The Story of Sylvia's at Glad Creations

In the spring of 2009, we received a new quilt pattern book at Glad Creations. The title of the book was Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. The author, Jennifer Chiaverini, is also the author of the "Elm Creek Quilts" series of fictional stories featuring a quilting guild in central Pennsylvania. In the sixth book of this fictional series, the members of the quilt guild make a wedding quilt using 6" x 6" quilt blocks for their founder, Sylvia. This led to the book we were looking at, Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, which features patterns for the 140 6" quilt blocks that the guild used in Sylvia's quilt.





Susan and Nancy, owners of Glad Creations Quilt Block in Minneapolis, looked at this book and thought it would be fun to make all these blocks. We talked about how long it would take to actually complete this project. We started wondering if anyone else would want to do it with us. As we talked to our quilting friends around the shop we found out that quite a few people were interested in this project.

So, we decided to start a club. We planned on 2 ½ years to complete the project. We sorted the blocks out by technique and planned club meetings, about 4 times each year, each of which focused on a particular technique. Imagine our surprise when almost 100 people signed up to participate in the club! Our group ranged from fairly new quilters to very experienced quilters and included quilters from all around the Twin Cities Metro area. We shared ideas on techniques and everyone learned and improved their skills.

So here's the result. We have about 40 completed quilts to display. They will be shown in two exhibits. The first will hang January 1 – 10, 2012. The second exhibit, with a completely different group of quilts will be shown January 11 – 21, 2012. Not everyone completed all of the blocks but put together the blocks they did complete into a variety of interesting sets.

What an exciting week it is as folks are dropping off their Sylvia's quilts at the shop, getting ready for the display. What an accomplishment! Congratulations to all who have worked on this project!

Watch our blog for a slide show of the first group of quilts on January 1, 2012. We'll post a slide show of the second group on January 12, 2012. www.gladcreationsquilts.blogspot.com.

A special card!

Need a special card for someone? Carol Doak's new book, 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks may be just the ticket. Have some fun making one of the 3" paper-pieced blocks in her book, then insert it into one of her Keepsake Frame Cards. The book contains basic steps for paper-piecing, including sizes of pieces to cut. The small block is set into the card opening with the included double stick tape. Pretty easy! And it really does make for a very special card.

What's on your wish list?

This is the time of year we often have non-quilters coming into the shop and hunting for the perfect gift for a quilter. We usually come up with some good ideas--hopefully something you don't already own, but wish that we knew what you were really wishing for.
Did you know we have a gift registry at Glad Creations? It's easy! Come in and list all your sewing, quilting, crafting items you'd like to receive. We'll keep that list at the shop and revise it as needed. You know that your family and friends would really be happy knowing exactly what you are wishing for. You can even give them a reminder card with our address, phone number and hours. To make it even easier for shoppers, we will gift wrap those presents for them. What could be easier?
We also have gift certificates which can be used for anything you wish. If you are like most of the quilters we know, a gift certificate can make for hours of fun!
So, come in and fill out your personalized wish list and may all your wishes come true.

Quick Gift Idea Demo

Here's a list of some of the things we'll be showing at the Quick Gift Demo on Saturday, November 26. The demo will run from 10:00 - 1:00. Hope to see you there.

Quick and Easy Gift Ideas from Glad Creations ~ November 2011

La Todera patterns

· The Kafflower—just some hand gathering, glue and accessories

· The Slipper Orchid Brooch—hand gathering, glue and accessories. Our sample is the full size. Smaller flowers could be made by reducing the size of the template on a copy machine.

· The Poinsettia Brooch—hand gathering, glue and accessories. Our sample used 3 layers of petals. A smaller flower could be made using 2 layers of petals.

· The Kanzashi Flower Fascinator—uses the Clover Large Pointed Petal Maker

Clover Kanzashi Flower Makers

3 styles—2 sizes of each---Hand gathering by following the numbers on the template. The large flowers are smaller than those made with the La Todera patterns.

Reader Wrap by Atkinson Designs—for the Nook or E-reader

Composition Covers by Indigo Junction

Take 4 Placemats by Something So Fine Quilt Design

Lollipop Bag by Atkinson Designs

Waffle Time by Atkinson Designs

Amazingly Simple Coasters & Hot Pads by Tiger Lily Press

Candice by Lazy Girl Designs

Kids Aprons by Cotton Ginny ~ Farm Friends, Fun Friends and Jungle Friends.

Kanzashi Flowers

I've been playing around with the Kanzashi Flowers and the Clover Flower makers today. What fun! And great quick gifts to make. We have 4 different flowers patterns by La Todera. The poinsettia, the orchid and the Kafflower in the picture are all made without any special tools. Stitches are done by hand and are easy handwork to do. Clover has come out with some plastic flower makers. The smaller flowers in the picture are made with the Pointed Petal flower maker. I'm planning on pinning one of them onto the Lollipop bag by Atkinson Designs. I think they will be great for decorating bags, hats etc. Think of all the possibilities!
The hardest part on all of the flower brooches was figuring out how to use my hot glue gun without burning my fingers. The flowers could also be made with any kind of quick setting glue.
We'll be showing how to make these at our Quick Gift Demo on Saturday, November 26. The demo will run from 10:00-1:00. Need a quick gift? Stop in and take a look.

Mystery Weekend 48

All four sessions of Mystery Weekend 48 are done. We can't show the Mystery Quilts yet because some folks are still working on the quilt via Mystery by Mail. But, we can share all the fun "show & tell" that we saw during the Mystery Weekend sessions. We saw lots of quilts from past Mystery Weekends and many other fun projects that participants have been working on recently.
We snapped some photos during "show & tell" so we could share all the fun in a slide show. We've labeled quilts that use Glad Creations patterns plus some that were made in other classes at Glad Creations. It's so fun to see our Glad Creations designs come back made up in so many different color combinations! You'll also see a preview of some of the quilts that are in the works for our Sylvia's Bridal Sampler show that we'll be hanging in January.

This free slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Market finds

Back from market and now I'm trying to sort out all of the new items and ideas in my brain. So much to see and to choose. So much stimulation. We'll be showing you some of our new finds as they come into the shop.

Some of the new patterns that I think you will love are the Kanzashi flower pins from La Todera. What fun gift ideas. We ordered 3 different flowers and are working up samples so you can see them. The patterns will be arriving any day. These are easy and fast to make. We'll be showing these at the Quick Gift Demo on Saturday, November 26 along with other quick gift ideas. The demo will run from 10:00 - 1:00. Hope you can make it.