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Customer Showcase

The quilts below were made by the shop's customers.  The showcase provides an individual the opportunity to share their work, and the viewer benefits from the eye candy and the up close exposure to new techniques. 

Do you have any handmade needlework you would like to share?  In the future we will have event days when we begin to show a new group of items so that you have an opportunity to meet them and hear about their inspiration and technique for each item showcased.


Christine Tindell was one of the earlier visitors to the shop.  A friend was with her and said "You ought to see the necktie quilt she is working on!"  Coincidentally, I had been speaking with customers in another class about necktie quilts, so I jumped at the opportunity.  I told her I'd love to see it when it was finished, and asked how she felt about showing others what she did in her process.  Here it is.  Isn't it spectacular?! Her technique was very interesting, and she is sharing it with us on June 25. Stop by and see the quilt...and sign up!






The following quilts are on loan from Alice Johnson.  She used a longarm machine to do an edge to edge design on the first two.  Edge to edge means the same stitching pattern is repeated across the entire quilt.  I'm still picking up quilting terms, and this is my opportunity to use them :-)  The blue one is one of her hubby's favorites.  He is really into supporting Alice (ask her about her Harley!)  She also has some consignment items for sale.  Her cozy neck scarves make great stocking stuffers, and I love the ruler holders.  You've seen these before...but at a much heftier price.


       




When you came to our website today, you were greeted by a vintage brass bed with a redwork quilt draped over the foot of the bed. That quilt and a couple other small wall quilts are the work of Rose Crowe.  All of that redwork was hand embroidered.  She does beautiful hand work and will be doing some classes in our shop in the future on embellishments. 

   




Lynn Ray also does longarm quilting.  The items below are a mix of techniques.  Many of you may recognize Lynn as an instructor at local quilt shops.   She will be doing an appliqué techniques class at The Merc (our shop) on May 1.  On May 2 she joins us again for the kickoff of our ConKerr Cancer sew-in where we will be making pillowcases for children in local hospitals.

She has a few more items that I don't have posted here yet.  The photos are coming!  She has big quilts, little quilts and little in between quilts.  The ones in front of my counter on either end are examples of her appliqué.  The two on the far right have wool appliquéd pieces.  The small one in the back of the shop displayed below the log cabin is also one of Lynn's appliqué quilts.


   

       



I met Sharon Wick a few years ago at Libertyville Sewing when I first got the quilting bug.  You may have seen her at other local shops in the area leading classes in embroidery.  She is a natural when it comes to teaching.  On top of that, she is Martha Pullen certified in heirloom sewing!  She has a real passion for machine embroidery and heirloom sewing and is very talented in bringing them together. 

On our opening day she led customers through a make and take of an heirloom lace bookmark.  Recently we had a Church Doll class.  There will be a class in the future for the Boudior Pillow shown below with the Church Doll as well as another Special Memories Heirloom Pillow.  The latter of the two has a photo printed on the fabric.  We are doing a class in making a Stitch Journal on May 8.  Some of the tasks there will include finding the equivalent of heirloom stitch patterns on your own machine.  On May 15 we are doing the Photos on Fabric class that is a precursor to making her Special Memories Heirloom Pillow.  Anyone interested in taking the class for that particular pillow can take the Photos on Fabric class and then get a discount on the pillow class.

Sharon is also an avid quilter.  Several months ago she brought the Broken Arrow Log Cabin quilt below to the NLCQG monthly meeting for the Show & Tell.  I fell in love with it as it was passed around the room and into my hands.  You know how it is when you pickup a quilt and you fall in love?  When it was time to open my shop, I made a specific request to Sharon to showcase her quilt and she graciously accepted.  Judging by the reaction of some of our customers, my reaction wasn't unique!


   




This is the Special Memories Heirloom Pillow that Sharon made for her parents.  It isn't in our showcase, but I wanted you to see this one since we will be doing a class for it.  There is a class on May 18 for Photos on Fabrics.  If you take it and later sign up for the Special Memories Heirloom Pillow class as well, we will discount the pillow class for you.  What an endearment!  It's a great project.