Vertical Quilting Curve

Tucked away in the corner of a small shopping center is the Illinois quilt shop in the current issue of Quilt Sampler. The Quilt Merchant looks plain and simple but once inside the quilts displayed on the walls are anything but plain and simple.

The Quilt Merchant specializes in reproduction fabrics especially those of the Civil War era. The staff working the day I stopped in said they did not start out to be so specialized but the demand for the fabrics became prevalent. Before walking into this shop I would not have thought I would really like this style of quilts but then again I haven’t met many quilts I dislike. I was impressed by the colors and styles especially the appliqué quilts like the Vintage Charm quilt which is available as a kit in the store or on their website. Personally I am not a kit person. My favorite part of quilting is selecting fabrics. Another quilt I liked was From the Heart which they had the pattern for. It is a sampler quilt with an appliqué medallion center.

Although there was plenty of patterns I could have purchased I decided to end my trip with fabric instead. Who can’t use more items in their fabric stash? Plus, I picked up some weavers cloth to use for my needle punch projects. They also carried the fusible interfacing that is used to back any fabric you want to do needle punch on, so, I picked up a yard of that as well. The clerk told me it is useful to back regular 100% cotton or clothing items.

Located in Winfield, IL it is a quaint shop to stop in and pick up a little piece of history to add to that stash.

And, if you’re out making a day of shop stopping, check out these others I have been to.

quilting, quilts, quilt shop, Winfield Illinois, Civil War quilts, reproduction fabrics

This is the coolest craft fair you will ever go to. Some of the items you find here will not appear at the local church function around Christmas time but there are many hip versions of the very same things you will find at said church craft fair. I saw tons of bags that ranged from urban chic to vegan safe. There was an array of children’s clothing especially cute, cute onesies and adorable bibs. If you were looking for a one of a kind T-shirt for yourself or hard to find college student this was the place to be. You could also find independent printers of stationery, note cards and journals.

Here is a picture of just some of the many business cards I picked up. I went down with a friend and both she and I have the same affliction. It’s the “oh, I can make that” syndrome. I know I inherited it from my mother who took me to craft shows when I was a kid. We were definitely the kind of people that the crafters love/hate. They love it when we say how great their items are then discuss how it was made and then hate us when we turn around and don’t buy anything. We feel really bad that we don’t buy anything but I hope they know we are just like them and love to make stuff.

Luckily for us DIYers there were some booths that had the supplies for making stuff. I picked up 2 iron-on transfer packs from Sublime Stitching and some fat quarters from Quiltogy the urban quilters quilt store who had a booth. I got some great Amy Butler plus one other I can’t remember the designer of. See the photo. No, I don’t have a project in mind but I will…someday.

The Renegade Craft Fair only happens twice and year. Once in the summer in New York and once in Chicago. Check out the website for updates on next years dates. Also, if you live near Chicago or are coming to town they opened up a Renegade Handmade store selling many of the items by the artists who partake in the fair.

fabric, quilt shop, Chicago, Renegade Craft Fair, Quiltology, Amy Butler, Sublime Stitching, craft show

After getting inspired at the quilt show last weekend I decided I needed to stop by a quilt store. It was a great day for a drive especially since it was such a beautiful weekend here in the Chicago area. I found my way to Windmill City Quilts in the quaint town of Geneva, IL. It is a great town to window shop and enjoy a gelato at Graham’s while walking along the beautiful tree-lined streets.

It is a relocated quilt store from Batavia that has a new owner. It just opened in Geneva this summer. It already has a nice fabric selection with a large section of homespuns. They also carry batiks (you may have noticed is one of my favorites), Amy Butler, and cute theme fabrics.

They also like to put stuff on sale. This past weekend while I was there they had books and notions 40% off. I picked up a mechanical pencil for marking quilts with. I also picked up a black fabric with kind of a batik-like look that I may try putting with my grandmother’s flower garden blocks. I would share a picture but the black doesn’t show up in photos too well.

