Quilt Guild Shop Hop

Last weekend we had our first quilt guild shop hop.  We went to six shops (would have been seven but a local art fair meant traffic was crazy and parking not to be found).  I of course forgot to take pictures of us out and about, but I did get some pictures of fabric. :)

Our first stop was Millie P's, where we arrived just ahead of a bus tour.  I really like their fabric selection.  They had some great Alexander Henry prints, and were also the only shop on our trip that had the new Farm Fresh line in, which I've been waiting for the last few months.  I picked up a few Christmas prints there for a couple projects I'd like to work on this fall.

Next up was Fat Quarter Quilting.  I hadn't been to this shop before; probably wouldn't go out of my way to go back.  It was a smaller shop with a variety of fabrics.  They did have a dress sample that caught my eye, but didn't see a pattern for it.

Next was Crafty Planet.  We arrived a few minutes before the shop opened so headed down to the coffee shop.  I got a "Killer Chocolate Almond" soy chai; mmm.  The fabric selection was also delicious.  Thank goodness I don't knit yet as they have a lovely selection of yarn as well.  Picked up a couple of cute matryoshka prints.  Been on my wish list for a while but hadn't been able to find quite what I was looking for. Also picked up a Heather Ross print.

After that we stopped at Treadle Yard Goods.  Oh how I wish I lived closer.  I love this store, and the staff is always so nice and helpful.  They stock apparel fabrics and always have such lovely voiles, linens, corduroy, and flannel.  I picked up the softest organic blue knit here, as well as this print I've been eyeing for a while (slated to be jammies for next summer):

We missed Glad Creations due to the aforementioned art fair, so continued on to Sewtropolis, the other shop on the list that I hadn't visited before.  I will definitely be going back.  They had a great selection of Joel Dewberry's latest line, Heirloom.  My favorite print:

They also had a nice selection of knits and a great selection of patterns.  AND I couldn't pass up this lovely; on the wish list since seeing these cute knot shorts:

Last stop was Eagle Creek Quilt Shop.  I also wish this was closer to home.  The shop is not big, but they have lots of fabric, and they always have some great clothes samples on display.  Super helpful and friendly staff as well.  Their oilcloth / laminate section rivals that at Treadle.  They also had the Children at Play line, which I had been looking out for all day.  I think Treadle had a couple of the boy prints, including the cute paper hat print. I especially love the hopscotch print, and the pinwheels:

I've been busy tracing and cutting out patterns this weekend, so will hopefully have some fun projects to show soon. :)

MN Quilt Show

I was thinking about the Quilt Minnesota shop hop that's going on right now, and realized I forgot to blog about this year's MN Quilt Show, which was held in June.  Oh yeah, I forgot to blog about the 2010 show too...well, let's go with 2011 for now.  I felt like there weren't as many quilts on display this year, not as much variety in the kinds of quilts on display, and it seemed like I wasn't taking as many pictures.  (After a quick glance at my 2010 pics it looks like I took pictures of half as many quilts this year.)  I also noticed that the vendors this year were selling a lot less fabric - more patterns and pre-packaged kits, which was kind of a bummer.

All in all, I'm glad I went and I was glad to support the show.  I'm hoping that they start making it a little more young-mom friendly, but being able to at least bring in the stroller was much nicer than last year's experience of trying to straddle a baby on one hip while carrying purse and camera and trying to take pictures with said baby constantly grabbing at the camera.  I thought this was going to be a happy post, but I guess I'm getting on my soapbox for a bit. It does get to me that this is one of the most kid-unfriendly events I attend - and the attendees are about 99% women!  How do they expect to attract more young women to quilting if it's a huge hassle for young moms to attend?  Lots of us moms tend to take our young kids with us when we go out, and being told that you can't bring in a stroller, or having to hunt down a bathroom that actually has a changing station doesn't really make ya feel welcome.  This year the bathroom did have a changing table; it folded down over the sinks...and should I mention the faucets were too tall to actually allow the table to fold down all the way?  Argh.  Okay, I think I'm done ranting.  How about some pretty pictures?

Here are my favorites from this year's show:

I like the fabrics, quilting, and overall visual effect of this quilt.

Pretty sure it looked the edges of the fabric had actually been burned.

Intricate machine applique; not to mention the quilting.  This quilt also featured some decorative embroidery and embellishments.

I have a soft-spot for Churn Dash blocks.  They evoke a comfy, homey feeling.  I will make my own Churn Dash quilt some day.  Maybe one like the cover quilt from this book, but they're also so pretty on their own... 

  And a close-up of the appliqued center medallion.

Antique quilts on display.

I don't think I will ever make a quilt like this, but I couldn't resist taking several pictures of this one.  The detail on it is amazing.  Check out the two pics below for further proof:

Wow.  I love when you can tell that the quilt has really been a labor of love. (Something I try to remind myself of when I'm feeling behind - it's OK to slow down!)

I think someday I'd also like to experiment with making a (small) quilt like this; making a person that actually looks like a person, and conveys the emotion you intended.

A crazy quilt - also on my someday list.  I think in general I like quilts that you can look at over and over again and always find something new, some fabric or detail that you hadn't noticed before.

Not the best pictures on my part, but I like the colors used in this quilt.  Looked like the blocks were all from the recent Rose of Sharon book. (The book is on my maybe list as I like the Rose of Sharon pattern, but don't know that I would make a whole quilt of these blocks.)

