Quilters Crossing

Some new patterns of interest!

2012-02-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

Retro Messenger Bag Pattern

Stand and Stow Tote bag pattern

Little Vicki another dress pattern from Izzy and Ivy

Sew Serendipity has a new book out called BAGS which has several really cute projects. One of our teachers (Margaret Grice) is working on a class using this book watch for that on the calendar!

On the Move is a Quilt-as-You-Go pattern

Here are some great customer finishes!

Jeanette made this version of Dragonfly Dance after taking a class with Kathy Ryan. It is just adorable done in brights with that happy green background!

Derwanna made this Bowtucks purse using some of our Amy Butler fabric line Lark and already had orders from family members who wanted purses too!

Moda's Competition- SLICED!

2012-02-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Have you guys seen this? Moda is having a crafter's competition with auditions all through the month of February check out the details at Moda's bake shop's blog

Looks like a lot of fun! Moda bake shop website is a great blog for free patterns too. If you link over there check it out- you won't be sorry. I have it bookmarked on my computer and visit there often for ideas.

New notions

2012-01-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

We found a few new notions available from a couple of our suppliers so we thought we'd see if anyone was interested.

First we have Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Ovals: comprised of multiple sizes of ovals to make your hand applique ovals have perfect edges. As all of her templates are, these are are made of a heat resistant mylar.

Next Bias Bars: Make your own bias tape in multiple widths with these. Thinner than the plastic version, and therefore able to press into a crisper edged bias tape.

Be careful though these babies get hot!

Lastly, Sewline (our favorite brand for marking tools) have come out with a new TRIO pencil. Now they have the Sewline TRIO Colors with three different colors of lead in one tool- truly useful tool for almost anyone marking almost ANY quilt!

Boy! Are we ever glad...

2012-01-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

that we had the sale and Open House last Saturday because we got a BUNCH of new things in this week and we needed some room!

We try to bring you nice fabric to make husband/boys/mens quilts because sometimes that can be challenging to find. We found this Boy Scout fabric from Quilting Treasures with its retro graphics and thought it was sure to inspire some of our customers.

It has a panel:

Some panel detail shots:

And three coordinates:

Two Compass fabric and some stripes:

We also got our very first Asian line this week, it took us a while to find one we really loved but this one was just so lovely we had to have it:

Fans are featured in the two focal pieces and Deb and I couldn't agree on which was prettier blue or beige so we got both!

These soft feathers:

Smaller scale fans:

Coordinates:

Aren't they pretty! And with gold metallic!

We were sold.

Also in this week is a Lorelai line with Cupcakes!

It also has a panel:

And several fun coordinates:

The other fabric line we got this week is also a debut for us as it includes some homespuns, and paisleys in soft muted colors, it is called Buggy Barn:

We have kits for sale using 25 fat quarters from this line and have sample in the works!

Lots of class sign-ups and many are filling up and have waiting lists so be sure to call soon to sign up!

Thank you!

2012-01-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great time today at Open House and hope you were all inspired by our talented teachers and enjoyed the sale!

We had several requests for my husband's recipe for Pulled Pork which we served in the classroom today so here goes!

Cary's Pulled Pork
1 pork picnic roast 5-8 lbs (bone in/skinless)
1 bottle Figaro hickory liquid smoke
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 T Black Salt (available at Penzey's ) or if you can't find that use 2 T kosher salt instead
1/2 tsp. Black pepper (freshly ground)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
water (fill the liquid smoke bottle as a measurement)

How:
Crush fresh garlic and put in the bottom of the crockpot.
Rinse and dry raw roast, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder on all sides. Place in the crockpot.
Pour Liquid smoke on top of the meat
Pour water in crockpot.
Cook on LOW for 12-14 hours.

Remove meat to a large platter.
Pour juices into a glass dish (once it settles a little you can skim the fat off the top)
Remove bone from the meat. Trim any visible fat off meat.
Shred meat up and put back in the crockpot to keep warm.
Pour the skimmed juice in with the meat.
Serve with BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's) on buns.

More New Classes Debuting this Open House

2012-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

"Gone Fishing" with Kathy Ryan

"Labyrinth" also with Kathy Ryan

Carolyn Bisbee is teaching this beautiful paper pieced pattern by Judy Niemeyer (above) and the quilt below called Arizona Sunset:

Mandy Stokes is teaching the Let's Twist tablerunner below:

Come to open house to see these and many more class samples on Saturday January 21 and take advantage of our 25% off sale!

Or for a complete print out see our classes page on our website www.quilterscrossingtx.com

See you soon!

Nature Walk and OPEN HOUSE

2012-01-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Okay we are gearing up for the January 21st Open House this Saturday! New classes like these for example:

In the Hoop quilting and embroidery by Lynn Blake

Make a Trivet with Venetta Morger

"Firecracker" with Mandy Stokes

And that isn't even all of the new classes available!

It is going to be a great day with lots of goodies given away, yummy refreshments and did I mention a great sale?

(25% off store wide).

Tri-County Quilt Guild will have their raffle quilt at the shop so bring some cash to buy a chance to win this beautiful quilt!!

***********************************

This just in from our pals at Northcott- Nature Walk

We have had a lot of nibbles about the challenge issued in the January 1st Blog post called "Pick a Card, Any Card".

There is plenty of time to enter since the last day to turn them in is March 31st! Two chances to win a $50 gift card this time!

See everyone on Saturday!

2012-01-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

All last year, Quilters Crossing hosted the Circle of Friends block of the month with fabrics from Marcus Brothers in its Aunt Grace line. This is a lovely line of 30's reproductions. Last week we had our first person with a finished quilt!

Here is Denise's Circle of Friends :

The Center Medallion:

Details: This quilt measured 82"x82" and has wool batting, it was custom quilted at Quilters Crossing.

Baskets filled with feathers:

Corner shot of the borders:

She did a great job and it was fun to see it completed! Thank you for allowing us to share it on the blog Denise!

This quilt is entered in Tri-County Quilt Guild's show at the Berry Center in March so you can all see it in person then!

Coffee fabric

2012-01-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that Deb, Nancy and I love coffee.

Deb is especially fond of Folgers but we haven't found any Folgers fabric yet!

We did however see this coffee themed line that also had cats on the panel and we were sold. ( We all love cats as well!)

This just in from Henry Glass:

Check it out my favorite coffee drink a Caramel Macchiato is on there!

Pretty blenders and bold stripes:

Blenders and dots

Beautiful rich florals:

I am thinking quilts, purses, trivets, placemats....

Don't forget about our current challenge, Pick a Card, Any Card. The details for it are on the January 1, 2012 blog entry.

Also Open House is January 21- just a little over a week away mark your calendars!

Lots of ladies on retreat this week. We'll miss you and hope you guys have a great time and don't cause too much of a ruckus!

Design Wall Tutorial

2012-01-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

I was with Diane today who is getting ready to open her second Quilters/Crafters retreat next week!! and we were making the design walls for the workroom. I mentioned how we have had many people ask us about the design walls in the classroom at the shop, and she said, "You should do a tutorial!"

