is a border corner. this is an interesting treatment-Flying Geese border and then a kind of Double Four Patch with Half Square Triangles. I like. It works, even if it isn’t perfect. It does look a bit like a butterfly.
The exhibit included some quilts and several examples of needlework. One type of needlework I like are samplers. I like them because they are so personal. They often include initials or names and dates. The ones I know best are cross stitch samplers. I have made a few, including one I posted here previously. The ones at the Art Institute were different. These were not cross stitch, but more emboridery/needlework samplers and they were mourning samplers.
AIC Mourning Sampler
At a certain point in time and space, I guess there was no way to remember people unless a woman stitched a mourning sampler. I felt odd staring at this sampler, it felt indecent for some reason. I couldn’t stop, though. The stitches shone, glittered in the harsh fluorescent light. The thread was silk and it was like a whole bunch of puzzle pieces clicked into place in my mind. The thread was gorgeous and it made me realize that I need to get some of this thread and try it out on one of my pieces.
I also liked this tree. I like the curves of the limbs and the shape of the leaves. The colors are very soothing, but I always wonder whether the colors have faded?
I enjoy looking at older textiles because I always get inspired. I see something that sparks a thought in my mind. I also like thinking about the women who made them. It always makes me sad when I read a tag next to a beautiful Sampler and it says ‘unknown.’ I am glad we have blogs, because we won’t be so anonymous in the future.
1791 Sampler by Lucy Potter
I thought the Sampler by Lucy Potter was very fine. It isn’t exactly my style, but the stitching was exquisite. I like the writing, but it is hard to see.
Nota bene: we were allowed to take photos as long as they were taken without the flash. That is why these photos are so dark.
Elizabeth Bogfholder Towel, 1831
The Bogfholder Towel is a cross stitch sampler. I like the simple shapes and bright colors of this sampler.
I have trees on the mind, too, so I was particularly interested in the way the artist stitched the trees.
Elizabeth Bogfholder Towel, 1831, detail
I know that thedetail of the towel isn’t exactly a tree, but I thought the motif had an interesting shape. It is, perhaps a candelabrum? The birds or griffins on the top intrigue and I wonder about the symbolism for all of these motifs.
I also think I could make a good argument that the smaller motifs on the left and right are stylized trees.
Stencilled bedcover
When I first saw this piece the exhibit was transitioning from needlework to quilts and I thought this was a quilt or an embroidered bed cover. It is a bed cover, but it is stenciled. The stenciling was very fine and detailed. I was amazed when I got up close to it, because I really couldn’t tell from even 3 feet away.
I had no idea that stenciling was done in the covered by this exhibit. I always think it is a good day when I learn something new.
Stenciled bedcover, detail
I think some of the motifs of the stenciling could be enlarged and used as applique’.
The description of the exhibit is “Featuring over 45 bedcovers, coverlets, needlework, printed handkerchiefs, and other household textiles from the permanent collection of the Department of Textiles, this exhibition explores the evolution of an American textile tradition as home creation, cottage industry, and commercial production developed between the years 1776 and 1840. While some needlework and textiles during this period were born out of necessity, others evoke refinement and sophistication, reflecting the overall growth, ingenuity, and prosperity of a new nation.
Traditionally textiles, whether made in the home or commercially, were considered prized possessions, but their value was not merely monetary; they often held special significance for the makers and their descendants. Many such textiles bear the maker’s name, and as treasured heirlooms were passed from one generation to the next serving as family record.
The sewing of textiles was also vital to the maintenance of a household. This important female skill not only provided the necessities of clothing and bedding but also a socially acceptable activity for women. The sewn and embroidered textiles in this exhibition represent the work of schoolgirls and women who had the means and time to pursue the needle arts. The works’ highly skilled execution and complex designs are evidence of the artistic and personal expression they provided.
A bridge from home to commercial production can be seen in the exhibition’s woven coverlets. Coverlet weavers in homes and separate workshops formed a cottage industry that would eventually grow into a full-scale commercial business by the mid-19th century. Printed textiles, on the other hand, were a product of the innovations and technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution, part of the commercial manufacturing industry that disseminated affordable textiles to a wider audience. With the mechanization of production and printing, textiles were able to keep pace with fashion and current events.
Whether sewn, woven, or printed, the textiles in this exhibition trace the development of an American textile tradition—one in which industrialization played a dominant role transforming raw materials into finished products but one that was also impacted by changes in the American home from creation out of necessity to a burgeoning consumer economy. Within these diverse textiles and their development, one can witness the innovation and progress of an early but thriving new United States.”
I was thrilled to see some textiles and hope that you enjoyed this review.
I went to a quilt shop while in Chicago called Quiltology. I got myself there via the El, which was fun, though, I thought it was a bit noisy. I was able to get myself there by reading the shop’s website. They have a nice page detailing how to get to the shop via a variety of modes of transportation.
The shop can be found at:
1221 W Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60614
Tel: 773-549-6628
Email: info@quiltology.com
You might recognize this shop from the Quilty show. They film the show at this shop. I was shocked when I walked in, because the shop is very small. Much smaller than it looks on TV.
I had to admit that I was disappointed and made a snap judgment that I would escape with my wallet intact.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Colette, the owner, is a delightful person, but also seemed strong and a good business owner. She has filled the shop with a good variety of fabrics. Not only does she have many modern fabrics, there are plenty of solids and dots as well. I was surprised, and delighted, to see that she also had a good collection of batiks and 1930s prints. Quiltology also had a number of Minkee fabrics, which she said she suggested for backs, especially of baby quilts. The modern prints are more of the medium-large prints than the really large prints. I think they are easier to use. I thought the batiks and 1930s prints were a bold choice for a modern quilt shop (my assumption). Though she didn’t say, I think they were added to appeal to different types of quiltmakers and expand the horizons of some of the young mothers that patronize the shop.
