Off to the Merchant Mall…and The Threaded Needle…

It must have been a good Quilt Show on the weekend because I am STILL talking about it!  Either that or I really need to get out more!

For the last two days we have hung out with the quilts in the show…now let me take you into the Merchants Mall…where the venders were located!  Now remember this is definitely not the Road to California where you would find hundreds of venders!  There were maybe twenty booths…and each booth had something to look at and appeal to a quilter…BUT…it was this booth that I wanted to share!

The ‘Threaded Needle’ is a quilt shop of sorts that sells patterns, fabric and threads from Japan.  What I love is the yarn dyed cotton fabrics made by  Daiwabo in Japan.  These fabrics have a rich antique look with a subtle mingling of colors. The Taupe's prints take their inspiration from nature…lots of soft leaves and flowers and the yarn dyed fabrics are linen like but with way more interest…lots of texture, lines and subtle colours…LOVE this fabric.  But it’s hard to find…none of our Quilt Shops carry it.  Down south you can find it here and there…it is always a pleasant surprise to stumble on it!

Well A Threaded Needle carries it…if fact they have the best supply EVER…even better than the two shops who carry it at the Road to California!  EUREKA!!

See the right corner of the table…all lovely linens…gorgeous stuff!

Here are the yarn dyed fabrics…FOUR huge bins of it!!  Oh to own one FQ of each colour!!

She also carried all of the Japanese Quilting books!!  The eye candy in these books is incredible!

Look at the purses…I can SEE that hexie purse on my arm!  Love the way they hand appliquéd each hexie so that the darker  brown background fabric frames each hexie!  And look at that thread keeper at the bottom with the wee little birdhouses…cute or what!!

See that runner with the beige squares…well picture this…get rid of the circles and add some wool applique…maybe a basket with flowers or those sweet birdhouses…ARE YOU FEELING IT?!

And it stands to reason that the Threaded Needle lady would have lots of different threads and needles!  Lovely stuff…better than candy!

AND lookie here…The Threaded Needle is starting to dabble in WOOL…REAL WOOL!!  You know the woven kind!  Hallelujah!! 

You can have your own religious experience too :o))…because she has an on-line shop!!  Just go HERE to see all her wonderful things!

Looks like the Quilting economy is alive and well and doing a very brisk business!

I had to take a picture of this booth…well not exactly the booth but THAT hexagon quilt!  The pattern is called Science Fair by Jaybird Designs…and it’s modern.  My middle daughter picked out this pattern so I bought it while down south…but after seeing this quilt in the beige linen and browns I have other plans…for ME!!  Stay tuned…

The other fun thing in the Merchant Mall was listening to and watching the Antique Quilt Appraiser.  She was checking out this crazy quilt made by the lady on the left’s great grandmother in the late 1890s!

It was wonderful to see all the beautiful fabrics and stitches.  Did you know that at this time quilters would stitch their Quilt Prize Ribbons into their Crazy Quilts and they would have the name of the Fair and the Date. Of course back then the ribbons were made of silk. This can increase the value of the quilt!  Who knew?!  Isn’t it a shame that our prize ribbons are made out of an acrylic almost plastic like material!!  Who would want to stitch these ribbons into their crazy quilts?  I just couldn’t do it!…:o((

I loved listening to the appraiser talk about this quilt and the old fabrics…you could tell that she REALLY loved and enjoyed her job!

So there you have it!!  The Nanaimo Quilt Show is over for another two years!  The quilters really out did themselves and put on a great show!  I can imagine how much work goes into hosting something like this…it would take a village of quilters for sure!!  Just to let you Nanaimo Gals know that we APPRECIATED it and enjoyed every moment!

Now to the LOOT!!  Several of you wrote that you wanted to see my LOOT!  Well it was nothing earth shattering…(remember I just unload our RV after 3 1/2 months down south…after attending TWO Quilt Shows, a Shop Hop, a whirl wind quilt shop hop of our own when Claire came down, topped with hitting every QS going up the coast of CA, OR and WA…not to mention a million trips to JoAnn’s!!  Ahhh…good times…)  Gawd…I love flashbacks like that!

Sew here are the yarn dyed fabrics that I bought to add to my Daiwabo Bin…Ok…OK… binS!  I forgot to take a picture of my new ruler…I bought a Bloc Loc 6 1/2” square ruler…paid a huge price for it but it is so worth it!  No more wobbling or slipping for me!  And once I lay off the bottle it will be even better!! haha

Thanks for stopping by…hope you enjoyed the Merchant’s Mall!  Have I wet your appetite for some nice Daiwabo yarn dyed fabrics…yet.??  Just askin’… ~P