Little Quilts 2015 Second Saturday Sampler Finale and last day as a retail store

Calling this year's Saturday Sampler participants:

Last Saturday we had our final 2015 Saturday Sampler gathering. We gave out the fabric packets for December and January along with the finishing directions for ALL the quilts.

Queen Wanda H. did a beautiful job on the "Special Memories" quilt. Directions are included for the 6" sampler in a chain like setting. 

Tricia made hers with batiks and one beautiful fabric for the setting triangles and border. 

Princess Wanda C did the neutral alternate and called hers "Kick it in Neutral" with fused cattails in a strippy setting. Her husband Mickey loves it and is claiming it.

Jackie is working on a beautiful red and white quilt with an Irish Chain style setting block.

If you were unable to attend, please come by before 5pm today 12/19/15) as that's when the Little Quilts retail store will be closing our doors after 17 years. If you cannot attend, please call 770-578-6727, give us your credit card information and we'll mail your goodies right out. It's been a fun year, finished with spectacular quilts made by an outstanding staff. If you did not participate but would like the pattern set, check the website for ordering information.

Be blessed as we have been. Thank you for your friendships and support.  

Stack and Whack in Black and White

Karen came in to help celebrate during our Wall To Wall Retirement Sale. For " Show & Tell", which we love....she brought in a pink and black and white Stack & Whack quilt. Karen loves black and white fabrics with an accent color! She recently purchased a long arm quilting machine and is enjoying learning how to use it, by finishing projects and starting new ones.

Red and White

Dena has made a traditional block in reds and whites. How perfect for the Christmas season.

Wool hooked show and tell

Is it a rug or a purse?  It is a gorgeous wool hooked purse.  We are impressed with this creation by Chris.

Enjoy your quilts...and ours too...

Grace from North Georgia sent us this picture of her Nativity set displayed on the Log Cabin Table Runner from Little Memories. She purchased from one of our offers in a past email newsletter featuring some of our models we are offering for sale.

 Mary Ellen doesn't want to keep them all on a shelf at home...she loves sharing them with so many of you. Grace is a knitter and knitted that darling set.

Watch the email newsletter for more models being offered this week and next.

Hooked Rugs For Sale

Little Quilts has always been a haven for rug hooking in the Atlanta area.  Not only did we sell beautiful wool, but we have had classes in the art of rug hooking and wool dyeing as well as actively supporting the local Rug Hooking Guild.

We currently have three rugs in the shop that are available for sale from one of the local rug hooking artists in our community.  They are absolutely spectacular!   All are 100% wool and beautifully bound.

This rug, 5'8" x 2'5" is currently priced at $1000 (was $2000) 

 

Wouldn't these Santas be a perfect addition to your Christmas decorating?  At 2'9" x 1'9" it's perfect as a small rug or a wall hanging.  $400

This folk-art style cat is one of our favorites!  It's 3' x 2" and currently priced at $350 (was $900).

If you're interested in purchasing, call the shop (770-578-6727)!

You're Invited

We hope you'll join us tomorrow evening

December 10, 2015

from 4pm - 6pm

for  wine punch and cheese while you shop!

We have special prices on everything in the shop that we know you're going to like!

Join us!

Sampler of Memories

Ann gathered up parts for the past 20 quilts she's made and made one special memory quilt. It's what she calls an  'interesting quilt' quilt not especially 'pretty'. It's almost 100" square.

Quilt as you sew show and tell

During our "wall to wall retirement" ... We've enjoyed the well wishes from everyone... A customer brought in this great quilt . Shown is the front and the back....she liked the back best!

LQ goes international

Wendy in New Zealand just sent a picture of her Women of the Bible Quilt. She has the center finished. It's been so much fun to see however everyone has made their own version of this fun project we offered last year. If you're interested in this pattern set, contact Stitchin' Tree at www.stitchintree.com

It sure has been fun visiting with friends who stop in to wish us well with the store closing, and Mary Ellen's retirement.

Patchwork of the Crosses

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Little Quilts!  We're so thankful for all of you!  We hope you'll enjoy this day with your family.

This will be the final Lucy Boston - Patchwork of the Crosses blog.  I've enjoyed making the blocks, but most of all I've loved your enthusiasm and excitement over the quilt and the blocks! Thank you all so much for following the blog over the past two years - I hope to see a lot of finished Lucy quilts in the near future.

Remember!  You can continue to order paper piecing supplies to finish your quilt through Dec. 1. There are three variation pieces for finishing the outer edge of the quilt to make it rectangular.  This is what the variation pieces look like...

You will need at least one package of each variation (Variation 1, Variation 2, and Variation 3). You can order them on the website or call the shop (770-578-6727), but all orders must be in by Dec. 1.

