This year my daughter joined me in the rowing which gave us a lovely bit of girly time.
After plotting our route, we began our Rowing through lovely Virginia where the tall green trees, rolling hills, and mountains abound!
NORTHERN VIRGINIA QUILT SHOPS
Part of the fun is discovering new quilt shops while enjoying lovely scenery, smelling the roses, and enjoying patio lunches…staycation-style!
GREAT FALLS
Our first stop was in Great Falls, Virginia to the Jinny Beyer Studio.
Learning from her on Alex Anderson’s HGTV program, Simply Quilts, I had no idea she was now located near me, until I looked at the list of quilt shops participating in the Row by Row!
I love her shop, her layout, her assortments, her helpful staff…and the cute shopping area where my daughter and I enjoyed lunch on the patio overlooking the gardens, and that Beyer’s row reflected her backyard of the tumultuous Great Falls, that caused George Washington to dream of canals.
Famed for her fabric line of powerfully stunning colors, I bought the kit!
UMBRELLAS AND RAINDROPS
From Great Falls I drove to Haymarket, Virginia, just north of our home to Oh, Sew Persnickety, which had a cute umbrellas in the rain pattern.
WINDMILL BLOCKS IN WATERY SHADES OF AQUAS
Then I drove to Warrenton, Virginia, just northwest of our home, to Kelly Ann’s Quilting, who helped organize the Virginia Row by Row, and who also sells Civil War reproduction fabric!
After some research, I’m returning to buy fabric for a Civil War gown!
Loving her kit of watery shades of aqua, I bought the kit.
That ended our first day of Rowing pattern collecting.
BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN QUILT SHOPS
The next morning my daughter and I packed a lunch for a lovely day of driving in the Blue Ridge Mountains to visit new quilt shops.
Enjoying the luscious views of the gorgeous mountains, I was out here more for the scenery (a vacation in itself) than I was for the quilt patterns.
Nevertheless, it was still fun to explore new shops and learn more about how all the roads connect in Virginia.
OLD RAG MOUNTAIN
Our first stop was to the Scrappy Apple in Winchester, Virginia, which featured the infamous hiking trail near their town, of Old Rag Mountain.
WATERING CANS
Continuing towards West Virginia, we came so teasingly close to the border, only a couple of miles, that the mountains beckoned us to come like the Pied Piper of Harlem.
Meanwhile we arrived at Liberty View Quilt Shop at Cross Junction.
From their parking lot, my daughter and I ate our lunch in the car enjoying the lovely views of the mountains and corn fields.
WATER WHEEL
Driving south to Staunton, Virginia, we arrived at Rachel’s Quilt Patch near the historic train station.
Loving her fabric selections, I bought the kit!
Taking my favorite route home, east on I-64, then north on Rte 29, I swooned at the mountain views that kept getting better.
QUILT SHOPS OF MANASSAS
Our final day of rowing was in the local area since we had appointments in the next few days.
SEAHORSES
Driving to Suzzie’s Quilt Shop in Manassas, Virginia, we collected my favorite row pattern of all of them, this adorable seahorse pattern!
BEACHES, UMBRELLAS, AND BOATS
Down the road in the historic area, we visited Aurora Quilts, for this row pattern for boats and umbrellas on the beach.
SEWING QUILT ROWS
And then I began sewing quilt rows while helping my daughter with some of hers.
One of my favorite parts of creating these quilts, is that I’m encouraged to try new quilting techniques I’m otherwise hesitant to attempt, until I build my skillsets.
Since these are small projects, the challenges are not as great as with a larger quilt.
EMBELLISHMENTS
Adding beads to many of the rows included blue beads to look like water streaming from the watering cans and blue beads to act as rain drops on the umbrellas.
For the seahorse row I added green fabric that I ruched to look like seaweed. Then I added pearl bubbles coming from the seahorses’ mouths.
I also meant to add teal seashells to the beach scene (my idea because I have these gorgeous seashells in storage and all the bead work inspired me), but I completely forgot.
I WON!
Returning to Staunton in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I walked into Rachel’s Quilt Patch with my quilt, where I was the first of her customers to return with a quilt of eight rows, including her pattern…so I won her prize!
I was humbled that they asked to hang my quilt in their display window, since I am practically a beginning quilter.
Thank you so much to all the Row by Row organizers and to Rachel’s Quilt Patch!
MARYLAND QUILT SHOPS
Since there were still a few other quilt row patterns I was interested in, I enjoyed a lovely day in Maryland visiting more quilt shops!
Driving to Charlotte’s Cottage in Frederick, Maryland, I bought the kit for this adorable sail boat with windmill block pattern in red, white, and blue!
In Easton, I visited Lilies of the Field where I bought enough fabric to make an entire quilt of their gorgeous crabby row.
While there, I asked for recommendations for a great crab-cracking lunch alongside the water.
Recommending The Crab Claw, they directed me to St. Michael’s Island which was amazing.
After a terrific lunch on this cool September stunning drizzly day, we decided we are returning on a blue-skied summery day next year to see more of this charming town.
