November is here, clocks have been changed, cold weather coming.... time to sew

Hi,

Another busy week at the shop. Late nights out doing quilt shop related events.... I am ready for a quiet night at home!

Last night I attended the Kids 'N Kamp Celebrity Quilt Auction at the OSU Horseshoe. Kids 'N Kamp is a non profit organiatiaon that helps families that have a child that has cancer, or who has passed away from cancer. It is a really a great cause. It was so fun to see my friends, fellow quilters and customers with great quilts in the auction. Kathy Stumpf, from our Monday Morning Bookclub made a wallhanging that went for $500.00. I am so proud of her. Next year Always In Stitches will be a sponsor and we will have a quilt entered into the auction! If you like to sew and love good causes then this is a good one for you to check out.

On Wednesday night I drove Janet (Aunt GiGi), and Deb R. to a meeting at Appalacian Quilts in Fairborn (Enon). The store is about an hour away and it is very nice! If you are ever out that way stop in and visit with them. I think you will like the store! Anyway, we were invited to participate in a shop hop with them and other stores throughout Ohio! How cool is that! I will keep you posted with the details when they are developed.

Last weekend mom and I went to the Goodtime Quilters retreat. We vended, and sewed, and laughed, and laughed and laughed! I always say the girls in The Goodtime Quilters are the salt of the earth and I mean it! They are the best and I am so lucky to consider them my friends! I was so excited and busy getting ready to go that I didn't post, so over the last couple of weeks we received the following lines in the store.....
From Timeless Treasure, a cute baby line called "Noahs Ark", from Robert Kaufman, "Empress Bouquet", an oriental looking line that Sharon has already decided to use to make a Birdie Sling Bag. We also recieved Robert Kaufman's "Nature's Rhythms", beautiful batik butterflys. This fabric is just stunning! We also are working on our color wall, and this week we received 11 new fusions from Robert Kaufman. They are beautiful and make great blenders. (We want one of each color please...lol... hmm.. someday!)

Books, we got Linda Tuefel's, friend and publisher (Dragonthreads.com), newest book in. It is by Philippa Naylor and it is called Quilting in the Limelight. The book is quiet stunning!

Ok, busy weekend ahead! Big machine quilting class early Saturday, Mystery class late Saturday and CMQ Kids Quilts on Sunday!

Have a great weekend! take some time to sew!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hey Everyone!
We have been very busy at the store! Every day we have new customers coming in from all over the state of Ohio. It is very fun meeting new quilters and seeing the projects that they are working on. We are working on keeping our inventory up. Making sure we have patterns and books in stock and keeping the fabric coming on a constant basis. Kits, kits, kits..... we can't cut them fast enough. We have new blocks of the months coming and new projects starting everyday. It is always so exciting to go into the shop and see what is new.

Our scarlet and grey and our scarlet and cream Thangles Buck A Block of the month have been very popular. We are cutting, cutting and cutting more and saving fabric for future months.

We have a new shipment from C & T expected any day now. For the beginner or intermediate quilter, Alex Anderson's Super Simple 2, and from M'lis Hawley 101 Fabulous Fat Quarter Bags. I don't normally order Ms. Hawley's stuff because she sells her stuff in JoAnn's and we can't compete with that 40% coupon, but everyone in our shop loves purses, so we had to see what that book is all about. Also from C & T for the machine quilters is Quilting Designs from the Past. All of these books look great. Come on in and check them out!

Have a great weekend! Enjoy October for it soon shall pass!

Mary

Middle of October and still warm.. woohoo!

Hi,
Today is the first day of the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Rain is predicted, but I hope it stays nice. Tomorrow I am taking a couple of machines from the shop and doing a demo for a couple of hours. We are making postcards with of course Pumpkins on them. The shop has been buzzing with projects coming and going. Last Saturday night was our first Mystery night of the New International Mystery Series II. We visited Belgium. We dined on Belgium Endive apple salad. chicken paillard, Blegian potroast & potatoes, grilled veggie pasta. I made a carrot dish, but forgot to serve it. For dessert we had Belgian waffles and Belgian cheesecake. We served two Belgium beers (Apparently they don't do wine) and one was from the company that took over our local Busch bottling company. In November we are doing a patriotic theme and just may be eating red, white and blue food....

