News***THIS SECTION IS KINDA LIKE A BLOG. I TAKE THE MOST RECENT EMAILS I HAVE SENT AND PASTE THEM IN HERE.
May 25, 2013 I was just thinking about those L'Oreal commercials and the "I'm worth it" slogan. I have never colored my hair (yet) but if I ever do, I'll be thinking of L'Oreal because I am worth it, darn it. So, along those lines, aren't you worth a new sewing machine if you want one? This weekend there's free financing on the JANOMES. The fantastic new 8900 model that does everything except embroider, and make dinner, would be less than $120 a month. What's not to like about that? BTW, the JANOMES are very high quality and are a great value. Maybe it's the yen vs. the euro, maybe it's Japanese efficiency, but whatever it is, ask someone who has a JANOME how they like it. They usually love them. You will be kicking yourself later, if you don't at least try them before you buy a new machine. I know they weren't very well known in the USA until recently. I'd never heard of them until about 2002 even though the company it 150 years old. If you read Consumer Reports, or quilting magazine reviews, you'll see how good they are.
STRIP CLUB SATURDAY MORNING AT 10 am DROP IN If you like these:
But don't know what to do with them, consider coming to Strip Club tomorrow morning. Every meeting includes a new pattern that uses a jelly roll, lots of Show and Tell, and some quilting knowledge sharing by me. $10. No machines, just enjoy. SHOW AND TELL Naperville's Riverwalk Guild had their first quilt show recently. Here are some my favorites:
This is a miniature!!!!!:
Memorial Day weekend can be a really good weekend to sew if the weather is not good. We'll be open on Sunday, but not Monday (we're never open on Monday). Happy Memorial Day! Chris Sass Hello Quilters! LUNCH N LEARN - HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES, THURSDAY AND SATURDAY 5/9 & 5/11 Triangles are no big deal (we cover them the first week of the Beginner Block of the Month) and add a world of design possibilities. Don't be afraid, I'll show you at least 4 ways to make them. You are bound to like one of the methods. I call this one Shimmer. It has many, many half square tirangles, but that's what makes it shimmer. Noon, $10 cash, be prompt and includes lunch.
NEW STUFF This is more like a new twist on a old favorite. I think Lover's Knot was my first Strip Piecing quilt. I can't get enough of them. Kay made this paper pieced southwest piece from this book but cut it down to 1/4 the size.
FORE and then drinks in the 19th hole.
I usually don't order Halloween fabric for this early, but his time I did. Plus the other random prints to the left are just really cool. I cant believe how young this quilter looks. This is her first book, which kept being out of stock at out supplier. We just got a few of it, AND her brand new book that just came out (no picture of it).
MOTHERS DAY JANOME SPECIALS MYSTERY QUILT CLASS with DINNER and other quilters on Friday night May 17th and Sunday afternoon May 19th Bobbie is back from the Deep South, and that means that our Mystery Quilt sessions resume. The first batch has a few spots left. These are so much fun and such good food, that some people keep signing up over and over. In case you have no idea what a mystery quilt is.....You won't know what the quilt is going to look like ahead of time. The person running it tells you what size pieces to cut out of which fabric, and then what piece to sew to what other piece. Before the class is over, a sample of the quilt is revealed. Usually the down side of a mystery quilt is that you don't like the color combination because you picked your fabric without knowing the result, but we have fixed that by having Bobbie pick the fabrics. She has several for you to choose from, but she knows what the result will look like and she has excellent color sense. It is from 6 to 10 pm on Friday night or 2 - 6 pm on Sunday afternoon. $65 includes the class, the fabric, and a meal. If you want to do it, please call the store (630) 321-9051 to register. Then you need to come in and select the set of fabrics you like, and pick them up so that you can get your cutting done ahead of time. At class, you just sew, sew, sew, and eat, and talk, not necessarily in that order. SHOW AND TELL Joan made this original quilt, and also made it into a 2014 desk calendar book with another of her quilts that was in the Salt Creek Show in March 2012. HOUSTON PICTURES Here's three quilts from last fall in Houston. You're not supposed to use the photos without giving credit to who made them, so this time I added the photo of the info about the quilt instead of just their name.
I SPY
4/11/13
Hello Quilters! Look up on the roof in the center of the picture. That's a goose. Honking very loudly but you can't hear her in the picture ;) This was the bright spot of my week. I thought that geese nested on the ground, but the Office Max manager told me that they nest up there every year. When I expressed concern about the little ones learning to fly, he said that they do indeed swoop down and fall on the concrete, but it doesn't kill them, and they get up and try again. It's the Office Max by the Home Depot on Woodward in Woodridge, if anyone else wants to see. On to business..... 3/20/13 Hello Quilters! Who is this nice lady, and why is she coming to quiltfabric.com on Palm Sunday? Well, we didn't realize it was Palm Sunday when we planned it, and she is coming to do some workshops with the Prairie Star guild. She is Amy Bradley and I met her at the first Rosemont Show. It was her first show, too. All the things she makes are funny and we carry a lot of them. She's going to do a trunk show just for us on Sunday at 12:30 (free) and then teach a class. We have openings in the class. Basically she will teach you how to make any of her designs. You will need the pattern and fabric. We have kits for quite a few of them. Come see, and if you want to stay for the class, you probably can. She has never taught in this area before to my knowledge.
HAPPY SPRING. So what if it was 14 degrees this morning, and it was 80 degrees last year? It's Chicago. Easter is sneaking up on me. We have some very cute Easter egg fabric. (I forgot to take a picture of it).
NEWISH FABRIC:
STRIP CLUB IS SATURDAY AT 10 AM. $10 if you want to drop in. Here's our latest "jelly roll". MMmmmmm.
JACQUELINE IS TEACHING LANDSCAPE QUILTS THURSDAY NIGHT 3/21. Where are all the people who kept saying they wanted evening classes? We have openings.
SHOW AND TELL Some people. This is called the Common Bride by Laundry Basket Quilts. I think it is misnamed. That's Deb.
Cheri with Arizona Cactus by Judy Niemeyer. She added the border from another JM quilt design.
Frieda Anderson taught a workshop at Salt Creek Guild and here's what Lolly did: The Saturday "challenging group" made a tricky block with multiple partial seams.
MARINER'S COMPASS CLASS There's one in every crowd who gets finished way ahead. This is Patricia's:
WEDNESDAYS OPEN SEW IS CATCHING ON This lady, in from California for a family event is making dresses for her twin nieces from her sisters wedding gown.
SAVE THE DATE Thursday Evening April 4th for our Spring Fling Open House. 7 - 9 pm Door Buster deals, refreshments, new samples, demonstrations, and a bunch of nice people.
3/13/13 Hello Quilters! There's a CD of funny designs to embroider and hang in your Laundry Room. Here's an example:
2013 EMBROIDERY CLUB KICKS OFF WITH NEW PROJECTS AND DESIGNS
The first session of this year's Embroidery Club sort of went by unnoticed, so we thought we'd repeat last month's session on Saturday, March 23 at 9:00 a.m. and do a better job of promoting it.
In addition to the usual discussions, demonstrations and show-and-tell, we've added something new this year! You'll receive instructions for a project and one or more free designs that are appropriate for the project. (Bring your USB memory sticks, so we can download the designs.)
This month's project is a quick baby shower gift for the often-forgotten new dad-to-be. Makes an apron with pockets to hold important things at the ready.
So join us March 23 at 9:00 a.m., and bring show-and-tell. We LOVE show-and-tell.
Price: $10.00
NEW SAMPLE from SAKURA fabric: It's not quilte finished. It's made with a Layer Cake with a really great short cut. Layer Cake Club is the fourth Saturday of the month on the Even Months. So next month, they'll be getting this pattern for free. Want to join? If not, we'll let you buy it as soon as I get it written up. That could be a while, since my deadline isn't until the fourth Saturday of April :). Yes, this looks like a Churn Dash, and you could certainly make it, but not anywhere near as easily as with the trick. NEW FABRIC IN GRADATIONS Some are a reprinting of Caryl Bryer Fallert's fabrics for Benartex. We also have a grey one from Moda. Somebody asked me for that and I forgot who you are! I saw a cool modern quilt made out of it, but I don't know where. Does that sound familiar? We also have some interesting Paula Nadelstern fabric. A lunch an learn later this month is going to be about what to do with gradations, and/or symmetrical fabric. Tomorrow's Lunch n Learn is going to be about the newer, much simpler way to put in a zipper. It's how all those cute little bags are possible. I should be able to make a little back to show you in ten minutes. And we have a great variety of zippers for $1 each:
I have put many weeks of Lunch N Learn topics on the Class Calendar on our website so you can plan ahead. It is a work in progress, so check it occasionally. I plan to add some Saturday Lunch N Learns. Any requests? I mean topics? NEW FABRIC: I really loved a line from Moda called Comma that I saw at Market. It's here and we have jelly rolls, charms, and layer cakes, and patterns to go with them.
