over on the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop blog.  Leave us a comment with your feedback for one entry, and then tell everyone you know to leave a comment and be sure to tell me you sent them. If the winning comment includes your name, you’ll be a secondary winner! And the prizes are too, too cute!

Becky made up the Sweet Treats bags using the Moda Honey Bun Bake Shop box and I’m giving one away (the other I’m keeping on display as a sample in the shop.) And the secondary prize is a Moda Honey Bun Bake Shop box so you can make your own bags. See how cute they are! (click on the pictures to get a better view – sorry I can’t figure out how to make them add to the post correctly! It’s that blog learning curve thing…)

So get thy self on over to the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop blog and leave a comment! Someone’s going to win (two someone’s actually!) and it could be you or you or you or…you get the picture! Go, now, leave a comment and then send all your bloggy friends over to comment, too.

Hope you have some quilty time this weekend!

Melisa

Woke this morning feeling kind of weird – headachy, no energy and just generally “blah.”  The yucky weather sure didn’t help either – rainy, windy and nasty.  I made my way to the shop, later than usual, but still with a little time to eat breakfast at my desk while perusing a few blogs. I came across this post from Kim, and miraculously my “blahs” turned to “aahs”! Amazing what a little humor can do to brighten your day! Thanks for the smile, Kim.  Your “nothing to say” post sure brightened my mood! 

Now I can get on with today’s agenda which is devoted to planning for Shop Hop, including working on the design for our shop hop quilt. Can’t show you yet, but I think you’re gonna love it. I hope you’re making plans to hop with us in March!

Melisa      

These new patterns arrived this week and I’ve added them to the website this afternoon.  Click on the image to get a better view.

I’ve already been playing around with the Jelly Roses pattern and several of the others have been added to the “Sample To Do List!” We are definately making The Abbey Bag - what a sweet gift idea for a quilty friend! Or imagine what a hit you’d be if you took this cutie on your next quilt retreat! Everyone will want one, I promise. 

I’ve been quilting for 20 years, but you’ll find very few quilts in my home that I’ve personally made. That’s because usually when I start a project it is with someone else in mind, so most of my quilts are given away.

I have a friend, Ray, whose hobby is wine making, and although I certainly am no wine connoisseur, he makes a White Zinfandel that I am crazy about! (Some would say a little too crazy!) The only problem is that he only makes about two batches a year because he believes it has to “age” for several months before it is ready for consumption. What’s that old saying “We shall serve no wine before it’s time?” I’m sure that’s what makes his wines so good, but it sure makes it difficult when you run out and have to wait a couple of months “until it’s time.”  I would always fuss, but Ray never budged – his wines had to be properly aged! At any rate, late last summer Ray and his wife, Cynthia, showed up at the shop with a dozen bottles of my favorite White Zinfandel wine bottled exclusively for me!!!  Oh my! I was in heaven! They had also written the sweetest poem about how it was made especially for a special friend. I was so touched I didn’t have the right words to convey my appreciation.

I made this quilt as a thank you to Ray and Cynthia  and in celebration of our friendship (click the images to enlarge). The pattern is Just Can’t Cut It, which has larger blocks that showcase the fabrics (plus I knew I wouldn’t have time to do anything too complicated or with too many pieces if I wanted this quilt done any time soon.) I didn’t have any wine-related fabrics in the shop so I went online and found everything I needed here. Julie had the perfect wine bottle print, corks print, and wine-related words fabric which I was able to pair up with the other coordinates from my stock at the shop. The border fabric is a leafy vine print that looks just like grape vines which I actually had in my personal stash at home.  I made the quilt during our Sew What If It’s Monday sessions at the shop, and it was quilted by my friend Elaine at Pooregirls Quilt Co.  She used a very appropriate leafy vine panto that finished the quilt off perfectly!

The quilt was actually finished in November, but it took me over a month to put the binding on – now how sad is that? I know many people really enjoy the binding process, and I actually don’t mind hand stitching it down, but I despise making the binding and applying it by machine! When I found myself with an unexpected day off last week due to the furnace going out at the shop, I forced myself to put the binding on this quilt. I added the label Saturday and wa-la! It was done and ready to be given to Ray and Cynthia.

We had lunch with them and some other friends Sunday after church, and I gave them the quilt.  Both were speechless, and I could tell they felt the same as I did when they gave me the wine. This is why I quilt – I love making something for someone, knowing that they will appreciate not only the effort but that it is truly a gift from the heart.

4th Annual

FAT QUARTER FRENZY!

 Super Bowl Weekend!

 Jan. 31st – 10AM-4PM

Feb. 1st – 1PM-4PM

25 for $25

Thousands of pre-cut fat quarters from which to choose! Start planning those fat quarter projects now and stock up at this great price! We will “freshen the pot” as needed both days so a great selection is guaranteed no matter when you arrive.

All in-stock fat quarter books and patterns also on sale at 25% off during this event.

(Quantities of less than 25 will be $2.00 each)

Online customers, specify a color range when placing your order and let us choose a great selection for you! Online orders for this event will be accepted beginning 12:01 AM, Jan. 31st through 11:59 PM, Feb. 1st.

