Pioneer Quilts has moved...to The Historic Broetje House!

Thursday morning I headed off to Portland for a quick little road trip.  First stop was at the Fabric Depot and for the first time I didn't buy a thing!

The next morning I went off in search of Pioneer Quilts new location at 3101 SE Courtney Avenue which is about 15 minutes from their old location.

Here is a view of the property from the parking lot, see the Open sign in the windows on the left?  The Broetje House was build in 1889 and was at one time a venue for weddings and parties.  Recently the property has been in disrepair but Linda Hadley the owner has done wonders to open the shop in a short span of time.  In July I was at the old store and she hinted about a new property but didn't want to jinx anything.

 Walking up to the entrance to the building you are amazed by the size of the Sequoia tree on the other side of the building.

 The garden needs a bit of TLC but has some wonderful plantings.  In the windows beyond you can see a sampling of 40-50% sale fabrics.

 The entry to the shop shows a lot of temptation for the quilter.

 Just outside the doors is this cute Hallowe'en display.

 As you enter and look to the left some more inspiration.

 Looking across the shelves with bolts is the cash area with several staff and customers.

Hanging on the right side of the entry is a great wool and cotton piece along with a wonderful applique piece below and the pattern for My Sewing Room.

 Books, patterns and notions are in this bright corner of the shop.

 Love that window above the fabrics, Linda is planning on adding some additional lighting.

 Looking back toward the entry, look at that lovely wool applique piece at the end of the shelving.

 Here is the wool corner, Linda has set up some lovely displays to enjoy.

 Look at all those lovely wool fabrics, a rainbow to choose from.

 Cute bunny box display holds banner frames.

 A piece of Christmas stitchery to inspire you.

On this trip I'm going to try and not go overboard with fabric/quilting purchases.  The pumpkin thread is all I bought...two shops 1 purchase.  Off to a good start!

Back outside the store another giant Sequoia tree.

 A lovely flowering tree.

 Great lamp posts in the parking lot.

I can't wait for my next visit to see what Linda has changed.

Happy First full day of Autumn!

Yesterday on the last day of Summer I finished my banner base quilt! It is hard to tell but all the small squares have stars on them. Four of the fabrics are the ones I've used as the background for the seasonal banners...so far I've done two but have the next two planned.



My banner is a big bigger than the base quilt but it still works for me.

Welcome to Autumn,


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English Paper Piecing Travel Kit finished.

Here is the finished project that I showed fabrics from the other day along with two different sizes of hexagon flowers.

 I had fun with my fabrics and tried to feature a different portion of the fabric on each side of the kit.

 Love how this big flower ended up on the back.

 A bud on one side.

 Inside there are meant to be one pouch pocket and a larger divided pocket.  Due to a design modification I ended up creating a second small pocket behind the hexagon pocket where I stored the mini pincushion hexagon flower.  In hindsight I probably should have used a heavier weight interfacing as it is quite a soft project, but that will work for me.  I also made a little stitch at the bottom of the divider of the accordion fold in the middle as you do not stitch the sides to the bottom and found the space a bit large.  I just need to remember not to place anything that could fall out.

 Here it is opened up.  I have one tin in the back divider that has needles, scissors and a Clover needle threader and some bobbins with cotton thread loaded.  In the front divider I have a polka dot note pad.  In the pouch I placed a second tin with some bobbins loaded with wool thread.

 On this photo you can see a second magnet on the back of the pincushion.

 So you can clip it into the corresponding magnet on the kit so your pincushion doesn't wander.

Here the pincushion is secured just waiting for a few pins.  I still have room to insert some paper pieces or a small applique piece and I'm ready to go.  I found this wonderful project on The Zen Of Making.  Her pictures are very well done and after a couple of brain freezes of thinking I had placed my pouch pocket on the wrong side, then sewing it down twice in the wrong end I figured it out.

She has several tutorials including how to English Paper Piece if you've never done it.  Here is a direct link to the English Paper Piecing Travel Kit.  Can't wait to start using it at a sit and stitch or vacation trip.

Small project in the works...

These are the fabrics I've chosen to make a small project with.

 My first step was to make two sizes of hexagon flowers.  Now to do some cutting and sewing.

When done I'll share a link to the project if you wish to make one for yourself.

Show and tell Sutffers Two Colour Challenge Quilts revealed.

Remember I said our stuffers group had a secret I couldn't share until guild day? Well today they were revealed at the day meeting of Fraser Valley Quilter's Guild. The inspiration was from a trip that Becky took to Thailand in January and noticed that houses had some interesting paint combinations. She found out it they represented the birth day of the week of the people who lived in the homes.

She found a website that shared what your colour was depending on the day of the week you are born on. She also found a Facebook quiz which gave another colour. The second one included black and white as colours which some people do not feel are colours, but for the purpose of this challenge they were allowed.

Becky was first up, her challenge colours were orange and yellow. One children's print was allowed to be added and preemie quilt size of 36" was the size. This is her original design.



Cher made a red and pink elephant quilt.


Tricia's colours were green and white, her quilt grew and will be a donation to Cops for Cancer.


Red and blue, sorry I chopped or the makers face and forgot who did this one.


Val had purple and white, she hand painted the dragonflies onto this beauty.


Brenda made this pink and blue rail fence.


Donnamae created this red and blue quilt.


Pink and orange by a new member of the group.


Yellow and red were Susan's colours.


This was Susan's first one, but the small yellow tuck wasn't enough so she made the other one.


Nancy made this pink and blue quilt and did a lovely spiral quilt design on it.


Carmi our hostess overachiever made these two blue and green quilts.


Mary's colours were pink and green and she also did a offset spiral quilting design.


Ann Marie made this yellow and purple one.


Susan (seated in the blue) also made two green and blue quilts, she didn't like one of the greens I don't recall which one. Celeste was helping her hold them.


I think they both were great.


Another overachiever Celeste is hoping that B.C. Women's Hospital's N.I.C.U. has some quadruplets soon.


I haven't made mine yet as I didn't get the e-mail and had another commitment that I had a deadline to be done by last weekend. I will post a picture along with a couple more that I know that are promised.

Take a bow ladies. The babies at B.C. Women's Hospital are in for a colourful treat.

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One last hint...

There is more to come but won't be sharing for awhile. Have you figured it out?


These are going to be sent away for another Mary Lou Swap. Then there be a reveal when the time is right. This is going to be a fun one...don't you wish your were taking part?
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Another hint and two new treasures

Here is another hint for you.


Saturday a friend and I went to an antique sale and this pink beauty came home with me. I'm not sure what year it was made in but the colour just spoke to me.


She came with the above accessories in the box along with the instruction manual


This is the second beauty that come home and this one is heavy, made from cast iron.


She hails from Great Britain, again I'm not sure how old she is but plan on doing some research on both and then sharing a few more pictures.


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