NATIONAL QUILTING DAY This Saturday is National Quilting Day. What does one do for that? Drag unsuspecting shoppers in as the are trying to go to the Oreck store? I always assumed it was to expose new people to our beloved craft. The organization for quilt shop owners is promoting something they are calling the Seven Summits and shops are supposed to get people to make Ridiculous, or 1600 quilts that add up to the number of feet in Mt. Everest. One of my best friends from college has actually climbed 6 of the 7 real mountains (never made it to Antartica, but she was the third American woman to make it to the top of Mt. Everest back in 1990), so making any analogy between easy peasy quilts and that feat seems silly to me. BTW, I have xeroxed letters she wrote backto her mother, and believe me it was a 6 week ordeal. So, anyway, if you have a friend you'd like to introduce to quilting, our classroom/gallery is covered with quilts, and we would love to meet them, and hopefully get them started (we won't say hooked, or addicted). Thanks so much for making my quilting dream a reality. Chris Sass 3/6/13 Hello Quilters! INNOVA ROCKS OK, I am bragging about this again, but these two quilts surprised me. This first one is a T-shirt quilt, which is thick already, and she wanted Flurr on the back. Flurr is like two sided Minkee but thicker, and thicker than fleece. No problem. Came out great. This lady's daughter REALLY wanted blue satin on the back. It looks great. In fact, I kinda want one. But I am still wondering if it will slip off the bed.
JANOME ROCKS Last week a customer who came in to buy a Janome had an interesting tidbit to share. She lives in Chicago in a high rise so she found a repairman that makes house calls to service her last machine occasionally. The last time he was there, she thought she'd ask him about what brand he'd recommend. His quick reply was, "Oh, Janomes. I never have to service them". LUNCH N LEARNS Tomorrow 3/7/13 New thingamajigs and dohickeys that I have found lately, and some old favorite gadgets and what to do with them.
NEW FABRIC This is not here yet, but can you believe that we have to buy Christmas fabric, when Christmas is barely over? I know, my job is so awful ;)
SHOW AND TELL I hope none of these are repeats, but I think some are ones that I skipped a few months ago. Awesome, prize winning Amazon star (we have the pattern)
PROFESSIONAL SHOW AND TELL FROM HOUSTON This was made by Karen Kay Buckley and Renae Haddadin, both pros. I really liked the vivid colors. Karen makes the top, Renae quilts it on an Innova. I am glad some people want to spend their lives making things like this so I can look at them.
I rearranged most of the quilts on the walls the other day. I hope you'll stop by and take a look. Thanks for shopping at quiltfabric.com. 2/28/13 Hello Quilters! Almost March. Wow. I wonder if I start thinking about summer now, if I will feel caught up to the calendar instead of always behind...? First, some general info, then a recap of classes, then another diatribe (?) about heart attacks. Tomorrow starts the more advanced long arm classes with Julie Karlak. That's exciting. If they fill, we'll add more for March. We are planning for summer kids classes. If you have requests, speak up now, please. We had our first Cake Club on Saturday morning. I loved the look on some faces when I showed the trick. It's not too late to join in. $50 for the rest of the year. Meets on the 4th Saturday on even months. Every month you get a new pattern that uses Layer Cakes (the packs of 10 inch squares) and instruction from me on how to make them. If you want to stay and sew, you can. JANOMEs The two new models (8200 and 8900) that have all the bells and whistles but not embroidery are wonderful. They both do Awesome free motion quilting. We made a video of it to try to show you but of course it's not as good as trying it yourself. Hint. Hint. Let's see if I can remember how to put a link to a video in: click here to watch Jacqueline and Joyce (their hands anyway) On a related subject, I have been using a 12000 (top of the line with embroidery at home) but I am not embroidering. Now that the other models are out, it seems stupid for me to be hogging a 12000. Anybody want a good deal on it? LONG ARM LUNCH N LEARN Saturday March 2nd at noon. If you are thinking about getting a long arm quilting machine, this is a great opportunity to talk to Jeff Benedict of Accomplish Quilting, and me. Jeff and his parents have been a long arm dealers for over ten years, previously with Gammill and now with Innova. Get your questions answered without having to wait for a quilt show. Lunch N Learns are $10 cash in the classroom. You do not need to register, just come. We'll start at noon. CLASSES SCHEDULED for March:
PERSONAL More on the Heart subject. A funny thing happened last Saturday. I was in the classroom with a few people after a class and in came a woman that was new to the store. Somehow, the new woman launched into a story about how she had had a heart attack. Well, you know I wanted to hear all about it. While we were discussing it, one of the women who'd been sitting there chimed in with how she'd had problems, too, and had had quadruple bypass surgery. We probably went on about hearts for a half hour, but it seemed like no time to me. To sum it up, the new woman ignored signs of her heart attack as severe indigestion and by the time she had one of her children take her to the hospital two days later, the tests showed she'd already had a heart attack. I also know a man who did that while on vacation. They actually started driving to the hospital and turned around and went back to there condo because there was a huge traffic jam. By the time he went again, the heart attack was over. Hello? This is what ambulance with flashing lights are for. Do I have to tell the ambulance stories again? (some other time), but an ambulance ride is between $500 and $1000. A deal compared to the rest of hospital costs. The worst case is that you have to pay for that, the best case is that you are still alive to pay for that! I have permanent heart damage because I didn't call 911 right away, but I did take two aspirin and eventually call. The nurses seemed to think the aspirin saved me. You are all carrying aspirin in your purse, right? 81mg non coated is best for an emergency, I think, but ask a doctor, as I am not giving medical advice, blah, blah, blah. The second lady had just had all her family in visiting and staying at her house. After they left she was exhausted. She thought it was just from all the exertion. But no. After a couple days, she also had someone take her to the hospital, and she got an immediate in with the surgeon the next morning. TIP: Feeling nauseous is a very bad sign. The first woman, whose incident is much more recent than mine, says that nausea is a pretty universal indicator for women, even though the other signs vary for women. Both of us who actually had a heart attack, had felt a flush and then felt like we might vomit. In my case, after that, I just wanted to lie on the floor and we called 911. That's the only thing we had in common. She's the one who thought it was indigestion. I know I run on about this sometimes, but I feel like it is my purpose to share what I learn about heart problems in women, to somehow prevent the worst from happening to one of you or your friends. Chris Sass 2/13/13 LONG ARM QUILTING MACHINES is my main topic today 1) IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT GETTING ONE: Saturday, March 2nd at noon. Jeff Benedict of Accomplish Quilting in Stevensville, Michigan will be a guest speaker for a Lunch N Learn. Jeff has been in the long arm business for at least ten years, first with Gammill, and now with Innova. He will speak for a little while and then take your questions. This is a unique opportunity to learn about these two brands without having to wait for a quilt show. Yes, we'll have a deal if you later decide you want one. $10 cash, includes lunch. No registration necessary. Just be on time and have exact change. 2) I quilted this Yummy (that's the pattern name) sample last week. Do you see any of the yellow thread from the bobbin coming up on the top? Do you see any of the grey thread coming through on the bottom?
If your long arm quilter tells you that they have to use the same color thread on the top and bottom or it will show, they can't get their tension right. Find another quilter. Like quiltfabric.com ; ) Our rate is 2 cents a square inch. So multiply the length times the width times .02. ( 72 by 85 = 6120 x .02 = $122.40 plus a fee for thread and set up. 3) We had our first Long Arm Basic Training class yesterday. Yeah! It's a new thing and we have to be able to adjust as we go. Julie and I decided, that 1) it would be a better use of talents if I teach the Basic Training, and she teaches the more advanced subjects and 2) quilters who already own a long arm, do not need to take Basic Training to take Julie's courses. I have already fixed that on our website. We will make changes on a case by case basis if you have already signed up. If not, there is a feather class next week that you might want to jump on. 4) INNOVA owners have our next meeting on Saturday March 2nd at 10 am. Jeff Benedict from Accomplish Quilting, mentioned above, is coming in to meet you and share what's new and take questions. 5) We will still be renting the long arms in the future, but have had a few bumps in the road. Sorry. SELECTED KONA SOLIDS ON SALE FOR $5 a yard. When I ordered a selection of the 100 top selling Kona colors from Kaufman, I didn't realize there would be some so close in color to each other. Do we really need 6 Oranges? So, Joyce and I went through them yesterday and where we had two colors that are almost identical, one went on sale. While the greys sell like crazy, and of course black and white, the colors, not so much. If anyone can tell me why, I'd like to know. I thought they were in hot demand. JANOME FLOOR MODEL SALE
Want a deal, but on the model YOU choose? Try this floor model sale. A few will be deeply discounted because they have been discontinued. With the rest, we like to keep them fresh. Have I ever told you that I once got the best washer and dryer ever, from Sears at a floor model sale? The dryer lasted 26 years and had way more features than I could have afforded any other way. Starts tomorrow 2/15 and goes through next Saturday the 23rd but NOT this Sunday (sorry but no one will be available that day, and you won't get all your questions answered if you come on that day). CIRCLES AND CURVES CLASS Learn a fast fun way to add circles and curves to your quilting. Please bring freezer paper, pencil and marker. You will also need fabric (at least 2) that contrast and your basic sewing notions. EVENING CLASS February 21st from 6 - 9 am. Includes pizza. Taught by Jacqueline. Register first.
