Sweet Home Quilt Co.

I think this will catch me up on show and tell…enjoy!

Crystal’s Quilt of Many Colors, her first quilt from our beginner’s class. The pattern is Strawberry Pie by Silver Thimble Quilt Co.

Terry’s version of Strawberry Pie, also her first quilt from our beginner’s class.

Louise shared a tote bag she made for her daughter, Kelly, using the Lil’ Twister tool. Kelly works with 911 Services and Louise used firefighter themed prints in the design.

Last but certainly not least is Sarah’s fabulous batik Twister quilt (she used the large size Twister tool). Absolutely stunning!

Melisa

If you weren’t here today for UFO Day, you missed a G-R-E-A-T time!  There was lots of “alien food” and laughter, and even a little bit of quilting was accomplished!

I snapped this early on before everyone arrived – Alien Juice (lemonade), Martian Orbs (green grapes), and Planet Cookies. (We have a fabulous new bakery in town – Sugar Bakers – and they had fun with our UFO Day idea!) We also enjoyed Martian Toes (creme filled pastries), Flying Saucer Chips with Beam Me Up Bean Dip, and lots of other stuff that escapes me now. Trust me, we had plenty to eat and there was lots of creativity depicted in our alien food!

Page brought her cross-stitch projects to get caught up on – Christmas Stocking two years in the making for her son-in-law, and a fall scene featuring pumpkins and a scarecrow and moon against a black background – I’d have been blind! In fact, it’s hard to tell from this picture, but Page wears 2 pair of glasses at a time!!! No wonder, doing all that cross-stitch on dark backgrounds!

Mellie managed to sew a few seams in between customers in the shop. She’s working on a new sample for the Market Party next week – you are planning to come to the Market Party on Wednesday, right?

Gwen is working on a patriotic project using the new Lil Twister tool – she’s making it up as she goes along…the best way!

Several different options were auditioned for finishing – I can’t wait to see what she finally chooses!

Doli managed to elude my ever-present camera, but I did manage to capture what she was working on. She had bought these fabrics in Florida 5 or 6 years ago, but could never decide what to make with them. We looked at several pattern choices, and she settled on Fire Escape by Atkinson Designs. Can I just say…Y-U-M-M-O!!! She didn’t quite get it finished, but almost!

I know you’re wondering about the other glorious piece hanging behind Gwen, too. This was a show-and-tell that Doli brought to share.

This was a Round Robin that Doli made with her mother and her sister. They each started with the center pieced blocks section and the large flower, and all used the same fabrics. This is Doli’s finished top – don’t you love it??? She is going to bring pictures of the other two quilts to share with me and I can’t wait to see them also.

So, you’re asking, what did you finish Melisa? Well, I did manage to get two things off my list, but I can’t show you. (I really did finish, I promise!) No sneaky peaky until the Market Party next week — see another reason you need to plan to be here Wednesday, June 30th, 5:30 – 8:30PM!!!

Fun Days of Summer at Sweet Home are off to a fantastic start, and I’m excited about all the other fun stuff we have planned. I hope you’ll come play with us, too!

Melisa

One of the most fun new gadgets I found at Spring Quilt Market was the Twister Tool. It comes in two sizes – 5 inch and 10 inch – and is designed for use with 5” charms or 10” layer cakes. The Twister tools are extremely easy to use, and the results are sooooo worth it!

This little sample was make using the Lil’ Twister and a package of 5” charms from our 30’s reproductions. Actually, I only used 16 charm squares and a 3” outside border fabric…the finished project is about 15” square.

Here’s a sample Mellie whipped up using a layer cake of Moda’s Collection for a Cause Legacy with a 6” brown border. Notice the play of dark, light, medium fabrics and the blue “accent” in the middle. The squares were sewn together in a Trip Around the World arrangement first, and then using the 10” Twister Tool cut for pinwheels. Any 3 dark, medium, light fabrics paired with an accent would work great in this layout with a contrasting border. I didn’t measure the sample (and as you can see we already have it hanging!) but I’d guess it finished at about 60×60.

We are having loads of fun just playing with the possibilities these tools offer, but there is also a companion book available with a dozen projects ranging from aprons to table runners to quilts using both sizes of the Twister tool.

There are quite a few of these projects calling my name, too! Plus the book gives you some great suggestions for experimenting with the tools beyond just the basic pinwheel…oh to have 20 more hours in my day just to play!!!

Melisa

Let’s Twist Book