Road Trip

We recently went to the Southwest to visit family, and of course that required visits to a few quilt shops! I like to visit quilt shops when I travel because I always find something new. All these shops have websites, so I’m embedding links to allow you to visit them, too.

First stop was Thread Bear in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Las Vegas is a nice little town northeast of Albuquerque.  It has interesting architecture for those of us who like to see fun buildings of different eras. We stayed in the oldest hotel in town, on the town square. It was built in the late 1800s.

fabric, thread bear, las vegas NM

Fabric from Thread Bear in Las Vegas, NM

But about the quilt shop: Thread Bear had lots of fun fabric from which to choose!  I limited myself (with some effort) to the two pieces above.

Next was Loveland, Colorado, where Stitches has opened since my last visit to the town. They had lots of lovely modern fabrics, so I had to have a few fat quarters. One of the pinks and the yellow are the same pattern as the purple fabric I got at Thread Bear–that’s always fun 🙂

Fabric from Stitches in Loveland, Colorado

After Loveland, we went on to Albuquerque, NM, which has several quilt shops.  I limited myself to purchases at two of them.  Especially notable, however, was Hip Stitch.  They had so much beautiful fabric (including what looked like the full line of Grunge) that I was in there a looong time (just ask my husband!) trying to limit my selection.  Then when I got to checkout, the clerk helpfully pointed out that they stock postal service flat rate boxes, so I could buy more than I could carry and have it mailed to me!  Oh my, what marketing!  So if you own a quilt shop, take note!  Anyway, here are my fabrics from Hip Stitch (I resisted the urge to buy more and have it shipped):

Hip Stitch albuquerque, nm

Fabric from Hip Stitch in Albuquerque. The red has a silver metallic print that I couldn’t resist.

Next is Albuquerque was Stitchology, where I selected several fat quarters from their nice variety.  They also had lots of lovely fabric for clothing construction, but I stuck to my priorities and did not get drawn back into that!

fabric, stitchology, albuquerque

Fat quarters from Stitchology in Albuquerque

I was able (with a little effort) to fit all my finds into my suitcase.  I do have a project planned for each of these fabrics!  I’m off to the studio now…hope you have a good week!

Nothing Is Wasted

We recently spent far too many hours in the Greenville-Spartanburg (South Carolina) airport, but that situation lead to the discovery of this artwork in one of the terminals.

metal "art quilt" sculpture by Evelyn Rosenberg

South Carolina Quilt, by Evelyn Rosenberg 

Evelyn RosenbergThis is a metal “quilt” by artist Evelyn Rosenberg.  She has done other metal works that look like fiber art, and you can see pictures of a number of them by clicking on her name or here to link to her website.  (The website has better pictures than mine.)

As you can see, this work consists of a number of blocks making up 3 panels.  I’ve made pictures of each individual panel, shown below.

Left panel

Center panel

Right panel

Here are a couple of the individual blocks, showing a little more of how the blocks are made and the quilt is sewn together with metal cables.  I really enjoyed seeing this, so if you find yourself in the Greenville-Spartanburg airport, check it out 😉

A New Web Resource and A Few Quilts

At our last modern guild meeting, one of our members told us about PrintablePaper.net, where you can get all kinds of grids to use for drawing quilt designs.  It’s a free resource and has many other options in addition to the grids.  There’s even a printable car bingo.  I know I’ll be using some of these.

As promised, here are a few of the quilts our retreat group made for Ronald McDonald house.  Sorry they aren’t very square.  Next time I’ll do better standing straight-on to the quilt when I take the pictures!  Each is approximately 40″ square.

Have a good week!

Retreat! Need I say more?

Here are some pictures of projects from our last retreat. A good time was had by all!

Nothing says “retreat” like somebody working all day at the design wall 🙂

Don’t know what the pattern was, but I love the way the flowers blend with the background!

Rena was given a circle cutter at the last retreat, and she went wild!

A T-shirt Quilt for a family member

This wedding ring quilt was made to incorporate the fabric napkins used at the wedding!

I think this is one of the Turning Twenty patterns

This Christmas quilt for a grandchild is the Turning Twenty Again pattern

Here is the finished top that started out on the design wall. It was a Moda pattern.

This quilt was huge! Made from a Deb’s Cats and Quilts pattern

This was another really big one made using Deb Tucker‘s rulers.  I enjoy Deb’s tagline: “Tools for the realist, not the idealist”!

A memorial Quilt made using a man’s shirts

Isn’t this beautiful? And it was large–I cropped out a lot of it.

Detail. These pieces were LITTLE!

Next week I’ll have pictures of some of our quilts for Ronald McDonald House.

Done, and Done!

Recently I taught Seminole Patchwork at Studio Stitch in Greensboro. The strips were successfully made…seminole patchwork

and one place mat per student assembled, basted, quilted, and ready for binding!seminole patchwork placemat

I particularly liked this one made with Mode Grunge fabric.

AND the Gypsy Wife top is finished.  I am truly done with that project. Off to the quilter it goes.Gypsy wife quilt top

Hope you had a successful September, too!