For the quilters among us

Here's a post for the quilters out there. I haven't been including the shopping stops along the way so thought it was time to put that all together and share the fun I've had!

I usually browse shops and pick up a piece or two of fabric that I just can't resist, and of course, one of the fun fabric license plates. I've collected several of the row-by-row patterns in the past, but so far this year I haven't run into any I felt drawn to.

I decided on a different approach to the fabric buying for this year. I purchased a yard of a fabric called Rancho Toile several years ago. I pull it out often, look at it, can't decide what to do with it, then put it away again. I decided it was time to move ahead with something, even it it's wrong!

First, I narrowed the project down to two patterns that would allow me to use large sections of the print, so as not to destroy the scenes.

Then, I packed up my little chunk of fabric and hauled it from one store to another, comparing colors, visual textures, and chatting with the shopkeepers about my project and getting their suggestions. Gradually a vision emerged. . . we'll see if I like it when I'm done. Ideally, this will be the learning project when I take a long-arm quilting class this winter.

On to the quilt shops!  First stop . . . . . . .



Rapid City, SD
I stopped at the Quilt Connection last year too, so I didn't pick up another license plate this year.

I remembered that they have a great range of fabrics and thought this might be a good place to start my search.

Success! I was able to pick up the first of several fabrics I need for this year's on-the-road project.  I'm calling it the Texas Rancho quilt.  I especially love that blue, which is from Moda's River Journey collection. It looks like birch bark.



Sturgis, SD
We're not so much into motorcycles, but one has to visit the world famous Sturgis if you're in the area. We took a drive around town and then looked up the quilt shop. Fabric Junction is a fairly small shop, square footage wise, but it's filled to the brim with fabric.

There are of course motorcycle theme fabrics, but they have everything else too, including flannels. I picked up another blue (a small star, Civil War style print) and a plaid to work into the project, as well as a western novelty print.    



Sheridan, WY
Quilter's Fix

I had high hopes for this shop, as Wyoming is true cowboy country, but the shop didn't meet my expectations by a long shot. I was able to pick up a gold check that works with the project, so the trip was successful, and I got their license plate too.

They have a minimal range of fabrics, and mostly not up my alley, but the frustrating thing was they don't have much online presence, making it difficult to know ahead of time what they have to offer. Their web site is out of date and not much going on with FB but the shop is definately open and worth a look. "Fabric Touching" hours are noted on their Facebook page


Livingston, MT
Back Porch Quilts

Now here is a quilt shop with personality!
It's located in a small strip mall that's designed to look like the old time western buildings. They carry a huge range of fabrics as well as yarn with a few embroidery supplies as a bonus. I picked up a fat quarter, some thread and a placemat pattern that I can't wait to show to my friend Chris, as it's similar to her "magic potholder" pattern.

The shop has a great selection of western and wildlife/outdoor fabrics, as well as juveniles, etc. and they have all of it online. It's a good thing we are limited on space and weight or I might have been tempted to "over collect" in this shop!


Rexburg, ID
Porters Craft and Frame
   
Wow, I've never seen such a huge craft store! It literally takes up an entire block! The building in historic downtown Rexburg was home to several businesses at one time, now each of the spaces is occupied by the various craft departments, including a really nice fabric/quilting section. Definitely worth a stop if you're a crafter of any type.

I browsed the the downstairs sale room and picked up a half-price template, then went upstairs to the main fabric department for the licence plate and bit of blue fabric that may or may not make it into the Rancho quilt. It's called Horsehoe Trail, so too bad I didn't have it earlier as the name really fits! I also purchased a yard of this year's row-by-row print. It's just too cute to pass up and may work out with all the license plates I've been collecting.


So what's been happening on the quilt  project so far?


The pattern I finally settled on has large blocks, alternating with pieced blocks (Baker Street, by Daphne Greig).

The quilt pattern has 9 inch blocks. I redrafted it to 10 inch blocks, which fits well with the repeat of the print and left almost no waste. I also replaced the checkerboard with pinwheels.

The finished quilt will be for our bed here in the RV, and I can adjust the finished size with the boarders to make it fit the area properly.

Here's how I set up in the RV- the padded area around the slide-out becomes my mini-design wall. Here are the first two rows, up for review.

Ooops! I did fix that upside down block.

Once four rows were sewn together I had to take it down as it was becoming somewhat invasive.

Working in such tight quarters can be challenging, and as the project grows the pressing and aligning become more difficult, so the boarders may have to wait until we get home. This project will truly be a souvenir of this summer's trip, and some of the scraps will probably find their way into the Civil War quilt I've started with fabrics I picked up last summer.

Here's what I have so far. There are another three rows to be added, those will repeat the first three already assembled. and then I have to calculate wide borders, as the original pattern isn't big enough for the bed. That will be another creative adventure!

the first four rows, assembled

I'll be sampling shops on the way home too, so no telling what fabrics and inspiration I'll find along the way!!