This week we are cutting kits and making samples for three new projects. We are cutting Carol Hopkins Aunt Sukeys socks. This is made from reproduction fabrics. We are also cutting a Patchabilities pattern, The Candy Cane wallhanging. These wallhangings go very quick and finish at 6 x 22 inches. Since these kits are tiny we include the backing and the binding too. Our big project for the week is a quilt from the Jelly Roll book. This book has so many great quilts in it that when we were looking for a new sample Sharon narrowed it done to five for me to choose from. Five quilts that she loved from one book. That is a great book!

Friday night is our free sew in and then Saturday is our Dear Jane at the shop. No, I am not caught up on all of my blocks, but I am getting very close. I think I will be caught up by the end of the year.

Have a great week!

Mary

October?? What happened to September?

Hi,
Happy Fall! The store has been hopping! I am sorry I haven't been updating every week, I am overwhelmed with the day to day and then when I get home and think I am going to get a ton of sewing done I fall asleep. Here is an update of what is going on with different areas of the shop.

New Fabrics arrive daily. We have most recently received Baby Genius grows up from Benartex, and the new Dick and Jane from Michael Miller. Also we received the whole line of Nancy Halversons Cider Mill.

The autoships from all of the regular companies are ccontinuing to come in on a regular basis. The shipment from Kansas City Star was amazing, People are loving the Scraps and Shirttails: Reuse, Re-purpose and Recycle! The Art of Green Quilting
by Bonnie Hunter, this is a book about reusing old shirts to make great quilts. We also just received the Quilts For Men book.

Our classes have been filling up and people are excited about learning how to quilt.

The monthly applique club has been going well, as well as the Dear Jane group.

We have started some new blocks of the months. A scarlet and grey for the OSU fans and a really pretty red and cream colorway.

The book that I participated in writing The Guild In The Granary is going to press. We are working on getting a web page up and running. Expect to see something on the web soon.

Stop by and say hello. Get started on a new fall project, or dig out an old one and come hang out with us.

Mary

Happy Back To School Week!

Hi,
Hope everything is going well and everyone is getting in the swing of going back to school. I love change so I find this time of year very exciting. At the shop we are currently working on getting our new blocks of the months started, getting new fall and winter samples done and getting out the new newsletter. Why does it always feel like we have 3000 things to do?

There are a couple of good shows coming up. The Goodtime Quilters show is the weekend after Labor Day. We are vending at this show and excited to see everyone and all of the beautiful quilts. It is always a big chatfest for us and we just love it! The Arts In The Alley show held right here in Grove City should be better then ever. The Guild that meets in the shop, the "Fat Quarters" is going to pitch in and help out this year checking in the quilts, hanging the quilts, tearing down, etc. I hope everyone has thought about entering something in that show, and we have an incentive this year with a sale for everyone that enters a quilt or volunteers to help.

We have lots of new stuff in the shop. The new fabric line "Flower Show" just arrived from Benartex. We are concentrating on building up our color wall so we are ordering and getting in fusions, marbles and small print tone on tones. Also, pink and brown are still very hot in our shop and the In the Pink II line from Marcus Brothers has done well, but there is still some available. For you purse junkies we received Amy Butlers home dec fabric. This is the same fabric many of her samples are made of. Very popular and hot!

Everyone always ask me what I am currently working on, so...... right now I am working on a red and white quilt called Cherry Vanilla from the new book Creative Quilt Collection From That Patchwork Place. I love two color quilts and am excited to get this finished. On the handwork front I am still working on the Winter Wonderland Redwork quilt from Crab Apple Hill. I only have a couple of more blocks to do so I am very near the end of this venture and ready to move on to something new... On the Dear Jane front, I am still very behind, but plan on getting closer to being caught up this month... lol

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the hot fall weather lol!

Mary

What Happen To Summer?

Hey!! What happen to July?? Sorry for the delay in posting, it is not that we do not have anything to say, we have just been so busy with shop hop and business in general. Were back in action and hope to post again weekly!

