Charlotte and Brittany Williams are from Riverside, California. Both quilters, Road 2016 was their first time at the show. They heard about it from their quilt guild, Raincross Quilt Guild in Riverside. Charlotte’s running partner taught her how to quilt in 2012. Brittany has only been quilting for 6 months. Since starting, she has made 7 quilts; six of them in the two months prior to the show. She has done a lot of hand work in the past (knitting and crocheting) so quilting was a natural addition. Her favorite pattern so far is a nine patch and disappearing nine patch.
It’s never too early to share your love of quilting with your daughter. Marina Caraway brought her 1 year old daughter, Everleigh, to the show.
Marina loves to quilt. Road 2016 was her first time at the show. She bought a kit for a block-of-the-month quilt and thought the displays “were beautiful.” She can’t wait to come back next year.
Grandmother Judy Brink, daughter Lori Vandenburg, and granddaughter Allison Vandenburg (9) like to go to their own quilt retreat twice a year in Palm Springs. It is a great time for them to share, swim, and quilt. Alison’s first time at Road was when she was 6 weeks old. She likes sewing pillowcases and taking the scraps from her mother and grandmother’s quilts and making little handbags. Lori’s first quilt was a baby quilt for Allison that Judy helped her make. Judy has been sewing since she was 6 years old. Judy’s mother taught her how to sew and at age 91, she is still participating in her church’s sewing circle.
The first time Valerie Yoshimura and her daughter, Vivian Shay (13) came to Road it was in 2014, two hours before closing on Sunday afternoon. “Whoops!!!” was their reaction. This past year, they knew better and stayed two nights at a local hotel so that they could take their time enjoying the show. Vivian designs her own clothes and has taught herself how to draw her own patterns. Valerie sews, embroiders, and hopes to be a quilter someday. She liked seeing what people do with their creativity. Remarked Valerie, “Road is not just for quilters. Anyone involved in fabric arts has a place here. It is worth taking a day off for!!”
Road 2016 was the third time Angie and Georgia Germain have come to the show. Residents of Escondido, California (near San Diego), Georgia, age 14, said she sees new things every time she comes. She has been sewing since she was 10 with her mom’s encouragement. She says it is a way for her to use her art skills. Georgia has made one quilt by herself and has helped her mom make others. Quilting is a hobby they enjoy doing together — and going to Road!!
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Archive for the ‘Road 2016’ Category
Mothers and Daughters Who Quilt
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016Meet Laurie Tigner: Road 2016 Teacher and Quilt Award Winner
Wednesday, April 27th, 2016 
Laurie Tigner with Road’s owner, Carolyn Reese[/caption]
Laurie won first place for Traditional, Wall, Other for Cameo Rose.
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Cameo Rose made and quilted by Laurie Tigner[/caption]
A whole cloth quilt, Laurie used a technique that she continues to learn about. She chose batik because when she painted over it, it gave the fabric a look of stone with shadows and provided the sculpted look of a real cameo. Laurie tried three times to get the appearance she wanted. At one point, being discouraged, she threw the quilt away. Her husband rescued it out of the trash. Laurie took the piece, squished it in a ball and threw it in a corner where it stayed for 3 months until she heard that HMQS needed another quilt for their show. She added ”tons more color” to finish the piece and turned it in. To Laurie’s amazement, Cameo Rose ended up winning first place in the Wall Quilt category. Then it won first place at Road 2016. Laurie has promised the quilt to a friend after she shows it two more times to get back the time and money she put in to the project.
Laurie won another first place honor for doing the quilting on Janet Stone’s winning entry, This One’s Four Ewe.”
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“This One’s Four Ewe” made by Janet Stone and quilted by Laurie Tigner[/caption]
Janet is a close friend of Laurie’s and asked her to do the quilting. Laurie confided that she was “scared to death” to work on the quilt knowing Janet’s status as a master quilter. Laurie “lived in fear” that she would bring Janet’s reputation down. When Laurie heard the quilt had won first place for Traditional, Large, Applique, she was so relieved. “I didn’t humiliate myself.”
What were Laurie’s first impressions of Road? “Huge” and “Friendly.” She was particularly impressed with all the attention to detail.
Laurie’s Road classes all focused on using her Inktense Fabric Painting technique. She said she loved her students in her classes. “They were the best.” One day, Laurie remarked how she couldn’t believe how wonderful California oranges were compared to the oranges she got back in South Dakota. Laurie was totally flabbergasted when the next day, one of her students brought Laurie a bag of oranges from her tree!! “I didn’t expect that.”
