Next weekend, May 31-June 2 marks Stitch ‘n Stuffs 23rd birthday!

We are all  working like crazy to make it one big party!

One way to celebrate, perhaps the best way, is to order lots of new goodies for the shop!

We have the latest patterns from Atkinson Designs

the new Art to Heart book and pattern.

precuts from Moda

Kansas City Star books

the newest Jaybird quilt patterns

the latest patterns from Cluck Cluck Sew!

Those are just some of the things that will be arriving next week.

We also have a trunk show with patterns and kits from Primitive Gatherings!

Here is a sample of one of the wool kits on order.

Then!  We are going to have a sewing 23 hour retreat!

To celebrate 23 years!

6pm Saturday June 1st to 5pm Sunday June 2nd.  Come for all or come and go.  Goodies for all attending, prizes for the people who stay the longest…

Only $23 plus a pot luck dish to share!

Also a great time to catch up with Holly who will be in from South Dakota!

(Space is limited, so call the shop at 523-2711 or get over there fast)!

What would every girl want to do for a retreat?

Go glamping at your favorite quilt shop!

Glamping= glamorous camping, luxury camping.

Kind of like this…

We also will have a huge new accu quilt display.  Dozens of examples of how you can quickly and accurately cut out fabric and wool.

like this or

this.

Our accu cut machine and all of the dies will be free to use all weekend!  Bring in your fabric and get cutting.  Need more fabric?  We can help you there too!

Come be inspired by how easy this machine is and how much you can do with it!

Wow, what fun this will be!  I am coming in town on Wednesday or Thursday and can’t wait!

See you then, Sandra

 

Today is the opening day of spring International Quit Market.

This year it is in Portland, Oregon.

Portland, was the first quilt market I ever went to…in about 1992 or so…

Sadly, this year we are not at quilt market.  The only market I am ‘enjoying’ is the housing market in Hampton Roads.  I spent three days looking at houses in Chesapeake.

Loved the outside of this one.

Loved the inside of this one.

Did not find the perfect combination, yet…I will be back in a couple of weeks to look at more houses.  Timed perfectly with the birthday/anniversary celebration at the shop!  What a coincidence…

But, back to quilt market…when market ends we will be seeing lots of new things!  Books, fabric, patterns, fabric, notions, fabric…

Last night we put in a preorder for many new quilt books that are being released this weekend!

Love the work that Camille does, can’t wait to see her new book!

Funny to think that her mom, Bonnie, was popular in the 90′s with these wooden dolls!  Can’t even guess how many of these I made at that time.  They were so popular in the shop I worked for!  Anybody remember these?

Even Bonnie must laugh, looking at what she does now!

you’ve come a long way…baby…

Also, been busy choosing items for the Primitive Gatherings trunk show!  Lisa has lots of new wool and cotton items at market this weekend.

We won’t be able to get samples of the newest items, but we will have patterns!

Just looking at their  booth photos makes me swoon!

Oohhhhh and aahhh!

I have actually done a little bit of sewing today!  I started working on Suburbs by Cluck Cluck Sew.  It is going together so very easily!

I will bring it to the shop for the birthday event.  You’ll want a pattern too!  The shop has lots and lots of  Cluck Cluck Sew patterns and samples on display.

Well, back to looking at house photos.  Anybody know of a great house for sale let me know.  Or, if you know of a vet clinic looking to hire…my daughter has experience…

Later, Sandra

PS  Congrats to Holly and Levi and all the family!

 

 

 

As of Monday, our house is under contract!

We expect to close in mid June and should be in Virginia Beach by the end of July!

All that’s left to do is

get all my ducks in a row…

Right now I feel a little like

this…

Early next week I will be heading to the beach to look at houses!  We have the best realtor,

so, that is not a worry!

Perhaps choosing the right house…

might be a bit of a worry…

I am also trying to get about 40 samples (using the accu cut die cut machine) ready to bring to the shop.  Pat will be making kits for a few, and I am trying to write directions.  (Not an easy task)!

