Tessellating Windmill

Be sure you visit the classroom during the Twin Cities Shop Hop.  We'll be demonstrating the newest tool by Marti Michell, the Tessellating Windmill.  This quilt may look familiar, but is made with a different technique than you may have used before.  Use it to make blocks in 8 sizes, ranging from 2" up to 9".   With this technique, you'll end up with straight of grain on the outside of your blocks.  And the tool has specially engineered corners to help you line up your pieces. You use a "leap frog" technique to lay out your blocks and then chain piece blocks and rows.  We'll be demonstrating both Thursday and Friday from 10:00-12:00 and from 1:00 to 3:00.  
And be sure to check out our Daisy Basket quilt made with the basket blocks you'll be collecting.
The shop hop is May 3-5.  Thursday and Friday, we'll be open from 9am - 9pm.  Saturday hours are 9am - 5pm.
Hope to see you there.
 

The mystery is revealed

Members of our Scrap Tamers Club have been working on a mystery quilt since September, getting a clue each month.  It's finally revealed.  Those who bring it to the last session of Scrap Tamers in May will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate.  It will be great fun to see this quilt made up in many different fabric selections.  I have a feeling there will be lots of show and tell.

Men who quilt

We went to the Minnesota Quilters meeting on Saturday. The topic for both April meetings was "Men Who Quilt". One of the featured speakers was our very own Nathan Carter. He did a terrific job and showed at least 20 of his quilts accompanied by much applause. He has a great sense of color and showed some wonderful quilts, many of which were from Glad Creation patterns. I know everyone there enjoyed his presentation. We are very pleased that he is a member of our staff.

The other speaker was Doug Leko. He has been designing his own line of patterns for several years now, even though he is only 18 years old. He showed many of the quilts that he has designed, some from his newest book.

Thanks for a great presentation by both of these men. We and I'm sure the rest of the Minnesota Quilters enjoyed a fun and inspiring meeting.

2012 Twin Cities ShopHop

It's almost time for the 2012 Twin Cities Shop Hop. Dates are May 3-5. We're getting our kits packed, picking our $200 gift basket, finding some fun door prizes and getting new samples on display. It's always a fun shop hop with great prizes. Stop at each of the 9 shops and pick up a free pattern for a basket block. Each of the shops will have a quilt made using those basket blocks and will have their layout pattern and kits available for purchase. We picked a purple and green group of daisy fabrics called Simple Pleasures for our quilt. It has such a fresh spring time look. Get your card stamped at all 9 shops to be eligible for a drawing for some great prizes.
We'll also be doing some fun demos on both Thursday and Friday. We just got in the new Tessellating Windmill template by Marti Michell and have made a couple samples using it. It's really fun and pretty addicting! We will be demonstrating it from 10:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00 both Thursday and Friday.
Hope to see you during the shop hop!