We have so much going on that I don't know where to start. First I must say Thanks! Thanks to everyone who visited us during Shop Hop. It was so much fun to see all the new faces in the shop. Stop back in and visit with us! Thanks also to all of the bus riders. We hope you enjoyed the ride. Thanks to Amy Butler, who was gracious enough to bring her trunk show for our preview party and to sign her new book for our customers. And last but not least Thanks to all the great people that make Always In Stitches tick. Thanks to the Staff, family and friends, the catering company (aka family) and all the others that pitched in.

Over the next couple of weeks I will catch you up on everything we have going on. We have a newsletter coming out with many exciting classes. We have a great Christmas open house planned and a couple of other events that you will want to participate in. We are very excited about the progress of the shop and are looking forward to an exciting fall and winter.

More later!

Mary

June is Here..... Cogratulation Graduates, and the mommies that got them there!

It is hard to believe that June is here already. Summer is here and I am not sure what happen to spring. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was stuck in 4 feet of snow trying to get to Kroger and Bob Evans. I laugh everytime I drive over the spot where we were stuck.





Congratulations to Curtis, Mark, Jenna, Christopher, Marco, Travis, Kyle, Margaret, and from college, Brooke, Lyndsay & Andy, and to all of my friends and neighbors who sat at graduation holding back tears. DON'T BLINK!, I always want to tell new moms that.... it goes so fast! It makes me sad!





I have been very busy.... we are changing the shop around and getting ready for Shop Hop. Cutting kits and setting up new displays, getting ready for our new blocks of the month, updating the website....... The "Book" Guild in the Granary is in the final edit phase and we are working on the cover. The quilts used in the cover photo are from our ancestors. Isn't that cool! We are very excited about the progresss of the book and will keep you posted.


Here is a note from Brooke.... she has been crazy busy too!, but had time to make a visit to the local tatoo parlor. Stop in and ask to see her new tatoo! You true blue quilters will love it (no... it is not on her rear-end)

Well I am finally finished with school...praise the Lord! I have been busy making purses and quilts for the shop and I am excited to have more time to maybe make something for myself. I can't wait until the line of Dandelion girl comes in... that will be my next huge purchase. I am also excited for Amy Butler's new fabric to arrive it's funky and I love it. Its not hard to find ways to spend my money when I work here! Well I better get back to folding fabric. Seeyabye.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Stop in and say Hi!

Mary

Happy Friday!

Hey, It's Friday, and I am not sure what happen to the week. Last week Mom and I went with the Goodtime Quilters on a bus trip to Mary Jo's - A cloth store in the Carolinas. The weather was beautiful as was the scenery. The bus ride was fun and I really enjoyed the trip. Along the way we stopped at Sew What Batiks in Wythville Va. Carol Brit, the owner has owned the shop for over 25 years. I love to go into shops that have been around that long, I try to pick the owners brains for that secret that kas kept them in the business so long.... Today (changes daily) I think it is passion, passion for fabric, for the chance to sew, for the chance to finish something. Anyway, Carol was awesome, it appeared she still has the passion, her shop was great and if you are on your way to the beach you should stop in and take a peak. I hope after 25 years we have as much fabric she does and that Always In Stitches will be as great as Sew What Batiks.





We have been busy in the store getting samples and kits ready for Shop Hop. In case you didn't know the Shop Hop starts July 17th. On July 16th we will have a preview party from 6 - 8. Amy Butler will again be our guest. She has a new book coming out Sew Baby and a handful of new patterns. We will also have 2 buses leaving our shop, one on Saturday, and one on Tuesday.


Call the shop for details or check out the website. http://www.ohioshophop.com/.





This week in the shop we received the Hemming House & Prairie Paisley layer cakes and some supporting cast of fabrics. We also received some Quilt Diva fabric and charm square bundles. We are looking forward to some basics for our color wall, which we have been struggling keeping full.



Tomorow is the annual Race for the Cure. We have 30 people on our team this year and Brooke has tye-dyed our annual T shirt! Our theme this year is Piece, Love and Find A Cure!, with a big piece sign on the front of the shirt! I am looking forward to the walk, it is always so moving and emotional, it is a fun experience to be part of.

Here is a picture of part of our team from last year. I will post pictures from this years race later this weekend.

Stop in to say hello!, find some time to sew and have a great weekend!

Mary

Happy May..... What Happen to April??

They say the older you get the faster time flies... In that case I am very old.
What happen to April?