So like any good blogger I whipped out my camera and away we went!

Here is what you need:

A well ventilated room

A friend

A large work surface ( a clean floor would be okay but I like a table--not thing you can't wipe down because glue and flannel bits get everywhere on it and make a mess--DO NOT coat a nice table with newspaper or your pretty white design wall will be dirty!)

6"x24" ruler

Razor*

Duct Tape*

Loctite* or other spray on glue/adhesive suitable for multiple surfaces including fabric!

Nice pair of scissors

108" flannel (available at Quilters Crossing)

1 4'x8' sheet of residential insulation board or styrofoam board*

(*the spray glue, duct tape, razor and insulation board are found at a local home improvement store)

First you measure the area you want to cover with design wall, if you do not want the whole piece use your ruler and razor to cut the foam board down until it is exactly how big you want it.

We needed a large design wall so we left it intact.

Next measure out your flannel - with 108" flannel you have plenty of length so you won't have a seam in your design wall. Measure out your width plus add 10-12" extra to wrap around the back so you have a nice finished looking edge.

(You don't have to cut precisely or neatly here so no need for a rotary unless that is handy)

Next lay your insulation board plain side up on your work surface and cover it with your flannel making sure there are a few inches all around extra.

Now fold back one half of the flannel like so and spray on the glue after shaking it well.

Now here is where you really need a friend. You gently smooth the flannel you had folded back, over the now glued tacky area. Keep the loose part held up out of the glue. Starting in the middle and working out towards the sides and end lay the flannel down. Smooth out wrinkles as you lay it down, if you get a ripple or wrinkle just gently pull it up and re-smooth.

Repeat the process on the other end of the foam sheet:

fold back, spray:

Smooth you have this now:

It is nice, smooth and glued down on the foam but loose on the sides. Flip it over:

Now you are going to pull the loose bits to the back side. Start with the corners. Have your handy friend cut pieces of tape for you while you pull it snug like doing hospital corners on a bed- It won't be perfect but you won't see it at all on the front so don't worry.

Hold with your finger then place the duct tape to hold it in place. Be sure to catch a bit of the foam board as well as the fabric. Repeat for the other corners.

Using the duct tape put the tape on the edges of the flannel and give a little pull to make sure it is snug and place the tape down on the foam as shown:

(It won't be perfectly even if you cut it really straight because of all the pulling and smoothing when you were on the other side)

So now you have completely taped down the loose edges:

And when you flip it over....

it looks like this: perfect and ready to hang!

Use a drill to screw right through these in the four corners wherever you want your design wall. Make sure your screws are 1/2" -1" longer than your design wall is thick so they'll reach the wall.

(Some styrofoam is pretty thick and

you'd need really long nails for it)

For a fun touch you can even cover up each of the screw heads with a button like we do at the shop!

Or maybe you have another idea to personalize yours.

The table will have received some of the glue spray

(as well as your clothes, skin and hair if you aim like I do!) and then the flannel touches it you get this mess fuzzy sticky residue on your table but will wash off easily with a little soap and water.

Challenge!

2012-01-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

Our next challenge is called "Pick a Card, Any Card".

Rules: You select a greeting card of your choice and use it as a springboard to make a small art quilt.

You can reproduce it at a slightly larger scale as the example above shows or, you may use it as inspiration and produce something "based on" that card. Artistic license is welcome here. You must own the actual card because of copyright laws and it must be turned in with your art quilt, ( a photo of the card is not allowed ). It can be a greeting card you own already ( check all those Christmas cards you just received!) or you can peruse the aisle of your local store and find one.

Sizes: At a minimum the quilt must be at least as big as the card you are using. Maximum size is 18" on any side.

Mixed Media is welcome but, the quilt must be fabric based and quilted. Above and beyond that, the sky is the limit- beads, paper, lace etc... anything you want (so long as we can hang it).

No purchase required to participate.

Entries must be turned, in person by Saturday, March 31st. The quilts and cards will be displayed at the shop from April 1st until April 30th. During this time viewers can vote for their favorite (One vote per person). Anyone entering the shop can vote on a quilt ( no purchase required).

The winner of the Viewers Choice award receives a $50 gift card from Quilters Crossing.

All the other entries will be thrown in a hat and one entrant's name will be pulled to win another $50 gift card!
(**Sorry, United States entrants only please as we are not yet equipped to deal with the money change.**)

So you have two chances to win a $50 gift card if you participate!

Winners will be announced May 1st.

Entries can be retrieved on May 1st by their owners.

Good luck to all!

New stuff!

2011-12-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a new Skillbuilder panel for those wanting to beef up on their Quilting skills. It has a variety of patterns to quilt into it including feathers, fillers and borders.

We received the precuts for Moda's Summer Breeze 2. The bolts are arriving soon!

Northcott sent us this adorable children's line with jungle animals on it. We have kits available for this pattern called "Stay on the Path"

We are announcing a new challenge project on January 1st!

Participants will be have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate!

Stay tuned!

We will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday for New Years but then we'll be back to business as usual and looking forward to our OPEN HOUSE and store wide sale on January 21!!

HOLIDAY HOURS

2011-12-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

We will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas (12/24-12/26) in observance of the holidays.

Here are some things new in the shop that you can look forward to seeing next week:

Quilting Bee

notice the sewing notions on this fabric-- they bolts always sell quickly!

Quilting Bee quilt kits using this sewing fabric!

Happy Sunny Skies by Riley Blake:

We got a bolt of the polka dots in flannel too.

Lots of Judy Niemeyer patterns:

This was a poinsettia plant was a gift from a customer and look how cute it looks on one of the puzzles! Thanks Glenna!

Happy Holidays!

We hope you stay safe and warm under a quilt!

From Deb, Mandy and Nancy

A rainbow of felt

2011-12-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

We just got a huge selection of high quality felt in the shop. Perfect for embellishment on these Heather Bailey patterns shown below.

Or to make this apple pincushion from her Fresh Picked Pattern. This pattern also contains directions for a pear, tomato and strawberry!

What a cute gift.

What would you make if you had all these colors in YOUR stash?

Shop Sample

2011-12-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Deb made an adorable sample out of it here from the BQ3 pattern by Maple Island. Isn't is so cheerful and bright?

I quilted it with an allover pattern of little flowers

and loopdee-loos.

Good team work I would say. It is super cute and whipped up really fast!

I love the BQ patterns by Maple Island because they have lots of options for sizes and they are really user friendly.

Santa's Trip to Commerce Street

2011-12-10T17:45:00.001-08:00

So the big guy ( Santa) stopped in today at the shop and had a line of kids waiting to sit on his lap in minutes! Thankfully Mrs. Claus was there to help with crowd control!

Even Miss Tomball 2012 stopped in to tell Santa her Christmas wish!

After pictures with all the kids he popped into the shop to give our customers some advice on:

Here are some combos that he thought our customers might like:

Quilter's Academy Reference Books Freshman, Sophomore and, Junior Year!

Fat Quarter Rolls

Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern book along with a Jellyroll to make a quilt from the book with!