Right side of shop
Colette seems to be the type of person who I would invite to be in a mini group. She learned to quilt before me and we have some of the same sensibilities about how quiltmaking should be taught and the problems with learning via pattern rather than by sampler quilt. We also discussed the lack of interest in drafting quilt blocks.
The second photo to the right shows some of the batiks and many of the solids available in the shop. The photo also shows the selection of books and notions. The black and white quilt to the left of the quilt. Colette is using this as a cover for the doorway to the back. You can see a corner of the cutting table, middle left.
Front left of shop
The shop is bright and filled with light. The shelves are white and the wooden floor is a lovely honey color (Kastanianhonig – chestnut honey, specifically).
I would highly recommend visiting this shop if you are in Chicago. You won’t be disappointed.
It was sort of a clock week last week. I went to Chicago for work. I don’t like sleeping in hotels as I never sleep very well. I do love looking at the sights and sounds and details of new cities. I tend to take lots of photos of details. I saw several displays of clocks on this trip, which was very interesting to me. I really liked the angles and colors of the display at SFO.
One appealing aspect was the repetition. There are so many of the robot clocks that the arrangement is interesting because of the repetition.
Robot Clocks in SFO detail
I became more interested in the design of clocks when my son was small. He was fascinated with clocks and always pointed them out to me. He also dragged one around for a year that just fell apart in his 2 year old hands.
Clocks are, to me, the epitome of something that can be useful and beautiful. Because of the way we live, we all need clocks. They also can be small, so they are easy to buy or make and the design possibilities are endless, as shown in the detail photo, right.
While in Chicago, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago. Regardless, I was determined to do that. I didn’t have a lot of time, so I kind of wandered through and I found my creative juices start to flow. At the Art Institute, they had a lot of clocks, which was interesting to me. I love looking at items from Decorative Arts collections and don’t remember seeing so many clocks in other displays.
Tall Case Clock, c.1906, Vienna
The gold is quite a lot in this piece, but I really liked it. It reminds me of the Klimt painting the Kiss. Klimt was Austrian, or worked in Austria, too. The AIC has more information about the clock online. I wish all museums did this.
I always wanted a tall clock like this in my house, but we don’t have the appropriate scale of house. Perhaps in my mansion when I win the lottery? 😉
Art Deco Clock (?)
I cannot guarantee that this last photo is actually an Art Deco clock. I forgot to take a photo of the description. It has a kind of 50s look to it, too.
As I have mentioned before, DH is on the board of a non-profit, which starting now will require more travel on the weekends for us. this past weekend we headed up to Sonoma for a historic building dedication, a commemoration ceremony and the reenactment of the Bear Flag Revolt. After all of that and the drive up there we got lunch. I didn’t get lunch, I brought my own, because of my food issues.
DH knows that one way to get me to go with him on these jaunts when I can is to not complain about visiting local quilt shops. Broadway Quilts in Sonoma was our first excursion. Broadway Quilts is easy to find. It is right off of 116 just as you drive off the freeway. From south it is on the left. On Sundays it is open from 11-3, which I made sure DH knew. We flew past in the morning to get to the dedication, but we saw it, so we knew where it was on our way back out of town.
The boys came in with me even though I, specifically, uninvited them. It was too hot to stay in the car, so I couldn’t really begrudge them wanting to take advantage of the air conditioning.
Broadway Quilts Interior
The store is light and airy and large! I walked in a heard a disembodied voice coming from all around me and welcoming me to the store. I thought I was being visited by God who happened to be a quilt shop owner/worker. 😉
The lady who was working was very nice, genuinely cheerful and nice. She helped me paw through their stash of Aurifil to try and find #2600 for me (no luck) without complaining.
The store has a lot of the latest and greatest fabric. I saw Vintage Modern, Echo, a great selection of tone-on-tones, which I thought no longer existed, and a whole room full of 1930s fabric. I am not an expert on 1930s fabrics, but I do look out for them, because FQs make good gifts for TFQ.
Broadway Quilts Notions
As I mentioned, the store is large and their notions selection was really good. They still have the regular full selection of Dritz, but they also have a lot of Creative Grids rulers, including those with teeth to make half square triangles. I am not sure I have ever seen those in a shop before. They carry a modest selection of Aurifil, project cases, Omnigrid rulers, bag accessories – you name it. A very good selection.
There was a enough space to move around, which was nice. They also share space with a longarm business. The longarm is set up int he back of the store, but it is a separate business. I think that is a good symbiotic relationship.
It looked like they had a small classroom and I saw classes mentioned on their web page, but I didn’t see a class list.
Broadway Quilts Flowering Snowball
One of the samples I saw hanging up was a Flowering Snowball! I felt like such a maverick when I started that quilt a dog’s age ago, but now everyone seems to be making them. This one is nice. I think it was made with Vintage Modern or, perhaps, Ruby.
I liked the store and would go there again. Yes, I bought fabric, but just a little.
My DH is on the board of an organization that supports California history. Their charitable foundation supports efforts to repair of craniofacial deformities (such as Cleft Palette- click to find the donation form, even $5 helps a kid). Mostly he goes off to different places around the state and looks official, kisses babies and shakes hands while I stay home and deal with the Young Man or laundry or sew. [Not so much baby kissing really goes on. I am trying to be funny, but you get the idea. 😉 ] When I do attend, the events can be challenging for me, because I don’t attend many and have to work hard to remember people’s names, smile and be sparkling.
