Sweet Home Quilt Co.

Pat and I took another road trip this week, this time north to Cartersville, GA to visit with the Etowah Valley Quilt Guild and their featured speaker, Patricia Knoechel. In case you don’t recognize the name, Patricia’s claim to fame is that she is the sister of Eleanor Burns.  While they favor only slightly, if you closed your eyes and just listened, you wouldn’t be able to tell which one was speaking!

I won’t go into a lot of the details since Pat has beat me to the punch with a humorous (?!?) recap of our adventure over at her Silver Thimble Talk blog.  Jump on over and read her version of events – just know that she did leave out a few of the finer details!  Not to mention sharing the photo of my grand-dog, Jeb, doing his business was just WRONG! She’s just lucky he didn’t pee on her!!!

I’ve got more photos of the program to share with you, though, because I was busy taking pictures for my faithful blog readers while Pat was cracking jokes and squirming in her seat, which she has freely admitted! I think it must be that kindergarten teacher background…

At any rate,  I did enjoy the speaker and was reminded of some of Eleanor Burns’ best tips – like her fusible applique tips and turning the applique pieces with a straw and bodkin. I have that stuff somewhere so it was good to be reminded of the technique. My favorite tidbit of the evening was to enlarge a motif from your fabric to use as a pattern for your applique – as in the birds and flowers in the first photo! DUH! Why didn’t I think of that? Sometimes it is the most obvious of solutions that trips me up! 

At any rate, enjoy the slideshow below (a new toy for me!!!) and stay tuned for Chapter Three in the continuing series, Melisa & Pat’s Excellent Adventures! We’re off to Pittsburgh for Spring Quilt Market in just a couple of weeks. Let the fun begin!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We’ve had a busy week of show and tell here at the shop, so I thought it only fair to share with ya’ll who couldn’t be here to see these wonderful projects in person. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Debra created this really bright and fun crib quilt from a package of Baby Geniuses Grow Up charm squares and coordinating brights (we still have a few of these charm packs in stock!) Some lucky little one is really going to enjoy these bright pinwheels!

This is Robin’s red and cheddar star quilt – the picture does not do it justice, trust me! It is bright and vibrant, and perfectly executed with lots of fussy cutting for the star centers and the border. Robin quilted it on her APQS machine and did a terrific job with the quilting, too.

Sherry has been MIA for a while, but she finally brought this beauty in earlier this week to share. Turns out she’s been hanging out in Florida for several months! My photos of this quilt definately do not do it justice. The center blocks, which you can see a little better in the picture below, are all embroidered birds and birdhouses. Sherry had brought the embroidered blocks in last year and asked for help in deciding what to do with them; we fooled around with a couple of ideas and came up with the blue and yellow sashing in the center. Then she decided later to make it bigger so she added the surrounding blocks and borders to the center section. Can’t you just picture this on a white iron bed in a sunny yellow and blue bedroom???

Bea paid us a visit yesterday and she always has wonderful show and tell to share.  She is a prolific quilter and does beautiful work.

This is one of her scrappy string quilts. I love how the blue and red sashings really pull all the scrappy colors together. Bea had just picked this one up from the longarmer, and she used a variegated thread to quilt it; it will be bound in the red fabric.

This is an applique quilt that Bea made using a published pattern in a magazine (sorry I didn’t get the magazine details!) The colors in the picture aren’t very true, the nine patches along the outside edge are done with black prints and blue prints, and all of the colors are really rich. We chose a blue and black stripe print for bias binding.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our little show and tell. We love it when our customers bring in their projects to share. Next time you’re coming to see us, bring something to share with us, too!

Melisa

I just received word this morning that the new Spring/Summer issue of Quilt Sampler magazine has started shipping to stores.

Which means we’ll probably have it in about a week. This magazine always sells out within a day or two of us receiving it, so if you want one right away, call the shop and pre-order today! That way you’ll be assured of getting a copy. Cost is $6.99 plus sales tax and postage, if applicable.

Melisa

There’s nothing I love better than a beautifully manicured lawn, with well-kept shrubs and flower gardens. But you won’t find such a sight at my house!

Growing up, one of my primary chores was cutting the grass. We had a riding lawn mower so it wasn’t like I was slaving with a push mower! BUT, there was also 3 acres to mow, and remember, I grew up in South Georgia. We’re talking the middle of July and August, 100 degrees in the shade and so humid you could hardly take a breath! I don’t like being sweaty and dirty, and I’m sure this “character building”  (my father’s words!) is one of the reasons!

