Always in a rush.......

This time of year is absolutely the busiest time for me......always in a rush and trying to do 10 things at once.

One of those things is getting the Spring/Summer Newsletter out and if all goes well it will be on it's way Friday, Monday at the latest! (On the website as soon as it's done) The OPEN HOUSE is scheduled for May 7th, 8th and 9th - I turned around and that's next week already........

Nothing like leaving everything to the last minute but it seems to be the norm around here lately. Too many things going on including 3 quilt shows in 3 weeks. (Excuses, excuses, excuses!)

In the meantime...

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Halton Quilt Guild Show a great success!!

WOW! What a weekend (my apologies for taking three days to finally get this posted). The Halton Quilt Guild show was fantastic. So many great quilts on display and a huge vendors mall. Thanks for dropping by to say hello while you were there.

It was a great pleasure to introduce lots of new people to our store as well. We hope to see some of you soon.

The Royal Botanical Gardens was a great venue for the show and the organizers did a magnificent job all round.


Here's Nancy in our booth handing out our literature and chatting with customers.

Some of the vendors (including us) were located in the beautiful new Atrium of RBG which features a glass ceiling and a wall of living plant specimens. You can see the plant wall behind the booth directly across from us. Pretty amazing isn't it?

The glass ceiling was a bit of a problem when the unpredicable spring temperatures soared to 26 degrees on Saturday and the air conditioning couldn't keep up. However, we lived!

Jo-Ann came out to see the show on Sunday afternoon. And of course she found this one with roosters on it. She can spot them from a mile away!!

This weekend, May 2 & 3, we will be at the Brampton Quilters' Guild show being held at the Jim Archdekin Recreation Centre, 292 Conestoga Drive, Brampton. Hope to see some of you there ... drop by and say hello.

And now I must go and finish putting the binding on two new table runners that we have kitted up. We'll post pictures soon.

Happy Quilting!
Barb

It's a Mystery!

Here's Barb cutting fat quarters for the show this weekend.....Halton Quilter's Guild Show at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington.
Elaine's Mystery Quilt class is tonight so I thought I'd start with dessert before they demolish it! It was spaghetti and meat sauce with salad and garlic bread and that went before I could get the camera out of the bag........

One side of the room is very busy at work

There's Elaine and she's mad at me because I blogged this picture before she could! Neener, neener, neener!!!! But here's Sadie helping Libby chain piece!

What can I say it's always a fun time at our classes. Speaking of which, the new newsletter is in the works so look for it soon! I'll let you know as soon as it's ready to go!

Going to cut fabric.......

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Update........

Thank you so much Cathie for the information! Love those comments!

So, the two quilts pictured in yesterdays blog from the Mississauga Quilt Show are as follows:

Monet Water Lily - Marilyn MacLean

and

All About Bears - Maxine Stubbert

So sorry I didn't have all the info when I posted the pics but I knew that I didn't want to miss posting them.....

Bubblegum Basics has arrived and we are so excited! I haven't had a chance to take the usual pictures but you can see it at http://www.henryglassfabrics.com/. Check it out - what a bright, beautiful spring palette. I can't wait to do the projects! Check these out.....

This picture does not do the fabric or the quilt pattern any justice but trust me it is cute - you can see it under free patterns on the Henry Glass website.

This pattern is the one I saw when I bought the fabric way back in November and fell in love with it and is also on the Henry Glass website, however, my brilliant idea is to make it up half the size as a wallhanging - we will see if this works!

Don't forget we will be at the Halton Quilt Show this weekend so come and see us!

Tomorrow night is our Mystery Quilt night with Elaine Therriault - can't wait!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

All the news.......

I know, I haven't blogged for days......what can I say! April is not an easy month for me but I've saved up a bunch of stuff to share.

First of all, while Nancy and I were busy at the Mississauga Quilt Show on Saturday, the elves (Barb and Laurissa) did the last three mitred corners on "Metro Goes Au Natural" and voila - the quilt top is completed and it is nothing less than stunning if I do say so myself and I do!
Meanwhile back at the show on Sunday - this is a picture of our booth! We were very lucky to have a skylight above us which gave us great lighting and showed everything off well. We were also right next to the Tea Room.......

Got a great picture of Barb parting with some cash at the Quilter's Palette booth. What can I say - we are quilters, we see fabric and patterns and we shop! Luckily we all have different tastes and personalities so we all carry different things.....it's so much more fun that way.

Of course, not to be out done, Barb got a picture of me shopping at Dye-Version.....I bought some thread! .....which you may soon see in the store!!!!