LUNCH N LEARN Today is mitered cornered napkins, receiving blanket and quilts 2/21 will be Diamonds, Darn It. Imagine my surprise when this quilt, with no credit given to the designer, showed up in Hargrave's Vol. 4 Senior Year book! That means they think it is really difficult. Ha! They didn't figure out the short cuts. But I did. Time to get rid of the fear of diamonds.
2/28 will be what to do with this:
and/or this (leftover strips). You may think you know, but again, I find the short cuts that save hours.
Last call for Mariner's Compass which starts Sunday. Do not do anything ahead besides get your fabric, and take a deep breath and relax.
CAKE CLUB STARTS Saturday 2/23d at 10 am. It's not too late to jump in. Sometimes the pattern will be a surprise, but I think the first month we will start with this: It looks like a Strip quilt, but it is not! A very cool trick with a 10 inch square. $60 for 6 months of fun and 6 patterns and lessons. You will be amazed at the great things you can make with those Layer Cakes ( 42 ten inch squares) and a little yardage for a border.
PERSONAL Thanks for shopping at quiltfabric.com. Please remember to tell you friends if you like it, and tell me if there is something that you think is wrong, or could be better, so I can fix it! Chris Sass 2/6/13Hello Quilters! I hope this gets a chuckle from you:
LUNCH N LEARN tomorrow (2/7) is Joyce showing you how she goes about picking out a border for a quilt. She has a few samples ready and I think you are welcome to bring something that you are stuck on. She'll get to as many as time permits. $10 cash, noon, lunch included. LONG ARM CLASSES ARE STARTING:
101 BASIC TRAINING Julie Karlak is teaching a series of classes at our shop. If you don't know Julie, she's a fabulous long arm quilter and a very good teacher. I take her my quilts that need custom work. The first class, offered twice this month, is Basic Training. It is suitable for anyone who is just starting out with a long arm quilting machine. We will cover how to load a quilt top correctly. You will learn how to set up a pantograph pattern, quilt a few rows, and then how to advance the quilt to continue on with the pantograph. Other topics include what you need to know about backings, and battings, thread choices, and finding the correct tension. This is a demo-lecture class so bring a notebook. There will be some hands-on with several people to a machine. $50. Wednesday Feb 13th 12:30 - 2:30 or Friday Feb 22nd 10:20 - 12:30. We are looking for feedback on dates and times if you cannot make these. 102 FILL THE QUILT Learn some fun and creative backgrounds. Perfect for all-over quilting, block fillers, appliqué backgrounds and more. Here are some examples. This will be hands on with far fewer people than 101 Basic Training. Thursday Feb 28th at 10:30 am for 2 hours OR Friday the 22nd at 1:00. $75. You need to take Basic Training before this class (you could do them both on Feb22 or do them on separate days).
106 FEATHERS FOR BEGINNERS
From our Hugs and Kisses Class:
Chris Sass 1/30/13 Hello Quilters! I would like to remind you to occasionally look on our website for Classes, including what the Lunch N Learn is about. LUNCH N LEARN - MASS PRODUCTION OF TRIANGLEs I was going to do my normal presentation on making half square triangles tomorrow, but then a couple things happened. Two customers came in with quilt tops that they were working on that were full of half square triangles and were fairly traditional looking. This was strange because these two quilters lean toward art quilts usually. The quilts were beautiful. Neither one of them are beginners. I started thinking that maybe I should show some methods of mass producing triangles. At first glance, it may not look like it, but the first quilt has 384 two inch finished triangles. I could not possibly have made them one by one as some patterns tell you to do. If you are ready for a little challenge, but a little afraid, let me take the mystery out of it. $10 noon to 1 pm tomorrow (2/1) , includes lunch, no pre-registration necessary. Just drop in. You might even make some new friends. We always have at least 10 women, and sometimes 40. I hope the weather won't be too bad tomorrow, but by late morning, the traffic should clear up. I hadn't taken these partial Ocean Waves blocks out of the box in at least a year, and of course now I don't even like some of them. Sound familiar? But I can just quickly make some more with better combinations.
Next week (2/7) Joyce is going to do the lunch on Thursday about how she picks the fabrics to be a border. NEW SAMPLES Speaking of traditional, how about this pretty blue and white and cream? It's not very big (9 inch blocks) but you could always make more blocks. We have a pattern and very convenient bundle for you to grab to make it. Notice that the points "float"? That means they don't have to meet up with the edge of the block so it is more forgiving if you are a little off. It uses "connector corners". They are the shape of LeMoyne stars without the hassle!!! I love it when it looks more difficult than it was.
On the brighter side, there's this small one (40 inches square). The pattern has a large version, as well, which would work very well with one of our rainbow colored jelly rolls.
CALENDAR continues. These are pretty tall and suitable for a door or tall skinny wall in your house. I think they are about 5 feet tall.
Super Sew SALE on BATIKS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY Did you know we cannot call it a Super Bowl Sale? Companies have been sued for that. This is highly unusual. I can only remember one other time when we had a big sale on the batiks. Here's the thing. I have learned over the years, that January is when we have the most batiks. Well, it's the start of February, and there are still way too many batik bolts to fit in the shelves and I can't stand them being on the floor, so we are going to let you thin them out for us. $10 a yard, half yard minimum cut. Since many of ours are $12 now, and some stores mark them at $12.95, this is a good sale. If you are going to do a big Judy Niemeyer quilt, this would be a great time to get the fabric.****
****You cannot reasonably expect our ( Joyce's ) usual personal attention picking fabrics for a project during this sale on Saturday and Sunday. So, please either 1) come in and do your picking before the weekend and we'll hold it for you, or 2) come in during the weekend and buy X number of yards of batik fabric to be selected in the next month for your Niemeyer project. How's that for creative retailing? (I love being able to make the rules!)
EMBROIDERY SHOW AND TELL Suitable for a north woods cabin: Vonnie finished her Jacobean Garden and got it quilted
PERSONAL Remember heart disease is the number one killer of women. (Breast Cancer gets more attention but is farther down the list). Lately, three people I know have had to go see a cardiologist because of a racing heart or a stabbing pain between their shoulders, or dizzy and weak and mild pain in the chest. But they went. Do not wait. You may not get another chance. End of public service announcement. Now go sew something. Thank you for shopping at quiltfabric.com Chris Sass 1/23/12 Hello Quilters!
Thursday's LUNCH N LEARN is on Bargello and Trip Around the world. These are two of my favorite quilts. They look like you sewed a million pieces together, but you only sewed strips. Easy peasy. A Trip Around the World was my third quilt. If I can find it, I'll bring it tomorrow. Jelly Barjelly is an example of Bargello. I found this one on the internet and I think it is much prettier than the one I made. It's from a quilt store in Arkansas called Thus and Sew: This is a drawing from Electric Quilt of a Trip Around the World:
JANOME SALE on 6600 on Friday and Saturday This has been our most popular machine since we have had Janomes. It has everything a quilter wants at a pretty reasonable price. The price of it has been going up (the MSRP is $2499 now) but it is still well worth it. six years ago when this was $1999, the comparable Pfaff was $2999. So, if you have gotten the quilting bug, come try this one and save over $700. You'll love the large space to quilt, scissors button, extension table included, spool holder for large spools, separate motor for bobbin winding, speed control slider, and the start/stop button which keeps a steady speed while you learn to free motion quilt.
EXCITING HOOPSISTERS FEATHERED STAR update/change Our first informational meeting of Feathered Star is Saturday at 1:00. This is SO exciting - Susan figured out a way to make it NOT be bulky in the seams! AND she's testing a way to eliminate the stiffness. If you have done a Hoopsisters in the past and wished it hadn't been so stiff, or if you have not been interested because it felt so much different than a "normal" quilt, you might change your mind when you see this. Come find out, and if you don't like it, you don't have to do it. Not necessary to drag your machines in this time. The detail on this just amazes me. I hope to see you Saturday at 1:00.
