Merry Christmas

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Snowy Minnesota! 7 inches last night and more coming tonight. Might be 12-18 inches of the white stuff before it's over. We wish to thank all of you for your friendship and support this last year. Quilters are special people and we are truly thankful to be in such a wonderful business. We hope you all have a wonderful quilt filled new year.
Susan

Holiday travels

I've had some fun this past week unrelated to quilting. We started with a great Thanksgiving visit with my sister Carol and her family in Nashville. We toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and visited a nearby site of a Civil War battle. It took place on the grounds of a plantation and we were able to tour the restored home. I may have gotten some inspiration for a quilt from the floorcloth in the dining room.

Another fun part of our trip was a stop on the way home to pick up "Charlie", an Australian Shepherd / Poodle puppy. For awhile I'll have to see how much quilting I can get done during "naptime".

Nancy

Mystery Weekend #44

Susan and I have had a busy month so far teaching 4 sessions of Mystery Weekend #44 . We had about 70 participants! We can finally reveal the quilts! Susan made her quilt using an assortment of soft reproduction prints. I used a selection of Asian prints. We'll be getting a pattern ready shortly after the first of the year. We'll also have kits available in both of our fabric selections when the pattern is ready. The name of the quilt is "Shoo Fly". Both of our quilts are on display in the shop.

One of the really fun parts of Mystery Weekend is the show and tell that participants bring to each session. Some of the quilts are from past Mystery Weekends or Mystery by Mail quilts. Others are projects that have been completed from other patterns, in classes or created by the maker. It's so much fun to see the great fabric selections. We snapped some photos of the quilts to share. I've added quilt names to the photos of the quilts made using Glad Creations patterns. Enjoy the slide show below.
Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Stockings

The staff (and former staff) at Glad Creations got together this week for our annual Christmas Stocking event. We made 31 stockings for the Aliveness Project holiday basket program. Can you believe we made all these stockings in one evening? Not only did we produce a huge collection of stockings - we had a fantastic time too!
Nancy

Quilt Market

We hear it's snowing in Minnesota - but Susan and I are having a great time in Houston at International Quilt Market! There's so much great energy and inspiration. Here we are in the "Me & My Sister" booth on our way to see the new Moda fabric lines. We ordered some really fun groups from their Metro lines. We know the staff at the shop will be glad to hear we ordered the new "Chez Moi" line. It's called "Hunky Dory" and should be delivered in March 2010.

We're coming up with some fun new ideas and seeing lots of great new products.
We walked through the entire show today - we just barely finished the last aisle at closing time. Tomorrow we'll walk the entire show again and make some decisions. We'll also make sure we have some time to walk through the fantastic quilt exhibits. We'll wrap things up on Monday morning with an appointment in the Hoffman Fabrics booth - always a highlight of the trip to market.

Nancy

Too fun!

The latest fabric line from American Jane has just arrived - "Happy Campers". This fun fabric line from Moda includes bright primary colors and some great vintage pieces.

Vine Creek

Loads of new fabric for fall is arriving at the shop. Fans of designs by Kansas Troubles will love their new line - Vine Creek. It's a great selection of green, red, blue and brown in those great colors you expect.
We have the whole line in stock!
Nancy

Scrap Tamers Mystery Quilt

The mystery has been revealed! This is a photo of my Scrap Tamer mystery quilt from last session, Sept. 2008-August 2009. Many of the club members made it from their stashes. How fun to see so many fabric combinations as they've been choosing their border fabric. I'm guessing we will see several for show and tell when the new club starts. The first session of the next Scrap Tamers Club will meet on Sept 19 and run for 9 months. There is still room in the afternoon sessions if you missed the signup day. We will again make a mystery quilt as part of the club. Check out the class schedule if you'd like more information about Scrap Tamers.
Susan

Upcoming demos

We have 2 demo days coming up this week. The 2nd Wed Demo on September 9 will be on the technique in the book Layer 'em Up by Sharon Craig. A fun fast technique for making the X block. We will demo this technique from 1:00 - 5:00.





On Saturday, September 12th, we will demonstrate the Layer 'em Up technique again. In addition, we will also demonstrate the technique from the book Sew Simple Pineapple by Karin Hellaby. This is a technique to make the pineapple block using only easily cut squares of fabric. Those 2 demos will run continuously from 10:00 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 3:00. Come see us on Saturday to learn about these 2 fun techniques.

Hope to see you on Wednesday Sept 9 or Saturday the 12th.
Susan

Peppermint Purse

What a fun and wild week it has been! The Quilt Minnesota shop hop is in full swing and quilters are having a ball. It still goes until August 16th, so if you haven't started, there is still time. Visit the 12 shops in the metro section to be eligible for some great prizes. I did have time this week to make a new sample. This is the Peppermint Purse from the book Big Bags Little Bags by Atkinson Designs. I used the Quick YoYo Maker by Clover. I thought it turned out really cute.
Susan

