Quilting Adventures ~ The Friendly Store for Everyone Who Creates With Fabric!

~Betty~

Where were you born?
Believe it or not but there are actually people who were born in Richmond and have lived here almost all of their lives and I am one of them. At present I live in Bon Air with my husband John who is a CPA with Yount, Hyde and Barbour. I have three children. Emily is married and teaches at Flint Hill School in Oakton, VA. John Jr. or Bubba as most of us call him, is married and lives in Richmond with his wife GiGi and daughter Judith. He works for Wachovia Securities. Bill is an Attorney in the Trust and Estate division of McGuire Woods in Richmond.

How long have you been sewing? What is the first thing you made?
It’s been so, so long but I really believe the first real sewing I did was a dress in a Singer sewing class the summer I was 10. I believe I wore the dress twice but did learn much because it had zippers, buttonholes, a collar and a detachable collar, set in sleeves, and pockets. It took all summer, but did get done. Even though I have the quilts my grandmother made when I was born, the first quilt that I worked on was done in 1977 for Emily’s kindergarten teacher. One of the mothers in the class sewed the top and we met weekly and basted and tied the quilt. As a group we continued to make quilts for the teacher’s gifts for several years. More recently taking classes with Laura Blanchard and Darlene Ware taught me much about the correct techniques and methods.

What is your favorite Sewing Technique? Hand or Machine?
My favorite technique is to machine piece quilt tops. I love to cut fabric and sew it back together. I have done lots of cross stitch, needlepoint, smocking, knitting, crocheting and such but really do love to cut and sew fabric back together.

What is your favorite color?
This is hard to answer as I probably have a thing for fabric in that I generally like it all. In looking at things that I keep, probably greens, blues, and purples are my favorites. Because I do a lot of home decorating sewing for people and shops, I get to see many different fabrics and combinations which I really do enjoy. I learned a lot about the use of color from a decorator who always loved to mix plaids, stripes, prints and tone-on-tones whenever possible.

What color do you have the most trouble using in your quilts?
Orange is the one color I probably don’t use much. I do try.

What inspires you?
In general I think I am most inspired by people and watching what they enjoyand like doing which is why I love working at Quilting Adventures. To try to help people find and accomplish a task is a great thing. Inspiration comes from all kinds of places. I am also a great collector of kits as samples with beautiful fabrics also inspire me to get busy.

Favorite Book?
It was Claiming Georgia Tate by GiGi Amateau, but is now Chancy of the Maury River by GiGi Amateau. In case you didn’t get it, she is my daughter-in-law. They are great books though.

Favorite band? Favorite song?
There are many different songs and types of music on the ipod that I have in the sweat shop (mine is not a studio but a sweat shop). Steve Bassett, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffet, Ray Charles and the Temptations. Depends on how fast I have to sew.

How long have you been working for QA?
I think it was March of 2006 that I started, but Phoebe should know.

If you would like to view Betty’s biography on our website you can do so here:

http://www.quiltingadventures.com/staffpage.htm#betty

Okay, so we have new stuff coming out of our ears right now!!!!!!!! Here’s a quick post to catch you up on the latest and greatest!!!!!!!!!

Bella Blue from Timeless Treasures.

Drawing Room – home dec weight by Anna Maria Horner for Free Spirit fabric.

Finger Paints from Camelot Cottons – these are just a few, we have a wide range of colors.

Holiday Flourish and some Christmas Batiks from Robert Kaufman.

Novelties!

Some of the new Tonga Dimes Three fabrics from Timeless Treasures.

The Salt Water Taffy Quilt made from Tonga Dimes. We have a pattern and kit available!

~Phoebe

Yesterday’s shop newsletter, in case you didn’t get it:

The goodies from Quilt Market are starting to arrive, and I'm in a
panic; we need more room to put stuff! So I'm having a Post-Market
sale starting Right Now and going through Sunday, June 1.

First, our normal finish-the-bolt sale is the 27th and 28th, but
since I forgot to remind you in the last newsletter, I'm extending
that for an additional day, through Thursday the 29th. Buy whatever's
left on the bolt and get 25% off.

Okay, the rest of this will be through June 1, and everything is
limited to quantities on hand; any sale fabric is a minimum 1 yard
cut:

- The new EQ6 Stash Spring 2008 has arrived! In honor of that, all
PREVIOUS editions of Stash are 25% off.

