Colorful Kaffe

Ooh. 38 bolts of new Kaffe Fassett's fabrics from Rowan/Westminster Fabrics. Staff were just pulling them out of the boxes when I snapped this shot. Can't wait to see what people are going to do with them!

Holiday Stockings

Staff (and former staff) at Glad Creations gathered last week for our annual Holiday Stocking event. Thirteen of us set up a production line in the classrooms and we produced 28 stockings for the Holiday Basket Program organized by The Aliveness Project in Minneapolis.
http://www.aliveness.org/index.shtml
Annemarie did a fantastic job of photography in between pinning together stockings. Emily and Eli even showed up to help for a while.
Of course, we topped the evening off with a batch of carrot cupcakes.
Check out the slide show to see us in action.
Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Little Quilts by Annemarie Yohnk

We had a fun Saturday at the shop this past weekend. Annemarie Yohnk was here to give 2 lectures about the little quilts she's made over the last several years as leader of our "Jo's Little Women" club. She shared her love making these little quilts and sharing them with club members and gave us a bit of a feel for the companionship that develops in the club.
We also were lucky to host the debut of Annemarie's new pattern line! If you watch the slide show below, you'll see the quilts that Annemarie has designed hanging at the front of the classroom.
If you couldn't make it to the lecture on Saturday, you can still see the quilt display. Annemarie's letting us keep it up through Dec. 20. We have over 40 of Annemarie's little quilts hanging in the classroom. Stop in if you get a chance.
Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hoffman batiks

79 bolts of Hoffman batiks came in today. Yea!
Susan

Mystery Weekend at Glad Creations

Wow! We've just finished our 4th session of Mystery Weekend. We had nearly 80 folks participating in the 4 sessions. Now we can share the quilts and the show and tell. We snapped photos of all the fun quilts that the Mystery Weekend participants brought to share. Many of them were from past Mystery Weekends but we got to see lots of other fun projects as well. Click on the image below and enjoy the slide show - I've added names of the quilts that are Glad Creations designs.
If you're wondering which one is the mystery quilt, you'll see 4 versions included in the slide show - Forever Friends. Two of the quilts were made my Susan and myself. The other 2 were made by 2 high achieving students (Mary & Nathan) who attended the first session and returned to show their completed tops during the 2nd session!
Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Stitched Ornaments

I can't help doing a little shameless self-promotion. I've been making these adorable slip cast ceramic ornaments at the studio hand-decorated with "stitching" patterns and "quilty" motifs. I'll be bringing some into the shop this week so take a look next time you're in. They coordinate perfectly with the Moda holiday print fabric behind the basket! Or, shop at my etsy page.

On a more directly related shop note, I forgot to blog about the new Mystery by Mail #41 kits. They are really fun and they are now posted on the website. Be sure to take a look before they're gone. We'll try to keep them in stock through mid-November.

Half-price fabric

It's time to make space for new fall fabric arrivals. On Saturday afternoon and again on Monday we pulled loads of fabric from the shelves and brought them up to the mark down area. Here's Susan processing some of the fabric ready to go upstairs. Come in and check it out - especially if you have a quilt ready for backing.

Some of the fabrics that we know are coming soon - a fun line of coffee prints: "Bistro" from Moda; novelties from Elizabeth Studio (including a Fruit Lady panel); "Cover Story" from Thimbleberries and LOTS of Hoffman batiks.

Nancy

The Placemats are Done!

If you read my post a few days ago, you'll remember that Amy and I selected fabric for placemats. The pattern we're using is from the book "Six Halves Make a Whole" by the Quilt Branch. It's a fun pattern - 6 half yards of fabric make 6 placemats, a different arrangement of fabrics in each placemat. Here are mine. My fabric selection is from a new line of woven plaids from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
Amy's placemats are still in process - I'll post a photo when they're done.
Nancy

Kits too!

I just added Sparkler kits to the website too. Both color combinations, Potpourri and Civil War are now available. Get them while they're in stock!
Emily

Sparkler now available!

I just posted our newest Glad Creations pattern, Sparkler, on the Glad website. Susan and Nancy must have had a really fun time designing this one because it just looks happy and full of energy. If you look closely at the picture of Susan and Nancy in their booth at the Chaska Quilt show (a few posts earlier) you can see Sparkler made up in a different color combination hanging behind them. Click here to go directly to the pattern description on the website for full details about this great quilt.

