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What a lovely day here in Toronto. Could spring really be here to stay?

We are currently working on our class line-up for May, June, July and August and would love to hear from you. Are there any classes you'd like us to teach? Is there a technique you've been dying the learn but were afraid to tackle on your own? All suggestions will be welcomed.

Jo-Ann, who is taking two days off, came by the store drop of these placemats she just finished. She stayed for two hours ... she just can't stay away! I think she missed me.

Just in time for spring ... these lovely placemat panels from South Sea Imports called "Garden of Herbs". There are 4 placemats in the set, each depicting a pretty selection of herbal flowers. Kits will be available soon and will include everything needed (including batting) to make a set for yourself. Wouldn't these make a great gift for a shower or for Mother's Day?

There's a matching apron coming soon ... as soon as "somebody" has time to make up a sample.

All for now ... enjoy this lovely weather 'cause you just know it's going to snow again at least one more time this season.

Happy Quilting,
Barb

Taking a holiday!

I'm off for the next two days....off to where???? Not sure! Barb will be in the store the next two days while I get some much needed ???rest??? Actually I will probably end up in my other office doing all kinds of paperwork, however I really do need a break from everything.

Before I take off, we had our own private Friday night Sit & Sew and I wanted to share the progress on Metro Goes "Au Naturel" -........

The centre is done! Now I just need to put on the 4 mitered borders. Hopefully next week some time. Just a little tip for those pesky mitres - since there are 4 borders I am going to make strip sets and attach them as one border therefore only having to mitre once at each corner - let's hope that works!

Maybe I'll clean the house tomorrow, or sleep all day or just veg - or work on all the other quilting projects I have in the works at home.......hmmm! (I'll probably drop in at the store just cuz!) Anyway, while I'm deciding what to do with two whole days off.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Right on the Mark!

Mark Lipinski is a man of many layers. His Trunk Show was one of the best I've ever attended. Mark takes you on a journey from his early days in Pittsburgh to today with wonderful stories of his life. His humour is unparalleled and he is constantly poking fun at himself. He is an emotional guy and his emotions transfer into the threads of his quilts. Barb and I were laughing so hard, along with everyone else that we were squirming in our seats......

This quilt was one Mark made for his son Evan to take to camp. It's not the original but it appeared in McCall's Quick Quilts......

Each and every one of his quilts is stunning and his borders are amazing.....Mark believes, and I have to admit he has a point, borders can make or break your quilt.....We are always in such a hurry to complete our quilts that we tend to, as Mark puts it, "slap those borders on" but honestly when we take the time to do a pieced border it can be that finishing touch that really sets your quilt apart.

Another stunning quilt.....note the border here!

This quilt is silk! Check out the crazy quilt blocks in the centre and the ruffled border.....

Mark was sent a piece of fabric from Africa to design a quilt from - it was too beautiful to cut so he made a one fabric quilt out of it.

This is the back of the quilt - also one fabric piece.....

This is Mark's $200.00 quilt from Kazakhistan.....long story and I wish Mark was here to tell it.....it is absolutely stunning...he got it on EBay, sent the payment to Florida and the next thing you know the FBI show up at his door to find out who he knows in Kazakhistan - this was right after 911. You can imagine the shock!!!

He spoke for 2-1/2 hours and had us all mesmerized...absolutely one of the best 2-1/2 hours I've spent in a long, long time!

On the way out of Cookstown I couldn't leave without sharing this picture with you.....Gandy Dancer Saloon - Warm Beer, Bad Food - Sorry We're Open!!!!! ...and last but not least I would like to share a photo of some of our newest customers - they seem to be flocking to the store......

Happy Quilting everyone!

Jo-Ann and Barb

Tea with Mark!

When the announcement arrived that Mark Lipinski would be be coming to Northcott in Toronto Barb and I decided we had to go to meet him.....for me it was the second time I met Mark, I met him 2 years ago in Houston. He's amazing and with everything he's up to it's fun to know that he is still down to earth. He drove up here from New Jersey (his License Plate is Quilter) and he snapped photos all the way up! He's excited because he's going to get to see the lights on The Falls on his way back....check out his blog at www.marklipinskisblog.wordpress.com.
I wish he had time to stop by the store but he's going up to Cookstown tonght to do a trunk show for Darlene at Country Concessions.....we're going to head up shortly to catch the show. While I had his attention I got him to autograph my "collector's" copy of his last issue of Quilters Home (the one they banned from Jo-Ann's in the U.S.) - It says "Jo-Ann, Quilt naked, cupcake!" (perish the thought - get that right out of your head......)