TWISTER supplies! This tool uses layer cakes and charm packs (shown above) to make these quick and easy quilts.

For someone looking to get out of their box, Fabric Painting with Cindy Walter and a starter set of Tsukineko inks!

Check out this pattern for little stockings with four different options- what a great ornament to hide a gift in!

Puzzles! These 16 piece puzzles are designed by a local quilter who hopes to get children interested in quilting. They are made of sturdy cardboard and come in a canvas bag for storage.

Hopefully none of you is on the "naughty" list so Santa will fulfill your Christmas wishes too!

Santa's Comin to Town

2011-12-10T06:49:00.001-08:00

Santa will be on our porch this afternoon and the whole street will be given over to a street fair called "Christmas on Commerce" Fun for the whole family!

Stop in and tell Santa what you'd like!

Blueberry Crumble and other non edibles

2011-12-08T16:19:00.001-08:00

Here is the Always and Forever Panel:

Details of the panel:

It has four sections

Love the patchwork look this line has

And here are the bolts we received from this line!

Remember we have layer cakes and charm packs of this line as well! Lots of time saving options!

We also had many request from customers looking for quilt labels! We finally found some:

My favorite is the hedgehog one!

We got the natural colorway (above) and the brown below

And the bright springy green colorway:

Here is the BlueberryCrumble fabrics from Moda's Civil War reproduction line:

We also got yardage of the cream with brown and blue. Light and lovely yet rich.

We also received a tip from a customer about a lady manufacturing these beautiful Stilletos and Seam Rippers.

They have large handles that are still light but fit nicely in the hand and come in all different colors

What a great gift idea for a fellow sewing pal!

We have sheets at the register printed out for your Quilters Crossing Christmas list.

Fill it out at the shop and give it to your spouse, child or friend to make their shopping for the holidays easy!

And of course we also have gift cards available too!

Pre-cuts and other big news!

2011-12-07T19:07:00.001-08:00

Always and Forever Precuts are in the store and we also received the yardage from this line courtesy of Moda! We ordered charm squares and Layer cakes!

We got some 30's Repro Charm Squares from Moda's Playtime

and we got a stack of fat quarters! What a great way to boost the scrappiness in your reproduction quilt!

We are also STILL the only store in Texas which sells Cherrywood fabrics:

We have fat quarters and jellyrolls!

Other Non-Quilting related news!

Also, many of you know that Deb's granddaughter, Cheyenne is an Irish dancer. We are proud to say the team Cheyenne is on at McTeggart Irish Dance school won the 15 & Over Choreography Category at the competition in Orlando, Florida last weekend!

Team McTeggart competed against 5 other polished and carefully choreographed teams! They worked really hard and achieved a top score! Such a huge accomplishment!

Cheyenne wants to thank everyone who supported her with raffle ticket purchases, prayers and positive thoughts for her in this competition! It meant so much to her and she had a fantastic time!

Back open with new stuff!

2011-11-28T15:30:00.001-08:00

So we enjoyed our four day weekend and hope you did as well! And surprise, surprise,

we had several deliveries today with new goodies!

Here is a new colorway in batiks called "Garlic".

I love it! It is gorgeous and is now on my

"must add to my stash" list.

We also have our December Batik Fat Quarter Bundles all set, for those of you enrolled in the club to pick up!

( 2 days early-- I know, we rock!).

Pretty in Pink!

Members can pick them up anytime this month.

We also received a bunch of precuts today...stay tuned for pictures of those tomorrow!

Watch the calendar for extra free sew days sprinkled in from now until Christmas to help everyone get their projects done. The window on getting quilts quilted before the holidays is closing soon so please get your quilt tops in ASAP!

Last Day of Sale (and then closed until Monday!)

2011-11-22T21:02:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder the sale ends Wednesday (November 23) at 5 pm!

Fabric is on sale ( any cut a yard or more)

at 25% off and

books are also 25% off!

We are also having Free Sewing in the classroom tomorrow from 10 until 5pm. Come start your relaxing holiday early with some friends!

And to everyone who can't make it in person we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Zippers and Sale Starting!

2011-11-18T05:24:00.001-08:00

We carry several patterns that require zippers and we want to have everything you need for your projects.....

But you want your zipper to match your project which meant carrying zippers in lots of colors. We found this display:

And it works out that these affordably priced zippers are 14" long (perfect for these Atkinson patterns in all sizes) and come in a LOT of colors as you can see.

And is it just me? Or do you also buy zippers for a project only to get home and realize you have bought the wrong length? Problem solved: We also carry these MAKE-A-ZIPPER rolls in neutral colors like beige, brown, black, cream and white. These can be cut to suit your required length and can be cut into up to 12 individual zippers.

These little Atkinson bags whip up in just a couple of hours and make great gifts for anyone!

This is the Zippy Strippy bag in its largest size make using Hometown Fabrics by Moda and some of our giant rick rack to embellish:

Don't forget the sale on all fabric and books Monday-Wednesday!
Tuesday and Wednesday are Free Sew days in the classroom too so stop in and get some stitching in!

Mod Tod by Riley Blake and upcoming sale!

2011-11-12T17:41:00.001-08:00

In addition to the SIX boxes of batiks we received on Thursday! We also received Riley Blake's Mod Tod and it has these adorable tone one tone ginghams-- so little boy!

Stars and stripes:

Cogs in different sizes:

And this cute focal fabric that ties it all together. Hmmm... I feel a Twister quilt coming on-- so cute!

We have kits available for Firecracker, By:Julie Herman at Jaybird Quilts seen below:

Kits include the pattern and all the fat eighths and white on white fabric you need to make the blocks shown above. Then let us help you pick your two fabrics for your borders to personalize your quilt. We have them all displayed together as shown below to make easier- any of these fabric work as borders so just pick your favorite two!

We even have the Creative Grids Lazy Angle Ruler to make this quilt easily, despite the odd angles, or you can try it with the templates included in the pattern- your choice!

Aren't those Firecracker fabrics pretty that Nancy is hiding behind!!

Many of you receive our email so you know that during Thanksgiving Week, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we are having a sale! So when you have your nice long weekend you'll have plenty of fabrics stocked up for projects and maybe you'll be able to get some gifts done for the holidays OR what a great time to stock up on backings for quilts which require quite a bit of yardage!

A little pre-holiday happiness for our customers we hope!

Books will be on sale for 25% off.

We will be closed Thursday through Sunday over Thanksgiving but we will have lots to share with you soon!

Thinking ahead?

Mark you calendars for our 3rd Open House on January 21st!

Daisy Cottage, and more

2011-11-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

New from Riley Blake:

Daisy Cottage

For the Tree Hugger Quilter/Seamstress:

And at Quilt Market we acquired this light, smoothly rolling sewing machine tote by Tutto.

These were all over the quilt show this year.

It is chocolate brown, roomy, sturdy and opens from the top and from one of the sides for easy removal of your favorite machine:

The other side pocket opens with multiple gadget pockets for storage:

And the whole things compresses flat:

As I said, we only have one of these available for $189.99. Perfect for classes, retreats and bee go-ers!

