Chattanooga area road trip...

 Chattanooga Quilts in Ooltewah TN is the last stop on Mary Ellen's trip home from Cooperstown NY. See their row 'Chattaquarium' (love the name of their row!) on their website: www.chattanoogaquilts.com. It's a cute shop with a contemporary feel, plus reproduction fabrics. They also sell a handmade pottery collector's mug made by a Tennessee potter. They shared  the artist's name with us and we also carry the mugs with our name on them too! Check our LQ  website to see our mug.

Going to class in style

If you're looking for the perfect tote bag to take to classes, we think this one is the best.  These ladies just finished the Project Tote class here at Little Quilts and they're going home with finished bags!

The bags incorporate upholstery fabric and wool for a very durable bag with lots of pockets on the inside.  Carolyn added extra wool applique to the back of her bag...

Amy prefers brighter colors so she chose a brighter, more contemporary palette for her bag and isn't it fun!

As you can see, the bags are large enough to hold everything but the sewing machine!

Travel - hit the quilt shops - for the Row by Row experience

Mary Ellen stopped at Sew What Fabric -Batik's Etc. in Wytheville, VA, on her way home from Cooperstown NY. Owner Carol Britt wasn't in. She's recovering from a knee replacement. Her store's the place for batiks!! They have zillions of them on the bolt, charm packs and jelly rolls! Hope your travels bring you to her shop. The building is over 100 years old - was a bed & breakfast - turned into a quilt shop in the early 1980's. Check out their website www.batiks.com to see their block "Waterwheel". The other picture is a darling shop called "The Secret Inside". Loved the outside!!...it was closed!

Patchwork of the Crosses

Another fun block using a very unusual stripe...

 This is the fabric before it's cut.  As you can see, except for the corners, all the honeycombs came from the same fabric.  The gold fabric for the corners was left over from a previous block.

Check the website if you need to reorder paper piecing supplies.

For more block ideas, check out our Pinterest Board 

On the Road Again...

Mary Ellen's traveling!  On the way to her grandson's baseball game in Cooperstown, NY, she stopped at Heartworks Quilt Shop in Fly Creek NY .

They're participating in the 2015 Row x Row Experience. Their row pattern is "The Great Snowball Fight of 2015". Here's a picture of it....hope you get to visit and purchase a kit!

Isn't that just the cutest row?

Anyone going to Houston Quilt Festival...?

....Here is something to look forward to. 
Little Quilts customer and teacher, Marty Young, received news today that her quilt "Judie's Neighborhood Folk" was among the 23 chosen to hang in Houston this year by the Primitive Quilts and Projects Quilt Exhibit! Not only that but she is the 1st Place winner in the "Original Design" Category!!
She will get to see it there too because her prize is a trip for two to Festival.  Congratulations Marty.

 

Sew Cute Critters

Linda works at "Quilters Dream" in Loveland CO. She brought in her sample of "Sew Cute Critters" from the book by Cindy Taylor Oates. Isn't it darling?  We have the book here - we also one sample  block that Cindy Taylor Oates sent us.

Patchwork of the Crosses

I don't like to waste fabric (even the smallest amount!) and that was becoming a problem because the scraps from this project  mount up in a hurry!

 I'm using as much as possible of the "Swiss Cheese" I create!  First I cut off usable strips for a quilt-as-you-go project I'm working on...

Then I cut as many small squares as I can for my Baby Bow Tie project...

See my blog post from last October if you'd like a tutorial on my Bow Tie project.

Some of my small squares are also being used in this little Four-Patch project...

But, what to do with all the bits, pieces, threads, and selvages that are too small for even these projects? Well, I think you're going to like what I'm doing with the remaining bits!
I got the idea from my daughter who fosters dogs for a rescue group.  The dogs come to her with a little bit of food, but no beds, blankets, or toys.  I decided that all my crumbs of fabric and batting would make the perfect stuffing for dogs beds, so now I'm using not only my own scraps, but I'm actually collecting (!) scraps from all my friends and students to fill the mats/beds I'm donating to the rescue organization or to my local veterinarian!