I hope you've enjoyed the Lucy Boston journey as much as I have.  I will continue to present Lucy Boston/Patchwork of the Crosses lectures for quilt guilds that are interested.  I will also continue to teach English Paper Piecing classes, 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Patchwork of the Crosses

Another new block:

This is the stripe fabric I used:

The light blue corner honeycombs came from my stash.  It's an old Jo Morton fabric.

This is another fun stripe to work with.  There are so many different things you can do with a great stripe!  Experiment and see what you come up with. 

I'm using some of the scraps from this fabric to make a corner unit.  I haven't stitched it together yet, but you can get the idea...

Finishing the outer edges of your quilt will require some very odd shaped paper pieces (see below) to make the quilt rectangular. . .  

Finishing papers are sold as Variation 1, Variation 2 and Variation 3 and you will need all three shapes.

We have the finishing paper pieces available - you will need at least one package of  all three shapes.

We are trying to make sure all of you get the paper pieces supplies you need before the shop closes.. You must have your order in by Dec. 1 to be assured of getting the supplies.  Order from the  website or call the shop to order.

If you're lacking enough blocks to finish your quilt, check our Pinterest Board for ideas and then go to your stash and make use of some of the great fabrics you'll find hiding there! 

Completed Dear Jane!!!!

We are always amazed when we see another Dear Jane quilt come in for Show & Tell. With the Wall To wall Retirement Sale at Little Quilts going on now, good friends and customers come in daily to wish Mary Ellen well.  Gretchen shared  her Dear Jane Quilt completed, with us...hand quilted ... and even the triangle sections for the borders. Great job Gretchen... wonder what her next master piece will be!

Wool applique table runner

Carolyn loves wool applique.  Here is her newest table runner.

Patchwork of the Crosses

.

As most of you have probably heard,  Mary Ellen is retiring and Little Quilts is closing.  The last Lucy Boston fabric packs will be shipped out on Nov. 17 and the last blog post will be on Nov. 29. It's been so much fun making the Lucy blocks - I hope you've enjoyed the journey with us.  I know you will have a lovely quilt when you're finished!

If you still need to order paper pieces to finish your quilt, call us soon - we will make sure you get what you need to finish.  Don't forget we have the papers for finishing the outer edges available - it takes three different paper variations for the outside edge.  You will want to order at least one package of each of the variations.  You can still order all the paper pieces supplies on the website.

I wish I had a picture of my quilt all finished to show you, but I'm not quite there yet.  I've got a start...

but still a lot of work ahead of me.  Now that the shop is closing I should have lots of extra time to finish it.  Watch for it in the next quilt show!

Thanks for all your support, for sending pictures for the Pinterest Board, and, most of all, for your enthusiasm with paper piecing!  Finish your Lucy Quilts and then start a new paper piecing project!

Bird Parade

Wool applique is hot, hot, hot. No wonder. Look at this adorable project. Diane made a variation of Bonnie Sullivan original design called "The Gathering".

Bright scraps turned into Lollipop Trees

Sarah is working on this beautiful Lollipop Trees by Kim McLean.  The blocks are 18" square and Sarah is doing it all in batiks. She is planning for 16 blocks. Everyone here at the store wants to start one now!

She brought her blocks in the neat tote she made from selvages also shown here. Sarah has also made a Lucy Boston Quilt! Way to go Sarah!

Second Saturday Sampler Show and Tell

Carol Ann's been getting lots of quilts made...both starting and finishing UFO's. She brought this to Saturday Sampler for our monthly outdoor 'Show and Tell'.  It's never too late to join Saturday Sampler -the 2nd Saturday of the month. We're in the 9th month...but you can catch up with past months patterns easily!  

Patchwork of the Crosses

A new block for November:

This is the fabric I used.  

Be careful cutting the stripe.  You will need to cut four and then cut four reverse.  To make cutting easier, pay close attention to the placement of the corners of the acrylic template on the stripe.  To cut the reverse, flip the acrylic template upside down, place the  template corners in the same placement on the stripe and 'voila' !  The perfect reverse cut!

Order Paper piecing supplies on our website - they're on sale now while supplies last!
Check our Pinterest Board to see more block ideas.

Closing Sale

As most of you have probably heard, after 17 years in the retail business, Mary Ellen is retiring and Little Quilts is closing.  The plan is for the shop to close its doors for the final time on Dec. 24, 2015. Tomorrow, Nov.5, starting at 10 am sharp we will be having a huge Wall-to-Wall Retirement Sale and we hope you'll stop by to take advantage of the special prices.  If parking is a problem, you can use the parking lot in the strip shopping center next to us.  Please use the top of the parking lot away from the Dollar General and the other shops in that shopping strip. There will be lots of prizes to win and great prices on everything in the shop so we hope you'll stop by so we can say "good-bye" in person.  17 years is a long time and you've all become friends to us - closing the shop will be hard. We appreciate all your business through the years and value the friendships!

