“April showers bring May flowers”, fingers crossed for the much needed rain. Happy Spring!

I finally got my car back. It’s amazing how much we take our vehicles for granted, until something happens to them, it was a rough 2 months! But it’s back & running great thanks to my son’s friend who specializes in that engine. Hope it never breaks down again! (fingers crossed)…………Life rolls on!

 

We did a rearrangement of the front of the shop the beginning of March & it made an amazing difference. You know how when you rearrange the furniture in your home how fresh it seems? Well, it really “freshened” up the shop and we are loving it. We have to constantly make room for new arrivals & it helped with that.

The Row by Row Experience is quickly closing in on us. It will be here before you know it. I hope y’all are making plans for your trips & shops you are planning to visit. Our fabric plates are here and out for sale. We’re excited about our block & hope you will be too. For the first time, there is a variety of block shapes, to make your quilts more interesting. We have chosen the 18”x18” block. 

As always, we have lots of new fabrics for you to see. Some great patriotic fabrics, new 108” wide quilt backing fabric, springy new florals & darling Easter collections. We also have a large selection of new patterns & books to spark your imaginations & next projects. Don’t miss out!

 

You know how it goes, the best laid plans & all…………..our shopping cart on the website ran into a couple of glitches. No big surprise with cyber space & a novice at the wheel, my learning curve is steep! Plus, it takes a lot of time & work to photograph & identify thousands of items. Of course, not all fabric in the shop will be in the web shop when it opens. We will continue to add more & more as we go. It looks promising for it to be up & running in April. Keep a watch out for it & fingers crossed.

 

We will not be scheduling regular classes over the summer. Everyone is so busy with summer activities, kids & grand kids, and Row by Row, that classes seem to drop off the priority list. However, As always, if you have a class you would like, on anything, please call, email or come in and schedule your date & time. We do private classes, group classes or special demos upon request. (prices may vary)

The Mega Pinnie !! We get so many requests for this pattern that we thought we would make it the Grab Bag for April. The kit includes everything but the stuffings. And if you are careful, you might even get 2 out of it.

Our final block, Block #12 is the Haystack Block. We hope you have enjoyed this fun scrappy quilt adventure. Now all you need is a strip roll or pack to put it all together with sashing.

You will love our new BO.M. quilt. A smaller wall hanging for only 6 months this time. The sample coming soon.

 

Keep on sewing & see you soon, Donette

 

Wed APRIL 4 - 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Fri APRIL 13 –   9 am Coffee at the Cottage (2^nd Friday each month) NO FEE

Fri APRIL 13 – 10 am “Creative Stitchers” (2^nd Friday each month) NO FEE

Part 2- learning/reviewing new embroidery & embellishment stitches for making a small sampler or embellishing items, viewing brief YouTube tutorials on the ones not covered last month. You will need these supplies:

Your muslin sampler, embroidery hoop, needles in varying eye sizes, floss, pearle cotton, silk ribbon, scissors, small pincushion, pencil or Pigma marking pen, thimble, needle threader. (all of these items available at the Cottage).

Sat APRIL 14- 1 pm DYING/PAINTING FABRIC class   fee $25

(samples on white muslin)

Look what you can do!!! Make your own colors to fit perfectly with your project. Amazing Japanese fabric ink opens a world of possibilities. Fun & so creative. Reserve your spot & get your supply list.

Wed APRIL 18 - 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Wed APRIL 25- 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

 

Wed MAY 2- 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Wed May 9 - 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Fri May 11 – 9 am Coffee at the Cottage (2^nd Friday each month) NO FEE

Fri May 11 – 10 am “Creative Stitchers” (2^nd Friday each month) NO FEE

Part 3- learning/reviewing new embroidery & embellishment stitches for making a small sampler or embellishing items, viewing brief YouTube tutorials on the ones not covered last month. You will need these supplies:

Your muslin sampler, embroidery hoop, needles in varying eye sizes, floss, pearle cotton, silk ribbon, scissors, small pincushion, pencil or Pigma marking pen, thimble, needle threader. (all of these items available at the Cottage).

