LOTS coming in September!!

Hey Everyone, Happy back to school. What the heck happened to summer? Since we had two weeks of hot weather, I am now ready for cooler weather.

The Garage Sale last week was a huge success - some great prices and some nice "stuff" finding new homes. The vendors/our customers have requested that we do this again! How about during Arts in the Alley? Watch for more information!!!

Books, books, and more books! Who can have enough? See what's coming in September . . . .

Quilter's Academy Vol. 1—Freshman Year
A Skill-Building Course in Quiltmaking
by Harriet Hargrave, Carrie Hargrave

Learn to Quilt with Confidence

• Everything you need to get started making beautiful quilts• Includes 9 skill-building classes

• Complete instructions for making 13 classic quilts

• Learn how to design your own quilts

This must-have course guides you step by step through the basics of quiltmaking, from setting up your sewing space to binding and finishing your first quilt. Classroom-tested lessons draw on best-selling author Harriet Hargrave's many years of teaching experience.

Super Simple Quilts #4 with Alex Anderson & Liz Aneloski
9 Appliqué Projects to Sew With or Without a Machine

Irresistibly Easy Appliqué - No Piecing Required

• 3 bold appliqué quilt designs in fresh new fabrics

• 3 sizes: crib/wallhanging, twin, and queen

• 3 easy appliqué techniques-appliqué and quilt in one quick step, even without a machine

• Great for quick gifts or donation quilts

• Just one supply list makes all 9 quilt options in the book!

Whether you're a new quilter about to make your first quilt, or an expert looking for a quick charity quilt design, you'll love these super-easy appliqué quilts.

Next Steps in Altered Photo Artistry
New Ways to Transform Images for Fabric & Quilt Art
by Beth Wheeler

More Quilt-Art Adventures with Photos and Fabric

• Explore the amazing visual effects you can create with your own photos and Photoshop Elements software

• Build on the techniques for printing on fabric covered in Altered Photo Artistry

• Bonus CD with 17 free photographs, 12 custom graphics add-ons, and free trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6

You've learned to print photos on fabric - now you're ready to explore the full artistic potential of altering images to create quilt art. Learn to transform ordinary photos in a dozen exciting ways with photo editing software. Bonus CD with Beth's original photos and graphics add-ons helps you alter photographs as never before!

Paradise Stitched—Sashiko & Appliqué Quilts
by Sylvia Pippen

Tropical Splendor in Sashiko and Appliqué

• Hand-stitch 6 vivid quilts inspired by tropical flora and fauna

• Learn the secrets of successful Sashiko and appliqué

• Options for both turn-under and fusible appliqué

• Create designs from your own photos

• Embellish your quilts with hand embroidery

These glowing quilts bring together two of quilting's best-loved traditions: Japanese Sashiko and colorful appliqué. A large quilt gallery will inspire you to design your own Sashiko/appliqué creations.

Flower Pots by Cindy Lammon

Perfect for block-of-the-month clubs—or for making as an individual project—this cheery quilt will brighten any room. With sunshiny colors and stylized flower motifs, the project includes both patchwork and applique blocks. The design places seven blocks in a puzzle-type setting for a fresh appeal. Step-by-step instructions and beautiful photos—including close-ups of each block—make the creative process as breeze.

More Twice-Quilted Designs For Continuous-Line Quilting by Glorianne Cubbage

From the creator of the wildly popular Twice Quilted, here's a new collection of continuous-line designs. Simply stitch the first design in one color to quilt the layers together, and then add the secondary design in a different color for a spectacular finish.

Choose from 20 interlacing designs, including beautifully layered flowers with tendrils and leaves. The enclosed 16-page booklet includes complete instructions for tracing, transferring, and sewing. Soon you’ll be mixing and matching various components to create your own designs!

