Amy Bradley Class

When I heard Amy Bradley was teaching a class in Holton Kansas at Quilting on the Square, I couldn't sign up fast enough.  I love this woman's patterns.  They are so much fun and so happy.  I love art that makes me smile and humor shines through all her stuff.

Amy specializes in blanket stitch applique which is my favorite form of applique so of course I had to take this class.  There were about 22 women in the class and the lady from Colorado didn't make it so I traveled the farthest.  Cool.  We were supposed to bring our sewing machine so I hauled my big Janome 300 miles and a block down the street just to find out we probably wouldn't need a machine. The only downer all day.  Luckily one of the clerks carried it down stairs for me.  

The facility was roomy and well lit.  It was a very nice huge classroom.  Such a great facility for a quilt shop.

Amy brought 6 or 7 of her quilts including the camper quilt which was the pattern I'd brought with me.  She spent the first hour or so explaining her process and how to use her patterns.  I did pick up a valuable tip in the morning class.  She told us about adding an additional layer of white muslin with fusible to the back of fabric you can see through to the background fabric.  I'd never thought of that before.  I knew I was going to learn some new stuff in this class.

After her lecture, we traced and cut and snipped and ironed items together based on the placement sheet in her pattern.  She also gave us a good tip to do the placement of pieces in sections.  

After a yummy lunch catered by Quilting on the Square we had another lecture.  Amy talked about the way she does blanket stitch.  I learned that when she comes to sharp points she turns off the blanket stitch and straight stitches around the point.  WHAT??????   Brilliant!!!!!!  I also learned that she cheats corners and makes sure her stitch ends right in the corner.  Then when she is in the corner she takes a diagonal stitch into the fabric.  Amazing.  I've been doing blanket stitch applique for about 6 years and I've struggled with corners since I started.  Not any more!!!!!!

I chatted with some of the ladies while we were cutting and tracing and heard that there were two quilt shops in Lawrence KS right across the street from each other.  Sarah's Fabrics is supposed to pretty good sized with lots of fabric and Stitch on Needlework Shop which is smaller but has wool and more needlework projects.  Armed with that information, I decided this would be a stop on the bus trip. 

It was a really fun day.

Bus Trip Scouting Trip Part 2/ Amy Bradley Class

When I was scouting shops for the the bus trip in February I stopped at Quilting on the Square in Holton KS and found out that they were having a class taught by Amy Bradley on March 12.  I couldn't sign up fast enough.  I love Amy Bradley's stuff.  I've done Sleepy Acres as part of a group project.
 

I've bought several others but they haven't made it to the top of the to do list yet.  I asked several friends to join me at the class but it seems  this was a very busy weekend for a bunch of people so I was on my own.  I decided to check out some shops that were possibilities for the bus trip this fall.   I left home at 5 a.m. on Thursday because it was a 5 hour drive to Wichita and I had a bunch of shops I wanted to check out.

The trip didn't start off as planned.  My check engine light came on as I drove down my street.  I checked the manual and since the light wasn't flashing I decided it was okay to drive it.  It crossed my mind that I could use mom's van but it was 5 a.m. and I didn't want to wake her up.  I do try to be considerate once in awhile.

I made good time and got to Hen Feather's Quilting and More at about 10:30 a.m.  Cute shop.  Bright and cheery.

They had some really nice samples.  A couple I was tempted to buy, but I don't need any more fabric, patterns, fabric, notions..... so I didn't succumb.  Yay me!!!!!!  They have a wide variety of fabric types including a nice selection of batiks.

It was a pretty nice size shop with ample parking so it is a good candidate for the bus trip.  The bus trip will be there the day before their shop hop starts so they should be stocked up with cool stuff.

A few miles away is a Quilt Sampler 2014 shop called Material Girls.  I LOVE THIS SHOP.

 It is right up my alley.  Bright, modern fabric. amazing samples (their quilter is outstanding) and lots of variety.  There are great brick walls in this shop and really high ceilings so the quilt samples can be hung full length.

