Visiting Nashua...

I had the pleasure of visiting Nashua Sew and Vac in Nashua, NH last month. I want to share this gem of a shop with you!

Ruthie Ryan, the shop's owner is so inspiring! Her shop has many machines (check her website for brands), loads of accessories, and so many gadgets for the quilter and the sewist. The place is hopping with shoppers with all kinds of needs and Ruthie and her friendly staff handle it all with ease!

I visited the shop not once but twice, to give a mini-trunk show to the Viking and the Pfaff Club(s). These ladies have talent! Every time I go to a new quilt shop, guild meeting, or Quilt Market, I am struck by how diverse our interests are as sewers and quilters, but, deep down, we are all the same! Thanks so much to you all for wecoming me!

Happy sewing! -Kris

Friday Shop Hop - Plaistow, NH

I recently visited The Sewing Basket which opened this past July at 86 Main Street in Plaistow, NH. How could I have missed that?

If you happen to be in Southern NH (maybe doing a little leaf peeping?), don't miss this great little quilt shop! Patty, the owner, has a delightful collection of fabrics, gifts and sewing notions all tucked into a charming Victorian.

Are you ready for the tour? When you enter The Sewing Basket, you will find an entryway filled with seasonal gift items.

The front window, as you can see at left, is filled with pretty batiks.

There are vignettes of fabric, wreaths, quilts all around you, yet the shop does not feel crowded. The fabric collection is a nice mix of seasonal fabrics and traditional to modern fabrics. The colors are bright and cheerful.

For those not inclined to sew, there are aprons, doll clothes and other handmade crafts for purchase.

If you'd like to spend a pleasant morning shopping for fabric, head for The Sewing Basket. Say hello to Patty!

Keep quilting! -Kris

P.S. The center of Plaistow is very pretty this time of year; check out the clock tower on the town hall!

Friday Shop Hop - Salem MA!

Today we are going to Salem Massachusetts to visit Marketplace Quilts on a virtual shop hop! After we pass the House of Seven Gables, we come to the waterfront and park in the South Harbor Garage located at the corner of Derby Street and Congress Street. From there, it's only a short walk (click here for directions).

Maureen Clark started Marketplace Quilts 9 years ago with a friend. This quaint shop is located on Front Street in Salem MA.

Her shop carries a good mix of contemporary and traditional quilting fabrics, and an abundance of current books, patterns and pre-cuts. There are displays galore to inspire you.

Marketplace Quilts specializes in customer service. Maureen is friendly, energetic and ready to help you with all of your quilting projects! She has small classes in her shop so that everyone has one-on-one time with the teacher! My mother Jean and I really enjoyed meeting Maureen and we know we'll definitely be back!


If you are going to Salem, this shop is very close to all of the attractions. My kids and I have enjoyed re-enactments at the Town Hall, the Peabody Essex Museum and Pickering Wharf for ice cream! There is so much to do in Salem - do stop by Marketplace Quilts - we think you'll enjoy it!


Keep quilting!


-Kris

Rising Star!

Quilters are amazing! Teagan (shown here) is just 9 years old and so talented! She is modeling her Sampler Tote that she made during the kid's quilt classes at Stitched in Stone.

She was eager to show her teacher at school when she finished it - I'll bet her teacher was impressed! Teagan has been encouraged by her proud grandmother Gail!

What an inspiration!

Keep Quilting! -Kris

Fiesta for the Eyes

Last Tuesday night was the final night of the Fiesta Bag class at Stitched in Stone in Kingston, NH. These bags have so much personality! Take a look at the "mix" below:

From the left, we have Cheryl's thirties' bag - it looks so summery and fresh! Next, we have a woodsy, traditional mix of colors made by Donna. Next, Nancy took a chance with this bright daisy print, but it really works with the butterfly stripes. Last but not least, Susan (a new sewer) took on the Fiesta Bag with batiks! What a great combo of colors!

All of the bags are completely different, but all successful designs. Great job ladies!

