It's show time

I just got home from helping Ginny set up for the quilt show this weekend. This looks like a nice show, lots of pretty quilts, lots of vendors.. The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, so take a little time, and come see us. We are in the student center of Central Ct State University.
Please come to see us, we love to see our special friends at shows. We have all of our tumbler quilts with us including kits and finishing packs for each quilt. Our show special will be charm packs, buy one for $12.99, get one free. Lots of beautiful ones to chose from. We brought fat quarter packs, new books, new magazines, all kinds of goodies.
Show opens at 9 and closes at 5 on Saturday, 9-4 on Sunday.

Another member of the Quilt Shop family

If you have shopped at the Quilt Shop, you probably met Ginny, Gay, Lois, Amy or me. On Thursdays you may have met Dennis, Ginny's husband. Yesterday we had a visit from another member of our Quilt Shop family, our Bernina trained technician Ty. Ty has been our technician since the store opened back in 1995. When you send in your machine for servicing, Ty is the one who will clean, tune and get your machine in tip top running order. I'm always amazed when I watch him work. Thanks Ty for all that you do for us! We love having you as part of our family at the Quilt Shop.

Halloween quilt is ready...

This is the Halloween tumbler quilt. Lois just finished it today. Isn't it great! We have kits available for the quilt top, as well as finishing kits that have the two borders and binding pieces. We will have it this weekend at the show- Greater Hartford Quilt Guild at CCSU in New Britain.
If you can't make it to the show, we will be more than happy to send you the kit. Just call the store and order it, 203-743-0543.
You can have this all made way before Halloween comes.

bow or no bow?

Here is he picture with the bow. Lois wanted a bow, Ginny wasn't sure, then we talked about making the bow out of the rouching.... I made the regular bow last night,
what do you think now?

What I am working on now

This is a project for a class this fall. It is a Christmas Wreath made from the book, Throughly Modern Dresden. It has 3D circles around the edge of the quilt and rouching around the center of the quilt. Now I need your help... It is supposed to have an appliqued bow, but I'm not sure if it needs it..
What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.
This quilt was fun to do. I'm really happy with it. It will be at the store soon!

Road trip time!

This weekend we are going to be a vendor at The Greater Hartford Quilt Guilt Show in New Britain. It is being held at Central CT St. University.
Come and visit us. We love to see our friends at a show.
Click here for hours and directions
Greater Hartford Quilt Show

Fabric on my mind

Yesterday our friend Donna came in the store and was buying a variety of fabrics. She said she was making a wedding gift. She was going to make an apron for each month of the year. My creative mind started thinking... aprons, there are so many kinds, so many styles, hmmmmmmm. Last night I cut out two aprons at the same time, chain stitched the straps, and finished them both this morning, just in time to give them as hostess gifts for a picnic I went to today. I keep looking at these new Christmas fabrics with gingerbread men on them. Now, who can get an apron out of these fabrics?
Thanks Donna for a great idea!
Have a great Monday everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Today was one of the best days I have ever had at the Quilt Shop. We celebrated Christmas in July during our Clothesline Club class.
I kept the lights off in the classroom and the door closed until it was "Christmas morning" When everyone came in, they sat down to bowls of popcorn, threaded needles and a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer moving playing.
As a thank you gift, everyone was given Reindeer glasses, which they gladly modeled for our blog!
Thank you to all of my Clothesline Club friends. It was a wonderful Christmas in July!

Mike and Grace update

Remember Ginny's grandchildren Mike and Grace?
Look how big they are getting....

Christmas in July

I am almost ready for our Christmas in July Clothesline Club celebration on Saturday. Here is a little preview.... now where are those Christmas cookie cutters,

New Kaffe Fasset fabrics are here!

Yesterday we opened a box of new Kaffe Fasset fabrics. Just look at these gorgeous colors. The prints are big and colorful. Now comes the hard part, what to do with them? If you are a fan of Kaffe Fasset fabrics come on over soon. These fabrics wont be around long!

Clothesline Club is Saturday

Clothesline Club will meet this Saturday for our first ever Christmas in July celebration. Today is the last day that you can sign up for it. We have 2 spots left.
I am preparing the goodies tomorrow, so if you aren't signed up today, you wont be able to get the goodies on Saturday!
We have new fabrics that unwrap, lots of new patterns and some fun Christmas activities too.

Need a baby quilt?

This is our baby sign language quilt. We have a quilt kit for this quilt, no stressing about choosing your fabrics, everything is picked out for you and put in this adorable baby gift bag.
When the quilt is finished, you have a bag to put it in.