We have a busy week coming up at the shop. Tuesday is the Stitching Sisters day, come and help. Anytime, all day, they do break for lunch.

Finally, here are some pictures from the Chicago trip. We had a great time!
I will add captions and more pictures soon.







Deb Rammelsburg treated the bus to Krispie Kreme Donuts, so Chuck (bus driver) obliged cause the "HOT NOW" light was on. Here is Deb, heading to the bus to feed the troops... Keep in mind we are on our way home from dinner... lol

Here is Alex and I, she is so nice and personable...

These girls, Joellen, Vicky, Deb and Joan, are all smiling, but inside they are saying.... ouch my feet hurt, and I am broke...let get out of here..

In an effort to save money next year I will be leading the games, serving water, and driving the bus.... all at the same time of course. (Chuck let me practice...)

I saw this in Houston last fall and was amazed, check it out...

FRONT OF QUILT
BACK OF QUILT!
More later! Stop in and say Hi!

Mary

Time is flying by, Summer will be here soon!

Whew, where did April go?, Next week May is here, and next thing you know summer will be here. I love this time of year. I always want to go out and get some pansies and want to get started spreading mulch. It feels more like the end of May instead of the end of April. While I want to get out and garden I still have the desire to do nothing better than sit and sew.

The Bus trip to Chicago was so fun. I took many pictures and I promise I will get them posted to the blog very soon. We will definitely do the Chicago trip next year and promise to make it better than ever. We have been moving the store around and doing some spring cleaning to make room for a couple new fabric lines heading our way. Busy weekend ahead. Check back for photos and updates. Have a great weekend.

Mary

Oh my gosh, We are tired!

This has been a very hectic couple of weeks. Brooke and I went to the Goodtime Quilters retreat down in Piketon. We vended and sewed and laughed and ate and sewed some more. It was alot of fun! Here are some pictures of the Goodtimers quilting having fun!

Here are some great pictures of the Columbus Metropolitan Quilters Show from last weekend. Mom, Joyce, Terry and Kathy vended at this show. I helped set up on Thursday and helped tear down on Sunday. The CMQ girls are extremly talented and there were so many cool quilts that I couldn't decide which ones to photograph.

Ok, so this is not an award winning quilt, but this is my quilt!, and it is done, (yes it was a whopping 36 x 36). It was for the Kids Quilts Challange. My goal this year is to have a quilt in every guild that I belong to. (that would be three, finished, bound with no strings attached)

This was the opportunity quilt, and yes, I did the middle peach colored block.... notice I didn't photograph it too close. Since I am not yet an expert on hand applique I had to do a couple of blocks to practice. I think I just may make my own queen size quilt with all of my practice blocks....lol , don't hold your breath... I'll keep you posted.

This pretty quilt was done by my friend Ann Timms.

This weekend we have our mystery quilt sew in, and next Thursday Janet, Sharon and I are taking the busload to Chicago!! Woo hoo! we are going to have a great time!

Expect some great Chicago pictures!

Plan on coming to the shop on May 20th for the CMQ Kids Quilt Sew In. We will serve sloppy joes, bring a snack to share!

Have a great weekend!

Mary

Happy Friday... Happy Easter!

Hey,

We have had a busy week at the shop this week. Last weekend we had Dear Jane on Saturday morning, Saturday night was the Irish Mystery. Sunday was the Book Club, and Brooke had a Twist and Shout Tote Bag class. Monday morning began with the Quilt Club investigating different types of batting. The green sale was going on, and we were busy. By Wednesday we were tired.

We are preparing for a busy week next week and a busy weekend starting the 28th. Aunt GiGi and Sharon will be holding down the shop. Brooke and I are going to Piketon with the Goodtime Quilters. We will be vending, working on samples, eating, laughing, having fun and hopefully, not doing much ripping. Mom, Joyce, Terry and Kathy will be vending at the CMQ (Columbus Metropolitan Quilters) show at the Whitehall Community Center. (Don't think they will be working, working working, they will be chatting, chatting, chatting... LOL) . On a serious note, there are many talented quilters in this guild. You should definitely check out this show.

We got a handful of new fabrics in the shop this week including some new Aunt Gracie fabrics, two bolts of cream colored buttons, some great Fusions by Robert Kaufman, and some Krystals by Michael Miller.


