What An Awesome Day

Some days your quilting opportunities are better than others, and this past Thursday, I had an experience that ranks right up at the top of the list of really fun stuff! I just absolutely loved the couple of hours spent listening and learning.

Nationally known quilt and fabric designer Laurie Simpson visited Chillicothe's Old Town Fabric Shop for a trunk show. What a treat! Seeing so many - and I do mean many! - fantastic quilts from the designer herself was really fun. She shared inside stories about the quilts in addition to providing background and context for the creation of some. I took a  few pictures - not nearly enough - but I think you will enjoy these; many you will recognize from patterns and books you've purchased and made, or from magazines.

Meet Laurie Simpson with Old Town Fabric Shop co-owner and hostess Cindy Henderson.

This table of quilts is what we feasted on throughout the show. Oh my goodness, what lovely sights! I wish I had a picture of every one of them, but I do not. I will share quite a few, though!

I won't go into great detail about every picture, but I will give you just a bit of the background that Laurie shared with us. She and her sister, Polly Minick, began their business because of the rugs that Polly hooked. Laurie made a quilt that mimicked one of Polly's rugs, and the combination resulted in several wildly successful lines of fabric, patterns, books, and rugs all featuring a very appealing Americana theme. (That's the synopsis of their story; Laurie told it much more eloquently!)

I will show you the rest of my photos without narration. I will just say that some of them are fuzzy; the girls were showing them around the room, and there were a few times that I didn't click my camera button as quickly as I needed to.

Aren't they wonderful?! I really appreciated the opportunity to see a nationally-known quilt designer right here in my own backyard. Opportunities like this teach all of us a few things. I learned that Laurie does a lot of hand quilting, and she does it without marking precise lines. Much of her hand quilting is done with a bit of wonkiness, with freehand marking. She also uses large stitches. I need to keep this in mind as I too often put off quilting a top because I want it hand quilted and I think it will take too long. Not so!

Another thing that Laurie stressed is that we don't have to have all our reds or blues or whatever color matching precisely. She uses many, many scraps to make her quilts and says that the range of reds or blues that she includes offers quite a bit of depth and richness to the quilts. I agree, and will try to be less OCD about colors matching.

Finally, I was reminded that pieced backs are okay - which I've done, and I like, but I sometimes need reminding that this option is out there. More than a few of her quilts had backs that were as interesting as the fronts! I like that, and need to make my own backs interesting.

If you'd like to follow the Minick and Simpson blog, click here. Maybe you will learn some new things, too.

I hope Laurie found her trip to Chillicothe worth her while. It sure was a treat having her here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!