Fabric, Classes and Quilt Shows!

Welcome back!! It’s been a busy couple of months and time has flown by since the Quilt BC show in Penticton last May.  I've been neglecting my blog for far too long so its time for a quick update from Summerland. 

Its tourist season here in the Okanagan valley and we've been excited to welcome visitors from across Canada and the US, as well as overseas from Scotland, England, Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands!

This week we featured a Trunk Show by Heather and Elissa Willms from Hopscotch Quilt Shop in Lethbridge.  I managed to squeeze 28 people into my tiny classroom Monday evening and by all accounts everyone really enjoyed the show.  We are displaying some of their quilts in the shop over the next few weeks so come on in and have a look. We also have some of their patterns and books available in the store.

 

New fabric has been arriving all summer long, with some wonderful Fall and Christmas fabric already in the store. I even managed a quick visit to the Trend-Tex warehouse in Vancouver last week!  What a fabulous place - its so hard to resist!

I love to feature Canadian fabric designers. One of my favourites, shown below last spring, was designed by a Canadian Designer, Margot Languedoc of The PatternBasket.  I can't wait for her new line due out next spring!

And now with our Christmas fabrics we ran a Christmas series of mini-classes in July featuring the beautiful Winter's Lane line designed by Kate and Birdie from Winnipeg.  For those who missed out, we will be re-running these classes later this fall.

 

The Fall Class schedule is out and classes are already starting to fill. We are even featuring several special guest teachers including Judy Barnett mid-September, and Elaine Quehl for three days in October. 

So long for now.  I hope to be back on-line again soon.

Cheers from the Cherry Tree,

Barb

Special Guest Teacher Coming to Cherry Tree Quilts

I am very excited to announce that Susan Purney-Mark will be coming to Summerland to teach.  She is an internationally known quilter and fibre artist.  Susan has written several books, just produced her DVD – Soy Wax Inspirations and is in the current issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

Susan will be here the first weekend in April – Saturday April 6^th and Sunday April 7^th.  I have rented the IOOF hall here in Summerland (just one block from the shop) so you will have lots of room to create your own beautiful fabric.

Here are samples of Susan’s work hanging in the shop.

 

Here are the two classes that Susan will be teaching:

Soy Wax Resists

Quilters design their own unique one-of-a-kind fabrics using simple tools, dyes and soy wax…no messy clean-up, just wash this wax away! Students will be using colour and pattern in a whole new way and then have so much fun making dynamic and exciting quilts for all to admire. Simple technique and perfect for the beginner designer!

Screen, Plate and Mono Printing

Creating print on fabric with a variety of techniques will be the focus while students are introduced to the special qualities of thickened dyes. Students will use screen for printing with a variety of stencils and masks including wax, paper and Mylar. Students will then make and use their own gelatin plates and take time for other methods of mono printing. Colour theory and colour mixing will be an important part of the workshop and students will acquire an excellent foundation of experience to continue further exploration on their own.

Check out our website for further information:  www.cherrytreequilts.ca

Visit her website for more inspiration:  http://susanpm.com/

The classes are filling so please call to reserve your spot as space is limited.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Cheers,

Barb

Classes Classes Classes

The New Year is well underway.  Beginner Sampler Classes are full, Applique club starts soon and drop in days have begun.  Meet Mary visiting from England who dropped in to last weeks sew-in day. 

She wants to learn how to quilt and made this beautiful quilted tea cosy from my cherry fabric. I hope to see Mary again soon as she comes to visit her sister quite often.

New Wool products are here!

Just received a big shipment of beautiful hand dyed wool fabric and kits from Woolylady for wool applique and fibre art! 

They will look great with the ideas from Sue Spargo in her new book and her hand dyed cotton threads from Valdani.

Grand Opening

It was a beautiful Fall day, with the sun shining outside and the butterflies in full flight inside!

Fall colours

Setting nerves aside, we gathered at the shop with a full complement of friends and family to set up refreshments  with a special surprise of `bubbly` and cake from my sister Brenda and her daughters Kara and Candace.

Congratulations!

A beautiful cake!

With customers waiting outside, we opened the doors shortly after 9:30. Things started humming right away and the store was packed within a matter of minutes with visitors from up and down  the valley from Salmon Arm, Vernon and Kelowna south to Oliver, Keremeos and Princeton! There was excitement in the air as veteran and new quilters alike expressed a warm welcome and their best wishes. 

Odessa - Customer number 1

Door greeters Rebecca (R) and friend Lisa

Quilt talk with Sam`s cousins Bev, Brenda and their friend

What a welcome to the community!  Flowers arrived throughout the day.  And Todd across the street at True Grain Bread even sent over a beautiful platter of fresh baked goodies!

Beautiful flowers

And more!

Thank you to everyone who showed up, with a special thanks to Mom, Brenda, Kara, Candace, Rebecca, Lisa and especially Marilyn for all your help yesterday and over the preceding weeks.  I couldn`t have done it without you.

We made it!

The window paper is down, the windows have been cleaned and the door is now open! After two months of hectic activity, a lot of anxiety, and long hours of help from Sam, Marilyn and Gary we opened the doors without fanfare Wednesday afternoon. And, we even had a few walk in customers.

Paper down and windows cleaned!

Windex - for those Final touches.

There is still a lot to do to get ready for our Grand Opening on Saturday Nov 10th, but we made it!

New Paint, Lights and Flooring!

Things are starting to come together.  After two long weeks of hard work, the store has a new look with a fresh coat of paint, new lighting and flooring.

New paint, lights and a floor!

Finishing the trim and moving in cabinets.

Cara assembling the cabinets 

Assembling shelves for stock

 In between final assembly and trim, and the upcoming Houston Quilt Market, we will soon be ready to start stocking the shelves.