Finally, we are all done shopping so we are now selling to pay for all the stuff we bought.....not sure what Nancy is doing here but it looks like she's pointing out the wonderful kits we had at the show!

Now back to the good stuff! The Award winning quilt below was done by Darlene Jenah. It just so happens that Laurissa is working on the same quilt and we will most likely be offering it as a class in the Fall. Gorgeous isn't it! I believe it is a combination of paper-piecing, piecing and applique......

Kudos to Linda Ward for this stunning Award winning quilt.

Barb took most of the Sunday pictures and fell deeply for this beautiful lily pond. I don't know who the quilter was - so if someone knows please tell us so we can give them credit.....

Who doesn't love bears! This quilt is also stunning and an Award winner. Unfortunately again I don't have the name of the quilter......

As always the Quilt Show was a huge inspiration so we packed up Sunday afternoon and went back to the store with all kinds of new ideas. This weekend we will be at the Halton Quilter's Guild Show, www.quiltsinthegardens.com, taking place at The Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington, Ontario, April 25th and 26th. Hopefully you will get a chance to come out and see the show. There are 22 vendors, not to mention all of the gorgeous quilts meant to inspire you! Definitely worth the trip!

Last but not at all least, I dropped in to the store on "rainy" Monday to catch the ladies hard at work......Gillian has completed another 2 quilt tops. Awesome blue and white rail fences, twins, and she was busy choosing border fabrics.

Aoife also completed a quilt top this week, her apple quilt which is, to say the least - stunning.....I love the pattern - it really is wonderful!

I am off now - to work (unfortunately not the store) but I heard from a little "birdie" (one of the chicks) that there are 3 boxes of fabric in the back room waiting patiently for marking and I have a sneaky suspicion that it is Bubble Gum Basics.......will keep you posted! (Might even get over there sometime today to mark them!)

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

What a show......

The Mississauga Quilters Guild Show is at the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre, a wonderful venue for any show. There are about 8 vendors in the Merchant Mall. There is a Guild Market as well as a lovely Tea Room and absolutely wonderful quilts.
Not to mention "happy" customers........

I fell in love with this quilt and the next one.....both the same pattern. I am jealous of anyone who does this kind of quilting with these tiny squares.....they should all be put in the same "Crazy House" with rooms next to each other and that includes our own Nancy who loves doing these tiny little pieces....Think about it - not only are they small but so precisely pieced together! You must be insane (I have two started at home!).....will I ever finish one???? I challenge myself to get it done for the next quilt show!!!!

I mean seriously.........

This quilt pattern is one I always loved (I bet I have it in the house somewhere)and seeing it finished has made me think.....should I?????

Virginia Rothwell's baby quilt won best hand quilting! It is so cute and I'll tell you a little secret! (You see the baby with the ball in the top left corner - while nobody is looking - press down on the ball - it squeaks!) Too precious! and you have to see the label - adorable!

This is Marian Madryga's quilt which I have always loved! She first saw the picture in Quilters Home Magazine and then duplicated the quilt right down to the ribbons and beading.....this picture does not come close to doing it justice!

What can I say about Darlene Jenah's quilt - it won best hand applique! It is absolutely stunning, she does such beautiful work. Not sure where she finds the time - but so glad that she does!

The last picture of the day was of Nancy shopping......we have all been spending money at the show. It's great that there is so much product out there no one store can carry it all so we all find stuff to buy!

We'll be there again tomorrow and then we wrap it up for this week. Next weekend we will be at the Halton Hills Quilt Guild Show at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington......more quilts to drool over! Can't wait!

I'm going to make it an early night tonight - get some sleep and dream about all the quilts I'm making in my sleep!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann and Nancy (coming to you live from the Mississauga Quilters Guild Show)

It's a case of........

She thought I was doing it, I thought she was doing it! Blogging that is! So we have completely neglected our faithful "blog" followers. I apologize - it is really my fault because I went on a little "holiday" and got lazy......

THE NEWS!

We will be at the Mississauga Quilters Guild Show this weekend and would love it if you stop by to say hello. There are some beautiful quilts on display (we got a sneak peek this afternoon when we went to set up) a number of vendors and a tea room.

We are working frantically (not so much) on the upcoming newsletter so we will soon have our class offerings ready for May through August.

I want to thank all of you for participating in our recent Food Drive Sale. It was a huge success - we sent back 4 full barrels of non-perishable food items and Second Harvest was extremely grateful.....as am I. We will be partnering with them again in the future! We will keep you posted!

