Oh my, Oh my.....

I walked into the store this evening and on the desk was a large brown envelope addressed to Cock-A-Doodle Quilts. Sometimes that's not such a good thing but....this time it was from Renske! and just look what I found inside.....her class samples. There is no way you can appreciate these without seeing them in person so you will all have to come in......

This is her Crazy Quilting block.....all I can say is just bring everything you have that day...beads, buttons, lace, fabrics, ribbons......everything! She will show you how to use them!
Her Landscape sample is really something to marvel at....I'm actually at a loss for words! You have to see it!

Of course there is always more happening here - under the package from Renske was a box of magazines. The February/March 09 Issue of Quilters Newsletter is in and is chock full of fabulous quilts, patterns and inspiration, as well as a survey in which you can win prizes. Don't forget we sell all of our magazines at U.S. list price (just like our books!).

Last but not at all least - Sandy Lindal dropped off her "revamped" patterns for Primitive Log Cabin. If you haven't signed up for the class yet there's still time but honestly it is filling up (I've got my name down already). I can't wait to get out all my strips and start going at it! Check the website for class dates www.cockadoodlequilts.com/newsletter .

On a personal note I am back on track (at least for the past 24 hours)....I managed to get in 3 hours of quilting and related stuff done last night. I hand quilted for an hour, did two Country Haven blocks (only 20 to go - and I have to cut more strips - tonight I hope!) and I did some Sashiko! I also organized myself for two more projects even though I am aiming for finishing one of the above first! I have always had more than one project on the go but I'm trying to keep it down to a minimum these days. I still have 2 quilts half quilted, 2 ready to be quilted and one ready for a backing.....It's that "TIME" thing again! I'll keep you posted and we'll see how quickly I can actually FINISH something!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

New shipment.......

We received our Quilt Patis shipment and we are now able to offer ALL of the sizes......it took a while but we have them.
I also found these adorable patterns which Barb and I both fell in love with. I want to do the one on the right (time is my only deterrent!) and she likes the one on the left. I'll keep you posted on how that's going.......

There are a few other patterns I chose as well. One is for pincushions (not that you really need a pattern), one is for a bag and the middle one is for a quilt..... or table runner.....

I don't keep up with alot of blogs or quilting sites because honestly I don't have time but one blog that I follow is Elaine Theriault's. She is one of our newest teachers and I've known her for quite a few years (I took classes from her at Hobby Horse a few years ago). Today's blog deals with all of those excess pieces of batting we all have left over. It's a great idea and I'm actually going to do it myself so I asked her if I could post her blog. Go to http://elaine9703.livejournal.com/2009/01/29/ and see what she has done with her batting.

...and another reminder SUPER BOLT SUNDAY is February 1st, 2009 - that's this Sunday.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

What's happening....!

The Shipshewana Club met last night at the store so I had a reason to go over and play.....I think next month's meeting will be when we unveil how far they have gotten with their blocks.....

I am still obsessed with my Strip Its! So my next experiment was to cut half meters of the fabric and slice horizontally along the pattern changes....this really works great! I chose black and white for now as I am building the black and white quilt first.... With a 2-1/2" center square I made up two log cabin blocks.....I'm impressed! They are tone on tone which you can almost see on the block in the foreground in the white fabrics. There are still more possibilities which I am going to continue to pursue. Looks like it will almost be a sampler quilt......we'll have to wait and see.
Laurissa (who presides over the Shipshewana Club) brought in the completed Starry Nights quilt, last year's Block Of The Month. It is huge (queen size) and absolutely gorgeous! Took 3 people to hold it up for the picture. (Please note Laurissa's index finger in this picture!......hmmm I must have said something!)

She seems to be behaving in the second picture.......The kits are still available as a Block of The Month if you are interested and we will be putting them up on the website shortly. Just give us a call - there are two colorways - the one shown is called Starry Nights and the other colorway is a pastel toned batik called Fairy Dust.Let's see what Barb is working on these days. A table runner from the Art to Heart Book - Love Is....She has chosen (not really, I picked up a kit on our last trip to New Jersey) pink hearts on a cream and pink floral background. It's going to be gorgeous! At the moment she's studying the "over/under" of the hearts which have to be cut...euwww!

Flo is watching here cut the hearts.......scary stuff! (She says I would have thrown it out by now - as I have no patience for this! She may be right!!??) Glad she's the one who's doing it.....

This is the photo from the book - you can do placemats as well. Very timely with Valentine's Day just around the corner.....

We're all very busy at Cock-A-Doodle doing up samples, unloading boxes of new inventory and getting ready for SUPER BOLT SUNDAY! You will not want to miss it......

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Strip Its! Finally......

First, I will remind you of what Strip Its! are. The bolt of fabric consists of a number of 2-1/2" strips in different patterns running horizontally. When I saw these I knew they had possibilities......almost like Jelly Rolls on a bolt! They come in black, cream, tan and white.

I decided to start with black and white. At first I thought you could cut 2-1/2" vertical strips then pin and match up the 2-1/2" increments but that didn't work so well....so I cut each 2-1/2" segment in order to work with them.Here I made 4 patches which are really nice and may actually become a quilt as I continue experimenting......

Next, I took my vertical strip, and paired it up with a co-ordinating 2-1/2" strip of fabric to strip piece......I used a fat quarter here so the Strip It! strip is also cut in half.

I then cut my 2-1/2" segments out at each pattern change......

I made 4 patch blocks again and this time I changed the arrangement....Hard to see but I'm not really liking this combo so we may have 2 quilts in the making....however I have more ideas on the horizon and to be honest the possibilities here are endless......

As I was working with them - new ideas were coming to me so stay tuned because these Strip Its! are going be a quilt top in the near future.......with more and more block and cutting possibilities.

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Messed up again......

Me and my camera are not quite in sync! I want to download pictures and "it" wants to recharge it's battery......I wanted to share some of the Strip It possibilities with you tonight but the camera has to be fed.....So I will just update you on the three new books we got in this week......

SunBonnet Sue and Scottie at Play.....now you may think that I am not a Sunbonnet Sue fan and you would probably be right, but this book also has a Redwork Quilt in it and Barb's been busy doing redwork lately so I thought she might like to do this one - or maybe I will! It also has some cute patterns!

Simple Strategies for Block-Swap Quilts! The name says it all and I'm 100% sure that any of you who get together and swap fabrics will love doing block swaps too!

Quilts from the Heart II - has some beautiful quilts and is one you may want to add to your library.....Just a reminder, our books are priced at U.S. Dollar prices. (I am still of the belief that there should not be a price difference from the U.S. to Canada!) So until further notice our prices are the U.S. $ marked on the books!

It's not that I can't go on blogging for hours but I really don't want to bore you all. Maybe I'll go do some quilting while I wait for the !@#% camera to recharge!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

We have a sign......

If you've been to the store you know that there is a sign in the classroom which reads....."WE DON'T MAKE MISTAKES, WE DO VARIATIONS!"

When I orignally designed the Flannel Quilt I had intended for the blocks to be 12" blocks. Kathy offered to do the quilt and in my haste to give here the instructions I told her the centre block was 8" finished and the first surround was 2" finished and the second surround was 2" finished.........duh! 16" blocks, so the quilt came out a wee bit bigger then expected but it is stunning!So 5 blocks across = 90" and 6 blocks down = 106" and Voila we have a queen size quilt! If you knock it down to 4 blocks x 5 blocks you have a large lap.....(Kathy says it's currently an elephant lap!) Anyway, if you happen to be in the store ask to see it - it really is a stunner and won't be going out to be quilted for a week or so......(I sold fabric for two of them today so I know it's a keeper) The pattern should be ready shortly.

Today we had a "Private Party" day. Christina gave her mom Gail, a Christmas Gift of a day at Cock-A-Doodle Quilts with her and her friends, Cathy and Donna! This of course came with lunch for which I had a special request for my Meatball Sandwiches. (The ladies have taken classes here before....)

There's Donna digging into that sandwich........behind her on the design wall is the quilt top Christina was working on today. It's a Stack'n'Whack Halloween quilt....it should be ready for next year! (I meant to get a closer picture - it's got some really neat fabrics in it and they look awesome as a Stack'n'Whack.)

Dessert which was served much later in the day consisted of my infamous Mudslides! Triple Chocolate Brownies topped with Chocolate Flake Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, Whipped Cream and a Cherry of course!

The girls had the right idea! They brought mostly completed tops which needed borders and backings and because of the size of our cutting table were able to complete quite a few. This is Donna holding up one of two quilt tops she put borders on today.....they are for twins, one in a pink colourway, the other is the same fabrics in the blue colourway. (The fabrics for both quilts came from our Orphanage - I am so proud they found a home!) She also managed to complete a backing for yet another quilt and purchase the backing for those "twin" quilts from the Orphanage. I am particularly fond of this quilt top as it was one of our Mystery Quilt classes and I just love it when you all finish quilts from our classes, I know that you feel you have accomplished something when you finish a quilt but so do I. Gail managed to finally finish her Mystery Quilt from January 26, 2007 which she took at Cock-A-Doodle......Cathy also pieced the backing for hers today (oops! forgot to get a pic of that one!)

Cathy got this gorgeous quilt top completed. I believe the fabrics are from Northcott's Quest For The Cure Tulips line in yellow and purple. It really is a stunner but then they all were.
They were all so pleased with what they accomplished that they booked another day at Cock-A-Doodle in March...can't wait to see what they bring in next time.

I started to work on the Strip Its! fabric last night but I really wanted to try something else before I go public with it! It's really got potential so if I have some time tomorrow (today was a total write-off for quilting! I was cooking!) I will show you my ideas! In the meantime.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Pretty in Pink!

This is Nancy's current project for the store! It's actually all in pinks and uses the Little Lady fabrics from Lakehouse......it is a project from the newest Quick Quilts which I told you about earlier this month.....just one of many projects in that issue!

...and here's Nancy cutting fat quarters....She gets very upset when we run out of fat quarters and is constantly filling up our shelves. (Gee - the store looks HUGE from this angle) I tend to forget how big the store is.....

.....and there's Barb. She's very busy pricing all the new and replacement stuff that came in on Monday....(and fixing a mess I made in the computer....they hate when the boss messes up their stuff!)

Tonight I have plans! It will be a surprise but suffice it to say we will see what can be done with those amazing Strip It's! (I thought they were amazing when I bought them - now I just have to prove it to myself - but I have a plan.....)

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Yes - I missed a day.....

Yes, I missed a day! Not intentionally but by the time I got home last night the only thing I could do without any effort was fall into bed......

If you haven't been in the store lately then you haven't seen P.B. (Paddington Bear). It's a kit that comes in an adorable lunch box with his initials on the back. All the fabrics are included to make an adorable crib/toddler quilt. The panel top has numbers on it so it is a learning quilt (always my favourite kind for kids). Here's a picture of the pattern. We haven't had the chance to get one made up yet but I know I will be making at least one as there's a special little boy in my life who will soon be learning his numbers and alphabet! On another note, our back orders for all the notions and stuff we ran out of during our sale and the holidays is starting to arrive.....The Olfa Rotating Mats are in and if you saw the Demos with Elaine at the Open House, you know you can't live without one......we have both sizes!

I have to say that I purchased the smaller size for myself before I opened the store and was using it constantly. When I found out there was a larger size I had to have one. They come in handy for alot of quilter tasks including squaring up your blocks. The larger size will definitely come in handy for your larger blocks. At the moment, since my dining room table has become my sewing area, it sits on the table all the time when I'm working and I use it for a multiple of tasks, including cutting the strips for Country Haven.

Last night Barb and I went to visit Rochelle who's father passed away last Friday. He celebrated his 100th Birthday in 2008 and he was her "best friend". After stuffing us with cookies and coffee and tea which is the tradition she gave us the tour of the house and I have to say her sewing room is to die for! Wanted to take a picture but the timing was inappropriate. Will have to ask her to provide one. I love to see how other's organize their sewing spaces. If you have some pics of your sewing spaces e-mail them to cockadoodlequilts@bellnet.ca and we will post them on the blog with tips and info for everyone.

Barb said she is going to come over here (my house) and rip apart my quilting studio! I'll be happy to provide "before and after pics" once I let her in the house. She's actually scaring me with her threats! It will be nice to have that space back to sew in though.....

Happy quilting!

Jo-Ann

Inauguration Day...History In The Making!

I myself was glued to the TV all day! Took a break to go to the York Heritage Quilt Guild meeting tonight where Sandy Lindal (one of our AMAZING teachers, was Quilter of The Month) and then came back to check out the Inaugural Balls!

This is really an historical day and I believe that we will all reap the benefits from this "New Order". I personally wish President Obama all the best of things and the best of all things. That is it for my politics!

