| Whats Going On At The Hangout? |
| Quilt Lovers' Hangout is a busy place, and inspire, challenge, and entertain you.So come by and Hangout a bit! If you'd like to receive our monthly e-mail newsletter, sign up here or send us an e-mail.@ quiltmailbox@yahoo.com |
| Special Announcement ! ! Quilt Lovers' Hangout is pleased to announce that we have Sampler Magazine Top 10 Quilt Shops. What an honor to have been included in such a prestigious group of quilt shops. We would like to thank you, our customers, for supporting us over the years. Quilt Lovers' Hangout would not be what we are today without your loyal support. How Blessed we are! |
Quilters are turning the homely, needle-and-thread perceptions of their craft inside out with brilliant batiks,
applique murals and sassy, contemporary prints.
"Our grandmothers would flip over in their graves if they knew they could take their sewing machines and do this,"
Debbie Olive said as she walked past quilts featuring multicolored peacocks, landscapes and hip, geometric
designs at her Quilt Lovers' Hangout in North Fort Myers.
Women - and more frequently, men - stop at the U.S. 41 quilt shop to load up on supplies. They're stitching felted
wool and wadded-up velvet in textured creations that forgo mathematical patterns and grids for artsy, free-flowing,
hand-sketched works.
Quilters are fashioning tailored jackets, wallets, wall art, children's clothing and more. One customer at the Hangout
always walks in with a quilted handbag that matches her outfit.
Naples resident Jean Smith, 58 - an eight-year quilter known as a master of modernism at the Hangout - takes to
free-motion quilting as she pieces oblong fabric swatches into abstract designs and adds depth perception with
applique.
The results are tribal-like collages, bursting sunrays and flowers so lively they look like they're blooming from
blankets.
Smith even took a pagoda photo she snapped during a trip to China, traced it on acetate, blew it up with an
overhead projector and - voila - she has a travel memento quilt worthy of the wall.
Like Smith, part-time Port Charlotte resident Pat C. Jennings, 64, is a member of Fort Myers' Art Quilters Unlimited,
an organization of modern quilters that began about eight years ago. The group's work is on exhibit at Cummings &
Lockwood law office in Bonita Springs through September.
Members of AQU see quilting as a form of painting - just with cotton or rayon.
"Instead of choosing that sunny yellow oil paint, you choose that sunny yellow in a piece of fabric and you put it
together with other beautiful colors to come up with a presentation," said Jennings, who quilts for at least an hour
a day and paints with watercolors.
Jennings reproduced some of her paintings - an icy polar bear and bright succulents - into quilts. Other fiber works
showcase rugged mountain scenes, intricate leaves and colorful circles that employ shadow effects for dimension.
Techniques have evolved from the traditional over the last 20 years, Jennings said, and now, anything goes. Savvy
sewers use silk, distressed fabric, and dye and stamp their works.
"Quilting has come a long way," said Wendy Fahl, owner of the Sewing Boutique, which is next door to the Hangout.
On a recent morning at Fahl's shop, about 10 young girls sat at sewing machines, leopard-print fabrics and hot-pink
squares sprawled out on tables before them. The quilters-in-training were part of the boutique's summer camp.
The artistic flair that's developed in the craft is bringing younger generations to the sewing machine. Jennings is
teaching her grandchildren Luke and Savannah about fiber art at ages 6 and 8, and Smith's daughter, Alex, quilts -
though the 27-year-old takes a bit more traditional approach than her mother.
Modern quilting techniques bring out the left-brain creativity most people were born with but stowed away over
the years, Jennings said.
"We have been surrounded by fabric all our lives, since we were tiny babies," she said.
"There's something very tactile that appeals to the child side of you when you work with fabric. Everybody has this
talent and you just have to dig it back out."
applique murals and sassy, contemporary prints.
