July 4 - Independence Day

We will be closed on Saturday July 4th to celebrate Independence Day with family and friends. Play safe!

This Civil War quilt will be part of our lesson in Class 1 of Sisters of the Cloth. Class 1 is Saturday July 18.  If you have not registered, call soon.

Reminder for Passports

If you have a passport to submit for the All Iowa Shop Hop, you can drop it off at any participating shop or mail it to the address shown on the passport. Please note, ALL PASSPORTS MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN FRIDAY JULY 3, 2015 TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZE DRAWING.

Someone is growing up!!

Taking a little break from the quilt shop for Jackson's annual summer vacay in Adel. Here's a glance at his favorite thing to do with Gpa.  Watch cartoons!

Today! After a little chocolate milk, we are on our way outside to play until the pool opens!

Library Fund Raiser

We have raised about $800 so far this week, welling items made by local quilters. We still have several great items, very reasonably priced to sell.

We add new items every day. Here are today's additions. This is a great opportunity to pick up very nice gift items.

New Stuff

With all the extra summer traffic, we have lots of stuff going out the door and, therefore, lots of new stuff coming in daily.

New Moda Layer Cakes (10" squares)

Shiny Chandelier! We have it in 5" charms, 10" cakes and 2 1/2" strips of jelly rolls.

I just love it. What should we do with this? It has a Moroccan feel.

Stop in to see more new fabrics, patterns, shop samples and kits. We are keeping it fresh!

Wow!

I have not posted in 3 days! Do you suppose we have been busy? Busy having fun with both All Iowa Shop Hoppers AND Row by Row collectors!

We are starting to have a lot of guests from out of state. This couple is RV-ing across the nation, planning to pick up at least one license plate from each state. They brought their travel companions in to show.

 Aren't they cute? I bet they are easier to travel with than dogs, right?

And these gals are from Kansas. So much fun being had around Iowa quilt shops!

July Open Sew - important notice

Open Sew for July has been moved to Thursday, July 16 and Friday, July 17 due to availability of the library. Please note this change on your calendar!

Row by Row, H2O - Here we go!

We have kits! Kits for our row, kits for the whole quilt and even kits for the individual mini quilts!

We invite you to sign our banner and sign up for hourly drawings. We will also draw for shop gift certificates at the end of Row by Row (Sept 8).

And today is our kick off party - - - go home with a gift bag. The bags have your free pattern, a newsletter with a $5 coupon, a pattern for a zip wallet and a square of Iowa fabric to make it with, a quilter's tattoo, candy and, of course, a bottle of water!

And - - - - - - - - - - - - - We have bubbles!

The votes have been counted

Special thanks to the crew (plus picture-taker Frank) that showed up early this morning to hang quilts for our Little Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

 After a busy and fun filled day of admiring quilts and visiting with guests, it's time to announce the winners from our Viewer's Choice votes. 

In first place is this beautiful black quilt by Abbie Allen from Grimes. This was a block of the month quilt through HoopSisters.com. The entire quilt was done on the embroidery machine! A masterpiece indeed.

 In second place is Marilyn Monroe (quilt on the left in this picture) by Becky Irmenter from Waukee. Becky created this pictorial quilt, using different shades of blacks and whites. Amazing, isn't it?

And at 3rd place is Marti Klatt's from Adel with her applique quilt. This little quilt is heavily embellished with beads and really beautiful in person.

That said, every quilt in the show was a thing of beauty and we thank everyone who let us hang their quilt. 

Second, we asked our customers today to vote on our Just One Block Challenge. We had 30 blocks entered in this contest. Everyone started with a packet of fabric to which they could add from their on stash. Here are the top three.

First place goes to Jackie Orton for this beauty.

Second place goes to Bonnie Nelsen for this original design.

And third place goes to Renee McPhee for this great pinwheel.

Thank you to everyone who entered a block. So much creativity at work! I will post more pictures soon. These blocks will be assembled into a quilt and auctioned for the Dallas County Fair   4-H in 2016 so it's not too late to contribute a block to this project. We need 12 more blocks

Three of my favorite dads!

My husband.

My father

The father to my grandchildren.

