chicago

Crown Royal Quilt

| FellowQuilter

Hi everyone.  Wow, has the time gotten away from me and my blogging habit.  You should know that I’ve been really busy quilting and creating in my studio.  I thought that a good place to begin to catch up would be with my Crown Royal Quilt.

brian-clements-crown-royal-quilt

I finished this quilt last year in October, but kept it under wraps for the most part.  It has been shown at the Yuma County Colorado Fair (of course) where it was awarded “Best Use of Color” and at the neighboring Phillips County Fair in Colorado as well.

On a larger stage… it was exhibited at the Machine Quilters Showcase in Cedar Rapids, Iowa earlier this spring, and I won a faculty ribbon.

Today, my quilt returned from display in Chicago at MQX.  I didn’t win a ribbon, but it’s a great honor to be a finalist, and have your work included in their show.

The quilt features an original design of 84 Crown Royal bag embroideries, carefully cut and sewn into the blocks and borders.

brian-clements-crown-royal-quilt-detail

This was truly a solo work, as I designed, pieced, quilted, and bound this beautiful quilt.  I hope you enjoy seeing it too!

I’ll keep it short and sweet today, as I’m busy with a customer quilt on the longarm, and I should be working.  Thanks for stopping by and checking me out.

Happy Quilting!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Chicago Shopping

| FellowQuilter

Yesterday, we had some time to stroll about window shopping after taking a great tour, which included at stop at the National Mexican Art Myseum in Pilsen.   

http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org

Following the planned tour, I had hoped we’d find time to visit a quilt shop that I had found online prior to our trip from Colorado to Chicago, called the Needle Shop.    

  The Needle Shop

http://www.theneedleshop.net  

     

It’s not your basic quilt store, but a super artistic sewing and quilting space.   The fabrics were carefully selected, and included some independent fabric designers, mixed in with the likes of Alexander Henry and Robert Kauffman.    It’s really unique the way they transfer the fabric from standard flat bolts to a very cool wall of rolled bolts.  The fabrics are so easy to shop, and if you see something you like, they just unclip it and cut what you need.  

They also had heavier weight fabrics, buttons, zippers, and had specialty hardware tucked away smartly in cute little filing drawers.  

An impressive selection of books covered many sewing techniques.   

Rachel was very helpful with my selections, and I had a great time meeting her.  She also told us to go around the corner just a short distance to the Second City Quilt Company.  

   
Second City Quilt Company.   http://www.secondcityquiltco.com. 

   
After a bit of a walk, we found this cute little slice of a store.   They carry some of the more mainstream fabrics by modern designers.   The woman, or shall I call her a dynamo, Gabi was a total hoot.  We had a great time hearing her stories, and telling her ours.   She told us she’s turning 70 shortly.   I hope she doesn’t mind I said that.   This lady is so energetic.   I can see why this shop, less than a year old, is so popular.   

All in all, it was a great afternoon spent pawing over fabric, and being inspired.   I tried to limit myself from purchasing too much, as I’m still whittling away at my existing stash.    I did reward myself just a little bit.   

This is the first time I’ve been to Chicago for any length of time, and I can tell you, it won’t be the last. 

I hope you’ve had an equally thrilling week, and have been inspired by this little glimpse into my world.  

Happy quilting!

FellowQuilter,

Brian