To learn more about Laurie, please visit her web page.
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Book Preview: Quilts From El's Attic
Friday, April 22nd, 2016 Quilt as Desired Special Exhibit, where longarm quilters took original antique quilt tops and added a modern flair to them. And Eleanor Burns was on hand to introduce her new book, Quilts from El’s Attic.
Eleanor Burns is a You Tube quilting star, creator of Quilt in a Day, and the perkiest 70 years young woman you will ever meet. During a $5.00 Lecture class, Eleanor shared that Quilts from El’s Attic features 10 antique quilt patterns made in to newer, modern quilt designs. Eleanor’s love of antique quilts is her passion and she set out to simplify those beautiful vintage patterns from the past. In addition to the patterns, Eleanor also includes vintage quilts from her own collection, offering fabric selection advice, lovely sample quilts, history, and yardage and cutting charts. The book went on sale in April.
In her class, Eleanor discussed the history behind some of the famous antique designs along with her modern renditions.
Did you know that in 1860, the Ladies Art Company was the first company to publish quilt patterns? There were no instructions, just pieces of cardboard with a little picture. The Crow’s Nest quilt (circa 1890) was an example of these early patterns.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
El’s version of the Crow’s Nest in her new book uses Civil War reproduction fabrics to create a more modern positive-negative space. Eleanor and her sister created the floral fabrics when Eleanor was recovering from her heart surgery last year.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Did you know that in 1930 the Kansas City Star published a new quilt pattern every week? Women would make that block the day the pattern came out and put the blocks into samplers
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Here is Eleanor’s new version of a block sampler:
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Red is Eleanor’s favorite color! Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Did you know that in 1941, a McCalls pattern sold for 35 cents? The traditional Dresden Plate pattern was quilted by hand. Eleanor took the original design and added an ice cream cone border.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Eleanor has made an ice cream cone template available on her website to make it simpler to create this modern table runner which is machine quilted.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Did you know that the Baptist fan was created for convenience? Church ladies would sit together to quilt. Because there was limited space, they added a curve to their design and used large stitches.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
As always, you can count on Eleanor Burns to give an entertaining look at quilting.
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Road 2016 Special Exhibit: Quilt As Desired
Tuesday, April 19th, 2016 Quilt as Desired, curated by Mary Kerr, a Road 2016 teacher.
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Picture by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Mary teamed with some of the best longarm quilters in bringing this exhibit to life. Mary found the vintage tops for the quilts. She never paid more than $50 for any of them and they were in all kinds of condition. Mary passed the tops on to the quilters who donated their time, batting and expertise in bringing the quilts back to life. Sometimes they added to the top; sometimes they took away. As Mary remarked, “It was a unique marriage of old and new, blurring the lines of the quilting world.” Shows, such as Road to California that display the exhibit, pay to get the quilts shipped to their location and for having Mary come to lead tours and explain the quilts.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
The full exhibit has 40 quilts. Twenty four of them were included in the exhibit at Road 2016. In 5 years, when Quilt as Desired is done touring, all of the quilts will be auctioned off for various quilt causes chosen by Mary and the longarmers.
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Photo by Brian Roberts[/caption]
Miss Sally was a top quilted by Sally Garuet, founder of the American Quilt Story Group. The original fan top is circa 1930. The Art Deco quilting was done by M&M Quilting.
This Dresden Plate top entitled Melon Smoothie was quilted by Marty Vint of Baltimore, Maryland. Mary has macular degeneration and estimates she will only be able to quilt for 2 more years before she loses her eyesight. When this quilt is auctioned off, the proceeds have already been designated to benefit macular degeneration research.
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Photo by Brian Roberts[/caption]
As Mary said, “No woman ever started out to make a quilt top. A quilt top deserves to be quilted.” All it takes to finish a quilt is time, talent, and resources – which this special exhibit offered for these amazing quilt tops.
You can go to Mary’s web site to find out where Quilt as Desired is going next on its tour. You can also purchase a DVD of the entire exhibit.]]>
Welcome to Carol’s Zoo
Saturday, April 9th, 2016In the mid-1980’s, Carol Cruise got cancer.