 The clerks were very helpful and attentive.  They even had a sample made of hand dyes to tie in with a book they had on using your hand dyes in projects.

What???? I think this might be the first time I've seen hand dyes in a fabric shop.  So lovely. Plus they had this gorgeous McKenna Ryan quilt hanging in the shop.

How could you not love this quilt.  McKenna is so amazing. This shop is going to be on the bus trip, no question.

The third shop in Wichita I visited was Picket Fence Quilt Co. It is a nice shop in a small strip mall on the west side of town.  They carry some yarn as well as quilting fabric.  There was a nice variety of fabric types.  Lots of samples and a very friendly owner.

There were some patterns I'd never seen before that were very cute.

I really liked the cute teapot block of the month quilt that they had designed in house.

Don't think I'll put Picket Fence Quilt Co on the bust trip not because there was anything wrong with this shop I just don't want to do all three shops in Wichita, I'd like to mix things up a little bit.  It is worth a visit, though.

So bye bye Wichita and off to Newton, KS to check out Charlotte's Sew Natural.

This shop is such fun.  It includes 3 store fronts in the quaint downtown area of Newton.  It is wall to wall sewing stuff.

Great fabric, some wool, tons of notions, lots and lots and lot of patterns and books.  I think this shop has something for everyone.

In one of the store fronts they have hand made gifts for sale as well as their classroom.  The owner wasn't there at the time of my visit but the women in the shop were very helpful.

They had tons of cute samples on the wall and it seems that the store just kept going on  and on.  They had some lovely embroidery and colors were everywhere.

Their fabric choices were wide and varied.  I'm excited to take the bus trip to this store.

 By the time I left the store I was getting hungry so I bopped across the street to this charming little deli/bakery in the hopes they would have a vegetarian sandwich available.  OMG was that a good decision.  The egg salad sandwich was so big I could only eat half of it and it was wonderful.  This might be a possibility for a box lunch on the bus trip.

Next stop on my whirlwind trip was McPherson KS and Stitches Quilt Shop.  Another lovely little shop in small town Kansas.

 I liked the look of the shop with lots of wood and those wonderful high ceilings that let full size quilts be displayed.  This shop had an really beautiful quilt on a bed in the front of the store.

 I was tempted to make that quilt but it called for 40 + fat quarters and I decided I needed to use some of the stuff I already have in my stash.  Have you heard me say that before?  This store was mostly muted colors, with brown blue and green being very prominent in the shop.  There were several samples in the shop that I was drawn to and the owner was very nice.

There was a whole line of fabric with muted blues and grays that I was really drawn to and hadn't seen before.  I just love discovering fabric I've never seen before. I'm thinking this shop will be on the bus trip but they are on the cusp.

Back in the car, I was headed to Junction City KS to visit Quilter's Yard.  This is a nice little shop that sells Pfaff machines.  They had one sample that I love, love, love with ombre fabric.

I already own the pattern but this was done in some really nice colors.  The rest of the shop was fine but nothing special and I think it is a fairly new shop so they are probably still building up their inventory.

 The owner was busy helping another customer when I was there so I didn't get much attention but it really wasn't her fault.  The other customer was pouring her heart out.  It won't be on the bus tour.

All About Quilts in Manhattan Kansas was my last stop for the day.  My butt would be glad to get out of the car.

This shop is a little dark but has tons of cool fabric and notions.  It is a fairly good sized shop with a wide variety of fabrics.  I loved a few of the sample quilts and they had the patterns and fabric of the samples.

That is always a good thing.

There is a retreat center in the back that you can rent out for $800 for a weekend that sleeps 14 or 16.  Not bad.  The owner was very helpful and I like all the women I spoke to while there.  I don't think we'll be able to work them into the bust trip but they are worth a stop if you are in the area.

I was so happy to get to the Super 8 in Holton.  I was lucky to get a room as there was a wrestling tournament in town.