We got the C&T auto ship in, this is an automatic monthly shipment of the newest books from C&T Publishers. We received Ricky Tims new book: Feathers and Urns, Jennifer Chiaverini's More Elm Creek Quilts, and from an author I am not familiar with, Anna Faustino, Simply Stunning Woven Quilts. This is a stunning book.


Please put in your prayers, Denise and Holly, two of our employees. Denise is Holly's mom and she has recently restarted chemo treatments. They will be working from home for awhile, helping us with packaging our kits and other things that are portable. Also say a prayer for Joy Egan who recently lost her brother.


Have a great Easter weekend, we will be closed on Sunday so that we can spend the day with our families. Stop in and say hi!


Mary

Friday, March 14, 2008

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S Weekend !


March 15th, 16th, and 17th is our Luck of the Irish Sale. If it is GREEN, it is 20% off !



Last Wednesday we had our Weekday mystery and it had an Irish theme. I hope everyone had fun! At the end of the day Molly and Kate came in and did some Irish step dancing for us. They were adorable.... pictures to the right. We will do another weekday mystery on April 16th. Call the shop for details.



We have received more of the At Waters Edge fabric line from Moda. A new fabric line that Brooke and Holly picked out at fall market has arrived, its from Benartex and called City Girl and the fabric that Aunt Gigi's neices Christine and Bethany picked out called Woodstock has arrived. Woodstock is a groovy combination of blues and greens. City Girl has jumbo flowers, paisley prints, dots in teal, green and brown. They both are very hip and will be made into some very cool bags soon.






This is City Girl!








This is Woodstock!






Have a great weekend! We all need to slow down a little bit.... (I am qualified to say this because yesterday I got a $70 speeding ticket...lol) and enjoy the journey.


More later

Mary, Sharon, Brooke, etc...etc...etc

February 29th...

Happy Friday!

Sorry about the small print, we are a bit wordy this week, and it wouldn't fit with regular size print.

Have you seen a picture of the awesome Ladies of the Sea quilt? It is an applique quilt with historical ships and a floral border. We ordered this for Jan Golden, she will have this beautiful quilt done in no time and we will still be dreaming about starting it.

A new class that has been added to our schedule is the Twist and Shout Tote Bag. It will be taught by Brooke and her assistant will be Aunt Gee Gee (Janet). Class date is March 16th, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm, and the class fee is $20.00. Please sign up at least one day in advance.

Things coming up the week of March 2nd (wow, March already)…..
The James Stitching Sisters will be here Tuesday, March 4th 10 am to 4 pm. If you can spare some time, come and sew. They provide the fabrics, we have the machines.

Fat Quarters Guild will be here Tuesday Night 6 - 8. Come for a no commitment fun evening.

Marty, from Quilt Beginnings will be here Friday, March 7th beginning at 2:00 pm to show the Pfaff sewing machines. Please call the shop for an appointment (614 539-7845)

On the 8th, We are visiting Ireland for our Mystery evening. Call the store for details.

Also, on the 8th will be the James Stitching Sisters 4th Annual Quilt Day at the Haimerl Center on Morse Road from 9am to 5 pm. This will be a very emotional day for everyone because two of the founding members of the Stitching Sisters have recently passed away. A couple of weeks ago Joyce Kerzee, who was one of the sweetest people I know passed away. Today is the memorial service for Julie Aleshire. I went to Washington Court House to visit with the family last evening and it was quite apparent how loved Julie was. I had to wait in line for over an hour to pay my respects. As I waited in the halls I enjoyed looking at the wall hangings and plaques decorating the walls. I was not suprised to see Julie had been a Church Member of the year. In the back of the church there was a quilt made by various church family members. It was hard to miss the Aleshires family block for it was beautiful. I thought it was very touching that there were a number of Julie's quilts displayed among the flower arrangements. She was quite an accomplished quilter and will sadly be missed by her quilting friends.

It 3:30, and FEd Ex just brought a huge shipment of City Girls from Benartex. Very young, fresh, teal, brown & green, Amy Butlerish... Won't be around long. Brooke "called it" she is making a sample... lol

Have a great weekend! Stop in and say hi!