When she was going through her chemotherapy treatments, she wanted something to do on her “good days” when she was feeling better. A friend gave her a kit to make a teddy bear. Unfortunately for Carol, the kit had a million pieces and she did not enjoy putting it together. Carol thought, “If you are going to make a stuffed animal, you should have fun while you are making it.” So she set out to reduce the pieces of the bear to make the project easier. She ended up with a stuffed bear pattern that had just 2 pieces!! [caption id="attachment_3963" align="aligncenter" width="611"]
Photo by Brian Roberts Photgraphy[/caption]
Later, Carol thought, “If I could make a bear with just 2 pieces, what other animals could I create?’ That’s how Carol’s Zoo began.
Today, Carol’s Zoo has 20 simplified animal patterns with 8 new ones currently in the “incubator.” Carol is also looking to expand to baby quilts, utilizing a flat or applique version of her animals.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Carol started sewing when she was 5 years old, under the guidance of her mother, a Vogue couture seamstress. Carol’s mother believed that the inside of a garment should look as good as the outside and trained Carol in that philosophy. That training came in handy when Carol started working on simplifying her patterns.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Starting a business as a “zoo keeper” was not Carol’s original plan. She was actually one of the first 5 people to start the customer service department for Levi Strauss. For several years, she had her day job and shared her animals at local shows in the San Francisco Bay area on weekends. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s that Carol plunged in to making Carol’s Zoo her full-time work. She sold 3 of her patterns to McCalls who still carries them in their pattern books.
What is Carol’s creative process? “I stare out a window and mentally trace my designs, thinking about how I want a pattern piece to look like. Then I draw it out, tweak it, and redraw it until I get what I envision.” Carol has “so many ideas” that she is working on: scarves, vests, tote bags, spirit dolls, and purses too. She keeps a notebook with her everywhere she goes just in case a new idea pops up.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Road 2016 was Carol’s first experience as a vendor for the show. What did she think about Road to California? She enjoyed all of the enthusiasm of the customers and appreciated the opportunity to showcase what she loves doing most: designing and sewing stuffed animals.]]>
Do You Know Cuddle Fabric?
Thursday, April 7th, 2016 Shannon Fabrics had a big presence in Road’s 2016 Marketplace. Featuring their signature “Cuddle” fabric collection, Shannon Fabrics showed guests why they have become a household name when it comes to plush fabrics and how they are Making The World a Softer Place™. In their booth, they were able to demonstrate a variety of tips and techniques using Cuddle, as well as how all their fabrics can be used alone and together with other fabrications, including quilting cottons.
A huge hit with Shannon Fabrics booth were all the Cuddle Charm Packs they gave away. Their charm packs were a great way to be introduced to using Cuddle Fabric and are perfect for making a baby blanket or a baby pillow.
During the show, one of the $5.00 Lecture classes featured Quick Quilts With Cuddle. The class was taught by Cuddle experts Pat Wodskow and Cindy Surina. Pat and Cindy shared tips and techniques on how to work with Cuddle fabric. The first thing they pointed out was why Cuddle is a superior fabric to Minky. While Minky was the first plush fabric, Pat remarked how it has a thinner backing and is a cheaper quality. That is why you can find it at Wal Mart and JoAnn’s. Cuddle has a higher weave backing along with a higher, thicker, and longer pile making it more stable than Minky. As Pat noted, “Cuddle is the good stuff.”
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Pat Wodskow and Cindy Surina being introduced in their class by Randy Graves. Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
What were some of the tips Pat and Cindy Shared?
When Cutting Cuddle
- Cuddle does not fray but you will get some “Cuddle dust” when you cut it.
- For shorter fiber Cuddle fabrics, use a rotary cutter. For the longer fiber Cuddle fabrics, draw a cutting line on the backside of the fabric and cut through the backing only with scissors. Pull apart and place in dryer to control the “Cuddle dust.”
- Check the nap before cutting each piece to make sure it is going in the right direction.
- The best pattern pieces should be sturdy. You can iron tissue paper patterns to the waxy side of freezer paper. Cut all pattern pieces out first before using them on the fabric.
- Do not use pins to secure pattern pieces on fabric layers. Instead, use pattern weights. Soup cans, coffee cups or tuna cans also work well to keep pattern pieces in place.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Assembling Cuddle Pieces
Sewing Cuddle
- Be aware of the straight of grain and stretch. Cuddle is way more stretchy on the cross grain. Never put cross grain and straight grain together.
- Use a Walking Foot.
