Road Trippin' Finds

This past week, my mom and I hit the road to travel to Texas for my grandsons' birthday party. Of course, any road trip includes a few quilt shops and antique stores, but the bonus this year was attending QuiltCon in Austin one day. Today, I'm sharing a few of my finds from our trip - from sewing notions to vintage Christmas decorations to china. 

My favorite finds are the Necchi toy sewing machine (#21 in my collection) and matching green handled iron. Of course, I just love the vintage green color and they fit perfectly in this display in my sewing studio.....

And then, I picked up a couple of new sewing notions at an estate sale - an Oliso steam iron and an 12" x 18" Olfa cutting mat. The mat is brand new and was only $2! The iron also looks unused and was a steal for $20.

I've been in this vintage tea cup kick lately and have been picking up cups and saucers when I find cheap ones. This trip I picked up a few mismatched plates and containers for a DIY project that's on my to-do list - 3 tiered serving trays. I plan to use dinner plates on the bottom, salad or saucer plates in the middle, and a container such as a sugar bowl or gravy boat at the top. I picked up all these pieces for less than $2 each (most were 75 cents!). I was looking for very inexpensive pieces because I'm sure I will have some breakage when I try to drill holes in the centers for the tiered hardware. Stay tuned for more on this later.

I also picked up a few vintage Christmas decorations to add to my collection. I just love that the label is still intact on the green handled Santa cookie cutter.

I also added a couple of vintage aprons to my growing collection. I'm working on a program for our quilt guild's spring tea in April on the history of aprons, so I'll wait to show photos until later. 

Of course, mom and I love to find unusual places to eat while road trippin', and this time we came across this cute tea room in Crowley, Texas. Lunch was wonderful and was full of beautiful pink flowered china and doilies. 

And no trip to Texas is complete without some BBQ - even if that BBQ was in Oklahoma on the way Texas. It was rustic and filled with native American relics - and this quirky salad bar made out of an old car, vintage window and longhorns.

I'll share more about QuiltCon in another post later.

~Sharla

Leave A Comment

Immersion Retreat

Whew! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. With my mom riding shotgun, I headed to Texas for some spoiling of grandkids, shopping, antiquing, visiting family, International Quilt Market and finally, the Immersion Retreat.

Bonnie Christine, Skye McNeill and me at the Immersion Retreat. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

What is the Immersion Retreat? Well, it was one of the most amazing experiences I've been honored to participate in. The Immersion Retreat evolved from the Surface Pattern Design Immersion class that I took this spring from instructor Bonnie Christine Forkner. Bonnie is a textile designer for Art Gallery Fabrics, Skillshare instructor extraordinaire, and such an inspiring and genuine person. I learned so much in the Immersion course about using Adobe Illustrator, the textile market, and the business of surface pattern design. It was such a great learning experience that no one wanted it to end. And then Bonnie came up with the awesome idea of holding a retreat so that her students of the class could meet, share, bond, and learn from each other. 

We gathered outside the Quilt Market hall for our first lunch together.

My retreat experience started on the first day of Quilt Market in Houston, where several of us met up with Bonnie for lunch, followed by a walk of the market floor. Somehow, though, we all kind of went our separate ways after lunch and never walked the market floor together. I think we all had appointments and other things that we had planned while at market. I was so busy I forgot to take any photos, except for this photo as we began to gather before lunch. I'll be sharing more of what I did at market in later posts.

As we arrived at the Immersion Retreat, we were greeted by warmly lit, rustic buildings and a cozy campfire.

The Pearl Barn at The Prairie At Round Top. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Table setting inside the Pearl Barn. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Another shot of the Pearl Barn. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

On the second day of market, I traveled to The Prairie At Round Top where our Immersion Retreat was held. The Prairie is a beautifully rustic bed & breakfast. The historic homestead was originally renovated by the creator of shabby chic, Rachel Ashwell. The Pearl Barn, where we ate our meals, was decorated by the Junk Gypsies and featured on their TV show. The setting and décor was such a laid back relaxing atmosphere, and was a perfect reflection of our instructor Bonnie's style.

Bonnie held a 2 hour Q&A, sharing her knowledge with us.

Bonnie also shared her talents with us, painting linen goodie bags for each of us. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

A moleskin notebook covered in one of Bonnie's fabrics was inside each goodie bag. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Bonnie is such a caring and giving soul, and she is willing to share so much of her knowledge and talents with everyone. I have learned so much from her.

Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Although the location was amazing, it was the 36 creative women who gathered together for two days of sharing, supporting, creating and encouraging each other that made for such a tremendous experience. I truly feel like I made some life-long friends who will be there to support me as I pursue my creative dreams.

Flower sketch.

But alas, after an evening of drawing, it came to an end all too quickly and mom and I had to head back home to Kansas. I left with a renewed motivation and a ton of ideas that I want to tackle all at once (which means I'll probably be spinning my wheels for a few days until I settle in and start working down my checklist). 

~Sharla

Leave A Comment

War and Pieced

I'm back to share a little more of my trip to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago. By far, the most amazing exhibit on display was "War and Pieced", a collection of quilts from the 1700 & 1800's made from the wool of military uniforms by men in the service. The term 'quilt' is used loosely as most of these textiles were not quilted, had no batting, and were almost never backed. Most were used as wall hangings, or sometimes table coverings, and others were used as game boards.

Click here for information about this quilt

The textiles were all very intricate, many created with thousands and thousands of tiny pieces. Most were very detailed and orderly, much like the military backgrounds from which these men came.

Layered appliqued cornerstone of the above quilt.

Close up of the incredibly intricate layered applique border from the above quilt.

Yet, some had a softer touch, as if they were trying to bring remembrances of their civil life back home to the war zone.

Click here for information about this quilt

Two of the quilts on display were appliqued pictorials created from photographs of actual events with elaborate floral borders surrounding them.

A close up of the appliqued pictorial.

It's hard to imagine a soldier battling in war by day and embroidering on this detailed applique by night.

Close up detail of the embroidered and appliqued border of the above quilt.

The detail in the floral borders was beautiful. I can't imagine the hours of work this took. (And to think, I don't have the patience to finish the binding on my quilts!)

Close up of embroidered and appliqued soldiers. The piping in the block seams adds another dimension to the quilt.

This was truly an awe-inspiring exhibit - be sure to go if you ever get the chance to see it. Unfortunately, the show is no longer on display at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. For photographs and more information about each quilt in the "War and Pieced" collection, click here.

~Sharla

Leave A Comment

The Mark Dunn Encounter

As promised, I'm back to share a little about my road trip with my mom to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska last week. When I saw that Moda Fabrics owner Mark Dunn was going to speak at the opening of  "The Mark Dunn Collection" exhibit, I told the hubby that's what I wanted to do for my birthday. He was happy for me to go as his birthday present to me (because he didn't have to shop for anything, I'm sure) but thought it would be a better mother-daughter trip. So off I went with my mom in tow for a three-day road trip!

The opening of the show was in conjunction with the museum's monthly First Friday event. We had an hour and a half to view the exhibits before Mr. Dunn's presentation, so we headed to the main gallery floor where there was not one, but four shows on display - Color and Contour: Provencal Quilts and Domestic Objects, Marti Michell and the Business of Quilts, War and Pieced, and The Mark Dunn Collection. Today I'm just going to share about Mr. Dunn's exhibit - but stay tuned, I'll share more on the others later this week.

I would divide the collection that Mr. Dunn chose to show into three categories: historical antique quilts, reproduction quilts from Moda's Collection for a Cause fabrics, and modern art quilts. My favorites were the three modern art quilts on display. Two were whole cloth quilts made up of thousands of tiny 1/2" (maybe smaller) photos digitally printed on a cotton fabric. Both were made by Deborah Langsam of Charlotte, North Carolina. The above quilt, titled "Shoe Envy", depicted a pair of bare feet which was made up of photos of pairs of shoes.

But it was her quilt, "Any Woman, Every Woman" that really grabbed your attention. It was comprised of thousands of tiny black and white photos of woman of domestic violence that created a mosaic portrait of a woman whose haunting eyes seemed to follow you as you moved around the room.

Noriko Endo created this landscape quilt, "Nature in New Zealand", with tiny scraps of fabric placed to create the image and then covered with tulle and quilted to hold the scraps in place.

I enjoyed seeing a few of the antique quilts Moda has used for their inspiration for their Collection for a Cause fabric lines, such as this cheddar-colored, hand-pieced and hand-quilted Ohio Star quilt. The original, on the left, was made circa 1870-1890 by an unidentified maker who inscribed the intials "I.M.L." on the back. On the right is Moda's machine-pieced and machine-quilted reproduction quilt, "Charity", made in 2014. The revenue from the sales of the fabric collection were donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

The remaining quilts in Mr. Dunn's show were antique quilts. My favorite was this hand-pieced, embroidered and tied fan quilt from 1880-1900. I love the modern feel of this antique quilt and I love the ruffle on it.

