A Saturday with Edyta

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.

I had the good fortune to be offered a ticket to the annual TVQA (Tennessee Valley Quilters Association) Assembly Day that was held this Saturday. Over 500 quilters from Tennessee, northern Alabama and northern Georgia gathered in Winchester, TN to attend the event and spend a quilt laden day with guest speaker, designer and author, Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.

Edyta's presentation, "Reasons for Quilting," was an inspirational and touching narrative of her introduction to quilting by her husband's mother and grandmother and her quilting journey that took her into designing quilts and fabrics, and authoring books that showcase her quilt patterns. Over 100 of her quilts accompanied her on stage as she told her story. Here are a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

Scrappy quilt from Edyta's collection.

She really likes scrap quilts!

Making quilts with others,,, reasons for quilting.

About a million half-square triangles from a patchwork swap.

A combination of scrappy patchwork stars with applique.

Edyta Sitar with one of her newest quilt designs.

Along with the delightful presentation by this acclaimed designer and author, I reconnected with old quilting friends and met a few new ones. Martha shared her photos from the open air quilt show in Sisters, Oregon. I enjoyed lunch with Debra and Gayle and ladies from their guild. Gayle was later sworn in as the new Secretary for the Association. Brenda, a quilter from Alabama and I exchanged stories about the quilt shops in Huntsville and found we had a mutual friend at Patches and Stitches.

4 Patch Posey quilt made with Bora Bora.

Shannon from Fabrics N Quilts had a stunning kaleidoscope quilt (4-Patch Stacked Posie pattern) made with Blank Quilting's Bora Bora collection. Notice the inner block borders and corner stones. She did a great job quilting it, too!

Detail of kaleidoscope 4-patch blocks.

Coral, from Sew Clever Fabric n More, reminded me about the upcoming "Christmas in July Shop Hop" (July 27 - August 3) in middle Tennessee. And I'll be joining Marita at The Quilters Path next Saturday, July 27, to teach my Intro to Free-Motion Quilting class.

The Rock Candy fat quarter bundles are going fast!

The vendor booths at Assembly Day were really buzzing, too. Look! The Rock Candy fat quarter bundles at The Quilters Path table were almost all gone!

My Fabric Rep Trek: Patches and Stitches

This shop is like a two-headed coin—you win no matter what. Patches and Stitches, located in Huntsville, Alabama, is both a quilt shop and a needlework shop. If you enter the front door from the street, you walk into the needlepoint and stitchery area.

The needle point and stitchery entrance of Patches and Stitches.

If you take the driveway to the parking area in the back, you'll enter into the quilting and fabric area.

The quilt shop entrance of Patches and Stitches.

Walking through the back door leads you into the main room which has a centralized cutting table surrounded by fabrics, books, quilting gadgets of all kinds, notions and patterns.

Quilting fabrics, notions, books and pre-cut fat quarters are located in the larger room. 

The extensive selection of fabrics is grouped by color and theme.

Quilting cottons in the shop are arranged by color.

Off the main room is the classroom with ceiling-to-floor quilts and class projects hung on the walls. These quilts are exquisitely pieced and quilted. 

Class samples haningg in the classroom.

The quilts in the classroom are colorful, classic and beautifully made.

Quilts and class projects are displayed in the large classroom.

Classes are offered for quilters of all levels: for beginners to learn the basics and more skilled quilters that want a challenge of more complex or advanced techniques.

Class projects on display.

Patches and Stitches also has a very good selection of pre-cuts, Fabrication strips and fat quarters for fast and fun projects or to beef up your stash. The selection of books and patterns provide inspiration as well as instruction for using these fabric goodies. It was also nice to find a selection of quilting stencils at the shop.

Precut fabric bundles, a selection of quilting books and quilting stencils.

If you have multiple fiber addictions (quilting as well as needlepoint and stitchery), you'll revel in this room with its fabulous assortment of threads for hand stitching, needlepoint, hand embroidery and canvas work.

Threads and yarns for hand stitching and needlework.

Quilting and sewing theads, along with beads are also available.

More threads and yarns and kits for hand stitching.

This metalwork art piece hangs outside at the back door. It's a perfect preview in color and artistry of what you'll find inside. So stop by, take it all in, and be sure to take some "quilting goodness" home with you!

Metalwork art hangs beside the doorway.