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