- Use a size 90/14 ballpoint (stretch) needle for more stability
- Lengthen the stitch length to 3-3.5 mm
- Sew straight edges.
Caring for Cuddle Projects
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
- Machine wash in cool water. Tumble dry low heat. Take out of dryer just before it is completely dry and hang.
So You Want To Make A Winning Quilt: Road 2016 Best of Show
Friday, April 1st, 2016Melissa Sobotka of Richardson, Texas made and quilted Silk Road Sampler, the 2016 Best of Show winner sponsored by Gammill Quilting Systems. Melissa received $10,000 for her winning entry depicting an ancient Istanbul spice bazaar.
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Silk Road Sampler by Melissa Sobotka[/caption]
You had to see Road to California’s 2016 Best of Show winner in person to believe that it was truly an art quilt!!! At first glance, some of our guests actually thought that winner, Melissa Sobotka, just stitched over and around a piece of fabric. That’s how intricate and amazing the appliqueing was for Silk Road Samplers.
Melissa got in to quilting by accident. “I was making some banners for my church when a friend suggested if I put some batting in the banners and added some stitching, I would have an art quilt. I had never heard of Art Quilts. I did some research and was fascinated by this art form so I got some scraps of fabric and taught myself.”
It took Melissa 5 months to complete Silk Road Sampler which was inspired by a picture she took in the spice market in Istanbul. She thought the designs on the pillows were something that many appliquers would appreciate and that it would be a busy enough design for her to enjoy working on for many months.
About 4 months into the project, Melissa wondered. “What have I got myself into?” The detail on the bottom section nearly put her into “a straight jacket.” But as with all her quilts, Melissa just “faced the challenges head on, a little more each day, until it was finally completed.”
Melissa confided that she was in “total shock” when she heard she had won Best of Show. “Road to California was the quilt’s debut show and you never know how a quilt will be received. I feared people would look at it and wonder why anyone would create a quilt of pillows.”
What did Melissa do with her prize money? She took a trip to India for the color festival, Holi, searching for an idea for her next quilt. Melissa hopes that her quilting will continue to evolve; that it will build off what she learns from each quilt that she makes and from the innovations and techniques of her fellow quilters.
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Meet 2016 Vendor: Hearts to Holly
Friday, March 25th, 2016Looking for something to do as a family after they left the corporate world 9 years ago, Sue and Mike Miller decided to set out and open a quilt shop in Northern Michigan. Why a quilt shop? “Because there wasn’t one in our small town of Charlevoix. All four of our daughters quilted and they taught their mom to quilt too. It was something we could do as a family,” explained Mike.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
They named their store Hearts to Holly to advertise that they carry items for all seasons – from Valentines (Hearts) to Christmas (Holly). Sue and Mike are the shop owners and their daughter Val Krueger, is the chief designer of their patterns which they have been offering since 2009.
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Val with one of her patterns. Photo by Brian Roberts Photography.[/caption]
All of their Heart to Holly patterns are exclusive to their brand and incorporate using fat quarters. A Holly Bunch is their trade name for their fat quarter bundles. Each Holly Bunch is a pack of 12 fat quarters specially coordinated by Sue to be used with their Hearts to Holly patterns. Val shared that quilters love the unique Holly Bunches because they are simply packaged, are weekend friendly, and are family oriented. “We’ve watched moms use our product to teach their daughters and grandmothers teach their granddaughters.”
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
Going to quilt shows allows the Miller family, a military family (Coast Guard and Air Force), to get together. After appearing in Quilt Sampler Magazine in 2011, Hearts to Holly attended their first national quilt show in 2012. While Val, (who also longarm quilts and lives in Las Vegas) has attended Road to California every year since 2005, Road 2016 was the first time for Hearts to Holly to have a vendor booth.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
“We were thrilled to be invited (to Road) because we have heard so many positive comments about the show,” said Val. The goal for Hearts To Holly has always been to provide a place “where quilters and “wanna be” quilters can visit often, feel welcome and always be greeted with a smile.” That philosophy held true during Road because as Val noted, “Our guests kept coming back again and again to our booth.”
While Hearts to Holly is currently housed in a brick and mortar store, they will be expanding soon to include an online store on their website. Keep checking back to their site to be one of the first to place an order online.
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Road Is A Friendly Place
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016What could be better than sharing your love of quilting with friends that you love?
