The Party is Starting

Patchwork Party begins in just a few hours! (Patchwork Party Summer Edition 2008 officially begins on midnight tonight, April 1.) Our Summer Edition 2008 blocks are absolutely gorgeous and you are going to love collecting and working with them.

This season's quilt blocks were created by Marti Michell using her Template Sets A and C, and the fabric is from Moda's "Prairie Paisley" collection by Minick & Simpson. It features beautiful paisleys and floral motifs exemplifying a timeless rural sophistication. Victorian ornamentation gives way to clean prairie lines, creating a wide open landscape full of rich textures and patriotic hues.

If you been to our previous patchwork parties, you may already know how the fun works, but if you're a newcomer, you might need a party introduction! The way the party operates is simple: you collect all 12 of these beautiful blocks by visiting the 12 online stores participating in the program. Each store hosts one of the particular blocks necessary for the beautiful quilt you'll be making. This season, our exclusive block is "Hudson Station." In addition to our exclusive block kit, we've created a way for you to turn your blocks into a stunning quilt titled "Glory." Our finishing kit includes the pattern and all of the fabric you need to create a lovely 93" x 117" quilt using the blocks you collected during the party. We even created a coordinating wall-hanging and a set matching pillowcases to accent your finished quilt perfectly.

To see all of the beautiful quilts done by each of the twelve participating shops, click on the patchwork party logo on April 1st (or later) on the front page of our store. That link will take you to the official patchwork party site where you can get a planning guide, as well as tips on quilting and sewing your blocks.

We've been so busy behind the scenes these past few weeks getting everything in order to have a fabulous party this season, and we're very excited that it will finally launching tonight at midnight. No need to RSVP to this party because everyone is invited! We hope to see you soon.

Everything from Soup to Nuts

Things just keep hopping around here, and it is sometimes hard to simply stop, catch our breath, and write a new post on our blog to all our friends on the web. Thankfully, in between classes and our quilt club, we've found a few moments to update everyone on how things are going.

At the beginning of February, we had one of charity events--Souper Bowl Sunday. Our great customers generously brought in a can or two of food for the local food bank and received a discount on fabric. My own grandmother was a cook for several years, and the thought of anyone going hungry was very distressing to her. If there was something she could do about feeding a hungry person, you can bet she would. (My son reports that his own memories of his great-grandmother mostly revolve around food: his eating the plums off of her prized plum-tree, or her asking him to try yet another piece of pie after Thanksgiving dinner.) With hunger still a big problem in today's world, we knew that we had to do something for our community. Our customers helped us meet a tremendous challenge with their terrific generosity. (Leah, in the photo above, poses with just some of the donated food we had received that day.)

On another note, our door is finally fixed! You may remember how someone drove their car or truck into the back our store on New Year's Eve. The temporary patches have been replaced with new cinder blocks and sturdy door that we hope no one will crash into this time! We know people just have to have their fabric sometimes, but we hope they'll remember we're open 24 hours on the web and that our door can't take too many vehicles hitting it! :)

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow. Since both Stephen and I have some Irish heritage, we thought it would be nice to share some Irish Blessings and Quotes to help get into the festive spirit. Here are some of our favorites:

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His Hand.

May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

Always remember to forget the things that made you sad,
But never forget to remember the things that made you glad.

May you live to be a hundred year,
With one extra year to repent!

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
and heaven accept you.

We hope that everyone has a fun and safe holiday. As always, we'll be busy at the shop working on projects behind the scenes. About that, let's just say that we're really looking forward to the start of a new Patchwork Party program in a week or so, and we're getting more and more excited as we draw closer to that date. (Be sure to leave some room in your own fabric collections and time to work on what promises to be a fantastic event this year!)