Color Inspiration - Pink and Green

Is it cheating to get color inspiration from a quilt? If it is, so be it! Don't you just love the bright pinks and greens? Maybe it's the time of the year! What can you come up with using these colors as inspiration?

This is a Star Path Quilt made by a Stitched in Stone (prolific!) quilter Caroline. She changed the pattern by using a single solid light background instead of blending 4 backgrounds. This has really made the stars pop!

I hope you'll bookmark this as an inspiration for a spring project! (Stay tuned - I will post my pink and green doodle on Friday!)

Keep quilting! -Kris

Getting Crafty

Nancy's done it again! Here is Nancy Dey's twist on the Crafty Tote from Sew and Go Totes! She uses traditional fabrics in such a thoughtful way! (Check out Nancy's other interpretation of a Sew and Go Tote in this previous post.) Nancy- thanks for sharing!

Isn't it great to be a quilter these days? We have so many beautiful fabrics available! We have the internet to share our quilting adventures on and take a peek at others'. Wow - what a great time to be a quilter!

Please share your adventures with Poorhouse Quilt Designs patterns with us here - email me at info@poorhousequiltdesigns.com.

Keep quilting! -Kris

Quilting Stars (and Lobsters, too!)

I had the pleasure to teach at Stitched in Stone in Kingston NH on Tuesday nights during the month of March - a fun class! The students made Tidal Totes and we sure had a lot of laughs along the way! I have to show you their totes, because they really are beautiful:Clockwise from left, we have Nancy, with her starfish tote - she used the batiks with fairy frost; the fairy frost gave the bag a water effect! Next, we have Cindy - she added quilted pockets on the inside of the bag - that's a great improvement to the bag! Caroline with the gorgeous royal blue starfish tote is next, she's donating her bag to charity. Last but not least, we have Linda, with her beautifully quilted lobster! Linda has already been asked to make more by her coworkers.

Thanks ladies for a great class!


There is such a kind community of quilters at Stitched in Stone - carefully cultivated by Tammy Rommel! If you have a chance, stop by and say "hi" to Tammy and Glenn.

A Primitive Twist on the Star Sampler

Nancy Dey of Kaukauna, Wisconsin sent me these photos of the Star Sampler Totes she and her friend made from Sew and Go Totes! These are great! Don't you just love her version of this Tote?
Awesome!

The bags were made by Nancy Dey (assembly and pressing) and Jeanine Drzewiecki (block piecing and quilting) and kits will be available for them at Primitive Gatherings in Menasha, WI soon. Primitive Gatherings will have a booth at the Chicago Quilt Show in April and this bag will be there along with the kits.

Nancy and Jeanine are long arm quilters and the quilting on these bags is just beautiful(I hope you can see from this picture). The pockets stars are reversed from front to back.

Thanks for sharing! PS - I love the tablerunner, too!

Welcome to Quilting at the Poorhouse!

Happy Spring!


Welcome Quilters and Sewists!

I am (finally) diving into the world of blogging and I hope you'll join me! I am a quilt designer from Derry, New Hampshire. You can find my designs at poorhousequiltdesigns.com; stop by and take a look at my new book and patterns! I lean toward quilted bags - I just love to carry around my love for quilting - don't you?

What is the purpose of this blog? I'd like to share my design development (a.k.a. experiments), inspirations, and other quilty snippets with you!

I have just returned from attending a quilting retreat in Manchester NH that was hosted by Stitched in Stone (located at 53 Church Street in scenic Kingston, NH). A good time was had by all! Tammy treated everyone like a quilting queen. We had a lot of laughs! Tammy inspired us with quilt as you go, and dyeing and painting techniques -we all enjoyed the creativity of these techniques. I was able to test drive a new design! I came back to the studio refreshed and ready to create. More from this event coming soon!

On to Color Inspiration of the Week!
I bought this Gerbera Daisy because I could not resist the colors - deep green leaves with red/orange petals and yellow centers...this would make a great bag or quilt or table runner! Stay tuned.....