We had a blast!

I really meant to get these pics onto the blog yesterday but the store was hopping and then Barb and I made plans to scoot up to Michael's last night so she could pick up some yarn. They didn't have what she wanted but I managed to pick up a whole bunch of cool stuff for the Halloween Mystery Quilt Night.

Laurissa had called earlier and was talking about a Jennifer Chiaverini book, The Quilter's Kitchen, which has all the recipes in it from her books so off we went to Chapters. After buying up all the quilting magazines and finding another one of Jennifer's books, The Lost Quilter (newest I think) and not being able to resist buying Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol at the Woodbridge store, we found out they didn't have the book I came for. BUT!!!!! We checked the stock in their other stores and rushed down to Chapters on The Queensway to pick up The Quilter's Kitchen (they close at 10:00 P.M.). By that time we were famished so off we went to Perkin's on Dixon to have dinner at 10:30 P.M.. By the time we headed back to the store (we had to read the 4 quilting magazines at the restaurant) it was after midnight......how time flies!

So here are all the wonderful projects everyone was working on Friday night....Below you can see Suzie's bunnies, in the top right is the beginning of Barb's Baltimore Album and in the top left is Annadel's Orchid from the class she took with Renske Helmuth last year....hey we all have UFO's, that's the reason we get together.......

This is the project Marianne is working on.........I should really take notes because I forget what the pattern is called.

Here's Laurissa working on a Baltimore Album block.....I can't remember how many she has done already.....

This is Virginia's and again I can't remember the name of this project, but she was also working on her Bears applique......

This is Liz's loon, she designed it herself from the photo you see here and it is absolutely stunning........

This is Debra's, just a small applique........it is gorgeous too, her fabric choices are wonderful - very William Morris!

Marlene is making an Iris quilt which she brought to work on - stunning blocks and again great choices of colour......

Okay, so the only one missing is me! Actually Sandy took my applique so I was working on some beading for a Sashiko piece I had finished. I very rarely get to do beading at home because of "the big brown blob" (Bosley the Chocolate Lab) as he tends to want to eat everything that fits in his mouth.....so you have to be very careful what falls within his reach.

We all had a wonderful evening and snacked on homemade Chocolate Chips and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Tea and Coffee while we worked. I got ambitious on Friday and baked.....a very rare occurence.

Just a reminder WE ARE CLOSED MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28th, 2009 for Yom Kippur. Open again Tuesday at 10:00 a.m..

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Live from Cock A Doodle........

As I sit here writing this the Applique Club is meeting in the classroom.......but first I want to share a photo of our newest Oriental Fabrics from Benartex that came in recently......
Since the Applique Club is only hand work, Nancy got creative and moved the tables so we can all sit around the table and gab.......

Everyone got busy right away on their individual projects.......

And a few of us are hanging around the cutting table working????!!!!

Sandy Lindal dropped by to drop off the First Clues for the TAKE AWAY MYSTERY which will be available 11:00 A.M. Sunday for pick-up. If you haven't signed up yet you have until Sunday to get the pattern for $15.00 - after that it goes up to $25.00!!! She didn't bring anything to work on but wanted to stay for awhile so she confiscated a 7 year old applique project of mine to work on so I'm doing something else - it's amazing how much I haven't completed! Seems she's planning on hosting another UFO project at the guild this year - maybe I'll enter this time!

Will try to get some pics of the individual projects as the night progresses.....but thought I'd share our Friday evening fun with you while it was actually happening for a change......

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

When I am determined.....

Went home last night, prepared to blog and found out my computer wouldn't read the photo card! Ugh!

Came in today and meant to blog in the morning - and there it went!

Got busy (bought some new fabric today - coming soon!) and then remembered I wanted to blog!

Downloaded the pictures and found out half of what I thought was on the photo card isn't - ugh! So I will share only a few pics tonight..... Thought you might like to see what happens when we get ready for an Open House - that was Rich the night before the Open House hanging Laurissa's Baskets and Stars! It's stunning and is hanging above the cash.........