That’s exactly what these friends did at Road to California 2016:
Rosalee and Jodi say that they “have grown up together.” They met at church in La Habra, California when their children were babies. Jodi has been quilting for 21 years and when she retired, she moved to Arnold, California, in the Sierras. Roasalee started quilting 12 years ago after she retired from Bank of America. They always wear hats to quilt shows so that they can find each other. This was their 10th visit to Road to California.
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(L-R) Sandra, Petra, Nancy and Patricia[/caption]
Sometimes it only takes one mutual friend who quilts to get a group of other quilters together to come to Road. These ladies all credit Petra for bringing them together. Petra and Sandra are both 72 years old and have known each other since they were 16. Patricia is another long time friend and Nancy works for Petra. They all live in different cities in the eastern part of San Bernardino County. Road 2016 was Nancy’s first time at the show. “I have seen Petra’s quilts and was curious with what quilting was about.” The other three have been to Road over 10 times. Says Petra, “There is always something different to see. It just keeps getting better year after year.”
Meet (l – r) Michele Rank, Jennifer Adams, Becky Brekke, Jody Baca, and Kathy Pruett. These friends live all around Southern California and meet up at Road each year. “We wouldn’t miss it,” they exclaimed. What do they like most about Road to California? Says Michele, “The variety of vendors.” Jennifer added, “The inspiration.” And for Becky, “The quilts.” They all take quilting classes through ABC School District’s Adult Education. They aren’t committed to any particular quilting style. “Modern or traditional — we do whatever we think looks best.”
Vivian Graham and Monica Tucker both live in Moreno Valley, California. They treat themselves to come to Road as part of their birthday celebrations which falls in January during and right after Road each year. Monica likes coming to Road for the inspiration. This year, she was looking for glitter applique sheets and art quilt ideas. Vivian learned to sew clothing in the 8th grade and has been quilting for 34 years. She said, “I live for Road. It is four days of heaven.”
Will you and your friend be coming to Road’s “little bit of heaven” in 2017?
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Saturday, March 19th, 2016Missouri Star Quilt Company, the quilt destination from Hamilton, Missouri, made its way for the first time to Ontario, California and Road 2016.
Founded in 2008, Missouri Star was started as a way for Jenny and Ron Doan to earn a living after Ron lost a hefty portion of his retirement savings and his job as a mechanic with the Kansas City Star newspaper became vulnerable to layoffs. It was their children – Allan and Sarah – who came up with the idea for a quilt business combining their mother’s love of sewing and her quilting hobby. The first thing they did was buy a longarm machine and then they purchased a building in Hamilton (a town a little over an hour’s drive from Kansas City with a population of 1,500) to house it and a quilt store.
With a shoestring advertising budget, Missouri Star got very creative with their marketing. Missouri Star began putting video tutorials online starring Jenny. Soon, the tutorials were the most searched for quilt videos on You Tube. Viewers wanted to purchase the same fabrics that were used in the videos so Missouri Star decided to make pre-cut fabrics (which revolutionized the quilting industry) and sell this core product in their online store. Pre-cut fabrics are bundles of fabric, cut in various shapes and sizes, featuring an array of coordinating prints from a designer fabric line. In less than four years, Missouri Star has grown to offer the largest selection of pre-cut fabrics in the world, processing 3,000 – 4,000 fabric orders a day!!
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
As Missouri Star’s popularity has grown, so has their interest in the small town of Hamilton. They embarked on a project to restore from top to bottom many of the original buildings which were in pretty bad shape. Today, there are 10 quilt shops, each with their own theme, for fabric and merchandise. For instance, the old JC Penney building was restored and houses all of Missouri Star’s solid fabrics.
There’s even Man’s Land which offers recliner chairs and a big screen television. It’s a great resting spot for those visitors who come to the quilt store town as drivers and/or shopping bag carriers. 
Always growing, Missouri Star currently sponsors three YouTube Channels: the original series featuring Jenny Doan which offers a new tutorial every Friday; Man Sewing with Rob Appell which has new shows every Monday; and their newest addition, Crafty Gemini Vanessa Vargas Wilson offering tutorials on the Crafty Gemini Creates channel, every Wednesday.
It was a long drive from Hamilton, Missouri to Ontario, California. Missouri Star enjoyed meeting many of their trusted customers and making new friends at their location in the pavilion.
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Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption]
We look forward to having Missouri Star return with its Midwest charm for Road to California 2017.
Want to learn more about Missouri Star? Please visit their web site.
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