Hello Quilters!

I was down in Houston Thursday through Monday for Quilt Market. What can I say? I went, I saw, I bought. Actually I had a really good time this time. I think it was because I had not gone since Spring of 2006, so it was all fresh and new again instead of same old, same old.

There are so many talented pattern designers and beautiful fabric. Timeless Treasures had kits and I bought one of each, and then my suitcases were over the 50 pound limit at the airport. Luckily, Jane and Tammy from Thimbles were with me and took some of my stuff in their suitcases. At one point, then Tammy's suitcase was overweight, and we shifted some to Jane's. Or was it Jane's to Tammy's? Good thing there was no line behind us and thanks to Tammy and Jane.

Right now, I have the classroom table covered with all the projects and patterns that I brought back with me, and other things will be arriving in the mail daily. I have the 2008 calendar out and I am trying to plan it out. Gee, after six years I am finally planning ahead more!

PFAFF CREATIVE VISION
This is the new top of the line machine that is fantastic. We got our first shipment yesterday so now I have them in stock. I am relatively sure I have the best price around since I am giving the same price as other dealers WITHOUT requiring you trade in your current machine.

CLASS TOMORROW - Machine quilting overview
If you have been afraid to try free motion quilting, this is the class for you. I will tell you about the tools and tricks that make it easy. It's easier and more fun than quilting in the ditch once you know the secrets. It's only about an hour at 10:30 for $10. You can just show up if you want to.

JANOME 6600
Since I will be at the Janome booth at the Mancuso show in Schaumburg next weekend, and since the other dealer and I have to sell the classroom full of 6600s, if we do not sell them at the show, I will have some for a deal Nov 15th - 17th. They will have been used in a classroom for a few days, so they have to be discounted. This is the most popular Janome we sell. I love it, love it, love it.

MYSTERY CLASSES
If you have been shut out of the mysteries in the past, we have just added two sessions of the same mystery in the hopes of giving some new faces a chance. The country is Greece. Remember you get a meal, the fabric, and the class for $60 and Bobbi and Frankie can both really cook (as opposed to me who can microwave). The dates are Friday night November 30th from 6 - 10 pm or Sunday December 9th from 2 - 6. I will try to get it up on the web, but you can always call or come in the store. Actually, you need to come in the store anyway to pick which color selection you want, and then to pick them up for cutting before class.

Hello Quilters!

I thought you might like to see some smiling faces with their very first quilts. They completed their class here this summer. This class (formerly called Lucky Stars) is now on DVD (cleverly called How To Make Your First Quilt). I think would make a great gift for that friend of yours that you would like to start quilting. You can only get it from quiltfabric.com. $20

They all made exactly the same pattern but they look different based on the fabrics you pick.  Look at those happy faces!

October 20 2007

Time flies doesn't it.  The weather can play games with us too.  With so many leaves on the trees, I keep thinking it's September, and am surprised to find that it is October. Yikes.

Thank you to the shop hoppers.  It was fun to see a lot of new faces and I hope that they will be back again, soon.

I am off to the annual Quilt Market in Houston on Thursday. This is a mammoth convention where the shop owners go to buy fabric and patterns, and books, and get new ideas.  It is fun, exhilarating and exhausting.  I definitely have to pace myself.

This time, I am presenting a "schoolhouse" to other store owners about the DVD that Karen and I have made.  It is cleverly called "How to Make Your First Quilt" because it is about how to make a first quilt. We're very excited about it.  We basically took the total beginners class that I teach, and recorded it with an Emmy-award-winning producer this summer.  He made me look good!

As I write this it is being duplicated so I can take them to market.  We hope it will be good for gifts to people who you would like to get quilting, and we intend to use it for people who come into the store with an interest in learning, but we don't have a class to fit their schedule.  It will retail for $19.99 and we will have them by Thursday (or I am in deep trouble).

On to other things... I will try to get the classes online so you can sign up there, too.