Party in the shop - -

You are invited! Monday, June 22, we are hosting a Kick Off party for the Row by Row Experience, a nation-wide quilting event.

There will be hourly drawings, gift bags, beads, tattoos and bubbles! Doesn't that sound like a party?

Here is our quilt featuring our row. Coincidentally, we also have kits of our row, kits of the entire quilt and kits of the individual little 6" Amish quilts.  

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

The quilts are up!

Another great outdoor quilt show thanks to many of you!

Ladies of the Lake Retreat Project!

Carol P whipped this shop sample up for us. She said the pattern is well written and very easy. The pattern teaches the Flying Geese x 4 piecing technique that many of us love to use.

Mostly batiks, the quilt is really vibrant and warm in person. Kits for this size (57 1/2" square) are $69. If you would like one of these kits for retreat, call or stop in soon. We will offer kits to all customers in about a month.

This pattern also provides instruction for a queen size version. We will be happy to provide kits for that size as well.

Thank you Carol!

New Stuff!

Lonnie made this great casserole carrier for us. The pattern is from Quilter by Night.

Here it is laid out flat. Notice the strap connects to corners and the other two corners have loops.

Place the casserole in the center and then pull the strap through a loop on one side - - - - 

and then the other side

All ready to go as the strap becomes a carrying handle! What a great gift idea. It is lined with Insulbrite instead of batting to give it the warm factor.

Who wants to party?

You are invited! We are having a Row by Row Experience kick off party on Monday, June 22.

We will be drawing for door prizes every hour and we have treat bags for the first 25 customers.

What else? Quilter's Tattoos, of course. Come in Monday and join us for the fun!

Quilter of the Month

Skip on over to our website and meet our new Quilter of the Month, Jo Anne Schnebly. Click the Classes and Events tab and then Quilter of the Month.

Little Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Saturday, June 20, is our Little Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Please come and bring a friend. Vote for your favorite quilts and then vote for your favorite blocks in our Dallas Co 4-H fund raiser, "Just One Block." 

Bring some extra spending money and shop among the large assortment of quilted and sewn items as well as quilt kits. Great opportunity to pick up some Christmas gifts! These proceeds go to the Adel Library.

Note, there is a very large bike ride coming through town early that same morning. The street on our East, 9th Street) will be closed from 6 am to 10:30 am. You can still access the shop from the west, 10th Street will be open and you can take it to the large parking lot just behind the shop.

Trunk Show from Modern Quilt Relish

We are very pleased to share a special quilt exhibit from the designers of Modern Quilt Relish - just came in today.

We have quilts and patterns for 8 of their designs. For each pattern, there are two samples. So fun!

We've been tagged!

Leland and Kevin visited us first thing this morning! They are owners of Helios Stitches and Stuff in Mt Vernon. They are also the coordinators for the All Iowa Shop Hop.

They are on a quest to visit every shop on the hop. As busy shop hop owners, they won't get it done in June but are planning to over the summer.What a nice surprise to meet them in person. Take a moment right now with me to say a big THANK YOU to them.

Gathered with shop girl, Julia and I on the porch are a couple of customers, sisters from Iowa and Texas hopping around the state. 

It's the 15th of the month so - - - -

- - - - here is my version of our scrappy quilt project  - - Holy Scrap!

I had so much fun building this quilt, just adding parts until it was the size I wanted. The four top and four bottom borders are made by stitching together blocks I collected from Quilt Circle of Friend block exchanges. Who would have thought they would all land in the same quilt!

Here it is shown with the back flipped over to see the Iowa fabric used for backing. The border runs along both sides of the quilt back. Fun.

More hop fun - -

Pat and Linda are making the rounds using the bags they made from their 2014 Iowa fabric.

These two, Lori and Debbie, are from Moline and Muscatine. Last year, Debbie made it to every shop and that is their plan plan for this year.

Meet Carolyn from Carlisle. She is showing the Fabric Acquisition Road Trip bag she made from last years Iowa fabric.  :) 

Joyce from Mt Vernon is showing the bag she made from this year's Iowa fabric. This is one of the patterns in the 2015 AISH shopping guide. 

Rhonda's Roosters

Rhonda H. shared this quilt she made for her aunt from our rooster panel. Isn't it cute? We have exactly one of these panels left.