Quilters' Corner Quilt Shop

Hello Everyone,

 

Last week I had a day between a lecture and a workshop......so what was I going to do with a free day?  Well set up a workstation in the hotel and sew the entire day.  No cooking, cleaning, office work or dog walking.....only sewing.  I made eighteen 5-1/2" blocks for my big Cute as a Button.

 



I tried not to leave too many threads on the floor in the hotel.  You know how that goes!

I also did some serious retail therapy at Quilters' Corner in Sacramento.  This store has something for everyone.  This store is so "me". 

This stack of bolts was gorgeous and they followed me home.

Here's the moment of truth at check-out time.  I had to restrain myself and stayed within my budget.  The next time you see these fabrics they will be incorporated into kits and will appear in some of my quilts.

Quilters' Corner is so easy to get to.  It is right off Highway 50 on your way to Tahoe.  It is well worth the stop, and I promise you will not be disappointed in their fabric selection, tools, books, kits, and all things quilty.  There is so much to look at in the shop, you need to allow a fair bit of time to see everything they have to offer.  It's a fantastic shop!  If you stop by, please tell them I sent you.

Yesterday Mr. Joe and I started in on the yard work in the morning. Mr. Joe stacked wood and I raked.  The rains returned yesterday afternoon, so guess what??  I get to spend a rainy day inside working on my blocks.  I've decided to name this super-sized version Country Courthouse.  It is still Cute as a Button......a very BIG button.

Soon,
Lynn

Buried in Quilty Goodness

Hello Everyone,

 

I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in preparations for the quilt show in Folsom, CA next weekend.  Set up is Thursday, February 8th and Country Sunshine is going to be prominently featured.  There's about four more feet of binding to stitch, then the hanging sleeve, and label and she's finished!  I'll be rolling this pattern out on my ETSY site next week.  The plate feathers almost did me in.  A couple of my plate feathers are cracked......such is life. 

 

This week has been a catch up week after being gone for an entire week.  I'm so happy that Mazey and Mr. Joe recognized me when I returned! 

As I travel around the state teaching, I purchase fabric to sell in my booth at shows.  I try to put bundles of fat quarters together that work well with my style. Some of the fabrics are older and hard to find, and some are brand new releases. The fabrics come from all over the state.  Debbie's in Paradise, Friends Around the Block in Colusa, Ladybug's Quilts in Manteca,  Cloth and Quilts in Turlock, and my home shop, In Between Stitches in Livermore.

This is just a sample of what I've been cutting. I began with almost 300 yards of fabric!! Almost 9" of fat quarters just yesterday.  I also had a pile of fat 1/8's.  With help from my friend Mary Sue, this pile went from this......

 

 .....to these eight hours later.  Lots and lots of these all wrapped in ribbon and priced.

Bundles of luscious reproduction fabrics.

 

Bundles of Kansas Troubles.

   

 Bundles of New Hope by Jo Morton.

 So many bundles, Mary Sue and I were buried in bundles.....and I'm not finished yet!!!  At this point in time we were getting pretty loopy.

I have so much to post about with lots of pictures from my classes over the past two weeks. My pictures are stacking up like a cord of wood!  I'll try to get caught up, so you can see what quilters are making around the state.  It's pretty amazing.

Thank you so much Mary Sue for helping me tackle the fat quarter pile.  It was great getting to know you better, and fun chatting while folding, and folding, and folding until dark.

Soon,
Lynn

Townhouse Gardens Fabric

Hello Everyone,

 

Yesterday, Mr. Joe and I took a drive to Prairie Queens in San Jose.  I love this shop! Debbie, April and Eli make me feel so welcome. It's my home away from In Between Stitches home shop. I even signed one autograph while I was there. Thank you for asking Jeanette! 

 

I wanted to pick up a few of my quilts to take with me to the Georgetown show.  October Magic looked so good displayed in the window surrounded by some great Fall fabric collections.



 

Speaking of great fabric collections, Townhouse Gardens by Paula Barnes came home with me.  I didn't buy it all.....they have more of these wonderful bundles!

 



I love the maroon and blue combined together.

Upon our return home, I started making some parallel geese for my class next week at Quilting in the Garden.  This is one of the quilting components that I'm demonstrating in class.  I was double-checking my class binder and discovered that I hadn't made these yet for class.  I didn't have this task on my to-do list!

This is a versatile component that makes a nice border and incorporates beautifully into a block design.

 

Speaking of design components, the Patchwork Math book is now available at In Between Stitches and Prairie Queens.  Or, you can send an email to patched55@comcast.net and I'll mail one to you personally. 

 



Today is my last day to prepare for the Georgetown quilt show.  My living room is full of "stuff" to take.  I've been relying heavily on my to-do list each day and I'm glad to say my list is dwindling down to almost nothing.  Once I get into the car tomorrow, I'll probably fall promptly asleep!  Poor Mr. Joe isn't going to have a brilliant conversationalist along for the ride.  Maybe he'll think this is a good thing???

Soon,
Lynn

Country Charmer Hits the Road

Hello Everyone,

 

My Country Charmer quilts spent a weekend at a quilt show in Oregon and now they will be traveling to the International Quilt Show in Long Beach, California with Janet from The Quilt House.

 

The Quilt House is a fabulous shop located in Gardnerville, Nevada.  It is always a special treat to visit The Quilt House.  Mr. Joe and I pack up a picnic lunch and the dog and drive over the very scenic Ebbetts Pass, elevation 9,000 feet, in the high Sierras and make our way to Gardnerville from the cabin.  There are much easier ways to get there if you are in the Lake Tahoe area, but we like the windy, narrow mountain road over the pass and then wind our way along the Carson River.  The pass closes for the winter, so we make our trek over the  pass and through the Quaking Aspens in the Fall before the first flakes fall.  One time we drove over the pass in the convertible without checking the weather forecast first.  I bought a ladder at an antique shop to display my quilts, so we just put the top down and had the ladder sticking out.  All was fine until it started to rain and snow.  It makes for a great story, but we were a little wet by the time we got back to the cabin.