BUTTERFLY KISSES BLOCK OF THE MONTH
I must not have explained about the Butterfly Kisses block of the month very well, because some people didn't understand that it would include the fabric exactly as pictured.  You have a choice of brown borders or green borders.  I found a picture of the green, so here they both are again: 

The registration fee is $25 and then the kits will be $16.50 each month for 10 months. If you want to get the whole thing in one fell swoop we can do that. You will also have an option to attend a monthly class (for 10 months) where I will demo the block and do my infomercial spiel, or just come in during the month to pick it up. In either case, you will have to commit to the whole program by giving me a credit card number that can be charged the $16.50 each month.

We are taking sign ups now and please specify green or brown. We will get a packet to make a model soon, and then the fabric arrives in bulk in late November.

JUDY NIEMEYER MINI RETREAT
Much to my surprise, we have two spots left with Judy Niemeyer on Sunday and Monday November 10th and 11th. See www.quiltworx.com. We will be doing 4th of July or Sunflower Illusions or Total Eclipse. Your choice. Here they are:

MACHINE QUILTING CLASSES
After a long break, Valli Schiller, of increasing fame, and award winning-ness, is scheduled to teach on Saturday afternoon November 17th. She will be teaching her "Amazingly Easy Free Motion On the Line".

Love the look of traditional hand quilting, but don't have the time? Learn how to achieve an heirloom look with your home sewing machine. You'll learn about the best threads and batting for heirloom style free motion quilting, where to use fancy quilting designs and how to mark them on your quilt top. You'll have hands-on time to practice. Some machine quilting experience helpful. Requires darning or free motion foot for sewing machine. 3 hours.

Before you can take Valli's class, you must have taken another one, or taken my Machine Quilting Overview which is offered next on Saturday morning November 3rd from 10 - 11:30ish am. This is so rank beginners at machine quilting can ask any questions, and I will show you the tools that make machine quilting possible even for me. Then Valli can spend her valuable time on the things that she does best, not the basics. Sound fair?

APPLIQUE ROOSTERS BLOCK OF THE MONTH

These roosters are incredible, thanks to Bobbi Butler's color sense and workmanship. This will go for 10 months (9 roosters and the setting). Starts in January. I don't have the monthly fees worked out yet but the registration will be $25.

The really brilliant thing about this program is that the pattern has "complicated" and "simple". Our sample is the complicated, and each rooster might have 43 pieces. But in the simplified version each rooster has about 20 pieces. You could use any method of applique. The sample is fused. Here are some pictures.

TIP FOR EVERYONE
Buy a GOOD surge protector (Frankie likes the Belkin brand) for your machine, and do not have your iron and machine on the same circuit if you can help it. I don't mean the same plug, I mean the same circuit. Irons draw much more power than machines and can affect the electronic machines. Embroidery machines seem to be the most suspectible to power surges blowing the boards in them. Replacement is upwards of $200. You may not even know you are having surges, but with ComEd, trust me you are. We have a stereo that goes on by itself every time and that is about every 6 weeks at least. As an extra credit tip, put your refrigerator on a surge protector, too. We had the compressor blown on one and that was an $800 part. Got a new refrigerator instead.

FABRIC FABRIC FABRIC
We have the most realist vegetables you have ever seen.
The cutest (and most) coffee fabric
Tons of sports including lacrosse
We are fully stocked on Minkee and Flurr in baby colors and also some brights like red and lime green and some darks.
Lots of white on white and cream on cream, etc., up by the batkis where you can see them in the sunlight
We put all the "boy" fabric together in the same place
So many basic brights that they are overflowing onto the floor right now
Three racks of black and whites (I don't know how that happened)
Lots of Christmas and Fall and a little Halloween left.
Hundreds of bolts in the "sale corner" at 40% off (they gotta move out to make room for what I'll be buying at market
Many, many new batiks. September is one of the big delivery months for batiks.