First come first served!

No more Quilt Show Tickets

2011-11-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Just letting you all know that we don't have any more quilt show tickets to sell. You can buy them down at the show though so you won't miss the show! Which is lovely make sure you run down there and check it out!

Here are some striking quilts we saw down there on preview night!

Above: a winner being interviewed

This picture above does not do this quilt justice. It was really fun to look at with all the beautiful elements of Christmas in it. It did have a bit of a sad story though, the maker did much of the handwork during her husbands Chemo treatments and he did not live to see the quilt completely finished. How strong of her to persevere and finish. Very inspiring.

Loved the neutrals in the quilt above and the pops of color. The quilting doesn't really show up in the shot but it was gorgeous. I was thinking, this is the type of quilt that someone has to have to have vision to design because before the quilting it probably looked quite plain and boring with big spans of taupe but once quilted it was brave and subtle and I just loved it. You would have had to have faith that it would pop with the quilting, do you know what I mean?

The value usage in this quilt was awesome!

Look at the dimesion it creates!

The detail shot above is from the upper left corner of the picture below. Look at the trapunto look created. Love the tiny circles creating texture.

Again another large scale shot with a detail shot this time below. These hexies were about the size of a nickle- Maybe. The smaller inset ones were small like a dime.

can. not. imagine. doing. this.

Oh my gosh it was gorgeous.

This quilt below reminded me of my friend Susi Looney from Uncommon Quilts. She likes to play with machine applique design and even teaches a class at the shop on this very subject.

She has a new line of children's puzzles out just this month which feature quilts, check out her website if you have a chance.

Detail shot above of the quilt below. Check out how they used organza (perhaps?) for the wings which gave a really realistic effect. Note they are on a honeycomb and they have lovely quilt patterns on their bodies! Love the playfulness of this and it makes me want to try to play with that idea of combining tradition with modern!

Lovely color gradation on the quilt above, note the beautiful detained quilting below in the detail shot.

This last one was just fun and happy and I took the picture thinking of my daughter. Very scrappy and happy.

So all three of the Quilters Crossing Gals were at Preview Night last night. It was great to see good friends, customers and fellow guild members all celebrating our favorite hobby together! We are so lucky to live in Houston where we can see this kind of inspiration every year!

Quilt Market

2011-10-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that the week before Quilt Festival at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston an event occurs called "Fall Quilt Market". For those of you who don't know, "Market" is a great educational and business building opportunity for quilt shop owners, quilt teachers, and designers.

Above: Valori Wells, Tula Pink and Amy Butler are discussing the benefits of selling Cotton Voile, Corduroy and Velveteen in Quilt ShopsOn Friday there is a whole day of mini classes and seminars called "Schoolhouse". You move from room to room throughout the day every 15 or 30 minutes learning about a multitude of subjects. Some were educating their audience about new products on the market and how to use them, some were about sparking your customers interest through creative displays, classes or demos at your shop.

Kelly McCants talks about the uses of oilcloth and cotton Laminate
It is a rigorous day and you leave feeling tired but all inspired to try some of the new ideas you have gleaned from the instructors.
The next day "Market" officially begins.

BJ Designs' Booth

It is where all the major fabric vendors, designs, publishers and Quilt tool makers have booths up for Quilt shop owners to go around and order things for their store.
There are lots of famous quilters and designers milling around and the booths are really beautiful and fun. There is even a friendly contest for the best booths amongst the vendors.
Here are some of the cooler things we saw and hope to bring to our customers in the near future:

A vendor was making these beautiful tiles with Shiva Paintsticks and stamps.
She even mixed the Starbuilder stamps into some of her pieces.
Very beautiful.

There is a new Zentangle quilting book out! Look at the adorable owls!

This pattern uses the Hometown fabric line we carry from Moda

Come Fly with Me (black and white and solids!) So cute!
Creative Grids has some new patterns to go with their unique rulers. This pattern is called Maddy Bees and it uses a ruler called Sweet and Sassy!

Preview night is on Wednesday. We still have tickets available at the shop until then so stop in and avoid the lines at the show!
At Market we also drew names for our region for the winners of the Texas Wide Shop Hop. Though none of our regular customers won the grand prize we did have
two lucky winners from our store ( one winner of a $100 gift card for Quilters Crossing and one who won a $100 quilt kit!) which made it all the more exciting for us!
Hopefully the winners will give us permission to post pictures of them once they are notified!

Crazy Daisy

2011-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

You know we at Quilters Crossing kind of have a "thing" about black and white fabrics? We saw these black and whites with splashes of color and knew we had to get them!

Larger Scale prints:

Blenders and color wall:

Accessories:

The Whole Group together:

Can't wait to see what our customers come up with for this fabric!

The Big Reveal and Terrain Kits!

2011-10-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

So Linda wasn't able to comment on the blog but she did text in the answer and due to her diligence in getting us the answer we declare her winner, thus she wins a yard of one of these fabrics of her chosing!

And now presenting Amy Butler's newest line "Lark"

Cobalt Blue is "in" this season!

Persimmon too!

All together now!

We also now have kits available for Terrain seen below:

Kits include a layer cake of the fabric-which really cuts down on your cutting time allowing you to start sewing more quickly and see your project come together sooner!

The pattern (which is a free download from www.modafabrics.com) uses a little over a yard of a border around the patchwork blocks. I altered this-- using the leftover 2.5 inch strips of layer cake. I pieced them together side by side ( 28 for the top and the same on the bottom) to create a piano key border on the top and bottom, then went around that with more white to complete the quilt as you see it here:

The kits have enough white to complete it either way but you'll have to buy a border of your chosing if you would like to complete the quilt as the pattern indicates. Either way you'll have a gorgeous quilt!

Boys at Work and a hint!

2011-10-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Boys at Work arrived from Northcott fabrics-- super cute with a pattern on the way!

Tone on tone coordinates

Bright bold colors for little boys!

Love the stripe!

Trucks, diggers, mixers etc...

Sneak Peek Hint: We got new fabric in from a line called "Lark" by a certain designer that we have never had before! Very excited. It arrived today so pictures will post tomorrow! First person to comment with the correct designer wins a yard of fabric from that line of her ( or his) choice!

More New Fabrics!

2011-10-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

Northcott fabric company has really come out with some beautiful designs revolving around their Stonehenge designs. Most recent is this line Magnolia which is seen below and followed by the coordinates:

We received new Ginny Beyer border prints and coordinates in Turquoise:

And reds! Maybe some potential Northern Lights fabrics for Carolyn's popular paper piecing class?

And last but now least Kathi (who has a class on "binding your quilt" coming up!) made this beautiful sample out of the Radiance fabric line as a shop sample:

Love the modern fabrics done in the traditional blocks.

Needle Knowledge!

