Last night we held our first class in our new shop!   The name of the class was Zip It and the object was to help sewers get over the fear of using zippers!   The little tote we made was a new Atkinson Design called, Zippy Strippy.  The pattern offers three different sizes and we made the medium size.  It was a full house with 6 sewers who were all friendly and full of fun.  We accomplished our goal of eliminating "Zipper Fear" and everyone left with a finished project!   The next class for this project is Wednesday, July 7.  The class fills fast so come in and make your reservation today!

What would you think about driving through the country and seeing beautiful Quilt blocks hanging from old barns and houses!  This is exactly what you can see in Pender, Nebraska!  This small town in Northeast Nebraska has created a driving tour of 125 houses and barns that display large quilt blocks.  The whole idea started with a group of ladies from Pender that went on a road trip through Iowa and spotted unique, eye-catching quilt block creations on barns.  This planted the seed with them for creating the same project in Pender to help beautify the community!  The group designed, developed and completed 8 wood Quilt Blocks that were hung on various barns and homes.  From that point on the interest of the community was immediate.  More and more quilts were made and have been displayed throughout Pender and the countryside in celebration of the Pender Q125 Celebration.  If you happen to be near Pender this summer, take time to stop by Pender State Bank at 222 Main St or visit www.penderq125.com for more information on this truly fun experience!

It's not to early too think about Big Red Nebraska football!!  This year you can be warm as toast in your new stadium blanket.  The Quilted Kitty has your favorite "Go Big Red" fabric in addition to the best product ever, Insul-Bright.  This product is special ordered to help make your stadium blanket fast and easy.  Size is 22" wide by whatever length you need (or put three widths together for a "together" blanket), very cozy!! Haven't heard of Insul-Bright?  This is a great addition to any quilters stash.  The fabric consists of hollow, polyester fibers needle-punched through a reflective metalized polyester film.  The material is totally breathable and won't break down when washed.  It can be used for pot holders, oven mitts, casserole covers, place mats and cloth trivets.  For the summer months, keep your picnic take along cold; wrap them in Insul-Bright.  This is a must have must have product for every quilter!!

Howdy!  I have been busy finding places for all the new patterns, notions, books and fun stuff that I purchased at Quilt Market.  I love looking through all the new stuff and planning what I am going to do with it!   One of the new patterns I purchase at Quilt Market was from Crabapple Hill.  As many of you know, Meg Hawkey the designer is my "embroidery hero"!  I love her designs and how they turn out, wonderful!  One of the best things at Quilt Market was that I was able to meet her!  She was as wonderful as I thought she would be and we had a few moments to just sit and chat.  She had a beautiful booth that displayed all of her new designs.  Of course, being such a huge fan, I purchased all of her new designs.   It would be hard to pick just one as my favorite so I won't, but here is one that would be a peaceful and fun project to do through the summer!  It's called Nesting Time and so far it has been extremely popular in the shop!  Meg has graciously agreed to do an interview for us so keep an eye out for that in our blog soon!