SEWING MACHINE TIP
Please don't plug your sewing machine into the same outlet, or even circuit that has your iron. Irons draw three times the power of your machine.  That draws down the power available to your machine, and can cause surges or brown out type things which can fry the board of your machine.  We just had such a machine brought in this morning. It happens more often than we would like, so I am telling you about it again.

Also, always thread your machine with the presser foot UP, not down.

Chris Sass
quiltfabric.com
888 75th Street
Willowbrook
www.quiltfabric.com
open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 - 5,
Friday & Saturday from 10 - 4
Sunday from 12:30 - 4
Closed on Mondays
(630) 321-9051

Hello Quilters!

This email is for school teachers or friends of school teachers. Please pass this around to teachers you know who have expressed an interest in quilting, or have just done a little bit. 

Quilting is fun, relaxing, creative,and is chance to be with women of common interests. It's also great for showing grade school children some geometry.

I know how busy teachers are during the school year and what a good job they do for the children in this area.  My kids are in District 203 and are certainly getting a good education. Thank you.

I just put some beginner classes on the schedule specifically for teachers. They can learn to quilt quickly, and early in the summer, so they have time to enjoy it.  One is a particularly "fasttrack" class, over only two weeks in June. The other is once a week for 4 weeks.

The class is called Lucky Stars and the project looks like this in bright fabrics:

If you like more traditional fabrics it might look like this:

Here it is again in some contempory colors:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
The first meeting teaches how to cut using a rotary cutter, mat and ruler, and how to get a good quarter inch seam. The homework is to cut the required pieces.  The second session the students learn about piecing, pressing and some tricks.  Homework is to make as many of the blocks as possible. The third session continues the piecing, and demonstrates machine quilting.  The fourth session continues with machine quilting and wraps up with binding.  Most students finish their quilt by the end of the class or shortly there after.

The "fasttrack" Lucky Stars will be Wednesday and Friday mornings June 13,15, 20 & 22nd from 10 am to noon.

The regular Lucky Stars will meet on Wednesdays July 11, 18, 25 & August 1st also from 10 to noon.

The class fee is $60 and some supplies and fabric are required.  Students do not need to get anything ahead of time!  We will discuss all that at the first session.  A discount on supplies will be offered as a token of our appreciation.

Hello Quilters!

Do you watch The View?  I do occassionally.  Well, last Friday, Rosie O'Donnell was raving about her new Janome Sewing machine, the DC2007, and everyone in the audience got one.  Who knew that Rosie likes to craft and sew?!  Apparently, a few weeks ago, she mentioned that she'd like to get a sewing machine for her birthday, and someone from Janome was paying attention and gave her one.  She said she liked it so much that she bought an embroidery machine, too, and had been embroidering stuff all over the house and her kids clothes.

We actually have had a few people come looking for that machine.  I am so excited.  Anything that boosts awareness of sewing is good with me.  Here's a picture of it.  Lots of features for an MSRP of $649.

MARTHA STEWART

Then on Tuesday it was as if lightening had struck twice when Martha Stewart endorsed PFAFFs on her show.  I did not actually see that one so if anyone did, please tell me about it.

NEW FABRIC

I don't know why I didn't include pictures last month, but here's a picture of my new favorite fabric (Sanctuary by Moda) and then a quilt I made out of it.  There is a kit available.

STASH BUSTERS

I have heard a bit of moaning about how big those stashes are at your homes.  So I am going to help out.  I am starting some occasional classes that will have a good, fast quilts to help you use some of it up.  This is the first one.   It's a super, super easy and fast one.   All you need is a yard of each of 4 fabrics that go together and you will be able to make the size shown.  We'll give some cutting directions, and preliminary sewing directions when you sign up, so you can come ready to sew, sew, sew, and a little cutting. One weekday and one weekend.  Thursday April 26th from 1 - 4 and Saturday April 28th from 1 - 4.  $20.

