Celia's Hawaiian Finds

Celia M recently had a fun vacation in Hawaii and, no surprise, she found a fabric store. Below are some of her finds and how she plans to use it. Lovely.

This particular piece was two-sided.

Lunch in Adel on Monday

Call a friend and come to Adel April 3 for this great lunch. In addition to meatballs, the women of Adel Women's Club make their favorite recipes of salads and cakes for this luncheon. All proceeds are donated to non profit organizations and used for scholarships.

We're right across the street so stop in to say high.

Long Arm For Sale

My friend Connie has her APQS Freedom long arm quilting machine with a 12' frame and added features, including a power (electric) roller advance and Bliss, for sale.  If you are interested, please call her at 515-255-0694

Heifer in a Haystack

I saw this in Our Iowa magazine. Sounds good but my favorite part is the recipe name.

Ka Boom!

A victim of the high winds of March 7, this arbor has been standing on our back patio for about 15 years, bolted to 2' footers. I got home in the midst of the storm to see it leaning and thought of going around to push it back up. Then I had a follow up thought - - -  "what if it comes on down on me?" Moments later it crashed to the ground! 

Open Sew

Join us this week, Thursday and Friday at the Adel Library! I plan to be there all day Friday so, if you have a block of the month or a piecing technique that you would like some help with, stop by and I will be glad to help in any way I can. We sew from 10 am until the last stitch is made.

Couple new pieces

From Hoffman, these new prints are called "It's my Party".
The gold on the right piece is a bit shiny like la met. These are great pieces for T-Shirt quilts.

It's time for OOOOOpen Sew

Join us at the Adel Library this week, Thursday and Friday from 10 am until the last stitch is made each day!

The room is securely locked overnight so you can come for one day or, leave your machine and projects overnight to stitch with us for both days.

Pressing and cutting stations are provided. There is no fee but you may bring snacks to share.

Purple Bag Drawing!

We have a March winner from our monthly Purple Bag Quilter Drawing!

Jean Vandewater

Come on in and pick up your prize, Jean! It's a layer cake packet from Moda!

In stock now!

Sunday Sewday

Here are a few things I worked on this last Sunday. Feels so go to be back enjoying my Sundays in the sewing room!

I finished the 2nd little quilt from this kit. The kit includes the fabric to make this table runner either in the size shown or up to one 40" long. Then, make the table topper from leftover 60 degree triangles. Kit includes a paper 60 degree template to use if you don't have a 60 degree ruler. Kit for these two little quilts and pattern is just $24.

I also bordered out this Grandparents House Rules panel, using the same design as Lonnie came up with for our Love You to the Moon and Back panel.

The last project I worked on Sunday was this Feel Better Blankie. That's the name our grand kids gave to theirs. Whenever one of them is under the weather, they get out this blankie and it magically makes them feel better.

The secret ingredient is Moda's plush Fireside fabric on the back. After quilting, the backing is trimmed to 2 1/2" larger than the quilt top and folded to the front. Because it is a polyester product, you don't even need to turn the raw edges under, just zigzag it to the quilt, folding the corners to miter. 

The beauty of this is you can make a comfort quilt very quickly. I made this one for a friend who has just been diagnosed with a serious kidney disease that requires chemo pills for treatment. I hope this little lap throw will make her "feel better".

February Quilt Circle Meeting

It's always a fun evening when Quilt Circle of Friends meets. We were very happy to welcome 4 new visitors to this meeting.

Bonnie started our evening by modeling the new socks she won at our holiday party last month.

We all thought this jacket explained a lot. 

We are working our way through a 16" block of the month, doing our own twist on painted barn quilts.

At this meeting, we gave out patterns for this Monkey Wrench with a Pinwheel center. I usually make the block and Lonnie then makes one to test the pattern so above are our blocks.

Here are some of the members blocks from previous months.

And we discussed how to use squares of this fabric for our Just One Block challenge for the Dallas County Fair quilt.  Watch for more on that coming soon and plan to make - - - Just One Block.

Nancy J. is always ready. Here is a set of place mats she made for our spring porch sale. Very cute.

Then we discussed our Get Er Done Archive challenge. This year, members have this unofficially official contract to complete when they declare the one old project that they want to Get Done! 

Lonnie just made this pretty strippy quilt from a jelly roll. This is a shop sample and, of course, available in kit!

Jackie O is still devoted to her self-imposed challenge to spend at least a few minutes in her sewing room every day and it is really paying off.

This is a 9-Patch quilt Theresa has been doing with her sister in law. It's still growing but looking very nice.

Marti found and finished this pretty block.

She also shared this thread holder she found when out antiquing recently.

Bonnie is still making place mats, each just as lovely as the one before it. She is also hand quilting this quilt below, made from fabrics she purchased in Australia.

Since we are pulling out archive projects, I shared this vest made about 35 years ago when I was first learning to applique and hand quilt.

