Happy Camper!

American Jane's Happy Campers for Moda is such a great new fabric collection! The collection is wonderfully nostalgic with fun plaids, florals, and picnic scenes. Little boys and girls, puppies, campers, tents, fishing poles, and the great outdoors...I love it! Yes, I'm crushing on this new line of fabric!


I think my favorite is the Camp Basic fabric with the alphabet running between two different patterns. I can't wait to buy some of this fabric for myself!

Always...

Do you have some things you always do as a quilter?



I started thinking about this and started a list of things that I always seem to do.



Here goes...



1. Always use high-quality quilting fabrics for your quilting projects.



My favorite fabric brand is Moda, but there are many to choose from! Maybe too many...fabricholics you know who you are! :o)



2. Always read and understand the directions for a quilting project before starting it.



This is good advice, even for the expert quilter!



3. Always close the blade of your rotary cutter after each cut.



A rotary blade is so sharp and dangerous. Since I am a mother of a young boy, I also never use my rotary cutter in his presence and store it away from his little fingers in a very safe spot.



4. With every new project, always replace the needle in your sewing machine.


Don't sew with a dull needle!




What would be on your list?

Paris Street Market

The Paris Street Market on the 4th of July was awesome! The crowd was huge, parking was scarce, but the vendors were prepared! This was my first time at this particular market, and I wasn't disappointed. I ended up going by myself, but I didn't mind. I do my best shopping when I'm by myself.

I saw several things I wanted to buy. I especially liked the antique scales. Although they were unique, they weren't quite what I had envisioned finding for myself. I really, really, truly want an antique candy scale like the one my mother owned. As a little girl, I can remember her filling the scale with old-fashioned ribbon candy at Christmas. (With a house full of 6 kids and several grandchildren, I'm sure the candy didn't last long!) I am hoping to find a scale that is close to the one I remember my mother having. My sisters better watch out, I know they each have one! I could bring an extra suitcase next time I visit...

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July (a wee bit early)!




Today I am busy with preparations for our little 4th of July celebration...I'm making potato salad, preparing frozen treats, and putting together a few red, white & blue decorations. Of course, there will be sparklers and fun activities planned too!




Have a wonderful holiday weekend! I hope it is filled with fireworks, the company of good friends, and lots of fun!

New Book Alert!!!

I am such a huge fan of Melly & Me.

This is the most exciting news in the sewing world today!

The book Kaleidescope is now available!!!

Are you looking for unique patterns for children? THIS is the book for you! Kids will treasure these creations and beg you to make more!

The book is available at http://www.fatquartershop.com/. Not only do they have a great selection of other items, but great customer service and quite possibly the fastest shipping on the web.

http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?sid=1040711726431040&Store_id=499&page_id=23&Item_ID=32692&Parent_Ids=

The 4th of July just got a little sweeter...

Yes, the 4th of July is an American tradition...but there is a Paris Street Market to go to! It is being held at Aspen Grove Shopping Market in Littleton, CO this Saturday! I can't wait!

A Paris Street Market is an outdoor, open-air market in the true Parisian flea market style. There will be antiques, architectural pieces, primitives, unusual artifacts, eclectic home and garden accessories, retro collectibles, vintage clothing, jewelry, fresh and dried flowers, French bread, fresh pastries, delicious coffee and more!! Over 120 exhibitors from throughout the Rocky Mountain region will be offering very cool stuff.


Now if my 3 sisters could go with me, the day would be perfect!

Retail Therapy

Everyone knows I love to shop. To me it's retail therapy...I get a rush when I find the perfect item. I love the hunt of shopping and the whole process, really. All of my to-do lists have some sort of task that involves shopping. Buying groceries, shopping for a gift, adding something to our home, buying plants for around the home, you get the idea. Maybe it's just what women do? (Although I know some women who hate, even loathe, shopping for anything. *GASP*, right???) Maybe it's in my genetic makeup to be a shopper. Who knows! All I know is that I was born to shop. And, if I find a bargain, my day is complete!

On that note, I must say I love shopping for beautiful fabrics. I like to shop on-line and in stores. Sometimes I find the very best deals on-line. Other times, I like to look at fabric in person and make my selections in quilt stores. However, the level of customer service and selection can vary from store to store. I frequent 3 quilt stores in my area and they all seem to have their own personality.

One store, Golden Quilt Co., has a great selection of batiks and bright fabrics. There is a sprinkling of Moda collections, reproductions, and novelty prints too. The store is small, but well-organized, interesting to look at, and carries a great selection of notions and patterns. But, when I go there I feel like I don't exist. I am like the invisible shopper, only being helped when I beckon them to the cutting table. They never ask what I am making or how else they could help me. Is this kind of customer service wrong? Am I expecting too much? Is that giving me space to look and make my own decisions? Do I just not look like a "quilter" and I don't deserve their attention? All I know is that it makes me feel like I entered someones home without being invited and I don't like it. Which, by the way, makes me feel a little sad because it is a great little shop. So, this store is not the first stop for my fabric needs.

Another store I shop at, Fabric Expressions, is in Littleton, CO and the selection is wonderful! They carry a large selection of Moda Collections, charm packs, and jelly rolls. They also carry batiks, reproduction fabrics, novelty prints, flannels, homespuns, and just about anything else you are looking for. There are store samples neatly hung all around the store. (However they are sometimes just quilt tops, not finished quilts.) You can find lots of notions and patterns. This store has a personality all it's own too. It's quiet. You feel like you are in a library at times, looking for just the right book, I mean bolt of fabric. But...the staff knows me by name and are almost always friendly and helpful. I like this store. I really like it. I just wished it oozed a little bit more personality or life. Maybe a little music or better conversation? I can't put my finger on it...

Another store in my area is Holly's Quilt Cabin. Now this store is a bit of a drive for me. It's in Centennial, CO. But, without fail they always, I mean always, have new stuff to look at and ways to feed my need for retail therapy. New quilt samples, new fabric, new patterns, new kits, new notions, oh my! When they buy a fabric collection, they buy almost the entire collection, not just a few bolts. They have regular sales and offer 20% off the end of the bolt every day, not just on select days of the month. THIS store has a pulse. The staff is chatty and fun to talk to. My 4 year old will tolerate this store because they have a huge jar of candy at the register. I love everything about this store....BUT ONE THING. They rip fabric. They don't use rotary cutters to make neat and precise cuts. So, sometimes I tend to buy an extra quarter yard "just in case". I cringe at the thought of snipping the beautiful fabric and then ripping away! But, the selection and the staff courtesy is worth the drive for me.

With all of that said...what makes the perfect quilt store? Is it the selection? The staff? The location? WHAT is it? I guess I will have to continue finding new quilt stores to shop at to determine the answer... and I'm not a bit disappointed!