So much to share... so little time.

Well, school is back in full swing and hopefully you're all working on finishing summer projects or if you're super organized and on top of things you may even be starting your Fall or Holiday projects!  We've had lots of beautiful show & tells come through the store lately (check back soon for lots of pictures!) and we have some fabulous trunk shows for you as well.  So grab your coffee or tea, sit back and enjoy.....

Have you ever heard of hitty dolls? They are based on a storybook that's 140 years old about wood carved dolls. Fung Hicks and Celia Caldwell came to the shop today to buy fabric to make clothing for their dolls. Celia enjoyed looking at the dolls that were carved by Fung's husband Bruce with different types of wood, maple, mahogany, ash etc. Fung showed a doll carved by well know carver Janice Cordell from Arkansas. Collectors make clothing and other articles for their dolls that they keep in special collectors boxes.  Collectors of hitty dolls communicate through many online groups and blogs.

We’re going wild making ten-minute table runners.  They’re so quick and easy to make, you could easily make a different table runner for every day of the year!  Use Christmas or Hanukkah fabrics for a quick holiday hostess gift or stocking stuffer or choose some of our beautiful fall fabrics to get a head start on your fall decorating.  Kits are available for the fall table runner.

You’re not going to want to miss out on our newest swap adventure!  Buy a cinnamon stick, follow the directions rolled up inside the stick and turn in your baggie of 28 half-square triangles by Oct. 1. The half-square triangles are made using a special “sew on the line” paper (similar to Triangles on a Roll); sew easy!  And you don’t even have to remove the paper when you’re finished!  By Oct. 10, we’ll have the blocks swapped and you can come in and pick up your baggie of 28 different half-square triangles.  A fun and easy way to achieve one of the quilts in the “Friendship Triangles” book by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts, or come up with your own original quilt using your swap blocks. 

This is one of the quilts you could make using your half-square triangle blocks!

Little Quilts new line of fabric, Whittier Crossing, continues to be popular in the shop.  The soft pink, teal and brown colors add just the spark you need to get that old-time reproduction look.  Kits are available for a quilt and a table runner using these new fabrics.

While in Paducah for the quilt show, Mary Ellen and Muriel saw a charming antique quilt  hanging in one of the shop windows and decided to come home and make one just like it.  The good news is they actually did make it using the new Whittier Crossing fabric line and it’s just as charming as the original!   We don’t know the name of the pattern and we only had the snapshot we took to reproduce the quilt, so there’s no pattern available, but we thought you’d enjoy seeing it.

If you need to refill your coffee or tea, go right ahead, we've got more......

Trunk Shows Galore!

This trunk show just arrived and what a clever idea!  Start by making a quilt background – the center of the quilt is plain and it’s surrounded by several pieced borders.  Then make small seasonal blocks  that can be attached to the center of the quilt and rotated each month.   The trunk show is from Under the Garden Moon and the pattern series, “As Time Goes By”, includes separate  patterns for the background quilt as well as blocks for each month.

Also here with the Under The Garden Moon trunk show is this pink and brown beauty.  The pattern is “Love At Home” and includes directions for the quilt shown as well as directions for a larger Christmas version.

Our newest trunk show from Bare Roots! Projects are done in very soft colors with a touch of whimsy -- a great combination of embroidery and quilting.  All the projects are from the book "Down To Earth".

From Heartspun Quilts,  we also have all the quilt projects from the Prairie Women Sewing Circle.   

Purses, and purses, and purses – Oh My!  You’ve got to see the collection of purses, wallets, and tote bags from Anything But Boring.  They’re hanging all over the shop ready to inspire you and they definitely live up to their name as there is nothing boring about them!  They’re all quick and easy to make and fun to use.

Happy Quilting and be sure and check back soon, we've got so many beautiful show & tells to share!

These projects will be made in our upcoming class called Prairie Women. It is a monthly club that will take you on a journey back in time. Muriel will share stories about prairie women and their quilt making and what their daily life was like. If you like history and want to learn what life was like in the 19th century you should join this group. The first meeting will be Oct 7th and will meet on the first Thursday of the month. Both morning and evening classes are available. There is still time to join. Monthly patterns, bonus projects and other surprises will be offered.