Think about making yo-yos…using a circle cutter…takes just a couple of minutes to cut out!  This is a pillow, using the Angela Walters fabric line.

We are also making big plans for the shops birthday weekend (May 31-June 2).

Holly will be in town, the ‘girls’ are busy planning some new samples with kits, and I plan to be in town too!

We all have heard that Holly is ‘going’ modern with the shop…but lets just say there is room for some of our favorites too!

We are planning a large “trunk show” of quilts and wool items from one of my favorite designers, Primitive Gatherings!  We will also be ordering lots of kits to go with the samples!

From little projects…

to medium projects

to large projects!

Exciting stuff huh?  Better go gather my ducks and get busy!

Later, Sandra

Yesterday, 17 of us spent a wonderful day touring around western Virginia.

Here we are, all fresh and excited!  We rented a 15 passenger van, plus a minivan.

First stop, Sew Many Quilts in Covington, VA.  About a 2 hour drive.

This was the first quilt shop that I have been to that is totally, truly, modern!  Let me show you what a modern shop looks like!

Old favorites

new color ways

simple designs

bright fabrics

new twists

on old favorites

vivid colors

bold designs!

Well, what do you think?  Can you imagine Stitch ‘n Stuff looking more like this?

After 3 hours we were not quite so fresh…but excited!  Look, even I have a big bag of goodies!  Who’d have thought…

A wonderful lunch, another shop or two, and we ended at

Yes, this is just what you think!

A life size replica of Stonehenge-made in foam!  It is even astronomically correct!

It was late in the day now and we were getting pretty silly!

I guess we could call this modern too!  A new twist on something old…

Later, Sandra

In my sewing room I have this Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear among my things.

On the hang tag it says, “Being busy is overrated if you ask me”.  Love that little guy, but I’ve never been very good at ‘relaxing’…Sitting still is not my strong suit!

Last Friday my husband brought home the Accu Cut (die cut machine) from the shop.  Since then I have been crazy, obsessed with it!!!

Add in that my daughter was in Chesapeake for several days, I never had to leave my sewing room!  Our intent is to have lots of store samples to show you what you can do with this machine.  (You can rent the machine by the hour).  Also, we will have some precut kits available!  Let me show you a little of what I have been working on.

A few baby things, I love that dog!

A few floral things…

How about something from wool and flannel…

This is the tumbler block, ready to be pieced into an American flag.

This tree is made from a feather die…

Or use the tumbler block to make a Dresden plate design.

Or, my favorite so far…

Entirely cut out with dies!  So fast and so easy!

I think I will keep the machine another week or so.  Then bring it back so the rest of you can have a chance to play with it…

Gotta go and finish sewing that flag together!

Later, Sandra

Could I be talking about my black dog, Abby (this is her official mug shot)

who ate my blue chair…

How about the brown dog, Brandy, who spent Saturday at the spa

only to spend Sunday in the smelly creek?

How about the latest quilt trunk show at the shop from

In the shop we have several new quilts to come and enjoy!  And of course, new patterns too!Garden Trio

Geneva’s Garden

Jubilee 2

Spring Whispers

Of course, I think of how they would look done it wool!  Yummy!

In other news…

did you know that Heidy-Idy

has a birthday next month?  She is having a BIG party to celebrate!!!!  Lots of exciting things in the work.  I do believe I have to come back and party too.

Well, off to go fill in the hole that Abby dug in the yard last night…

But, mom…I thought the blue chair was mine…Plus, Brandy dug the hole…not me…

Really mom…do I look like I would do that?

Later, Sandra

On Thursday of last week we had five inches of snow!

Today it is 88 degrees! Sunny, hot and beautiful!  I may have to turn my air conditioning on!  We may be skipping spring and going right to summer.

The trees have all started to bloom.

The daffodils are out in force.