Mary... and Sharon (our new official marketing and pr VP)

Ugh!!! The Retreat Went Too Fast!

Boy did I have fun this past weekend at the Quintessential Quilters Retreat held at Deer Creek. Seventy eight of my quilter friends and I met on Friday afternoon to start a fun weekend of sewing, laughing, eating, sewing .... Here are some of the pictures I took of guild members having fun. I wish I would have taken pictures of everyone and their projects. You would be amazed of what most (not necessarily me, I talked too much..)can get done in a weekend. The weekend was really fun!

The view from the lodge looked like a post card. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Yakkity Yak! ... lol

Sunday breakfast line

Teri is going to kill me for this photo.... The quilt is very cute..

Carla, too! Service project is hanging in background...

Sally or Sandy's project (They both did the same project)

Bernie's quilting class sample for later this spring.....

More later this week! Need to go catch up on my sleep.


Mary

Snow, Snow and More Snow.... Time to Sew!

I am very excited because today I am going to the Quintessential Quilters Retreat at Deer Creek! I have a bunch of sample kits to make for the shop and a bunch of personal projects (Dear Jane, Embroidery club, applique club) to work on. I can't wait to get started!

We got a handful of new fabrics in this week. Last week we received, but didn't mention the Waters Edge charm squares by Moda. These are beautiful fabrics in creams and yellows. These would make a beautiful spring purse. Stop in and visit (if it's this weekend, make sure everyone is behaving for me!). Gotta run.... I am already late! - Mary

Hope everyone has had good week. Wasn't the snow pretty to look at, just not fun to drive in.


This week we received "Rosy" by Timeless Treasures. It is a beautiful fabric with pink flowers on a cream or green background. Another new fabric is 'Back In The Saddle" from Wilmington Prints. This fabric would be great for a western style quilt or for someone who just loves horses. We also received charm packs and jelly rolls of "At Water's Edge" by Blackbird Designs.


The March/April issue of "Quilter's Home" is here! As some of you may know we love Mark Lipinski (the editor) and his humor. If you haven't had a chance to look at this magazine check it out. I think you will like it.







A new book for all you cat lovers, "Copycat Quilts" by Dawn Navarro, this is is a piecing book of nothing but cats. Another new book is Better Homes and Gardens, "Quilt-Lovers Favorites" Vol. 4. And ....if you've had a bad week with the weather and all.. , check out "Quilter's Happy Hour". 1It has 11 quilts with cocktail recipes. We are thinking about a class for this book, sew, try the drink recipes.... but then we figured we would have to pick all the class members up and drop them back off at home after the class (and take all the rotaries)....


Have a great weekend! Stop in and say hey!

Hot, Cool, Wet, Cold

This week started out with a bang. The Super Bowl sale was our best ever. Thanks to everyone who came and shopped. I hope your visit was pleasant and you didn't have to stand in line too long. This week has flown by. On Tuesday (the first Tuesday of every month 10 am to 4 pm) we had our James Stitching Sisters in the shop making quilts for the James Cancer Hospital. We had a great turnout and they got alot of sewing done. Join them next month if you can spare some time. They provide the fabric, we have the machines. Also they will have their annual quilt retreat March 8th, 9 am to 5 pm at the Haimerl Center on Morse Road. We (the staff) will be there in shifts.



New this week: Joel Dewberry Fabric. The fabric is in orange, cream and brown and looks like Amy Butler fabric. I am thinking about using some of the orange for new pillows in my family room. We also got Swell by Urban Chiks. Cute prints in light green, yellow and some red tossed in. Holly and Brooke picked these fabrics out at market. Doodle-Stitching, Fresh & fun Embroidery for Beginners, is a new book just in.

Please stop in soon and show us what you are working on!

Crazy week at Always In Stitches

I thought the week would be quiet and we could catch up on a couple of things, but we have been busy all week and it has just flown by. I think we are ready for the Super Bowl Sale this weekend. We got about 50 new bolts of fabric in this week, and our shelves are filling up after trying to get our inventory down for the end of year taxes.

Our classes have been filling up and we are offering some of the more popular ones again. Last Saturday was our first Hand Applique Club meeting. There were about 23 applique enthusiasts there, and it was fun. I am excited about being involved in this club so I can improve at this skill. I just love hand applique but I don't take the time to work on my skills. Hopefully, knowing that I need to get something done each month will help.