So we made a pit stop at the store for coffee and the blog and now we're off to check out Country Concessions and Mark's Trunk Show......and the Notawasaga Inn.....(I'll take more pics tonight)....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Threadpainting, etc.!!!

Threadpainting went off without a hitch yesterday and the classroom was buzzing! The ladies had a wonderful time - all you could here was giggles and laughter from the back all day......and they all accomplished something!
Check out this gorgeous piece........this class is really worth the time and don't forget it's an all day class so we provide lunch! You can just come and enjoy yourselves. Look for this class in our upcoming newsletter.

Monday Sit and Sew is always a pleasure! These ladies just keep producing quilts.....This is Rochelle's, it's a queen size quilt which is off to Joan Hug Valoriote for quilting tomorrow. She didn't fail to mention that all of the fabrics came from Cock A Doodle! It is also an inspiration for a quilt that Gail is going to do......

With Easter fast approaching, Barb could not resist one of the new Bunny Patterns we got in and managed to "FINISH" this this afternoon as well....see, she gets to use the "F" word every once in a while too!

As soon as Barb and I finish getting an order together for our suppliers, I am off to "finish" quilting some placemats which we just got in the store and also the A's, Bee's and Dandelion Seeds and it being Monday I plan on getting quite a bit done as there is loads of TV for me to watch! I am looking forward to 24, CSI Miami and Castle (time shifting is a blessing!).

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Good Morning!

Surprise! Surprise! I'm at the store on a Sunday long before opening and getting down to business. That's because I left the store at 9:00 P.M. last night and went home and straight to bed......

It also has to do with the fact that Carolyn Flood is teaching Threadpainting today to a class of 12 ladies.....and lunch will be served! For the first time in a long time I feel rested and ready to go!

Yesterday was Block of The Month with Laurissa and Martha came by to show off last year's Block of The Month completed.....the one below is Laurissa's done exactly according to the pattern...It's gorgeous!

Martha decided she wanted to make some changes to the original and look what she came up with.......It's absolutely stunning!!!
Then Darcy came by to share her gorgeous quilt top with us! She picked out some backing and she's off to hand quilt it - we'll see her soon for her next project!

It's so wonderful when customers bring in completed projects to share with us. It gives us the opportunity to share them with all of our blog readers as well as enjoy them firsthand. Keep those masterpieces coming.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

A's, Bees and Dandelion Seeds!

I love shopping for new fabrics! The problem is when I shop in November for delivery in March or April or May I've already forgotton why I bought it! I do take pictures so that I can refer back to my purchases and have a better idea of what's coming in.....

The real treat is - when the fabric arrives and I fall in love with it all over again!

A's, Bees & Dandelion Seeds is one of those fabric lines! What's really nice is when the "chicks" fall in love with it too! Below are the co-ordinates (as usual the camera doesn't do them justice!)

Here's Barb filling up the egg basket to bursting with fat quarters from that line. It was one of those rare photos I had to share......

The fabric came on the UPS truck on Monday. Tuesday I marked the bolts while Sharon cut fat quarters. Tuesday night I couldn't leave without cutting the fabric for the free pattern on the Red Rooster website and I completed (did you see that - COMPLETED!) the top yesterday afternoon......now you can actually see the panel which is cut and pieced in the centre. It comes with 10 blocks, the 10th one being an adorable label which I am currently working into the pieced backing for this quilt top.....

I brought the top with me to Sit & Sew last night and we've already got orders for two kits!!! The top is 36" x 39" finished and will make a great wallhanging - add another border and you have a crib quilt....etc...

I couldn't believe that I actually took another project to do.....I felt like I had to sneak the fabric out because if anyone found out I had started a new project....well! Barb challenged me with this one and I challenged myself! I mean really, enough is enough! The challenge was to have the top done by Friday and I DID IT! The consequences were just too scary to face (if I didn't finish the top by Friday I was not allowed to have any more fabric until I completed 3 projects!!!!) So now I can happily go back to all my UFO's and know that when the new stuff comes in I'm safe!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous weather sent to us for March Break!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I meant to get these pictures taken and up on the blog this morning but....all the best intentions.....we were busy and Sharon and I got down to the task of marking and cutting all the NEW fabric that came on the UPS truck yesterday....
Below you can see our March window display.....thank you Nancy! Loads of greens and golds to stock your stashes!