SATURDAY MORNING "STRIP CLUB" at 10:00 Strip Club starts again. Each time we meet there is a new quilt for you to make using those wonderful jelly rolls, bali pops, etc, of 2 1/2 inch strips. Sometimes it just uses the strips and sometimes you add some background. The quilt is a surprise and you get the pattern as part of the club fee. If you get your top made by the net meeting which is two months later, you get a free 1/2 yard of fabric. Plus, on club meeting days, you get 10% off of any fabric you buy. Now that we have more room, maybe we should also designate some time to stay and sew. Anyway, the patterns are usually pretty easy and fast, although some are more work than others. Some are ones I make up like the Manly quilt was, and some are purchased patterns. If you want to use the same fabrics I did, you can, but it is more fun when everyone uses different jelly rolls, because then at the next meeting, we get to see lots of different possibilities. Come on, try it, you'll like it. 4th Saturday of the month on odd months. $60 for the year. The blue barjelly above could have been a strip club quilt, as could this one from the Salt Creek Quilt show (sorry I forgot who made it) that looks like my Diced Pink pattern:
Or this one from Phil:
OUR FIRST SPEAKER was a success A fun time was had by all on Sunday when Jacquie Gehring shared her Modern Quilts with us. Here are a few pics for those of you who missed it. We have less than 5 of her books left if you would like one.
Jacquie is a big fan of straight line quilting: (this one's in the book)
THis on's in the book, too, and my favorite. Look closely at the bottom half and you'll see the shapes reflected in the quilting.
LOVE YOUR LOCAL QUILT SHOP DAY Can you believe there is a Visit Your LQS (Local Quilt Shop) Day? I feel strange even mentioning it, but I know that other shops are. It seems so Hallmark, or self serving. It's tomorrow, too. Thursday 1/24. We'd love to see you
PERSONAL Thanks for all the opinions about emails vs. Facebook. The answers were overwhelmingly in favor of emails. It was not even close. So I will keep these up. I have to share a quote I read, and if I was doing a lot of Facebook, I would probably put it up there: "WEIRD is just a side effect of being Awesome". Which reminds me that we ordered fabric from Dr. Suess's "Oh The Places You'll Go". I love that book. A good friedn gave it to me when Michaela was little. She went back to school at about age 35 to become a doctor. Now she is a doctor in Louisville specializing in geriatrics. She goes through a great process with families to determine what they all want as the patient ages. It sounded very comforting. I wish we'd had something like that for my mother in law.
Chris Sass 12/20/12 Hello Quilters! Here I am at the last minute as per usual. But at least last week I lined up quite a few of the Lunch N Learns. Today is on Disappearing Nine Patch at least two ways, and I think there may be a few more. You start by sewing quares into a nine patch, make a couple cuts, and voila, you have completely different blocks ready to be sewn in rows in a quilt, rather than making them block by block with little pieces. The first time I did it was in the old store with some pretty yellow, blue and white. Today, I have Christmas on the brain.
It's been very nice to see all the people coming in to get gift certificates for you and/or buying things that were on your wish list. Thank you very much for sending them in. This part of December can be quite slow in the shop except for sewing machine sales, so we have time to plan for next year. 2013. Yikes. On second thought, 13 is often a lucky number for me, as in found out new location on a Friday the 13th. I wonder if the whole year will be lucky? How's that for a positive attitude? Back to plans.... The Saturdays will work like this -
Saturday afternoons will have various classes taught by me or sometimes, Jacqueline. Having Jacqueline available to show sewing machines, leaves me free to teach all day Saturdays if I want to, and I want to. There's nothing more fun to me than passing on the techniques/tips/tricks I have learned and see the lights come on for you. Remember, if this was difficult, I wouldn't be doing it. Evenings - we are going to try doing some Thursday evening classes. The first ones lined up are
Sundays - Modern Group is still deciding on a regular date, but the first few of the new year are Jan 20th, Feb 10th and March 10th. Special Events - JACQUIE GERING, author and Modern Quilt Guild pioneer will be doing a lecture and trunk show on Sunday January 20th. $10. Sign up please so we can plan for chairs. I will admit that I was not familiar with her until I read her book, XXXXXXXX. Now I am a big fan.
Here's one of her quilts I saw in Houston:
AMY BRADLEY, pattern designer and comedianne will be here on March 24th doing a workshop from 1 - 4. You can do any of her patterns in the workshop. We may also arrange a trunk show of sorts. You've seen her patterns that Bobbi has made up. Here's a panel from her new fabric line, and our most recent model. You can see her other things at www.amybradleydesigns.com
BEAUTIES BOM This is a Five part Block of the month. The fabric for it just got here so we can start kitting it. Who's in? If you don't want to do it on your own, class is scheduled for Saturday afternoons Feb 9 &16, March 9th, April 13 & 20th. No, I don't have all the dollar amounts yet. Calls for about 15 yards of fabric, and the pattern and the class. That would make a very good Christmas present, wouldn't it? The actual quilt is in our store until Jan 6th when I must return it. Paper pieced. You WILL get the same results, even the exact colors.
SHOW and TELL Saturday was the last meeting of the Beginner Block of the Month. If you have made a quilt or five and want to advance your skills, this is the class for you. We'll start again January 12th at 10 am. $60, a steal compared to what other shops charge, and they don't usually get to teaching you how to actually quilt it, you just do the top. Only two of these are quilted now, but they all know how. If you get your top done, there is a drawing to have it quilted for free by quiltfabric.com. Keep in mind these all have the same blocks, just different fabric choices.
Winner of free quilting: This is her first quilt! Love the log cabin corners! Even recent surgery can't keep some women down:
Can you say Large? Check the creative use of fabric for the border.
Blodie with excellent use of skills learned from Stitcher's Garden in 2010. Most creative use of alternate squares to increase the size:
Masterful additions of sashings and it still lays flat!
In other news, at the advanced group, Becky is making progress on her bride quilt. Who says you can't teach your son to quilt? I helped a tiny bit with picking the purples Lois finished her intermediate quilt from a couple years ago. She divided the twelve blocks into 2 quilts. Makes me want to finish mine.
Chris Sass 12/12/12 Hello Quilters! Pictures are at the end, but while you wait for them to load........ GIFTS for QUILTERS How many ways can we say, "send your friends and family to quiltfabric.com for gifts for you"? Some of you have your husband trained, but not all. Especially for something in the stocking, which often goes forgotten at my house. When my wonderful staff was getting ready for the Open House, they made up some great gifts. We have at least a couple of each left:
I doubt you can see them in the picture, so there are calendars (engagement and regular), Christmas cards, wrapped mugs, a sewing kit, sewing shaped cookie cutters, gift pack (nailfile, tweezers, and scissors), memo cubes, puzzles, Electric Quilt, and little 6 Best Press "flavors". We can also make a Wish List just for you in the computer, and of course, there are gift certificates. BTW, since Christmas is on a Tuesday, and we are closed on Mondays, your gift givers have until Sunday the 23rd, at the latest, to get something from quiltfabric.com
JANOME SALE The best gift IMHO
Janome (rhymes with "ta KNOW me") has introduces a few new models lately, that are based on the new top of the line 12000 but without all the bells and whistles (read as still great, but more affordable if you don't embroider). They are on sale through Christmas. Wouldn't that make a great present to yourself? Jacqueline would love to show them to you. INNOVA LONG ARM UPDATE If you are following groups online, you know that this brand (our brand) is getting rave reviews. We will have at least one to rent out starting sometime in January. We also will be accepting quilts to be quilted, and holding classes on long arm quilting taught by experienced long arm quilters (not me although I did read three books on the subject while on vacation). If you are interested in buying a long arm, I am very interested in showing it to you, just please call ahead so I can be there and have a machine available for you to play on. There is a sale on through the end of the year. SEWING MACHINE TUNE UPS The holidays are a great time to get your sewing machine lubed up and tuned up. If you usually have to put the machine away, why not bring it to visit quiltfabric.com? That way it is out of your way, and can receive some tender loving care, and be ready to start the new year off right. Jim, Our service technician does the work right in the store on Thursdays. It's $85 if you didn't get your machine from us, $75 if you did. Jim can do any brand. He's been working on sewing machines for at least 25 years.
