A Few of the Quilt Shops we visited this past summer

I was asked if I had taken any photos of our travels and especially some of the quilt shops along the way.  Alas, I didn't get any inside photos but did take some outside photos of these shops.
Here's some of them.  Wish I had remembered to take them all.  Next year, I'll get some inside photos and I'll have my Bobbin Robin to go along with me.

Quilt Works in Albuquerque.
Great shop!  Lots of fabric and personable staff.
That's my Thunderbird in front.

Desert Rose Center in Tucumcari New Mexico
  Alas, not open on Sunday which is the day we went by them
 but took the photo anyway.  They are on the Old Route 66.

Great Plains Quilt Company in Burlingame, Kansas.
Another nice shop to visit in a beautiful town.

Quilter's Cupboard in Akeny, Iowa.  Cute little shop with more fabric than you'd think it could hold.
That's our Thunderbird in front.

Desert Rose Quilt Shop in Sioux Falls, SD.
Liked their pattern!

Quilter's Headquarter's in Sioux Falls, SD
An added bonus that they had a Quilt Trail block on their shop.

Here's the location of the Quilt Show where one of the vendors attending
 brought in their row by row license plate for me.

 

Lickety Stitch Quilt Shop in Lusk, Wyoming

Alas, another that we missed because we were traveling thru on Sunday.

Looks like it's a great shop.

Baby Quilt and my Bobbin Robin

I've posted before about starting this baby quilt.  It's from a pattern from Quilter's Dream in Colleyville, TX that they sold, called "Fishy Chevron" which was adapted from Scrappy Chevron by Libby Prather and uses Quilter's Dream 2015 Row pattern.  Anyway, the quilt is almost all done, just sewing on the binding now.
Meanwhile, I also picked up the "Bobbin Robin" pattern that was presented this year for Row by Row participants to make and use on their travels. Got her finished last week as I didn't pick up the pattern until we got back from our trips.  She's making her entrance on this blog with her first Row pattern and quilt.  She'll also be around when my Row By Row quilt is finally finished and if I remember, she'll be around when I visit shops next year for Row by Row 2016.  btw.  the theme will be announced tomorrow, Oct. 9.

In the picture on the left is "Bobbin Robin" then Beverly Ingram, owner of Quilter's Dream, and me on the right.  You should see this quilt made from batiks and Moda fabrics.  Really stunning.

yt1 (Rainey had to post!)

Beverly suggested that I  show you what I did with Bobbin Robin's boots.

As suggested in the pattern, I had bought shoes designed for 18" dolls (American Girl type dolls).  Went to Walmart and they had a little package of boots for less than $4.  They are slit up the back to make it easy for a child to slip on the doll (since the doll's feet don't bend).  

After I had made Bobbin Robin and got her stilt legs readied to put into her body, I needed a way to use the boots to help hold her steady while I fit the legs to her body.  I had a couple of empty plastic spools from Coats & Clarks  (size that holds 300yds) that just barely squeezed into the boots.  They held in enough that they could be used to steady her body while I adjusted where they went into her body.  I then thought that I would probably only need to use the air dry clay (suggested in the directions with the pattern) to permanently hold the spools inside and there would still be enough clay inside the boot to give the boots the weight needed to hold everything steady when all was done.  That meant that she could have a change of shoes in the future.

So, I put a couple of wads of the clay inside each boot pushing it solidly into the toe area and leaving a good layer on the bottom to push the spools into. 

When you push down on the spools into the clay, it's going to go into the holes in the bottom of the spool but you don't want the center hole full of clay .  It's ok for it to go into the other holes in the spool as it helps hold the spool into the shoes.  This way, you can remove Bobbin Robin from her shoes and change to another set of shoes in the future, since her legs won't be stuck in the shoes permanently.

 I then used one of the stilts (wooden skewer) to push down the clay in the center hole to kind of squeeze it out of the center hole thru the bottom so the center hole wouldn't get filled up with clay.  I did that so both legs would sit at the same level in the boots and it helps balance Bobbin Robin. 

I had left the spool tags on the top end as one was made in the USA and the other in Eygpt, but it's not necessary.

If you use normal shoes instead of boots for your Bobbin Robin, you can probably still use spools in those shoes and either paint the spool or leave a layer of thread on the spool as "socks".  I haven't tried that yet.

My Row by Row Experience continued

Have you asked others about what to do with all the row patterns you may have collected over this past summer?  Some have not liked the look of the different rows together in one quilt if using the suggested fabrics.  As I looked thru the winning quilts turned in and shown on facebook, some had coordinated their fabrics as they added the rows.  It really made some nice looking quilts.