I had this "brain storm" in March and so far I've donated five mats - these are number six and seven - and these will go to the shelter this week-end.  

This is absolutely a win-win solution for my fabric problem!  I have no more trash to throw out from my sewing room and I'm even using up a lot of my ugly fabrics to make the pillowcases.  In fact, I've found I don't even mind letting some bigger chunks of fabrics go because I feel like the pet beds are so appreciated and the fabric is not being wasted.  The best part is the pillowcases are even better made with heavier fabrics like corduroy, upholstery fabric, twill, and denim so I'm even able to clean out some of those fabrics from my attic that I've accumulated over the years - just make sure they're washable fabrics!

I make the beds different sizes.  It's obviously easier to make small beds which are good for smaller dogs and cats, but there are a lot of larger dogs that need beds, so I try to make some big enough for them, too!  If you can find out the size of the dog crates the rescue group uses, crate size mats are the best.

Pillowcases can be as simple as two fat quarters sewn together or they can be as fancy as an old UFO project you started and decided not to finish.  I try not to over-stuff them because most animals like to "nest".

I hope some of you will think about using your scraps in this way.  It's been a very rewarding project for me!

Need more paper piecing supplies?  Check the website here.

Go to our Pinterest Board to see finished blocks from our customers.

Try Something New

We have the best classes at Little Quilts.   Just look at some of the fun things we have scheduled for the summer... 

Houses, houses, houses!  Carolyn finished her house from the "Dimensional Little House" class and it's so cute we just want to move in!  It's sitting next to another cute house that you can learn to make in the "Rug Hooking" class.  We have a variety of wool applique classes...

and this is an example of student's work from the "Advanced Wool Applique" Class.

We even have classes for children who would like to learn to sew!

Children can learn to make a quilt in the "Flower Power" class...

or get lots of practice using the sewing machine in the Pillowcase class.  There's also a simple tote bag class.

Check out our summer classes here and sign up to learn something new and fun this summer!

Flag Day... a celebration LQ embraces wholeheartedly

Happy Flag Day....Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave.. o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Little Quilts has always loved the looks of the American flag and the patriotism that is represents.  Making flag quilts or red, white and blue quilts are a favorite. You can join us in our passion. We have patterns for you in our book, Patriotic Little Quilts. Or one of our most popular patterns: FLAGS. Both available at www.littlequilts.com

June Show & Tell

What a wonderful way to start a warm June day in Georgia!  Today was our Second Saturday Sampler day and we had some great Show & Tell that we thought you might enjoy seeing!

Jan finished her quilt just in time for her father's 80th Birthday - she'll be delivering it to him this week.  I loved the way she finished the edge and I know her father is going to love the quilt!

 Mary's Mother-in-law is turning 96 this month and the only thing she wanted is a quilt!  Mary is originally from Ohio so she used the very traditional Ohio Star block to make this classic.

Leslie pins a lot of great ideas on her Pinterest Boards.  She decided she finally need to try making some of the things she's pinned!

 The first little project she made was a mug rug made with miniature Quarter-Square Triangle blocks.  She plans to give it to her Bible Study teacher who loves to drink tea.

 The second little project is a carrying case for ear-buds.  What a clever idea!

Caroline is in charge of her family reunion this year.  The theme for the reunion is Christmas in July so one of Caroline's friends made this cute apron for her to wear.  Caroline and a friend filled her freezer with Christmas cookies for the reunion - we're hoping there are a few cookies left for us after the reunion for next month's Show & Tell (or should we say Show & Eat!)!

Marlene is a brand-new quilter and this is her first quilt!  Good job, Marlene...we're impressed!

Terrell took the beginning quilting class series shortly after his mother died so he could make quilts from her clothes to share with family members.  This is the quilt he made and quilted in the beginner class.

