Stop the car, I want to go to the quilt show

When I first opened The Quilters Quarters I often wrote articles on quilting for our local newspaper, sometimes including a free quilt block pattern. I recently came across some old files and thought I would share some of these articles with you from time to time.

"Stop the car, I want to go to the quilt show" was published on September 10, 1999.

When I was a child, my family drove on vacations and my brother, who just loved fireworks, would watch for road signs and yell, "Stop Daddy, fireworks for sale, stop". It became a family joke. We still yell at him when we see a fireworks stand.

Today, my family could laugh about my thoughts of, "Stop, a quilt show, stop". I want to go to every quilt show possible. Quilters and non-quilters flock to quilt shows for a wide variety of reasons.

The primary reason, I believe, is that everyone relates to quilts. Someone in almost every family quilted in past years, either a grandmother, mother, or beloved aunt or friend. A quilt represents a slower, peaceful time in our lives; a warm cozy hug in which to wrap ourselves.
They also provide a visual feast: the soft, faded colors of antique quilts draw us back to cool evenings at grandma's house where the heat was not good, but we slept snug-as-a-bug under layers of handmade warmth.

The quilts of our "polyester era" provide us with a chuckle much like viewing an Austin Powers movie...did we really wear that stuff? And those colors? Yikes!

The newer quilts made from the exciting new colors and patterns are so lovely we can get lost in them. The quilters who visit quilt shows get caught up in various thought patterns.

We analyze each one for beauty, form, technical accuracy, and design. We mentally file away those that we would like to make for ourselvse and those we are certain we could never make.

The non-quilter sees a painting where the artist used fabric as a medium and often wonders, "how did they do that?". But the quilter knows.

The quilt show is both alive with activity and people, but at the same time often as hushed as a church or library. The quilts inspiring reflection and admiration also muffle sounds as they hang in rows for the pleasure of the viewers.

Yes, a quilt show is a delight, but a quilt show is also the final product of a tremendous amount of planning, thought, hard work, and dedication from a large number of volunteer workers. As you leave the next quilt show, please take a minute to thank the volunteers and the quilters, let them know how much you have enjoyed the opportunity to relax in their efforts. And if asked, take some time to volunteer the next time someone is organizing a quilt show. It really is quite an experience.


When I first wrote this 10 years ago, I did not think about the fact that each of us has an opportunity to go to a quilt show any day of the week. All we need do is visit our local quilt shop, they are filled to capacity with new and exciting quilts to view, enjoy and yes, make. You can visit many quilt shows without ever leaving your home, just go on-line and look at the displays on the quilt shop websites. I can't think of a better way to give myself some "visual candy" and looking beautiful quilts.

Truth about friends and quilt shop owners!

Where does the time go? I thought I was doing ok with keeping up with the blog and everything else in the world (that is my responsibility isn't it?) and I see I have not written anything for quite some time.

Well, I have been working on getting lots of new stuff done in the shop and preparing for our bus trip. This one is going to be such a good time. 12 great shops are included and I just wish I could go along because it is fun to see my friends who own those shops also, but alas someone has to stay here to keep things happening as each bus arrives. Oh well, those of you who are going will just have to tell me all about them. There are only a few seats left, so make your decisions soon.

Speaking of friends, especially friends who are shop owners. About a year ago some of us got together and decided to do a round robin quilt for each other and ourselves. When mine was returned I think everyone was a bit jealous because it is so beautiful. If you have never done a round robin, it is fun. In a normal round robin, each participant makes a center block for themself and send it off to have a border added at each stop along the way. This is great fun as each month you work on someone else's quilt and have no idea what is happening to yours at the same time. It is also a bit scary for some people because you really never know what will come home to you. As I said, I was very pleased with mine.

Friends All Around

And since I now owned such a darling quilt, I wanted to share it with you. And we have decided to offer a personal round robin quilt to you. This will be as a block of the month, but each month you will receive the 'parts' for a border or 'round' on your quilt. One major advantage to this method is that you will know what is happening to your quilt and you know you can count on the workmanship of each round.

Close up of a corner

The center is an embroidered block from Cathy Parker who does just the most darling scenes involving quilters. I made a couple of small changes on mine. Hers is titled "the quilt guild" and I changed the title to the name of our 'shop owner" group. I squared it to 12 1/2" and removed one of the 'girls' (Cathy has 12 and there are only 11 members of our group) and I added their names on the chairs. I also removed the coffee cups and added wine glasses.

Center Block

When you do this block of the month, you can personalize it as you choose. Maybe this will be your friends, or family? Perhaps co-workers?

