Sew Great Tours

10/28/2023

Most of us can relate to this 😂

10/18/2023

Sounds like a quilt show!

Come check this out!!! Rainbows and Calico Things is having a quilt sale at the Johnson County Fairgrounds! 50% of the proceeds will be going to local charities.
November 17th 11am- 6pm
November 18th 9am- 3pm.
Johnson County Fairgrounds Building C
4261 Oak Crest Hill Rd SE, Iowa City, IA
For more information give Barb a call at 319-668-1977.
Like, Share and come and see the wonderful quilts she will have on display!

10/14/2023

Still room on the bus Join us Oct 30 on our travels to the Houston Quilt Festival!!!!

Deborah Hyde of West Bloomfield, Mich., has won the Handi Quilter Best of Show Award for...

09/30/2023

Friday Funnies Happy Hour

09/26/2023

Thinking about joining the bus to Houston Quilt Festival? I have someone wanting a roommate!

09/20/2023

Many of you may have seen Marlene working on these while on one of our bus trips!!!

Wow! Just wait until you see this quilt up close at the Sac County Quilt-A-Fair on September 22 and 23. The king-sized quilt was made by Marlene Armbrecht over the last 8+ years. It has 7414 3/4 inch hexies, all hand sewn. You have to see it up close to truly appreciate it! Mark your calendars and come see one of the best rural quilt shows anywhere!

09/16/2023

Another great tour! Went to Wisconsin show and aqs show grand rapids and had our own quilt show on the porch of the grand hotel in mackinac island.

08/30/2023

If Houston is on your bucket list, we need you to sign up for our bus tour!!! Last chance, we won't offer this destination again until 2025!

08/24/2023

Get on the bus to Houston!

This quilt is "A Star Among Stars" (75” x 85”) by O. V. Brantley with Maxine Moore. See it at the Houston Quilt Festival Nov. 2-5 in the exhibit "Long Time Coming: A Retrospective of O.V. Brantley's Red and White Quilts." Sponsored by O.V Brantley Quilt Studio, Brittany Hervey, India Kleeman, Eric Kleeman, and Curtis Mack.

O.V. says "Of the over 300 quilts I have made, this quilt tested my discipline and perseverance the most. It is my interpretation of Willyne Hammerstein’s LaPassacaglia quilt pattern. It is entirely pieced by hand using English paper piecing and has over 3000 pieces. It took me over two years to finish it. It is my first and maybe my last English paper pieced quilt! Yes, this quilt has a message: Be the best at what you do." Design source: LaPasagalia pattern by Willyne Hammerstein.

08/19/2023

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Fair is being considered for a spot in an exhibition in the Smithsonian Museum Art Gallery. It could involve the Butter Cow and Iowa quilts. Two representatives f…

07/05/2023

06/24/2023

You know you are a quilter, when

04/29/2023

Vornado the maker of a small travel iron sold under the brand name Steamfast along with various other names has posted a safety recall on some dual-voltage models within certain production dates. The image below contains the details regarding how to check your iron to see if it is part of the recall. If you have an iron that is affected, follow the directions in the recall notice.

I see lots of people with these irons at retreats. Please share this post so your quilting buddies see it and can check their irons before someone has a serious issue.

12/20/2022

The web page is up! We made a new one, and we will be adding to it as we go. For now we have Paducah, Mackinac and Houston trips posted, but hopping to add one or two more! Enjoy the holidays!
sewgreattours.com

11/10/2022

:D

11/03/2022

On a great trip to the Houston International quilt show! Fun stops along the way.

10/11/2022

10/10/2022

Another wonderful new england adventure!

08/29/2022

A wonderful show at our own Reiman Gardens!

08/04/2022

Happy to say I was a part of this! Nice venue!

08/03/2022

I hope this helps everyone get the info on the new england trip!

07/29/2022

Let's go to New England...colorful scenery and great inspirational stops...art, glass and music...join us!

07/18/2022

Here's one of our heros!

In 1979, Marti Michell and Mary Ellen Hopkins invented the acrylic ruler we all rely on while cutting with the rotary cutter, which was also created in 1979. Here's the story from Marti's "Scrapbook":

"A few months after the rotary cutter was introduced in the United States, I met Mary Ellen Hopkins at her shop. I had already developed some strip techniques of my own using scissors, however, Mary Ellen had a great idea. She was having someone cut acrylic strips in varying widths, so she could use a pencil to mark the fabric and then cut strips with scissors. We hit it off immediately. Her approach certainly matched my thinking that we needed ideas that would allow people to make five to ten quilts a year, not one quilt every five to ten years. I asked Mary Ellen if she had ever tried the rotary cutter against the acrylic strip, and she hadn't. That night, we did, and patchwork has never been the same!"

Come see the woman behind one of our most used quilting tools and who changed the face of quilting at our upcoming Trunk Show and Gallery Walk.

https://iowaquiltmuseum.salsalabs.org/martimichelltrunkshowandgallerywalk/index.html

Marti's quilts are in our gallery through September 25, 2022.