Emily

Bow Tucks Tote

I'd been drooling over one of the new lines of fabric from Moda, Pine Creek Crossing by Holly Taylor. What could I make? The Bow Tucks Tote by Penny Sturges seemed like the perfect thing. The tote went together easily and it was fun to use the stripe for the pocket.
Susan

Fall Splendor of Quilts

If you're looking for a fun outing this weekend - check out "Fall Splendor of Quilts", the show put on by the Chaska Area Quilt Club. This is their 20th Anniversary and they've put together a great collection of quilts. We will be vending at the show so we got a sneak preview of the quilts on exhibit when we were setting up our booth this afternoon (check out all the goodies we squeezed into our booth). The show is being held at the Chaska Community Center - 1661 Park Ridge Drive - Chaska, MN. Hours are Friday Oct. 3, 10am - 7pm and Saturday Oct. 4, 9am - 7pm. Stop by and say "hi" if you make it to the show.
Nancy

Amy & Nancy go shopping!

The fabric I've been waiting for has finally arrived! Early in the summer we ordered a line of brightly colored woven plaids from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. When I saw the samples, I thought they would be great for a set of placemats to go with my Fiesta Ware dishes. So, I've had my pattern selected and have been waiting all summer for the fabric to arrive.

I'll be using a pattern from the book "Six Halves Make a Whole" by The Quilt Branch. The pattern uses 1/2 yard each of 6 prints to make 6 placemats. The prints are mixed so each placemat turns out with a different arrangement of colors.

I was making my fabric selections at the shop today and Amy couldn't resist being drawn into the project. She selected an assortment for placemats from a brand new group of prints designed by Terry Atkinson for Red Rooster Fabrics. The group is called "Paisley Party".........an assortment of 24 fun, bright prints.

Here we are with our fabric selections. Watch for photos of our completed placemats!

Charisma from Moda

New in the shop this week is a great new line from Moda - "Charisma". This group is designed by Chez Moi. We've had fun in the shop planning quilts with their last line, "Posh", and Charisma looks like it will be just as fun. The line has a Jacobean feel and includes some large floral prints as well as some interesting basics. Colors are red, green, blue and
rust.

Quilts of Valor

We have our Scrap Tamers Quilt of Valor ready to give to the machine quilter, Kars Quilting in Chanhassen. Then the binding, then back to Kars who will get it to our Minnesota Quilt of Valor group. Two of the women who are involved in Quilts of Valor stopped in the shop this week. They have made the connections for distributing the finished quilts. They are also the women who physically deliver the quilts to the different facilities and do a lot of the bindings. They now have enough connections made that all quilts made in Minnesota and given to the Minnesota group can stay in Minnesota. The quilts are given to hospitals, rehab facilities and also to those who will be deployed overseas. What a commitment! The suggested size of the quilts is around 54" x 67". But now that they are giving them to those soldiers being deployed, they can use some longer quilts. (it may be really hot there, but the barracks are air conditioned and the quilts give the soldiers a nice connection to home). They also can use smaller quilts for those soldiers who are now in wheel chairs.
What a giving group quilters are! From those who make the quilts, volunteer their quilting time, organize things so this all works or donate money. It works because so many people are involved. It makes me proud to be a quilter.
If you want more information on Quilts of Valor you can go to http://www.qovf.org/
I'll post a photo of our quilt as soon as we get it done.
Susan

Morris Medley

I'm just back from a relaxing vacation in Michigan's UP. What a beautiful spot! We enjoyed a few nights of camping in the Porcupine Mountains, lots of hiking, some time in a cabin in Copper Harbor and a visit with friends in Wisconsin. We made a run up to Bayfield, WI and picked 10+ pounds of blueberries - yum!

There's lots happening in the shop. We're getting ready to send out supply lists for this fall's Mystery Weekend classes. They should be in the mail by Monday.

Our next project will be the final stage of organizing the Mystery by Mail kits for October. My sample of the quilt is laying on my ironing board waiting for binding. It's so beautiful, I wish I could include a photo here......but, it's a Mystery!