2011-10-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Superior Bob has a bunch of great videos on "youtube" which are really informative! The one above discusses the importance of your needle and which needle to choose.
Go to www.youtube.com and search for Superior Threads to see other videos on other pertinent subjects like, thread choice, thread features and even really technical stuff like how your tension discs are supposed to work.
Superior Threads also has a really great free newsletter you can sign up for on their site and I could not live without their two charts which tell you which needle, tension level etc... go with each of their threads (Click here for: home sewing machines reference chart and here for: long arm machines reference chart!) I have these printed out hanging near my machines and often times I even write notes to myself with what adjustment worked specifically for my machine such a timesaver! -- yes I ocassionally have a moment of brilliance!
Things have settled down at the shop since the Quilt Across Texas has ended. I have a mental image of hundreds of people home diligently sewing all the projects they bought when they were shop-hopping! With the holidays around the corner I guess I better get busy too!

New Fabrics and a Finish

2011-10-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

The center of this adorable owl quilt is a panel from the shop, made by one of our many talented customers, she also used parts of the panel as cornerstones in the outer border. So cute!

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New Fabrics:

Bright, saturated rich colors

Here is the stripe and focal print

Dots!

Quillow Tutorial

2011-09-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

We have recently received a couple bolts of pre-quilted fabrics (reversible--with a different pattern on each side) and we have had many questions about what to do with this stuff!

One option is to make a Humbug bag

since the first (and most time consuming)instruction in this pattern is to quilt two fat quarters together! So using pre-quilted fabric would be a huge time saver! From one half yard you could get two large humbug bags and you could do one from each side of the prequilted fabric!

We also have this new purse pattern

which requires an 18"prequilted square and 1/4 yard of fabric for the binding and handle.

And then I started thinking about what else you could do with this and I thought, it is like a little ready made quilt so how about making it into a Quillow?

A small quilt that can fold up into a pillow!

Here's how!

You will need

2 yards of prequilted fabric to make one 44"x54" quillow

and 8 yards of ready made bias binding:

in a color that matches your prequilted fabric. I chose black since it matched this nicely:

Cut off 1/2 yard from your 2 yards of prequilted fabric.

Square up your large piece just as you would a quilt you are readying for binding.

Cut the remaining prequilted fabric into a 14" square. Set the remainder aside for another project.

You will now bind your 44"x54" piece with your bias binding and your 14" square also in the method you prefer.

You should have these:

Once your two pieces are completely bound center the square piece towards the bottom of the quilt piece as shown.

Stitch the square down on three sides leaving the top open.

Reinforce your beginning and ending for a longer lasting quillow! Keep in mind the side that faces down will be the side that faces out when the quillow is folded into pillow form.

I chose to have contrasting side up as shown.

To fold up to Pillow form: Turn the quillow pocket side down and fold the length on each side in towards the center in thirds.

Then fold the length down towards the pocket until it is right on top then turn the whole thing inside out revealing the Pillow face with the blanket part inside the pocket!

Bonus:Another option is to just use 1.5 yards of the prequilted fabric and use a leftover quilt square for your pillow.

With this option you'll need to sandwich and quilt your pillow portion but otherwise the method is the same.

You can also make your own binding to match as I did with this sample:

You can of course buy and quilt two 1.5 yards of fabric to make a quillow as well! So there are lots of options for this project!

You could even have your pillow front embroidered with a name or initials etc... This could be a great gift, a nice blanket for a child or in the car, to take to games or the drive in where you don't want to bring precious quilt but still need a little cover!

This little froggy seemed to find the pocket a comfy spot!

New Stuff

2011-09-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

With the holidays coming up soon we thought we'd start stocking some new patterns that were do-able in time for gift giving. Watch for upcoming tutorials as well as these new products in the shop.

Several are garment patterns by Pink Fig like this tween/teen skirt pattern:

Little girl twirly skirt ( we know the twirl factor is important when you are a 6 year old girl!)

Little Girls dresses:

Stocking ornament:

Zip Bags:

Newborn Booties:

And we received these luscious combed cotton plaids

( much like a flannel)

from Moda on Friday called "Preppy Plaids".

They are so soft I am thinking I need some new pajama pants made out of these!!

Peggy's Finish!

2011-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is Peggy's beautiful Home Tweet Home Quilt based on McKenna Ryan's patterns. Peggy went with a layout similar to McKenna Ryan's by using the ombre fabrics that fade from the center out giving the sashing and borders a watercolor effect.

Peggy's friend Carol suggested a slight change to McKenna's layout, see the two shots below:

Peggy agreed and stepped up the setting by making the bird house pole and tree extend into the sashing area. A really great layered/dimensional effect happened.

Also Peggy's birds are made with hand painted and shaded fabric! Wow.

Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing it with us Peggy! Very inspiring.

Sewing with Oilcloth

2011-09-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this new book!

by the author of The Oilcloth Addict blog!

And we now have a few rolls of laminated cotton to try these projects out with! Here are two of Kate Spain's designs from Moda

Using these I made up this wallet in less than 2 hours! Can't wait to try some other projects from the book- great gift ideas!

Now to find some more money to put in this thing?!?!

Terrain by Kate Spain

2011-09-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

We received one roll of pre-quilted fabric for purses, bags, placemats etc.... and we got 2 rolls of laminated cotton from this line too.

We got every bolt in this line because we just couldn't decide!!

They are all so pretty

There are a couple of patterns out using this line that we are acquiring....

One is Taffy put out by Jay Bird Quilts and the other is on Moda Bake shop's site and we are working it up into a sample.

It uses the layer cake from this line and Bella White as well

Several people have commented this line would be adorable in some little girl clothes...

I can't wait to see what our customers will come up with for it!

Curio and some Customer Finishes!

2011-09-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Quilt Across Texas is still going strong!

Seeing more and more stamps in the guide books and the fabric line is really flying off the shelves.

Thank you for the kind compliments about our sample quilt.

This week we got a beautiful line of fabric in from Moda called Curio:

Lacey looking and feminine

Soft Contemporary color palate

Lots of coordinates

Several prints and color ways

We had just enough fabric for two more kits of this Forest Friends quilt:

Seen Here:

And then there won't be anymore so..... if you were interested in this cute quick and easy project stop in soon!

We had some beautiful customer work brought into the shop this week too:

This is the Dakota horse pattern with several prints and batiks put to brilliant use by Kim! She sure picked a beautiful background to spotlight this machine appliqued horse!

Gillian was inspired to do a little sewing by the Moda Hometown line and she made the Frenchy Bag!

Great job ladies! Thanks for sharing.

New Fabrics

2011-09-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

We have received several new fabric lines in the last few weeks and every time I walk in the store I start making mental lists of what I am going to make, for who and for which of the upcoming holidays, birthdays and baby showers.

I hope you find them as inspiring as I do!

Urban Camo

You asked for Camo fabric and we found it for you thanks to our friends at Moda

Does your husbands deer lease need a quilt?

We also received these sweet little girl prints that I can't resist!

Another customer request was for some Autumn fabrics especially with some leaves, we found Nature:

Check out the textures in this line

Next we received:

Which has this adorable panel with 6 different buildings all with a quilt or quilts with them:

We also got lots of coordinates:

Love the sheep and if you are into collecting selvages this fabric has little sheep on the selvage edges!!!

