The Asian Invasion......

Talk about a busy week for me!  Thursday night we, Linda cutting and Gillian and I packing, were busy getting the Amish With A Twist first installments ready for pick-up.  In the meantime there were 4 large boxes of fabrics to unpack.

That happened on Friday - first 12 bolts of Kyota, which this picture (of course) does not due justice to.  I've already started a project using 6 of these fabrics - you'll see it further down the page.  

 12 bolts of Kyota next to our gorgeous Champagne Lights

Then there are an additional 17 bolts of Honoka from Anna Griffin which is absolutely gorgeous!  The feel of this fabric is gorgeous too!  Oh, and I started yet another project - check below...... 

 Anna Griffin's Honoka

I have a new spot for great new fabrics - it's Jo-Ann's Treasure Chest - a place where I can put all my favourites.....

 Check out my Treasure Chest

Introducing Riley Blake - Serenity!  It is absolutely stunning!  You really have to see this in person and I will tell you that it is going fast.... The Friday night crew and the Saturday bunch has already had their cuts.....

 Serenity by Riley Blake

Okay, okay, I know!!!  Yet another project on the go!  This one is at the store and I'm gonna try for a "block a day".  It's a Bento Box - and I'm using those fabulous Honoka prints from Anna Griffin.  I can't wait to see how it evolves but I had to, because I had a dream......seriously, I dreamt about this quilt Friday night.....

 New Project - Bento Box with Honoka

Of course there is still the Amish With A Twist on the go - Block #9 is finally done (there was a slight lull there while I got other important stuff done).

 Block #9 - Star Diamond Block

Then of course there are my little extra blocks I made from the left overs.

 Leftovers from Block #9

Block # 10 - Square In A Square is also done.  There were no leftovers with this one (unfortunately). 

 Block #10 - Square In A Square

Do you remember the Radical Rail - I've got 20 blocks done!  That's two thirds of the quilt top!!!  Almost there.......

 Radical Rail - soon to be a pattern and a class

That didn't stop me - here's Block #11 - Hole in the Barn Door, again no leftovers for blocks, but that's okay, I have plenty for an "extra" project.  I'll keep you all posted on that idea.

 Block #11 - Hole in the Barn Door

This is project #3 -  Nine by Twelve!  It's made from 6 of those great Kyota fabrics and the first 3 rows are together.  Working on the next 3 now.....

My Kyota Project

I spent the whole afternoon quilting away and it was wonderful!  I love it when I have a day to quilt.....amazing what I can get done!  We'll be kitting a few of these great projects too!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Been a while......

I'm not sure where February went!?!  Did any of you see it whiz by?  I know that it's been a pretty busy month schedule wise for me so I get where the days (and nights) went, but I feel like I missed something....  I know it's also a short month which partially explains the speed at which it went by, but I still feel like I missed something....

Many of you had the good fortune to escape the "winter blahs" this month and I hope you all had a great time, wherever you chose to travel.  March will be here in a couple of days and I've got loads planned for the month...stay tuned for the news!

I thought I would share a little project I'm working on for one of my customers.  I am sharing this project with you because this little project is causing me a lot of grief!  

I have, in my short career as a quilter (about 13 years), become a "purist", especially after my struggle with this little baby quilt.  My customer decided to back it with a bed sheet.  She asked me to just quilt each square about 1/4" in from the seams.  Ordinarily this would not be difficult, however, with the bed sheet as backing it is constantly shifting.  I have pinned it 4 times so far after having to take out a number of my quilt seams.

 Baby Quilt

Back of baby quilt - pinned

You can see by the above photo, that even though it is pinned, if I continue to quilt it, I will have a number of tucks.  Alas, it has to be pinned yet again.  I'm not 100% sure why this is happening, only that the sheet seems extremely slippery and as I quilt it, it moves around.  Hopefully only a few more "pinnings" and I will be done. It's definitely taking a lot longer than I anticipated.

I can't wait to get back to my other quilting projects!  Finishing all of my 9 patch exchange blocks (yes, I am a bit behind), quilting my Amish Shadow, working on my Urban Nine Patch and starting (yes, I said starting) one of my scrap projects.....

Of course there's all the other "store stuff"  I have to do too, so taking it one day at a time.  Splitting my days between quilting and book work.  Getting the new website ready to launch - so busy at night too!  Gotta get back to it!

Happy quilting!

Jo-Ann

OMG......

