Sweet Home Quilt Co.

Today marks the beginning of Aurifil’s 2012 Designer of the Month FREE block of the month program. The designer line up is pretty amazing — these are some amazing stitchers, y’all! Each month one of the designers will share a stitchery project with you with a focus on what the month is all about. Sherri Falls of This and That has designed a finishing layout and by this time next year (assuming you keep up!) you’ll have a cute wall hanging to add to your décor!

Aurifil’s focus on embroidery this year showcases their terrific 12 wt thread, which is perfect for embroidery of all types as well as big stitch quilting, sashiko and fine crochet! The thread comes in luscious colors and is equivalent to two strands of regular floss. I love it because it is spool wrapped allowing it to be kept neat and untangled!

These monthly stitcheries will be small and achievable by even the most novice stitcher, and there will be prizes involved! Participants may post photos of their completed blocks stitched with Aurifil 12 wt thread each month to the Aurifil Flickr site and be eligible to win Aurifil threads! Stitching fun and prizes…count me in!

I’m excited about doing this block of the month and thought it would be fun to gather a group to work on it together. We’re kicking off this fun year-long project with a “get started” session later this month to work on the January block. If you’re new to embroidery we’ll teach you different methods of transferring the design to fabric, basic embroidery stitches and other tips and tricks. (Check the Class Calendar for details.)  Then if you’d like to work on the projects with us each month, you’re invited to join The Stitcherhood for our regular monthly meetings on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 6PM (you don’t have to do this project at The Stitcherhood…bring any stitchery project you have in the works!) We will have the 12 wt thread kits for the first couple of months’ projects available later this month, and will continue to make the thread kits available throughout the year as they become available from Aurifil. These kits will be available in limited supply — call us at the shop if you’d like to pre-order!

Here’s the designer line up for the year and links to each designer’s blog so you can get to know a little about each of them.

January … Roseann Kermes from Rosebud’s Cottage

February … Sherri Falls … This and That

March … Victoria Findlay Wolfe … Bumble Beans Inc

April … Gail Pan … Gail Pan Designs

May … Anna … Thimbleanna

June … Pam Viera-McGinnis … PamKittyMorning

July … Sarah Fielke … TheLastPiece

August … Bari J … BariJ

September … Amy Ellis … Amy’s Creative Side

October … Amanda … Mrs McPorkChop

November … Emily Cier … Carolina Patchworks

December … Liz Hawkins & Beth Hawkins … Lizzie B girls

January Block “Snow Bird”
by Roseann Kermes of Rosebud’s Cottage
(photo by Roseann Kermes)

Let’s get this party started! Head over to the Aurifil blog to download the January block from Roseann. And while you’re there, be sure to read the interview with Roseann. She’s a very creative and inspiring woman!

Melisa

P.S. Be sure to call the shop to sign up for the “getting started” class and The Stitcherhood meeting!

I don’t know about y’all but these months are flying by so fast I’m having a hard time keeping up! We had six finishes in November – better and better! Congrats to everyone who finished their November PhD project. Here’s the show and tell for you:

Barb’s assignment was to quilt and bind her Christmas embroidery quilt that she started when she lived in Tallahassee. All done! Great job, Barb.

Here’s Doli hiding behind her November project, which she called Santa Fe Throwaway. Her task was to quilt and bind it, and you can see a little of the detailed quilting that she did…beautiful!

Julie’s assignment was to finish piecing her Paisley Strip quilt. All done and ready for quilting!

Leiann was tasked with finishing Butterfly Kisses, a BOM we did in 2008. This is one BIG quilt, but it is so pretty! Leiann says it is going on her bed…as soon as she saves enough money to have it quilted! Great job!

Mary Lou finished her Asian-inspired quilt called Soiree, a project from a trip she took to Sisters, Oregon several years ago. It is a stunner!

Ruthanne’s assignment was to get the mitered borders on her Civil War Sampler quilt…done and ready for quilting! Love the striped border fabric!

Mr. Random Number Generator did his thing, and the winner of the $25 gift certificate this month is….Leiann! The $10 gift certificate goes to Mary Lou! Congratulations, ladies! You may pick up your gift certificates the next time you’re in the shop.

The next project assignment is…

December PhD Project Assignment:

Project #2 on your list!

Better get started…with everything else happening this month (ahem…Christmas is only 24 days from now!) you’ll have to work extra hard to find time to finish your assignment. But I have faith that you all will at least make great progress on whatever your project happens to be!

Melisa

Then join our Groovy Girls Sewing Club from Atkinson Designs! Everyone knows what a huge fan I am of Terry Atkinson’s designs, and I am really excited to be offering her club at Sweet Home! Terry has put together a fun and creative club that will expand your sewing skills without a huge time commitment…and just wait until you see the fun projects she’s designed exclusively for club members! I’m having a blast sewing up the samples, and I know you’ll love them, too. We’ll laugh, learn and be inspired by creative ideas that go along with each month’s theme. And the best part is you don’t have to lug your sewing machine and all your stuff up the stairs! I’ll demo a new technique each month and provide you with handouts for fun small projects that you can whip up in no time in the comfort of your own sewing space! How groovy is that? We’ll have snacks, games, door prizes and an all-around groovy good time! You’ll also have the first sneak peak at exclusive Atkinson Designs patterns that will only be available at participating Groovy Girl Sewing Club quilt shops – nowhere else!

Cost of the club is just $50 for six months of demos, patterns, tips/techniques, exclusive projects just for club members, and lots of groovy fun! Specially packaged kits will also be available for each month’s project for an additional fee. We’re offering two sessions of the Groovy Girls Sewing Club to make it easy for everyone to participate. This is a six-month club that will meet monthly beginning in September on the First Friday, 6:00-8:00PM, or the First Saturday, 8:30-10:30AM. So grab a couple of your groovy friends and come join the fun!

Piece out,

Melisa