We will be using all 1930's reproduction fabrics, but they may vary from the ones in the original quilt as you know fabrics come and go at the whim of the manufacturers. We will also include all the embroidery floss necessary for your quilt. This one is just so much fun.

You may sign up on the site and begin your quilt in December. Maybe I will even tell you some secrets about the other shop owners with your borders.....maybe.

Enjoy The Process

I think it is a given that you would understand that I love to quilt. Right? Well, I do. I have quilted for over 35 years.

I love every part of the process of quilting. As a matter of fact, I think we should enjoy the process, regardless of where we are in the process.

Have you had days where you just did not want to sew? Be truthful, we all have. We just cannot make ourselves sit down in front of a machine. BUT, we still want to quilt. Ok, we are ready to enjoy another part of the process.....

Maybe this is the day that you need to just go fabric shopping. Maybe you are not ready to actually pick out fabric for a new project, but you can go and look at fabric; touch it; feel it; enjoy the inspiration of it. Yeah, right, we know you will end of buying some, but so what. If this is the part of the process you want to enjoy today, then go for it.

There are days when you are in the mood to just cut up fabric. Do it! Grab your rotary cutter and whack away. How great would it be on the days that you are just wanting to sew that you have 2 or 3 quilts all cut out and waiting? See what I mean about enjoying the process?

Somedays you are tired from work or whatever and you just want to put your feet up and relax, but the quilting genie is calling from your sewing room. You have permission to "quilt vicariously with your eyes" and just look at quilt magazines or that new book you bought at the shop. Again, give yourself permission to enjoy that part of the process. It is ok, there are no quilt police coming to yank you by the hair and force you to sew.

There are days when I want to do handwork. I love to do hand quilting and hand embroidery, it is relaxing and 'pick up and put down' easy. I can sit in front of the television and enjoy a movie with my husband and still enjoy my process. He keeps saying "why don't you do that on your embroidery machine, it is quicker", but that would negate this part of the process. Hand work.

I have been doing so much of it lately that I have been putting more and more of it in the store.
I added several new blocks of the month that are based on handwork, check them out to see if you enjoy them as much as I do.

There is not right or wrong part of this. It is just part of the process. Relax and enjoy yourself, life is too short to stress.

If this is not where you are in the process, try to decide what it is you really want to do today and then just go do it. Enjoy every minute of your hobby and the process to get to the finished quilt. Ouch, did I say finished? Is there some rule that says I have to actually finish it? If so, I had better run hide from the quilt police......

Exciting American Patchwork & Quilting Moment

Every once in a while you have something happen that just makes you feel really good. This week I had one of those moments.

I received my advance copy of the American Patchwork & Quilting Calendar for 2010. Now I knew this was coming, obviously, but it was still exciting to see.

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Store_id=408&Page_id=23&Item_id=13310

What you ask? My quilt "Tea with Martha and Betsy" is featured on the calendar for the month of July, 2010. They did change the name to "Flying Stars" which is fine with me. A rose by anyother name is still a rose.....as Mr. Shakespeare said.

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=59526171046135952&Store_id=408&page_id=23&Item_ID=9043

We all love to have someone else like our work, we are only human after all. One of the reasons we join guilds and enter our quilts in shows is so that others will go "ooohhh, ahhh" over them. Your quilt shop owners are no different, we want people to like our creations also.

This simple quilt was fun to create, fun to make and now fun to see in print. Thank you American Patchwork & Quilting for giving us your vote of confidence.

If you are interested in ordering your calendar now, you may pre-order and we will ship it just as soon as we have them in hand. We also have the kits available on the website. All the other quilts shown in the calendar are gorgeous also and it comes with a full set of patterns so you may make everyone of them. I love that about this calendar.

I hope you enjoy seeing this and thank you for all your support.

Jerry

"That's it. I am not going any further, learn to live with it."

What a beautiful weekend we just experienced. Sometimes the weather in Kansas is really harsh, but Spring is just gorgeous. I always wonder how the women in covered wagons managed to withstand the elements of Kansas. I just cannot imagine seeing so much wide open land with the heat and wind with cool water and air conditioning. There were brave women for certain. To think they walked most of the way West beside the wagons, wearing long dresses with petticoats and no water except what was stored in old barrels on the side of the wagon. Yuk! Up at dawn, feed the family, move on and then stop for the evening to build a fire and start the feeding routine all over again.