...and Barb found another "FREE" pattern on the internet to make for the store! Hmmm, what could be next - Bunnies I bet!

Once we're done cutting and pricing I'll get the new fabric pictures up so you can see them.....Hope everyone is having a wonderful March Break and enjoying this amazing weather....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Playing catch-up.......

This has been a long time coming.....I have a whole week of photos here! Oops! I took a few days off to "sleep" and although I feel guilty mentally, physically I feel human again!

First I will share our Underground Railroad Club pics! On the left are Chris's Dear Jane blocks - like a few of us, she started the quilt a while back and is hoping that our club will motivate her....In the centre and at the bottom is Nancy's Nearly Insane (which we've already proven that she is!) and on the right are my Civil War Diary Quilt blocks.
This picture has a portion of Chris's Dear Jane on the left - Above Nancy's Nearly Insane are 3 of her Dear Jane blocks and above that are the first block of The Underground Railroad Quilt blocks - I did mine in 12" and 6" and Nancy did hers in 6" and 3"???? (Told you she was insane!) Our next meeting is the 2nd Tuesday of April and the 2nd Thursday of April.....hopefully we will be taking pics of everyone's blocks......

Last Monday the UPS truck showed up with some great fabrics which I promised to let you see - so here they are - Jazz Lounge has multicoloured notes, instruments and black and white piano keys - the black on blue of the jazz players is really gorgeous too!

What can I say about English Rose.....it is absolutely gorgeous! The border print is stunning and the co-ordinates really are beautiful.

Awhile back we got in some tea towels which go with a Nancy Halvorsen book and Nancy did up a lunch bag and gift bag that are just adorable and from the book......

They come in some really great colours and make up for really great gifts......

.....and finally - Metro Goes "Au Naturel".....progress has been made (we spent Friday evening sewing at the store) It is definitely coming along......one more session and the top should be done! Thanks again Carol, Elaine and Julia for all your help!!!! (We'll miss you this Friday night for sure!)

Okay, my son is not impressed - "a quilt's a quilt"! Of course this is the same child who says "Who buys big pieces of fabric, cuts them into small pieces of fabric, to make big pieces of fabric!" What does he know?!

Now that we're all caught up here I'll tell you that the UPS truck arrived again this morning......so I'll be catching up again!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

We're busy little bees.......

Last night was the first official meeting of the Underground Railroad Club and I forgot the camera.......Nancy and I showed off our blocks which I promise to post tomorrow (the second group meets Thursdays at 11:00 a.m.) as we'll be showing them off again! It was a full house last night and everyone got their binders and books and started working on their chosen projects.....Some really amazing quilts are going to come out of this club! That I can promise! We'll keep you all posted.....

Tonight was the second class for Primitive Log Cabin and below are just two variations on the theme! The one below is Janet's variation....
This one is Pat's - she took a child's print and fussy cut the centres so that it will turn out like an 'I Spy' quilt - it's really bright and a fabulous idea for a child's quilt......we all spent a little time in the "kids" section looking for suitable fabrics to do one just like it!

I still haven't had a chance to take pics of the new fabrics that arrived Monday and they are already flying out the door......some by the meter.....hopefully tomorrow I'll have a minute to get that done and posted right away (so you can see what you're missing)!!!!

In the meantime I am going to go watch some TV and just relax for a change....
Simon(cat) and Bosley(dog) were playing chase at 6:00 a.m. on and off my bed so I am VERY tired tonight.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

The UPS truck came today......

First, our Monday Show & Share - Rochelle brought in her Lighthouse quilt top which is absolutely stunning......the lighthouses are embroidered and I believe each one is different......she's been working on it for quite awhile and I'm sure she's happy to have it completed....it only needs to be quilted now!

Barb found these adorable little bunny patterns while surfing the net and we just had to have them. She's already busy working on the one on the left hand side...looks like a "kit" in the making! We'll soon see!

Now for the stuff that came on the truck today....Kathy picked out a couple of patterns - Pinwheels of Yesteryear (Brenda Campbell) which is really nice.

....and Amber Waves of Grain which I really love.....I can already picture it done up in Civil War Reproduction fabrics....(must be the Underground Railroad Club on my mind).....