- Michael Miller Organic fabrics, trim, and yo-yo puppy kits - all
25% off

- Mettler PolySheen Thread is on sale for 25% off - this is great for
decorative stitching, free motion quilting, and so much more!

- Stitch Journey Passport Thread packs from Wonderfil - 20% off

- Quilt label panels - 25% off

- Soak! fabric wash - 20% off

- Stencils - 30% off

- Kwik Sew patterns - 20% off

- Minkee Baby Blanket Kits - 20% off

- Victorian Needlebox and Whatever Box kits - 25% off

- All fabric marked with clearance tags is an additional 10% off when
you finish the bolt. In some cases, that means I'll be paying YOU to
buy the fabric!

- Clearance patterns and books are all 50% off, no matter what the
sticker says.

- We have a basket of specially marked magazines at 25% off.

Come in to take advantage of some of these bargains and see the new
things from Market at the same time. Phoebe is working on a special
display of new treasures (and has already run out of room!).

Hope to see you soon!

How many of you either hate putting bindings on or think you just can’t do a good enough job by machine?  Yeah, me too.  I enjoy hand sewing the bindings on the back, but unfortunately my shoulder can’t do all that hand sewing yet (not that machine sewing is that much better, but it takes much less time).  I had a shop sample that I really wanted to get the binding on, so I decided to take a slightly different (for me) approach this time.

I do double fold binding with mitered corners (I’m not going to explain how to get that far – if you need help, please consider Laura’s Binding Basic’s class – she will have you doing perfect bindings in no time).  My thing was wanting to sew the binding down on the back, by machine.  I’ve done this before with varying degrees of success, but this morning I tried doing it with the Snap-On clips from Bohin that we sell in the shop.  These are the clips that look like hair clips, and I first discovered how indispensable they were when sewing Quick Step Quilt patterns – they keep the layers secure but much more flat than pins.

So I clipped my binding folded around to the back, putting a clip every 4-5″.  Then I sewed “in the ditch” on the front side, so that my stitching is just about 1/16″ in on the bottom edge of the folded around binding.  BUT what makes is look as nice as it does (to me, anyway), is that I used Invisafil thread in both the top and the bottom in a color that more or less matched (my binding is multicolored, so I just picked one).  Invisafil is a very fine thread, and as long as you pick a color that remotely matches what you’re working on, it practically disappears.  Better than invisible thread, in my mind, because it doesn’t have that invisible thread shine.  Not to mention the fact that my machine LOVES Invisafil thread, and while it will sew with most invisible threads, it doesn’t love any of them.

So, yeah, sometimes it is all about having the right tools and materials to do a good job. 

~Joyce

I think most of you know Cheryl who works here. Phoebe posted her employee bio just last week:

http://quiltingadventures.com/qablog/?p=612

Well, here’s a picture of her adorable daughter Molly wearing the skirt Cheryl made her from the _Summer issue Quilts and More_ magazine, but just ask us when you come in:

Note from Phoebe: Please note that while she talks about how mean I am, she handed her biography to me handwritten, in really hard to read cursive writing, and cackled. Also note that she then sprained her ankle before I could get her back by taking a picture. I still got a picture, but you will probably not be seeing Karen for a little while, as she can’t be on her feet.