This one?  Definitely a labor of love.  I like this quilt.  I also really like cows.

I like that this quilt is more complex than it looks.  Each hexagon is made up of 6 carefully cut and pieced triangles:

And the same quilt, but different fabrics: 

This picture just does not do this quilt justice.  I've come to the conclusion that I am just not a fan of the snowball block.  This is the only snowball quilt I've ever liked enough to make me think I might change my mind.  Seeing that this picture just doesn't match the effect it had on me at the show makes me wonder if I'd like other snowball quilts more in person.

I like quilts that tell a story; especially applique quilts.  I have this quilt pattern; I don't think I'll ever make this exact quilt, but I'd definitely like to use some of the pattern pieces, and then add some other things, and make it more my own.  It's a king-size quilt.  There were two of these on display at the show; this one and then one in the Glad Creations booth, appliqued by Glad herself, who I think is now around 92, and spends her days appliqueing.  You should check out the rest of Kim McLean's applique patterns.  I want to buy them all, but I'm pretty sure it would be in the realm of decades for me to actually finish them.  I especially like this one, and this one - I love the leafy borders on that last one...maybe it will seem less insane to think about making that quilt once I'm faster at hand applique?

Okay, last quilt.  These two pictures show very different purples; I can't remember now which one was closer to the actual color.  The close-up below of the center shows a little more of the sparkle added to this quilt.

There we go.  All done.  I like each of these for one reason or another, but it feels a little odd to present them here as a group, because I wouldn't say that this set of quilts really defines my overall style.  At the quilt show, you essentially have traditional quilts, with heavy / intricate quilting, and art quilts.  So, that's what I take pictures of.

Retreat!

Just got back Wednesday evening from my first sewing retreat with our quilt guild.  Aside from one little project, it's been a few months since I've sewn anything, so I was really excited to get some things done.

Here's an in-progress peek at a quilt top I finished:

I also made some progress on an overdue gift...waiting to show pics until it's done.

And another completed project - it took up until the very last second of the retreat to finish this bag.

 

So happy with the result; it took hours longer than I thought it would to complete and in spite of forgetting a couple key pieces I managed to get it done (thanks to the local quilt shop and a fabric scrap from a friend).  Thanks again girls for hanging out with me to the very end!  And special thanks to Rebecca, whose clear thinking got me through those darn gussets.

There were so many lovely projects being worked on during the retreat; I'll see if I can get some pics to share.

And of course we fit in some shopping time.  Bought these with the intention of making a few little somethings from this book.  But ran out of time at the retreat so I'll have to make some time to sew at home!

Love this pair.

And then - WOW - stopped at an amazing quilt shop in Brainerd.  Definitely a good thing I don't live closer.  I couldn't resist picking up a couple fat quarters of my favorites from the Sherbet pips line, and a few other lovelies as well.  They had Anna Maria's new line Loulouthi, which just came out a few weeks ago, and they were already out of my favorite prints...sigh.

Check out their selection of modern fabrics...again, wow.  Check out the slide show of shop pics on their home page and you'll see what I mean; tons of beautiful samples - quilts, bags, clothing.  Definitely not to be missed if you're in the area.

A wonderful few days, hanging out with friends, watching chick flicks, and getting lots of sewing done.  Perfect little summer vacation.

Catching Up

Um wow; it's been a month (gulp!) since I blogged.  So, to catch up: lots of time spent away from the gardens - working on projects around the house, spending more time together as a family, and lots of events with friends.  The weeds have lost no time trying to take over, but luckily the vegetables are holding their own.  I was just on a sewing retreat for a few days (more on that in the next post), but before I left I weeded and re-mulched 1 1/2 pepper beds, weeded around the tomatoes and finally got cages around them and all the stems tied up, then added grass clipping mulch over those areas.  Hmm..forgot to take pictures of all that; maybe I can get out there tomorrow to remedy that.

The tomatoes are still doing really well; noticed one tonight with blossom end rot and fingers are crossed that it's the only one.  I forgot to pick the snow peas before I left on Monday. They were in desperate need of picking and I'm undecided on whether I'll pick and shell the peas, or just let them keep maturing and collect the seed.  I also got in a planting of green beans; the seed is a few years old so I'll be happy with whatever comes up.

The morning of the fourth of July was spent picking strawberries; after spending the afternoon with family we started washing, sorting and cutting.  I made "Bottled Strawberries"; essentially just canned strawberries, tried a new recipe for strawberry jam, made a batch of strawberry sauce for freezing, froze a bunch of plain berries, and of course made some fresh strawberry sauce, poured it over ice cream and ate with delight.

 Blueberry season is already upon us; not sure when I can fit in going to the berry farm again, but I'd really like to freeze a bunch as they are my daughter's favorite fruit and I'm quite fond of blueberry pancakes.

We also had a large storm a couple weeks back that resulted in a day of yard cleanup.  Our Cottonwood trees are huge, and it sounds lovely at night when the wind is rustling through the leaves, but every time there's even a hint of a breeze something falls off them.  This storm resulted in chainsaws being needed to cut up the two huge branches that fell in the yard, and one that fell onto the edge of the farmer's field behind us.

Sunset after the storm.

A couple trips to the farmer's market, running through the sprinkler, going for walks, and sitting on the porch after dark - summer's in full swing.