Wed May 16 - 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Wed May 23- 1 pm Open sewing workshop NO FEE

Tues May 29 - We will be closed for Memorial Day

 

Every day I hear someone say, “Oh I love that panel…….but what would I do with it?” So, of course, with over 100 panels to choose from here in the Cottage, I want you, the sewist, to feel comfortable using panels to your best advantage.

Panels are a great source for quick, easy or innovative. You just have to let your imagination flow free. To help you with that, I thought that this month I would give you lots of ideas for using panels. Some you may have heard before, or not, & some will be new & you will say, “why didn’t I think of that?”

As the “all-round-jill-of-all-trades” here at the Cottage, I have to wear many hats. I have to search out the fabrics, notions, & ideas that will be of interest to y’all. I spend a lot of time watching presentations & reading releases about new products. I recently watched a presentation on a new fabric line with panels & got some great new ideas that I hadn’t heard before. I hope they will inspire you to get that panel that you love and sew something fantastic with it. Have fun!!

There is always the good old standard; “back it, quilt it & bind it”. This is always a good, fast fall back for baby quilts, etc. Especially with the new bigger panels like this 42” x 42” panel from Hoffman.

We have had customers do 2 of these with the Cuddle on the back for smash hit baby quilts. They were darling!! (and everyone LOVES the Cuddle fabric by Shannon, which by the way quilts up beautifully) This sweet & fun bunny welcoming Spring is another great one for quilt & go project. (36” x 42”)

 

A step beyond just the panel quilted, is adding a border or two to the panel, then quilting & binding it. The one (left) was done as a wall hanging for the nursery. Nice idea. But it doesn’t have to be for a baby’s nursery to be an easy wall hanging. This darling bunny panel (previous pg) would be a wonderful wall hanging or a nice throw for anyone with a couple of borders around it & soft fabric backing. Another dynamic panel with 2 simple borders has such a breath taking effect with the spider web quilting over Hoffman’s digital supernova witch. (42” x 42”)

How magnificent would this 35” x 42” panel be for a rustic beauty? Buffalo panel by Riley Blake

  

Making the panel the center of a quilt can have very dramatic effects. Notice the 3D prairie points & diagonal piecing in the borders of this Paris quilt (left). The way you border a panel can make it look completely different. Consider this horizontal panel with the 2 ½” strips (jelly roll race style) top & bottom. Then bordered with a simple frame border (right).

Cutting the panel apart is a good way to incorporate a panel into a project. With this serene scene, we cut the panel apart. We cut the biggest part of the panel into 4 pieces. Then sashed them together to look like a window scene. Then the lake scene is framed at the bottom with multi-colors of flying geese inserted into the borders. Gives an unexpected nod to the subject of the panel. It’s a great wall hanging. Along the same line,(left) a quilt with the cut up panel as “window panes” becomes the center of the quilt. Yet another way is to cut the panel up for blocks in the design as in this twin size quilt made with Clothworks “Love Lives Here” collection.

 

There is more than one way to cut apart a panel & use it for a variety of purposes. Especially panels that have sections. Just to list a few; (I’ve probably already posted too many pictures)

Throw Pillows, place mats, coasters, frame as a picture, make it into a bag, use for a table runner, glue onto card stock for greeting cards, aprons. There are apron panels that are ready to go, but you can also use a regular panel to make an apron, like this coffee lovers apron, or this Christmas apron. Or a panel filled with smaller squares to using them individually.

 

And while we are coming up with ideas, border fabrics seem to be another area of quandary. Use them beyond quilt borders for towel bands, aprons bibs or the whole apron, pillowcases, table runners, fussy cut for pot holders or mug rugs, the fabulous 60 degree ruler table runners, (each ones turns out different). Let your imagination run wild. The sky is the limit. Toss your fear to the wind & experiment & have fun !! You will be glad you did.

 

 

Little Cottage Quilt Shop

14076 State Hwy 16       Medina, Texas 78055             830-589-2502