And I shared a little demo on how to add an improvised curved piece to your modern quilts.

We close our meeting as always, drawing for door prizes and enjoying a little snack.

Thank you to Jackie O for her photography. She accidentally used the same chip that had about 100 pictures from her daughter's wedding stored on it so I got to enjoy perusing those pics as well :)

Our next meeting is Monday, March 20 in the shop at 6 pm. We'd love to have you join us!

A few new pieces - - -

More new 1930 reproduction fabrics.

and new from Modern Tyke

and a few more - - - new from Kim Diehl

The 30's are back!

10 to 15 years ago, the 1930 reproduction fabrics were really popular. Then they fell out of vogue for a while. Well, here they come again, full circle. Above is about half of our new selection. The rest is scheduled to arrive any day and we are really excited to start stitching with it.

Sunday Sewday!!!

It's starting to feel good to sit at the sewing machine again! This past Sunday, I quilted and put the binding on this little table topper.

And I quilted and put the binding on this little Twelve Days of Christmas quilt.

I wasn't the only one feeling the call this past Sunday. Jenny O. finished up this table topper for us, made easier by the pre-cut interfacing material. So cute and easy.

And Lonnie whipped up this Jelly Roll quilt using Moda's Weave line. It is prettier in person and will really shine after quilted and bound.

Best Friends!

Not really friends at age 2 but best friends at age 3 - - - most of the time.

                                                                                       

                                         

Saturday, February 18 -----------

Tomorrow we will gather at the Adel Library from 8 am to 11 am to talk about applique. We have demos prepared for machine applique and needle turn applique done with either freezer paper templates or by back basting.

We will touch on using a light box, reversing patterns, transferring designs, making templates, stitching the valleys and the peaks, making circles, preferred notions and answer your questions.

Diana Weirich will set up her sewing machine and demonstrate machine applique stitches, including some very helpful hints.

You will go away with hand outs so you can refresh and practice at home.

Class is free if you are registered for our Whimsical Garden b.o.m. This b.o.m. is open for registration through the end of March.

Otherwise, class fee is $15.

Find the Adel Library just 1 block south of the shop, between 9th and 10th Streets. The parking lot is off 9th St. The meeting room is just inside the entrance.

See you tomorrow, bright and early!

Grandparents House Rules

This is a new panel. Love it!

Customer Show and Share

Darla C recently brought these two quilt tops in to show us. Above is one of our block of the months from a bit back. Below is a quilt that used mostly AQDG fabrics.

Both very pretty. Nothing feels better than done, right?

Quilty Valentines Day!

I love this silly little verse. From my sewing room to yours - - - Happy Valentines Day!

Sunday Sewday

I am finally getting back on the sewing band wagon after a 3 month time out to heal. The first thing I finished was this little quilt made with an online quilt group.

This is the 12 Days of Christmas. Notice the first block is made with 1 piece, the 2nd with 2 pieces and so on, adding one piece to each block until you get to block 12 which has 12 pieces. My block 12 looks a little wonky. Might have to do a little unsewing there.

Heirloom Quilt Repair

Karen Peters has an old family quilt top that was tied many years ago. She would like to hire someone to take the worn back off, re-layer it with back and batt and quilt it. 

If you are interested, please call Karen at 515-419-5131.

Black and White Strip Club sample

 Note: These are just small samples, about 1/3 the size of the completed project which will finish 72" x 84"

We have two choices for you. Do the brights version with yellow accent - shown above.

Or - choose this black and white version. With this choice, you can choose your accent color. So far, customers have picked black, orange, red, yellow and green (shown)

Program runs 7 months at $15 a month and starts March. Pick up pre-cut strips and binding to make this quilt.

OOOOPEN SEW!!!!!!!!!!

It's this week! Thursday and Friday, Feb 9 and 10. Join us at the Adel Library for this free event - stitching and chatting with friends. We start at 10 am and sew until the last stitch of the day is made.

February Applique Class

As promised, we have scheduled a hand and machine applique seminar at the Adel Library, Saturday, February 18 from 8 am to 

11 am.

This seminar is FREE if you are registered for our Whimsical Garden BOM. Otherwise, fee is $15.

No pre-registration is required. 

No need to bring a machine. 

If you have some of your blocks prepped, bring them along with your basic sewing tools and you can practice what we are demonstrating.

If you do not, that's fine too. Just come and learn.

Seminar will include:

• step x step demonstration of hand needle turn applique using freezer paper
• step x step demonstration using fusible web for machine applique including tips on options  for finishing the edges.
• how to use a pressing sheet for best accuracy on machine applique.
• reference sheets for all above to take home

Not too late to register for our new applique block of the month, My Whimsical Flower Garden Quilt. It just started. 

Make 2 blocks each month for $10 a month and attend the seminar FREE. Pattern set required, $17.95.