No pics today as we are busy getting ready for the show but I promise some in the near future.....

Never a dull moment....!

Barb's been great taking over the Blog for the last few days but I am back! Didn't actually go anywhere but had a bit of a rest!

There is always something happening at the store and yesterday (Sunday) was no exception. We have a group of ladies who book the classroom once a month to come in and sew. It started as a Christmas Gift and developed into a monthly Sit and Sew Session.....

These girls really get alot done and love to share their accomplishments with us.

Gail picked up one of our Easter Bunny patterns in March and VOILA! she has made up the wall hanging....it is absolutely adorable!

Cathy has been working on this quilt since January 2007 - this was the first Mystery Quilt taught in the store. It is now completed, quilted and bound and ready for the bed......Anne was working on hers as well and I know I took a picture but haven't found it yet....will look again and add it!

This is another of Gail's accomplishments. It is absolutely stunning!

If you have a group of quilters who want to get together and book the classroom for a day we are always happy to accomodate. This time of year (May-August) we don't schedule as many classes so it's the perfect opportunity. The charges are very reasonable and we will provide lunch for a small additional charge......

I'm off to see what the Monday ladies are doing and maybe get some pics.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Crazy Quilting with Renske Helmuth

Thursday was another wonderful class with quilt artist Renske Helmuth. This time the group was exploring crazy quilt embellishment. I've never seen so many ribbons, beads, buttons, threads, etc. in one place at one time. You can see some of it in photos of the student works in progress.

Here are some examples of Renske's work. I just looked on in awe!

I tried to distract Renske so she'd leave her box of goodies behind ... but I wasn't successful. Darn!!

Don't forget our Fabric/Food Drive sale continues until Thursday. Bring in from 1 - 6 non-perishable food items and receive a 5% discount on yardage for every item up to 6 (30%).

All for now ... Happy Quilting!

Barb

SALE ALERT!! ...with a bit of a twist ...

As I hinted yesterday, we have a fabric sale starting on Saturday, April 4th and running through to Thursday, April 9th.

This is a sale with a bit of a twist. You will have to "earn" your discount. Read on ...

Cock-A-Doodle Quilts

in affiliation with

Second Harvest

http://www.secondharvest.ca/about_us/

presents

THE FABRIC/FOOD DRIVE SALE

Bring 1 - 6 non-perishable food items to be donated to Second Harvest (a local food bank) and receive 5% off all fabric yardage purchases (minimum ½ metre cuts) for each donation. (Maximum 30%)

1 item 5% off

2 items 10% off

3 items 15% off

4 items 20% off

5 items 25% off

6 items 30% off

Help us help those who cannot help themselves!

The sale starts Saturday, April 4th and runs

until Thursday, April 9th, 2009.

Hope to see you all soon!

Happy Quilting!

Barb & Jo-Ann

Landscape Class with Renske Helmuth

Renske Helmuth's Landscape class on Wednesday was a great success. We had 14 eager students who created some amazing small landscape projects. Renske dazzled them with just some of her stunning work. You can see that she had them totally captivated.

Here's a look at some of the student's work in progress. These little landscapes are going to be stunning when they are completed.

Here are three of the many landscape quilts from Renske's own collection. Her work is incredibly beautiful and detailed ... much moreso than these photos can portray.

The last photo above depicts the home where Renske grew up in Holland. The details are magnificent. The tree's foliage are created from thread painting. If I'm not mistaken she said that she did the thread painting seperately and then appliqued the pieces onto the quilt. Truely stunning.

Tomorrow I will post pictures from Renske's Crazy Quilt Embellishment class. You won't want to miss it! Until then ...

Happy Quilting!
Barb

Curved Piecing

Sunday's Curved Piecing Workshop was a great success. Ten students came to learn the mysteries of curved piecing and discovered that curves are not to be feared. Elaine demonstrated lots of different techniques and ways to cut at stitch curves ... curved templates, circle cutters, free hand curves and much, much more. Elaine is a great teacher and all the students left no longer afraid of stitching curves. I will definitely be signing up for this class the next time it's offered.

Because the amateur photographer was at the helm that day (me!!) some of my photos were just too dreadful to publish here. And before I could get photos of some of the samples the class was working on, they had packed everything up. Ooooops!!


As you probably know, Jo-Ann took last weekend off to get some much needed rest. Seems that while she was enjoying her R&R she came up with some kind of brilliant idea ... a sale perhaps??? ... starting this weekend. Details are sketchy at the moment so stay tuned. I'm sure all will be revealed soon. :-)

Happy Quilting ....
Barb