About two weeks ago, DH asked me if I wanted to go with him to an event and I said no. Give up a whole day of sewing? Forget it. He said we could go to quilt shops, which was unusual and caught my attention. I thought about it for a few days and decided to go. We have been running past each other for several weeks, kissing each other while one of us is on the way out the door to work or another meeting or to drive the Young Man somewhere. I thought it would be nice to spend some time with him and maybe catch up on discussing stuff about the house, life etc. Also, this time of year is gorgeous in the Gold Country.
Flowering Snowball Corner
I decided to go, so Friday night (after mind-prepping all week), I prepared some of the border pieces for the Flowering Snowball. I only have the border left to make to complete this quilt and, since I am a terrible, nervous passenger while riding in the car, it is a good time to hand piece. I cut boatloads of patches, but only finished this one block. Unfortunately, the ride back was too dark to piece. It doesn’t matter. One block is great and as soon as I finish the Stars for San Bruno #3 binding, I will have a lot of hand work I can do while watching TV when the boys are out.
As an added bonus, the hand piecing enabled me to chalk up my 15 minutes of sewing in for Scientific Quilter‘s 15 Minutes a Day Challenge (#mal15 on Twitter). As another added bonus, I got back in the groove to finish this project in the not too distant future.
Auburn Big Flower
As expected, the drive was beautiful and not too long on the way up (on the way back, we were both tired, it was too dark to sew and neither of us could gather the energy to talk much, though I tried since DH was driving and sleeping while driving isn’t very successful, usually). Auburn is about 2 hours away from us. My normally quiet and mild mannered, easy going DH becomes a speed demon on the road, which is entertaining when I think about it objectively. We all need to let loose sometimes.
We participated in an event at noon and then went to lunch with some of the other board members and their wives. I always get the question about why I don’t show up more so I give my standard “In order for my DH to attend the events that he does, I need to stay home and manage the Young Man.” Of course, this line is delivered with a sparkling sorority smile and the right amount of humbleness and apology. 😉 This time one of the other wives who has taken a shine to me, said it for me. I was thrilled. She has, apparently, taken a shine to me and actually remembers what it was like to have kids at home. In terms of age, the organization skews older. Many of the men are retired. I know they forget what it was like to have to work and drive kids around to soccer, Scouts, tennis, Quiz Bowl, to hang out with friends, etc.
After the lunch, we walked around to try and find a quilt store (DH was quite insistent), but it turned out that they had gone out of business. I wasn’t very enthusiastic, but he insisted that I look for another one. I found one called Howell’s Sew and Vac.Their quilt shop quality fabric is on $5.99 a yard! They don’t have much, but the woman at the counter said that she was trying to slowly ad more. They had an interesting selection of rulers. I bought a half diamond ruler. Aside from the fact that I am a ruler sucker, this ruler would have been really handy for FOTY 2010 and the Renewed Jelly Roll Race. I wasn’t planning on making another diamond quilt, but if I do, I will be ready. I wasn’t really in the mood to buy fabric. Shocking, I know, but there you have it.
It looks like Howell’s is trying to make up the void left by the other quilt shop. I hope they succeed. The shop looks like a normal Sew and Vac type shop, but there is plenty of parking and I think they could really create a community there.
We also looked at a few antique stores, but didn’t see anything of interest. i lookf or Desert Rose china for my aunt and SIL. I look for my silver pattern and interesting sewing machines and implements. I don’t want to collect sewing machines, but you never know. There was a pink Necchi for sale at one, which made me think of Darla the Scientific Quilter and her recent Necchi adventures.
The flowering trees were wonderful. In case you hadn’t noticed, I love flowering trees. It is a profound disappointment to me that the flowering quince in my front yard has never flowered. I am not a gardener, but I do try and treat it nicely.
Auburn Rocks
In general, I like to look for interesting patterns and shapes when I am out of my normal habitat. Because of the beautiful sun coupled with the clouds, there was a lot of opportunity for good pictures that will, with any luck, find a way to inspire me in future quiltmaking project.
All in all, it was a nice day. I enjoyed having some time with DH and checking out the great views. I could do without Daylight Savings Time today, but nobody asked me.
As usual, I started my Fabric of the Year 2011. I made good progress, but I did not finish.
Before I left for the Retreat, I spent time organizing the patches into color families and then from light to dark. Normally, I figure out the size of the finished piece and do more organizational stuff. No time this year and it was fine.
Once at the Retreat, I spent a lot of time – all day Friday – arranging the color gradations. I got opinions from others about the placement of certain patches. I used my camera to look at the patches in a different way and it was a useful tool in my arsenal of work. Above you can see the progression. The top left is pretty soon after I put all the patches on the wall. The last photo, bottom left, is, basically, what I took home.
I had to pin and wrap the pieces in the portable design wall. I set it up in my workroom and am working on it.
I am glad of the progress I made it on it at the Retreat, but I prefer to work in my workroom. As I started work on Monday, I felt an ease come over me and the work began to go very well. I hope to be done sooner rather than later. Stay tuned.
The CQFA Retreat was over the weekend. It was a relatively quiet retreat. Several people had to cancel at the last moment, which was a shame. Still, we had a good time and people made good progress on their various progress.
My spot with Julie
We were in the same location as last year, which has a separate building in which we are able to sew.
Other sewing space
This was my view as I sewed. Reva does wonderful work and it was wonderful to watch her, Sue and Robin’s work evolve.
