Stand at the edge of the Painted Desert and look at those hills, banded in rose, cream and rust, one careful stripe after another, and any quilter will say the same thing: somebody has been strip piecing. Traveling Stitches is our collection for quilters who see fabric in every landscape. The designs travel through beloved states and, best of all, through our national parks, each one rendered in stitched texture as if the whole scene had been appliquéd by hand.
Parks that are practically strip pieced
Petrified Forest National Park shows exactly what we mean, those candy-striped hills stacked in soft bands behind a twisted, weathered old trunk. Guadalupe Mountains National Park layers its rock in wavy strata of tan, brown and slate, like a stack of fat quarters folded and set on end, and Great Sand Dunes sweeps golden curves across the scene beneath purple peaks, the kind of shapes you would only attempt with a very steady hand and a very good curved ruler.
Parks that are pure appliqué
Some landscapes are all bold shapes. Arches National Park frames a great red stone arch against the blue, and look closely: a spool of thread stands at its base, as if someone stopped to sew right there in the desert. Pinnacles National Park raises red rock spires while a condor rides the wind overhead, and Mesa Verde National Park builds its cliff dwellings from warm golden stone, stitched block by block into the canyon wall.
Parks for the night owls and the far north
Joshua Tree saves its magic for after dark, the spiky silhouettes of its trees standing beneath a sky scattered with stars. Gates of the Arctic goes even farther, with green northern lights shimmering over snowy peaks and a river winding through the valley. In Glacier Bay a great blue-white glacier meets the water as a whale surfaces in the cold sea, and in Glacier National Park a bear ambles beside a turquoise lake, wildflowers at the water's edge and mountains standing guard.
For the quilter with a map in her sewing room
This collection belongs to the quilter who keeps a park map pinned beside her design wall, the friend who brings home a fat quarter from every trip instead of a magnet, and anyone in The Stitch Circle who has ever sketched a quilt block on a trail map. Think of the traveler in your life who is always planning her next adventure. Somewhere out there is a landscape she has not seen yet, and when she finds it, she will know exactly which fabrics to pull.
Written by Jenny. Thanks for reading.
