At Home in a Quilt Shop

For the last two weeks, I (Teri) have had the privilege of visiting Alaska. Our primary draw was spending time with our son's family, but we've also had the opportunity to visit some lovely parts of the state. And throughout our travels, one thing I've learned is that quilting is alive and well in The Last Frontier!

Whenever we travel, my wonderful husband indulges my passion by driving me to any quilt shop I find in our general vicinity. (The deal is that he gets to pick a BBQ restaurant for every quilt shop we hit. On this trip, I'm way ahead.)

We spent the weekend with my son, his wife, and our adorable grandson, and then took a side trip north to a small tourist town called Talkeetna. We walked through the many shops, most of which featured local artisans' work. While there was no actual quilt shop, there was something quilty in nearly every shop we entered. And much of it was uniquely Alaskan.

"The Blanket Toss today is used as a form of recreation and celebration. But the origin of the blanket toss had a much more serious purpose. Much of the coast of Northern and Western Alaska is barren and flat. The native people of this region would use a blanket made from the hide of a walrus to toss a member of their hunting party high into the air to spot game such as walrus, seal, whale, and polar bear. This practice often meant the difference in the success of a hunt.
This pin cushion represents not only the blanket toss, but also the ingenuity of Alaska Natives which helped them survive in their often harsh environment."

I was intrigued by these unusual thimbles, but I resisted the temptation to purchase one.

One gift shop had this small display of Alaska-themed fat quarters.

In another gift shop, we saw this lovely yarn display.

And then there were these rolled ribbon rabbit flowers.

The next day we ventured further north through Denali State Park, as far as the town of Healy, where we boarded the bus for our tour through Denali National Park. I was happily surprised to look across the street and see this big FABRIC sign; I wasn't expecting a quilt shop in this tiny town! Taking pictures in the shop wasn't allowed, so I can't share the joy with you, but there was a nice selection of Alaskan fabrics and original patterns, created by the owner's niece.

On our way back to my son's home in Anchorage, we sought out our next shop: Sylvia's Quilt Depot in Wasilla. Our GPS took us in a wrong direction, but I called the shop, and a gracious employee talked me there. What a delightful shop! Racks of Alaskan patterns, displays of fabrics designed by local artists (like Barbara Lavallee and McKenna Ryan), and lots of friendly quilters. The shop has an "open sew" on Wednesdays and Fridays, when anyone can come and sew. Some days they have potluck lunches, and on some they order from a local deli. Not just a quilt shop, but a gathering place for fellow stitchers.

A welcoming front-door view: so colorful! Great thread selection, as well as fabric.

The "sew-in" the day we were there was well-attended, and there was a lot of laughing with the sewing.

   

A bit further south, in Eagle River, we found The Quilt Cache. Again, I was greeted with warmth and friendliness. The young lady, above, showed me around the shop, and told me about making the bear's claw wall-hanging with her grandmother. I met the owner, who ironically, has good friends who live in my home town. The quilt world is a small one!

Patterns, wool, threads, rick rack: a bit of everything!

Alaskan fabrics, some designed by local artists.

The color wall, where fabrics go to make room for the newer bolts or collections in the center of the shop.

The following day, we all went to the Anchorage Market and Festival, with a variety of different kinds of vendors. I'm sure you can guess why this tent caught my eye. No better way to display one's goods than on lovely quilts!

The quilts drew us in, and we admired his wood-turning skill . . .

. . . but my attention was grabbed by these needle holders: beautiful wood containers, which open to store needles or pins, secured by a magnet inside. Such pretty and distinctive pin holders.

But when I saw these, I knew he must have a quilter in the family. (Indeed, his niece is a quilter.)
Perhaps unsewing would be less painful with such a beautiful tool. I may or may not have a lovely new awl and seam ripper. 
If you're interested, you can email the artist, David Staeheli, by clicking here.

One of the local quilt shops in Anchorage, Seams Like Home, had a tent set up at the market. They had a display of many fabrics and prints unique to Alaska. I purchased a hand-painted raven panel and received a coupon for a free fat quarter. Guess we'll have to check out the shop!

A good selection of hand-painted panels of prevalent Alaskan animals, including raven, bear, and moose

After the Market, we took a walk through downtown Anchorage. I knew there was a quilt shop in the city and wanted to visit. The Quilted Raven is a lovely shop, with something for everyone who loves needles!

Many Alaskan prints and panels; the wall on the left is full of panels by Alaskan artist Barbara Lavallee.

More Alaskan-themed patterns and stencils

A wonderful assortment of threads and wool fabrics

Talk about a color wall! A slice of rainbow heaven.

There are four more quilts shops here in Anchorage to visit, but I think I've fought photos in Blogger enough for one vacation. Perhaps I'll share more about those visits in a later post, as I'm quite sure we will make the stops. Maybe it's because of the long, dark winters that quilting is so popular, but fortunately, quilters in Alaska don't have far to go to stock up on the supplies of their craft. What a blessing it's been to see such wonderful works of artistic quiltmaking that reflect the stunning beauty of this state.