During our Monday book club, we (Diana Forrester, Jan Biggs and I) passed out the book we wrote, "The Dutchmans Puzzle", for the members to edit. I hope they like it! We choose a non deplume.... Alma Lynne Thompson. I'll explain later how we arrived at the name. I am very excited about the book and getting it published!

More later! Have a great weekend! I don't know who to root for during the Super Bowl because I love Eli Manning (Giants) and I love Mike Vrable (Patriots). All season I have been a Pats fan.. but I do love those Manning boys..

See you at the Sale!

Freezing in Ohio!

Hey Everyone.... Isn't Ohio weather fun. We have been wearing layer upon layer of clothing and we are still freezing. It will be over soon... we hope!



This week has flown by... we got in the newest bunch of books from C & T Publishing and the April 2008 edition of American Patchwork and Quilting.



You really need to come in and see the Simply Spring Wallhanging from Cottage Creek Quilts that Kathy is using for her machine applique class. It is adorable!



We forgot to include a class on our class listing. It is for a very cool wallet that is featured in Winter edition of Quilts and More. This class is taught by Cathy Corcella and will be Saturday, March 15th from 10 -4. The cost is $30.00 and you will need to have fabric.



The Dear Jane class went well, and there is still time to sign up. There are 24 Janiacs right now and we would love to have you join us. I am participating in this group and I have 7 out of 8 blocks done already! I am ready to do more..... (I didn't get much of anything else done this week, but that's OK.)



We are getting ready for our Super Bowl Sale next weekend.

Have a great weekend!

What Is Happening To January?

Geez, January is flying by! I have been running around with my head chopped off! One of my new year's resolution is to attend the guild meetings of the various guilds that I participate in. I always enjoy going, it just seems that something always comes up and I don't make it as often as I would like. This past week I attended the Columbus Metropolitan Quilts guild meeting. This was the first guild that I joined (before Always In Stitches was open)and that guild of women has always been very near and dear to my heart. Anyway, the program this month was a trunk show of quilts by the current officers. It was fun to see their accomplishments. June Allen always makes me laugh regardless of what she is talking about, (she had some nice quilts too!). It was very fun to see Nancy, Barb, Mary, and Jennifer's (yes, the same Jennifer that cut her finger off in our store, with her rotary, not ours)accomplishments and how they have grown. This month, just for the record I also made it to QQ and to The Goodtime Quilters meetings. I hope to make it to all of the guild meetings often this year.

Here at the shop our heads are spinning. Dear Jane starts this month and we have about 23 participants. I am participating as a member, I will keep you posted on my progress.

Girl Gang is starting January 25th for the primitive lovers, and our new hand applique club is meeting on the last Saturday in January.

Our newsletter has been mailed, and our website is being updated and our new class offerings will be posted soon.

On the sewing table at the shop we have been making the cell phone bags using the Quiltsmart fusible product. Once you "get it" you can make these quickly and they make great gifts. (I have been using mine for my IPod at the gym and I just may start a business selling them there.. jk)
We recently cut out a very cool Twisted Ribbons quilt from the book Fun With Block Quilts from Cheryl Malowski. The quilt is a solid black background with brightly colored ribbons. It is not sewn together yet, but you know how that goes. Soon,.... very soon!

Yikes.... New Books jsut came in from Martingale! The Skinny Quilts and Tablerunners book is very neat! There will be a couple of the samples in this book in the shop. Someday!

Have a great Weekend, Stop In and say hey!

Mary

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe a new year is already beginning. I love new starts, new beginnings and I am all about new year's resolutions. I want to lose weight, read more, sew more, clean out my sewing room, the list goes on and on! At the shop, we have huge resolutions also. I am looking forward to the new monthly groups (Dear Jane group and the Hand Applique group) and looking forward to the new class schedule. I am also really excited about the Chicago Bus Trip. We have some great new fabric coming in, and before we know it our super bowl sale will be here! One of our better sales of the year! The plan is to keep you posted of what is going on at the shop every couple of days. To let you know what we are excited about and what we are working on and to give you an inside look at what is happening at the shop. More later! Mary