"Our grandmothers would flip over in their graves if they knew they could take their sewing machines and do this,"
Debbie Olive said as she walked past quilts featuring multicolored peacocks, landscapes and hip, geometric
designs at her Quilt Lovers' Hangout in North Fort Myers.
Women - and more frequently, men - stop at the U.S. 41 quilt shop to load up on supplies. They're stitching felted
wool and wadded-up velvet in textured creations that forgo mathematical patterns and grids for artsy, free-flowing,
hand-sketched works.
Quilters are fashioning tailored jackets, wallets, wall art, children's clothing and more. One customer at the Hangout
always walks in with a quilted handbag that matches her outfit.
Naples resident Jean Smith, 58 - an eight-year quilter known as a master of modernism at the Hangout - takes to
free-motion quilting as she pieces oblong fabric swatches into abstract designs and adds depth perception with
applique.
The results are tribal-like collages, bursting sunrays and flowers so lively they look like they're blooming from
blankets.
Smith even took a pagoda photo she snapped during a trip to China, traced it on acetate, blew it up with an
overhead projector and - voila - she has a travel memento quilt worthy of the wall.
Like Smith, part-time Port Charlotte resident Pat C. Jennings, 64, is a member of Fort Myers' Art Quilters Unlimited,
an organization of modern quilters that began about eight years ago. The group's work is on exhibit at Cummings &
Lockwood law office in Bonita Springs through September.
Members of AQU see quilting as a form of painting - just with cotton or rayon.
"Instead of choosing that sunny yellow oil paint, you choose that sunny yellow in a piece of fabric and you put it
together with other beautiful colors to come up with a presentation," said Jennings, who quilts for at least an hour
a day and paints with watercolors.
Jennings reproduced some of her paintings - an icy polar bear and bright succulents - into quilts. Other fiber works
showcase rugged mountain scenes, intricate leaves and colorful circles that employ shadow effects for dimension.
Techniques have evolved from the traditional over the last 20 years, Jennings said, and now, anything goes. Savvy
sewers use silk, distressed fabric, and dye and stamp their works.
"Quilting has come a long way," said Wendy Fahl, owner of the Sewing Boutique, which is next door to the Hangout.
On a recent morning at Fahl's shop, about 10 young girls sat at sewing machines, leopard-print fabrics and hot-pink
squares sprawled out on tables before them. The quilters-in-training were part of the boutique's summer camp.
The artistic flair that's developed in the craft is bringing younger generations to the sewing machine. Jennings is
teaching her grandchildren Luke and Savannah about fiber art at ages 6 and 8, and Smith's daughter, Alex, quilts -
though the 27-year-old takes a bit more traditional approach than her mother.
Modern quilting techniques bring out the left-brain creativity most people were born with but stowed away over
the years, Jennings said.
"We have been surrounded by fabric all our lives, since we were tiny babies," she said.
"There's something very tactile that appeals to the child side of you when you work with fabric. Everybody has this
talent and you just have to dig it back out."
21st-century quilts sew
Debbie Olive, left, one of the owners of the Quilt
Lovers’ Hangout, shows regular customer Elayne
White one of the store’s new sample quilts on
Wednesday in North Fort Myers. / Photos by Amanda
Inscore/news-press.com
Lovers’ Hangout, shows regular customer Elayne
White one of the store’s new sample quilts on
Wednesday in North Fort Myers. / Photos by Amanda
Inscore/news-press.com
Quilt Lovers' Hangout
Makes the News
Makes the News
| TODAY! |
Sandy Minarcine, left, helps Mary Varnum, center, and Marilynn
Hilt at the Quilt Lovers Hangout in North Fort Myers. / TERRY
ALLEN WIlLIAMS/news-press.com
Hilt at the Quilt Lovers Hangout in North Fort Myers. / TERRY
ALLEN WIlLIAMS/news-press.com
"Just hanging out with people and
sewing is a good time," said
Barbara Selph, who works at Quilt
Lovers Hangout in North Fort
Myers.
