This Is June?

It's been so cold here in Northeast Wisconsin I can hardly believe it's June. The thermometer said 38 degrees this morning around 6:00 AM. I love hot weather and was so jealous when the Weather Channel reported that the temperature in Atlanta reached 90 degrees yesterday. I wish they could send some of that our way.

Last weekend we went camping at Point Beach State Park. It's a beautiful park right on Lake Michigan. One of the best features of the park is the bike paths. On Saturday we took a ride into Two Rivers where I visited Sew Much Wool Quilt Shop. It's a very nice shop right on the main drag through town (Washington St.). In an effort to reduce my UFOs and stash I've stayed away from quilt shops since closing mine last fall so it was fun to look at the new stuff. I was pretty good about buying but I did pick up a new book called Scrap Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett. I LOVE this book. I've been looking at the pictures since I bought it. There are 18 projects that all use 2-1/2" strips of fabric. Since I've been collecting these strips for about 10 years I can't wait to make some of these great quilts. As a bonus, the quilting shows up nicely in all the book photos so it should be east to come up with similar quilting designs for the quilts. Now I just have to finish a couple of other projects before I start another one.

I managed to finish the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt from Quiltville.com (shown below). I love having scraps precut. This quilt used 3-1/2" strips and I was able to make a little tiny dent in that drawer!! I used stash yardage for the four patches and more stash fabric for the borders and binding. I didn't need to buy any fabric for this quilt even though I made it bigger than the pattern! It ended up about 88" x 100" so it's a nice queen sized quilt. I also used a Hobbs Heirloom Wool batt that I've had for about 15 years (I ordered a case and had used only one). I really like the way it turned out. It has a wide variety of prints and I was able to use up a few pieces of really old, really ugly fabric. They blend right in with everything else. Just one more reason to love scrap quilts.

Today I hope to get another really old UFO loaded on the frame and quilted. It's from a "Scraps To You" class I took with Debbie Caffrey about 8 years ago. It's not my oldest UFO, but it's turn has come up to be finished. So I guess it's time to get off the computer and start quilting!

May Finishes

Here are three more quilts I finished this month. The first is this black and bright scrappy quilt. I got the bright fabric as samples from a sales rep. They really didn't go with too much in my stash so I just used them all together. The pattern was a free download from Moda's website (Wonderland). I had to adjust the block size a little bit because I just had small pieces of each fabric. It's quilted with a simple allover spiral design. I think it turned out pretty well. One of the nice things about not having the shop is I'm able to work on a project as long as I like. There's no rush or deadline to get on to the next quilt! I actually started and finished this in the same month!!!

I'm not sure when I started this baby quilt. I made with 30's reproduction fabrics and a pale yellow background. It's machine appliqued and quilted and now it's out of my
UFO pile.




This last finish was a really old project. I bought the fabric shortly after we moved to Wisconsin fifteen years ago. The colors are an example of what goes around comes around. The fabric is from the Marcus "Peppermint and Sassafras" line. I really loved the fabric when I bought it and now I'm buying similar colors for my current stash! The project was from a class I took before we opened our shop and I just needed to finish the applique and binding. The hearts are machine appliqued with a feather stitch using heavy wool thread. The heavy thread makes it look like it's hand appliqued.


Right now I'm working on two scrappy projects. One is Bricks and Stepping Stones from the Quiltville.com site. The other is Split Decision, a commercial pattern from The Teacher's Pet. Both are made with scraps from other projects. It's really nice to be able to work down a little bit of stash. Hopefully both will be finished this month so I can post them.

Life After Patchwork Sampler

After eating, breathing and sleeping quilting for the past twelve years I needed to take some time off and do other things. In the past couple of months, I've regained my mojo and have been in a frenzy finishing up old projects. I just can't believe how many kits, UFOs and fabric I've accumulated over the years. What's amazing is that some of the unfinished projects just need a binding, a hanging sleeve or a few stitches to finish!

My latest finish is this pink Yellow Brick Road quilt. I pieced the top a couple of years ago when Moda's Go Pink line came out. Tonight my daughter's soccer team is playing their "Go Pink" game which will raise funds for breast cancer research. They were looking for donations to help with the fundraiser so I quilted and bound this quilt over the weekend and dropped it off this morning. This is a happy finish not only because the quilt is DONE, but it's out of my house and going to a good cause.

The Final Days

We're counting down the last days of our retail shop and have made the final markdowns. Starting Saturday, October 4 save 60% off regular retail on all remaining books, patterns, notions, magazines and fabric (minimum 1/2 yard cut). You can also save 40% on kits and 25% on batting.

The final days are bittersweet as many longtime customers are stopping in to say goodbye. We've had a wonderful time over the past eleven years and have made many friends. We thank you for that and hope that something develops in the future that would allow us to continue those friendships.