The Quilt House is just "my style".  I love it!  The shop is gorgeous.  It is beautifully decorated with bolts and bolts of luscious fabric displayed on every shape and size of antiques......from large old sleds to wrought iron beds. You will be warmly greeted by the helpful staff then you begin exploring the treasures inside the shop.  I found the shop when it was featured in Quilt Sampler Magazine....and I'm so glad I did!

I've been very quiet over the weekend.  My trusty laptop had to spend the night in the computer hospital with a nasty virus.  So much for anti-virus software!  Hopefully it can be fixed and will return home today. I'm using Mr. Joe's toy computer which is better than nothing.....but I'm very limited in what I can do computing-wise.  I have a pattern and a resource manual to write!  I need my real computer.  I'm off to work this morning.  I can't wait to see what new "goodies" have arrived at the since I worked last Monday.

Soon,
Lynn

Quilt Moving Day

Hello Everyone,

 

This week I went on a fun trip to Prairie Queens in San Jose to move quilts around again.  Here's Buttonwood on display.



 

 

Here's Party in the Garden on display.

Last, but not least here is Winterset on display. I have my quilts on a rotation schedule around California and Nevada.  Like I said before, keeping track of the quilts is like herding cats.

April, the shop's manager made a Country Charmer quilt from pink and green fabrics.  So pretty!

This is what you see when you walk in the front door of Prairie Queens. This shop is extremely inviting.  My granddaughter and I had fun looking at all of the quilts and the fabrics.

This quilt, Provence & Beyond stopped me in my tracks.  It's gorgeous.  April made the quilt and Debbie, the shop's owner, masterfully quilted this beauty.

They have kits.....available by clicking HERE.  Do you know how tempted I was to buy one of these kits and take it home with me?

The fabrics are yummy.

This would be a great summer project.  I think I'm talking myself into making this quilt. 

 

You probably think I haven't been quilting.....and you're right! With our son and his family moving into town, I've been busy with the grand kids until their day care program gets underway. In the meantime, the family is pitching in and we're on a rotating kidlet-watching calendar.  My granddaughter, Harleigh, is old enough to stuff patterns for me.  I also have her learning the accounting program for my little business. She's learned how to process orders, receive payments and enter bills into the system. She wants to start cheerleading, swim team and guitar lessons this summer.....all of which cost money that she is going to earn while helping me.  She's also learned the time card system and she watches the clock like a hawk while calculating her earnings. Don't worry, I haven't broken any child labor laws....yet. 

Harleigh also loves to draw and she takes her sketch book with her wherever she goes. She worked on this drawing one afternoon. I'm starting her on the long-arm next week to see if she can do some "thread painting" and bring her drawing to life on a quilt block.  I've always said, "If you can't draw it, you can't quilt it."  She can draw it....and she's only 12!

Soon,
Lynn

Quilt Moving Day

Hello Everyone,

 

It was quilt moving day again.  Mr. Joe, Zinnie, and I, plus a large storage bag of quilts made the 1-1/2 drive to Sacramento to Quilters' Corner, a "must see" shop.  When I go there to drop quilts off, I always come home with material to make more!  They currently have Country Charmer on display.  

 

I brought Madrigal home with me to pass on to another shop.

 

Heartfire is on display over the French General section.

 

Quilters' Corner has wonderful color walls.

I spent quite a bit of time in the reproduction area browsing through the bolts and seeing fabrics that were new to me.

They also have a great 30's section.

The batiks looked good enough to eat!

Quilters' Corner has a very friendly staff that are extremely helpful.  I forgot to take a picture of their big classroom where they offer a full range of classes for all levels of quilters.  One of these days I'll be teaching in their classroom!  The next time any of you are in the Sacramento area, check out Quilters' Corner.  Plan on spending lots of time, there's so much quilty goodness to see and touch!

I'll be working on my applique pumpkins this week.  Applique is slow and since I'm still in the early stages of design, there is quite of bit of drawing and redrawing to get everything just right.  So if you don't hear from me for a few days at a time, just know that I'm busy working on my new pattern that I want to roll out in September.....which will be here in two shakes of a lamb's tail!

Soon,
Lynn

Quilters' Paradise

Hello Everyone,

 

This has been my week to move my quilts around the quilt shop circuit.  On Tuesday, Mr. Joe, Zinnie, and I headed to Clovis to drop off quilts and patterns to Quilters' Paradise.  When I walked in the door, the first thing I saw was Pick Four by my blogging buddy Quilt Sue!  Two years ago, Sue asked me to review her book and my review is HERE.

 

 

The shop is located in an old bank in the quaint, old town area of Clovis.  There's lots of good lighting and wonderful displays around the shop.  There's a large classroom located at the back of the shop.

 



 What quilt shop doesn't have a baby buggy displayed next to the ceiling??

There was a wonderful selection of wool too.

When you go to Clovis, you not only have the opportunity to shop at a wonderful quilt store, you can also wander up and down the streets in the center of Old Town and go from one antique store to another.  Quilters' Paradise is now displaying Butterscotch Baskets and October Magic for the upcoming Heart of the Valley Shop Hop next week.  It looks like it's going to be a great shop hop.

Only a little quilting has come out of my sewing room this week.  I'll post the results of my progress on the new Toyland Tree in the next couple of days.

Soon,
Lynn