Wood prints:

We also have a pattern which uses this line and we are working up a sample for you!

The first ever Quilt Across Texas shop hop has begun! Make sure you stop in to buy a passport so you can begin collecting stamps which could lead to some GREAT prizes! There is still plenty of time for you to start your Texas Quilt store tour!

Quilting is done!

2011-09-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

Deb is gonna bind this baby and then we'll have it up in the shop!

Whatcha think?

Sneak peek of quilt!

2011-09-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Our Quilt Across Texas quilt is being quilted and will be displayed in the shop soon, here are some sneak peek pics:

Have you gotten your passport stamped yet? The shop was busy with shop hoppers yesterday!

Remember we are open Saturdays until 5pm in the month of September and we are open Labor Day!

Quilt Across Texas

2011-08-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today marks the beginning of the first ever Texas wide Shop Hop! Quilt Across Texas begins today! We have passports available at the shop for $5 which we would be pleased to be the first to stamp for you when you come in to buy one!
The passport is also an excellent guide to quilt shops all over the state whether you are "shop hopping" or not as many customers have pointed out to us.
Plus we are thrilled to tell you that the one-of-a-kind fabric line themed around this shop hop now available for purchase at the shop. (while supplies last)
We also have a limited supply of lunch boxes and tote bags printed for this first ever event.
More fun to come the whole month of September! Don't miss out.

Two Big Lines

2011-08-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

We received two big lines this week

Radiance: It has this large focal print:

And these accessories:

And more:

And more!

And yes even more...!

One last one in rich chocolate brown:

and along with these two lines we are announcing a couple of new products we will be selling on a trial basis to see if our customers would like these options in the shop. First we have pre-quilted fabrics ( such as you'd see made into Vera Bradley bags etc...). We have one seen here:

(Note it is different on each side- I have one draped over the other so you can see both options) we'll have other quilted fabric next month as part of Kate Spain's Terrain line by Moda.

We are also starting to carry a couple of canvas weight prints with our Hometown line by Moda seen here:

Perfect for aprons, home dec, tote bags, purses etc...

The other Hometown Fabrics are normal quilting weight quality cottons here they are:

Here you see the core of the Hometown line, the prints are covered with the names of cities world wide.

Maybe you will find your hometown on this fabric?

Polka Dots coordinates:

a tiny soft little plaid:

Sweet little flowers:

more accessory prints:

These three are covered with words relating to home like, family, village, territory etc...

Customer show and tell:

Mary Ann was inspired by our Jelly roll Race video. She bought this Bali Pop "Mango Margarita" comprised of 2.5 inch strip batiks

and made this colorful quilt top in 50 minutes. She also said once she got all the strips sewn end to end they went from her sewing machine all the way out of the room down the length of her house and back to the sewing machine again! That is one long strip! Go Mary Anne!

Mary Ann has been sewing busily this week, she also brought in these beautiful purses made by fabric from our shop:

Happy Sewing everyone!

New Fabrics and some inspirational customer quilts!

2011-08-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

We received Amelia from Moda:

This last one is a beautiful soft flannel-- wouldn't it be cute and cuddly as a backing for this??? Or as a newborn receiving blankets that Tri-County Quilt Guild collects for the newborns in local hospitals?

We also received Baby Safari which has the cutest little elephants, giraffes and hippos!

Cute accessories- the plaid is my fav!

tone on tones too!

more elephants!

Also this week we have had some really inspirational customer quilts brought in. I really want to thank you guys for bringing completed quilts in. We always see everyone's projects starting which is exciting and it is always an *extra* treat to see them finished at the end too!

This was the product of the Machine Applique class that Dolores Wood taught a few weeks ago. Here is Marilou's beautiful life-like horse done in our beautiful batiks! She was auditioning background and borders as you can see.

We also had a customer come in looking for a quick and easy baby quilt last week. She picked up a Meadow View charm pack and a couple accessory fabrics and came up with this little cutie which she brought in yesterday for us to ogle!

Quick and fun with all those squares cut out for you!

Today is a free sew so stop on down and get some dedicated sewing time in to start your weekend!

Jellyroll Races!

2011-08-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

This quick and easy quilt top has been all the rage at the shop lately especially during Friday Free Sew. The folks at Heirloom Creations have filmed a you tube video of it with some basic directions. Check it out!

Picture blast of new fabrics!

2011-08-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Please note that tomorrow is Tomball Night in guess where? Yes Tomball! So they'll be closing off the roads all around the shop in mid-afternoon sorry for the inconvenience.
We'll still be open and we are having free sew so get there early and you can park in either of the local parking lots at the corner of Commerce and Walnut. We'll even help you carry your stuff from there!
Here are a whole bunch of awesome fabrics we just got in and I apologize but, we got so many new batiks I couldn't keep up with photos but they are beautiful come and see!

New western/horse themed fabrics:

New sewing themed fabric:

"Double Helix" DNA looking fabric: I know we are nerds but hey it is neat looking and I really like it... okay maybe just I am the nerd...

We also got these Skull and Rose fabrics for those of you who aren't science nerds!

I like it too so what does that mean? I don't know....

And we are now carrying more precuts, here are some of our charm packs and jellyrolls, remember these are while supplies last...

Lots of classes coming up and still time for you to get it done before the holidays! Check our calendar!

We have two quilts made up from the Stonehenge Christmas line:

Both very lovely and quick to sew up!

One uses the strip pack:

And one the ornament panel with coordinates.

Kits available for both.

See you soon!

Saturday Afternoon on a Friday

2011-07-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

We received a new line from Northcott fabrics called

"Saturday Afternoon".

The line was designed by Jane Spolar who had a previous line called Bliss which we loved last year.

Saturday Afternoon continues Jane Spolar's tradition of rich, saturated colors and whimsical shapes.

Wavy stripe:

Here is the Panel:

Detail of the panel:

Another detail shot of the panel:

Northcott's website has a free downloadable pattern using this line too called Granny Squares!

Meadow Friends

2011-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

This new line from Moda designed by Deb Strain is really cute!

Frogs and lizards

Camo and dots

The charm packs have swatches of the whole line- we focussed on the boys fabrics when we ordered yardage.

And my absolute favorite part of the line is the selvage edge!!

Is that cute or what????? Look at the little ladybugs!

Cleanin' House

2011-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

We have a bunch of bolts on clearance right now 30% off. We have hit our one year anniversary so it seemed timely to do a little store cleaning (well, that and the 5 boxes of new fabric we recently received that need some shelf space!).

Here are some pics of the 30% off bolts:

Robin Pandolph's line Rue St. Germaine and Jane Spolar's line Bliss

Michael Miller

Carnival

Come in and see what you need to add to your stash!

Alexander Henry fabrics!!

2011-07-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

We have wanted to carry Alexander Henry fabrics since we opened but just hadn't made it happen until now.
We got these in today and they are so fun and quintessentially Alexander Henry. I don't know what to play with first!

Animals

These next two are called Jardin de los Muertos:

These two dotty pieces are the coordinates for the sewing themed fabric below this one

It is a fun retro sewing fabric with sewing notions, pattern pieces and a mod looking sewing machine. This might end up on my new sewing machine cover.....it is really neat.

