Thursday, September 30, 2021

OLD TOWN FUN

One of the shops I visit when I am in the Chillicothe, OH area
is Old Town Fabric Shop


They carry a lot of MODA fabrics.
I found this SWELL line.


A nice selection of GRUNGE


Plenty of other selections.


Some Halloween prints


I had not been here in a couple years.
Very surprised to see they had expanded.
Now they have a huge Bernina Design Center.



Downtown Chillicothe has lots of charm and cute shops.


And if you are hungry, some great restaurants.
THIS is my favorite Smoked BBQ restaurant EVER!
Soooo smokey and good and the beer was ice cold!

Don't miss a chance to stop in and eat at
Old Canal Smokehouse!


I love exploring, shopping and if I am alone, I know I am in good company!


Thursday, September 23, 2021

SEWCLEVER LQS

Another LQS in Chillicothe, OH is Sew Clever.
You may remember, Creations Sew Clever
and owner Rita Fischel.

A couple years ago Rita retired and sold her shop.
This is the new Clever place to shop.


I had not been to the shop and since I was in Chilly....why not?

Halloween fabrics greeted me as I entered.


The store is a good size and very well lit.
This is the class room side of the shop.


I scouted out a long arm machine toward the back of the store.


 BUCKEYE fabrics.


Found the GRUNGE!


Lots of traditional fabrics.
The sale rack was around $5 / yard.
I didn't find anything. 

I was very pleased to see they are carrying many 
Modern Quilt Designer patterns.

Elizabeth Hartman


GE Designs aka Stripology designs
I don't need anymore specialty rulers which is their thing.
But someone told me you don't really need them?


More GE Designs
I like this EMMA design.  It reminds me of a wonky cross tutorial 
by Jeni Baker, In Color Order
I just may have some Christmas fabrics I could use.


My fav, Erica Jackman of Kitchen Table Quilting
had several patterns available.


Oh yeah...THANGLES papers are still around.
I used these probably 20 years ago!
And probably had every size!


Sew...there's something Clever for everyone.
If you visit and haven't been there...
 LOOK for the PAYLESS SHOE STORE sign.
They have not put their own store sign up yet.



Friday, September 17, 2021

Christmas 2021 Plaidish WIP


I apparently love plaid and Christmas.
Therefore a Plaidish Christmas quilt landed on my sewing table.

 I can never seem to get my fill of Christmas quilts.
I have a few on my radar for this Christmas.

I loved the Plaidish quilt pattern by Erica Jackman
@kitchentable quilting.

Wouldn't it be great in Christmas colors!?!
I decided Reds for Dark Value, Greens for Mid Value
and Whites for Light Value.


If you recall...I made one Plaidish quilt about a year ago
using scraps from my stash of hundreds.


I got it all cut and it sat for a long time as a WIP.

Then I went to a quilt retreat.
A perfect project that requires a lot of chain piecing.
 I only have to take one project!
And Dixie, my Featherweight.


There are 63 easy blocks to make.

Reds were my Dark Volume.
20 Blocks


Greens my Medium Volume
31 Blocks


And whites my Low Volume.
12 Blocks


It took me two days to sew the blocks.
Now remember...this was my first retreat in almost 2 years.
Sew I talked and visited a lot!


I waited a little while after retuning home and began to assemble
the blocks onto my design wall. 



And before I knew it...
Blocks were sewn into rows


and rows into the top!


If you want to try and make this very easy scrap quilt...
you can download the free tutorial/pattern here.

Thanks Erica Jackman (@kitchentablequilting)
for such an awesome pattern.

There's also a free Plaidish 2 pattern that I might do.

This will be a quilt for my friend Kim Hensley to quilt on her
new longarm.  She needs my quilts for practice! WIN-WIN!

Are you working on any Christmas quilts yet?



Friday, September 10, 2021

HERE COMES A JUDGE

I was asked to judge quilts at an OHIO County Fair in August.
It was such an honor and quite the challenge.
You see...there was no guidelines for judging and lots of
categories for quilted items to be judge.

I could ribbon up to 5 quilts per category.
BUT if I felt like nothing was Blue Ribbon quality,
I could ribbon whatever I felt was appropriate.
No pressure here! Really?



There were stacks ad stacks of quilts.
I think when I finished I had judged 35 quilted items.


There were antique pieced quilts, over 50 years old.
And a category for applique quilts, over 50 years old.
How does one even begin to judge these.
All antiques should be ribboned!


I found the machine quilting category to be confusing.
Both home machine and long arm machine quilting
was in the same category.   How is that possible or 
even a fair playing field. 

I looked for even stitching, good tension and no loose threads
or birds nests on all of them.



There was a Table Topper category
with 5 entries...so everyone got a ribbon.


There were a few modern quilts in the show.
Like this pumpkin design.


and this Pumpkin Quilt


and I loved this Christmas Quilt Category
a churn dash block always catches my eye.



There was even a WIP category?
Only one entry here!


I had to choose Best of Show from all the Blue Ribbons awarded.
The quilt I selected was not one that pleased my aesthestic.
I had to keep my personal preferences out of the mix.

This one was pieced beautifully, Binding and mitres were excellent.
And the long arm quilting was a great design choice for the quilt.


This would have been "Judges Choice"
had that been an option.

I loved its cheery feel
and that matchstick quilting was incredible!


I did provide some feedback about categories,
guidelines and such.

The lady who was logging all the winners into their log book told me...
You are one of the best judges we have had.
You knew exactly what you were looking for and doing!

That was so nice.
 I have been invited back for next year!





Friday, September 3, 2021

SWELL


I am always  behind the trending fabrics and designs
SWELL …this is no different. 

I saw this quilt a couple years ago and loved it.
BUT I didn’t buy any of the Moda SWELL fabric!

It didn’t take long to gather some prints.  A few friends gave me some of their stash.
 I also found a few pieces on-line and at LQS.


Jingle Jangle was the original pattern for this quilt.


I saw lots of variations for this amazing Vintage Santa!
and became confused as to what design I liked the best.

Log Cabin


Trip Around the World


Churn Dash


A simple pieced block design


Wedding Ring



My kwilty friend, Kim Hensley and I are both making it!
 Sew stay turned to see what our choice is!