After he finished the beginner class, Terrell made this Disappearing Nine-Patch quilt for his niece. The red squares in the quilt are from one of his mother's shirts.  Terrell is planning to put a picture of his niece with his mother on the quilt label.  What a special treasure!

And the winners are...

We are so fortunate to have a group of  very talented staff and teachers here at Little Quilts.  Almost everyone had at least one quilt in the East Cobb Quilters' Guild Quilt Show this week and many of them won ribbons.  We are so proud of them!  We thought you might like to see some of the quilts from our award-winning group...
Wanda Hizer, our store manager, won a 2nd place ribbon in the Two Person Applique category for her quilt "Les Fleur Du Jardin"

and an Honorable Mention in the same category for "Sweet Georgia Brown.

Staff member, Amanda Smallwood won 1st place in the Combination category for her quilt
"Florence, Froncie and Me".  Many of you will remember this as a Block of the Month we did several years ago at Little Quilts reproducing a charming quilt made by Florence Pito in the 1940's.  Amanda appliqued the small flower blocks, pieced the 9-Patch blocks and hand quilted the quilt.

Staff Member, Linda Wirtz, won 3rd place in the Small/Medium Pieced category with the quilt she entered in a contest honoring Judie Rothermel for 25 years in the fabric industry.  Linda titled her quilt "25Charmed" Star Salute".

Teacher, Fran House, received an Honorable Mention in the Applique category with her quilt "A House Quilt by "House".

Fran also won a 3rd place ribbon in the Combination category for "Birds Among My Flower Patches".

Nancy Cummings, one of our newer teachers, won a 3rd place ribbon in the miniature category for "Mosey's Delight" which features our Second Saturday Sampler blocks from last year miniaturized to 3" square.  You can get an idea of the size of the finished quilt when you compare it to the ribbon she won!

Nancy also won an Honorable Mention in the Small/Medium Pieced category for "Red and White Diva Challenge" which is a quilt she designed and quilted as part of a challenge for the Reproduction Study Group class at Little Quilts.

Embroidery teacher, Elizabeth Frolet, won 1st Place in the Special Techniques category with "Elisabeth's Garden - A Tale of a Thousand Threads".  This quilt was also a 1st Place winner in it's category at the AQS show in Paducah in April.  When you're at the show, look carefully at this quilt - you won't believe the exquisite detail in the embroidery!

Staff Member, Susan Bertrand won Honorable Mention in the Special Techniques category for two of her quilts, "Study in Daiwabo"

and Reedy's Star...

One of our shop quilters, Dena Rosenberg, (also one of our teachers!) did the quilting on Jane Betterly's quilt that won an honorable mention  in the Two Person Medium Pieced category.

 Congratulations to all our staff and teachers who won ribbons - we're so proud of all of you!

We were also very pleased to see so many quilts from our customers in the show.  Many of the quilts were from classes or Block of the Months we offered and those quilts were absolutely beautiful in the show!  You did yourselves (and us) proud!!

Best part of quilting, ENDLESS variety!

Pat and Amy have been working to finish their quilts from the Beyond Beginner class.  Amy loves working in bright colors and wanted a large bed-size quilt so she designed a medallion quilt with her blocks.  

Although they made the same blocks in class, you would never know it looking at their quilts!  It's amazing how a different color palette can change the blocks.  Pat used holiday fabrics and wanted a smaller, lap-sized quilt so she used a simple sashing and a horizontal setting for this little charmer.  

 Pat used her embroidery machine to add the names and dates in the sashings.  

Patchwork of the Crosses

A beautiful easy block to start off your summer stitching!

There are four different fabrics in this block.  These are the fabrics I used:

Check our Pinterest Board to see other beautiful blocks.

Go to our Website to reorder paper piecing supplies

Don't forget to check out Inklingo if you prefer hand piecing to English Paper Piecing.