August Quilt Circler of Friends!

Here we are, gathering in our circle for the August meeting. After a little catch up on quilt shop news, it's around the circle we go to catch up on what everyone has been up to in the past month.

Deanna is ahead of schedule, finishing up a holiday stocking.

Here is her block from AISH, made into a potholder.

And it's really official now. Deanna has been coming to our meeting for several months and now she has made a name tag. Welcome to the circle, Deanna!

Abbie shared her "Stitch Happens."

Celia didn't bring anything to show but she had stories to share.

And she helped her granddaughter finish up this cute quilt.

Margaret shared this picture from the baby shower for her future twin Great Grandchildren!

Trish brought this one back. This time -- -- 

- - - - with a blue ribbon on it from the Iowa State Fair!

Another by Trish, this is the mystery quilt from the spring Tasters Mystery Tour where she gathered free fat quarters and patterns to help build this quilt.

Sue has started putting together her Grandmother Flower Garden blocks. It will be fun to watch this grow.

And she just finished machine quilting this one on her new Nolting long arm machine.

Here is Abbie's 3rd place winner from the Iowa State Fair and - - -

Her Blue Ribbon quilt from the ISF!

The back of Abbie's quilt really showed off the beautiful machine quilting.

Nancy J just finished designing and piecing this baby quilt for a future baby to be named Carolina Lilly. So sweet.

Here's Deanna's first three rows of our Bermuda Mystery Quilt. She chose yellow for her background. So fresh and pretty.

Deanna also recently registered for a bird block of the month and shared her first three blocks.

Kathy's grandson just turned 1! Here is his birthday bib and - - - 

- - - - and his birthday quilt -- - 

with this pieced back.

Here's a 2nd quilt top Kathy made, using the half hexie ruler. She says it is the quickest quilt she has made in a while.

These two won prizes from the All Iowa Shop Hop.

Jackie O is making 2 of these "What Cancer Cannot Do" quilts for relatives dealing with the disease now. Jackie also received an Honorable Mention ribbon on the challenge block she made for the ISF.

Joyce shared this fall beauty.

Nancy H is making these monthly minis to hang from a counter stand.

This is a shop sample Lonnie just pieced. That's a big bear!

Flo shared this cute Halloween quilt and --

this "Woven Wonder."

This is the back!

And this is a Woven Wonder shop sample Flo made for shop display.

Flo has also been trying to use up stash so created this baby quilt.

And she shared with us this wavy ruler used to create wavy half square triangle blocks. See the finished quilt next.

Plus her latest bag, one of a couple dozen she has made.

And Flo's tote bag. This kit comes with a free class - Sunday Aug 25.

Dem's some Gnomes! A new flannel shop sample.

I did a quick demo on making 4 half square triangle units, using my new display board, a gift from the Iowa Quilters retreat.

And as is our tradition, in honor of the Iowa State Fair, we snacked on something on a stick.

Special thanks to Jackie O for taking all our pictures and to all of my Quilt Circle of Friends.

Tula Pink is in the house!

Tula's new cutting mats feature gold markings on a black background to really stand out and they are reversible with a solid black on the other side.

Her rulers, embossed with a unicorn for cuteness, also makes a no-slip surface.

Sunday Classes

Buy the kit and get a free class in the shop on Sunday. August 25 - 1-3 pm.  This will be a class of demos so you will not need to bring a sewing machine. Please call to register so we can plan accordingly.

Since we will be open on Sundays in September for the Strip Poker Chip Run, we will be offering free demo classes each Sunday.  Check back here to see what's on the schedule.

Open Sew!!!!!

Open Sew is this week at the Adel Library, 10 am until the last stitch in made both Thursday and Friday.  Free!

Mini Spool Post Doilies

Isn't this cute?  A little doily for your sewing machine spool post. It's not only cute but serves the function of helping keep your spool steady.

Diann Foster crocheted these for us. Here they are in several colors and available in the shop now.

Iowa Sate Fair Quilts

 I spent a fun day at the Iowa State Fair this week. I always enjoy a stop at the 4-H building to see all the creative things kids have come up with.