I put out some flowers at the house.

and the cold drinks are here…

Holly on the other hand…

Has had a little snow in South Dakota.

Happy Spring Holly!  OK, that wasn’t funny, sorry.

I’ve been doing a little piecing this week.  Hard to keep from spreading out everywhere though!  I am mellowing a little with the showing of the house.  Trying not to worried toooo much if the house is perfect.

I was able to finish putting these quilt blocks together.

Yikes, I won’t be doing this again anytime soon!  It is only about 40″ x 50″!   Any ideas about how to quilt it?

Then I started on these quilt blocks.  They have been rather fun to do, and not nearly as hard as I assumed.

The blocks are from the book Friendship Strips and Scraps by Laundry Basket Quilts.

I started with a small collection of fat quarters from Laundry Basket Quilts that I got at the shop.  A combination of batiks and prints.  I then tried what she does in the book…and added Civil War prints and wovens!  Who knew all those fabrics could play together????

So far I have been pretty happy with it.  Plus, I have my next quilt from the book already picked out!

I think it is time to turn the air conditioning on…

Later, Sandra

Yesterday we got five inches of beautiful snow!

Big, fat flakes, totally unexpected!

It was so pretty to watch, but I hope I am done shoveling the driveway…

We’ve had a few more showings on the house, so I have not spent as much time with my

as with my

I have worked on this paper pieced quilt.  It is kind of a love/hate thing.  Right now I am putting the rows together, so it is a hate thing.  The pattern is from Laundry Basket Quilts.  I saw it made up in a shop in Minnesota last year, and it was beautiful!  I have decided mine will not be that big!

Other then that I have been doing a lot of wool work, surprise!

I am heading over to the Star City Quilt Show today.  Yeah.

I’m pretty tied to the house lately, since I have to take the dogs with me when we have house showings.  I wonder if I put a service dog vest on my dogs, I could get them into the show…

Of course, they would have to be trained…and well behaved…

Also, this Saturday is Spring Open House at the Shop!

Come meet the teachers, and see all of the quilt samples for upcoming classes!

1-4 pm – tomorrow.

Have a great weekend, Sandra

I know it is suppose to look like this…outside.

But, at my house it looks like this

and this!

Cold and snow and sleet and rain and wind…ya’ know, winter!

Of course, that means staying inside and doing a little quilting.

Have you ever made these little duffle bags?  The pattern is from the shop…a while ago…Sometimes it takes time to get around to things. They have samples of them at the shop too.  Once I made the first one, they were easy and kind of fun.

Look at those lovely spring fabrics, the largest one is made of vinyl coated fabric.

I finished another block from my Primitive Gatherings garden quilt…

Then, because I didn’t know what I was getting into…I made this little playhouse for a friend of mine.

It turned out really cute!  The door opens, the mailbox opens and has a place to leave letters, the windows have curtains…The pattern is from Empty Bobbin.

Pretty cute huh?

Other then that…just trying to keep my house perfect!  Had three showings yesterday, we should be coming in to season soon.

Later, Sandra

My husband and I joke around…that I like ruts. Ya’ know, the same things every day…Predictable, reliable…boring….

Perhaps then, I should not have married into the

Because there have been very few ruts along the way!

We’ve lived from

Pensacola

to San Francisco

to Whidbey Island

to Newport

to Omaha?!

Of course, each of those changes has brought new friends, new memories, new excitement, etc.  It is amazing how often I run across these people over the years.  When I first started working at the shop, I came across a customer, who I had known maybe 10 years before in California!    Our boys were in the same cub scout trip…

As our family is once again in for change, with our move back to Virginia Beach…know that there are some changes planned for the shop too!

Maybe we will look a little less like this

and a little more like this.

Maybe less of this

and more of that.

However, the biggest change will be in attitude!

Continuing to fight, to keep our favorite local quilt shop going!

Because, even if you have to jump into the real world with a smart phone…

You can still have it with attitude!

Later, Sandra