June 22, 2011

Quilt Comfort

We have a fantastic group of quilters that meet at the shop each month making quilts, primarily for children. The quilts are all donated to organizations that can use them. It's amazing how many quilts they produce! Not only do they get a lot done but they have loads of fun doing it.

Wanda, a group member was recently contacted by a physician friend, who is also a quilter, about the possibility of the group donating quilts to kids displaced by the tornado that devastated parts of north Minneapolis on May 22. The group participants were notified, and all who responded agreed it was a perfect opportunity to help in a timely way.

Wanda made contacts through the emergency resource numbers and learned that the Red Cross would be an appropriate recipient for distributing the quilts where they were most needed. On May 22 she delivered 30 kid-themed quilts to the Red Cross. They were happy to get a variety of sizes and put them right in the next truck headed to the north location.

These busy quilters have done much more than this! So far this year they have delivered quilts to the following organizations:
Children's Hospital - 66 quilts plus 105 small quilts for a special event
St. Joseph's Home - 5 children's quilts & 5 wall quilts
Veteran's Home - 6 quilts
Red Cross - 30 quilts

What a generous group of quilters. They share so much of their time to make all of this happen.

June 16, 2011

Minnesota Quilters Show




We're ready! Our setup time was Wednesday at 8:00 AM. Does it look like we'll ever be ready? By 3:00 we were pretty much set up with just a few final touches to go. Time to even look at the wonderful quilt exhibit. Today the show hours at 9:00 - 5:00. Three fun filled days of seeing friends, meeting new friends and enjoying the company of lots of quilters.

June 5, 2011

Glad Creations Totes


The new Glad Creations sunny yellow Tote bags are in! Get yours with a $25.00 purchase in the shop or in our booth at the Minnesota Quilter's Show next week.
We're looking forward to the show at the St. Paul RiverCentre June 16 - 18. You'll find us in booth 310-312. We're packing up loads of fun things to display in our booth. Did you see the photo of Glad with her most recent quilt that we posted a couple weeks ago? It's all quilted and bound so we'll be featuring it in our booth at the show.

June 4, 2011

Lazy Angle Ruler


I got to play with another new ruler this weekend. I made a demo board for the Creative Grids Lazy Angle ruler. It is designed by Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs. Cut 2 simple shapes in any of 6 different sizes and you can make hundreds of block variations. Joan Hawley also has written a book called Lazy and Lovin' It as a companion to the ruler. The book includes step by step instructions to make 250 different Lazy Angle blocks! It also includes companion blocks that will work well with the Lazy Angle blocks. We carry a couple simple patterns designed by her called Littles. They are both "Charm Square" friendly.
I cut a few extra pieces to go along with the demo board so you can try out your own variations and see how this works. We'll show you how to use this ruler at our "New From Market Demo" on Wednesday, June 8. The demo will run from 1:00 - 4:00. Come to the demo or if you can't make it, come in to see the demo board. It looks like a fun new tool.