At bee last week, I was asked to show my "baby quilt" to a scrap class, to show the class that a row could be used in other quilts besides an official "row by row"  AND that a person did not have to use the fabrics suggested for a row pattern, just that the row is built using the pattern.  That means one did not have to purchase the kit offered by the store to complete the row.

BTW, the baby quilt was made from a supplemental pattern  offered by Quilter's Dream quilt shop in Colleyville, TX that included their row in the pattern.  My baby quilt was made with calico fabrics; their pattern sample used bright batiks.

What I did to get a coordinated look in my Row by Row quilt that I've started (still not finished yet) was to pick an overall background fabric to use in each row.  I also used some other fabrics for other parts of the rows and made sure to use those fabrics in several of the rows, like adding in the Row by Row raindrop fabric in place of sky backgrounds.

Other things to do with your Row by Row Experience patterns is to use them to make baby quilts, Table Runners,  Bed runners, and even small wall hangings from single rows that you may have thought outstanding.

Since I collected so may row patterns this summer, I've been able to sort them into categories to get future coordinated looks in some quilts.  I even have a couple planned to give to those that helped along the way.  I just have to get going on those!

On a Side note, I'm sad to say that Lone Star House of Quilts has closed.

Traveling and Row by Row

Spent the last 3 weeks traveling, visiting quilt shops along the way for Row by Row and touring at other times.  Have plans for two small RbyR Experience quilts for friends as a result along with a couple of  travel quilts for the trips.

The first part of our trips was to Albuquerque, NM for a CTCI convention.  Decided to visit Roswell quilt stores along the way to.  Worth the trip just for their RbyR plates which had UFO logos:  "UFO Stash" and "UFO's do Exist."  The last one came in handy for our later trip to the Badlands of South Dakota.

 Also went to 5 shops in the Albuquerque area and picked up more patterns and license plates..  Btw, the license plates are fabric so they can be sewn into or appliqued to a quilt or jacket.  The plates might still be available at some shops if you're interested in them.  Just give the participating shops a call to see if they still have any on hand.

Just a day after returning from Albuquerque,  went up to Ardmore, OK to a couple of quilt shops there as they weren't going to be open (too early in the day) when we passed thru the next day on our way to Wisconsin.  Picked up their license plates and patterns and decided they were both close enough to add to my guild's Quilt Shop list.

The next day we took off for Wisconsin, via Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and then into Wisconsin to visit some friends.  Of course, along the way, visited numerous quilt shops.  The further north we went, I noticed that some of the shops got bigger than those I was used to.  I could have spent hours in them but my time was limited and I didn't want to make my spouse unhappy as he was quite willing to take me to the shops. Many of the shops were out of plates but had them on order so I was able to order them.  Luckily I was still able to pick up a plate for each state.  Now is just the wait for the ordered plates to arrive in the mail.

While in Wisconsin, the one quilt shop that I needed the pattern for, also had their plate.  It's perfect for the little quilt I plan to make for our friends which will be called "Cabin Up North" and feature several of the rows I have picked up that remind me of their place.  These friends have one of our kittens from Goldie, "Silver," only now they call him Bowdy as Silver reminded Larry of "Silver Bow" a honey supplier that was in Snohomish WA at one time.  That morphed Silver's name to Silver Bow to Bowdy.  I took numerous photos of Bowdy while there along with other pics.  Bowdy is almost as good at curving his tail as Gypsum is.

After our 3 day visit there we left for South Dakota Black Hills and the Badlands to hook up with our retrobird friends for 4 days of touring Mt Rushmore, the Badlands, Custer State Park (plenty of bison there), Safari jeep tour,The Needles (and Eye of the Needle tunnel), Crazy Horse Memorial, Rochford, AND a large quilt show in Hill City.  Cruising these places with 46 cars that "look alike" is a blast! especially with friends you only get to meet once or twice a year.

Below we're on Safari Tour to view the Bison at 

Custer State Park.  Just part of the herd.

This also meant that we stopped at a couple more quilt shops in South Dakota before meeting our friends in Mitchell, SD.  Alas, didn't get to pick up any plates from them but do have one on order. The SD plate's background features the Mt Rushmore heads so really wanted that one to commemorate the tours.

 However, at the Quilt Show, one of their vendors, Nuts and Bolts Fabric Shop from Edgemont, SD, who was participating in the Row by Row and still had some plates left over but had not brought them to the show.  They promised to bring them the next day which was the day we were leaving so we just delayed our departure a little bit and stopped by.  I now have a South Dakota plate AND it has the logo: "Nuts Abt Bolts" - kind of fitting for the tour. Alas, will not be able to get their row until Nov 1 due to RbyR rules.