After we had viewed the four exhibits, we claimed our seats on the front row to hear Mr. Dunn's presentation. He talked about his history in the textile industry, how fabric is produced, his colorful wardrobe, and about his interest in quilts and why he collects them. Afterwards, mom and I had the opportunity to visit with him about his exhibit, my interest in textile design and building my portfolio. He told me that my "Molecules of Moda: Bella Solids" quilt hangs in his home. What an honor!!!

It was an awesome day (we also went fabric shopping and antiquing!) and I'll be sharing more in the coming week. Until then....

~Sharla

Leave A Comment

Vintage Birthday Goodness

My birthday was last week. It was very low key as the hubby was on the tractor preparing our fields for wheat planting. I spent the day working on designs for a textile pattern collection. Slowly, but surely, I am making progress towards putting a portfolio together. 

My mom always knows what to give me for presents. For this birthday, she went shopping in her own personal stash of vintage sewing notions. I love vintage plastic advertising thimbles, old tape measures, old-fashioned buttons and snaps on cards, and other sewing notions from days gone by. It's always a challenge to figure out a cute way to display them and that's on my to-do list with these goodies. My mother-in-law also went shopping in her stash and gifted me the hand-painted china celery (?) dish from Germany that was a wedding present to the hubby's great aunt and uncle.

My gift from the hubby is a trip to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska to see the Mark Dunn Collection and to hear Mr. Dunn's (Moda Fabrics) presentation "Quilts and Their Stories". My 'Molecules of Moda: Bella Solids' quilt is in Mr. Dunn's collection but who knows if it will be included in this display. The hubby, however, has chosen to bow out of attending - he said it sounded like more of a mother-daughter road trip, so my mom and I are headed out tomorrow for 3 days of quilting and antiquing fun!

Can't wait to share more when I return!

~Sharla

Leave A Comment

Molecules of Moda & Me At Market

What a whirlwind weekend I had thanks to Moda Fabrics! This past weekend was International Quilt Market in Houston, a wholesale trade show for the quilting industry. My "Molecules of Moda: Bella Solids" quilt was displayed in Moda's booth at Quilt Market this weekend and I was lucky enough to attend!

My quilt placed 3rd in the Moda Bella Challenge which was announced last week on Moda's blog "The Cutting Table". Here I am with my quilt at market. I'm holding a mini quilt I made called "Just The Atom", which is a small section of the larger quilt.

The top three quilts of the Moda Bella Challenge were displayed at Market. The first place winner was "Mountain Balloon Festival" by Katherine Jones of Tasmania, Australia. The second place winner was "Moda Bella" by Janet Jones of Alamosa, Colorado. Since the quilts were all required to use the same fabrics, they really looked awesome hanging together.

The balloon quilt was beautiful and the quilting was awesome. I watched Kat's progress on Instagram (@twocatsquilts) as she created the quilt and knew it was a winner. Kat was the artist who created "Bling" which won Best of Show at QuiltCon this year.

Janet's quilt was a personalized Moda quilt, featuring names of all the Moda designers and store fronts and cars with Moda names and ties. Janet used to be a quilt shop owner. 

Dunn's Duds is a shout out to Moda Fabrics owner Mark Dunn and a nod to his dapper attire.

This quilt had tons of details!

I was honored to meet Mark Dunn and have him sign my mini quilt "Just The Atom".

This mini quilt was a section that I messed up while making my quilt so I tossed it aside and made a new section. I used this section to test my quilting ideas, which helped me to eliminate techniques that I didn't like, such as using the trim feature around the circles and using variegated thread, and allowed me to practice techniques that I hadn't done before, like burying threads. This mini is full of all the mistakes and challenges I encountered while making my "Molecules of Moda" quilt and will be my little memento of the bigger quilt (since that quilt is now a part of Mr. Dunn's personal quilt collection).

Sewn into the back of the mini are corner triangles that also serve as my quilt labels and hangers.

My mom went with me to quilt market and we had the best time. I made some valuable contacts that I hope in the future will materialize into something, met some Instagram friends in person for the first time, touched base with some old friends and saw lots of beautiful and inspiring quilts. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I truly thank Moda Fabrics for the opportunity.

Our week-long, 2200 mile road trip also allowed us to spend time with my grandsons and daughter, visit some cousins, see my son's new home, shop a few quilt shops and spend lots of windshield time together. Give me a day to rest and I'll be ready to go again!

~Sharla

Leave A Comment