The wonderful folks at Moda have done it again! I know many of you have stockpiles of Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and Honey Buns because I’m constantly being asked “What else can I make?”  Check out the Moda Bake Shop for cute new projects and ideas to use that stash of “sweets!”

If you don’t have a Moda “sweets” stash, we’ve got lots of Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and the new Honey Buns at Sweet Home Quilt Co. and more are coming in every day with the new lines we’re expecting. Oh, and that cute Prairie Paisley twill tape used on the banner?? We have it for you!

There are some really terrific ideas here for quickie gifts and decorations so be sure to check them out. Kudos once again to our friends at Moda for the fabulous job they do! Have I said lately how much I love MODA?!?!?!

I’m off to the dollar store to see if I can find some of those little pocket calendar/note pad thingies, or maybe a travel mug or two!

Melisa

P.S. For those craving more Moda Scrap Bags – the reorder should be here by mid-February! Watch my email updates…

 and I’m not talking about the weather either! It is 1:40AM, I’m wide awake and sitting here watching 20 Greatest Redneck Moments on TV!  Can you tell I’ve had a long week???

Now I’m no stranger to rednecks (I am a born and bred Southerner after all!) but these people are over-the-top hysterical. And I’m learning so much, too!   Ever heard of the redneck designer, Tammy Hilfinger? And up until now I never knew what NASCAR stood for, but it makes perfect sense to me now – Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks!  Just wait til I share that with Mr. Melisa (who happens to love NASCAR! ) And did you know Billy Beer (remember Billy Carter?) tastes just like peanuts? Who knew?

Well, I’ve gotta run – next up is My Big Redneck Wedding! The preview? How about “I love you more than my Ginsu knife!”

I keep telling ya’ll that sleep is overrated – see what you’re missing!

Melisa

My friend Pat re-launched her Silver Thimble Quilt Club today, and Sweet Home Quilt Co. was thrilled to be asked to provide the kits for the first quarter projects. The quilt shown in this photo is Pat’s Pinwheel Parade design that is the January project (it’s just a partial shot – the quilt was hanging over a design board and I couldn’t get a full picture of it, but you get the idea!) This quilt turned out so great, and is a really fun design. Pat and I spent a Saturday morning in December picking out the fabbies for this kit from our Civil War room. It is very similar to her original sample, but in more muted tones.

We had to wait on a couple of fabrics to be re-ordered, and when they finally arrived last week, Becky dove right in to get all the kits cut. One of the unique aspects of the Silver Thimble Quilt Club kits is that they are kitted pre-cut to the first cut.  In other words, we made the first cut (mostly strips of varying widths in this case) according to Pat’s pattern directions for each kit! That is a LOT of cutting, but it enables Club members to hit the ground running as soon as they get their kits at the meeting so they don’t spend all their time cutting. Poor Becky, though, she literally had nightmares about fabric strips chasing her after she finished cutting and packaging all the kits!

Silver Thimble Quilt Club meets at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Grayson the third weekend of every month. If you’re interested, join Pat’s Yahoo group (silverthimblequiltclub@yahoogroups.com) where she posts all the details and need-to-know info for the group.  And if you can’t join the group, but you’d like a kit for Pinwheel Parade, give us a call at the shop. We’ll have a limited supply available for purchase.

I’ve talked to Pat several times today by telephone and it sounds like a party going on in the background! I can tell the ‘Thimbles’ are all having a blast, sewing their little hearts out and enjoying each other’s company. Makes me wish I was there!

Be sure you do something quilty today!

Melisa

Someone was in the shop recently talking about wanting to buy a Featherweight and for the life of me I cannot remember who it was! But I did remember the discussion when I read this post on CJ’s blog last night. Take a look at this little beauty – the price seems really good to me. If I could only justify another (!) sewing machine this baby would be mine, mine, mine, all mine! As it is, I’m going to order one of the custom wooden bases for my Featherweight. I love the finished look this gives to the machine.

Sorry for the picture-less post, but I had to put this out there in case whoever I was talking to about the Featherweights happens to read the blog!

Brrr! It’s gonna be cold tonight…stay warm.

Melisa

but it’s sure beginning to look like a Sweet Shop to me.  Oh, here it comes, it’s a “Sweet” quilt shop! Aarrgghh! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. It is looking like a sweet shop around here, though, with new Jelly Rolls, Honey Buns and other “sweet” treats that arrived today.

Let me introduce you to these Moda ”mini” Honey Buns (Sweets Box, $19.99.) Each mini has ten strips 1 1/2-inches by WOF.  (The larger Honey Bun has 40 strips.) The Bake Shop package includes one Aviary mini-HoneyBun (designed by 3 Sisters) and one Spring Magic mini-HoneyBun (designed by April Cornell).

Moda has included a free pattern in each Sweets Box to make a Sweet Treat Bag – each little mini Honey Bun will make one bag. Or make four bags from a full size Honey Bun.

The picture is terrible, but the best I could do on short notice! These are Moda’s new Scrap Bags! You get approximately forty 3 1/2-inch color coordinated selvage strips in each bag – that’s over 3 yards!!! – for just $9.99. These aren’t scraps all from one line of fabric – the key here is that they are “color coordinated” making this a great bargain for scrap quilters.