With the closing of the shop I've had some time to go through my bins of UFO's and have found a few that I hadn't even remembered. I think this particular project was from a magazine, but I have no idea which one. After piecing all those little triangles you would think I would remember it, but it was a serendipitous surprise! It only needed a little more quilting and binding to be finished. Now it's done and hanging in my family room. I've had great fun going through all this stuff. It's been a little walk down memory lane and reliving the history of the shop. I'll continue posting these finds as I finish them. For some reason this isn't a great picture. The colors look much brighter and more orange than they really are. Also, there isn't as much contrast in the background fabrics as it looks in the picture. Overall, I'm happy with the results and I think this is a perfect wallhanging for fall.

Shop Closing Update

Last week we were very busy with our going out of business sale. We sold a lot of merchandise but we still have LOTS of great fabric--probably 1800-2000 bolts remain. In fact we got in about 200 new bolts this week! I think that's about the end of the fabric, but you just never know when some backorders will appear. That's the nature of this business, but I've let all our vendors know that we're closing so they should cancel remaining backorders.

I haven't ordered new fabric recently but I know that the cost has gone up. I stopped in a few quilt shops recently on a trip to the west coast. Out there almost all fabric is selling for $10.00 a yard or more and I'm sure it's headed that way here in the midwest. That makes our inventory liquidation an even better deal. There's only a short time remaining so don't let this opportunity for big savings to pass you by.

We've had many people ask about our plans for shop samples, display items and other things we have in the shop. After a lot of thought we came up with a plan for a Staff Rummage Sale to be held October 20-25. All of us will bring in samples we'd like to sell, fabric and other quilting related items. We'll also have shop display merchandise for sale. It will be a great way to pick up some big bargains. Mark your calendars as you won't want to miss this!

With all that's going on with the shop closing, I've barely had a chance to do any sewing. Last weekend I had a couple of days mostly to myself so I worked on a couple of projects. First was a block of the month project we did a couple of years ago called "Stars Around The Garden" I kept up with the block piecing but never finished the applique and setting the quilt together. After only a few hours of sewing the top was complete and I just love it. Here's a picture of the quilt.

This isn't a great picture because the quilt is too big and part of it was folded on the ground (the picture was rotated-the left side was on the ground) and the sun was too bright, but you get the idea. As of yesterday we still had a couple of complete kits for this quilts and a few more of a similar version. That one has a little bit lighter colors of cinnamon, pink, red, brown and green. The center and border is one fabric (not scrappy like this one) and has a little applique in the border corners.

When we cleaned out our back room we found lots of orphan shop blocks of the month. We can never figure out why we end up with uneven numbers of leftover blocks. Anyway, there are no complete 12-block sets but there are lots of some blocks and a few of others. I pieced some of the blocks so you see what each one looks like. It was fun and went really fast. With all the fabric right there it just takes a few minutes (none took over 30!) to piece a block. You can mix and match the blocks to make a quilt or pick up only three for a quick and easy table runner. Just add some sashing and a border and you're all set. These are a great bargain at only $2.50 per 12" block. They were originally $6.00.

After my sewing session over the weekend I'm really looking forward to having more time to spend at the sewing machine!!

Further Discounts on Remaining Inventory

With only a few weeks left to go in the shop, we've marked down inventory even further. Starting today, save 50% on all fabric, books, patterns, notions, and magazines. There is a minimum 1/2 yard cut on fabric. Batting is 25% off and kits are at least 40% off. Some are marked even lower!!

We still have a great selection of fabric. What better time to stock up on thread, needles, blades and other necessities.

Our anticipated closing date is October 11 so hurry in to take advantage of the super savings.

No Longer My Favorite Day of the Year

When I was a little kid I always looked forward to the first day of school. For many years after that it was my favorite day of the year because my kids went back to school and I had more free time. Now it's a little bittersweet since they're older and not around as much. It's still such a frenzy getting them ready for school that I can't wait for it to be over and have things settle down again. I'm always ready to have things back in a normal routine (whatever that is!!).

Now I'm really looking forward to spending more time at my sewing machine. It seems that many of you are also planning to spend more time sewing this fall. Since we announced our sale it's been very busy with quilters stocking up for fall and winter sewing projects. We have a LOT of fabric left so be sure to stop in and take advantage of the 40% discount while the selection is still good. There is a minimum 1/2 yard cut on all sale fabric.

We've had several people ask for kits that I've written about in previous posts. I don't think any of these are still available. Typically, they only last a few days after they show up on the blog.

Many people have asked why we're closing the shop. Quite simply, our lease is up and I don't want to work this much anymore. We've heard all kinds of rumors as to our "real" reasons for closing, but they're only that--rumors. Running a small business takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. Sure, this job is a lot of fun and I still love sharing my passion for quilting with others, but it's still work. I don't have nearly as much time to sew as I'd like and I really look forward to having time to read, travel and clean my house!!

Our clearance sale continues this week with 40% off all fabric (1/2 yard minimum), books, patterns, notions, magazines, and kits. Any remaining batting is 25% off. Don't wait too long to take advantage of the savings. Stop in before everything's gone!