Subway Series

A few weeks ago, my friend Gail posted a link on Facebook to the quilt show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The special exhibition, entitled Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts features over 650 red and white quilts - more on that in a minute. As it goes, one thing led to another, and we hopped on a train from Syracuse Friday to see the show.

We arrived mid day in mid-town Manhattan, and dropped our bags at the hotel in Times Square, fully prepared to see the quilt show. But first, we simply had to do some shopping.

Purl SoHo is a special treat for quilters and crafters who love to play with fabric and fibers from around the globe. The atmosphere is bright, sunny, and friendly - and that's just the fabric and yarns! Staffed with cheerful, helpful people who clearly enjoy what they are doing, this shop, is nothing short of amazing.









Fresh, irresistable colors and comfortable spaces make you forget the bustling urban setting just outside the front window.

Even though it was getting toward dinner time, we made one more stop to shop for fabric (not counting that side visit to Lush). 

The City Quilter, a well-deserved Quilt Sampler featured shop in New York City's Chelsea district, was a short trip from Purl SoHo. Recently expanded, the spacious store rivals those in a more suburban setting. The shopping fare incorporates many favorites: Batiks, bright, contemporary prints, Valdani embroidery threads, books, and New York City-themed fabric and notions. Wow! Sorry, I didn't take any pictures - I was too busy shopping! You'll just have to go and see it for yourself.

On Saturday, after the Red and White Quilt show, we headed to Pins and Needles on the upper East Side of Manhattan. I must admit this new shop was my favorite of the three shops we visited!

Owner Rachel Low has transformed an upper floor, narrow space into a sewer's haven with remarkable flair and decorating savvy. Surprisingly, the shop includes, a bright sunny classroom, complete with window seats for stitching, cozy space to thumb through a pattern book or two, and lots of luscious fabrics to choose from. 

Making use of every bit of real estate and natural light, office space is separated from the main store by a sheer drape. 

Vintage buttons tastefully decorate the tiny powder room. The entire shop feels much bigger than it is! Well done!

Before heading to Pins and Needles, our main destination for the trip was the incredible display of Red and White quilts at the Park Avenue Armory. Some 650 vintage quilts made only from red and white fabric were displayed in circular towers, some hanging at eye-level, many hanging one, two, or three quilt-lengths above. They were displayed back-to-back, draped over poles and suspended in a towering cylinder, similar to a farm silo. Show visitors could view the quilts around the outside of the cylinder, then walk into the center to see the quilts from the 'inside.'

Words and photographs do not even come close to describe the feeling invoked by the presence of all these amazing quilts. Many of them collected at garage sales for $5 or $10. Many whose maker is now unknown. This entire, remarkable collection is the product of one individual, Joanna Semel Rose, whose husband granted her 80th birthday wish to display the quilts as a gift to New York City. Many, many happy returns, Joanna!

The view from the center of one of the quilt 'cylinders,' looking out.

Gail and I said farewell to the City on Sunday morning. During our stay, we gabbed, laughed, walked until our feet ached, ate wonderful food, saw amazing displays of quilts, and supported the New York City quilt shop economy until our arms couldn't carry another thing!

Until next time!

Joan

One Stray Thread

That one stray thread can make you crazy!

You've seen it. Traveling through the quilt show. Marveling at the beautiful workmanship on all the quilts. Log cabin blocks. Baltimore albums. Patchwork. Applique. You notice the colors, the quilting, the shapes.

Then you see it. That dang stray piece of thread. It blends in. . . almost. It matches the quilt. . . sort of. Noticeable, distracting, annoying. Try to look away, but it draws you in. One stray thread.

So remove it. Wait! Hold on! Quilt show rules: "Don't touch the quilts! Hands off! Gloved hands only."

My friend Georgia noticed stuff like that stray thread all the time. She made sure to get a pair of gloves at the quilt show entrance so she could take control of that one stay thread. She knew, it was bound to happen, and she'd be ready!

My friend Georgia passed away about a week ago. She was a quilter. And a fighter. A gem. And a stickler for detail.

I can't wait to go to my next quilt show. I'll be looking for that one stray thread on the beautiful quilts hanging there. And I will remember Georgia.

Will you look for a stray thread, too? Whose memory will it bring back? Who is your one stray thread?

(Thanks Dolly, for sharing this story about Georgia, so I can think of her . . . and smile.)

Warm wishes,
Joan

Conure Therapy

When the fabric scrap bucket gets within reach of the bird cage, feathered friends get curious.

What do they say? One quilter's trash, is another parrot's treasure.

In stitches,

Joan

Comfort Cookies

Everybody has a favorite family recipe. Stuffed in a book. The page stained with grease, dog-eared, and marked with a pencil star to alert anyone who thumbs through the recipe book that it's a winner.