When Mike and I married I made it clear to him that one thing I don’t do is yardwork! And he was fine with that, as he always took great pleasure in keeping our lawn well manicured and the shrubs and trees trimmed. He wasn’t too much into planting flowers, but would indulge my whims and plant whatever I happened to buy. When he became physically unable to do the yardwork, youngest DS took over the job so I was still safe – no yardwork. (I can actually only remember once in the last 26 years that I’ve actually cut the grass and that was only because I was stubbornly proving a point!)

DS is now grown with his own yard to mow, so he’s rarely around to do our yardwork .  He promised to take care of the grass “soon” and I know his intentions were good, but he could just never seem to find the time, and with all the rain we’ve had lately the grounds at the shop were looking pretty shabby.

One of my many shortcomings is a serious lack of patience. If I ask once, and it isn’t done there are basically two things that will happen: a) I’ll pick up the phone and hire someone to do whatever it is that needs to be done, or b) I’ll do it myself…you see where this is going, don’t you?

I couldn’t stand the shaggy grass at the shop a minute longer, so this afternoon I borrowed DS’s lawn mower (a push mower, no less!) and I set out to cut the grass at the shop. It was really deep and thick and soggy in the back parking area so it took a while to cut, and a lot of effort. Oh my aching legs! And I was sweaty and dirty, and I ruined my favorite pair of tennis shoes!  Heard enough of this wine whine? Me, too, so I’m going to refill my glass and soak in a hot bath for a while!

And tomorrow I’ll be hiring someone else to do the yardwork! 

Melisa

Wishing you Easter Blessings.

Melisa

Feeling the need for a road trip, I talked Pat into going with me on Friday to the American Legacy 2009 Quilt Show being held at the Georgia Agrirama in Tifton, GA.  I thought it would do her good to get away since she’s been pretty much homebound since February with the knee replacement, and I knew I desperately needed a diversion!

We left the shop about 8AM, and the plan was to arrive in Tifton just before lunch, see the show, have lunch, and be back to Atlanta before Friday rush hour traffic set in! We had a nice drive down (3 hours!), with Pat working on handquilting her Whig Rose quilt while I drove, chattering like magpies the entire time! Anyone eavesdropping on our conversation would have been totally confused because we tend to skip back and forth and cover a multitude of subjects all at once! We know what we’re talking about, but anyone else would probably think we were a little schizophrenic. At any rate, we made it to Tifton without incident and thoroughly enjoyed the quilt show. It was a great first effort for the Georgia Agrirama Foundation and the Wiregrass Quilters Guild.  I’m sure Pat will share her favorites, but here are a few pictures that I took for you to enjoy.

Best of Show winner was “And They All Became Stars” by Jane Rodgers, quilted by Rae Giddens. This quilt also won First Place in the Collaborative category.

My selection for Viewer’s Choice was the Third Place winner in the Art Quilt category entitled “Emerald Treasures” by Barb Forrister. This small wallhanging was amazing – she used commercial and hand painted fabrics, dyed cheesecloth, wool, roving, and beads and incorporated needle felting, machine applique and machine quilting.  The turtles were all 3-D – I took several close-ups, but alas, my photography skills are sorely lacking! Trust me when I tell you it was terrific!

Top Right is a small wallhanging (also by Jane Rodgers) that I thought was a terrific use of the Dick and Jane panels and coordinating fabrics that were on the market recently. This quilt was titled “First Grade.”

Bottom Right is another very striking quilt that caught my attention. Titled “Classic Serape Native American Rug Design” and made by Ruth Wise.

A few more of my favorites from the show. Top Left is “Not Freddy’s House but Ann’s House” by Ann Barker. This is her rendition of “Freddy’s House” by Freddy Moran, and it was bright and cheerful!

Top Right is “Wagon Wheels” by Rae Giddens. Again, bright and cheerful, this quilt reminded me of Australian quilts that I’ve been seeing on several blogs usig a more traditional pattern with bright, contemporary fabrics. A showstopper!

Bottom Left is “Old Shoes” by Jane Rodgers, which she made from a photo of her old shoes. Bottom Right is a close-up to better show the details. Even the laces looked real! Jane is apparently a very prolific quilter as she had a lot of quilts in this show!