Reva’s Black & White Piece
The black and white piece is made from the fat quarter bundle Reva won from the prizes we got from Fabricworm.
Robin’s Blooming 9 Patch
Robin’s Blooming 9 Patch was made from Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I liked looking at it. I like the pink.
Robin’s Blooming 9 Patch 2
Robin added some 4 patches on the ends to make the piece a bit longer.
Sue’s Scrap Quilt
Sue half square triangle scrap quilt is the kind of project I like to do on the Retreat. Sue had the blocks done and thought to do the rest at home. We encouraged her to use Robin’s design wall to finish the piece. She did so and made good progress. She wanted to use up as many scraps as she could and I think that she did well. Sue is making this quilt for her bed.
Maureen’s work
I think the pink fabric in the middle left looks like the leaves a tree with the trunk being the piece right below. I mentioned it and Maureen said that we all see what we want to see.
Julie made a lot of progress on various pieces. She started some and made progress on others. I was very impressed with her progress.
The Baggo piece is from a challenge where each person receives a bag of supplies from another and makes something out of it. I was particularly taken with the Baggo piece’s eye stamps. I was even more impressed when Julie told me she carved them herself. I really like the images and encouraged her to make more and sell them. I would be first in line for a set although I don’t do much stamping.
She quilted and bound this piece. She was irritated at the binding, which tinkled every time she worked on it, because of the bells she had added. I told her to stop and do something else in between. By the end of the weekend, the binding was done and Julie was not gnashing her teeth.
Julie
We went out to dinner on Saturday night together, which was fun. We had the most wonderful waiter who was kind, didn’t complain about any special requests and gave us each individual bills.
I took myself off, with TFQ, to Road to California this past weekend, which is in Ontario, California. I have never been to this show before and it is touted as one of the largest quilt events on the West Coast. I am spoiled by having PIQF in my backyard.
Front of Show
Road to California is a nice comfy sort of show, but more like a large guild show than “one of the largest quilt events on the West Coast”. Also, there were a lot of vendors. I would say 2/3s of the space was for vendors.
Eleanor Burns
Speaking of vendors, Eleanor Burns was there. I actually saw her doing her demonstrations! I chatted with her a little bit in the course of a humming bird demo she was doing. She is not the stereotypical haughty celebrity. She was very nice, smiled for everyone who wanted to take a photo and chatted amiably. She is obviously well schooled to being ‘on’, because I saw her continue to smile and demonstrate while listening to someone who whispered a question into her ear.
Quiltin' Cousins
The majority of the floor space was given over to vendors and the vendor representation was very good. Not only were there vendors I hadn’t seen before, but the vendors were cheerful. I find the vendors at PIQF to be quite surly, so this was a nice change. I was pleased to see Quiltin’ Cousins from Pismo Beach. Shawn, the owner, was really nice and friendly and we went back to her booth a few times to look at everything. We met her at Long Beach in 2010.
Licorice Allsorts
I saw a 1930s book that included a pattern called Cowboy Stars (on that table with the pastel quilt on it), but I didn’t buy it. I hope to find it at the library or find the pattern in one of the Kansas City Star books or in EQ7. It has some nasty diamonds and triangles, so I don’t plan on starting it anytime soon.
TFQ bought a pattern she called “not a pineapple” that was really called Licorice Allsorts (the black background quilt on the left). It does look like a baby Pineapple and I am eager to see how it is constructed.
The quilts were good. Different types and styles than I normally see. TFQ pointed out to me, quite rightly, that the fabrics being snapped up from the vendors – yards of Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs blooms, Moda charm packs and Jelly Rolls, lines of 1930s fabrics – were not represented in 90% of the quilts we saw. We walked back through the show and found the quilts made from solids, tone-on-tones, and batiks predominantly. See if you agree from the photos I took. Yes, there were a few quilts with prints, but very few. What are you doing with those lines of fabric you buy? Do you buy fabrics to collect? What are you using for your current quilt?
There was virtually no representation of Modern Quiltmakers at the show. I have to say that I have used a couple of ‘modern’ lines lately and those quilts will probably never see a show. I am, frankly, too lazy to do the paperwork to enter quilts into shows. I used to do it all the time, but the things they ask seem to pointless and a recent entry found the sponsoring organization to be so disorganized I had to essentially send my materials in twice. Still, I am not seeing the quilts like I make, so perhaps I should carve out some time to enter shows?
Road 2 Calif. Purchases
I bought a few little trinkets. I don’t buy many patterns, so that cut out a whole shopping niche. There were books in which I was really interested, but want to check out from the Library first to see if I REALLY need to add them to my collection. The fabric was a free gift from Quilt in a Day and I think the ruler will be good for making scrap blocks. TFQ bought me a bottle of buttons to replace those I have been using to embellish card holders and Christmas stockings. She said it was part of my birthday gift.
Now for the sentimental drivel. You can stop reading now if you are only interested in quilting. The show was great. Getting away was great, but I was very pleased to come to my dear DH, who picked us up from the train, had dinner ready and made a birthday cake (yes, my birthday was Friday, in case you missed it). I have been sick on and off for a month and am still hacking up a lung. If the trip hadn’t involved reservations and flights, I probably would have cancelled and stayed home. I enjoyed myself, loved the quilts, enjoyed the vendors but was very pleased to come home to my house and my family.
I hadn’t been to Lancaster County, PA in a long time, so SIL was kind enough to drive me to Philadelphia and stop at some fabric shops along the way. We enjoy shopping together. We have the opportunity to catch up as we drive around. She never does that trip to Lancaster County alone, so I get to help her renew her fabric.
