Goodby February ... sorry to see you go... NOT!

Hey everyone!
The retreat is right around the corner and we have only a very few spots left. If you haven't made your reservation yet, contact us right away! Drury Inn here in Grove City is a beautiful facility and we can start sewing at 9:00 AM on Friday, March 12. Imagine, 2-1/2 days (and two nights) of dedicated sewing, great fellowship and cool door prizes. You really don't want to miss this!!

And here are some of the books that should be arriving soon . . .

My Whimsical Quilt Garden
20 Bird & Flower Blocks to Appliqué from Piece O' Cake Designs
by Becky Goldsmith, Linda Jenkins
• Use just one block or all twenty to make pretty garden quilts
• Have fun with these light-hearted designs
• Includes ideas for using these blocks in other ways, such as a smaller twelve-block quilt, a purse, or a table topper
• Patterns are great for solids and small prints in any color way
• Blocks also look beautiful in bigger sizes and are easy to enlarge

Instruction booklet & full-size patterns. Bring cheery flowers and cute, chirping birds indoors with Piece O' Cake's newest appliqué blocks. Mix and match up to twenty blocks to create unlimited quilt variations.

Quilted Symphony—A Fusion of Fabric, Texture & Design

by Gloria Loughman

Liberate Your Creative Side With Abstract Art

• Construct quilts in segments that are easy to work with

• Embellish with appliqué, paint, beads, and more
• 4 projects with full-size pullout patterns
• Create your own designs from doodles, photographs, and shapes
• Learn how to use color effectively
• Perfect your satin stitch, free-motion stitch, and triple stitch

The bestselling author of Luminous Landscapes guides you through an amazing journey into the world of designing abstract art quilts. Take your imagination to new heights as you learn how to create an abstract design and then break it down into easy segments to sew and embellish.

One-Block Wonders Cubed!

Dramatic Designs, New Techniques, 10 Quilt Projects

by Maxine Rosenthal, Joy Pelzmann

Add New Dimension to Your Favorite Hexagon Quilts

• Your favorite One-Block Wonders authors are back with new graphic techniques using triangles, cubes, and appliqué

• Learn how to create optical illusions with your fabrics

• Bonus projects include totes, coasters and placemats for using up left-over hexagons

• Create interesting shadow effects with clever fabric placement

• Try new kinds of borders with uneven edges, creative shapes, and hexagon strips

From the best-selling authors of the One-Block Wonders books. New techniques and design strategies using simple geometric shapes give you dramatic quilt imagery that seems to defy logic! Take the ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary with this book.

The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking

15 Projects Inspired by Everyday Beauty
by Jane Brocket

• 15 projects inspired by the beauty of simple elements of European style
• From the author of the best-seller, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, with an introduction by Kaffe Fassett
• Stunning, scenic photography throughout the book
• Instructions are written with a warm and inviting tone
• Design tips will help you build confidence and learn how to discover extraordinary ideas in ordinary things

Jane Brockett has the knack for turning the simple into the sublime. She shares her personal experience with you every step of the way-from her dreams about days gone by, through the search for the perfect fabrics, to how she designs a quilt to convey a mood or sentiment. The photos of her quilts in delightful natural settings make you want to step right into the picture. Jane's instructions are descriptive and straightforward; quilters and non-quilters alike will be enticed and enchanted by every project.

I am taking some time off this weekend and sewing with my friends. Yahoo! Everyone have a safe weekend!


Mary

It's COLD out there!

Hey everyone!

Seems like everyone is sewing and quilting in this cold, cold weather. But what better way to keep warm? The "After-the-Super-Bowl-Sale" is going well. Thank You to everyone who bravedthe cold to come and shop and visit with us. If you haven't taken advantage of our "competitors' coupon" sale, you want to make it in by Saturday!

The new books from Kansas City Star are here and they are awesome! They are my favorite publishers. I feel like their books are meaty, full of information and beautiful pictures. I just love them! Here is a preview of what we got in!

