Sweet Home Quilt Co.

Ordinarily, this is me – I am a world-class procrastinator, and I often say that I work best under pressure. That is because it is a survival skill! I have always been one to wait until the last minute – it used to drive my parents crazy when I’d wait until the night before a project was due to get started, but I always got the job done and done well, too!  How weird is it that on National Fight Procrastination Day I hit the ground running this morning and have been hard at work all day long?!? (I didn’t know it was National Fight Procrastination Day until tonite!) Maybe it was because I had planned the day in advance, and knew exactly what I wanted to get done and in what sequence. I stuck pretty much to plan except that I added an unexpected project to the list, and had to suspend one project until I can run to JoAnn’s tomorrow for a doll needle – not something I’ve got in stock at the shop!

I thought I’d share a few glimpses of what I’ve been working on. Only one project was completely finished today, but I made good progress on several others, all of which I plan to finish tomorrow along with a couple of other WIPs.

I managed to get a few blocks done for the mystery quilt I’m doing with the Batty Babes. My version will be done in civil war reproduction prints and there are several dozen more blocks to be done – this is just the very tip of the iceberg! Considering that I’m the one who initiated the challenge to the Babes to do this mystery, I’m glad to at least have a start on getting it done!

BTW, this mystery quilt was designed by my friend, Candace Hassen. The first part of the series was published in the June 2009 issue of McCall’s Quilting – I think Part 3 is already out so I’m really, really behind!

This is the project that got stalled today for lack of a doll needle! Looks like a pumpkin, doesn’t it? It will be, sort of … I’ll share the finished project tomorrow. (not sure what’s up with this weird picture???)

I finally finished the Petit Fours pincushion and it is BIG! About six inches across and four inches tall BIG!  This is the project I began a couple of weeks ago that got me hooked on English Paper Piecing – the pattern is included in Moda’s new Petite Fours Bake Shop box, which we have in the shop. The pattern calls for the hexagons to be pieced by machine, but I chose to do it by hand, thus the reason it has taken me so long to finish!  I really like how this turned out, especially the prairie points around the top. I filled it with crushed walnut shells about 3/4 full and then finished stuffing it with 100% cotton stuffing from Quilter’s Dream – love that stuff! I used it to stuff the pumpkin form, too. Anyway, the Petite Fours Bake Shop box has enough 2 1/2 inch squares to make three of these pincushions, but since I only needed one, I used some of the other 2 1/2 inch squares to make the “unplanned” project on today’s agenda:

Maybe I’ll get to finish this tomorrow, and if I do I’ll share a picture.

I hope you’re doing some quilty “labor” over this holiday weekend. I’ll be back in the sweat shop tomorrow (except for a little housecleaning, laundry and grocery shopping that has to be done – now that’s LABOR!)

Yesterday I was invited to “play” with the Silver Thimble Quilt Club at their annual Summer Stitch-in.  I arrived a little early (but there were others much more anxious than I was apparently who arrived well before me!) and it took me nearly an hour to get unpacked and set up to sew. I think I mentioned that I took far more than I could ever possibly get done in 12 hours, but I was optimistic. I did get a little done, in between the laughter and the eating and the visiting with friends. Unfortunately I can’t show you what I accomplished because it is a mystery quilt that I’m working on with the Batty Babes and I don’t want them to see it yet! Let me just say that I am loving how it is turning out, though.

Pat is offering optional mini projects for the group to work on at various times throughout the week, and Monday’s project from Sweet Home Quilt Co. was the Moda Bake Shop Christmas Stockings.  Each of these little mini Honey Buns makes 3 little stockings, plus a half yard for the backings per box. The technique is Seminole piecing, which is not difficult at all to do, but is something that not a lot of people have done before.  We have a limited number of these kits in the shop.

Somehow I didn’t get any pictures of the group working on their individual stockings, but here’s Pat in her “teaching” mode. She’s a great teacher!

Here’s Pat “threatening” me for taking her picture! Lordy, she scares me! Did you see on her blog where she actually declared “WAR” if I posted an unflattering photo of her??? So no unflattering photos…this time!I think I did get my name on the board for this one, though!

You can see that the entire room was buzzing with the sounds of laughter and conversation amid the whirr of sewing machines. A running tally is kept of the number of projects finished during the retreat and it seems like the total was at five or six when I left yesterday. This group knows how to have fun, but they can turn out the work, too!