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Club

We just had our first meetings of the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Club. We had a group on Monday night and another on Tuesday night. Everyone will be making the quilt from the book Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini. The quilt is made of 140 ~ 6" blocks. The photo shows a sampling of the blocks we talked about in our first session. We will meet for the 2nd session in July and then after that one time a quarter. Our plan is to put on a quilt show of these quilts in January 2012. If you had not heard about the club or missed signing up, we will repeat the 1st 2 sessions again in the Fall, followed by the 3rd session. Watch for information in the Fall newsletter. Sign up for the 1st 2 sessions and you will be ready to continue on with the group. Come in to the shop to see some samples up close! We have about 70 quilters working on their quilts now! Nancy and I are thrilled that so many of our quilting friends are joining us in this adventure.
Happy quilting! Susan

New Placemats

Here's one of the new books that we picked up at Quilt Market - Six Halves Make a Whole Lot More from The Quilt Branch. Their placemat pattern uses 6 half-yard pieces to mix together into 6 placemats. Also included in the book are several quilt patterns that are also made with a selection of 1/2 yard pieces. What fun! They went together really fast and looked great on my round dining room table. They were only their briefly - now they're on display at the shop. We'll be making up some kits and will have them on display in our booth at the Minnesota Quilters show June 11-13.
Nancy

Quilt Market

Nancy and I went to Quilt Market in Pittsburgh last week. This is
a photo of about a quarter of the market vender area while they were still setting up their booths. We came back with lots of new ideas, some new patterns, books and notions. Some of the new items are already in the shop. Others should be coming in soon. Just yesterday we received the new Dream Green batting from Quilters Dream Company. It is made from recycled bottles and feels really nice. Fun to try new things! Be sure to come in to see what's new.
Susan

Shop 'til You Drop

Today is the first day of our 12th Annual Quilt Shop 'til You Drop - Twin Cities Quilt Shop Tour. Hoppers are having a great time going from shop to shop and collecting steps for the "Great Expectations" quilt designed by Celine Perkins of Perkins Dry Goods.

There are 7 shops included in the hop - all around the Twin Cities area. If you visit all 7 shops, you'll be entered into a drawing for some fantastic prizes. We've had a few folks who completed the tour and turned in their passport this afternoon!

If you're thinking of making the rounds, there are still 2 days to go. You can find the list of participating shops on the Glad Creations web site. You can pick up a map to help you get around at your first shop. All of the shops will be open Friday May 1 from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM and Saturday May 2 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Hope we'll see you!
Nancy

Mystery Weekend #43

Susan and I had a great time teaching 4 sessions of Mystery Weekend #43 during the month of March. We can finally reveal the quilts! Susan made her quilt using an assortment of "skin" prints and jungle themed coordinates. I used a selection of batiks. We'll be getting a pattern ready - hopefully around June 1. We'll also have kits available in both of our fabric selections when the pattern is ready. The name of the quilt is Log Cabin Shuffle.

Participants in all 4 of the Mystery Weekend sessions brought fantastic show-and-tell to share. It's so fun to see how creative and productive everyone is! We snapped some photos of the quilts to share. Enjoy the slide show below.

Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Chubby Charmer

I just finished making the Chubby Charmer bag from Quilts Illustrated. Made it with 12 prints from the Black, White and Red All Over collection from Windham fabrics. Its a great bag--really big. Great for toting all kinds of things with you. It has a nice square bottom so will hold a 9" x 13" casserole or a pan of brownies! Would even hold both! Now if I only had time to cook. Come into the shop to see the sample.
Susan

Reversible Table Runner

I just finished the sample of the Reversible Table Runner by the Quilt Company. Its on display at the shop and is really fun. One side has coffee prints and the other side has Valentine prints. I will be demonstrating this at our 2nd Wednesday demo in April. Date is April 8th. Hours are 1:00-5:00. Hope you can come. How lucky was I to have some of Emily's fun pottery that matched!
Susan

Bali Bowls

Susan's been busy getting ready for next month's Bali Bowls demo. She brought in a great new sample to show us. It's the Bali Bag from from "Aunties Two". This is a fantastic large tote that would have many great uses.

I was so inspired by Susan's tote that I wanted to make one for myself. I decided since this was my first attempt at making a coiled bowl, I'd start with a smaller project. I selected one of the other patterns from Aunties Two called the Bali Bowl. This pattern includes information to make bowls in three different sizes. I selected the middle size - they call it the Catnap Bowl. I made it over the weekend and had a great time working on it. Their pattern says that if you put it out, your cat will find it. So, I finished it Sunday night and guess what I found Monday morning........... Milo has really settled in. Now I need to make another one for Tigger!

Don't miss this great demo on Wednesday March 11, 1:00 - 5:00.
Nancy

Comfortable Companions

We've had a great quilt show hanging at the shop since the first of the year - our annual Staff Quilt Show. Current and former staff members have been working for 2 years to get ready for this show. We formed partnerships and/or groups and selected quilts to make with a common theme. Some groups used the same pattern. Some used the same concept or block. Some used the same fabric selection. Needless to say, we had more ideas than we were actually able to accomplish!
We had planned to take the show down on January 10 but have decided to leave it up for another week. If you want to see it, you still have a chance. We'll be taking it down mid-afternoon on Saturday, January 17. If you aren't able to come in to see the quilts, enjoy the slide show below.
Nancy

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Impressionist Stained Glass

Just finished a sample from the book The New Classics, Impressionist Stained Glass by Brenda Henning. We'll be offering a class in March. It was fun and easy to make. Took just a couple afternoons of sewing. We are in the process of making kits for all 4 of the wallhangings in the book.
Susan