Needless to say, the store could have been closed today. I honestly believe that everyone, everywhere was glued to the TV. But that gave Barb time to mark all the NEW stuff that arrived yesterday.....(while she was watching the inauguration on her laptop set up on the front desk).

We received one of each of the books below to add to our offerings for the Underground Railroad Club starting next month. (If you are interested please call the store - we will be sending out a formal announcement shortly).

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD and FACTS & FABRICATIONS - Unraveling the History of Quilts & Slavery are two of the new offerings.

REPRODUCTION QUILTS FROM THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD and A CIVIL WAR LEGACY are two more.

We also received a small shipment of fabrics. Four bolts of stunning black on black pictured below......

.....and a bolt of Black Strip Its! I have been waiting for this one forever! I've had a quilt in my head.......

The Strip Its come in White, Black and Cream and are pre-printed 2-1/2" strips on a bolt which can be cut apart to make individual strips. Once I get my fabrics cut I will let you know (show you) how I plan to make them go together......

I have met my first DEADline from my other business but am now faced with a NEW DEADline which I will have to meet so the next two weeks are going to be very busy for me.....After staying up until 4:30 a.m. two nights (mornings) in a row to meet that deadline, however, I think it is time to take it a little slower and pace myself accordingly so I will get back to doing some of the things I enjoy - like quilting, and being in the store! In the meantime I am going to go back to the Obama's historical night on the town.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Okay - it's after midnight.....

I just missed the midnight deadline.....so sorry, was working on "other" work for which I have a DEADline....If I don't get it done I will be DEAD!

Today was Carolyn's Machine Quilting Class. It was a real hit and the girls had a wonderful time while learning new techniques and brushing up on the old ones. Unfortunately no pictures (I had the camera at home! oops!). The girls had that lovely Beef Stew which I made again last night...and I took some over to my mom's tonight for dinner. She loved it!

Just wanted to remind everyone that the following classes are starting this week and there are still some spaces available........check our website or your newsletter at www.cockadoodlequilts.com/newsletter for dates and times....

Beginner Hand Piecing and Quilting with OUR Barb Scott

Beginner Hand Applique with Nancy McCracken Floral Collage with Nancy McCracken Beginner Beading with Pam Woodward
...and if I'm not mistaken Mary Salus is teaching Beginner Machine Quiltmaking starting next Sunday.....so come into the store or pick up the phone and get registered......

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Block of The Month Day.......

The third Saturday of every month is Block Of The Month and today marked the last class for Starry Nights and Fairy Dust, our BOM for 2008. Next month we start Crystal Reflections which is pictured below. The girls had a great lunch today....I had some salmon left from last nights Sit and Sew Dinner so they had Salmon Alfredo with Salad and Garlic Bread.

In order to make sure everyone gets the colourway they want we have the second colourwya on display in the store. I will be placing the order for the Block of the Month next week so anyone interested in signing up, whether you are coming for the class, picking up the kit or having it mailed to you should sign up so that you aren't disappointed.

I took a couple of magazines home today that I found in the back of the store. We have a number of copies and I wanted to see why they didn't fly off the shelves......

I guess I can understand why the one on the left wasn't popular. The quilt on the front really doesn't do anything for me but, when I looked inside I found no less than 4 projects I'd love to try. The one on the right yielded another 8 projects, not all quilts but certainly projects quilters would consider. After all most of us can sew as well as quilt.......It only goes to show you - You can't judge a book by it's cover"....I won't be surprised if you find us kitting a few of these projects and teaming them up with the magazines! Just a thought!

The one pictured below is a perfect Beginner quilt or just a great stash buster!

I would like to leave you with something from an article on Kaye England in the Feb. 2008 Better Homes and Gardens - American Patchwork & Quilting. I believe they are direct quotes from Kaye -

b QUILT AND BE HAPPY b

Enjoy the process.....It's the journey that's the most important. It's more about the "doing" than the "done".

Make sure your tools are right.......From rulers to sewing machine, the tools you use affect your accuracy, organization, and consistency.

Have faith in yourself.....If this is your first time quilting, it won't be your best, but there's still value in that piece whether it's perfect or not.

Document - it is crucial.....Help people know how and why you made your quilt. The value is for generations who come after you, who will love and respect your work more than you do today.

Isn't this really what quilting is all about!

Happy quilting!

Jo-Ann