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

Saturday we celebrated our 3rd birthday!  We had lots of fun with demos, door prizes, and cake!

Here’s some pictures of Joyce and Kathleen doing demos!  Along with some of the sunprinting experiments.

We all had a wonderful time, and thank you all for coming to celebrate with us.

~Phoebe

We just got some wonderful new Christmas fabric from Timeless Treasures in. It’s fairly traditional with a lot of gold and beautiful flowers.

You will probably notice the stripe in there – it’s quite gorgeous. Timeless Treasures has designed a pattern especially for stripes. It’s a great tablerunner – and quick to make. You can see it on their website, here:

http://www.ttfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/patterns.cgi?patternID=124

We’ve already made one up in our new sunflower fabric:

We’re offering kits for that one and we hope to make kits out of the Christmas fabric soon. In the kits we’ve included a 60* triangle ruler, which makes those ends a snap! If you already have the ruler, or do not want it, we can take it right out of the kit and deduct it from the price! It makes a quick and easy gift or a beautiful seasonal decoration.

~Phoebe

Please join us on Saturday, June 28, from 10-6 for a day of FUN to celebrate our third year! We will have cake and door prizes and hands-on demos. Here’s the complete schedule of what’s happening:

I’m also taking this opportunity to put some things on sale as we’re moving things around to make room for lots for NEW stuff!

Hope to see you then!
~Joyce

~Joyce~

Where were you born?
Sellersville, Bucks County, PA. Not exactly Pennsylvania Dutch Country, but still very heavily influenced by that culture. My grandfather spoke “dutch” (which is really just American-ized German); my grandmother wore a net “covering” on her head (they were Brethren) and no jewelry. And I remember sitting under the big quilting frame at her church.

How long have you been sewing?
Pretty much almost forever, I think. I did all kinds of crafty stuff as a kid – knitting, crocheting. My mother was a professional seamstress, doing custom work including lots of weddings, so it was just natural for me to learn.

What is the first thing you made?
No idea. My memory is lousy.

What is your favorite sewing technique? Hand or machine?
I love handwork but have precious little time for it. I’m surprised that I love free motion quilting as much as I do, but it’s hard on my body these days.

What is your favorite color?
Black – it makes everything else pop.

What color do you have the most trouble using in your quilts?
White – it’s against my religion.

What inspires you?
I’m most inspired when I’m actually working on something else. When I sew, whether machine or hand, the creativity flows. When I’m now sewing, I’m absolutely without inspiration.

Favorite book?
That’s tough; I have too many favorites.

Favorite movie?
That’s tough, too. Some of the Star Treks; the A&E Pride and Prejudice; You’ve Got Mail. And okay, I confess, the three Star Wars movies that came out first.

Favorite band?
Peter Gabriel.

Favorite song?
Mostly anything by Peter. Steam, DIY, Signal to Noise….

How long have you been working for QA?
Forever, in terms of the shop. I started working ON QA in the summer of 2004, doing planning and market research. And it’s been my life ever since!

Front to back, left to right: Joyce’s son Ricky, daughter-in-law Jennifer, granddaughter Alyssa, husband Rick, Joyce, daughter Phoebe, daughter Theresa, and son Max.

If you would like to read Joyce’s bio on our website, you can do so here:
http://www.quiltingadventures.com/staffpage.htm#joyce

Signing up for Cynthia Stockdon’s upcoming doll clothes class is a great way to learn to sew!  Learn cutting and machine sewing techniques while making a skirt, top, and sash sized to fit an 18″ doll.  Beginners age 8 and up are welcome.  The class is July 8 and 10, 10:00a.m.-12 noon.

~Phoebe~

Where were you born?
I was born here in Richmond, at Henrico Doctor’s Hospital. I have lived in Richmond or one of the surrounding counties my entire life.

I have a huge family. I live with my mom Joyce(the boss), my step-dad Rick(co-owner), and my younger brother Max. My dad Paul also lives here in Richmond. I also have a sister, Theresa; another brother, Ricky; a sister-in-law Jennifer; and my niece Alyssa! I also have a nephew on the way! I’ve been dating the sweetest guy, Brendan, since 2002.

How long have you been sewing?
I’ve been sewing since I was about 5.

What is the first thing you made?
The first thing I remember making was a small wall hanging with my mom, a “portrait” of the house we were selling, and at the same time a portrait of the house I wanted.

What is your favorite sewing technique? Hand or machine?
I really love handwork. Lately I’ve gotten back into embroidery, but my true love is applique!

What is your favorite color?
My favorite colors are cool colors, however I do love anything that is bright!!

What color do you have the most trouble using in your quilts?
WHITE!!! Oh, and BROWN!!!

What inspires you?
The things that tend to inspire me the most are good music, good books, good photography, and good friends.

Favorite book?
Anything by Tamora Pierce, Mercedes Lackey, or Elizabeth Peters. Oh, and Harry Potter. I really love fantasy books.

Favorite movie?
I could list movies for days. I love Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and almost anything with Gene Kelly in it. But I think my absolute favorite is Clue.

Favorite band?
The Beatles! I also really like Peter Gabriel, and a bunch of other things……the list could go on and on.

Favorite song?
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles or Beautiful Day by U2. I love music and almost always have something running in my head, so my favorite song will occasionally change to something else depending on what I’ve heard recently.

How long have you been working for QA?
I’ve been working at Quilting Adventures since the very beginning. I started working for mom in April, and we opened in July. I was the only employee for awhile, so I cut a lot of Fat Quarters! I also helped enter at least a third of the original inventory into the computer.

Phoebe and her boyfriend Brendan in her hand made prom dress.

If you would like to view Phoebe’s bio online, you can do so at:
http://www.quiltingadventures.com/staffpage.htm#phoebe

From Kathleen: I have been having so much fun playing with silk ribbon embroidery…by sewing machine. It is so easy to do. It takes a little getting use to, but once you’ve tried a couple of stitches you’re hooked! I love the fact that you can get the look of hand ribbon embroidery by using a sewing machine. There is hardly any ribbon waste because all the ribbon is kept on top of the fabric. I have left this sample piece in the hoop so you can come by the shop and see how clean the back of this piece is. I hope you will consider taking this class and learning a fun new way to do Silk Ribbon Embroidery By Machine!

Click here to see the class info.

Laurel Burch’s Christmas fabric just arrived in the shop today.  Pattie is madly trying to get it entered, but I wanted to post a few pictures to whet your appetite:

~Joyce

Phoebe and I came back from Quilt Market with all kinds of ideas and inspirations, some of which include some major re-arranging in the shop. We’re going to start moving things around this week. To make it easier for us to rearrange, I’m going to put a few things on sale because I’d rather sell them than move them – all of these are limited to stock on hand, sale ends Sunday, June 15:

- Shortcut to Style brand crystals – 25% off

- Inklingo software – 20% off (come watch the demo movie and you’ll be hooked!)

- Nifty notions brand decorative threads – 20% off

- Ribbon floss – 20% off

- I went around with my pricing gun and put ALL of my 20% off tags out on fabric (after reducing everything that was already on sale!). This is a great time to shop for BACKING fabrics!

- I’m adding more books, patterns, and magazines to the clearance bin regularly – there are some great bargains in there!

Stay cool, and see you soon!
~Joyce