Libby and Sadie came in last week to show us her Blue and Green quilt! It's gorgeous!

Sadie got busy fighting with our new store Mascot - he's a flying rooster - when he hits the floor he crows like a rooster!

On Monday Effie brought in her Grandma's Stars - the class she took with Sandy Lindal! I believe she is the first to bring it in finished although we did see Rosalie's almost done. Effie just has the quilting to do so we are waiting patiently for the Perl Cotton to arrive.

I was absolutely determined to blog today (since I missed yesterday)! Tomorrow I will take some pics of all the new stuff in the store and share!

There are still a few spaces open for the Applique Club on Friday night so get your names in......it's gonna be alot of fun!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Oops!

I have no idea how two weeks passed so quickly! I'm in the midst of moving - my office that is - and I have been busy packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking (only using two boxes - lol).....seriously it is a slow and laborious process so that I can organize one office as I take apart the other! So without blinking I managed to lose two weeks??!!!!



I was going to update you all on everything new at the store but, hmmm, I forgot the camera on the back table by the phone ---- really organized huh! Well at least I know where I left the camera......



Barb suggested that I plug our new club so, this Friday, the 25th of September, we are starting our evenings of the APPLIQUE CLUB! It runs the fourth Friday of every month from 6:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. (except December when we will meet on the 11th cuz the fourth Friday is Christmas Eve). Hand applique or machine applique whichever you prefer, bring it along and have some social time with some great appliquers. Nancy, myself and Barb will be there along with coffee, tea and treats. Come when you want - leave when you want and just have a great evening with some new friends and some old. Something like our Sit and Sews but you have to bring applique! The cost is $10.00 for the evening.



I would also like to mention that next Wednesday, September 30th, Elaine Therriault is doing a class on EQ6! The cost is $25.00 and she will give you a complete overview of the program as well as Quilt Wizard which is also a great quilting program put out by The Electric Quilt Company. She has a presentation in the afternoon and in the evening so check the times on our website - just hit the link at the top of this page.



I will try to remember to bring home the camera tomorrow or better yet blog from the store so you can see everything that's going on. I'm dying to show you Effie's quilt from today. She brought in her Grandma's Stars which is ready to quilt from the class she took with Sandy Lindal earlier in the summer, it is really stunning......



One more thing before I go - just a little quilter to quilter tip! I recently signed on for a challenge at a guild I belong to. It's a sampler quilt which will be done somewhat like a round robin and if you want it to be color co-ordinated you can put in your own fabrics! So off I went to my stash (the one I had before Cock-A-Doodle) and found this amazing fabric I wanted to use, something I had bought years ago while travelling. Well - I only bought two fat quarters! Not nearly enough, so now I have to search high and low for some co-ordinating fabrics to set them off and they will not appear as the focus fabric of my quilt! In hindsight I should have bought yardage - that fabric spoke to me when I saw it but I guess it didn't speak loud enough or I wasn't really listening! The moral of the story - when you see fabric that you can "picture" as a quilt - a fat quarter just won't do the trick! You really need to get a metre or two! Certainly I will still try to use this fabric in my quilt - unfortunately it will not be as I had originally thought it would.......



Happy Quilting!





Jo-Ann

Happy Labour Day!

Just wanted to say that we all hope you have a happy, safe and restful holiday weekend! Nancy has us all ready for fall with her spectacular windows and the store is also looking great.....

Our newsletter went on the website last night and classes are already filling up, so if you see something you want to do then don't wait too long........The "snail mail" will be going out on Tuesday and we (I) apologize for the long wait! We planned a full fall roster of classes and right up until yesterday afternoon we were editing until we sent it to the printer. If you would like to come in and pick up your copy of the newsletter they are in the store now!

We are preparing for the Open House next weekend and hope to see you all here! Come on in - see what's new, have a cup of coffee or tea and just have a good time with us! Bring in your current projects or tell us what you did over the summer.......can't wait ti see everyone!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann, Barb, Nancy, Sharon, Kathy, Judith and Mary