Sedona is out of this world. Or at least the little town seems that way. Enchanted. A great atmosphere for the Quilter's Store in Sedona, AZ. Here, we meet quilt designer Jill Boyd and talk to her about our favorite shared topic! :)
For those visiting Sedona, Arizona, for the first time, it might feel like entering a parallel universe.
The town nestles between red rocks and lush olive green like a movie set, tone on tone. The architecture follows the shapes and colors of the landscape. Terracotta, gray, grayish-brown, chocolate—everything beautifully rounded and architecturally adapted to the hot environment, radiating as much heat as possible. Inside, the houses stay pleasantly cool.
Legend has it that the surrounding rocks possess special powers. As a result, Sedona has become a center for the New Age movement. Palm reading, aura photography, yoga, earth radiation experts, shamans—anyone interested in spiritual topics will find what they are looking for in Sedona.
There are said to be four so-called vortices (singular: vortex) in and around Sedona. These refer to energy swirls, which you can discover in Sedona—guided by spiritual teachers.
But here at SewSimple, we are naturally on the trail of sewing news. We set out in search of local fabric shops and succeed. Right in the middle of town, directly on the main street, we find what we are looking for:
Not only an abundance of fabrics—during our research, we also stumble upon a genuine pattern designer!
We meet Jill at the Quilter's Store Sedona. A great place to get an impression of how the surroundings can influence the work of the quilters who live there.
Jill has been working at the Quilter's Store Sedona since 1993. Four days a week, she tells us, she works there as a sales assistant and quilt instructor. On the fifth day, she devotes herself to her great passion: designing quilts and patterns.
Next to Jill hangs a quilt that we find looks very patriotic. We already encountered the theme of patriotism when visiting Donna in Kingman. Jill has turned this attitude into a quilt design.
Honestly—for us, this deeply rooted, traditional national pride feels strange. But in the USA, this form of self-perception seems to be an important part of their identity.
But back to the magnificent fabrics from all over the world—and the shop is truly packed with them! This makes the shop a wonderful place to get to know fabrics from different tribes and countries.
Here, alongside the apparently very popular Kaffe Fassett fabrics in the US, one can find wonderful prints with Native American, North American, Mexican, Aztec, and Australian patterns.
Jill is particularly fond of the Australian fabrics. She explains that they are "subtle" yet still "bright."
Emus, kangaroos, figs, mysterious symbols. Dreamy, right?
Jill sewed a quilt from these Aboriginal fabrics featuring ancient, mysterious patterns and drawings, combined with traditional American prints and batiks.
The Australian patterns, she says, all have a meaning. "They have a meaning!"
Which are still to be explored.
Unfortunately, these Aboriginal fabrics are hard to come by back home. We at SewSimple find them simply wonderful and would love to sew much more with them. You see, owls, unicorns, and cats are cute, of course.
From our perspective, these Australian prints have a completely different impact and expressiveness. A completely different depth. (And we are still talking about fabric here!).
So we went on a search for you (and, admittedly, primarily for ourselves) to see where these rare fabrics could be found in Germany (we’d rather not think about the shipping costs from Australia).
And we finally found what we were looking for at True Fabrics. The team at True Fabrics has a lovely shop where you can buy fabrics from all over the world. In addition to the Australian ones, they also have exciting African prints!
In Sedona, we also encounter the Row by Row Experience once again:
The narrow "Row by Row" also captures the motifs of the landscape. While in Kingman at Donna's it was the hot, desert-like environment, in Sedona, it is the impressive rocks that are reflected on the small quilt.
Jill shows us the panels—large centerpieces used for themed quilts.
Again: the red rocks, printed in vibrant colors and decorated with gold accents.
We are blown away by the rock quilts, which feature the dreamily beautiful and mysterious rocks of the surroundings:
But the local wildlife is also featured on the colorful quilts:
Above all, the desert quail. You can recognize it by the funny feather crest on its head.
A popular excursion destination in Sedona is the Roman Catholic Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is widely known for its unique architecture and is highly recognizable.
We especially like that there are patchwork sets available to recreate the landscape quilts.
Also hanging in the shop is this colorful quilt—titled Marmalade & Jam:
To conclude, Jill takes us into the "inner sanctum": the quilt classes take place in the adjacent building. Precious unique pieces and special themed quilts also hang here. Photography is forbidden inside.
On a ledge hang so-called mixed media images: textile art made from many layers, fused with an iron, the individual images in natural tones depict landscapes. Jill explains that the creator of these little works of art is a landscape gardener. Here, she translates her love for nature into textile dreams.
The wall next to it is adorned with a huge traditional quilt featuring floral patterns in cream, white, and pink tones. The quilter who sewed this magnificent patchwork blanket, Jill tells us, is now almost ninety and suffers from dementia. Her children donated the wonderful quilt to the store. In this way, her work remains in memory.
Jill herself is passionate about the stories behind the textile works of art.
And she reveals to us that she is currently finishing her first book of quilt patterns. We ask her to let us know when it's ready. Jill promises she will.
We say goodbye—and hope to see you again in magical Sedona.
The visit to the Quilter's Store Sedona completely delighted us. We have likely never found a fabric store with such an appealing, tasteful selection. We will be back, promised! :)
Happy simple sewing,
yours, Sabine
P.S.: In the mood to do some quilting yourself? A great starter project is our pot holders using the quilt-as-you-go technique!
P.P.S.: Quilting is even more fun if you build yourself a mini ironing board for your sewing table!
Comments
Comments are loading …