Last week I met our daughter, Noelle for lunch in New Hampton, Iowa. She attends Wartburg College in Waverly and had an appointment in town. After lunch we had about an hour before the appointment, so of course we went to the quilt shop!

Quilter’s Window owned by Denise Sinwell is a lovely store. They are a full service quilt shop with a beautiful fabric, pattern and notion selection. They sell a full range of PFAFF machines. Their calendar is full of class and club offerings and I can personally vouch for the knowledge and experience their staff has to offer. Denise and the staff at the shop are the type of folks who are easy to approach and talk with, as our daughters would agree.

If you are on the fence about a certain fabric, they don’t tell you which one to pick, they show you your options, and ask the right questions to help you determine which one “you” want. Our girls have taken classes for pillow cases, pajama pants and beginner quilts. I still hang those quilts up at home from time to time, even though they are well used. If you are passing through town, they will greet you with a smile and help you out with your sewing needs.

Denise and all of our daughters go way back! This is the shop where they would usually go for their quilt projects, most often for 4-H. Often Denise would help them, but any of the staff have always done a great job with the kids. I usually went along, but as with our typical parenting style, we wanted to teach them independence and for them to be confident in their own choices; quilt patterns and fabric included. My goal was for them to talk and work with Denise instead of me. Learning to talk with adults is a learned skill and a necessary one.

I don’t think there was ever a time in all our years that any of them made a poor choice in a quilt selection. Typically, they were very determined to do harder and more complicated patterns, and there were times when I was thinking to myself, “I don’t know if even I can do that”! But mum’s the word. Who was I to tell a quilter that I didn’t think they could do that. Self determination and desire goes along way, and isn’t that a great quality to have in life.

The Tucker Prairie collection by Moda caught her eye and she was able to find a new pattern she liked, Geese on the Prairie by one canoe two. I don’t think she has done a quilt with flying geese, but we looked over the pattern, talked with Denise and decided it was doable. This quilt will be a fairly quick and fun project for her. Maybe just the thing a college girl needs to break up the study time.

Noelle’s last quilts were made about 2 years ago over Christmas break. Using leftover fabric from her past projects she made 2 quilt tops. I think it felt like a great accomplishment that she was able do this along with her sister Victoria who made 2 quilt tops as well. The Bernia was hot for a few weeks while it was cold out side! Victoria was able to longarm and bind one of her’s but the other 3 still need to be quilted when they have time.

I have only long-armed quilts that I made for gifts for our daughters, otherwise since the 4th grade they have been doing their own. In this way, they have completed their quilt on their own, from start to finish. Noelle did tell me I could quilt her new one, as with any quilt you make for yourself, you can try some new custom quilting techniques. This way we are assured they will turn out beautifully on the customer quilt! I have pantographs posted that you can choose from for your longarm quilting, but remember I can do custom as well. If we can draw it, I can quilt it!

What is it about completing a quilt that gives us a feeling of accomplishment? A sense of creativity, standing back and looking at it and saying to ourselves, “I did That” and it turned out pretty good. Completing a quilt seems to lift our spirit a bit, brings a smile to our face. Why do you quilt? Share YOUR story with us:)

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