We mapped out 8 or so shops, but only made it to three. I was happy to find enough food fabrics to make the Disappearing Nine Patch. One of the shops had a lot.
In general, I did see a lot of brown and muddy colors. I tried to be careful and not buy those. I also tried to be cognizant of the light. It is hazy in that area when it is hot and that affects how I see the fabrics.
We started out with a list of stores on the Quiltart website. Thanks, Judy! We used SIL’s GPS to find directions to all the shops. The GPS made us make a lot of left turns, which wasn’t always easy.
Dutchland
Dutchland Quilt Patch
This was a two story store with a lot of Amish looking gift items and a lot of potpourri. Two Amish women were working there (one was in training). The fabric was upstairs in a light aqua room. They had fat quarters and a large number of bolts of fabric. I bought a few pieces, some FQs for a friend and some embroidery needles. Their colors were a little on the murky side for me. I did enjoy talking with the young woman who cut my fabric. She commented on the motifs and colors we chose and talked a little about her own sewing.
Dutchland FabricsFabric Shack
Fabric Shack, formerly Lapp’s Dry Goods
Next we went to the Fabric Shack, formerly Lapp’s Dry Goods. This is a quilt/fabric store in a former house in the middle of a bunch of farms, e.g. it is not on a commercial strip of stores. SIL and I have been to this store in the past. I like the former name better. There is something unappealing about the word ‘shack’. It didn’t matter because the first thing I saw when I walked in were the Farmer’s Market food fabrics. This store also had LOTS of fabrics. In addition to regular quilting cottons, they had the pre-quilted fabrics, a whole room full of flannels, Moda pre-cuts, books and FQs.
We had to wait a long time when we went to check out because the lady in front of us was buying multiple cuts of 10 yards each! She told us she was making Stack-n-Whack or One Block Wonder quilts and was buying so much fabric, because she was stocking up for the summer! Later, SIL explained how the technique worked and I looked at her book, but am not sure I’ll be making one using that method.
Buggies
One of the things we saw, which was not a surprise to me, were Amish buggies everywhere. Obviously, people had to get around and they were using buggies. I enjoyed watching them drive by as we waited in the Fabric Shack to check out. The horses were gorgeous and looked sleek and well taken care of. Next door to the Fabric Shack was a mini buggy parking lot.
Zook's
Zook’s
Zook’s had the most fabric of any of the Amish stores we visited. They had arranged all of their fabric by manufacturer, which I thought was an interesting way of arranging it. It seemed to make it easy for them to find fabrics when people called.
We spent the next 2.5 hours in traffic getting to Philadelphia. Bleah! I would have liked to have gone to Sauder’s, but I found plenty of fabric on this trip.It gives me something to which to look forward in the future.
Scooter Bike
I also saw these scooter bikes everywhere in Lancaster. I don’t know if they are really called scooter bikes, but that is what they look like. I seriously thought about buying one for the Young Man, but didn’t have the energy to figure out how to ship it home, so I left for this trip. Perhaps another time. I thought they would be very useful for getting around a college campus. I am not sure how one would compare to a bike as I have never tried one out.
While in Philadelphia, I tried to go to Spool Sewing. I looked up their hours, walked over within the specified time and they were closed. 🙁 Oh well. Perhaps I’ll go to Philadelphia again and they will be open.
A few days later, I drove up to New Jersey to co-host Mark’s radio show. As I drove, I wondered why there were no quilt shops with big signs on the side of the road that I could see from the highway. If I could see it, there was half a chance that I could stop at the store. 😉
Pennington Quiltworks
Pennington Quiltworks
Wishes do come true, because not 5 minutes after thinking that, I saw a huge sign for Pennington Quiltworks. How could I not stop? Pennington Quiltworks was bright and cheerful. When I arrived the place was buzzing with activity. There was a large group of ladies having fabric cut and getting ready to leave. I found out later that there were 17 of them in the group and they were working on a very bright and cheerful friendship quilt.
On Friday, I had to choose between Mt. Vernon and quilt shops. Sigh! It is hard being a grown up. I really wanted to go to Mt. Vernon and see their new visitor center and the garden re-do, but I also wanted to go to quilt shops. SIL said I couldn’t do both, so we went to the quilt shops. 😉
Capital Quilts Capital Quilts was our first stop. This used to be SIL’s local quilt shop, but I think that Patches (see below) is closer to her. I have been to CQ at least twice before. They have great fabric. They have a lot of batiks, more of the Kaffe Fasset fabrics than I have seen at other shops, some Philip Jacobs and Amy Butler. They also have machines. The thing I like about this shop is that they haven’t sacrificed fabric space for machines.
G Street
G Street has moved since I was there last. The space was a lot smaller and their quilting cotton inventory was quite picked over. I heard someone say that they were doing inventory soon, so I am guessing that the selection would have been a lot bigger if I visited next week. They had a number of interesting rulers. I found a few more food fabrics to add to my group. The store manager helped us and she said that RJR is only printing what stores order. Makes it hard to reorder a popular fabric.
Needles & Pins
This is a small Frederick, MD shop which I visited once before. In some respects it is what I think of when I think of the quilt shop in Marie Bostwick‘s Cobbled Court novels, except smaller. I remembered it as being quite dark. This time, even though it was raining, I found it to be quite bright and stocked some cheerful fabrics. They also had a small selection of the felted wool pincushions that I like. They had a great quilt hanging up in the shop. My problem with it was that it was made from Civil War fabrics. It was a BOM and each block came with the fabrics.