I have often wondered what was in their minds when they looked out the wagon opening one day and said, "WOW, THIS is it. This is just paradise and I want to spend the rest of my life right in the same spot". Or did they wake up one morning and say, "That's it. I am not going any further, learn to live with it." Either way, I am glad as this is beautiful land.

With all that in mind, I created a new Block Of The Month. This BOM will tell the story of 12 women who moved West with their military husbands. These Frontier Army Wives helped settle the area and create a civilization where there was none. It will be a mystery series, just as they lived a mystery: never knowing what each day would bring.

Each month the participants will receive their pattern, fabric for the block and access to a DVD/video showing the piecing of that block. There will also be a history of each of these wonderful women.

Since we live in Leavenworth, we will introduce you to 12 women who helped settle Fort Leavenworth. Fort Leavenworth is the oldest continuously operating military post west of the Missouri River.

The first lady we will profile is Harriet Lovejoy Leavenworth, wife of Colonel Henry Leavenworth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4YhPYh6doc

To market, to market, to market

I just returned from Quilt Market and it was so fun! This Spring’s market was held in Pittsburgh where we had one day of really gorgeous weather and a couple of not so gorgeous.

However, since we were inside the convention center where it was simply raining beautiful quilt ideas, we did not care what the weather did.

The market held a lot of beautiful and exciting new fabric lines (yes, we ordered most of them) and just tons of new patterns and ideas. There were bags everywhere. Got to spend a few minutes with Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs and it was good to see her again. Joan always has such cute things.

Eleanor Burns also had new things….of course when El does NOT have something new we know the quilt world is in a bind. She is so full of ideas it makes your head spin.

Terry Atkinson’s new book is all about bags. Terry and her whole family are always such a nice people to spend time with, they really are fun.

As always, I ran around with my friend Debby Luttrell from Texas and also spent a lot of time with Mary Wilberg from Quilting Treasures in Minnesota and Kathy Runyan from Country Expressions in Missouri. Girl friends are so great; don’t’ you just love time with yours? We all ate way too much and laughed too much. We had a wonderful time on a Riverboat at the Moda customer appreciation party, laughin’ on the river. Kathy’s daughter, Jen, is the designer of Tula Pink from Moda and we enjoyed getting to know her. It is nice to see so many new, younger women involved in our industry.

I will be reporting on individual new things for a couple of days, there is just way too much to tell all at once.
Here are a couple of good photos from market though.

Moving a Quilt Shop

How do you move a quilt shop?
As many of you know, we moved the quilt shop at the end of February. We have had many questions about the move and so I thought I would share some thoughts and pictures of the adventure.
A quick history of The Quilters Quarters and her moves.

1996: 402 S. 5th St: 600 sq ft and 300 bolts of fabric.

1997: 408 S. 5th St: 1200 sq ft and closer to 900 bolts of fabric. Added a Gammill and quilting services. Added a website. Double in size = good thing!

1999: 219 Delaware: 1900 sq ft and about 1800 bolts of fabric. Double the fabric = good thing!

2000: Expanded 219 Delaware to 3000 sq ft and about 2100 bolts of fabric. Larger in size = good thing.

2004: 205 – 207 Delaware: 3700 sq ft and about 2500 bolts of fabric. Newly renovated space with higher ceilings and more windows and more light. Double the exposure = good thing.

2006: Expanded to include 203 Delaware: 4700 sq ft and about 4000 bolts of fabric. Doubled the scope of the web site and services. Selected as American Patchwork and Quilting Top Shop. Double the staff and double the business = good thing.

2009: Moved again to 200 S. 5th St: Corner of 5th and Delaware: Is this a complete circle? Just about the same square footage and over 5000 bolts of fabric, added a Statler Stitcher. Doubled the charm, doubled the number of windows, doubled the number of lights, doubled the number of kits and blocks of the month on-line, doubled the number of special events = A very good thing.

With each move and/or expansion between 1996 and 2000, the staff all pitched in and moved it all. When we moved again in 2004 the staff loaded all the fabric on little red wagons and walked it down the street to the new location, after all, it was only half a block away.

How much work could that be? Right? I only wish I had pictures of that one to show you.

With the latest/LAST move, I did get some photos before and after the move. The staff worked very hard for two days to prepare for the movers to arrive and then the professional movers picked it all up and put it in the new space. Then the world’s most wonderful quilt shop staff made it beautiful! This wonderful staff has, however, threatened my life if I ever move the shop again.

We are all happy with the new digs (but of course keep moving things around to make them better) and we have heard nothing but rave reviews from our local customers and the guests on the May Day Bus Tour last weekend. We hope you enjoy the pictures.