We've had some great new fabrics arriving in the shop. The latest is the long awaited "Morris Medley". This group of William Morris style prints are from the company Fabric Freedom, a British fabric company. They're distributed in this country through Benartex Fabrics. The grouping of 15 prints is made up of 5 different patterns, each in 3 colorways. We still have a few prints left from the Moda group "A Morris Garden" by Barbara Brackman. They'll coordinate beautifully!
Nancy

Spectacular Scraptamers Signup

Quilters were lined up down the block to sign up for our Scraptamers Club last month. People started lining up over two hours before we opened for registration with chairs, coffee and donuts. We gave out numbers and got people registered as quickly as we could! It was a wild but fun day. If you missed out on registration, there are still a few spaces left in the 2:00 session. We can't wait until the first class session on September 20!

Make 2/Give 2

September is National Sewing month. I just read about a fun idea on the Lazy Girl blog and thought I'd pass it on. Lazy Girl Designs suggests giving a gift of 2 tote bags to a friend sometime in September. One is for your friend, the other is for your friend to give away. You can enjoy the joy of sewing and giving a hand made gift. The friend also can enjoy the feeling of giving away a hand made gift. She even has a description of how to wrap it. What a fun idea. On her website, she has a free pattern for a "With love tote". This is a large tote which could be used for many things. She has added some instructions for boxing the bottom if you prefer that kind of bag. If this sounds like fun, check it out. You can also subscribe to her blog so you can read about other fun ideas she has. Her website is http://www.lazygirldesigns.com. Click on her blog and go to Make2/Give2.
Have a nice labor day weekend. Susan

Bear Tracks on track!

I've spent the last week trying to weed through stacks of paper and tie up loose ends that got overlooked in the chaos of the last few months of art fairs. And, better late than never, I realized that the latest Glad Creations pattern never got added to the website! So...now it is up. Be sure to take a look. http://www.gladcreationsquilts.com/patterns/beartracks.htm

Minnesota Shop Hop

We're having a great time with the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. It's fun visiting with the many quilters who are touring the state! Everyone seems to be having a great time getting out to visit shops that are their regular stops as well as shops they've never visited before. Quite a number of hoppers have already completed the 16 metro shops and have gone off to visit shops around the state.

We still have lots of the Quilt Minnesota fabric available in most of the prints. Here's a photo of the tablerunner that we designed using the fun Minnesota motifs along with nine-patches. We have a pattern and a kit available.

We're busy with plans for the fall. We have some fun new classes scheduled and are busy getting the quilts finished up for the fall Mystery Weekend and Mystery by Mail.

Have fun hopping!
Nancy

Off to the Press!

I finally finished laying out the Fall Class Schedule this week and sent it off the the printer. There is so much fun stuff going on this fall that it was a challenge to fit everything in! Susan will have several fun new classes as well as bringing back a few favorites. Annemarie will be running a new "Girls Gang" club--I know it sounds spicy, but you'll have to wait for your schedule to hear the details!! It will go to the mailing house next week so watch for it in the mail in the first half of August and check the website. I'll try to have it up online by the end of the day on Monday, August 4 if I have enough energy left. I'll be in my booth at Uptown Art Fair selling pottery the weekend of Aug. 1-3 so it will be a marathon of pot making and firing up until then and a really busy weekend. If you hit the art fair, stop by my booth (#2408) on the mall to say hi and check out my new quilt and textile inspired designs!

Minnesota Shop Hop

Wait until you see our quilt for the Minnesota state Shop Hop! The state is divided into 7 sections. Each section had a quilt designed by a nationally known quilt designer. Each of the shops in a section will be giving away a step for making the quilt. We made up a sample using Asian prints and will make some kits for it. We can't show it to you until the hop starts on August 1. I'm planning on sewing the binding on it today. If you want more information about the shop hop--come in and pick up a brochure. There is also information on their website. The hop runs from Aug. 1 - Aug 17. Their website is--www.quiltminnesota.com.
Susan

Welcome!

Welcome to the Glad Creations blog. We're a quilt shop in Minneapolis, MN. We've been in business since 1976 so we're coming up on our 32nd anniversary! We plan to blog about some of the fun things that are going on in the shop and to share some of the projects that we're working on. Susan, Emily and I will all be contributing.

We're just back from the Minnesota Quilters show in Rochester, MN. It was a fantastic show - so many beautiful quilts on display. It's always a great show but this year seemed better than ever. Our booth was a busy place. We had a great time visiting with friends who we see at the show each year and also meeting lots of new friends. We've finally gotten the shop put back together after returning from the show!

Now we're taking some time to get some new samples made and are making plans for our fall class schedule. We're working on ideas for some fun new classes and projects.

Nancy