Back to the business of quilting

Here is Lesley Alcorn (yes, there is an "l" in her name but not in the store's name) Gebbie in her new quilt store, ACORN QUILTS, 6409 E. Riverside Blvd., Rockford, IL 61114. I went back to the Midwest to visit friends and attend the International Quilt Festival in Chicago (www.quilts.com) and much to my surprise discovered that Lesley (who I hadn't seen in half a decade) followed her muse and opened her own store!






Her store's motto is: "Urban Chic Meets Vintage Charm." You can see the fun urban chic fabric and pillow above and the vintage charm to the left.

Her store didn't make it onto the IQA bus tour of Rockford quilt shops because she'd been open less than a year, but at least I found it.
(Thanks for taking me, Susan!)









And here are Susan and me in the hallway leading into the quilt festival, which was held at the Convention Center in Rosemont. We don't know who that man is, and I'm not sure how the dog got into the picture. (In case you can't tell, that's a hallway mural.)

I didn't enter a quilt in this year's festival, but I did have a photograph (below) in the new exhibit called "The Eye of the Quilter: Inspiration." Quilters were asked to submit their own digital photographs that might inspire a quilt. Since bright green is my favorite color, I submitted these banana leaves that I snapped in Hawaii.

"Banana Leaves," by Sherrie Spangler, 2009

Have a colorful day!