almost time!

The clock is ticking and we are on the final count down for the solar eclipse.  Where will you be watching from?!

Have you checked out the special exhibit information that the International Quilt Study center has put together?  Very amazing quilts selected for their exhibit A Rare Occurrence.  I have long been a fan of  of the Ellen Harding Baker astronomy quilts - the solar system quilt is incredible, but what I really  am impressed with is how creative and contemporary some of these quilts look even today.   These ladies were talented and I'm guessing they had no idea their quilts would take on a life of their own.  Apparently, astronomy was an acceptable interest for women in the nineteenth century - and sparked some pretty unique projects.  I wonder what quilts will be inspired by tomorrow's eclipse.  The more things change the more they stay the same right?!  

Although this is the moon and not the sun, we like this nocturne moonphase fabric designed by Rae Ritchie for Dear Stella Timeless Treasures....could be a pretty cool feature fabric for a special project.

We'll be crossing our fingers for clear skies tomorrow!

Limited Availability Hand-Dyed Yard cuts!

We still have a small collection of 1-yard Hand-Dyed pieces available.  They are all unique and most are signed by the maker, Judy Robertson of Just Imagination.  Judy has retired now, so these gorgeous pieces won't be as readily available as they were.  We inherited a stash and want these pieces to get enjoyed and used so we are sending these out into the world of quilting once again!  With each purchase we are contributing a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer care at Bellingham Peace Health Cancer Center.

Each piece has rich saturated color and there are a lot of color combinations to choose from.  Stop by and check them out soon, before they're gone!

Something cool is coming...

Yes - it is hot outside and inside too these days, not to mention all the smoke in the air from the wildfires.  But it's never too hot to sew right?  Or dream about winter cold, wet and white that will be back before we're ready for it!  The holidays are coming and since we do know people who think Halloween is only for chocolate, we have some Christmas fabrics mixing in with our fun Halloween fabrics.  Are you ready to get inspired and start your projects sooner than than the night before Christmas?   

Merrily

Berry Merry

We have a few more fabrics arriving soon, but these photos show the majority of our 2017 holiday groups.  We have charm packs available for both of the Moda collections, Snowfall and Berry Merry.

Christmas Remembered

Snowfall Collection

Victoria Findlay Wolf for Marcus Brothers Green and Red

A great mix of traditional, modern and some fun winter fabrics that will take you through January!  

First Friday Reminder

Get your sewing tools and knives 

back in prime condition!

✂ ✂ ✂ ✂✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂ ✂  ✂ ✂ ✂

Drop off your scissors by Friday (First Friday of the Month) and you'll have them back and ready for cutting on the following Wednesday! 

Services provided by Caleb Hilton

5 Little Quilts, 10 Big Years

It takes a village may just be our theme song of late!  Although some of this effort was underway months ago, all the moving parts just didn't come together until now - so here it is with an extra drumroll for teamwork!

Alot of people contributed in various ways to our Little Quilt effort this year - we have a multi-talented college student employee with the skills to create our special pattern cover, and we had some expert sewing and consulting help from our shop team including those who come out of retirement, leave children unattended, and volunteer their time to help out in ways they don't even realize to help get the job done!  Thanks to ALL of our customers, employees (former employees too!), friends and family who have contributed to making our 10 Big Years all that they have been!

We've got five special little quilts - all sourced from vintage quilt images on Pinterest - you can check out our Pinterest board for the original inspiration projects here: https://www.pinterest.com/twothimbles/5-little-quilts-10-big-years/

It was fun to look for similar current fabrics to feature in these projects and also create our own spin where we wanted to.  We have some of the feature fabrics bundled as fat quarters and also a great instruction booklet that includes all 5 quilts.  These will be posted on the website soon.

Hope you have a chance to stop in and see the quilts, we had a great show and share with customer quilts added to our classroom wall for admiration earlier this week and we do appreciate seeing all the creativity!  Thank-you for a great 10 years!

Our Favorites!

Things are starting to shift places at the shop...and that can only mean ONE thing.  Halloween comes before Christmas!  We have some great fabrics to mix and match - along with several oldies but goodies - we've added a few pieces from the Hocus Pocus line as well as these fun and funky ones from Cheeky Wee Pumpkins.  We also have a couple of Halloween panels and a quilt recipe to go with them, so you can create your own project combining fabrics you choose.  Here are some of our current favorites.... 

Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus

Cheeky Wee Pumpkin

Panel Recipe Pattern

We've got fabric bundles and combinations that could help make these quilts happen in no time at all!    

Perfect 10 Pattern 

Intrigue Pattern

As I mentioned in a previous post - we love show and tell!  Here is a creative quilt Carol stitched up based around our Steampunk fabric panel - the panel is one of the 'challenging' ones, in that the blocks are different sizes, and in this case some of the motifs are round too!  This propeller block combined with the featured fussy cut blocks really worked out fabulously!  Great one-of-a-kind quilt Carol, thanks for sharing! 

Happy Stitching!

Learning and Playing!

Look at these results from our first Prima Diva - Revised wallet class!  The variety of options is pretty much limitless.  You can combine fabrics, add embellishments and change up the wallet features to create exactly what you want!

The photos below showcase the samples Suz created for our class - we've set up another date for mid-September so if you missed out on this round, check your calendar for September 16th!

And we've added another date for the Perfect Applique!  This method of hand-applique combines fusible and glue techniques for a perfect edge, that allows you to see all the fabrics in place before you finalize.  No surprises - and the option to perfectly place an specific fabric motifs.  You can try your hand at this method - choose a fish or a fowl and get started.  New class date September 9th!

Hope you can join us for some fun learning!