Upcoming Quick and Easy Classes! And Saturday Sale!!!!!

 Among our upcoming classes is the Double Duty Bag from the magazine, Quilts and More, Spring 2011, a fast, no-quilting-involved sling or shoulder bag.  This class will be Tuesday, April 26th.  (See the list to the right of this post for our upcoming class schedule and call or come by for a detailed list with times, dates and costs).  We're focusing on quick, easy and inexpensive gifts for graduates, brides, Mother's Day or to 'gift' yourself including a cosmetic or sewing bag for small essentials, pillowcases, casserole covers and more.

 We love this pillow sleeve by Vanilla House, It's a Wrap.  What a great way to re-dress a sofa or bed pillow for the change of seasons. Easily removed for washing and another no-quilting, quick project.

 The Zippy Strippy and the Pack & Go are two quick little xippered bags to make in three different sizes with our cute-to-boot 99 cent NO BIG DEAL zippers in a rainbow of colors. Embellish with these cute little buttons, rick rack or yo-yo's for another great, fast project.

Scroll down to our last post that shows the Pie in the Sky pillowcase by Kim Diehl from her book, Simple Graces.  We'll be offering several classes from this fantastic book packed with great quilts and projects.

And, last but not least, join us this Saturday, April 2nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to save 20% off the bolt on regular priced bolts with a one-yard minimum purchase and receive a free fat quarter with purchase.  It's a great time to stock up for these upcoming classes or projects.

New Fabrics, Patterns and a Pillowcase

 Among the new fabrics in this week are a red floral by Henry Glass and some beautiful black prints by Lakehouse including a black-on-black Micro Dots, large checks and white buttons on black.  We love the combination of red and black.

 Also in are some of the luscious Kate Spain fabrics from her Fandango line by Moda--beautiful colors of teal, aqua and brown on a white ground and such a wonderfully soft hand to this fabric!

 We love Kim Diehl's book, Simple Graces and made this beautiful pillowcase from it this week. What a great gift this would make for housewarming, a college student or special friend or family member!  We love it.

Among the patterns we got in this week, were some old favorites like the Juliet Bag, Tile Tango and Lucky Stars by Atkinson Designs, the Reversible Sunday Sling by Amy Butler and this quick and easy pattern, Popsicle Sticks by Atkinson Designs.  The quilt on the cover looks perfect for a spring or summer snooze in a hammock or daybed!

These Are a Few Of Our Favorite Things . . . . .

 Back in this week are a few of our favorite products:  505 Spray and Fix Temporary Fabric Adhesive.  This is especially great for holding layers together for quilting wall hangings, small panels and even baby quilts. It securely holds the backing, batting and pieced top together and some folks even use it for larger projects!

 Fray Check is a wonderful product to have in your sewing kit.  This liquid seam sealant by Collins prevents fraying and secures thread ends.

 These scissor fobs by Handi Quilter clip onto your collar or neckline and keep your snips handy whenever you need them.  The retractable scissor holder snaps your scissors in place so you won't spend hours searching for them!

And finally, back in stock is the thread we love to piece with, Star Thread by Coats and Clark. As long as your machine tension is set correctly, use any neutral color of this mercerized Egyptian cotton for piecing any colors, light or dark.  As it has 1200 yards on the spool, you can sew quite a while before having to change spools!  And since the opening is larger than standard spools, we carry the wooden ADAPT adapters to fit inside and keep them spinning nicely on your spool pin.  The saying we follow is "Piece with cotton; quilt with anything"!  Try some of these nifty notions or restock if you already love them like we do!!

Sullivan Ballou's Civil War Letter to His Beloved Sarah

This video of a letter from Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah, set to the Ashokan Farewell will bring tears to your eyes.  Turn up the volume!

Sentimental Quilter, Civil War Quilts and Doll Quilts

As our Shop Hop this summer will commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, we've been searching the web for interesting Civil War quilts and sites of interest. Today, we discovered Kathleen Tracy of Country Lane Quilts and her wonderful blog, Sentimental Quilter.  We've added the link to her blog in our sidebar.  One thing that has certainly piqued our interest is Civil War doll quilts.  The above is a free pattern on Kathleen's site you can download and make your own little quilt for yourself or a special little girl.  Check out Kathleen's website, blog and her books including The Civil War Sewing Circle and American Doll Quilts.

Preparing for The 2011 Carolina Shop Hop!!!