I found this situation to be the case in a couple of stores. A few of the shops were doing a BOM in Civil War fabrics and there was no alternative. A quiltmaker was not able to buy the patterns without the fabric and was not able to buy an alternative colorway such as large scale prints or batiks. Of course, everything about the Civil War is very popular in this area and the fabric seems to be quite prevalent as well. Not my thing, though and it makes me wonder if I am alone in this or if they are cutting out a bunch of potential customers. I assume these stores know their customer base?
Patches
Patches Quilting & Sewing
Patches was a great shop. It is also in a house right up from the Mt. Airy main drag. The people were really friendly and the place was crammed, CRAMMED, with fabric, notions, tools, patterns, rulers, thread, books and machines. There was no available space because every surface had something to look at or buy.
Did I mention rulers? This store had more rulers than I have ever seen at one store. They had the Quilt in a Day Flying Geese rulers that I mail ordered. They had the Clearview 60 degree triangle rulers that Pam, Sandy and I have been agonizing over in THREE SIZES! I was amazed. I didn’t even know that ruler came in 3 sizes. The shop also had the Starmaker ruler that Kaye Wood uses in the video on how to cut the hexagons from strips. I have never EVER seen that ruler. They didn’t have very many sizes of the Creative Grids rulers, but a person can’t have everything and I really have no reason to complain about their selection of rulers, if you couldn’t tell.
Patches Ruler Wall #1
They had great fabric. I could have bought almost everything there, but just had to stop, because I was getting overwhelmed. The employees were very friendly, especially Pam who, in addition to telling us everything about the store, it’s products and classes also acted as local tour guide by telling us about local restaurants.
Sisto's
Sisto’s
Sisto’s was our next stop and it wasn’t as well stocked with fabric as Patches. I think it got the short end of the impression stick, because we went to Patches first. They had a lot of machines and I was able to finally buy some bobbins for my machine. Crazy that I have to fly across the country to buy bobbins! We talked to them for a long time about the HQ18 (I think that is the model). It is the HandiQuilter longarm machine. The woman we spoke with knew a lot about the machine and was very friendly. They had a lot of space in the shop, but most of it seemed to be filled with machines rather than fabric.
I asked about Anna Maria Horner patterns at a couple of shops and was shocked to find that they had never heard of her or her patterns. I found it odd, but, again, I think that the shops must know their customer base. I didn’t check to see if FreeSpirit had any fabric in these shops. Perhaps FreeSpirit doesn’t have a rep in the area? Odd, though.
As I have mentioned around the web, I was on the East Coast last week. I don’t like to announce the fact that I am going to be gone, so I apologize if anyone was confused. I was at a conference for my job, which you might remember if you heard Creative Mojo (I promise to stop mentioning this eventually). If you didn’t hear Creative Mojo, you can listen to the podcast.
Mark & Jaye
One of the things I did back East was co-host the Creative Mojo podcast with Mark Lipinski. I was really nervous and even more nervous when he posted on FB that he had been admitted to the hospital early that week. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen and wondered if I would find a note on the door with a key telling me how to turn on the headset and microphone so that I could fill in for him. Fortunately for me (and all of you!) Mark is a consummate professional with the motto of “the show must go on.” He was working on the script when I arrived, so Jeff entertained me. Jeff Turner has a smile that lights up the room. Toby, Mark’s friend and the owner of the Kindred Quilts, was also there to talk about creative book clubs. I thought it was funny that they were both from, or had lived in, California! Small world!
Mark came down when he was done with the script and told me what to do. I had to read or review a bit of a couple of the books whose authors would be on the show. I also had to read an article from another author and think of comments to interject. I also had to read the script and be familiar with the way the show would go.
Mark's House
Mark’s house is gorgeous. On Quilt Out Loud, Mark’s house looks like a mansion. In reality, there are a lot of rooms, but it seems to be well proportioned. The colors they used to paint the rooms are wonderful and bold. The hall is a bright citron green. The living room is bordering on a warm white, but has a tinge of orange or yellow. The living room, as are all the rooms, so beautifully decorated. They look like a decorator did them, but there is no feeling of not being able to sit down. The living room is very comfy as well as well put together. The guest bath is a light purple and Mark’s office is a wonderful sunshiney yellow. Mark’s office is filled with books. I kept getting distracted during the podcast looking at his books. He and I have a lot of the same books. His are not piled on the floor (note to self: get a new bookshelf!), but well organized in cube cubbies.
Mark talks a lot about his hoarding tendencies. While I did see the Pod (he wouldn’t let me in), I didn’t see any hoarding tendencies. House Beautiful could walk into his house and start a photo shoot. I felt funny taking photos of the inside, so I didn’t and I would have stayed longer except Mark really looked like he needed to go to bed.
The show went really fast and I had a lot of fun doing it. All I did to become the co-host was email Mark and I was in. It was fun.
The highlight of the trip was visiting with my SIL and the family. My BIL is a great cook and has no problem substituting to help me deal with my food intolerances. I really enjoy visiting with my SIL. We usually do a sewing or quilting project. We really work well together and it made me think of how much I like working with certain other quiltmakers on projects.
TFQ is another with whom I enjoy working. She and I work really well together, too. Remember the Cheerful Baskets? She has a great (can’t say this enough) sense of color and is good at giving me the pieces to sew in an orderly manner. I wish they both lived closer, but I also enjoy going to visit. I wish it were easier to visit.
I always learn something new when SIL and I sew together. She has a large workspace which allows two people to work together without stepping on each other. SIL has a pseudo-professional stand-alone embroidery machine. She has been having fun making Christmas ornaments, Boy Scout patches and other things with it. She had an idea for the NSGW pillows, so we played around with the software that comes with the machine and designed some motifs.