UPCOMING CLASSES Recently, Jacqueline and Joyce sat me down, and basically wouldn't let me get up until I had planned out months of classes. I seem to have some kind of commitment phobia with picking dates. They are on the website and I will be explaining them in future emails, but I want to get this out in time for tomorrow's Lunch n Learn. LUNCH N LEARN ON "MY CHRISTMAS TREE" (12/13/12) Noon $10. Just show up. This is a pattern I made up one year when I was frustrated that all the quilt patterns for Christmas trees didn't look enough like trees to suit me. We even had a contest to see who could decorate the best. I think that Susan, who is in the store every Saturday withy the embroidery machines won that one. Anyway, it is extremely simple (you know me, there's a trick) and I will give out the pattern. I have sewed a million little button holes in it so that I can stick a strink of lights through from the back and hang it on the wall in the dining room. The lights are not in it in this picture.
Next week will be Disappearing Nine Patch Expanded. This is such a great trick and yesterday a couple of alternatives just hit me when I was looking at a picture of a quilt that I had saved for 6 years and not gotten around to yet. Now I will, and it will be done for Christmas. Fast.
Christmas week (12/27) will be on Color My Way (I took a three day class from Joen Wolfrom once) and it is very logical and involves a color wheel. The first week in January will be Color Joyce's Way (I don't want to say that her was is ILlogical, but it is certainly not straight line thinking). She's better at it than I am, though. SHOW AND TELL The Intermediate Block of the Month wrapped up on Saturday. Anyone who had their top finished was entered in a drawing to have it quilted for free. Here they are. I never know if I should give names or not but This woman won the free quilting:
This woman had time to have a baby this year, and brought him to class a few times;
This woman drives all the way down from Gurnee for our classes
This woman used my favorite floral as the inspiration:
This woman made this for me (it's purple) just kidding:
This woman is our local contact for Project Linus: This woman has never taken off her glasses before: This woman used the most traditional colors: This woman is making a king size so she did doubles of all the blocks: If you think you'd like to do something like this, we are calling the group Way Beyond Beginner for next year. It will meet on the third Saturday of the month at 10 am. $60 for the year. A steal. NOVEMBER 15th 2012Hello Quilters! Happy Thanksgiving! It's too late to have these two cuties in your house for this year's Thanksgiving, but it comes again next year.
In the photo above, from top left to lower right - pretty floral group with purple, new group by Malka Dawbrosky, A collection that raises money for autism, new girlie girl group ( notice the dots and solids fade from dark to light), just interesting, really handsome traditional group of brown and red, safari group for boys, purple Christmas fabric that was gone in September but we got more, and boxes and boxes of Hoffman batiks. EMBROIDERY REMINDER - KENNY KREATIONS from AUSTRALIA will be showing off their quilts tomorrow (11/23). Won't they look nice in our "gallery"? 10 am. Free. Oh, and if you feel you need to buy something, their CDs will be buy 2, get one free. JANOME SEWING MACHINE SALE SAVE HUNDREDS OF $$$$$$$ Starting on Small Business Saturday (11/24) through the next Saturday (12/1) ALL our Janomes will be on sale for at least 20% off. Some will be more. Did you know they start at about $200? Friends don't let friends get their first sewing machine at a "big box" store because they won't get Jacqueline for lessons. If you would like to "move up" in your sewing machine from the 25 year old Singer that you have, JANOMEs are great values (about 70% of what a European brand costs) and very, very reliable. There are lightweight travel machines, workhorse quilting machines, fabulous embroidery machines, and some with all the bells and whistle you can think of, plus some you didn't think of! Come see, and bring Santa if you are not Santa.
Speaking of Santa... FIRST EVER EVENING OPEN HOUSE Next Thursday night, the 29th of November 7 - 9 pm. I have a really good staff, but you probably knew that. They came up with this idea to have an Holiday Open House that sounds really fun and entertaining for you, the person who usually does all the work to make Christmas (or Hannukah) happen. We'll have
And here's what I thought was the most brilliant idea:
We appreciate you, and hope you will find time to spend next Thursday evening (29th) with us!
DECEMBER SEW INS The classroom sewing is starting to catch on. We are offering it for you to sew on Saturday December 8th and 15th. We have 4 sewing machines available to use so you don't need to drag yours, but you better call and reserve one. All the time we are open, from 10 - 4. It will be like a little elves workshop. SHOW N TELL
FIRST IN STORE RETREAT SHOW AND TELL: There will be another in January (hint hint)
Mary's top from the Beginner Block of the MOnth (BOM). Starts again in January (hint hint):
Another Beginner BOM finishing up:
PERSONAL Seriously, thank you for reading my emails and for shopping at quiltfabric.com. I had lots to be thankful for this year, especially when quilt stores around the country continue to go out of business. Nov 12th ishHello Quilters! Again, I am wondering, where does the time go? How can Thanksgiving be next week? BIG MISTAKE Last time I said that Kenny Kreations was coming the day after Christmas. Eeeek. I should have said: The day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday. They are lovely people from Australia that do fabulous embroidery, and they have a gift for everyone who attends the TRUNK SHOW. It's a CD with designs on it. If you want to browse, their website is www.kennykreations.com. Lyn sent me a lovely picture of some of the designs but I can't seem to get it in here. I may have to do an attachment (gasp! something else to learn). This is the first Kenny Kreations quilt I ever saw: I thought it was the best combination of quilting and embroidery. Both those vines with animals, birds, and flowers, are embroidered! If you own an embroidery machine, you owe it to yourself to come see the quality of their digitizing. 10 am on Friday November 23rd, and yes, it is free. How rare is that? No, I don't know how long it will last. Doors will open a little early.
LUNCH N LEARN Thursday 11/15 Will focus on gifts. Yes, I have found the pattern for the casserole cover and I have other ideas, too. All I need is time! There's always this one if you can;t think of anything else:
Chris Sass NOVEMBER 5, 2012 Hello Quilters! Would you like something to distract you on election day? I know I would. How about coming to quiltfabric.com and doing some charity sewing/pressing/quilting? Our charity sew group is now planning to meet on the first and third Tuesday in our classroom. They got together last month and organized many, many kits. I've showed you pictures of their work before. They take donated fabric and make surprisingly good looking quilts. Currently their focus is on lap quilts for a couple of suburban nursing homes that were very happy to get some in the past. All volunteers can select a lap quilt kit, which includes all the fabric cut to size for the lap quilt top and the fabric for the lap quilt back. Each volunteer will be responsible for bringing or purchasing the crib sized batting (42 x 42 inches). The volunteers are asked to arrive at quiltfabric.com at 12:30 p.m. equipped with sewing machine and quarter inch foot, thread, pins, scissors and other sewing supplies. Each sewing session will end at around 3:30 pm. Join the fun and enjoy the camaraderie while helping keep nursing home patients warm in the upcoming winter season. RETREAT Repeat Announcement since there is still room "We are going to have our first retreat in our own store. How fun will that be? Run out of something, or decide you want a different fabric, and it will be right there. If you have never been on a retreat, you might wonder what it is.....it is a bunch of women who love to quilt and socialize sitting around a room, each with a large table to themselves and plenty of places to cut and press. Why would I want to schlep all my stuff to sew when I can do that at home? I thought that too, when I first heard of them. Several reasons. It's very comforting and soothing to be taken care of for 60 hours. Someone else has done all the meal planning and will do the dishes. No one will interrupt you constantly. It's interesting to take a break from your own project and walk around and look at what other people are doing. It's fun to help someone else who asks for assistance choosing between different border options. You might spend some needed quality time with a sister or friend, or you might make some new friends. It's great to be helped by other people who all have opinions, and expertise if you just ask for it. Last put not least, is a big block of time to engage in your hobby and actually make some progress. It's the same time of year as the last couple of retreats, ie; right before Thanksgiving so you can get some serious sewing done before the crunch. That's the weekend of November 16th to 18th. You can come as early as 10 am when we open on Friday, and it will end when we close on Sunday at 4 pm. The price including meals, snacks and some unspecified fun stuff is $120. We have some very good options for catered food with Moon Dance diner and Maggianos and Yu's Chinese all very nearby. You can either get a room at the GuestHouse or Best Western within 100 yards of us, or you can go home and sleep in your own bed. Your choice. " We have a few more spots. It's fun and gratifying. Weekend of November 16 - 18." EMBROIDERY Kenny Kreations of Australia will be at the store the day after Christmas. It's a free trunk show. This is kind of a big deal. This is one of only two stops in the country. Fans of theirs are coming in from Iowa to see this. Their embroidery designs are beautiful and you will get to see the original quilts. Take a look at their website here. LONG ARM This week's Lunch N Learn is Overview of Long Arm Quilting. This is for those of you who know nothing or very little about what they are and how you load quilts on them. Everyone who wants to will get a chance to try it. Be prepared to stand. BTW, I want to hire a person to run the Autopilot and supervise the long arm rentals. If you are somewhat experienced with a long arm, and interested in a steady income, let me know by emailing me at cbsass@aol.com with the subject Long Arm. FABRIC This is a little outside my "box" but I loved these Barbara Brackman reproductions from Moda And this is all purple. Who would have ordered that? Oh, me.