The shop is a nice complement to the historic feel of the town. If you are in the area there are occasionally nice events going on to make it a nice road trip. This weekend Sept 14 - 16, 2007 is the Festival of Wine. The town also has a Christmas Walk and Home Tour in December.

quilting, quilts, quilt shop, Geneva Illinois

While traveling to Indiana this weekend I stopped by one of my favorite quaint shops. Besides all the great fabric and ideas inside, one of the most unique things about this shop is that it is an old church. Yes, this photo is the outside of Quilters Harvest. Doesn’t it look peaceful and inviting.

Once you step inside you know you have entered a special retreat for fabric lovers. They carry a broad assortment of different styles of fabric. They have flannels, reproduction fabrics, Christmas, batiks, Halloween, traditional and contempory prints. You will also find home dec fabrics in hip prints from Amy Butler and Michael Miller. I will show you a peek at the Michael Miller stuff I’m just loving tomorrow.

Also, as you can see in the last photo they have great samples of projects with the fabric they carry as well as class samples hung on the high walls of the former church. It is very hard to not walk out of there with something. I ended up with a fat quarter of a green batik, a pattern and a half yard piece of the Michael Miller home dec fabric.

quilting, quilt shop, quilts

After attending the Batavia Quilt and Textile Show, I stopped by the local quilt shop, Prairie Shop Quilts. This shop is full of gorgeous fabrics and they have something for everyone. Unfortunately I’m one of those people who loves almost everything because I can see projects in almost every piece of fabric.

The selection covered feedsack/thirties print fabric, Asian influenced prints, plenty of novelty prints and one of my favorites - batiks. As you can see I chose 5 fat quarters of the gorgeous batik fabric to add to my collection for doing the grandmother’s flower garden.

A couple of more things I enjoyed about this shop was the long list of classes that are offered and the long arm machine rental. A few classes that caught my eye were Flower Pounding (using real flowers to color your fabric), Hand Piecing - Mariner’s Compass (one of my favorite patterns), and Dog Gone Fun - Needle Felt Dogs (the sample, which was very tiny, was the cutest darn thing). The long arm machine rental is very intriguing. I haven’t heard of a shop doing this although I haven’t really investigated the availability. You can get a look at the machine on the store’s website tour.

If you are in the area I would recommend stopping by. You are sure to find something you are looking for or at least something that is looking for you.

quilting, quilt shop, quilts, batiks, quilt classes

I love to travel and look for quilt shops I haven’t been to yet. This week while on vacation my family took a road trip to Rockford, Illinois which isn’t quite an hour to get to from my town, a suburb of Chicago. I visited 2 quilt stores but will share with you about the second one later.

Quilter’s Haven sits in the lower level of a retail building that looks more cottage than office. The address is 4616 E. State St. and is fairly easy to get to off of I-90 but I almost didn’t make it to the store because the entrance is in the back and the sign out front looked worn as if no-one occuppied the building. Luckily, we got out of the car and saw a sign that the quilt store downstairs was indeed still open. And I am so glad they were.

They were a very cute, cozy store with oodles of stuff I love. One of the best was their selection of batik fabric which fortunately for me meant there were a few discounted bolts in the sale section at the back of the store. Of course, I also bought some regular priced fabric. The other extensive collections of fabric they had were Asian fabrics and flannels. I started to get a little nervous that I might not be able to get out of there with any money to my name so I got my chosen fabrics cut and paid for and bravely left. I’m glad they’re not very far away. That made leaving easier, too.

If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop. You can look them up in the Quilter’s Travel Companion book that you should never leave on a vacation without because you will never know what treasures are on your journey.

Here is a photo of the fabrics I found. The only one that is not a batik is the green on bottom which is from the Earth, Wind & Fire collection from Maywood Studio.

quilting, quilt store, batik, quilts, fabric, Quilter’s Haven