Here’s Julie B. showing a fat quarter quilt she’s working on – all it needs is the three borders. I helped her pick out the fabrics for this one, and the green is a little unexpected with the red, white and blue. Doesn’t it look fantastic, though!

Here’s Marie M. with her Dancing Stars quilt on the design wall. I think she still has one more multi-color border to go, but it is looking wonderful! This was a Silver Thimble Quilt Club selection from April, which we kitted at Sweet Home. A couple of kits are still available.

Here’s Teresa W. showing her completed Ring in the New stitchery BOM. This was a BOM from Kathy Schmitz that we offered at Sweet Home last year, and Pat designed the setting exclusively for us. The stitchery is blackwork done on aged muslin. A few kits are still available for this one, also.

Teresa also won the day’s “Princess Prize” drawing, which was a much-coveted notions bag in red and brown. We’ll all be searching all over town to find one of these, I’m sure!

This is a shop sample that I took to share with the group (I actually intended to sew the binding on, but didn’t get to it!) The basket blocks are hand embroidered, set with a variety of scrappy 30′s prints. The quilt is STUNNING in person! We have a limited number of kits available in the shop.

A rousing game of Left Right Center resulted in lots of laughter and a pile of really ugly fat quarters, none of which, I can assure you, came from Sweet Home Quilt Co.!

Julie D. was the lucky winner – see that expression of delight as she looks through the awesome selection she won!!!

I had such a blast with this group of friends – it was just the therapy I needed! Pat goes to great lengths to make sure her retreaters have everything they need or could possibly want – the food, the fun and the learning are all in plentiful supply! I sure hope I get invited back next time…hint, hint!

If you have an opportunity to retreat with other quilters, take advantage of it! Even if you don’t know anyone, trust me, you’ll be fast friends before you know it and you’ll have the best time, I guarantee!

Play time is over, and I’ve got to get back to work. I’ve got lots of things brewing at the shop this week and it won’t happen if I don’t buckle down!

Our UPS guy has been a fixture around here lately, making deliveries of lots of stuff I bought at Quilt Market in May. One of the new products that arrived this week just happens to be featured in the latest project at Moda Bake Shop.

It’s called Texture Magic from Superior Threads, and I’ve been itching to experiment with it.  I saw the demo at Quilt Market and could immediately imagine all sorts of possibilities for this project.  All you do is mark a grid or some sort of design on the Texture Magic fabric, pin it to your fabric and then activate it with steam (DO NOT IRON!). It will shrink, leaving you with a wonderful textured piece to use in your projects. I’d love to use it on a tote, and the pillow project at Moda Bake Shop is a cute idea, too.  Another idea occurred to me, too, right after I sat down to write this post and I think I’ll take a package of Texture Magic home with me this weekend and see if I can whip up a new sample – stay tuned!

I’ve got a busy weekend planned, and I hope you do, too.  Saturdays here at the shop are always busy and filled with laughter and visiting. We’re expecting a visit from Becky today, who is visiting from Louisiana. We sure miss her here at SHQC – if you get a chance stop by and maybe you’ll catch her here. After today, my plan is to quilt and bind the three samples I made last weekend (I’ll show pics after they’re finished), and if I have time, I’ll play around with the new Texture Magic and see what I can come up with.  I’m also planning some serious grandie time – it has been a few weeks since we’ve had more than just a few minutes with Hayden and Haylee so we’re overdue for a long visit. The other two grandies, Grant and Zachary, are spending the summer at the beach so we won’t get to see them for another month at least. We talk to them about once a week, though, and they are loving the “beach bum” life!

I’m off to get ready for the day. I hope you’re making the most of your summer weekend!

Have you visited the Moda Bake Shop lately? Be sure to check out all the new projects. I got lost for over an hour tonight just looking through all I’d missed in the last few weeks. This is one site that you must check regularly so you don’t miss any of the goodies! There are some great projects posted. After you’ve picked out a couple of new projects to try, remember that Sweet Home Quilt Co. is “Moda Central” for all your bake shop needs. You’ll find charm packs, honey buns, jelly rolls and layer cakes in stock.

There is a new Fabricmatcher Contest posted on Moda’s website, too.  You’ll need to set up a user name and password, and after that, the possibilities are endless. Fabricmatcher is fun and a terrific tool if you’re making fabric and color decisions for a project.  Plus, the winner gets a Fat Quarter Bundle and a pattern packge from designers Minick & Simpson! Not to mention your 15 minutes of fame on the Moda Fabricmatcher website! Go on and play – you know you want to!