Chain piecing pillow covers
She stitched them out (well, caused them to be stitched out) while I was at the conference. When I returned, we made them into pillows. When I made the last Teacher pillows I thought that I should quilt them, but was really too lazy. SIL reminded me about the quilt-as-you-go method, so I used that to quilt and sew the tops simultaneously. The good thing about that method is that you can make the back as big as the pillow form and then you know where to stop. The other good thing is that you can use up random bits of batting.
We made 2 pillows for the Native Daughters’ (sister organization to the Native Sons for women) upcoming convention and one for my MIL (SIL’s mom). The one for my MIL was a bit of a mistake. We felt like we didn’t have quite enough fabric for it, so we didn’t want to make it for the grand Parlor. However, once the piece was finished we really liked the way it came it out and my adjust what we do in the future to take what we learned into consideration. We also embroidered 3 additional centers for pillows for the Native Sons raffle pillows for next year. I hope I don’t put them somewhere where I can’t find them!
Mosaic Block
We also worked a little bit with SIL’s new Accuquilt Go Baby cutter. She had some parallelograms she had cut and we wanted to try the Jinny Beyer Perfect Piecer. In looking for a comprehensive video on using the Perfect Piecer, we found a video with an interesting block called Mosaic (I kind of doubt that is the real name, but I haven’t looked it up and I could be wrong) using parallelograms. She cut and intended to sew, but she was busy picking out greens for a green quilt, so I sewed. I am now an Accuquilt Go convert. Those patches lined up perfectly and there was only one small point matching problem.
In Lancaster County, we had bought fabric for a shirt for my BIL, so we worked on that, too. I was her assistant on that project since I am not much of a garment maker. I like it when I get to sew on my work-vacations.
Capital Quilts
SIL saw the above quilt, which is a 9 patch alternated with a snowball block. You can buy the pattern or take the class at Capital Quilts.
Sisto's Star Table Runner
Sisto’s had a couple of nice quilts available for us to view as well. This looks paper pieced, but it could also be done, I think, with Y seams (at which you all will be experts after you work on the hexagons.
Tilted 9 Patch
If you don’t mind sewing on the bias, this looks like you could make regular 9 patches and then trim them to be tilted.
Link to the 30's
This quilt is from the book, Link to the 30’s, which we saw hanging in Sisto’s Janome room. You can probably buy the book by calling Sisto’s. It is a book, along with the previous volume, that I have been thinking of buying. It is a project book, but the quilts aren’t all ‘quick & easy’. I thought it was done very well and I liked the way the blocks were not chopped off.
Link to the 30's - detail
I wasn’t able to quickly discern the block so I took the detail above. I would have to look at the quilt closer to see the block and I simply wasn’t tall enough.
In case you are wondering about the conference I attended, it was great. it was a lot of work in terms of listening and understanding and bringing information back to my workplace. Not interesting in terms of quiltmaking, though.
A very kind person gave us tickets to the Maker Faire. It is something that I have heard lots of good things about, but never visited. Friend Julie loves it. Maureen and Amy from the Creative Mom podcast also rave about it. We finally got a chance to go and I have to say that the best thing about it was being inspired. I saw lots of this and that which had a nice line or good texture or something else that struck my imagination. It made it worth it to give up a day of sewing for that inspiration.
One of the things I really liked and did not photograph was the Steampunk costumes and fantastical vehicles. The ingenuity and creativity was amazing and oozing all over the place.
Back of Coat
I don’t know this woman. I have no idea if she knew I was photographing the back of her coat. I really liked the back of her coat. It looked very tailored, yet easy to wear.
Embroidered Buttons
I have an embroidery module on my sewing machine. Lately I keep hearing about or needing to deal with buttons. This display gave me the idea of making my own buttons from embroidered designs I can do using my embroidery module. Cool, eh?
Bathroom Quilt Idea
Every year for the past few years, I have talked about the quilt I want to make and put in one or both of my bathrooms. I saw this display and it is the same idea. I probably would make mine 4×5 rather than 3 x 12 or whatever it was. I like the idea of slipping things in and taking them out.
FabMo.org Dresden Plate
I don’t know anything about the above Dresden Plate,but the fact that it is in the FabMo booth makes me think the maker used FabMo fabrics. Isn’t it GREAT?
Inspiration Foot
In a sea of black, denim and asphalt was this kid wearing red Chuck Taylors. I couldn’t stop looking at this foot dangling off of the dad who held him for the entire 20 minutes of the Mentos/Coke Zero show. He didn’t wiggle or talk really, his dad didn’t complain about holding him and the whole time his foot dangled down waiting for me to photograph it. The socks are an added bonus. This is definitely a photo I want to draw.
During the drive to Long Beach, one of our stops was in Paso Robles, which has 3 (!!!!) quilt shops. We tried to find the shop and initially failed. We were starving so we went to lunch and then tried again to find Birch Fabrics, which has the online store name of FabricWorm. Due to the success of the business, the owner, Cynthia, has had to move three times in the past few months. We were about to give up finding her brick and mortar shop and move on. I spotted the address on a building, but not the ‘unit’ number. TFQ was ready to give up, so I said I would just walk around the corner and see if I could see it when I saw the sign. The experience was totally worth the hunt.
Birch Fabrics
Cynthia Mann is the owner of Fabric Worm/Birch Fabrics and she is the nicest, most welcoming person I have met in a long time. She spent tons of time with us, showed us everything, talked to us about our trip and her fabrics and upcoming fabrics and more topics than I can remember.