~Karen~

Joyce & Phoebe told me I had to do this so here it goes… Maybe, I can hide when they come around with the camera…
I’ve been sewing in one form or another for a long time. My Polish grandmother taught me to embroider while I was in elementary school. She & my mom made dresses for my sisters and me for everything from Valentine’s Day to Christmas & every occasion in between. Doll clothes followed. Their instruction & 4H got me sewing clothes. A friend’s mom taught me to knit in Jr. High & I learned to crochet in H.S. Lots of scarves & hats were given as gifts thereafter. A field trip to a country fair in 2nd grade led to a fascination with spinning & weaving, which I finally learned in my 20’s.
I got into quilting while working in Milwaukee in 1982. A friend wanted to learn & talked me into taking an adult education class with her at the local H.S. The instructor used Georgia Bonsteel’s “Quilt As You Go” method. We used templates & sewed by hand to make sampler blocks. At the time, I couldn’t imagine using a machine to sew all those little pieces! I got over it. In the legal dept. where I worked, we had a lawyer, 2 paralegals, & a secretary who quilted. (At the time, only one of us was over 30!)
Marriage, kids, & moving a lot didn’t allow a lot of time for quilting. But shortly after moving to NJ, I went on the first quilt retreat to the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch in MT. Georgia Bonsteel & Charlotte Warr-Anderson were the teachers. Wow! Talk about inspiration! Not just the teachers, but the other participants & scenery.
After moving to MA, I joined the Rhododendron Needlers Quilt Guild & helped start “Monday Nite Quilters,” a group that still meets every Mon. after more than 10 yrs. I was Co-chair for the guild Block of the Month & Program Chair for 2 yrs. That was fun. I loved coordinating & bringing in teachers from all over. We had Esterita Austin while I was chair & I heartily recommend her classes. I can’t wait until next May!
I worked at the Button Box, a quilt store in MA, until we moved to Richmond in 2003. I did a short stint at Quilter’s Corner here before starting at Adventures. I love helping people bring their ideas to life. I’ve tried a lot of techniques – piecing, applique, felted wool, landscapes, dyeing, beading, – and there are a lot more I still want to try. Working at QA provides a lot of inspiration & its always fun to see how many talented people there are out there. I am just in awe. I quilt with some of those talented people on Mon. nites here, too. (or sometimes Tues.) Besides working with a very gifted group of people
Now that all but one of the girls is in college, (There are 4 of them. The eldest recently graduated) I should theoretically have more time for me. Altho, I do kind of miss all of those soccer & softball games. I love to read – fantasy, historical fiction, mysteries. We have 2 rescued Irish Setters, 3 cats & a hamster. I like to travel but don’t get to do as much as I’d like. That’s about it.
I’m still hoping I can talk Phoebe out of that picture, but she’s kind of sneaky.

Karen and her family. Left to right – Corey, Karen, Leigh, Rian, Kellen, and Karen’s husband Ed.

If you would like to read this on our website, you can view it here:

http://www.quiltingadventures.com/staffpage.htm#karen

We are looking to hire a sales associate at Quilting Adventures. If you think you might be interested, please read this post carefully all the way to the end.

Here’s what we are looking for and what we have to offer:

- 20-30 hours per week including evenings, weekends, and some holidays

- flexible scheduling

- this is retail – we are on our feet all day, often have to delay meals (and, sadly, bathroom breaks)

- includes cleaning chores and some heavy lifting (up to 30 pounds)

- fun, upbeat environment

- some sewing, quilting, and/or fabric knowledge is required

- must get along with others and be a good listener

- permanent (not seasonal) position

- must be over 18

- good computer skills required

- good math skills (including fractions) required

- must be eager to learn

- must be comfortable in putting colors together, including working outside your usual comfort zone

- must be able to read, understand, and follow instructions carefully

If you are interested in applying, please do NOT call or email. Come by the shop anytime during normal shop hours and ask at the counter for an application. Complete it and leave it with us, and we will start interviewing soon.

All those rumors that you have heard about what a mean boss Joyce is are totally true.

~Joyce

I’m so far behind that I can’t imagine I’ll ever catch up again, but I really want to post the rest of our Portland pictures for you. I don’t think I’m nearly as good a narrator as Phoebe, but maybe she’ll edit this post later with her comments.

I think this is the last of our Famous People photos. By the last day of Market, we were so frantic with trying to see all of the show and place the rest of our orders that the camera stayed in our bag much of the time. But here is Phoebe with Tanya Whelan, another Free Spirit designer who is actually from Norfolk:

Now that I look through the photos that we have left, I think Phoebe did a great job of posting most of them. On the last day we took a few minutes to check out the few quilt exhibits that were there – Tactile Architecture, In Full Bloom, a few others – but we can’t share those photos without permission from the artists.

One picture she didn’t post from our first day is this one of a plant I made her take photos of in hopes that someone out in blogland could identify it for me. It looks like – and perhaps is – a miniature fuchsia. Anyone know for sure?

The day we left to come home (was that Monday?) was hazy, but we did finally get to see mountains as we rode to the airport. Phoebe took this photo of Mount Hood at the airport. You may have to look really carefully, but it’s there:

As we were flying out, Phoebe saw the biggest mountains she’s ever seen, all covered with snow – Mount Hood, Mt St Helens. It was sad to travel that far and not have the chance to visit the coast or the mountains, but I know that those of you who travel for your jobs know exactly what I’m talking about.