Our Civil War block for this year's Carolina Shop Hop, July 8th through 16th, Mending the Past, is the Kansas Troubles block.  Southern Senators did not want the territory of Kansas added to the Union and walked out of the Capitol in protest. However, Kansas was added to the Union January 29th, 1861.  This block was named Kansas Troubles for that contentious time surrounding Kansas' induction into the United States.  You can read more about this block and other Civil War blocks and how they got their names on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts blog,  http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/.  You can also find the link to her blog in our links sidebar.

We hope you will join in the fun of the Shop Hop this year and visit all 13 shops participating.  Visit the website, Carolina Shop Hop, also on our links sidebar for maps, directions and new information as it is posted.  And remember that each shop will have a different Civil War block kit and a different finished quilt with directions to choose from.  This year, we're mending the past and uniting together to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Block Party Studios New Panel and Landrum Raffle Quilt

Block PartyStudios New Panels

New panels by Block Party Studios include pre-printed panels from mothers to daughters and tributes to Mother in Laws.  These pre-printed panels make quick, meaningful gifts that will be cherished.

We also have the Landrum Raffle Quilt made by members of the Landrum Quilters. This beautiful quilt with pieced scrap blocks and border applique will be awarded to the winner at the Landrum Quilt Show June 9th through 11th at the Landrum Middle School on Redland Road.

Also mark your calendars for a quilt show sponsored by the Rutherford Quilt Guild, Friday April 15th through Sunday, April 17th at the Isothermal Community College Student Union/Gym, 286 ICC Loop Road (off Route 74 Alt) in Spindale, NC.  In addition to beautiful quilts, there will be 20 vendors, a guild boutique, fat quarter baskets and good food.

Double Duty Bag and Going Places Floor Mat Quilt

 Becky made this beautiful Double Duty sling-style bag in about 30 minutes yesterday!  She used Kumari Holiday Garden by Free Spirit and the pattern in Quilts and More magazine available at the shop.  She added fusible fleece to the outer fabric for a little added body.

 Scout loved this Going Places floor mat quilt using South Seas fabric.  Becky's little grandson, Braden will have fun 'driving' his little Matchbox cars all over the curving roads on this quilt and when he's through playing, he can curl up with it and take a nap!  Another cute, quick project for a little boy's birthday or even a baby gift for a new baby boy!

 We loved this multi-colored striped fabric for the binding. It adds just the right punch.

Totes and Bags Galore!

 We have really loved alot of the new purse and tote patterns here at the shop but one of our favorite, most versatile bags remains the Hi Tech Tote by Indygo Junction.  We've made this tote in florals, batiks, geometrics and funky fabrics and we've loved them all.  This is a great gift for the college graduate or new executive but can also be used as a daily carry-all for books, papers, music, crafts and, of course, your laptop or iPad.  The fusible fleece lining makes it sturdy yet lightweight and the handles can withstand a lot of weight and movement.  Jody has carried the first one she made for over three years.

 Here is another new fabric, Dragonfly Magic by Blank Textiles.  Becky paired it with a purple Fusions by Robert Kaufman.  Gorgeous!

 Here is another little pouch-bag, the Sweetwater Pack and Go using one of our cute 99 cent colorful zippers and embellishment buttons!  Quick and easy using your zipper foot and a little hand stitching to sew on the buttons!

Also make sure to check out our links to the right!  We've added the Carolina Shop Hop website and more will follow!

New Fabrics and Marie Osmond's New Book

One of the new lines we've just gotten in is this yellow and blue line by Maywood Studio's, Wild Rose II.  Luscious yellow roses and green leaves on a deep blue background with coordinating yellow and blue floral's and stripes. The combination of blue and yellow are both soothing and cheerful for a lovely quilted throw.  And this line comes just in time for spring.

 We also ordered three bolts of Free Spirit's Kumari Garden Holiday thinking they will make beautiful totes, purses and aprons.  While this line was made for the Christmas holidays, the motifs and colors have year-round punch and appeal.

 Scout liked them so much, she posed in front of them!

 We also have Marie Osmond's new book, Heartfelt Giving full of projects for your own home or gifts for friends and family including full-sized down to doll-sized quilts, book covers, purses and totes with pretty embellishments, ruffled bathroom towels and aprons, pillows and table toppers.

 This book is not only practical for these challenging economic times when we're returning to making our own gifts but the layout, photos and directions make it beautiful enough for a coffee table book.  Here is the page with a pretty book cover.  This book is published by That Patchwork Place and is a must-have!