Walk into the new Art Girls Studio and Quilting shop, the newest retail addition to Dolores, and the bright colors will be hard to miss.
Every color in the rainbow greets those that walk through the door, whether it be a colorful quilt, bag, doll, button, ribbon or material that Dolores resident Virginia Robertson designed herself.
The store opened officially on Wednesday and Robertson was busy making final preparations.
It started out as a studio, but I ended up bringing my website store down here too, Robertson said.
Robertson, a former art teacher, has been designing fabric for 32 years. Her latest line of fabrics are very colorful batiks. Robertson designs the fabrics inside her studio on Granath Mesa above Dolores. Her designs are then sent to Indonesia where the fabric is hand-stamped.
She pulled out one such batik that was bright green with pink swirls, the colors popped and the designed flowed.
Robertson said designing fabric is her passion, in addition to quilting.
She opened a quilt shop in Dolores many years ago and then moved it to Cortez, where it is owned by others now.
Her batik material is on display at the new shop, in addition to her quilt patterns. The batiks are currently on sale because Robertson said she is starting to work with a new company with new designs.
Everything a quilter would need is here, Robertson said.
But in addition to that, there are gifts available.
Finished quilts hang on the wall, purses are available, dolls and even whimsical light switch covers.
The work of three additional artists will be available at Art Girls Studio. The other girls at the studio will be Debbie Honaker, Ursula Fury and Julia Bordeman.
Bordemans light switch covers are colorful and fun.
Its not just fabric, Robertson said. Two of us are painters, all four of us make dolls and all four of us sew.
The new shop is on the corner of South Fourth Street and Railroad Ave., next to The Ginger Jar and Terris Hair and Nails.