ngco - arts » quilt shops

Ladies of the Lake 2008

Jessie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:02:49 +0000

I’m all retreated out! I had a great time at my first-ever (but not last) quilting retreat last weekend. Lots of sewing and even more eating.

I started the quilt I designed (posted last week) on Friday morning. By the time the retreat ended Saturday afternoon, I had all the blocks completed and the sashing strips cut and sewn onto most of the blocks. Now I need to cut my setting triangles, sew it all together and add the borders. It’s on the back burner now until I can get my last several customer quilts done.

There were 40 quilters who attended… we had lots of out-of-staters from places like Colorado, Kansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and others that I’m forgetting now.

Here are some pictures I took at the show & tell portion of the retreat. Many beautiful quilts!

Big day

Josh — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:53:35 +0000

Today is a big day for my little ones. Jude gets to wear his Batman (pajamas) costume to preschool for a fall party. He can hardly stand the wait. We’re augmenting the "costume" with the mask from last year’s Batman costume. You know, making it more legit. Jett will also be wearing his identical costume (sans mask) when we drop Jude off and pick him up. The little one is excited about that, too. As if that wasn’t enough, they get to spend the night with my parents tonight and tomorrow night! F-U-N!

We had a great time with Alison yesterday. She showed up bearing gifts for my little guys, making her a BFF to them. Really, she spoiled them! I’m talking learning games, moon sand, soda, gummy spiders, activity books, Halloween tattoos… they are still talking about Ali’s visit! Ali is still looking wonderful, measuring 40 weeks now. She gets to be full term for another month – and the girls are still growing like crazy… about 4 lbs each now!

Today I’m getting geared up for the quilting retreat this weekend. Here is what I’ll be working on:

This is one of my designs. And for once, it’s for ME! This will go on our bed when it’s finished. It’s currently designed at 84" square – should make a generous coverlet, not big enough for a bedspread. Last September Josh and I went to see LCD Soundsystem & Arcade Fire (2 bands we like) in concert in Kansas City, and Josh was kind enough to shop for fabric with me in a quilt shop down there. It was one of the first fabric excursions where I forced him to be involved – after all this is going on our bed, so he should care, right? This will be a memento of the trip. I’m doing the planning now (breaking down how to construct each unit along with measurements and quantities) while I get the fabrics washed up. I just love starting new projects!

Hopefully, I’ll post updates as this quilt progresses. It might take awhile to finish though, after the retreat, I’m going to focus back on my customer quilts (working on 3 simultaneously – all in varying stages) and get them finished and out the door!

UPDATE: It’s Aplington-Parkersburg FTW (for the win)! When I checked earlier this week, nothing had been updated, but I saw today that A-P won the $25,000 grand prize for the Henkel Helps Schools competition that many of you participated in earlier this month. Thanks for your online votes! Nice to have a deserving Iowa school win!

Quilts for the twin boys

Jessie — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:46:50 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted a preview of these quilts here.

And here I posted pictures of the little boys who will be receiving the quilts.

Here are the finished quilts!

Leslie said that she wanted bright colors and wanted the quilts to be similar but not exactly the same.

Once again, after shopping in a few quilt shops and not finding what I wanted, I went online and found the theme fabric first – the frog prints! The only difference between the fabrics is the background color, one is dark blue and the other is an aqua color. Here’s a closer view of the fabric, I used the respective frog print as the back on each of the quilts. It’s pretty cute.

Both quilts pictured above.

After I had the frog fabric, I pulled fabrics from my stash that coordinated and that read solid. Once I found 25 coordinating fabrics, I made two (2) nine-patch blocks of each fabric and put one block in each quilt.

I didn’t know the little boys’ names when I picked out the fabric or began making the quilt, but once they were born and I learned the names – Carter & Tyler – I decided Carter will have the darker blue quilt (cobalt) and Tyler will have the lighter blue (teal). That works, right?

*Moving on to another subject*

I wanted to make sure to mention I will be teaching a class on making my Four Winds pattern this Saturday, the 18th at the Adel Library Community Room from 12:30 pm – 4 pm.

It should be a great time! We’ll have pizza at 12:30 and start the class at 1 pm. I’ll be demonstrating how to use Triangles on a Roll triangle paper, another technique on making half-square triangles, mitering borders, along with other piecing tips along the way! And with time given in class to work on your quilt, I’m hoping we’ll have most of the quilt done by the time we leave!

I’m working on another Four Winds quilt using Christmas colors – it will make a great gift for… someone. That’s a tease, by the way. More on that later.

