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

I found this today and thought “Cool, a quilt tour in the gardens.” Well, Quilt Garden Tour to Attract Visitors isn’t quite a quilt show in gardens like I was thinking. It is actually gardens laid out in quilt patterns. The concept was born out of the Amish quilt heritage in the area and the love of gardens.

The tour will be held in Elkhart County, Indiana next year. I have family near there and I hope to make it over to see if you can really see the quilt patterns in the gardens. It is amazing how quilting seems to be popping up everywhere these days. From art gallery shows to barns in the countryside you can find something quilt related almost anywhere you go.

href=”http://www.econogics.com/busys/wnquilt.htm”>quilted panels for the windows that you put up once the sun is no longer beaming through the windows. They have backed them in unobtrusive, plain fabrics so that the neighbors won’t complain but you can put whatever design you want on the front.

Now that Labor Day is over that means winter is just around the corner which means it is time to get the house winterized and what a great way to do it by making quilted insulated window coverings. I already cover my daughter’s bedroom windows with colorful fleece. Our bedrooms are on the north side of the house and her room seems to always be the coldest followed by mine. I may just have to piece together a few of these with her favorite fabrics I haven’t done anything with yet. I also have batting that is used for potholders that would probably keep the heat in the house better. It would also be a great way to use up those odds and ends or test blocks especially if you are not concerned about the design.

quilting, quilts, gardening, Amish

If you live in Georgia or plan to visit check this calendar for a quilt challenge tour presented by the Georgia Quilt Council. Members were challenged to come up with a modern crazy quilt to tour the state as a collection with the title “Crazy Is As Crazy Does:Crazy Quilts for Crazy Times“.

If you can’t make it to one of the stops on the tour, you can sit back with a cup of tea in front of your computer for your very own personal online tour.

To the right is a crazy quilt block I’ve started which will probably end up in a purse.

quilting, crazy quilting, quilts, Georgia Quilt Council

There is a quaint way to travel and enjoy the Appalachian countryside - just drive along the Appalachian Quilt Trail. The project of Tennessee was set up as a way to get people visit different parts of the state. The AQT website states:

The Appalachian Quilt Trails are a great way to experience the variety of rural life in one of the country’s most scenic areas. Along the way, stop as often or as little as you like. It’s easy to spot the locations along the trail: just look for the 8 x 8 painted wooden quilt squares that mark great places to enjoy the byways of Tennessee.

And you won’t have to stop with Tennessee. This knoxnews.com story reports that Kentucky and North Carolina is starting such trails as well. Kentucky Quilt Trail info

quilting, quilt trails, quilts, Appalachian Quilt Trail

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

I was surfing through the Internet last night and I happened upon an article about a quilt show in Maine. I was thinking what a nice place Maine would be to attend a nice little quilt show put on by the statewide guild. Then I read the guild, Pine Tree Quilters Guild Inc, has over 2000 members. Yes, that is 3 zeros behind that 2. And, not only that but they have chapters (72 of them) throughout the state. Wow!

I’m guessing that if you’re a quilter and you live in Maine you probably belong to this group. I’ve been a member of statewide guilds before but the numbers were never that large. I’m really impressed and a little jealous. Some may say it’s because Maine has such long winters and they get more quilting done than those of us out enjoying the long, hot summer days by the pool with the kids.

I’ve never been to Maine but it’s on my list to go see and now I think I may have to move it a little closer to the top. They just had their 30th annual quilt show with workshops. I’m going to put that on my calendar for next year but just for fun. If I don’t get my daughter to Disney World I may never see another quilt shop again.

Question of the day: Hey, does anyone know if Stephen King is a member? I bet he would make some interesting quilts!

quilt show, quilting, quilt guild

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

The cool thing about going to small, local quilt shows are the wonderful quilts that seemingly ordinary people can make. You know, the ones that don’t either make it to the big shows or don’t want to make the big quilt shows. These are people who love what they do and what a special thing it is when they share it with the rest of the world and let us have a peek. It is also a great way to get inspired.

A couple of the quilts that stood out to me were quite different. One was a millenium quilt that Laurie K. made with 2000 different fabrics she collected from the Internet. One of the neat things she did was take the letters that came with some of the fabric, photo copied them and printed them on fabric which ended up pieced to make the back of the quilt. See the photos of the traditional front and creative back.

The other quilt caught my eye for the design and color selections as well as the technique. It is maded using the frayed edge applique method. Once I read the story
of the quilt I was even more impressed. Rebecca H. was only 10 years old when she created this awesome gem.

There was a vendor marketplace. One of the vendors was a local quilt store which gave out discount coupons to use at their store. Of course, I had to stop by the store on the way home. I will give you more info on them tomorrow.

I also got to see the Ground Zero quilt up close. It was eerie to see the faces of those who lost their live on that tragic September 11 day. One thing is for sure, quilters can make powerful statements with their art. All in all it was a very good day. The Windmill City festival was also going on in town so we rode a few rides, ate a funnel cake and drank a fresh lemonade. Definitely a great family weekend.

quilting, quilt show, quilts