A big treat was a display of vintage quilts from the collection of Jackie Harper of Fitzgerald, GA, along with a wonderful display of toy and miniature antique sewing machines from the collection of Jan Winter of Ashburn, GA. Now if you know me at all, you know that I adore antique quilts and sewing implements, so a lot of my time was spent inspecting these beautiful quilts. Enjoy!

There were several of these antique quilts that I would have loved to have in my collection!

Speaking of antique quilts, one particular reason that I really wanted to attend this show was the opportunity to meet Teddy Pruett, who is an AQS certified quilt appraiser from Lake City, FL. I’ve been corresponding via email with Teddy for a while because I booked her to do a lecture for Cotton Boll Quilt Guild on April 28th, and she’s also going to do quilt appraisals at the shop on April 29th. I only got to speak with her briefly as she was quite busy doing appraisals at the show, but I could tell just from our brief contact that her lecture is going to be a lot of fun. She is a delightful lady! Call me if you want details about her lecture, or to book an appointment for a quilt appraisal with her.

On our way back home, we detoured to Ashburn, GA to check out a place called French Farmhouse Antiques that we’d seen a roadside billboard for…we found a few treasures but no antiques. I think their definition of “antique” was different than ours!

A quick lunch at Cracker Barrel and we were barreling toward Atlanta. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and came to a dead stop about 15 miles from our exit. We saw one minor fender bender, but that wasn’t the problem – I guess it was just all the holiday traffic, combined with spring-breakers headed home from Florida! Luckily, I knew the back way so I jumped off the first exit we came to and we zipped right along. We were also concerned about predicted stormy weather so we wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

All in all, it was  fun day. I was tired, but it was definately just what the doctor ordered for me! Pat looks a little exasperated with me, don’t ya think? I’m sure she’ll have some goofy pic of me on her blog in a day or two, so this is just payback in advance!

Thanks, Pat, for a most Excellent Adventure!

Melisa

I first learned about the 3/50 Project from a blog post made by quilt shop owner, Roseann Kermes, who owns Rosebud’s Cottage in Minnesota.  I clicked over to the 3/50 Project website to learn more about this effort, and realized very quickly that the concept exactly mirrored thoughts I’d been mulling over recently – what will become of small-town America if we don’t stop the loss of small businesses?

It seems to me that in our little community, local businesses are closing in alarming numbers, unable to sustain themselves for very long under the  economic stresses facing all of us.  The Olde Town area of Conyers is no longer the bustling commerce center of small, locally owned shops that it was two or three years ago, with many of the charming historic buildings sitting vacant and a little forlorn.  I’m sure this scenario is being repeated all across the country, too, so the 3/50 Project certainly has a timely message.

What, exactly, is the 3/50 Project? Basically, it’s a grass roots effort to save the little guys while thanking customers for the positive impact their decision to shop locally has on the local economy! The idea is for consumers to commit to spending $50 a month to locally owned businesses, total, to help keep those businesses thriving. It’s as simple as buying those party cupcakes at the local bakery rather than the big box grocery store where you usually grab them!  Local businesses are more personable, have better service and are more flexible and adaptable to the needs of the local community. Supporting local businesses strengthens the local community, which is a win-win for everyone.

 According to their website, the 3/50 Project is based on three simple numbers:

3:     Pick three locally owned businesses you’d miss if they were gone, then stop in to say hello, buy something you need or something that just brings a smile to your face, knowing that those transactions are helping keep that business around.

50:  If half the employed population spent just $50 per month with locally owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.

68:  For every $100 spent in a locally owned business, $68 returns to the community through payroll taxes, property taxes, sales tax, salaries, and other business expenditures. If spent in a chain or franchise, only $43 remains local. If spent online, nothing comes home.

In essence, the whole thing boils down to “Pick 3, spend $50, and help save the local economy.”   And yes, as a small business owner, I have a vested interest in seeing this concept take root!  But it’s not just about supporting Sweet Home Quilt Co., it’s about the local dry cleaner, the mom & pop restaurants, the bakery, the hardware store and all of those people just like me who fit the definition of an independent business according to the 3/50 Project -  someone who sleeps little, eats on the run, balances their checkbook over the breakfast table, combs through order forms in bed at night, and is capable of sorting invoices, signing paychecks, fielding questions, responding to emails, and faxing confirmations while simultaneously explaining to a new employee how to check in UPS – yep, sounds like the life of a small business owner to me!