Here’s a list of some of what we ordered at Market – not complete, just going on memory:

- more Japanese import prints (in fact, we have some half yard cuts that we brought back with us that are already at the shop)

- fabric by Sandi Henderson, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Kaffe Fassett …..

- Alexander Henry home dec fabric

- new Michael Miller fabrics, including an amazing kids group that Phoebe HAD to have

- new Lakehouse fabrics, including a great boy-child’s collection and blue hydrangeas

- more Fruit Ladies, and Elizabeth Studio’s newest group – Outhouses!

- BUTTONS!

- FOUR new thread lines!

- new hot off the press books and patterns

- Metro Blue Goes Green fabric

- Batiks, batiks, and a few more batiks

- New Project Runway inspired fabric

- and more. Just watch the blog and newsletter to see when it all gets here.

~ Joyce

I think both Phoebe and I are very glad to be home now, especially since our trip ended up being over 21 hours door-to-door.  We’re both pretty tired, so if you’ve been waiting for the final Market report and more photos, I’m thinking you’re going to have to wait a little longer.  Hopefully tomorrow one of us will be a bit more caught up on sleep and therefore useful. 

I’m sorting through the piles of orders from Market, and there’s one thing I wanted to be sure to tell you ASAP.  As many of you know, I’m a HUGE Marti Michell fan.  I love her methods, her rulers and templates (and both she and her DH are delightful people, too).  Unfortunately, her templates and rulers, just like so much else in this world, are somehow connected to petroleum.  I’m sure you see where I’m going with this.    As of June 1, Marti is raising her wholesale prices, and therefore, my prices will go up as well.  HOWEVER, since she was kind enough to give us the opportunity to get one last order in before then, I ordered a bunch of goodies and want you to have the chance to buy these at the old prices, too.  Including some NEW things! Her newer Log Cabin ruler, which came out at fall Market but somehow we missed it, works with 5/8″ and 1 1/4″ strips.  Although there aren’t any patterns in her book that call for that ruler, any of them can be adapted, or you can make up your own!  She also has a NEW “Stripper Set” which is a set of templates to be used with 2 1/2″ strips – we’ll do some demos on these soon.  Also a NEW diamond set that is cool in itself, but it’s designed to supplement sets A or  B to do a Storm at Sea block more easily (I’ll plan demos on this, too).  She has also come out with a corner trimmer.  My personal favorite, I think, is still the Flying Geese ruler.  Easy, no waste, and perfect geese every time.

The NEW products should ship later this week – I’ll post an update when they get here – but we have lots of stock of most of the products if you want to get them before the prices go up!

~Joyce

Phoebe is still asleep but getting restless, and I think the alarm will wake her for real any second now. Then we have to finish our packing, find some food, and head out to the airport. Our first flight leaves just after 11AM Portland time. We get into Richmond shortly after 11PM Richmond time.

We are both exhausted (and kind of broke!) but full of lots of new ideas. We packed an ENORMOUS box to ship home, full of fabric and patterns and books and kits. The orders that we placed will start shipping later this week as the vendors get home. We’ve ordered BUTTONS and AMAZING RULER RACKS and JAPANESE IMPORT FABRIC and KITS and BOOKS and PATTERNS and FABRIC. And GLITTER. And more STUFF that I’m forgetting. All in caps, because it’s all cool and new and fresh.

Over the next several months, we’ll be getting new fabric from all our usual suspects, including designers Sandi Henderson, Anna Maria Horner, Michelle D’Armore (Metro Blue), Kaffe Fassett, and many more. Ten gazillion batiks – they get even better and better every time!

Phoebe will be back to work tomorrow (Tuesday). {Edit from Phoebe at 10:30: I just gave my shift to Betty, so you’re going to have to wait another day to see me and the new stuff. Sorry!} I’m not sure about me yet. This trip has taken a major toll on my shoulder, and I’m actually looking forward to seeing my physical therapist tomorrow morning and then maybe doing some resting and icing. We’ll see. Maybe after a day or two of catching up on rest, Phoebe will finish posting the Market photos – yes, we have more celebrity sightings!

Our first basket of “new goodies from Market!” should be out sometime tomorrow, although it will be only what we’ve managed to carry in our suitcases.

See you soon!
~Joyce