She didn't begin sewing seriously
until five years ago, at age 43,
when she began taking classes at
Quilt Lovers Hangout.
Most who sew can tell tales about
their craft. What's yours?
History, tradition, the battered
economy and popular shows such
as “Project Runway” continue to
inspire those to handcraft and
even create their own designs.
Business is brisk at Quilt Lovers
Hangout where they hold sewing
camps for young sewers and
groups for the more accomplished.
Sewing appeals for many reasons,
Selph said. Her oldest customer is
102 and her youngest is 9, she said.
“It’s the satisfaction of seeing a
finished product,” Selph said
sewing is a good time," said
Barbara Selph, who works at Quilt
Lovers Hangout in North Fort
Myers.
She didn't begin sewing seriously
until five years ago, at age 43,
when she began taking classes at
Quilt Lovers Hangout.
Most who sew can tell tales about
their craft. What's yours?
History, tradition, the battered
economy and popular shows such
as “Project Runway” continue to
inspire those to handcraft and
even create their own designs.
Business is brisk at Quilt Lovers
Hangout where they hold sewing
camps for young sewers and
groups for the more accomplished.
Sewing appeals for many reasons,
Selph said. Her oldest customer is
102 and her youngest is 9, she said.
“It’s the satisfaction of seeing a
finished product,” Selph said
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| For the month of January The Quilt Sampler Quilt Kit for the Shop will be on SALE! Was $69.95 Now only $49.95 |
Phyllis Anderson International Teacher/ Fabric Designer Coming to Quilt Lovers' Hangout February 18th Saturday 10-4 "Maddie Bea's" Intermediate to Advanced - Full Day "Maddie Bea's" is designed after an antique quilt I found at a quilt show. I designed a three-piece template set, which allows you to make perfect intersections with the blocks as well as the sashing and set-ins. Included is a mini as a bi-product of the quilt. Here is a great class to learn how to use templates and color selection. Your project will not be completed in class. Space is limited 12 spots left so register now to hold your spot. Class fee is $60 that includes your pattern and ruler need for class. Sorry but we can not refund class fee once signed up. So please make sure this is a class for you before you pay for class. |
Phyllis J. Anderson of Silver Thimble and New Beginning Design
PJ is a design artist who has taught and lectured throughout the United States over the past fifteen
years. She is an original designer having published over twenty-five patterns which are available
through Checker Distributors and is currently working on her first book for Landauer Publishing called
‘”Sweet ‘n Sassy”.
Being a previous quilt shop owner of the oldest quilt shop in New England and teacher, she is very
well versed in the art of quilt making. She teaches classes for all levels of quilters in traditional piecing
as well as wearable art. PJ is also working on her first line of fabric for Henry Glass, named “Giselle”.
Her latest accomplishment is a template set called “Sweet n’ Sassy” which is being produced and
marketed by Creative Grid Rulers. Another template is in the prototype stage that will allow individuals
to make an eight-pointed star without any “y” seams.
PJ resides in Springfield, New Hampshire with her partner and husband, Bob, and their two Persian
cats named Princess and Bear.
PJ is a design artist who has taught and lectured throughout the United States over the past fifteen
years. She is an original designer having published over twenty-five patterns which are available
through Checker Distributors and is currently working on her first book for Landauer Publishing called
‘”Sweet ‘n Sassy”.
Being a previous quilt shop owner of the oldest quilt shop in New England and teacher, she is very
well versed in the art of quilt making. She teaches classes for all levels of quilters in traditional piecing
as well as wearable art. PJ is also working on her first line of fabric for Henry Glass, named “Giselle”.
Her latest accomplishment is a template set called “Sweet n’ Sassy” which is being produced and
marketed by Creative Grid Rulers. Another template is in the prototype stage that will allow individuals
to make an eight-pointed star without any “y” seams.
PJ resides in Springfield, New Hampshire with her partner and husband, Bob, and their two Persian
cats named Princess and Bear.