Crazy for Scraps 19 Favorite Quilts from Sally Schneider

• Bursting with beauty, this book is packed with the best designs from three of Sally Schneider’s top-selling books—plus two brand-new projects! These inspiring quilts make it easy to see why this teacher and quilt designer is so popular.
  * Offers a vast array of gorgeous projects—19 in all—providing exceptional value
  * Includes several quilts updated with current fabrics for a whole new look
  * Allows quilters to learn from a master and indulge their passion for scrap quilts

Have a great week!

Back from a little break!

Hey,

I am back! I feel somewhat rested. Why do vacations/breaks go so fast? Anyway, while I was away I worked on three small prejects. First, I made the This and That Little Cutie Bag out of scarlet and grey charm squares. I also made the Nifty Notes out of the same scarlet and grey charm pack.

We are going to kit these for the Circleville show coming up the first of September. I also appliqued a pillow with pretty flowers on it from the French Farmhouse book from Need'l Love. Stop in the store and see it!

We are planning on having our first ever Tent sale this upcoming weekend! Come and sell your old stash or buy some stuff from our sellers! Call right away to get a table - spots are going fast!

Stop in and say Hi!

How to figure binding . . . Shhh! Mary's not looking!!!. . . .

. . . so KyleAnn is going to play! I've been going nuts trying to find out how to figure the amount needed for binding. Of course, I can always call my favorite quilt shop (AIS, in case you didn't know), but I always have these questions when they are closed. (Remember, I'm a beginning quilter.) SO, I got out my trusty "learn to quilt" books, but no one gave a formula. Next, I got on the internet and "googled." I don't know what I did wrong, but I didn't get a lot of help. One sight started out great - figure the total of all 4 sides. Ok, I can do that! Add 10 inches (some sights said as much as 20") for joining. Ok, I can do that, too. Then it told me to find the square root of the total. WHAT???? First of all, I don't DO square roots. So I got out my calculator and found the square root of my total. All it told me was what size SQUARE I'd need for the binding and that a fat quarter was not big enough. Well, that's all well and good if I were cutting my binding on the bias - but I don't (yet).

Finally, I found a site that made sense, and turned out that Janet (at AIS) uses a similar formula, so I know it must be right!

Measure the sides of the finished quilt to determine how many inches of binding required (you can measure from top to bottom and multiply that by 2, then measure from side to side and multiply that by 2. Add the two totals together. Assuming your binding fabric width is approximately 40”, divide the total inches by 40 to determine the number of fabric strips required. You can then take the number of strips and multiply it by the width of the binding (i.e. 2 1/2”) to determine how much fabric you’ll need to complete your binding.

Sample: 40" x 50" quilt . . . 40X2 = 80; 50X2 - 100 for a total of 180” perimeter; divided by 40” equals 4.5 strips (round up to 5 strips).

Multiply 5 strips by the width of the strip (2 1/2”) equals 12.5” of required fabric, which is just over 1/3 yard. so you will need 3/8 yard for your binding!

And since she's still not looking, here's another coupon!!

JUST ARRIVED!! (and don't forget the Garage Sale!!)

Hey everyone,

We had a great time shop hopping, and we hope you did too! Thanks for the great supprt.

Got stuff? Need room for more / different stuff? On Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15, you can rent half an 8-foot table for $5/day. We will provide the tent, the tables, and the chairs, you bring fabric and notions from your stash, or handcrafted items, or unfinished items, or yarn, or beads, or fruit, veggies, flowers, baked goods - anything you think someone else might want to buy. You price your items and put your name and space number on them. everyone checks out at one main check out station. For all your sales, you get an Always in Stitches gift card that can be redeemed immediately.

Remember, the cost to you is $5.00 non-refundable table rental fee for have of an 8' table, or $10 for whole table per day. Space can be shared with friends/family.

RESERATIONS ARE REQUIRED! We only have 40 spots available (Twenty half-table spaces available each day). call the shop (614-539-7845) or stop in to hold your space. Payment must be paid in full to reserve your space.