Amy is at it again

Our beloved Amy has fallen head over heels in love with a new book, Easy Japanese Quilts. Amy has made 2 beautiful bags and a wonderful pillow from this book.
We also got in a gorgeous oriental panel that she turned into a wall quilt.
Stop in soon to see these new projects in person.

hmmmmm, what is this

The summer schedule is almost done now.. a few more classes to go. It's time to start thinking about our fall schedule. We are all working on our class samples. Here is one of mine.
Stay tuned for more info soon!

a frog factory

I'm starting to feel like I am working in a frog factory. I don't exactly get 2 done a day, but I keep chugging ( or should I say hopping) along. I will say, if I didn't have my Bernina, these poor little frogs wouldn't get made at all.
I start out tracing my frog shape on 2 layers of fabric right sides together. ( hmmm, what would happen if I used 2 different fabrics right sides together, a reversible frog? ) I set my Bernina on a 1.4 stitch length. I want to make sure that these frogs don't open up. I stitch on the pencil line, using my freehand system to raise and lower my presser foot, all the while keeping my hands on my work. This comes in really handy on the little frog toes and little frog fingers. I cut my frog out, leaving a small seam allowance. Then I turn my frog inside out. Add some stuffing, some plastic bean bag fillers, stitch up his leg and we have a frog. I'm up to 9.
They have no eyes... I'm going to let the kids glue them on, I'll get a selection of different colored wiggle eyes for them to pick from.
Back to my frogs. Have a great day everyone.

Summer Tote

We have a class coming up in early August called the Summer Tote.
It is a pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. If you have never made one of their bags before, you are in for a treat! This is a nice size bag, perfect for a trip anywhere, to the beach, to the mall, or to the quilt shop. Are you looking for a fast and fun class project? This is the one for you.

The class is held, August 5th and 12th.. both in the morning, 10 a.m. and evening 6:30 p.m.
Call us soon to save your spot.

Saturday classes

Tomorrow we have 2 classes at the Quilt Shop. The first one is the Paper Doll Quilt
Lois designed this quilt herself and she did a great job. She will be teaching the class tomorrow from 10-2. We still have 3 more spaces in the class, so if you are interested call today to save your spot.
The second class in the afternoon is our class called Doodling. This class teaches you how to improve your free motion quilting by learning 5 basic shapes of quilting designs.
The class will be from 2-4, and we have 4 openings in that class.
We'd love to see you, so call today and sign up. Our classroom is air conditioned, we have comfortable chairs, and as always there will be lots of laughs to go around!

Boo!

I guess Halloween is right around the corner, Look what arrived this week.

Lois is getting 3/4 of a yard of each, I'm getting half a yard of each.... better get yours soon before we finish the bolts ourselves. :) Don't worry, there is plenty!

Ribbit Ribbit

I found out last May that I am leaving kindergarten and being moved to first grade. Honestly I am scared to death. About 10 years ago I taught half a year of first grade, but things have changed.
I decided that I will start the year learning about frogs. We are supposed to learn about life cycles in first grade so I thought learning about frogs would take care of that. As I was cleaning my sewing room cabinets the other day I found my old pattern for little stuffed frogs. When I taught 3rd grade about 15 years ago I remember making each child a stuffed frog. The kids then designed small houses for the frogs, they named the frogs, they wrote about the frogs, etc. So in the middle of making my fall samples for classes, catching up with Clothesline Club things, I decided to make 20 small stuffed frogs. Here is my first one. 1 down 19 to go. Actually they work up fast. I use a smaller stitch, 1.75, turn it inside out and then stuff it. Stuffing it takes a little practice. I am stuffing it with those little bean bag bead things. A small funnel helps.
I need to find small buttons for eyes. If I get up early each morning I can make 2 frogs.
I know, I am nuts. Keeping my hands busy lets me not think about the big change to first grade.
Wish me luck! :)

See how easy it is to cut your own tumbler with the GO cutter

GO! and Studio fabric cutters, quilting cutting system | AccuQuilt

GO! and Studio fabric cutters, quilting cutting system | AccuQuilt

Shared via AddThis

Great work Donna

Our friend Donna came in yesterday and brought one of her quilts that she finished. I just love the colors that she used. We love to see finished quilts. Please send us pictures of your finished quilts, or better yet.. bring them in to the store. One thing I have learned about quilters, is that quilters love to help each other, and quilters appreciate other quilters hard work!
I hope everyone is having a great Sunday. I'm starting something new. Stay tuned

Tumblers are tumbling out the door!