Feedsack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times
by Gloria Nixon

The poverty of the Depression and fabric shortages during World War II made feedsacks highly important to the quilter during the 1930s and 1940s.

In Feedsack Secrets, quilt historian Gloria Nixon shares her research through tens of thousands of pages of old farm periodicals, magazines and newspapers as she explains the story of the patterned feedsack.

There are fascinating tidbits along the way: Women met for sack-and-snack-club fabric swaps. There were restrictions on jacket lengths, hem depths and the sweep of a skirt. Feedsack prints and bags played a part in political contests, even accurately predicting that Truman would win the 1948 presidential election. One feed-company promotion was a contest for the best-dressed chicken.

Nixon's Feedsack Secrets is a colorful, fun and fascinating ride through a great period of American fabric history.

A Bird in Hand: Folk Art Projects Inspired by Our Feathered Friends
by Renee Plains

Feathered friends take fanciful flight in this diverse collection of 21 projects inspired by the timeless charm of folk art. Whether you love hand appliqué, rug hooking, piecework, or cross stitch, Liberty Star designer Renée Plains offers something for every quilter in this book. Included are 6 avian-embellished appliqué quilts and 3 pieced quilts with bird-themed blocks.

For those who enjoy making smaller scale projects such as pincushions, the book also features 8 vintage-style sewing accessories ranging from pinkeeps to sewing pockets—perfect for your sewing room or gifts for fellow sewers. And Renée has also designed four additional whimsical accents—a pillow and hooked rug for the home as well as a casual tote and notebook cover to take along when you’re on the go.

She also shares her favorite appliqué techniques and clever tips for making some of the projects go smoothly.

Greetings from Tucsadelphia: Travel-Inspired Projects from Lizzie B Cre8ive
by Liz & Beth Hawkins

Greetings from TUCSADELPHIA! A place where inspiration flows freely and music floats on the breeze. The air is filled with the scent of freshly baked goodies and laughter rings throughout the land. That’s how Lizzie B sees it! In essence, Tucsadelphia IS wherever Liz and Beth ARE.

Let Lizzie B Cre8ive take you on a tour through some of their favorite places. “Greetings from TUCSADELPHIA” is a collection of some of Liz and Beth’s favorite travel-inspired projects. Like all quilters who travel, Liz and Beth collect FABRIC! They gather fabric from the places they visit and take those bits and weave them into a quilt; like Beth’s “Happy Hawaii” quilt. They make us smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside as memories of our travels flood back to us. Join them on a sun-drenched beach in “Happy Hawaii” or the bustling streets of “New York’s Got Soul”. Stitch up the quick and “Easy-Breezy Backsack”, then take a jaunt through Pennsylvania Amish country. Or pick your own favorite places for the “Wish You Were Here” quilt and adorn it with postcards and memories.

Don’t forget to bake some “Be Cre8ive Cookies” for your travels, and escape with the Lizzie B playlist. Whether you find time to stitch a little, “Kick Back and Relax” or do some “Peaceful Dreamin’” on your own travel pillow, remember that “All Roads Lead to Home”. And when it comes to the Lizzie B Girls…all roads lead to Tucsadelphia! We hope you enjoy the journey. Dream big, go far, and always Be Cre8ive!

Oh, and if you're wondering where the heck Tucsadelphia is, it's the official city of Lizzie B Cre8ive! Beth lives in Tucson and Liz lives in Philadelphia, hence Tucsadelphia!

Adventures with Leaders and Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time!
by Bonnie Hunter

What if you could piece quilts even faster, work on more than one quilt simultaneously and save money, fabric and thread all at the same time? Bonnie K. Hunter will show you how to put the concept of Leaders & Enders to work quickly and easily, expanding your creativity, and upping your productivity all at the same time.

If you have ever found yourself paralyzed by your stash, overwhelmed by scraps you just can't bear to toss out, arm yourself with a new rotary blade for your cutter, make yourself a cup of tea and start reading. This book is not only full of beautiful scrap quilts that can be made in between the lines of other sewing, but also contains many ideas for getting your ever burgeoning scrap stash under control, into useable sized pieces that work well with one another, and ready to be sewn into quilts you've always wanted to make.