More information about the class on Saturday is on the Adel Quilting & Dry Goods blog. We want all participants signed up by tomorrow, so hurry!!!

Alison’s baby shower

Jessie — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:34:21 +0000

Look at this beautiful, glowing pregnant woman! Doesn’t she look great? Would you believe she’ll be 30 weeks along with twins next week? She looks so small!

And check out this score:

And this is what she got from me:

Her baby girl names, you ask?

Neve Audrey

Frankie Grace

Cute, cute, cute! I love the names and it sounds like they are already living up to their names in utero. Frankie is the wild one who bounces around 24/7 and Neve is the one crouched in the duck-and-cover position most of the time!

When I asked Ali for quilt ideas, she said colors she liked for the girls were pink, green and yellow. When I was looking for fabric online, I saw all these wonderful, large scale prints and I couldn’t help myself – I bought almost every one I found on www.equilter.com – one of my favorite online shops.

Since the quilts are so similar using the same fabrics in both, I wanted to make each girl’s quilt unique by adding first initials. I used French Script MT font from Microsoft Word, adjusted the size to 300 and made it bold so I’d have more fabric to applique around. After fusing the letters to background fabric, I used a tiny zig zag stitch to finish the edges.

December 12th (scheduled C-section delivery – baby A is feet-first), will be here in no time! Can’t wait!

Faith, Hope & Love quilt pattern

Jessie — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:18:25 +0000

I have started the next quilt project on my customer list. I’m still not done with the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt; I am done with the quilting, though, a that’s a relief, it took a loooong time. I’m in the process of hand binding it now, and that could take a while, too – I’ve been working on it in the evenings after the kids go to sleep. It’s something I can do on the couch while watching tv.

Anyway, back to the next quilt I need to have finished by the end of the month. My customer spotted this quilt on the Adel Quilting and Dry Goods blog and he called the shop about it. He thought it would be perfect for his wife. The shop referred him to me. I found out who the pattern designer was and contacted her for permission to recreate the quilt for my customer. She was very gracious and granted permission.

The pattern is called Faith, Hope & Love and the designer and pattern author is Susan Marth of Suzn Quilts. Here’s a picture of the quilt from the Suzn Quilts website:

Not until I ordered the pattern did I realize it uses the quilt-as-you-go method, which is the first time I’ve done it. Basically, with quilt-as-you-go, you lay the backing fabric out and baste the batting to it (I used basting spray adhesive) as the first step. In this case, the strips of fabric are sewn to each other as they’re sewn to the batting and backing.

Here’s a picture of the quilt in progress:

It’s a fun method!

A photo of the finished quilt will be posted next week…

Four Winds pattern now available

Jessie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:30:09 +0000

They’re here!

My printed patterns were delivered yesterday afternoon. I was very, very pleased with the quality of the printing and overall finished product.

Let me tell you a little bit about the pattern booklet:

It is printed in full color.
It is coil bound so that it can lie completely flat or open to one page at a time.
It is a smaller size (6" x 9"), convenient for having right next to the sewing machine or cutting mat.
It was written with the beginning quilt maker in mind, with easy step-by-step directions.
It contains diagrams & tips to ensure success.
It has 4 different quilt layouts from which to choose.
It is written to be used with 2" Finished Quarter Square Triangles on a Roll(TM) triangle paper; but full instructions are also included for construction without using the triangle paper.
The quilt finishes at 24" x 24" and is great for hanging on a wall, putting on an end table, or using as a centerpiece.

I am selling the patterns directly, please send me an email at info@zeiglercustomquilts.com if you are interested. My web site is not yet equipped for online shopping, but if you send me an email, I’ll email you a PayPal invoice and ship the pattern to you immediately.

As a special promotion for orders placed now through the end of September, I’m offering free shipping! The price of the pattern booklet is $10.95. And by the way, wouldn’t this quilt look great in Christmas colors? Now is the time to start those Christmas projects!

If you are a retailer interested in selling the Four Winds pattern booklet, please send me a wholesale inquiry at the above email address. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you to Jacque Johnson at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods – where my pattern is also available – for the encouragement (and ideas) to start… and finish this first pattern of mine.

Thank you to Colleen Tauke at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods for testing my pattern and making it so much better with her brilliant suggestions. She’s a pro!

And lastly, thank you to my wonderful, beautiful, creative, artsy-fartsy, wouldn’t-rather-have-any-other-sister-in-the-whole-world *Emily Phipps*. She poured so much time and energy into the design, the changes, the formatting, the prepress set-up… everything. I simply couldn’t have done it without her.