So clean out your sewing room, reduce stash, get some great deals on someone else's "trash" - remember their trash may be your treasure!!

Little Lone Star Quilts
Sew Perfect Points Every Time • Exciting New Paper-Piecing Technique • 7 Projects, by Lorraine Olsen

Lone Stars Made Easy - in Miniature!

• Make perfect miniature Lone Stars every time with this revolutionary new fold-and-sew paper piecing method

• No need for fussy measuring, cutting, or sewing on bias edges

• Learn on 7 vibrant quilts with full-size patterns

• Raid your scrap collection and choose just the right fabrics for miniatures

• Spangle your borders with diamonds and stars

If you've ever struggled to make a Lone Star quilt the old way, you're in for a pleasant surprise! These scrappy little Lone Stars come out with perfect points every time, and they're easier to make than traditional Lone Stars. Everything you need to succeed is covered here, from tools and supplies to binding and finishing your quilts.


Start Quilting with Alex Anderson, 3rd Edition

Alex is Back! - She is a quilt book machine!

Everything First-Time Quilters Need to Succeed • 8 Quick Projects—Most in 4 Sizes, by Alex Anderson

Make Your First Quilt a Success!

• Alex guides you every step of the way as you learn to plan, cut, piece, quilt, and bind your quilt

• Get started with 8 easy, beautiful projects

• Expanded edition includes new projects, more quilt sizes, and lots of helpful new tips and shortcuts

So you want to make a quilt, but can't tell a rotary cutter from a seam ripper? Alex Anderson has helped a quarter million quilters learn to quilt. She'll get you quilting in no time-and loving it!

Intuitive Color & Design
Adventures in Art Quilting, by Jean Wells

Think Outside the Block and Look What Happens!

• 11 creative exercises take your use of color, design, and piecing in dramatic new directions, including unique, 3-D "off the wall" quilts

• Use photographs and journals to find inspiration and develop your ideas

• Learn innovative finishing methods that show your quilts at their best

• Classroom-proven techniques make the adventure easy for any quilter

Jean Wells gives you the assignment of your life: put away your ruler and use your inner vision to design and piece spectacular, free-form quilts you'd never have guessed you could create. You will never see quilting in the same way again.


Artistic Photo Quilts
Create Stunning Quilts with Your Camera, Computer & Cloth,

by Charlotte Ziebarth

Transform Your Digital Photos into Luminous Fabric Art

• Alter photos and use them to create beautiful, original works of fabric art - 11 exercises show you how

• Learn to alter images with Photoshop Elements®

• Use photos that really enhance your work (Hint: it's not always the best-looking shots!)

• Find inspiration in your own albums, from other artists, and in nature

• Make large-scale quilts with a standard-size inkjet printer

This accessible guide to creating fine fabric art with digital photos covers everything from the tools and equipment you'll need, to designing, finishing, and assembling your quilt.

Appliqué Outside the Lines with Piece O' Cake Designs
No Rules—No Ruler, by Becky Goldsmith, Linda Jenkins

Put Down the Ruler and Free Your Inner Appliqué Artist

• Create 8 expressive appliqué quilts with this foolproof, no-rules approach

• Make your quilts as precise or freewheeling as you want them to be

• Use fabric color and value to make your appliqué come aliveWho says beautiful appliqué has to be fussy?

Learn to create fresh and free quilts with your rotary cutter and new improvisational techniques from Piece O' Cake Designs.

Thanks again! Stop in and say Hi! have a great week, I am going on vacation! See you in two weeks!

Oh My Gosh - Look What's Coming!!!

Coming in August! (Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of this post - we have a LOT coming!!!!)