Change in class date!

Due to inclement weather, KyleAnn's Learn-How-to-Knit class was changed to Tuesday, February 16, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. The date of the second session is to-be-determined. In this two-session class, you will make a scarf and learn how to cast-on (get the stitches on the needle), knit, purl, and bind off (get the scarf off the needles). You need two (2) balls of a bulky yarn, like Lion Brand's Jiffy Thick and Quick (available from places like JoAnn's and sometimes Michaels). Needles are available from the instructor for $8. Registration required. Class fee is $15.

New in March will be a four-week Sock Class, beginning Tuesday, March 9, 6:00 - 8:00. Class members must know how to knit and purl. Socks will be made on two circular needles rather than using double-pointed needles (unless you like working with a porcupine!!!!) Materials needed are 2 (50g) balls of a sport-weight yarn (do NOT buy sock yarn unless you like working with TINY needles and yarn!) and 2 circular needles, size 3 US. The needles can be the same length (24" or so) or each can be a different length (but no shorter than 20") or you can purchase needles from the instructor for a total of $12. You will learn how to cast on with circular needles and basic sock instruction, including heel turning, gussets, and finishing the toe. Class fee is $20.

Stop in and say hi!

Happy Winter Olympics!

Super Bowl Sale

Hey Everyone!

Happy February to you!

We have been busy, busy, busy ... getting ready for the Super Bowl Sale and getting ready for Spring.

Yesterday we had the James Stitching Sisters girls in the classroom for the day. Stitching up beautiful quilts for the cancer patients at the James Cancer Hospital. Well, the wonderful staff from the Stitching Sisters Center planned a little surprise 70th birthday party for Betty Panthana and included us in on those plans. We all brought food and gifts and it was really nice to celebrate with Betty. I just love those girls!

Yesterday we got in several very cool batiks in and a cute spring line from Timeless Treasures.
We have some awesome fabrics ordered to arrive in the next couple fof weeks.

SUPER BOWL SALE
This is one of our biggest sales of the year!
Everything in the store is 25% off!

Friday, February 5 (10:00 - 5:00)

Saturday, February 6 (10:00 - 4:00)
Sunday, February 7 (12:00 - 4:00)

(Sorry, clearance and already reduced fabric not subject to additional savings, but these items will be drastically reduced)

Just in!
Applique in Reverse

by Teri Henderson Tope.

With Teri's Applique in Reverse, intricate hand-applique designs are made fast and easy. The secret is to use large pieces of background fabric underneath the applique designs for easier handing. Tiny seam allowances are a thing of the past!

Copies are going fast, so be sure to come in soon to get yours!

KyleAnn's Learn-How-to-Knit class was changed from Tuesday, Feb. 2 to Tuesday, February 9, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. The date of the second session is to-be-determined. In this two-session class, you will make a scarf and learn how to cast-on (get the stitches on the needle), knit, purl, and bind off (get the scarf off the needles). You need two (2) balls of a bulky yarn, like Lion Brand's Jiffy Thick and Quick (available from places like JoAnn's and sometimes Michaels). Needles are available from the instructor for $8. Registration required. Class fee is $15.

New in March will be a four-week Sock Class, beginning Tuesday, March 9, 6:00 - 8:00. Class members must know how to knit and purl. Socks will be made on two circular needles rather than using double-pointed needles (unless you like working with a porcupine!!!!) Materials needed are 2 (50g) balls of a sport-weight yarn (do NOT buy sock yarn unless you like working with TINY needles and yarn!) and 2 circular needles, size 3 US. The needles can be the same length (24" or so) or each can be a different length (but no shorter than 20") or you can purchase needles from the instructor for a total of $12. You will learn how to cast on with circular needles and basic sock instruction, including heel turning, gussets, and finishing the toe. Class fee is $20.