I never thought about seriously reviewing shops and creating categories within the review on which I could rate shops, but if I did, for Birch Fabrics, they would be:
Scale: (worst) 1-5 (best)
Staff Friendliness: 5
Space: 5
Fabric Selection: 5
Customer Service: 10
This wasn’t just a walk in and select some bolts, cut and leave kind of shop. We spent about an hour talking with Cynthia and her staff. She not only has the brick and mortar shop and the online store, but also has a line of organic fabrics which she is distributing. I like the way she has built her business and grown it organically.
I mentioned, here, a fabric pack in which I was interested about a month or so ago. I actually was able to see it at the shop and swap out certain fabrics I knew I already had. One of the issues with customer service, generally, I have is that people aren’t flexible. Birch Fabrics has priced their fabrics in such a way that customers can swap out fabrics from their fabric packs if one or two don’t suit their needs. Cynthia wants happy customers. We are happy customers.
Birch Fabrics Display Window
This turquoise sewing machine and bolt of fabric (defective, so they refused to sell me any, which I thought showed good ethics!) are in the front window inviting people into the shop.
Birch Fabrics Back Towards the Storeroom
They have a couple of interesting displays in the front of the shop, but the rest is fabric storage. Cynthia has the same kind of encyclopedic knowledge of fabric lines and designers that TFQ does, so they talked nonstop the whole time. I was looking at everything, entranced by the visuals.
Birch Fabrics Back + Storeroom
The space is awesome! If I could have any kind of space I wanted, Birch Fabrics space would be transported to a spot near my house and the shop would be my workspace. The space is light and airy, bright and clean. There is plenty of horizontal space for laying out and gathering fabrics. They don’t have a lot of display quilts and projects, which keeps the visual clutter to a minimum.
Cynthia showed us her storeroom on one visit and I saw a lot of packages destined for international locations. We had a big discussion about fabric choices and offerings. TFQ thinks that many shops are missing a whole population segment by not offering more bright and modern fabrics. Cynthia has a lock on that market right now. (BTW, I tried to get TFQ to write a guest post about this and many other topics, but she politely declined)All of their fabric are modern and bright. They put interesting packs together and move the fabric through their shop.
Birch Fabrics Back Towards Railroad Ave
Upstairs, the staff have the space for classes and are starting to have sewing classes for the local population. If the shop were near my house, I would be sewing there frequently.
Birch Fabrics Front Towards Railroad Ave
There are plenty of cutting tables and one of Cynthia’s staff, Arlene, cut fabrics for us and for orders the whole time we were there. She is obviously integral to both the physical and online businesses. Another thing I liked is that Birch staff are fast and accurate fabric cutters.
Cherry Red/Pink Fabric Group
Like the group I found tempting a month ago, the above group was also tempting. One thing I liked is that Birch staff puts together groups of fabrics by different designers that go really well together and will make interesting projects. In the group above, the scale and designs of the fabric are different enough to distinguish the fabrics from each other while maintaining interest in the potential project. I was filled with inspiration being in the shop.
Fabricworm/Birch Fabrics
1244 Pine Street, Ste. D
Paso Robles, Ca 93446
corner of 13th and Railroad
805-239-8888
fax: 805-239-8807 fabricworm [at] gmail [dot] com
If you are anywhere near this excellent shop, I would recommend a detour to stop by.
It was hard to get to the Great American Quilt Factory. It is in Denver, but pretty far away from downtown. Unlike my last trip, I didn’t have a car or a navigator. Thus, I didn’t think I would make it out there on this trip.
On a whim, I asked a librarian who used to live in Denver about transportation. He and his wife had driven to Denver. We mapped out a plan for getting there on public transportation and I was set to go, but not convinced that I could make it out and back in time for my flight. Later that day I received an email from my librarian friend’s wife and she wanted to go to GAQF! Score! Wednesday, before I left, we drove out there and had a blast.
GAQF Visit #2 Fabric
Above are the dots I bought! I can’t really say fabrics, because they are almost all dots! The food fabrics are for my mom‘s quilt. The black and white large dots are for a bag and everything else is on spec. The dots in the upper left hand corner are really nice Ellen Medlock dots. I didn’t think I had ever heard of her before, but when I looked at her site I think that Kathy from Finishing Lines mentioned Medlock’s bag patterns to me.
I saw two books that spurred my imagination and my recent scary Christmas mania. One was Christmas with Possibilities. I liked some of the motifs. One was especially appealing: a star with a spiral inside. The other book was called More Joy to the World, which had a really nice Noel pillow pattern. I didn’t buy either as they were mostly pattern books and I would rather get them out of the library or used. Sadly, they are not available at the library and used the books are about $13. We’ll see.
GAQF: Patterns and Notions
Flesh colored Aurifil had been on my mind since TFQ mentioned it to me after she used it for one of her projects. I also found that I needed some white thread. I saw them at the shop, so I picked them up.
The Lazy Girl pattern was an impulse buy. It might make a good gift for my Grama. Being really poor at reading patterns, I didn’t look at the materials list. I always assume that, since I mostly make quilts, I have everything on hand. That isn’t the case with this pattern. I need a bottom and some fusible batting. When I saw that it scared me because of the Amy Butler experience from last November. I put the additional supplies on the list to buy.
One of the best parts was that Beth (yes, another Beth in my life!), who does embroidery and is interested in quilting, but hasn’t taken a class or ever made a quilt, left with three patterns! One was for a flannel quilt using a panel. The two others were for Christmas decorations. One was for wool ornaments and one was for an arty wool Christmas tree.
New Beth and I plan to get together so I can look at 60 year old quilt that has some damage.