Fat-Quarter Quilting - 21 Terrific 16" x 20" Projects by Lori Smith

Here's a great way to spend your fat quarters! These charming quilts are perfect for giving as gifts, trading with friends, and decorating nooks in your home. Collect your favorite fat quarters and transform them into treasured quilts.
• 21 patterns include both piecing and applique techniques
• Fabrics range from reproduction prints to modern batiks
• Even the quilt backing takes just one fat quarter, with no piecing required

That Patchwork Place Quilt Calendar 2010

This color-splashed calendar features a dozen gorgeous quilts from your favorite designers! Enjoy year-round artistry from such well-known experts as Sandy Klop, Lynn Roddy Brown, Barbara Brandeburg, and Teri Christopherson. The 28-page pullout booklet includes step-by-step instructions for each dazzling quilt. So give yourself the gift of year-round fun as you explore scrappy quilts, appliqué, 1930s reproduction fabrics, seasonal motifs, and more.

Award-Winning Quilts 2010 Calendar, featuring Quilts from the International Quilt Association

Bask in the beauty of extraordinary quilts throughout the year! Made by members of the International Quilt Association, these quilts were winners in the 2008 “Quilts: A World of Beauty” judged show. The international talent represented in these stunning photos is astonishing. Perfect for gift giving—with 13 distinctive quilt photographs—this is no ordinary calendar. It’s a celebration of creativity!

Candy Cane Lane - Quilts and More to Sweeten the Holidays by Melinda Bula

If all you want for Christmas is a whimsical, colorful, and perfectly charming quilt, just peek inside this book! You'll discover five projects sure to make the season merry and bright.
• Enjoy all the fun motifs of the season—holly leaves and berries, snowmen, candy canes, and more.
• Create a lap-sized quilt as well as a Christmas stocking, pillow, table runner, and small wall quilt
• Find detailed step-by-step instructions and full-sized pullout

Quilts from Paradise, by Cynthia Tomaszewski

Welcome to paradise! Best-selling author and international teacher Cynthia Tomaszewski invites quilters to imagine a haven of happiness and beauty. Her palette of bold, tropical colors conjures images of an island filled with sunlight, colorful birds, and the glorious scent of jasmine. Cynthia shows her versatility as a designer with 14 pieced and appliquéd projects that are strikingly pretty and a fresh departure from her earlier work. More than inspiring, these quilts are enchanting!

Patchwork Party
10 Festive New Quilts & the Recipes That Inspired Them by Sandy Bonsib

Mouth-Watering New Quilts and Desserts• 10 pieced quilts with rich colors inspired by delicious desserts• 10 finger-licking recipes to enjoy while you quilt• Learn to create rich color combinations using the color wheel • Create a complex look with easy, basic blocksThe secret of this tempting collection of pieced quilts is combining easy blocks - rectangles, half-square and quarter-square triangles, and four-patch blocks-in original ways. To achieve total perfection, just add dessert!

Alex Anderson’s 4-in-1 Essential Sewing Tool
Includes Seam Ripper, Stiletto, Presser, Turner

Four Must-Have Quilting and Crafting Tools in One• Flat-ended presser cap for finger pressing, folding, burnishing • Super-sharp BERNINA seam ripper for fast "unsewing"• Pointed wood end cap for turning bias tubes and doll parts• Extra-long stiletto protects fingers while pressing and machine piecing• Won't roll off your work surface! Hand-crafted in the U.S.A. of real maple wood.

Alex Anderson’s Hand & Machine Appliqué
• 6 Techniques • 7 Quilt Projects • Full-Size Patterns

Fall in Love with Appliqué! • Learn to add beautiful appliqué to any quilt by hand or machine • 7 charming quilts get you started• 3 hand appliqué techniques: needle-turn, raw-edged, and reverse appliqué • 3 machine appliqué techniques: invisible, raw-edged, and free-motion appliqué

From beloved teacher and TV/Internet host Alex AndersonBeloved quilting teacher and TV personality Alex Anderson shows you how easy it is to enhance any quilt with appliquéd flowers, leaves, hearts, and other shapes.

Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Appliqué
• 2000 Traditional and Modern Designs • Updated History of Appliqué • New! 5 Quilt Projects

Indispensable Reference Guide for Quilt Collectors and Appliqué Lovers Put 2000 Appliqué Designs at Your Fingertips

• Newly revised classic includes 2000 appliqué patterns from the 19th and 20th centuries

• New in this edition: 5 appliqué quilt project and updated history of appliqué

• Find the perfect block either by subject (wreaths, leaves, etc.), by type of design, or by time period

• Find the name and original publication for antique applique quilts

This classic compendium of appliqué blocks from quilt historian and best-selling author Barbara Brackman is back in print, and it's packed with essential information no appliqué lover should be without.

and don't miss our new shipment - just arrived - of Alex Anderson's Masterpiece thread!

What's New?

Hey Everyone, happy belated 4th of July! I had a great weekend and even did a small amount of sewing. (Even finished a barstool seat for a challange for the Susan G Komen foundation)

The August/September 2009 issue of McCall’s Quick Quilts just arrived. It includes 15 patterns for fast, easy projects. Special how-to photographs show machine button stitching and rotary-cutting of triangle shapes, and features include a match game play quilt for kids, fresh table ensemble, and cute picnic quilt. BONUS: Quilter’s Guide to Fabric and Supply Shopping, complete with fun QuickQuiz! I love magazines

brrrrrrrrrr! Is it getting cold in July? NO! But come check out our new shipment of ICE from Timeless Treasures! They look great on the blog - they look fabulous in person!!! Here are two of the four bolts we have from this line.

Look DELECTABLE during the hot summer weather in this COOL apron from Farmer John's. We have kits are available !

And here is our coupon for blog readers only!!!

LOTS OF BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED!!!!

Is your calendar marked for the upcoming Quilt Spree (shop hop) in July? Make sure you have marked July 23 through August 1. BUT DON'T MISS THE PREVIEW PARTY on July 22 here at the shop! Buy your passport here in June (only one week left!!) and win a chance on a great "Super Satchel Art Bin" tote with lots of fat quarters in it!

Hey! Did you know that The Guild in the Granary is in Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home? Check out the June/July 2009 issue.

Remember all those books we posted on May 11? WELL! They are HERE!

So now . . . . more will be coming soon!

Too Cute! No-Sew Children's Games, Toys, Gifts, and Decorations

• 100+ fun, no-sew toys, games, and other small treasures

• Have fun creating them with children and for children

• Includes dozens of projects with coordinating patterns, plus photo gallery with lots more ideas

• Use your favorite novelty fabrics

Need a quick party favor? A rainy-day game? A gift for a baby or child? You'll find all those and much more in this charming book of no-sew children's projects - bookmarks, coasters, mobiles, games and toys, party goods, room décor, and holiday goodies.

Transform Your Digital Photos into Luminous Fabric Art

• Alter photos and use them to create beautiful, original works of fabric art - 11 exercises show you how

• Learn to alter images with Photoshop Elements®

• Use photos that really enhance your work (Hint: it's not always the best-looking shots!)

• Find inspiration in your own albums, from other artists, and in nature

• Make large-scale quilts with a standard-size inkjet printer

This accessible guide to creating fine fabric art with digital photos covers everything from the tools and equipment you'll need, to designing, finishing, and assembling your quilt.

Lone Stars Made Easy - in Miniature!

• Make perfect miniature Lone Stars every time with this revolutionary new fold-and-sew paper piecing method

• No need for fussy measuring, cutting, or sewing on bias edges

• Learn on 7 vibrant quilts with full-size patterns

• Raid your scrap collection and choose just the right fabrics for miniatures

• Spangle your borders with diamonds and stars

If you've ever struggled to make a Lone Star quilt the old way, you're in for a pleasant surprise! These scrappy little Lone Stars come out with perfect points every time, and they're easier to make than traditional Lone Stars. Everything you need to succeed is covered here, from tools and supplies to binding and finishing your quilts.