NEW MODELS:

The most recent American Patchwork and Quilting had a quilt that we liked, and made up into a kit.  Here it is:

Louise made up a new Lucky Stars model out of the Cornucopia fabric and we have kits for that.  Well, really it just takes a bundle and some background fabric:

Charlotte made up a very cute baby quilt out of some new fabric. There is a kit for this one.

Dr. Becky made this stunner (but then I like anything with all the colors and black).  It will be a "strip club" quilt later.  For now, there is a kit.

MORE NEW FABRIC:

This picture is of some new fabric that I think is so typically quiltfabric.com

MYSTERY TOUR

Our Mystery classes had a little break but now we have two more scheduled.  There is a repeat visit to Indonesia on Sunday afternoon May 20th from 12:30 - 4:30 with Bobbi leading the way.  She was in here yesterday picking the fabrics and they are scrumptious.  I think I want one just to look at.  The price is $60 for the batik fabric, the class and the food served.

PERSONAL

The Janome Academy two weeks ago went very well.  I had two very gratifying experiences.   As it turned out, everyone who signed up had an embroidery machine.  So they were not all quilters.  My part of the teaching was to do Free Motion Machine Quilting.  Some of them did not want to learn it.  When I was finished, a few still didn't want to do it, but some people had found out that it can be fun.  And all of them were surprised at all the tools and tricks to make it easier.  All those designs to not have to just come up out of your head.  So I realized there is proabably a need for a very basic overview of machine quilting class for those who have never tried it at all.  This will be a prerequisite for Valli's classes if you have no prior experience with machine quilting.  Then Valli can spend more time on what she does best - showing you how to actually DO it well.

The other unique experience was teaching someone who thought quilting was hard, a few tricks of the trade in about ten minutes, and watching her jaw drop and the light bulb come on.  I love turning on that lightbulb.

Chris Sass
quiltfabric.com
888 75th February 1, 2007

Hello Quilters!

I seem to have a ton of various announcements. Classes, Charity, Chances to win, Clubs, Hops, Shows etc, so let's go:

APPLIQUE CLUB/CLASS
I am happy to announce the dates and more details for the Applique class.
Third Saturday of the Month (starts Feb 17th) at 10 am or
Third Wednesday of the month (starts Feb 21st) at 10 am.
$30 plus patterns.

It will meet for four months (February, March, April and May) and is meant for applique beginners. Each month I will teach a different method of applique and you will use it on one of your blocks. After that you can go on to finish your blocks using whatever method(s) you liked the best.

There are five different Block of the Month type quilts for you to choose from. You must indicate your choice of pattern and sign up by Tuesday morning Feb 13 in order forus to have your patetrns at the first meeting.

Here are pictures of the choices. I am sorry that I can't seem to get the pictures all the same size
1. The first one is an Amy Bradley design that is for different holidays. You can either do the wallhanging of the quilter and then change her banners, or you can just do the banners. I have already done the Valentines one. It just took an afternoon. Here's the complete set and then the Birthday and Thanksgiving.




2. Then there are the snowmen. One for each month. You would not have to make them into a quilt. They would make cute individual decorations. Here's the whole set and then January:




3. There are the monthly Nutcrackers. Please just look at the Nutcrackers, not all the blocks around them (as I may or may not be able to get those patterns. I made one of them using the fusing method in no time.


4. Then there is one called Yuletide that I don't have pictures of the individual pieces but it is all cute Christmas-y things. Check out the exhauted Santa in the bottom right corner.



5. Last, but not least, is the Monsters quilt. The saying around the outside is pretty funny:

Big scary monsters live under the bed, and every night they must be fed.
They love to eat fabric, it's their favorite food.
It puts them in the very best mood.
So the lesson is clear - consider your plight.
Keep buying fabric, or be dinner tonight!



MACHINE EMBROIDERY CLUB/CLASS

Fourth Saturday of the month at 1:00 (starting Feb 24th) or
Fourth Wednesday of the month at 10:00 (starting Feb 28th.
$30 plus the CD.