I was texting with my friend, Barb, telling her about my personal "shop hop." She responded that she always thinks it fun to go to quilt shops, because it's like visiting friends. I have to agree. Quilters are all friends, even if we don't know each other. I felt welcomed and at home in each shop I visited. I may live on the other side of the continent, but when I'm in a quilt shop, even in Alaska, I am at home.

What To Do With the Past

How many of us have doilies and linens that we have inherited from our mothers and grandmothers? I (Kara) have accumulated quite a few over the years. Whether they were given to me as gifts from my grandmother or whether I picked them up on my thrift/antique store adventures, my pile is quite large.

My collection

But the question is, what do I do with them all? My grandmother and great-grandmother, and even my great-great-grandmother spent a lot of time and energy on creating these beautiful works of art. Even if I used them in my home decor on a rotating basis, I would still not be able to adequately show them off in a way they deserve. So instead, they languish away in drawers, boxes, and cedar chests. 

A tablecloth my grandmother started

It's been on the back of my mind to do something with them all, but lack of time and energy has prevented that from happening. Recently, I became a member of the Facebook group, Quilting Vintage, and have been inspired by the amazing things that machine quilters and long-armers have been doing with vintage linens of all kinds. 

I have also searched through Pinterest for doily re-purposing ideas, and I was bit overwhelmed at all the creative options I found. 

Doily pillow from "Ode to Inspiration"

What a gorgeous use of color for these doilies by Sadie Seasongoods

This lovely quilt can be seen at "V and Co."and in the book Make It Sew Modern: Gather, Twist, Pleat, Texture

The above ideas are just a few creative ways that I've found to use doilies, but I think I will put my inherited doilies in a quilt. When I came across these inspirational quilts from Suziqu's Threadworks, I was in awe.

I love the use of velvet as a background

The neutral palette is beautiful

So many different types of needlework were used in this quilt

Now that I have some inspiration, I will need to sort through my collection and plan. I really like the idea of a neutral background in taupes, tans, and beiges. I think that this project will be one that has to be fluid and dictated by the doilies themselves, since they vary so much in size, color, and style.

What a variety!

The doily on the right is a classic pineapple design

My great-great grandmother made these adorable filet-crochet animals.

Handmade crocheted trim

A lovely cuff made by a friend

A sweet bib

Do you have vintage linens stashed away somewhere just waiting for new life? I love the idea of using these doilies, made by my grandmothers' hands, and giving them another story. Hopefully you will be inspired to create something with your collection and visit some of the pages we have linked here. If you have already re-purposed your doilies and vintage linens, please share your creativity. We'd love to see it!

Crazy Quilts, Sessions 4 and 5: Progress

In January, Teri and I (Kara) started teaching a class called "Crazy Quilting: Start to Finish." You can read about how this class came about here. We began with block construction in session one, marking and stitching motifs in session two, and in session three we got creative with ribbon. We have had two classes running simultaneously at different quilt shops, but with different schedules; once a month on Saturdays and every two weeks for six Wednesday evenings. Our Wednesday class wraps up tonight, and we will share our students' finished projects in a future post, but this week we'd like to show you their progress thus far.

As part of the class we gave our students a piece of flannel-backed muslin to use as a practice piece for the stitches we taught. Some of our students turned their practice pieces into samplers, and another neatly labeled her stitches for future reference.

Working on a practice piece

Labeled stitches

A sampler-style practice piece 

Teri and I have taught our one-day crazy quilting class multiple times over the course of the last two years, but the drawback of that class is we rarely get to see the finished outcome of our students' work, let alone any progress they may have made. For this reason, we developed our 6-week class, and we have been floored, amazed, and tickled to see the creativity of the stitchers in our classes. And these aren't even the finished blocks! I won't wax on too much about how pleased we are to see our students' inspiring work; I will let it speak for itself. 

This student utilized the fairy tale theme.

A beautiful flower using hand-dyed silk,
a ribbon stitch, and some French knots

A stunning rose out of wired silk ribbon

A block close-up, with gathered ribbon "fireworks" over the castle

What a delightful, traditional spider and web

Neutral background fabrics set the stage for this student's creative and whimsical embroidery.

Adding a drizzle stitch

A birdbath in a garden

A clever use of narrow silk ribbon

Hardanger embroidery was incorporated into this block

Peaches, hummingbirds, and woven roses: three of my favorite things!

This student is using crazy quilt stitches on her
log cabin-style quilt block made with silk.

Did a love of music inspire this motif?

We love the use of the pearls on this block. 

The daisies are a great use of a piece of trim cut apart. The daisy petals in the motif represent "He loves me, he loves me not."

What a clever use of a crocheted doily!

We have been thrilled with the progress our students have made so far and are grateful that we have been blessed to teach them. They have taken what they've learned and run with it! As with any class we have taught, Teri and I have learned just as much from our students as they have from us. Stay tuned for our final wrap-up and review of this class!