Oh my gosh!  Did we really accumulate that much stuff over 6 years!!!  I have been going through boxes and bags and baskets and I just can't believe what I am finding.  First, must I keep everything?!?!  I have been extremely good about the "purging" process but still there is just so much.....

It's all hidden away at the back for now and I'm really trying to get through everything - a slow process and somewhat rewarding but tedious!  There's so much that I really have to take home to get it out of the way and of course that is just called "shifting" because, believe me I have no place to put it at home.

BUT, I love the new digs!  For those of you who have not seen the store yet - here's a little sneak preview of the front of the store.....

 As you walk in you are hit by the colours on the wall!

 I am happy to report  that our "Book Nook" followed us from the old store.

 Everything in it's place and......

 Everything has a place.....

 The door to the classroom - next blog - with our sign - Sew Many Quilts!

... and our DMC tower is right by the front desk so you don't pass by those luscious colours.....

If you haven't been in to see us yet - I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon, in the meantime I am going back to organizing all the new stuff and everything else I'm coming across.  It feels like I've just opened a quilt store and I'm excited about all the great stuff coming up!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

We are officially here....

When we originally arrived on November 7th and until today I was considering a new logo due to the sign above the store.  Years ago, Mary Ellen Hopkins wrote a book which I believe is still in print - "It's Okay to Sit on My Quilt", so I thought I could change that to - "It's Okay to Dance on My Quilt".  Seeing as the sign above the door read Danceology.  (The space used to be part of Danceology who still has space next door.)  But, that really didn't give anyone any inkling as to what we are all about.

 As you all know, moving is not cheap.  It's a pretty costly business, so I went about trying to find a sign company willing and able to put up our sign at a reasonable price.  It took quite awhile before I found Abdul at Affordable Signs and it was just that, affordable.

He came by yesterday (Wednesday November 21st) to measure and give me a firm quote after giving me a ballpark figure over the phone and said he could do it on site today.  As promised, they arrived at 12:30 P.M., cleaned off the old lettering and began installing our lettering.

I have to say I LOVE IT!!!  When I was deciding on the lettering I must've picked about 12 different fonts and I could not make a decision.  It's the artist in me.  Finally I turned to the expert, Barb,  who made a really good case for the font called "Quigley Wiggly" and it looks fabulous!  Teresa came in on Tuesday and also agreed with Barb so I knew I had a winner - and I didn't have to make the final decision.  I think it looks awesome and I feel like I've grown up now because we have a REAL sign!!! 

I am thrilled to say the least!  It's been a busy few days and last night I finally got down to wome piecing on my Urban Pods quilt - check out Jo-Ann's Creations, Trials & Tribulations! for an update.

If you look to your right, under tutorials, you will note there is a new one there - Machine Maintenance.  While I was quilting last night, I hit a bit of a snag with my needle and needed to do some maintenance, hence the short tutorial.  Enjoy it!  I am definitely off to arrange patterns now or nothing will be ready for Saturday....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

As usual.....

....time flies!  It seems I turn around and two weeks have gone by already!  I won't even begin to try to remember the last time I posted on my "personal" blog.

I decided to take a few moments on this quiet Saturday afternoon to post a few words.....

The quilt below is one of the fabulous Valentine Bargello quilts from Carolyn's class in April.  Sandy chose to do hers in neutrals and it really came out beautiful, thought I'd share it with all of you. 

 The quilt below is from our April Mystery Quilt - Marlene chose a gorgeous Lilac fabric she didn't want to cut up with two contrasts and it really came out beautiful.  I like hers better than mine and I wrote the pattern!!! 

 Here we are last Friday - redecorating again - NOT!  I came in last Friday morning during that vicious rain only to find the front of the store flooded by 3 roof leaks - lovely!  Most of it has been fixed but there is still one leak in the front.....I'll have to celebrate once it's all back to normal!  Maybe a SALE!!!!

Tonight from 6:00 until 9:00 P.M., Carolyn is teaching Serendipity and I decided I would finally take a class!  It's a Saturday evening and I don't really have to do much to prepare so......I thought I would have some fun too!

I've always loved this piece and Carolyn makes it look so easy!  Sometimes when I'm sitting in front of the TV I don't really feel like knitting or hand-piecing or applique so why not find yet another addiction!!!!!  You'll have to look on my blog though for any progress, at least until it's done and wait until you see what I found in my stash at home - HORRORS!!!!  Who knew I had so much yarn......Class starts at 6:00 if you feel like getting out of the house tonight.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann