AQS - Grand Rapids, MI

Will you be attending?

AQS QuiltWeek - Grand Rapids

Wednesday, August 20 through Saturday, August 23, 2014

DeVos Place Convention Center

Grand Rapids, Michigan

5 Yard Bundles!

We will be adding more 5 Yard Bundles today!

Yum Yum - One Bowl Apple Cake!

One Bowl Apple Cake - This cake is so moist and rich and just perfect for this time of year. (and easy to make!)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
6 medium Gala or Fuji or Honey Crisp apples
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. Peel and slice the apples and add to mixture in bowl (coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.) Mix together the baking soda and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl. Mix well (best with a fork) until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. Pour mixture into a greased one 9x13 or two 9″ round pans. Bake for approximately 55 minutes.

Pixie Party Month 7 - Chain Letter

Pixie Party

This terrific  program is brought to you by Cozy
Quilt Designs and RJR Fabrics and is a first-of-a-kind strip program. Each month we will release a new spectacular quilt and kit that features pre-cut fabrics. And I mean Pre-CUT! From strips to borders and binding, as well as setting and corner triangles, it's all been pre-cut! What's even better... the border and binding strips are cut length of fabric.
Best of all, the quilts are wonderful. 
Allow me to present Month 7:

Month 7 - Chain Letter

Looking to make a classic bedcover for your room? Then Chain Letter is the perfect project for you. Designed by Daniela Stout, this romantic classic features fabrics from Quilter’s Garden by Lynette Anderson. The focal fabric shows Lynette’s charming illustrations of home, garden and furry friends. The use of contrasting colors provides wonderful depth and dimension. The project comes together lickety-split because it’s all pre-cut, from strips and setting triangles to borders and binding. Chain Letter is queen size finishing at 84 by 101 inches

Retail Price: $160.00 each

Your Savings: $16.00

Price: $144.00

Just Arrived: Calypso Goldfish from Ro Gregg!

from Paintbrush Studio
 

Brightly colored and rainbow goldfish swim to and fro, showing off their magnificent tails.

There are 19 prints in this collection.

Available here: Calypso Goldfish

Girlie Girl selfie!

What was in that water?

Quilt Kit TOP: "As Seen In" Gifts of the Season

As Seen In: Quilters World, Autumn 2014 pg14

Designed & Quilted by Gina Gempesaw

Celebrate the season with this fabulous quilt. With straightforward piecing, this project will be a great addition to a wall, your favorite holiday table decoration or a wonderful gift.
Finished size: 29" x 29"
Skill Level:  Advanced Beginner
Block Size: 17" x 17" finished

Included in kit:
Approx: 3 yards fabric, for top,
 border and binding
Fabrics used: Woodland Christmas

Available here: Gifts of the Season

Bugaboo!

 Bugaboo
from Northcott by Cheri Strole
Bugaboo is buzzing with whimsical insects and frogs in a rainbow of bright colors.

Featured stripes and all-over bug prints


are complemented by a host of colorful coordinates and textural blenders that provide infinite project possibilities that will delight nature enthusiasts both young and old!



Bugaboo Blaze
by The Quilted Button

The only thing complicated in the quilt
are the Prairie Points! 
Finished size: 55 1/2" x 65 1/2"
Skill level: Advanced Beginner

Retail Price: $75.00 each
Your Savings: $7.50
Price: $67.50

Discover
by Ribbon Candy Quilt Company

The block is a Snowball and the handle is appliqued on!
Finished size: 40" x 50"
Block size: 7 1/2" square

Retail Price: $55.00 each
Your Savings: $5.50
Price: $49.50

Bug Hunt
"As Seen In" McCall's Quilting
designed by Heidi Pridemore

Finished Size: 59" x 76"
Skill Level: Advanced Beginner

Retail Price: $80.00 each
Your Savings: $8.00
Price: $72.00

Lemon Tree Quilt Center Re-design

We love the fabrics in the Lemon Tree Kit and wanted to do a center that wasn't appliqued.
The orginal quilt had a lemon tree in the center:

So.... we changed it up to a piece Labyrinth block:

We made all the outside blocks, corners and cut the borders first. 
With the left over fabrics we made the center Labyrinth block.
Here is a close-up of the center:

The blocks are 3" finished.  Here is the layout:

Our quilt was quilted by Judy Kraker of Kraker Quilting.

The quilt kit can be purchased here: Lemon Tree

Congratulations Grand Haven Michigan Beach!

Grand Haven, MI made The Huffington Post! Check them out on their list of "10 Beaches That Will Make You Want To Plan A Trip To The Great Lakes Immediately"

Congrats to Bob Peskorse of Grand Haven Photos on having his photo featured in the article! — with Dawn Lind Vrablic and Nancy Schroedter-Hoffmeyer.
Click here to read the artical: 10 Beaches

Snowbird fabrics from Laundry Basket Quilts

Just Arrived:

Snowbird Cottons
by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda!

This collection has only 15 pieces, 3 prints in 5 colorways.
Way To Go Edyta,
for creating something so simple and elegant!

Good morning!

5 Yard Bundles are back!

5 Yard Bundles ***Buy one bundle get additional $5.00 off (use code: 5yb5 )   ***Buy two or more bundles and get $10.00 off each (use code: 5yb10 ) These five coordinated fabrics...... one yard each...... work great with our easy and fun FREE 5 YARD PATTERNS or your own creativity!   Check back often....we will continue to add bundles in the weeks to come!

Christmas in July - Quilt Kits!

House Warming Party by Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek Fabrics used: Home for the Holidays by Faye Burgos from Marcus Brothers Finished size: 64" x 74" Skill level: Advanced Beginner Included in kit: Pattern: House Warming Party Approx: 9 1/2 yards fabrics Retail Price: $134.00 each Your Savings: $13.40 Price: $120.60	Merry Stars by Nancy Mahoney Fabrics used: Merriment by Paper D'Art from PB Textiles.   Finished size: 77 1/2' x 93 1/2" Skill Level: Advanced Beginner Included in kit: Free Pattern: Merry Stars Approx: 10 1/2 yards fabrics for top, border & binding Retail Price: $110.00 Each Your Savings: $11.00 Price: $99.00
Woodland Christmas By Gina Gempesaw Fabrics used: Woodland Christmas from Red Rooster   Finished size: 70" sq Skill Level: Very Confident Beginner Read about this quilt here: Gabbi Abbi May Included in kit: Free Pattern: Woodland Christmas Approx: 9 3/4 yards Retail Price: $104.81 Each Your Savings: $10.48 Price: $94.33	Quilt Joy by Metropolitan Quilt + Free Pattern Fabrics Used: Merry Stitches from  by Cori Dantini from Blend Finished size: 57" x 75" Skill level: Advanced Beginner Included in kit: Free Pattern: Quilt Joy Approx: 7 1/2 yards Retail Price: $85.95 per yard Your Savings: $9.45 Price: $76.50

Happy Birthday America!

The Fourth of July 2014 Fun Facts!

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked with red, white and blue flags, fireworks, parades and backyard barbecues across the country.

R.I.P Founding Fathers

In a bizarre, though perhaps apt, twist of fate, both Thomas Jefferson (left) and John Adams (right) died on July 4, 1826.

"The publication of the Declaration of Independence may have accidentally made the Fourth of July the official day of independence for America, but the deaths of two of its founders cemented its creation of the date's designation," wrote the FW's Danny Gallagher in a post.

Happy Filipino, Rwandan Independence Day too!

July 4 marks a day of liberation in both the Philippines and Rwanda. In the Southeast Asian nation, July 4, known as "Republic Day," marks the date when the United States officially recognized the Philippines as an independent state in 1946. (However, though the day is still significant to Filipino history, June 12 has beenthe country's official Independence Day since 1962.)

Rwandans, on the other hand, celebrate "Liberation Day" on July 4. According to a 2008 post for the New York Times by blogger Josh Ruxin, the date marks the 1994 "end of the Rwandan Genocide, and the birth of the new government that rose from the ashes." (Video from Rwanda's 2009 Liberation Day celebration was captured by NTV Kenya.)

Holiday, Shmoliday

"Americans began observing the Fourth of July as early as 1777, when the first-ever major celebration in Philadelphia included a parade, a thirteen-shot cannon salute and fireworks, but Congress didn’t make it official until 1870, when it was part of a bill passed to recognize major state holidays at a federal level -- like Independence Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day," according to TIME magazine

Birthday Celebrations Abound!

Calvin Coolidge, the country's 30th president, was born on Independence Day. Others celebrating birthdays on July Fourth include, Nobel laureate and economist Gerard Debreu, Olympic gold medalist and tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver, "Ugly Betty" actress Becki Newton and current first daughter Malia Obama .

Hot Dogs Galore

July Fourth is the "biggest hot dog holiday of the year," according to TIME magazine, with Americans reportedly consuming about 155 million of them on Independence Day alone.

But despite a nationwide love for the salty snack, no one really knows where the hot dog came from. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, it is "likely that the North American hot dog comes from a widespread common European sausage brought here by butchers of several nationalities." The meaty treat's origin story remains murky, however.

American Bald... Turkey?

In a letter to his daughter Sarah Bache in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote that he was displeased that the bald eagle had been chosen as the symbol for the nation.

"He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly," he wrote. "You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk." A turkey, Franklin went on to argue, is a far "more respectable" bird. "Turk'y… [is a] true original Native of America," Franklin wrote. "He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

Tap, Tap, Tap

Due to concerns about cracking the iconic instrument, the Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846. Instead, every year, to mark the Fourth of July, the 2,000-pound bell is tapped 13 times to signal for bells across the country to start ringing.

Wow - - it's July already!

Can you believe it - it seems like we just got out of winter and now it's July!

Happy July!!!

Stonehenge Precuts!

Have you seen our Stonehenge Precuts!  WOW - we love them!

They come in either strips or fat quarters.
There are quilt kits too that use these and some yardage!

Here are a few of what we have in stock:
Stripes come in 40 @ 2 1/2" x 44"

Fat Quarter Bundles have 12 @ 18" x 22


Quilt kit Woodland Trees comes in two sizes!

Marvelous Maze Quilt + Free Pattern

Marvelous Maze is a free pattern from Timeless Treasures and takes on a different persona with a simple change of fabric and orientation of the 10" accented blocks! Included in the kits are all the fabrics for top and binding.

Hemingway Tonga Batiks

Finished Size: 60 1/2" x 80 1/2"

Approx fabrics: 7 yards
Retail Price: $85.00 each
Your Savings: $8.50
Price: $76.50

Serafina Cottons

Finished Size: 60 1/2" x 70 1/2"
Approx fabrics: 5 1/3 yards
Retail Price: $62.30 each
Your Savings: $6.23
Price: $56.07

Charts for Quilt sizes

Summer.....................

English Manor Quilt Kit "As Seen In" - BEAUTIFUL!

As Seen In: American Patchwork & Quilting
August 2014 - pg44 Designed by Marti Michell

Visually soften the points of Pineapple blocks by cutting up multicolor fabrics for half of the strips. Frame the classic beauty in a stately floral border.
Included in kit:
Approx: 7 1/2 yards fabrics for top, borders & binding
(Fabrics used in this quilt:  Tomorrows Promise from Maywood Studios
are as pictured (we made no substitutions).
Not included: American Patchwork & Quilting
(email me if you need a copy of this magazine)

Retail Price: $88.80 Each
Your Savings: $9.33
Price: $79.47

Available here: English Manor

Color Coordinated!

To cute to eat!

Friday the 13th!

House Warming Party Quilt Kit by Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek

House Warming Party

This newest "Strip It" quilt features the Home for the Holidays fabric line by Faye Burgos for Marcus Fabrics.

With a focus on rich reds and greens mixed with neutrals, Faye highlights the collection with a beautiful, large red floral, which Vicki uses as wide sashing. This frames and accentuates the sampler-style blocks, making assembly much easier as there are no points to match.
For those quilters who are new to working with Strip-It fabric, this would be a great introduction, yet is suitable for quilters of all skill levels.


Finished size: 64" x 74"
Skill level: Advanced Beginner

Included in kit:
Pattern: House Warming Party
Approx: 9 1/2 yards fabrics for top, borders and binding
Fabrics used in these quilts are as pictured (Home for the Holidays).
We made no substitutions.


Retail Price: $134.00 each
Your Savings: $13.40
Price: $120.60
Available Here: House Warming Party

Not included: 4 yards for backing

Hemingway Tonga Batiks from Timeless Treasures

Hemingway Tonga Batiks feature fantastic hand dyed batiks from Indonesia in a color palette as masculine as their namesake. Premium 44" wide cotton Batik.

Need inspiration for a quilt project? How about these:

Celebration

Sequence by Jessica VanDenburg - 2 colorways

 

Galaxy Quilt + Free Pattern