SHOW AND TELL Phil was in with his take on my pattern Diced Chocolate. I like it better. Cheri Stapleton has been using up some stash fabric. Aren't these two quilts a great use of a beautiful large print? AND she finished her quilt from when Debbie Caffrey was here several years ago. Mine is still in pieces in a box. Becky H has made several. Maybe I will bring that to work on during the retreat... PICTURES FROM HOUSTON Cutting Garden By Dawn Hayes: In my opinion, the best quilts are by the Japanese artists. I read an article once about how they take a year long intensive course (or was it two years) and they have to prove themselves at the end. You should see the workmanship on them and many are all by hand. Departure by Kiyomi Takayanagi:
Ocean Blue by Noriko Sato:
Chris Sass NOVEMBER 2, 2012 Hello Quilters! If you have some free time this weekend, may I suggest the following: 1, Today (you'd have to be reading this before 10 am) Starts at 10:30 to noon and has a second meeting in December. Bobbi is doing the Santa applique class, but you could also do the reindeer: Santa pattern comes with the hand painted face:
2. On Sunday afternoon she is doing free motion quilting (hands on). This class always fills, so I must not have told you about it. Starts at 1 pm. Pre-register if at all possible. 3. We will be getting a ton of new batiks soon, so I went through some of the racks and marked down over 40 to $8 a yard yesterday. Need a backing?
FABRIC Yellow, black, white and grey seem to be popular. We have a collection now, and here is more that I ordered: BOOK One of my heroes, Joen Wolfrom, the goddess of color, has a recent book that I missed. I took it home recently and so did Joyce. We agree it is fantastic!
MARKET QUILT PICTURES This lady must be a fan of Caryl Bryer Fallert: This one is nuts when you look at the detail of how she got the shading. They are all individual dots appliqued!
This one has lots of circles, too, but they are from the quilting:
There seemed to be more art quilts this year, than traditional. Chris Sass Halloween 2012 Hello Quilters! It hardly seems like Halloween. This neighborhood was once teeming with children, but 20 years later, the doorbell has rung less than 10 times. I had a really good time at Quilt Market this past weekend. I took literally hundreds of pictures to share with you. I know, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it. Tomorrow's Lunch N Learn will be me sharing what was new at Market. Be Colourful loaned me a quilt. It's gorgeous, paper pieced, has all the colors of the rainbow and black (my favorite color scheme) and it is going to be a block of the month class. I had to take it on the plane with me because I was afraid to check it in my luggage.
The Innovas arrived and two are set up, so next week's Lunch N Learn will be the Overview of Long Arms that had to be postponed. PRETTY PICTURES We had a lovely British lady in visiting her daughter who asked if she could come spend the day sewing. Of course, we said yes, and look what she got finished:
MODERN QUILTS AT HOUSTON One of the first things I saw at Houston was an exhibit by the Modern Quilt guild. There was a very nice young woman at the table who was very helpful in helping me understand the movement, and how it started. After talking to her, and wandering the show floor for three days, I feel like I understand it much better. One of the quilts I really liked is by the woman that started the Chicago group. I hope she's not one of the ones who was upset about my public transportation remarks! Did I mention that our group had their first get together and have two more scheduled for November and December? They will not conflict with the Chicago group's meetings in case you want to do both.
QUILTS OF VALOR SEW IN We had a disappointing turnout (were you all home watching the Sandy pictures on TV?) but we had a lot of fun. About 7 people came from Great Lakes Naval Air Station Reserve Management, and yours truly taught them how to quilt. Turns out they are very good at ironing because they are taught to iron their uniforms. They all took a try at piecing, too, and Rita was happy with my faster method to make the same blocks she was doing with many pieces. It will save a lot of time in the future.
BACK TO HOUSTON I love it when I come around a corner, and there's a quilt I remember seeing in a magazine. They are always better in person. Here's Kitty Corner by Janet Fogg, in increasing detail:
Al is Flowing by Anita Welty:
Wrath by Dianne Firth
PERSONAL Someone sent me a link to a new form of CPR that is more likely to save a life if someone collapses with an apparent heart attack. It seems very doable. I want you all to know what to do if I, or anyone else, needs it! http://ahsc.arizona.edu/node/730 And since I am sending links, here's the best video I found last night of the devastation of the Jersey shore. It reminds me of a video taken of the Japanese shore after the tsunami from a helicopter. That video disappeared about a week later. It seemed as if they didn't want people to see how bad it really was. It was bad. Had to say which is worse........so powerful.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vHo43V2Pek&feature=youtube_gdata_player Chris Sass OCTOBER 25, 2012 Hello Quilters! Why is there never enough time? Pictures at the end.... FEAR NO COLOR CLASS - Make a Pineapple Quilt with Joyce
Joyce asked me to remind you that there are a couple spots left. This is your chance to spend quality time with our color queen. Class will discuss color principles in a simple practical way.
Learn how to use the pineapple tool and build confidence in making color choices,
A follow up class will discuss block placement. Date and time to be determined at time of first class.
Date: Sunday, October 28 TH 12:30 - 4 PM.
Fee $40
Contact Joyce at the shop prior to class
MACHINE EMBROIDERY CLUB MEETS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 AT 9:00 A.M. Join our machine embroidery club members for a demonstration of how to embroider on mylar to make your projects shimmer and shine. Share your completed embroidery projects and see what others are doing with their embroidery machines. Cost: $10, or free with purchase of an embroidery design pack. (All Dakota Collectible design packs are 25% off!)
This example of a mylar design is from Kenny Kreations. The owners of Kenny Kreations will be at quiltfabric.com for a Trunk Show on Friday, November 23 (more details to come, but save the date)! They also designed the Jacobean Garden and Midnight Roses quilts that so many of you have admired and made. That's the day after Thanksgiving. INNOVAS ARRIVED
The new machines suddenly showed up last Saturday and the Autopilot is set up and the rental will be finished today. Yipee! I can now catch up on the dozen quilts for customers that have been waiting patiently.
QUILTS OF VALOR
Remember to come help us sew on Tuesday Oct 30th. Some actual Navy personnel will be stopping by. I think that's exciting. Rita Pennington is the local contact.
NOVEMBER RETREAT
A place of your own to sew all weekend. No cooking, no cleaning, no phone calls (unless you choose to answer). Sound fun? Join us Nov 16th to 18th. Details in previous email, which you can find on www.quiltfabric.com under News, or call the store (630) 321-9051. $120.
QUILT MARKET
It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. Tomorrow am I leave for Houston for my first Market in 18 months. I'm very excited after such a long break. What does this mean for you? Besides new stuff in the store? It means lots and lots of pictures of fantastic quilts in my emails in the coming months! Very few shop owners bother to look at the quilt show. I, on the other hand, can hardly tear myself away. I may do some Facebook uploads, so you may want to go "like" the quiltfabric.com page. I uploaded a new album this morning of the pictures I took at the Prairie Star guild show at the DuPage county fairgrounds last Friday. Was that only a week ago?
KENNY KREATIONS EMBROIDERY
They are fantastic, and from Australia. They are going to have an American Thanksgiving at my house (I figure they won't know if I am not very good at it) and then do a trunk show at the store the day after at 10 am. If you like EMBOIRDERY at all, be there or you will be sorry later. Literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.
PRAIRIE STAR QUILT SHOW
Last Friday I spent a very enjoyable few hours at their show. I hit the jackpot in the used books. They thought I was crazy (although happy to take my money) for 34 books. I've read a couple, and already learned some new tricks which I will add into today's Tricks and Tips Lunch N Learn at noon. Yikes, I gotta go!
Please dont get mad at me for not having the names of who made them. I had them all named, but it got lost in translation, They are on the Facebook album....I think.
   Ginny?:
 Elizabth Taylor:
   Chris Berry:
 Chris Sass OCTOBER 10, 2012 Hello Quilters! Isn't he cute? If I had taken the picture better, you'd see his boots, and see that he is coming down the chimney. It's another one of those cute patterns that has the "accessory kit" with the glasses, eyes, and beard.
LUNCH N LEARN tomorrow at noon is on my three favorite, fastest quilts from strips. I have even been making pieces ahead of time to make one right before your very eyes. Wow, there might not be so much pretending necessary. In case you have not tried a Lunch N Learn yet, it's an inexpensive way to take a class and only use an hour of your life. It's $10 and we include lunch with that. Just bring the money, cash, in your hot little hand, and I do appreciate exact change, just like the flight attendants used to. Seriously, this is a great way to learn something without much commitment of time or money. It's only an hour, starting and noon. This one in particular covers three of my patterns, and what another lady took a whole book to cover. If anyone can find an easy way to make a quilt, it's me. Come see.
