If you have never been to Iowa, now is the time! Our friends at Helios Stitches N Stuff have a charming quilt shop in Mount Vernon and the Iowa Quilt Museum is now open! We are excited to share with you a little about the … Continue reading Blog Shout Out | Helios Stitches N Stuff
There was so much to see at Quilt Market, here is part 2 to share with you! In order to offer as much variety in design as possible, we partner with several artists/designers to create their own collections for Quilting Treasures. It’s great to be … Continue reading QT Quilt Market – Salt Lake City Part 2
On the heels of last week’s patriotic themed blog and as a nod to the upcoming Memorial Day remembrance, we are proud to share with you the Quilts of Valor Challenge of 2016! We were thrilled when HQMS approached us to sponsor this wonderful opportunity. … Continue reading QT Quilts of Valor Challenge 2016!
Our company history dates back to 1807 when our cotton printing plant was established by Rhode Island governor, William Sprague. We are proud of our heritage and our place in the American Textile Industry! Antiquities was born from our passion for embracing our rich traditions … Continue reading Introducing Antiquities
We love fabric and people who love fabric, of course! To share the love, as part of our Fall Quilt Market, we held a contest for a blog shout out! What fun it was to interview the winners. Here is the first winner, Gina Gempesaw of Gem Hill Quilts!
Tell me a little about your business?
I have been a quilter for over 18 years. I used to do a lot of cross-stitch. But, as soon as I discovered quilting, everything clicked in place and I hardly ever do any cross-stitch anymore. I have been working at a local quilt shop for about 15 years now with the last 4 years at the The Round Bobbin Quilt Shop in Ambler, PA. My husband of over 20 years is quite supportive of my fabric habit and has, only very occasionally, asked for a gift of a quilt!
What is the focus of your business? My company is all about my original quilt designs. They appear in various magazines and books. Some of them are free pattern downloads for fabric collections. I have other patterns that we run as Block of the Month programs or as classes at the local quilt shop. Lately, I have started to make projects and write tutorial blog posts for AccuQuilt.
What inspired you to start your business? Early on, I realized that I prefer to create my own designs. When I did pick a pattern up, I would instantly start re-writing it in my head! Clearly, I needed to create and write my own patterns.
What color combinations do you find yourself using over & over & over? I have quite the eclectic collection of quilts. I have designed projects using reproduction fabrics to very modern prints, from taupes to bright novelties, from 2-color quilts to scrap quilts. However, I will admit to being pretty partial to brights and fabrics with lots of color.
Favorite memory of working with fabric? There are so many to choose from! One time, I was nervously working with a lot of curved piecing and bias edges, using the “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” block. Every completed block seemed wonky. I was so thrilled and delighted to find that all the blocks fit together and the quilt turned out beautifully!
Favorite part of your work? I love designing and piecing quilts.
What draws you to Ink & Arrow fabrics? The vibrant colors, the crisp designs – it’s all just so much fun!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself? I love math and used to compete – and sometimes win – math tournaments in school. Very nerdy of me, I know!
I&A Comments: Math is a huge part of quilting – it must have helped you out a lot along the way! 🙂
Explain an example of a “happy accident” in your work? When I was working on the Quilting Treasures’ Quilting Temptations collection, I so dearly wanted to used this circle motif with pieced sections. It looks a bit like a “Lifesavers” candy. However, it’s not the easiest block to make. In the meantime, I was also working on a totally different project where I had been cutting out blocks from other pieced blocks. That just opened my eyes! To simplify the circle motif, you just make a pinwheel block and cut the circle from that pinwheel! Easy-peasy! See example below!
Here are a couple of great pictures from Gina of her work… Visit her at Gem Hill Quilts to see more!
We are so excited to have Gina as a winner of the blog shout out! We look forward to seeing what Gina comes up with using our Ink & Arrow fabrics!!! Thanks Gina!
One of the best parts of working in this industry is the people you meet and the stories you hear. We all have a story; we’re excited to share some insight into some of our new friends. As part of our Fall Quilt Market, we … Continue reading Blog Shout Out! Plum Easy Patterns Part 1
What a whirlwind! The new year is upon us and it’s already mid January! Can you believe it!?!?!?!? We hope you had a relaxing and fun-filled holiday season! Time to get back into the swing of things.
We are excited that our designer, Desiree Designs, will be attending the Road to California Quilt show! January 21-24 in Ontario, CA. We are proud to be Ruby Sponsors of this quilt show and we know it will be an awesome event!
For more information, check out the Road to California website.
Desiree Designs will be showcasing her fantastic art and patterns in booth # 1924-1926, if you are in the area, swing by and say hello!!!
Lazy Little Ladybugs is Desiree’s most recent collection. Look at these adorable fabrics! What a great fabric line for your favorite little ladybug!
Click on the image below to see the rest of the collection at quiltingtreasure.com!
One of my favorite things, besides fabric (of course) and print/pattern (of course) is color.
I remember opening up my new crayon box and sitting there studying the crayons as if they were color chips. I didn’t dare use my favorite colors, and, ummmm, every color was my favorite! 🙂 Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have multiple sets of crayons. There was one that was dedicated for “show only”. Kind of like your mom’s “good scissors” that were only for fabric. I still think twice before using my scissors – every time!!!
Things haven’t changed much, I still love staring at color and I found my niche working here! I’m so lucky!
So…when I saw this collection of “basics” or “blenders” by Dan Morris, I immediately fell in love. This is my visual Ode to Scrollscapes and I hope you enjoy it!
Below, I took samples from the fabric to show the variations within the selvedge to selvedge repeat! So many great options. It’s really a bunch of fabrics in one!
I’ll be back next week to talk a little more about colors, color stories and how to pick the perfect palette for your next project!
Next week, I’ll announce a new contest where you could be the winner of a fat quarter of each of these colors! Come on back, we want to spoil you with fabulous, colorful, Scrollscapes fabrics!
~ Mattie Stepanek
I am thankful for… so many things. I make it a point before I go to bed each night to think of something I was especially grateful for that day. Of course, there are days of sunshine and days of shadows, but there is ALWAYS something to appreciate.
The above designs are from our “In Bloom” collection by Dan Morris. I love the rich, vivid colors and the beautiful flowers. Color and pattern are some things that always bring me Joy, I hope you find joy in the little things today and always… Happy Thanksgiving!
Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.
TRAVELING TUFFET ALERT!!!!!!!
The Tuffet is on the move! Our mini-tuffet is off on her journey from Quilt Market in Houston! First stop was the Shipshewana Fabric Show in Shipshewana, IN. Our friend Brenda from Sew Creative Threads is holding our mini-tuffet. The Ombre Scroll Stained Glass Quilt is featured on the wall.
Next stop: Our Traveling Tuffet made her way to Trevathan’s Sweep & Sew Shoppe in Hillsdale, MI. What a fun shop window featuring QT’s Janet Wecker Frisch collection “Letter Stitch” .
Patti, is shown here in front of the great window display.
In stores now, our new collections, Heads Up by Studio 8 and For Love of Country by Dan Morris for QT. Take a look, there are a lot of great creative possibilities! See the full collection and patterns by clicking on their names above.
On the QT 