From our Quilt Market Booth: Home is where you make it

One of the quilts featured in our booth at Quilt Market was our concept quilt for the Row by Row Experience. This year's theme is "Home Sweet Home," and we couldn't resist having a quilt made in our Leather collection fabrics that followed the theme. 

Here are some close-ups and a little more information about our Home Sweet Home quilt, "Home Is Where You Make It," designed by Lisa Swenson Ruble and machine quilted by Diane Oakes.

Q. Where did the idea for this quilt come from?

Lisa: When Paintbrush Studio approached me about designing a row by row quilt concept, they asked for a quilt with a story that moved from row to row. They also suggested a few ideas, including thinking about campers and snowbirds. So many quilters are snowbirds, and I latched onto that as my story--the idea that your home is wherever you are and however you make it. 

And that became the "quote" that runs across the top and bottom borders.

Q. Tell us about the storyline. 

Lisa: The storyline runs through all five rows. In the first row, you see the happy little neighborhood, including the cute camper. In the second row, winter arrives, everything is covered in snow, and the camper is ready to leave town. The third row is the journey--up and down hills, across winding roads, heading for the beach. In the fourth row, the camper is set up near the beach--home away from home. You see some repeating motifs there--the gnome, the flowers, the quilt on the clothesline, the birdhouse. And in the fifth row, relaxing on the beach!

Row 1:

Row 2:

Row 3:

Row 4:

Row 5:

Q. How did you design the quilt?

Lisa: I sketched out the idea for each row on pencil and paper and had a friend, Linda Smoker, create the digital quilt in Adobe Illustrator from my sketches. My sketches weren't even to scale--they were concepts more than anything--and she did a wonderful job transforming them! Then I printed out her digital designs at full size (9" x 36" rows!) at the copy store and traced the various pieces onto fusible web. 

Q. What did you like about the Leather fabrics?

Lisa: They have so much texture! They really added depth to the landscape and even the border. I am glad the palette was narrowed down to just ten, because there are so many different great colors to choose from. 

Q. What is your favorite part of the quilt? 

Lisa: I absolutely love the quilting that Diane Oakes did--I handed her the quilt top and said "do whatever you think works" and she did a fantastic job adding so much texture. I also really like the little gnome. :) 

Thanks, Lisa!

Are you interested in participating in the Row by Row Experience this summer? Find out more details about it here, and see our Leather collection fabric palette here. 

See the entire Leather collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop. 

Read Lisa's blog post about this quilt here. 

**Please note--the "Home Is Where You Make It" quilt is not a pattern--it's simply a concept quilt that we've designed for fun. Watch for Home Sweet Home row patterns at your local quilt shop this summer!