I finished the sample for the embroidery class. Julie Karlak is quilting it now. It is Applique by embroidery machine. This is a technique where the embroidery machine sews around the pieces with a straight stitch, you cut away the excess material, and then the machine stitches over the raw edges with a beautiful satin stitch. See the close ups below.

We will meet for 3 times and then evaluate. Some may wish to continue meeting monthly, and some may want to finish up on their own.

Any brand machine can participate as long as you can get designs from a multi format CD to your machine. You will get lots of practice hooping (except anyone with a Janome 11000 that can do 8 inches square because I re-digitized for that format so I could do each block in one hooping). If anyone doesn't have an embroidery machine but would like to get one, I'd be happy to show you the Janomes and Pfaffs ;-)

I started with a CD but then I digitized them all again anyway because I wanted to get all the parts in one hooping for the Janome 11000. So these are 8 inch embroideries. I trimmed the blocks to finish at 12 inches. Here is what they look like put together, but not quilted yet.

There are 13 blocks in my setting instead of 12 (I made an extra so I could do this setting). Of course, you could do other settings. I don't know how it will look on your monitor, but that blue is really a dark cobalt blue and I used bright batik fabrics. I also did one block in Moda greens and reds and again on black. Scroll down to see those after the blue blocks.

Any brand embroidery machine will work as long as you can get designs from a CD to your machine. Some people will have to hoop more times than others, that's all. It will give you some practice in placement.











MYSTERY CLASS
We have a mystery to Ireland on Sunday Feb 11th at 12:30 with 3 spaces still available. You get a meal, a quilt top, and a lot of fun for $55.

PROJECT LINUS - WIN A JANOME SEWING MACHINE
If you have a charitable bone in your body, this is a good cause. I have temoporarily misplaced the nice writeup I have, but they give quilts or blankets to kids in need.

JANOME is a big supporter. If you drop off a NEW handmade blanket or quilt here by Saturday February 17th, you will be entered in a drawing for each blanket you bring. So far one lady has brought in 11. She is the only one and is destined to win as of now. The drawing will be at 4:00 on Feb 17th. You do not have to be present to win.

The quilts must be suitable for a child and at least 36" square. They can be as simple as a yard of flannel nicely hemmed, (this would have to be nice flannel from a quilt store, not the cheap stuff, or you'll need more than one layer.) or two pieces together.

Sorry for the short notice, it snuck up on me. The sewing machine is a very nice one, reatil about $800 with lots of good features.

ANNIVERSARIES
Next week Karen will have been here for 4 years. At the end of the month Louise will have been here for 5 years! I am so thankful that they have figured out how to tolerate me for that long. I could not have done it without them. Please tell them if they have been helpful to you. Maybe they'll stay!


THE GATHERING BY RIVERWALK QUILTER'S GUILDIt's kinda like a Quilt Show meets a luncheon with speaker. Instead of having a show for two days, it all happens in one day. I have enjoyed the ones I went to and I am a member of this guild.

The Gathering for 2007 boasts a Sisters theme, and is titled “Sisters in Creativity, Follow your Muse”. In support of the theme we have the creative pair Roberta Horton, and Mary Mushuta, twin sisters and both accomplished quilters, that will provide a lecture in the early afternoon.
This delightful event includes vendors, a silent auction, challenge quilts, show and tell, raffle baskets, demonstrations, quilt displays and quilt related games. The Gathering is March 10th from 8:30 am until 2:30 pm with lunch served around 11:45 am. Tickets are $35 for the all day event and must be purchased in advance. The place is the Abbington Banquests at Route 53 and Butterfield. The event is coordinated by the Naperville Riverwalk Quilters Guild, and everyone is welcome. Those wanting more information can contact Stephanie Rose at 630-653-3657or if you would like to purchase tickets contact Vicki Laws at 630-983-1721. I plan to go after the block of the month classes in the morning here.