 We recently received a personal “thank you” from the owner of a local restaurant for sending hungry quilters their way during Shop Hop. At the time, I was simply giving directions to a nearby restaurant with good food and fast service, but after talking with the owner later, I realized that this is the sort of thing that I can do as a business owner to support other small businesses in my community!

Forget Washington and Wall Street! The onus is on all of us as consumers and business owners to do our part and support the small independent businesses in our local communities. Thanks to all my customers who continue to faithfully support Sweet Home Quilt Co.  You’re the key to our success!

Oh, and which three would I miss? Definately, Mad Dog’s BBQ (!), along with Skip’s Printing and The Sandwich Factory.  (What does it say that 2 of my 3 are eateries???) So, it’ll be Sandwich Factory for lunch, Mad Dog’s for dinner and a visit to Skip’s this afternoon to get 3/50 Project flyers printed to hand out to our customers!

I signed up to support the “Pick 3, Spend $50, Save the local economy” idea. I hope you will, too!

Melisa

The long-awaited Aviary collection by 3 Sisters for Moda has finally arrived! We have the full collection including jelly rolls, honey buns and charms, along with a limited number of kits for the quilt shown below. I’m working on getting these loaded to the website, but they are going fast so if you need some of this beautiful collection, call us or stop by the shop soon before it’s all gone!

Aviary is inspired by vintage prints and field study engravings from a time when the world outside was shared through drawing rather than photographs. Full of detail and texture in a supple palette of pinks, greens, aquas and cream, this refreshing collection is elegant and sophisticated. Classic florals and paislies make this a collection that exemplifies beauty by anyone’s terms.

This quilt features the soft colors of green, blue, pink and ivory floral and tone-on-tone patterns from the Aviary fabric collection. The intricate border is created with Seminole piecing, with appliqued leaves and stems creating a unique design on the multi-patterned background blocks.

Kit contains the pattern and fabric to make the quilt top as shown, including binding. Quilt backing (6 yards) is available as a separate purchase. The kit is packaged in a reusable backpack of woven twill in soft teal and cream colors. Retail $140.00.

Congratulations to Danita Turner of Lawrenceville, GA who won our Shop Hop Door Prize!  Danita won a hat box filled with a selection of yardage, fat quarters and charm squares from the At Water’s Edge fabric collection by Blackbird Designs for Moda, along with a selection of coordinating trims and embellishments and the book, Loose Change.

Be sure to check out the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop blog where we have posted pictures of most of the shop’s quilts along with the prize winners.

SAVE THE DATE! 

The Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop

March 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2010.

I’m taking a much-needed day off from the shop today. I actually slept nine hours last night! HUH??? I cannot remember the last time that happened. For a chronic insomniac like me, that is almost unheard of – I almost felt as if I’d been drugged this morning! Hmmm…I wonder if Mike slipped me a little something, knowing how much I needed to sleep? Nah, he hates that kind of stuff!

Anyway, so what’s on tap for today? The weather is still rainy and yucky, so I doubt I’ll venture outside any farther than the end of the driveway to get to the newspaper box! I’ll be catching up on emails and blog reading,  and doing a little blogging myself, too. (I’ve been “chastised” by many of you for not keeping up with Sweet Home’s blog and I do apologize…just not enough time lately!) I’m also watching a little daytime TV – The View, anyone?

On the menu for dinner is Pork Chops and Spanish Rice, a recipe posted by Judy a while back that I’d bookmarked. I haven’t cooked in so long it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I’m also thawing a chuck roast that I’ll throw in the crockpot for tomorrow’s dinner. Two home-cooked meals in a row? WOW!

I have about five or six pairs of pants that need to be hemmed. I hate, hate, hate doing that sort of thing, but dang it, I need those pants to wear! So that is also on today’s agenda. I’ve put it off long enough.

A little more computer time will be spent playing around with Photoshop Elements and WordPress so I can tweak the blog a little. I just never seem to find the time to play around with the software so I’ll be doing that a little today, too.

I’ve got a full day planned so I’m going to go get started…right after I have another cup of coffee! I think I could get used to days like this!

Melisa

P.S.  Sorry for the couple of picture-less posts – I’ll do better.