Celebrating the New Year!

Latest and Greatest Items

A couple of our latest creations...no more sleepless nights trying to remember all the reindeer names, these festive pillow cases can do the work for me!

reindeer names pillowcases

And this fun little project may be perfect if you have a little one on the way or a small one that needs an extra quilt to snuggle up with! 

ric rac bunny panel and quilt kit

We have some new books in time for the gift-giving and receiving season...Jo Morton has a new book "For All Seasons", and we also have Barbara Brackman's new "Civil War Sampler" book that includes 50 quilt blocks and stories from history.  

Jo Morton For All Seasons

Happy Stitching!

Quick Gifts and Fabric Wrapping

More fun with felted wool balls, this is just a 10 inch styrofoam cone, covered in colorful wool!  We also created a festive garland that includes wooden spools, peppermint candy and of course bits of fabric all tied on a string.. if you look closely at our tree below - there's a wreath for our partridge to wear or hang on the tree, and an acorn ornament...we also have a fabric yo-yo garland...stuffed yo-yo tree ornament, etc.
...lots of fun stuff to get the creative process underway!

Giant Ric Rac trim

We are also thinking of gift wrapping - reusable fabric gift bags, snowflakes and ric rac stitched and glued onto brown paper bags....and fabric scraps create colorful gift tags.   A box of wool pennies stitched into a row would look festive draped across the mantel as well!

If you are still in need of some unique and quick gifts...we have fun ruffle fabric for a festive scarf (10 minutes tops!), and pillowcases are great for anyone, pick a theme or personalize your creation to suit any decor...fabric napkins are easy to stitch up and so are these fabric shoe bags!  We think a shoe bag is perfect for anyone who travels, heads to the gym, or carries their dress shoes to work!  These are fun to personalize too, and only take about 3/8 of a yard of fabric (maybe something from your stash will do?).  Here is the quick tutorial - I modified our version a bit to create a small ruffle at the top edge, and the opening for the drawstring is enclosed in the side seam.  Stop by and we can show you the details.  P.S. Fancy red shoes don't come with the bag!

Shoe Bag

We have tag-its to add a special touch to your creations!

Happy Stitching!

Projects to start, Projects to finish

We are busy playing catch up and wanted to share our pin cushion for December...something bright and wooly, featuring some of our latest Sue Spargo ribbon trim.  This pillow style pin cushion measures about 4 x 6 finished size.  We have kits ready to go and of course, you could create something similar if you have treasures in your sewing room!  These are fun easy projects to accomplish for yourself or a sewing buddy if you still need some gift ideas!   

Finishing up ...or is it wrapping things up?  Here are the final products from the diligent efforts for a few of our Farmers wives....We had a great show and tell for the reunion that met last week, and here are just a couple of the quilts that were shared.

The crazy continues with the efforts to race to the finish with the civil war sampler blocks...here is a sneak peek at a couple of recent submissions...we have one or two completed tops out there, and a handful of participants have finished ALL their blocks...Congratulations everyone on their progress to date!!!  Just a reminder that the quilt show for finished quilts will be in March, and the last monthly deadline for blocks in order to receive the last fabric allocation is January 15th.

December is here!

We have some fun new products to play with!  These wool felt balls and wool squares are great for garlands, door bell hangers, tree ornaments, package decorations...or even better, double-duty and a package decoration that can be re-purposed on the tree!  We have some fun colors and sizes, and even some options for pin cushion kits and festive bracelets...we've got some fun ideas planned for future projects - let us know what inspires you!

More colors and sizes...

Wool Felt balls for fun projects!

We have a few new smaller projects - simple and quick...is the theme, and versatile enough to transition for an easy gift, or fresh winter look for your holiday decorating....

Bella's Bird Quilt - kits available!

Vintage Christmas Quilts - kits and center panel available!

And we have some fun new ribbons...a few by Sue Spargo in brights and a floral one designed by Anna Maria Horner...we are working on our December pin cushion, and it just may feature a new ribbon trim...a work in progress that will come together quickly I hope!

Happy Stitching!

Happy Turkey Time

I hope you are enjoying a great meal, good friends and family and some quality sewing time mixed in!!

Here are a few more photos from Houston - and we are starting to get some of the treasures that I found in at the shop...we have vintage ribbon, new wool snippets and wool felt balls perfect for garlands and other fun holiday projects.  We have a few new patterns that I couldn't resist, and new fabric is pouring in along with the deluge of rain we've had.  Stop by and enjoy some fabric therapy...we even have a fresh bolt of sparkly martini fabric, if that is where your holiday festivities have you thinking!

Happy Stitching!

vintage quilt with fun cheddar sashing

Steam Punk - a new pattern we're carrying by an Australian company

Modern and bright was definitely the theme at market

And who doesn't need a few new decorating ideas?

The Jo Morton line of fabric - Toasted...has arrived!  Here is a swatch of one of the bolder motifs.

 Fabulous quilt...this one has me thinking about some ideas for projects and classes!!

Have you seen our slipper?

We are missing one of our pin cushion samples....have you seen our slipper?  

Here are a few photos of some of the vendor booths at market - too much fabric, too much fun?!

Moda Fabrics won an award for their booth - they were all about color!

November in Hawaii?

Now that the blustery weather has arrived...a pineapple on the beach in Hawaii sounds good?  Or, perhaps just playing with batiks and creating a pin cushion will have to suffice.   

More challenge blocks - can you believe how crazy busy this project is making everyone?!

Some of the latest fabrics from French General, we have layer cakes too!  We've added some dull grey fabrics from Jeanne Horton's latest collection too....and we just can't wait to unveil some of the finds from Houston...but alas, we have to wait another week or so for shipping to catch up.

Happy Stitching!

To Market To Market!!

Here are a few pictures from Houston Quilt Market...I'll have a few more to share over the next few posts so stay tuned!  Oh yes, I did my best to take it all in and see the latest and greatest along with the amazing quilts on display for the various exhibits.  

Heading to the hotel from the convention center, this art sculpture is across from the center

Michael Miller School house (I think...there were 14 lectures in 8 hours!)

Marcus Fabrics School house

Sample Spree

The turkeys are coming?

Although you may have already hosted a Canadian thanksgiving...we are busy planning for turkey and guests (of course after recovering from all our Halloween candy!!), and thought we'd share some of our favorite ideas for quick hostess gifts, or fun items to stock up on now for your holiday gift-giving....

We love the fall colors and prints of the Jo Morton fabrics for these pumpkins, adding a few found seed pods and leaves for embellishment adds to the fun...and this turkey print fabric below is perfect for a napkin set or to wrap up a fresh loaf of bread or batch of breakfast muffins.

This harvest squash print created a pretty cute lunch sack aka gift bag, and would also be great to send  out the door with your guests packed with leftovers!

And of course, if you're looking for new inspiration this japanese inspired group of washed blues "Kasuri" by Moda could be just the ticket....and a few new novelty sewing themed bolts could be a great option for a gift idea for your quilting pals!

Happy Stitching!!

It's sewing weather!

Finally...time to sew guilt free in the rain!  The leaves are coming down like crazy, and the fabric is pouring in the door!  We have several pieces from the Square in a Square IQSC collection - including a glorious turkey red paisley and pansy print.  The feature fabric for this collection won't last long - and there are several small calico prints that are great for the stash too.

We are coming up on the first deadline for the Civil War Sampler Challenge - wow!!! Everyone has been busy getting creative with their sample packs...here are a few examples of customers efforts!

And of course, there have been a few other projects happening out there - here are a couple of photos we've gathered of recent customer projects.  Happy Stitching!