Our tumbler quilt kits are tumbling out the door as fast as we can make them.
This is the newest one, Ginny picked out the fabrics. We just love it! We also love the new ice cream tumbler that we package the kit in!

If you would like one of these kits, call the store and we will put one aside for you.
Stay tuned for more tumbler kits!
Tumbler kits are $40, we also have finishing kits that have inner border, outer border and binding fabrics.

new fabrics...

So here are some pictures of the new fabrics that arrived this week...

Aren't these dots fun. I love the multicolored one on the end.

Do you know a little girl who loves horses... wouldn't this make a cute pillowcase?

Halloween has arrived at the Quilt shop!
We even have Halloween Hunk fabric.

And this adorable Christmas fabric collection arrived this morning.
Don't forget your coupon from the website.
Stop in soon to get some of these new fabrics

and the winners are....

We have 3 winners of the autographed copy of Machine Quilting by Alex Anderson.
Congratulations to:
Nicole Thomas
Celie Fitzgerald
and Debbie Wilcox.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

Have you tried the accuquilt GO cutter?

Bears

I just read an article that says there are bears roaming around. If you see a bear, ( according to this article) you should go outside with a pot and a large spoon and make a lot of noise. If I see a bear, I will go into my house, lock my door and go into my sewing room where I will stay until winter when the bears go into hibernation! :)
This is why I need lots of fabrics and projects. Just in case a bear comes along......

Lots of new fabrics arrived today, some beautiful orientals, lots of great dots, some adorable ballerina prints, and many more. Not a bear fabric in the bunch!
I'll take pictures of the new fabrics tomorrow, unless a bear forces me to stay home and sew!

Clothesline club is coming soon

I am getting ready for Clothesline Club. Our next meeting is July 25th, so we will celebrate Christmas in July!

The new Clothesline fabrics have arrived, but they are hidden until "Christmas morning".
Here are 2 of the projects we will talk about that day.... there are more!
If you would like to join us, please sign up soon. Just call the store, 203-743-0543.
Class starts at 10:00 a.m.

did you get your coupon yet?

Did you visit the website and get your coupon?
July will pass us by quickly! Don't forget to visit our website.... thequiltshoponline.com
and get your coupon. 25%off one fabric purchase. We have plenty of fabrics to choose from!

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July... the store is closed today. I got up early, went to the grocery store, then came home to sew. Got binding on a quilt, layered this table runner. Rather than put on my walking foot and start machine quilting, I put on my dual feed #10 foot. The 820 and the 830 have built in dual feed. That means that the layers that you are sewing, will evenly feed through the machine. I have been using this non stop the last week, for piecing and for machine quilting. My piecing is so much more accurate with it, but now I love it for machine quilting. I used my #10 foot to do stitch in the ditch. The number 10 foot is an edge stitch foot, it has a guide to help keep your stitching straight. To quilt with it, I just lined up the guide with the ditch of the seam and started sewing. It worked great! I am truly in love with this machine. Stop in soon to try the dual feed feature! Be prepared though, you might fall in love! Have a great holiday. I'm going back to the sewing room!

isn't this fabric fun?

This fabric arrived this week. It is from Alexander Henry. It is like a giant comic book, all related to sewing. My favorite one says.... "Gee Honey, I guess that new sewing machine we bought you was well worth it. Your new dress looks wonderful. ".
$8.99 a yard. If you would like some, just call and let us know. We'd be happy to send it to you.

Charm squares are on sale...

Charm squares are on sale....buy one pack get one free.
Stop in soon before they are all gone.
We are closed on July 4th, we will open again on Monday July 6th.
We still have all of the patterns available for the charm square quilts.
Lois just brought in this new one.... Charm Square Sunday.
Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Even back then people loved their Berninas

Vintage images of Bernina manufacturing and advertising, originally uploaded by Bernina International AG.

Those were the days.....

This is an old picture from Bernina. I guess a long time ago the Bernina service used to come to your house. Wouldn't that be heaven?
I just want the car....I'd never lose this one in a parking lot.
So what's new at the quilt shop... we moved a few things around... got some fun new fabrics, and are starting to talk about the fall schedule. :)
I will give you little hints about what is to come as I finish my samples.
If there is a class that you have always wanted to take, please let me know.
Talk with your quilter friends, as long as we have 4 people in a class, we can hold the class.
Wouldn't it be fun to have a class with your quilter friends? It would be a great way to celebrate a friend's birthday, or just give a little pick me up to someone.
Have a great day everyone. Don't forget to visit our website to get your coupon.

Busbeschriftung, originally uploaded by Bernina International AG.