This is a fidget quilt. We've been talking about these in Quilt Circle and Iowa Quilters so thought I'd take a couple close up pictures.

I really liked this. The letters are made from maps.  

I had fun perusing the quilts, of course. Here are a couple blue ribbon quilts from our Quilt Circle of Friends:

Abbie Allen received a blue ribbon in the new category for quilts made using a panel. She took this panel to the next level, huh?

Tricia Snyder received a blue ribbon on her hexagon t-shirt quilt. A real beauty! 

This is one I just really liked. It's hard to see the perfect utility quilting done in black thread. Very striking.

This one made me say, "Cute!"

And this one made me gasp!

It seemed there were lots of quilts that featured animals. Isn't this adorable?

More animals.

I always love a quilt made with 1930s prints and this one was coupled with extraordinary machine quilting.

I tagged around with the Hill family for part of the day. 

And this brave little girl took a sheep ride in a dress.  She didn't make it to the championship level but she gave it a good go. 

And of course, - - - this.

New Fabrics

Lots of new fabrics have been coming in for the fall season.

batiks

flannels

more flannels

and more flannel

And a new group of blenders - Mix.

July Purple Bag Winner

Linda Klein is our July winner from the Purple Bag drawing. She wins this bundle of flannel fat 1/8ths. Congratulations, Linda!

More samples of Bermuda Triangle

 You've seen Nancy Sharr's Bermuda Triangle with black.

And Kathy Hamilton's with white.

Well, here's Deanna Darrah's with yellow! So pretty.

Send me a picture of your Bermuda Triangle or sign up now and pick your own background fabric.

New Stuff:

New pieces to add to our Bedrock collection. Such a great blender.

Adorable Christmas Gnomes in flannel.

Sunday Sewday!

This is what was under my needle for a Sunday of sewing.

Bermuda Triangle!

Nancy Sharr sent me this picture of her first three rows of Bermuda Triangle. Isn't this striking?

You recognize this as our shop sample down with a white background. Customers are each picking their own color for the background which makes this BOM super fun.

Haven't signed up yet? Call soon - Just $12 a month for 5 months plus background fabric makes a full size quilt!

Already signed up? Send is a picture of your first three rows to post on the blog.

Heads Up!

Open Sew for August is later in the month due to the annual book sale at the Adel Library.

Open Sew for August is Thursday, the 22nd and Friday the 23rd.

Hope to sew with you then!

Tote Bag Class

This is Flo's original design, featuring animal inserts from the Thicket panel.  This bag is now available in kit. Purchase a kit to take our free class, Sunday, August 25, 1 to 3 pm.

This class is in the shop and no sewing machines are required. You will find Flo's tips and tricks very helpful, however.

Call soon to reserve your kit and register for the class.

Iowa Quilters Retreat

Every year about this time, the online quilt group, Iowa Quilters, gather for retreat at a hotel in Story City. There is, of course, a lot of sewing, show and tell and games. There is also always some kind of charity project. This year, we made fidget quilts for an Alzheimer's unit. Thanks to Marcia Burt for all the work she does to organize this fun retreat.

Since the grands live in the same town, I spent nights with them. One evening, they also wanted to sew. They each stitched together two rectangles of fabric and then pretended they were cell phones.

iowa Q

Commemorative Sweet Corn Potholders

We started a Sweet Corn Festival tradition, looks like 6 years ago, of potholder kits.  This year, the kit is the green one, front right.

Want to hear a great sweet corn cooking trick? This from Trish S:

This is our favorite method. Cut off the stem end, into the ear a bit to remove the part where the husks connect. Leave all the husks & silks in place. Microwave about 4 minutes for an ear, depending on the microwave. Add a minute for a second ear. If I remember, I roll the ear over part way through cooking time. When the ear is cooked, while hot, squeeze the silk end to push out the ear. If the corn isn’t done, it is harder to push it out. If it’s a battle, I pop the corn back in for 30-60 seconds. I wrap the end in a dish towel because it is hot! The silks stick to the husks & the corn comes out pretty clean! 

Backings are back

Back in stock by popular demand. - 108" wide