Eclectic red birds with different textures and outfits.

Could be a fun Christmas fabric but doesn't have to be.

Christmas in July

2011-07-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

We have been giving you peeks of all the pretty Christmas lines we have been getting in the store. This week we got more!

We got this cute panel of stockings. The stocking panel has all 4 stockings and four birdie ornaments. Plus each panel has directions on how to put them together-

which I followed. (Can you believe it? When you work at a quilt store your homework is sewing! Oh NO!)

Here are all the stockings, linings and hanging tabs ready to be sewn.

Wah-Lah! Four adorable stockings

The mouse one is my favorite!

Fully Lined and finished- no raw edges.

Here are the cute little ornaments too.

See how cute they come out?

Deb is working on this advent calendar panel:

It comes with directions finish the calendar and directions to make the little bag to hold the "days" as they are taken off the calendar!

Fishy Fabric

2011-07-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

New Fabrics from P&B Textiles.

Two Waves:

bubbles!

So much fun!

2011-07-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

It was a great day ladies and gentlemen ( and there actually were a few gentlemen!)

Our classroom has NEVER looked better than it did today. It was like a quilt show... Our teachers love quilting and it shows!

Beth, Kathy and Linda with beautiful samples

Sheila, Kathy and Venetta surrounded by quilty goodness!

Ida and Carolyn

Susi and Margaret and their wall of colorful inspiration!

Barbara and Margaret

Dolores amongst beautiful things!

Members of Tri-County Quilt Guild and the beautiful raffle quilt!

We hope you were inspired to get quilting!!

Thank you everyone who braved the crowds and took advantage of the sale today. It was great to see you and thank you for bringing your friends!

Have a Happy Fourth of July!

Open House!!

2011-07-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Okay it's here! Saturday July 2nd from 10-4!

The classroom will have:

1.)Teachers and samples.

Sign up for a class! Learn something new. Meet other quilters, classes are a blast- a great way to get into quilting or to perfect a skill you are interested in.

2.) Tri-County Quilt Guild's Raffle quilt- one of the most beautiful raffle quilts you have ever seen that could be yours for as little as one dollar.

3.) Quilts of Valor- Judy will be there to explain what this great organization is all about and how you can jump in and make a quilt for a wounded soldier and meet some great people in the process.

4.) Ruler Revolution Demo-- In the morning watch this local ruler designer show you her amazing rulers to simplify your quilting accuracy.

5.)Refreshments: Soda, water, "Quilty" cookies from a family bakery and other yummy goodies.

In the shop:

A 25% off sale on patterns, fabric, books and notions.

More Halloween fabric(-- I know I tried to rein Deb in but she loves the Halloween fabric!!)

It is cute and I do love fabric with words on it!

AND....

We now have over 250 bolts of batiks:

here are a few of the newest!

Botanicals

yes these are Christmas batiks in the richest reds we have ever seen!!

See you at the shop! Remember one day only sale.

(and we will be closed Monday for the 4th!)

New fabrics and something is coming up....

2011-06-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some new fabrics we got from Riley Blake. Love their stuff!
It is called Hoo's in the Forest and I had to make a sample out of it right away because it was super cute.

Our first fabric with skunks on it!

Here is the sample I made :

using this Marti Michelle's ruler:

which helped the points meet really beautifully in the center. I am totally sold on her products now!

We also have another Halloween Panel in from Marcus brothers fabrics:

which I thought I had posted but hadn't.

You are cordially invited to our July 2nd Open House from 10-4! Even bigger and better than last time with lots of freebies and a product demo by a local ruler designer! Teachers will be here in the classroom with class samples for you to sign up or ask questions about, there will be yummy refreshments too.

Oh! And a sale- 25% off fabrics, notions, patterns, kits, books and thread! Be sure to mark your calendar as it is Saturday only!

Tri County Quilt guild's raffle quilt will be on display and tickets will be available to purchase for a chance to win it!

See you soon!

Our youngest student yet!

2011-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

This young lady came in to do the "Big and Little" class last week with her very own sewing machine and walked out with all three projects done! ( Hey how come that doesn't happen to me?)

Please note her new headband, wrist cuff and decorated shirt!

Okay maybe her Grandma helped a little bit too!

We had a great time with them doing projects from the book

Sew Darn Cute.

Free Sew in the PM and new fabrics

2011-06-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have shown some pictures of some of our daytime Friday Free Sew ladies but not the evening group. They were shy about having their pictures taken but, their quilts were so beautiful I gave them no choice!!

Above Nancy is showing the Christmas Tree quilt she made out of the Stonehenge Christmas 2.5" Strips which we just got last week and the coordinating pattern. She really cranked that right out and it looks so pretty! Everyone had quilt envy over this one, all that is left are the borders and she is ready to quilt that baby!

Cathy is here arranging some quotes she plans to embroider on her pretty blue Turning Twenty quilt.

Down at the end there is Sandra's quilt from the Darwyn's Favorite class done in cream, green and black.

Here is Linda's quilt which she was just stitching the binding onto, so pretty and feminine.

This one is by Kathy who worked up this skill building sampler out of Civil War reproduction fabrics for a class series that she is offering at the shop soon!

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We also got a new Christmas line by Jason Yenter called Winter Solstice:

You may remember Mr. Yenter also designed the line "Camelot" for In the Beginning Fabrics also. His pattern book has patterns for 5 quilts and one tree skirt. We got the blue/green color way of the line, thinking it would be good all winter not just during the holiday season. It has already gotten quite a bit of attention in the shop.

Here are some coordinates:

The main focal print is kind of a wintery collage piece with some metallic silver stars sprinkled on it.

Border Print:

That fabric is Floralicious I tell you!

2011-06-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

A new fabric line called.....you guessed it Floralicious arrived yesterday. Nice bright bold colors for summer time.

Border print:

Coordinates:

Happy fun prints with cute details in the texture of the flowers and the "eyelashes" on the flowers we thought. I love the wonky pink and green plaid that coordinates with it too.

And the Winner is: Carol I.

2011-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

We are having a lovely morning looking over our newly swapped "Mug Rugs" at the shop.

We have yummy refreshments too! Peppermint patty cookies and Toffee Cookie bars I can personally vouch for, my daughter made them and they are excellent!

Carol I. won ! She made 10 mug rugs for the swap and her name was pulled for the $50 gift card! Congratulations Carol!

Our thanks to everyone who participated.
What shall we swap next?

Farm Out

2011-06-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

We have had many people come in looking for farm fabric and most especially fabric with chickens on it. Deb found a new line called Farm out that seems to fit the bill:

Farm Out

A Focal print and a border print:

Chickens!!

Coordinates:

I like how the one on the right here looks a little like a patchwork quilt.

Remember, Tuesday you can come in and pick up your swapped Mug Rugs, we'll have some light refreshments that day to celebrate our most successful swap so far!

No rain Houston but we do have Flurries!