One of my favorite recipes surfaces all sorts of good, yummy memories. A batch of Raisin Oatmeal Cookies can cure a glum mood or pull the sad sacks out of the doldrums. They taste like home.

Hold on! These aren't your average Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, mind you. I think I was in college when I realized that most of the world ate Raisin Oatmeal Cookies that were crunchy and spiced with cinnamon.

Those are okay, but the Raisin Oatmeal Cookies from my memory are soft and laced with pure vanilla flavor. The raisins aren't chewy and hard. They are soft and loaded with juicy flavor, plumped before baking to heighten the cookie-savoring experience.

This recipe originally came from a package of Spry. If you don't know what Spry is, ask your mom or gramma. If she's over 50, she'll probably know. Or there's always Wikipedia!

Want some of my favorite cookies? Visit the Hummingbird Highway website, scroll down, tap on the word "cookies" and download the recipe.

What's your comfort cookie?
Joan

Off and Running

Seems impossible that it's already nearing the end of January. Where does the time go? Anyway, cold weather makes for excellent sewing time.

The first Scrap Therapy pattern for 2011 is ready to sew. Have you started yours, yet? It's a great sit-and-sew project for a snowy weekend. Use all your scrap sizes from your ScrapTherapy bins, and just go at it! Ask for the pattern and classes at your local quilt shop.


As long as I'm on the ScrapTherapy subject, thought I'd share a couple of projects made by students who have attended my classes. Here's Cecelia and her bright and playful version of Flower Ballet. Doncha just love it?







And camera-shy Liz is hiding behind her version of Lightning Strikes Twice. Instead of making her scrappy zig-zag panels with one set of light and dark scrap colors, Liz took control of the situation and reigned in scraps in three color-combinations.

I'm already moving on to designing the next few projects. I'm having a great time working with Creative Grids strip rulers and my scrap fabrics. So far, I've been having a blast with the Kaleidoscope Double Strip ruler. Can't wait to show you the results!

Stay warm!
Joan

Stitchery Giftery

Spoiler alert! If you are on my Christmas card list and you don't want to see what's coming in the mail. Turn away now. (That means you, Jordan!) 

This time of year, I do everything possible to avoid shopping at the malls. So, that usually means I break out the needle and thread and spend time at the sewing machine to make cards and gifts.

This year, it seems hand embroidery has been my sewing craft of choice. And with some great patterns and idea starters, how can you go wrong!

Blueberry Backroads has a pattern series to make small ornaments for the holidays and for year-round. Once I stitched several variations and repeats of the center stitching, I went back to the sewing machine to make the mini-block. I backed it and turned it envelope-style and added a little quilting and a hanger. A little mini quilt ready for the tree!

Next, the cards were made on my printer with some help from PC Crafter clipart, a little glue, glitter, and some spongy space-makers used to create a pocket for the fabric ornament.

Moving on to gift-making. To create whimsical bags big enough to hold a small portable computer or eReader (below), I started with a small embroidery/ applique pattern from Crab Apple Hill.

Then on to the sewing machine. The resulting bag is an original pattern variation from one of the patterns in my soon-to-be-released book, Cut the Scraps. The embroidery patch really could be any machine or hand embroidered motif.

I'm sure I'll have to head to the mall at some point, but not yet, I still have some sewing to do!

Happy Stitching!
Joan

Let it Snow! Then Let it Stop. . . please!

I live in Syracuse, New York. Just south and a little east of Lake Ontario. This time of year, the big lake isn't frozen yet. Without getting too scientific, if the wind blows just right, Syracuse can get walloped with bad weather as winter sets in.

Just so happened, the 'right' combination of wind, and cold, and snow happened this week over Syracuse - and my house. It started this past weekend. It's Wednesday and it hasn't stopped snowing yet.

There is a little landing just outside the back door that leads down three or four steps to the back yard. Small railing. In the summer, it's the easiest access to the patio. In the winter, this landing becomes a wind magnet, often creating interesting shapes with falling and drifting snow.

For some reason, on Monday evening, I thought the amount of snow accumulated on the railing was rather 'amusing.' So I opened the door and snapped a pic. Little did I know what might come next.

The next morning, the wind made some interesting shapes that seemed to defy gravity. Kinda reminded me of that famous painting by Michelangelo on the ceiling - will the two 'fingers' meet or not? More snow.

This was last night. Yup. The two snow blobs are now one big blob. Snow's not done yet.

This morning. No more railing visible. I find the little red hummingbird feeder/holder a bit comical in this picture. That's about eye level for me. Much to my surprise (and dismay), not a hummingbird anywhere in sight!

Another 6-8" of snow is expected today and another 8-10" tonight.

At least I have fabric, thread and a working sewing machine. And heat.

Is it Spring yet?
Joan