Quilting Adventures ~ The Friendly Store for Everyone Who Creates With Fabric!

First I’m going to start off with some show and tell from one of our customers, Sue M.  She made it with one of our newer collections from Michael Miller Fabrics.

Isn’t it gorgeous?  I love the colors!

We’ve also gotten some new novelty fabrics, including alligators, cats, dogs, firemen, and ladybugs, as well as some new thread, Invisafil by Wonderfil in 30 different colors.  We’ve also gotten zippers on a roll, in 12 different colors.

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve gotten some awesome collections in! Here are pictures of two of my favorites:

Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller.

And Nikki by Pat Sloan for P & B Textiles.

Enjoy!

~Phoebe

A few weeks ago, one of our customers who is a Girl Scout leader brought her troop in to do a pillowcase class with Phoebe and me.  What fun we all had!  It’s so great to watch kids pick out fabric for their own pillowcases, and their looks of joy when they finish them are priceless!  We got a wonderful thank you card from the troop complete with a photo:

If any of your are interested in bringing a group for a “private” class or would like to talk about having a birthday party (or other celebration!) with a class here at the shop, just give us a call!

~Joyce

We will be starting our new block of the month program in March, the $5 Sampler Quilt.  I’ve finally settled on the second colorway.  For both sets of blocks, I tried to choose color schemes that would allow for many different options for setting blocks and sashing and borders, rather than locking into just one group of fabrics.  The batik quilt that I made shows just one set of fabric selections, but there are many more options for finishing!  For the second colorway, I sewed two sample blocks, and here they are pictured with two of the fabrics I used for inspiration as well as a few pieces of sashing.  These are just *suggestions* – when you get going on your sets of blocks, you’ll have all year to be watching for the perfect fabrics to finish *your* quilt and make it your own!

If you can’t decide between the two colorways, you can do both – each additional block kit is $5.

~Joyce

Estelle wrote me today:

“Who says you can’t draw with Paintstiks!  Although they are not recommended as drawing tools I decided to give them a try.  I guess the combination of cold windy weather and not being one for observing ‘rules’ I drew this beach scene which I’m probably going to use as a fabric postcard.  It was quick, fun, and therapeutic.  Take your own ‘mini-vacation’!”

Follow this link to get the details on this upcoming class!

I (Joyce) signed up for a class at Hampton on Saturday with Libby Lehman on Threadplay (follow the link to read all about it), and due to some crummy circumstances beyond my control, I can’t take the class.  If anyone is interested in purchasing my spot ($70), please contact me at the shop (262-0005).

This Sunday, Estelle is offering her Exploring with Paintstiks class again.  You won’t believe the awesome stuff you can do with paintstiks!  Rather than having you buy a lot of supplies that you might never use again, we provide nearly everything you need as part of the class kit.  We still have a few spaces left, so don’t wait to sign up.

~Joyce

Estelle sent me this great photo the other day:

And she wrote:

“I can’t stop playing with thread!
I want to share a fun project I have been working on for the last month. I have been thread painting using a single leaf printed fabric as my base. Notice the difference between the unpainted leaves on the right and the embellished leaves on the left. I have combined solids and variegated, 12 to 60 weights, cotton and rayon threads on a single leaf. I have stitched some leaves with colors very similar to the colors of the fabric. On other leaves I have used completely different colors, only using the print as a rough pattern. I have experimented with how the thread is patterned, sometimes stitching only straight lines, sometimes filling space with contours, sometimes sketching randomly. This process encourages me to experiment and test drive materials and ideas without any end point or application in mind. Some leaves are more successful than others but the process is extremely liberating and addictive! I can step into my studio for ten minutes or two hours. I highly recommend it!”
You can read more about Estelle’s Thread Play class by following this link!

“Garment Techniques” taught by Cynthia Stockdon is beginning Tues.Feb. 26, 10a.m.-12. Learn several zipper applications and make samples for a reference notebook. On following Tuesdays through April 8, you can add to your notebook with classes on pockets, buttonholes, seams, hems, facings, etc. Each class is $15.00 and can be taken separately or all 6 weeks together. Great for sewers already familiar with their machine.  Read more about it here and here!

This weekend’s demo will be part one in our series of techniques used in making Susan’s landscape sample, picture below.  Keep in mind that this is just a work in progress!  Tomorrow and Sunday we’ll show you how to do curved piecing with the CurveMaster presser foot.  Next week will be needle felting for embellishments, and the next week will be silk ribbon embroidery.  Demos are Saturday at 11 and 2 and Sunday at 2!

Here’s a customer show and tell submitted by two friends and customers. Please note – Judy is NOT a member of our staff; she works with the two women who submitted this article and photo.

This is a picture of the friendship quilt that we made for our friend and co-worker, Judy, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. When we found out that Judy had cancer we wanted to know what we could do to help her and her family. At first there didn’t seem to be a lot for us to do, other than listen and be a friend. But as quilters the next thought was – we could make her a quilt! Quilts are such wonderful expressions of the warmth and caring we feel for others.

We kept the pattern simple in order to finish it quickly. We asked Judy’s friends here at work to contribute signature blocks and we put those together with some fabrics that we had on hand. The signature blocks are all so warmly expressed and very creative – from non-quilters!

Judy will be using her new quilt to keep her warm this week, as she begins her third round of chemotherapy.

Penny Sedgley & Sheree King