MYSTERY QUILT OPENINGS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON What happens if you choose one of the following bundles of fabric, and spend four hours with Bobbi & Charlotte?
You get something like this: These are four of the many, many mystery quilts that have been made over the years. The mysteries were full before they began many times but finally some people have moved away, etc, and there is room for you in a Sunday afternoon session. This is a great time. For $65, you get the fabric for the center of the quilt, the class, and a great meal. For a long time I couldn't figure out why these were SO popular with repeat participants. Then I stuck around for one. The food! I should have known since both Bobbi and Charlotte are great cooks.
In case you are not familiar with a Mystery Quilt......You pick your fabrics from the selections that B & C have made. Then you come pick up your packet of fabrics and you may have a little cutting to do ahead of time. When you come to class, they give you a "clue" like sew a 2 inch strip of fabric A to a 3 inch strip of fabric B. You get the step by step (clue by clue) of what to do, but you do not know what it is going to look like. It's a mystery, get it? Toward the end of the class, they will reveal the finished sample. They have borders picked out that you can buy for a finishing kit, and they have the fabrics picked for the next class for you to choose from. Usually the big disadvantage of doing a mystery is that you pick fabrics with no idea which one will go where, so you often end up with an ugly quilt. Because B & C are also both very good with color choices, and because they know what the finished product will look like, you don't end up with an ugly quilt. And you have fun with other quilters. And you eat. What's not to like? So if you are interested, get in on this one. Who knows when there will be openings again. FYI we do these mysteries about every 6 weeks on a Friday night and Sunday afternoon. November 11th from 2 - 6 pm. $65.
REALLY YUMMY FLANNEL. This is yarn dyed, not printed, so it would work great in chenille, or "rag" quilts. Many of them look like fine wool. They feel great. And at $10 a yard, are a relative bargain. We all want pajama pants out of them, or to make a man's quilt.
NEW JUDY NIEMEYER TABLE RUNNER called Cactus Flower. We all loved the colors that Deb had picked. We had enough for 6 kits. Don't wait.
JASON YENTER FABRIC He and his mother own In the Beginning Fabric and before that, a store near Seattle. He's done several Christmas lines, but this is a return to bright. The picture does not do it justice. There are two kits in different color ways plus fabric in another colorway. It's a little like Paula Nadelstern fabric, if you know what I mean. This fabric was late arriving, and I was tempted to refuse it, but I really like it. So did Jacqueline.
Why I ordered this hot pink, and green, I do not know. Maybe it was a rainy day in March when I ordered it. It certainly is bright and cheerful, but it reminds me of my friend Dierdre's childhood bedroom.
LAYER CAKES GALORE I hope this doesn't just look like a mess, but we now have a lot of layer cakes. The one in the lower left is all food, and Jacqueline whipped up a table runner out of it. We are going to be starting a club that uses layer cakes, soon. And yes, I plan to start Strip club up again. This is just one of seven cute wall hangings that Bobbi made by cutting apart a single panel and then framing them with other fabrics. Some of them glow with her fabric choices. We packaged the panel up with strips of all the fabrics she used and priced it so it comes out to $25, tax included, for the shop hop*. We still have some left. I am doing the same thing to a different panel, and will show how to do it as a small part of my Lunch N Learn tomorrow. I do it "quilt as you go", Bobbi did it the "hard" way because she is a better machine quilter.
PRETTY FABRIC by French something (I forgot)
NEW TRADTIONAL Again, the picture doesn't do it justice.
* The shop hop had the lowest attendance since we started in about 2002. If any one cares to tell me why you do or do not, do shop hops, please tell one of the shop owners. I'm sure there's more, but I think this is long enough for now. Briefly,
I attended a webinar today on how to put classes on my website and found out why you couldn't actually purchase the classes online, so I will be fixing that. You might want to take a look tomorrow, or call the store if you want to sign up. Thank you! Chris Sass OCTOBER 3, 2012 Hello Quilters!
Tomorrow (Thursday 10/4) the Lunch N Learn is Overview of Machine Quilting. This is the most popular one, but now we have room! I will explain all the tools, gadgets, needles, and threads that make machine quilting possible on a regular home sewing machine. This is for someone who has never tried free motion quilting, or tried it and was annoyed/disappointed/frustrated, etc. This is not hands on. I promise you will be able to sit down and try free motion quilting with reasonably good results after this. It's not too late to make some gifts or finish UFOs. $10 cash, no registration necessary, includes lunch. We had our first big class in the new room. 18 people sewing. They decided we could use more places to iron, but other than that, it was fine. They were making the Gacier Star quilts like you see on the walls. COME SEW AT THE STORE We have designated some times to for you to just come in and use our giant classroom. Like a quilting clubhouse. I hope I can make this clear. On the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, there is Open Sewing. On the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays there is Assisted Sewing. The difference is that Assisted Sewing means that Jacqueline will be in the classroom to help you if you need it and so it costs $15. All the days are meant to be fun and give you room to spread out. We hope it will also be a way for friends to gather when none of your homes are easy to gather in (and lets face it, no matter what some people claim, none of your homes have as much fabric to choose from if you run out of something). It will be no reservations required, until we start getting to capacity, and then we will just add more days. They are on our website calendar under classes. NEW PIECED BLOCK OF THE MONTH - MILL GIRLS Sorry I don't have a picture of our finished model. These are pictures of what it looks like as it is going together. It is a ten month program. $15 to sign up and then $25 a month for ten months. The first six months you make the same block that is in the border 4 times for a total of 24 around the border. BTW it's a large, 98 by 98 inch quilt. Then you make the very center block, then the rest of the center medallion, then the checker board, then the borders that are made from stripe fabric. You get to learn my oh so simple way to miter striped fabric.
This is the full quilt:
We already have the fabric, we just need to cut as many kits as we need, so don't delay letting us know that you want to be in on it.
SHOW AND TELL Jolyn finished her Glacier Star just at the end of the weekend. Truth be told, she had done a lot of the paper piecing ahead of time. This is in the fabrics of Judy Niemeyer's original quilt because Jolyn bought a kit when they first came out.
Brooke strikes again: I say that because she has had a quilt hang in Houston.
Close up:
PERSONAL Not a darn thing. I am just smiling most of the time. People keep asking me how I like the new store? What's not to like? I'm very happy and we just celebrated 11 years! Thank you. Chris SassSEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Hello Quilters! What's the fun of owning a quilt store, if I don't occasionally buy something just for fun?
Jane Sassaman, a local Chicago famous quilter, has new fabric, and a new book that shows you what to do with it: This is a reminder that we always have lots of fabrics for baby and children's quilts: The second batch of solids arrived: A couple new music fabrics:
LONG ARMS Do NOT be fooled by other presentations on quasi-long arms. If you could get the real thing, and the BEST of the real thing, for as low as $7995, why would you spend that much on something that is obviously inferior? I am speaking of machines doctored up by some of the sewing machine companies. Check out the INNOVAS by ABM international before you buy anything else. As I mentioned last week, the five biggest Gammill dealers left Gammill and came to ABM International/INNOVAs. There must be something to it.
SHOW AND TELL This is a Judy Niemeyer pattern done by Karen. She was in my beginner class just last year. Go Karen!
LUNCH N LEARN tomorrow is on the Lil Twister ruler and the fun things you can make with it. SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 Hello Quilters!