I seem to be into the bags these days and I couldn't resist this one and at $8.00 it's sure to please! It includes a wallhanging pattern as well....
Then there are the books - didn't realize I ordered so many but they are all really good books....This one is Sew Special Fat Quarter Gifts (Julie Johnson) which has some really good projects....

We all voted for Easy Patchwork Jackets.....now let's see who makes one first!

Couldn't resist this Buggy Barn book - Those Crazy Kids......really cute patterns.

.....and Debbie Mumm's Cuddle Quilts has some great projects for kids too!
We all went for Faux Applique by Helen Stubbings - it is a very unique way of doing "applique" - no sewing - you have to check it out!

You can never judge a book by it's cover and Serendipity by Whimsical has some gorgeous patterns inside even though none of us were really impressed by the cover......

Yet another Turning Twenty book - Simply Sashing which has some gorgeous variations of Turning Twenty with sashings.....

Last and definitely not least is Amazing Nickel Quilts -------more of those great nickel quilt patterns to drool over and to use up your stash!

Needless to say this is not all that came in - the books are in for tomorrow nights meeting of the Underground Railroad Club and of course we got new fabrics......which I'm saving for tomorrow!

Everything is marked and on the shelves, the fabrics are ready to be cut into fat quarters and then they too will find a special place in the store....Barb and I just left the store after finishing all the labels.....

So I am off to watch CSI Miami and get some more of my blocks done for my Civil War Diary Quilt....Simon (the cat) is trying to get my attention by sitting right in front of the keyboard so I am typing blind......

Happy Quilting everyone!

Jo-Ann

It's what time?????

I'm not sure why I had no idea that we were turning the clock forward last night but I didn't....so there I am catching up on Elaine's Blog and I look down at the corner of my computer and it says 3:00 A.M.! Well I really didn't think it took me that long to read it - so I head for bed and the bedside clock says 2:10 A.M. - so I think I must have misread the computer and I go to bed......

The radio alarm goes off at 7:30 A.M. and I roll over and I hear the guy on 680 doing the news and he says it's 8:30 A.M. - still doesn't click in, I just figure I overslept the alarm (it can go for 2 hours).....THEN they start debating Daylight Savings Time and why we do it and I realize I JUST LOST AN HOUR!!!!! Here's me looking for 4 hours extra in a day and you're telling me I just lost an hour! TIME is my 4 LETTER WORD!!!! It really is.....

I finally roll out of bed at 9:00 A.M. (8:00 A.M. my time) and start preparing to go to the store....go out and make coffee, go back and shower and dress, sit down to watch Coronation Street with my coffee, decide to lie down on the couch and POOF I'm asleep......wake up at 11:30 A.M. and realize there's a class at the store and I have to do lunch........good thing I'm only 5 minutes away!

I get to the store at 11:38 A.M. and start lunch. Pam is teaching Colour Your Fabric and I have to say the girls had a ball.......

Pat dropped by later in the day to show us her latest quilt.......

This quilt was commissioned by her sister who lives in Nova Scotia and is totally into horses (she owns two horses). The detail is absolutely phenomenal and these pictures really don't do this quilt any justice.....

I'm hoping you can see the detail in the photo below........she used a sewing machine stitch to do the ankle wraps for the horses that look like they are actually knitted. The hedge has nubby yarns which make it almost 3 dimensional and the details on the horses flanks are amazing. All of the jockeys are wearing silks.....it really is a masterpiece - there's a steeple showing above the rocks - Steeple Chase........and of course we all had fun picking out the fabrics that came from Cock A Doodle......This is really a show piece!

There was some "show and share" going on yesterday at Healing Heroes which I didn't post. Virginia is doing Teddy Bears, all hand appliqued and hand quilted....

She has a second one in the works as well - all ballerinas........

.....and our own Mary brought in two quilts to show us, one is complete and was a 7(?) year UFO!

.....the second one is only a quilt top looks like they are floating on the waves.....I love it when I get to see all the finished quilts and the works in progress. It is an inspiration and makes me want to go home and FINISH something! TIME is all I lack! I am preparing for the Underground Railroad Club meeting on Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon and I have completed two blocks for my Civil War Diary Quilt (only 119 to go) and one block from the Underground Railroad Quilt in two sizes (I made a slight mistake so instead of wasting the fabric I did a 12" block and a 6" block)......I was hoping to get one more block done tonight on the Civil War but I'm not sure if that's going to happen.....maybe tomorrow!

For now I'll be content to watch as others complete their projects and try very hard to get some of mine done too.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann