No Rest for the Quilty

On the eve of a busy weekend I am getting super excited about the happenings down here in Florida. On Saturday not only do I get to work at an adorable quilt shop, I get to hear Janneken Smucker speak!  I met Janneken back in September at the AQSG Seminar. She is a sweet soul with tons of knowledge. She has recently published Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon, a brilliant book about the " phenomenon of Amish Quilts."

Janneken is an Assistant Professor of History at West Chester University and is a trained cultural historian and a curator. I highly suggest checking out her website here.



For weeks now the shop I work at, Say It With Stitches , we have been preparing for the biggest event  of all! Ricky Tims !!!

We are so excited to be hosting Ricky this Monday the 27th! It's been a lot of work, but I know it will all be worth every moment of stress and work. 

Ricky will be doing four lectures throughout the day. Later that evening we are having a Champagne Reception with Ricky. This is going to be a blast!

  

Fields of Cotton: Repair, Restore

Fields of Cotton: Repair, Restore:  I have been working on and off for a couple of years at a sweet little quilt shop called Alma Sue's Quilt Shop making quilt tops and d...

Repair, Restore

 I have been working on and off for a couple of years at a sweet little quilt shop called Alma Sue's Quilt Shop making quilt tops and doing repairs and restorations. I thoroughly enjoy this because I get to put my hands on quilts that we're lovingly made by somebody else. Sometimes we take in quilts that were made as far back as the nineteenth century, and boy do I love that! 

 They ladies of the shop are mostly of Mennonite or Amish backgrounds, so there is a spot set up for them to hand quilt. A majority of these quilt tops are brought in from family members who have found these little gems hidden in boxes and trunks just awaiting to be found. Like the quilt picture above, the are made with fabrics from long ago. We see calicoes, double pinks, and amazing patterns all made with a special love that only a quilter can understand.

 The latest Restoration I have been working on is a quilt that was made in the early 1990's for a grandchild. It has been greatly loved and now needs some of my lovin'. 

 With a mix of piecing, hand embroidery, hand quilting, and appliqué this adorable quilt has a lot of work and love put onto it. It also has three, yes three, layers of backing along with batting. 

It's the heaviest quilt I have ever held! 

 Well, the middle section and the four corners have to be replaced, as well as some of the blocks. So it was decided that I take all three layers of backing off and disassemble the quilt. That means I have to seam rip all the hand quilting, I know some of you are cringing right now, I also have to redo all the embroidery and appliqué, and guess what, I couldn't be happier that I was chosen to do this. I cannot wait to work through this project and learn from this quilt. It's not often we get to take apart a quilt, we are always putting them together!

I will be posting progress on this as I go along, I do hope you follow along with me!

~Anna V

The Beginning

  Well, here I am. My whole life in front of me, beginning my new adventure, living my dream. Although 2013 was a very hard year for Jason and I I found a new love, that is really a old love, in quilting. I have always been interested in the past. Why we do the things we do and how we do them. 

  When I was young and still today my momma would drag me around with her to antique shops. We would step in and the overwhelming sense of the past enthralled me. I would go off by myself and touch almost everything. The smell of "old" would get me so excited, if you love old things you know what I mean. I would then hold the item trying to connect myself to the past. I would wonder who touched this or who wore this, we're they happy or sad, were the rich or poor, what was their ethnicity, did they love this item as much as I did just holding it.  I was a peculiar child, but I think that's why I love the way I am.

  My absolute love of anthropology and the need to know everything has driven me to study. Study what you ask? Well, old not new. What makes us who we are and who we've become. That stuff just makes my head spin! I love it!

  I am a quilter first and foremost. I love making and sharing. All I think about almost everyday is getting into my Quilt Lair and sewing up a storm. I love the feel of cotton and the beautiful colors awaken my senses. About the middle of last year I decide to look at old quilts for some inspiration. I have a belief that we must learn from our quilting fore mothers if we are ever going to understand quilting as a whole. Well, I came across the American Quilt Study Group floored, there a group totally devoted to researching all these fabulous quilts! What?! I quickly read the whole site and decided this was for me. Then I saw that they had a Seminar. Double What?! Then there was a Scholarship to go to the Seminar. Ok, by this time I was about to pass out. This was so for me, and if you know me this stuff is right up my little alley.

  I filled out the application on the very day it was due. I sent it in and a couple of weeks later, guess what, I got the scholarship! The Seminar was in beautiful Charleston, SC in September. It was such a treat for a newby like me. I soaked up everything. I met so many wonderful researchers and quilters and people who believe in what I want to do. I got mentors and life long friends. I got to touch and, yes, smell old fabric. For this little sheltered southern girl, I was absolutely blown away. This was by far the best thing that ever happened to me next to being born and marrying my husband.

Now my journey has begun, and in the last few months I have ventured into awesome things ( more to come on that later.) my life has changed dramatically and I love every single solitary sweet second of it.

I do hope you follow along in my adventures. It will be fun and mostly entertaining.