WESTERN SUBURBAN SHOP HOP SPRING 2007 FEBRUARY 22 - 25"Hop Around the World" Each store is a different country this time. We are Australia.Hop Hours: Thursday, 10 AM-8 PM Friday & Saturday, 10 AM-5 PM Sunday, Noon –4 PM No Passport Fees! 22 Prizes!4

GRANDPRIZES - 1 each of Pfaff, Bernina, Viking and Janome worth $400 retail.9 First Prize Quilt Kits 9 Second Prizes Gift Baskets—$50 in merchandise!

Participating Shops:
Pieceful Heart Fabrics ~ Lisle Prairie Shop Quilts ~ Batavia
Prairie Stitches ~ Oswego quiltfabric.com ~ Willowbrook
Roberts Sewing Center ~ Joliet Stitches ‘N Stuffing ~ Naperville
The Quilt Basket ~ Downers Grove Thimbles ~ Lockport
Windmill City Quilts ~ Geneva

You may pick up your passport at any participating shop
Hoppers must visit all 9 shops to be eligible for Grand Prize and 1st Prize awards. Must visit 5 shops to be eligible for 2nd Prize awards.No purchase necessary to qualify for prizes (but we like you better if you buy things ;-) )

SALES
We have recently added lots of bolts to the 40% off corner. Don't forget to look there. Jan 18, 2007

I accidentally slighted the Thursday BOM quilters by forgetting to send their quilt top pictures out in the eamil. So I am going to put them up here where even more people may see them and hopefully be inspired to take the Beginner or Advanced Block of the Month classes that are starting this month. There is also an Electric Quilt rendering of the blocks of the Advanced class in the class descriptions.


Wasn't that inspiring? Many of the quilters who did last year's BOM were doing their first quilt. If you want to join that fun, see the Class Registration section under Beginner BOM. The monthly group meets on the Second Saturday and the Weekly group will be starting on Saturday the 27th of January.

Now....here's a picture of the more advanced BOM. The cover of the book, and what it looks like with more simple coloring. The first picture is just the blocks in 5 colors in Electric Quilt. The second pictures is the blocks, made even a little more complicated by dividing some pieces into more shapes. Now here's a picture of the blocks on the cover of the book in many more colors.

Hello Quilters!

Jan 2 2007

Happy New Year! Broken any resolutions yet? Me neither, but then I don't make as many as I used to

.BLOCK OF THE MONTH PROGRAMS - Starting as early as Saturday the 9th.
The 2006 Block of the Month program that we called "See What I Can Do!" went very, very well, and I have proof. Here are pictures of some of the completed tops. (HAVING TROUBLE UPLOADING, check back in a couple days)
Keep in mind that for some of the women this was their very first quilt. I must be a decent teacher afterall ;-). Take a look. All are the SAME blocks, but because everyone picked their own fabric, they all look different.This went so well we are doing it again.

It is educational - each session's block requires you to learn something new. It's the second Saturday morning of the month at 9 am or 10:30 am. If that fills we will add more sections. The fee is $30 and you must buy the 5 yards of fabric here. That 's dirt cheap for 12 classes.

If you would rather take a crash course and do it weekly, instead of monthly that will be Saturday mornings at 11 am until noon starting Jan 27th.

For you more ADVANCED quilters, and "graduates" of this program we are continuing on with some more complicated blocks and settings. We will be using a book called Better by the Dozen. The fee is $30 and you must buy the fabric here. After the first few months, I will present a different topic each month, such as photo transfer, Needles, and whatever else people request.

We will have the Second Thursdays at 10 am and the Third Saturday at 9 or 11 am.

The 10 am third Saturdays slot will be an applique block of the month, in case you want to do both. More on that next time.

Enjoy the pictures.
The first 6 are from the weekly evening group, then the next ones are from the monthly groups. Thank you so much. This was very rewarding for me, and I think for the students, judging by the smiles.


Chris Sass