 I did see on line that one shop quit selling their plates on line or by phone so that traveling visitors could get one if they wanted one but that was back in June. A few shops had run out before the end(Sept 8) and decided not to reorder since it was so close to the end of the RbyR Experience.  One shop had to reorder their plates 4 times over the course of the 3 months this shop hop was running so it's a popular shop hop for quilters.

I appreciate what this Row by Row Experience has been for me.  It's rekindled some of that fire to make quilts that I had lost over the past 10 years.  I enjoy the challenge that each row brings as each hones in on different piecing and applique skills that I haven't used.in awhile.  and I think that spouse would like me to make some table runners or even a bed runner from some of the row patterns I've picked up.

Row by Row progress

Really haven't made progress on the Row by Row since I finished up the started rows.  Took a little rest and started using some calicos that a friend have given me.  I still used a row though in this new quilt.  The top is almost done and hope to get it done tomorrow at bee.  Meanwhile, here's the results so far.  This has been fun to do.

I'm half way through completing the rows for the chevrons.  Hope to get it done tonight if I can stay awake as bee is tomorrow and I don't want to take it down until all the diagonal rows are sewn up.  Half way through doing that.

Retreat time

Spent the last 4 days on retreat with my Bee friends.  We had a great time, the 8 of us, however, 3 had to leave a day early due to other commitments.  Quite a sight to see them pack all 3 into 1 SUV along with all their sewing machines and fabric bags, etc.  It was quite quiet (hey, when do you ever get to see those two words together!) after they left as they were the talkers in our bee. We really missed them.

While there, I was able to make it down to Granbury to visit Houston St. Mercantile for a little bit, mainly to pick up their row and license plate but also to pick up some fabric to finish up a couple of the rows already started.  As for my quilting, finished up 4 more rows for the Row by Row and added the final borders to the spring quilt so here's the results.

  Now to get the back together so it can be quilted.

The rows used so far were from  Kaleidoscope Quilt Shop, Whitesboro; Lone Star House of Quilts, Arlington; Not Your Mama's Quilt Store, Plano (don't you just love the splash blocks, so fun!); Peggy's Quilt Studio, Pantego, (added some extra fish here); and Sew So Easy, Saginaw;  plus the block pattern from the row by Quilting Mayhem, Snohomish, WA.  Note, these were done with my own fabric choices so that the whole group coordinates.  I won't be sewing the blocks and rows together until I've completed all the rows so this placement may not be my final placement.

I have enjoyed doing the different techniques these rows have required.  It really has rejuvenated my quilting desire so that I'm eager to do more. I would say that so far, most of the rows have required some experience with piecing as the directions have been minimal.  The easiest so far is doing the applique (both Not Your Mama's Quilt Store and Peggy's Quilt Studio used applique as did part of the row from  Passtime.  

 It's been awhile since doing any applique so asked my bee what was the best iron-on to use now for applique.  They  recommended using Trans-Web as it's easy to use, doesn't gum up needles and allows you to re-position an applique if necessary.  Of course, all the applique needs to be machine sewn around the edges to keep it there more permanently.

The other 3 rows will be from Passtime Fabrics, Gainesville; Quilter's Dream, Colleyville; and Quilt Country, Lewisville.

Spring Quilt Progress Report 2

Finally, got all the sashing in the quilt so now it's ready for me to cut the border.

Had hoped to do that today but had to get the car washed and tomorrow need to get it cleaned on the inside.  If I can get that done in the early morning,  I might just get to putting the borders on it.  They will not be pieced, just bars of a fabric I picked up along with the rest of the fabric in the quilt.  Right now the quilt is 48" wide and about 50 inches long.  Not sure how wide the borders are going to be but it's a wide print so they may be 8" on each side.  Will bind it in brown once it's layered, backed and quilted.

Forgot to add; there was only 1 yard of fabric for the sashing so there's a lot of piecing going on in the sashing but I made it! with about a 4x8 inch piece left over.  I was sweating it there for awhile.

Sunday will be reserved for attending a memorial service for Sandy Wroe, one of my bee members who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May.  Such an insidious cancer since it stays hidden until it's in the late stages of cancer.   She died this past Sunday.  We all miss her.

and back to Row by Row.  Still haven't started on a single row but am also still collecting row patterns.  Last weekend (July18), was down in Arlington, TX for a weekend car show and decided to spend a few hours visiting 4 shops there. Two in Arlington and two in Pantego, TX, all within 2 miles of each other.
so I picked up the rows for:

1. Lone Star Quilts
2. Quilt Among Friends
3. Peggy's Quilt Studio
4. Sew Fabricated

It really is time to lay out the rows and decide which ones to make for my first RbyR quilt.