A Memory From Little Quilts

We have a few more vintage Little Quilts models that are looking for a good home.   I hope you'll find something you like!  Be the first person to call us with credit card information and the quilt will be yours.

"Neighbors II" is 26" square and is from our "Little Memories" book.  Such a sweet quilt with cheery colors. It's machine quilted.  $35

This quilt is a special treasure. "Sunbonnet Sue Sampler" is from our first and most popular book "Little Quilts All Through The House"  Many people learned to quilt from this book!  The 16" x 22" quilt is hand appliqued with a blanket stitch and is hand quilted.   $35

"Flannel Folks" is such a darling little quilt.  It's 20" x 23" all done in flannel. It's hand appliqued with a blanket stitch and hand-quilted with a "Big Stitch".  $35

If you're interested in one of these vintage treasures, call (770-578-6727)!

Whole Cloth Machine Quilted Quilt

Cindy recently attended a Gammil Statler Stitch seminar in Atlanta and stopped in to show her wall hanging piece that won Best Machine Quilting at the East Cobb Quilters Guild show this past June. To see it up close was just amazing! This quilt was all hand guided on her long arm without the help of a computer program!

A Memory From Little Quilts

As part of our 17th Anniversary Sale, we have decided to open up the vault and sell some of the models from the original Little Quilts patterns and books.  We know many of you learned to quilt from our books and patterns and we think these quilts will bring back many memories for you.  These are all vintage Little Quilts.  Most were made by Mary Ellen, Sylvia and Alice and a lot of them are hand quilted.  If you're interested in purchasing any of the items offered today, be the first to call the shop (770-578-6727) with credit card information and the quilt will be yours!

Today, we have three special quilts and an out-of-print book we think you'll love...

The first quilt is "Sue and Bill Stitchery" featuring four of the popular embroidery patterns from the Month-by-Month Stitchery Cards.  The 16"x 16" quilt is hand embroidered and hand quilted.  $25

"Follow The Leader" was one of the quilts in our second book "Celebrate With Little Quilts".  The Overall Bills are all buttonhole stitched and the quilt is hand quilted.  A 21" x 25" quilt perfect for a little boy's room, and all patriotic celebrations.  $55

"Bunny Harvest Quilt" is one of the quilts in the book "Bunnies By the Bay Meets Little Quilts".  This great 16" x 21" quilt is perfect for fall.  It's hand-embroidered and hand-quilted.  

It will come with a hard cover copy of the "Bunnies By The Bay Meets Little Quilts"!  The 8" x 9" book (perfect for a little 'coffee table'!) features the whimsical styling of collectible bunnies from Bunnies By The Bay displayed with our charming quilts.  There are lots of fun projects including the pattern for the quilt above, included in the book. Mary Ellen will autograph it personally to you or a special friend!

Call now to get the Bunny Harvest Quilt and the book, both for $45.

If you'd like one of these quilts, call the shop.  We want the quilts to have happy homes!  Watch the blog this month for more offerings of special vintage quilt treasures.

Baltimore Album Design consult

These show and tell photos were taken in Wanda's Advanced Baltimore Album class.  Paula  brought her blocks for design help.  Only 4 more blocks left to make!  She's decided not to use the eagle block and the basket block on the far right - she felt they didn't fit in with the rest of her blocks that are wreaths.  She's thinking about framing those two blocks since she's not going to use them in this quilt.

Patchwork of the Crosses

I was trying to do some reorganizing in my sewing room a few weeks ago and in the process I found some fabrics in my stash that I thought would make beautiful Lucy Boston blocks...

These were Jo Morton fabrics.  All the honeycombs for the center of the block came from the same gorgeous stripe.  The red corners came from a separate Jo Morton fabric.  When I was looking through my Jo Morton stash, I was amazed how many beautiful fabrics I have in my stash!

Another block... the fabric used for the center honeycombs was given to me by someone who thought it would make a great Lucy block.  I think they were right!

These fabrics were left over from the very first Lucy Boston block we featured on this blog. The fabric, designed by Judy Rothermel, continues to be one of my favorites.  I didn't want to leave any unused scraps of these gorgeous fabrics in my stash!

This is a block in progress.  When I was looking through my collection of finished blocks, I decided I wanted a little more purple and green in my blocks.
Unfortunately, my sewing room reorganization came to a halt once I found the fabrics and sat down to make the blocks!  I'm so excited about all my blocks.  I have a sizable number now and am beginning to visualize a finished quilt - it's getting there!

How are you coming with your blocks?  Are you using fabrics from your stash?  Send me pictures of stash blocks and I'll post them on our Pinterest Board.
Need more paper piecing supplies?  Order from our website.
Don't forget we have the finishing papers for completing the outside edge.  They are odd sized pieces and you'll be happy to have the papers!  They're also available on our website here.