Ames Shopper's Spree

Jessie — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:31:56 +0000

Last Friday and Saturday I worked at the Adel Quilting and Dry Goods booth at the Central Iowa Shopper’s Spree at the Holiday Inn in Ames. I had a great time. There weren’t as many shoppers as anticipated, but it was an ok turnout. With all of the flooding closing roads and highways across the state, it’s no wonder why people weren’t out and about shopping for quilting supplies in droves.

For me it’s always fun to meet new people and to talk quilting. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was meeting Kim who is a reader of this blog and occasional commenter. She introduced herself to me and I’m so glad she did! It’s always nice and encouraging to get feedback from people who read. Kim and her husband live in Marshalltown (even though I have family from Marshalltown, Kim found my blog via the Adel Quilt Shop’s blog); they drove their motorcycle to the show. He said it was strategic in two ways: less gas money and very limited space to haul back quilting goodies!

Oh, and Lisa, to answer your question, the hottest item at our booth was a quilt kit made with nearly all black and white fabrics, with a little bit of red splashed in. Very unique to what the other shops had. Here’s a picture of the booth that Jacque posted on her blog. The black, white and red quilt is on the right side, you can’t see the pattern well but that’s the look of the quilt.

Thanks to everyone who stopped out and said hi.

Quilting only

Jessie — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:47:55 +0000

I thought I’d post a picture of a quilt that was pieced by my friend Rozetta Fiscus – I did only the quilting on it. She did such a good job with it. At our Quilt Circle of Friends meeting, held at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods, Co., all who wanted to participate in a quilt challenge were given a grouping of mis-cut charm squares from Moda’s Pampered Pooch line. Charm squares are supposed to be 5″… these were 4 3/4″ x 5″. The challenge was to use all the fabrics to create a quilted project.

I stitched in the ditch around the purple borders and around the hearts, then I echo quilted around the hearts, vine, leaves and flowers in the border and stippled the rest of the space. In the small white border between the purple borders, I quilted a series of hearts and flowers. Rozetta plans to embellish this quilt with buttons.

Four Winds

Jessie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:30:44 +0000

Here is one of my current projects. It’s a small quilt that will finish approximately 24″ square – great for putting on a table or hanging on a wall. I’m also writing a pattern for it; I will teach a class on how to construct the quilt later this year at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods in Adel, Iowa.

The pattern is written for beginning quilt makers, although obviously a quiltmaker with more experience could easily piece it together.

This would be a good pattern for someone who hasn’t yet tackled quarter-square triangle units before. A QST unit is a very common component of many traditional quilt blocks. My pattern will show a variety of different ways to construct these common QST units.

This is a quarter square triangle unit

I haven’t sewn the blocks together yet, and I’m really not sure which arrangement I like best. What do you think?

option 1

option 2

option 3 (pictured above)

option 4

Adel Quilting and Dry Goods

Jessie — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:05:02 +0000

Let me tell you about one of my two favorite quilt shops.

Adel Quilting and Dry Goods is the shop closest to my home and heart. It’s owned by Jacque Johnson and her husband Frank. Check out their website here. Be sure to read up on Jacque’s blog here or as linked through the shop’s homepage.

Adel Quilting and Dry Goods is relatively small in size, but don’t let that fool you. It is packed with all things quilting. Jacque stocks a great selection of fabric, kits, rulers, notions, books, tools – any and every thing you would need to get started quilting along with the supplies and the know-how to keep you learning and finishing projects.

And speaking of learning, there are always classes offered to fit every level of quilter. In addition to classes, Adel Quilting and Dry Goods hosts Quilt Circle of Friends – a monthly meeting for quilters to gather to talk quilting, share techniques, show off projects and more. If that wasn’t enough, the shop frequently organizes open sewing events at the local library’s conference room. It’s a great opportunity for customers and friends to get away to laugh and sew together.

The hallmark of any successful quilt shop is friendly help. And that’s exactly what you’ll find at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods. Like Jacque, the shop’s assistant manager Colleen has years of sewing and quilting experience along with good taste! Both are willing, ready and able to help you find what you’re looking for and offer excellent advice. Simply put, they are experts!

Lastly, I’d like to mention that Adel Quilting and Dry Goods cares about the community. I can’t remember a time when the shop and its customers weren’t working on a special community project. From comfort quilts for the sick, to charity quilts for the needy, to projects supporting military families, this shop gives back.

Adel Quilting and Dry Goods celebrated its 5th year of business last summer. I can speak for all of its loyal customers when I say we’re looking forward to many more years to come – the quilts we’ll make and the memories we’ll share.