I hope that made you laugh. I love Maxine, and we got some new fabric with her on it. There are a lot of things to show and tell, so you might want to sit down. QUILT ESCAPE
We are going to have our first retreat in our own store. How fun will that be? Run out of something, or decide you want a different fabric, and it will be right there. If you have never been on a retreat, you might wonder what it is.....it is a bunch of women who love to quilt and socialize sitting around a room, each with a large table to themselves and plenty of places to cut and press. Why would I want to schlep all my stuff to sew when I can do that at home? I thought that too, when I first heard of them. Several reasons. It's very comforting and soothing to be taken care of for 60 hours. Someone else has done all the meal planning and will do the dishes. No one will interrupt you constantly. It's interesting to take a break from your own project and walk around and look at what other people are doing. It's fun to help someone else who asks for assistance choosing between different border options. You might spend some needed quality time with a sister or friend, or you might make some new friends. It's great to be helped by other people who all have opinions, and expertise if you just ask for it. Last put not least, is a big block of time to engage in your hobby and actually make some progress. It's the same time of year as the last couple of retreats, ie; right before Thanksgiving so you can get some serious sewing done before the crunch. That's the weekend of November 16th to 18th. You can come as early as 10 am when we open on Friday, and it will end when we close on Sunday at 4 pm. The price including meals, snacks and some unspecified fun stuff is $150. We have some very good options for catered food with Moon Dance diner and Maggianos and Yu's Chinese all very nearby. You can either get a room at the GuestHouse or Best Western within 100 yards of us, or you can go home and sleep in your own bed. Your choice. Price for the weekend including food is $120 ********************************************* INNOVA LONG ARM NEWS This is really exciting news. Are you ready? The five largest Gammill dealers in the whole country, all quit Gammill on the same day, and came over to ABM International and the INNOVA long arm machines! Happy dance. I think this is proof of what I have been saying for years about how good the INNOVA is. These dealers kept seeing the INNOVAs at shows, and talking, and thinking, and decided that they were tired of all the repair work they have to do on Gammills and that the would be left in the dust some day, so basically - "If you can't beat them, join them". I am thrilled. The Gammill dealer in Stevensville Michigan, Accomplish Quilting, is one of the ones who switched. I will be getting my machines from there and we are working together on setting up my training center. The current plan is to have four 22 inch machines for rent when we are not having classes. And we will have a new machine with Autopilot to quilt customer quilts. They are on sale this month. Here are the specials:
**************************************************** LUNCH N LEARN CLASSES Last week I made a mistake on the lunch schedules but no one pointed it out to me until yesterday. I scheduled two things for 9/13 which was last week. So, the second thing, paper piecing is getting eliminated, and we'll do it another time. These are Drop in sessions on different topics on Thursdays at noon (and yes there will be some on Saturdays soon). All will be lecture demo so don't bring a sewing machine. Almost all will have a handout. A few will have hands on with materials supplied by us. All you need to bring is $10 cash in your hand, thus no bottleneck to sign up, just show up.
9/20 WEDGIES, What to do with a wedge ruler. They make fun, fast table runners and tree skirts. AND show and tell other fall favorites (bring some of yours if you want to) 9/27 LIL TWISTER, this cute little ruler/gadget that swept the country last year has been taken to new heights to make actual pictures, like reindeer and pumpkins. Fun. 10/4 OVERVIEW OF MACHINE QUILTING, for those of you who have never tried it, I will show you a bunch of things to make it less scary, and even let you try it on our machines. 10/11 FAVORITE FAST QUILTS FROM STRIPS, this is three in one of my originals - Diced Pinks, Diced Chocolate, and Lover's Knot. Think gifts for those that you must do but don't want to put a ton of effort into. They won't know it was easy. 10/18 OVERVIEW OF LONG ARM QUILTING MACHINES, by this time we will have the long arm training center set up, and I'll show you some of what they can do. 10/25 PIECING TRICKS AND TIPS I'll make a list of my favorite, big payoff tips 11/1 WHAT WAS NEW AT QUILT MARKET I haven't gone to one in a year and a half, so I am sure to be fired up after this one 11/8 CASSEROLE CARRIER, Be ready for going over the river to grandmothers house for Thanksgiving in style. Easy, makes a great gift, too. 11/15 HOLIDAY PROJECT To Be Determined Remember how cramped these were in the "old" store?:
They are not anymore, because we have so much room.
SHOP HOPs The Northern Illinois Shop Hop is over. It was the first time we did it and we liked it. Very nice people came through our store. I hope we can do it again next year. The winner of our gift basket is Debbie Connolly of Chicago!
Northern Illinois
Quilt Shop Hop
2012
The Winners are listed below.Congratulations to the winners.
Our local shop hop is in only two weeks. This would be a good excuse to come see out new store if you live a little farther away and only come here once in a while. It's Thursday October 4th through Sunday the 7th. That's a week earlier than usual. If you wear festive fall clothes, you can get a coupon from each store worth a discount. As usual there are 14 gift certificates, 7 gift baskets, and a grand prize of 200 fat quarters of fabric from Quilting Treasures (a fabric manufacturer). Shop hops are really fun, especially if you set some mission for yourself, like gathering red and green Christmas fabric, or figuring out what each store has that is unique and making a note of it. We are getting ready with a lot of quick, inexpensive fall and Christmas kits for you.
WESTERN SUBURBAN SHOP HOP October 4– 7, 2012 The Harvest Hop VISIT 7 OF YOUR FAVORITE QUILT SHOPS GRAND PRIZE—200 FAT QUARTERS!!! 1st PRIZES: 7 total - $200 GIFT BASKETS SHOP HOP HOURS Thursday: 10 am—8 pm Fri & Sat: 10 am—5 pm Sunday: Noon—4 pm NOTE: ALL SHOPS WILL BE OPEN THESE HOURS DURING THE SHOP HOP ********************************************* QUILTS OF VALOR charity sew in Rita Pennington is the local coordinator. You saw her holding bolts of red, white and blue wide backing that I donated. Now that we have some serious space to sew in, we are hosting a sewing day with them on Tuesday, October 30 for a Quilt of Valor sew-in. We will have kits available and if you are not able to stay, pick up a kit and return it to the shop. Chris has agreed to accept tops for Quilts of Valor. You may also want to donate fabric (oh, do our troops LOVE Red/white and blue quilts!), again, drop off good quality fabric and we will make up more kits. Your help is needed. Let's show the Illinois patriotism!! Rita has tops that need quilting. Will you help us get these finished and to our troops. These quilts ARE making a difference. It's a quilter's way of Service to our country by giving a small thank you for what they sacrifice for us. Tuesday, October 30, 10 AM - ? (shop is open until 5 PM), Quiltfabric.com, Rt 83 and Ogden in St. James Crossing (818 Ogden, Westmont). They have moved to a much bigger store. To find out more, check Rita's blog, http://lolqov.blogspot.com, or email her: reg6IL@QOVF.org OPEN SEW in our new classroom Now that we have a huge classroom to sew in, (65 by 20 feet),we want it to be used. We'll start slow, and add more days if needed. There will be Tuesdays (the 2nd and 4th of the month) and Wednesdays (the 1st and 3rd of the month), so essentially, every week there is a day when you could come and sew. The difference is that on Tuesdays you are on your own. On Wednesdays, Jacqueline will be there with you to help, encourage, teach, or whatever you want to call it. Wednesdays are the day to bring something to work on that you could use some assistance with. Or not. if Wednesday is just a better day for you, come on over, but Wednesday is $15, while Tuesdays are free. I wanted to call Wednesdays with Jacqueline "Assisted Sewing" but not everyone finds that as funny as I do. *********************************************** QUILT SHOWS - public service announcement T'is the fall season for local quilt shows. I am delighted that the no two are on the same weekend! This is huge. You could go to a quilt show every week for the next four weeks if you wanted to. I think it is very important to support the guilds by attending their shows. This is how they raise money to pay for their speakers and other programs for the two years in between shows. Plus the quilts are more "achievable" than the professional quilts. I think all beginners should go. You will get tons of ideas! So many quilts so little time. Here's a picture from Millie Sorrell's presentation at the Pride of the Prairie guild in Plainfield a few months ago: All of the local Chicago area guild meetings are open to visitors. You just pay a guest fee of about $5 - 8 dollars. They all have websites now with their schedules. Here are the upcoming shows: 2) Quiltmakers of Kankakee (not quite local, but I was a vendor there last time and they are very nice) 3) Heritage Quilters Guild of South Suburbia 4) Prairie star Quilters Guild I forgot I had these pictures from Paduca - it's their raffle quilt at Prairie Star:
********************************************* SHOW AND TELL Becky H's Sincerely Yours
Beverly's Lori Smith quilt. Excellent job. Beverly also made two of the same Stripped in Bali that I made. The second one doesn't try to use a jelly roll, it's just 4 fabrics:
Kari is the one who always makes things smaller. These look normal right...? Look again, that's a quarter sitting in the center!
I think this was Sally's from the Jan Krentz class.
I never did finish my zig zag quilt (Gooseberry Falls), but Margo and Ruth did:
TIP - BINDING BY MACHINE VIDEO I do my quilt binding entirely by machine. I sew it to the BACK side, and putll it around to the front, and "top stitch" close to the edge to sew it down. Here's a minute video on how to do it including turning the corner. Or, if that doesn't work, cut and past this link: http://youtu.be/za2x0IcIcNY PERSONAL Going through one of those rare phases when everything is good so I am just trying to enjoy it. Michaela has a job for after college, Tim started a new job that is close to home, and I have a new store. OK, Trevor needs to do better in school, but he's not getting kicked out of school for drugs or anything! Thanks for shopping at quiltfabric.com.
Chris Sass If you don't want to get these emails, please just reply and say so. |
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No, you can't look inside, I took the picture from another website.