2011-06-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

We got in another Christmas fabric line, this time from Moda

Kate Spain's - Flurry

Here are the prints:

And we also got a stack of charm packs:

and some Jellyrolls!

Also this week we got ANOTHER box of batiks. As of today we are still able to bring you batiks at under $10 per yard, and we have 14 shelves of batik fabrics alone- we are told this is one of the best selections and best prices in the area so please check them out!

And thinking of our Quilts of Valor quilters we found these Red White and Blue prints:

We had exactly 75 Mug Rugs turned in to be swapped. You are welcome to come in to pick them up on starting Tuesday June 7th and we'll announce the winner of the $50 gift certificate on Tuesday's blog entry too! Thank you to everyone who contributed one! It was very fun to see everyone's ideas and designs.

We had one ambitious customer turn in 13 to be swapped!!

Mark your calendars for our July 2nd Open House when all the teachers will be available with their projects for sign ups, we'll have refreshments for everyone AND we are having a 25% off storewide sale that day too!

Stitched!

2011-05-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

Has anyone heard about Stitched? It is a documentary following 3 quilters ( Caryl Bryer Fallert, Hollis Chatelain and Randall Cook) as they race to complete their entries for the 2010 Houston Quilt show.

It is showing at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts tomorrow and Thursday only.
See the website here for more information.

Look, here is the Bottom Line....

2011-05-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Okay so we are now selling Bottom Line thread on cones and we have some little assortment packs of it on size M prewound bobbins for our longarming customers. We are also continuing to carry King Tut, So Fine and Masterpiece threads on cones as well.

We are closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. I plan to put some time in on my quilt for Quilts of Valor that day. The Quilts of Valor group meets the second Tuesday of the month from 10am-1pm at the shop and they make quilts for wounded soldiers.

Make sure you bring in any mug rugs you are still working on for the swap on Tuesday. We have nearly 70 in the swap now and the shop looks so lively with everyone's creations we will hate to give them all up on June 6th but that is when you can come in to pick up your new mug rugs. We hope you were as inspired by this swap as we were! What shall we swap next???
We had people scouring the store looking for the bolt of coffee fabric on Friday and Saturday. Some customers were very covert about their search while others came in and announced they were hunting for it. Several customers receive a free fat quarter even though occasionally we had to help a little by playing "Hot and Cold". It was lots of fun.
We hope you have a great weekend!

Stonehenge Christmas Fabrics

2011-05-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Northcott fabric company was really on the ball because they had us ordering these Christmas fabrics for 2011 before Christmas 2010! We got them in yesterday and like all the Stonehenge fabrics they have a really lovely hand. These have gold metallic detailing on them.

We got this panel:

These coordinates:

And these patterns to make with them:

We also got a bolt of the tree skirt panel!

Only a few days left!!

2011-05-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

The mug rug swap is closing in one week on Tuesday May 31st.

No one has used this fabric yet:

It is super cute and just arrived recently. I can't believe someone hasn't whipped one up out of this. I may have to squeeze another one in to the swap made out of this!

We are still getting new mug rugs dropped off in the shop daily so stop by and check them out if you need a little inspiration.

Remember, for each mug rug you enter you'll receive one back and you'll be entered in the drawing for a $50 gift card for the shop!

Here is a little bloggy inspiration for you too, few snaps of mug rugs around the shop:

(with a pocket for sugar packets!)

Happy sewing everyone!

Fabric Designer Patty Sloniger

2011-05-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

I first heard of Patty from the Spoonflower newsletter. She won their recent contest and is Michael Miller's newest fabric designer as a result!

I tracked her down and found out she lives a few mere miles from my house, in Katy, Texas. She lives with her husband and kitties except for a fun and crazy month in the summer when her four step sons visit!
She and I met for coffee at Starbucks on Sunday, May 15 and ended up talking for two and a half hours about fabric, creating and designing.
Patty grew up in Maryland, in a creative family. She feels that her mother and brother are much more artistic than she is. Patty's favorite childhood memories are of building forts and playing in the woods and creek with her older brother.

Patty Sloniger

She drew a lot as she grew up and studied for a BFA in graphic design at East Tennessee State University, hoping to be a packaging designer. She now does that as a day job for a cookware manufacturer in the Sugarland area but her first job out of college was doing stationery design. Now her goal is to become a licensed freelance illustrator.
She has played with several mediums but is really loving the fabric for her designs. She loves how a piece of fabric she designed can then be turned into something wonderful- a quilt, a bag, clothing etc...
She got started designing when planning for her wedding. She wanted very specific designs but, having anything custom made was very pricey. She surfed around on Etsy and eventually stumbled onto Spoonflower (a company that will print as little as a fat quarter size piece of fabric with your own design on it). She was thrilled to find this company and actually ran to the other room to tell her husband about it! Now she has designs in her head all the time, she said it was "Definitely an addiction!" and plays on Spoonflower so much, that her husband jokes that it is her "other man".
When I asked her what inspired her designs she said, "You never know where it will come from." Some of her favorite haunts for inspiration: the internet, her husband who is great for bouncing ideas off of - and often thinks about things "out of the box", getting outdoors, and doing something to break routine.
She has an etsy shop called beckandlundy. She came up with this name herself, it is a combination of her mother's maiden name and her father's surname (her own maiden name).
"It was like the two sides of myself coming together, to make stuff!"

Photo by Patty Sloniger

She is currently working on the girls half of her fabric line for Michael Miller which will debut at Fall market in Houston but, she also enjoys: cooking (and would like to cook more), making things for her house and working with wood.
I asked her what she thought the difference was between art and craft. After careful thought she said, "I have a different answer for that now than I would have had in college, I think craft is a subset of art and not mutually exclusive. Craft is a more practical form of art."

Her favorite time to design is in the early morning. "It feels so good having the whole day ahead". She usually begins designing fabric based on a project she wants to make. Gathering items or images in the theme she prints out pictures of looks at items and does some sketches or paintings.

Photo by Patty Sloniger
Note from Mandy: I have no idea why it is transfers to blogger in the negative but you see the idea.

These sketches get scanned into the computer and using Photoshop she fine tunes and manipulates her designs. "I love Photoshop. I don't know what I would do without it!".

Photo by Patty Sloniger

She doesn't want her work to look computer generated - going for a more hand sketched look is her goal.
Patty does do some sewing and quilting but finds binding a little intimidating, " I have three quilts waiting for me to get up the nerve to bind them!".
She treats me to a sampling of her designs made on Spoonflower one a sateen, several cotton and a linen along with some adorable bibs she made with her fabrics! I can't wait to see more of her work and play with her fabric myself!
Just for fun some random questions:
Favorite color: Green
Favorite food: Beef Stroganoff
Food you wouldn't ever want to even try: Liver, fish eggs
Which super power would you choose: Invisibility
Favorite thing about yourself: Never bored, always find things to do
Nick names growing up: Patti-O furniture, Honey-child
Least favorite household chore: Laundry! "How does it pile up so fast with only two of us?"

My thanks to Patty for being so willing to let me pepper her with questions and for sharing so much! I wish her the best of luck with her first fabric line.