Quilts in the Air

 On their way par avion to a new little one.

Kites, kids, 

birds,

and butterflies.

Winging their way across a big lake and two states to be playmats, changing pads, picnic spots, tents,  naptime aids, and who knows what else for a growing child. Sky's the limit for quilt potential with a little healthy parent and kid imagination.

Duluth

We are so thrilled that the non quilter in the household "got" the concept of this quilt we have adopted his name for the idea. The "Suburbs" pattern from Cluck, Cluck, Sew, in this iteration is henceforth to be known as "Duluth".

Top finished!

The first version of this pattern was Little Cabins in the Woods.

The Good News About Bad Weather

 It is attractive to stay in one's nice warm sewing area vs. being tempted into more post-Christmas sale shopping when the temps are as they are today. 

It is -17F at present with the day's high predicted to be -6F. 

Baby, it's cold outside. 

And that is conducive to the time honored cabin fever tradition of sewing. No more putting off finishing projects when the alternative activities involve five layers of clothing and risking life and limb with frost bite or idiot drivers on slippery roads.

And being well stocked from a recent, sad, going out of business sale of a favorite fabric store there is no reason to venture out for additional stash building.

So finally we have:

A new ironing board cover.

Six new tea towels of MoMo for Moda Japanese cotton/linen.

Six new pillowcases to use up Julie Paschkis fabric. 

A log carrier.

 

And a good start on 68 little houses for a queen size

Suburbs quilt which may be called

Duluth. 

Really! They Were Just There a Minute Ago!

At the time we visited the quilt exhibit at the American Swedish Institute this delightful space was in place for the small visitors to the castle.

We entered the village walking past friendly trolls,

crossed over the old troll fishing hole,

stopped by the roaring felt campfire,

and finally arrived at the 

quilter's studio.

It was all very charming, but apparently we dreamed it or are seeing things.

Exhaustive attempts to search both the ASI website and the internet show no traces that the lovely little troll village does now, or ever did exist and is as imaginary as Gus the Griffin.

Oh well. You will just have to trust us that it was cute. In our dreams!

Sewedish

The American Swedish Institute housed in the beautiful Turnblad Mansion

hosted an exhibit of quilts by international quilters.

There were many interesting and provocative pieces on display,

but our favorites were the quilts of Minnesotan, Mary Chalmers

located and filling entirely the upper level ballroom.

This one is made of wool and intricately hand-stitched.

This one also.

The jewel tones of this garden lattice quilt are very pleasing

and the combination of contemporary Bali batik on a traditional ticking type stripe very clever and effective.

Sadly the exhibit ended in October, but in case you did not get a chance to attend we thought you might enjoy seeing a small selection of what was on display. 

In future will try to inform you in a more timely manner of events that might be of interest.

What's a Little Fussy Cutting Between Friends?

It is a true and generous friend indeed who will supply all the materials for, 

and teach you how to make a

quilt-as-you-go trivet, 

and then let you fussy cut a prime image right out of the center of some precious Spoonflower fabric.

Verily I say unto you such a friend is Jeri(sew(s)).

Must Go Here

Stitch Supply Co. kindly let us have a look around even thought they were still unpacking and not officially open yet. 

They have cleverly displayed

bright, contemporary fabrics

in a brand new, colorful, airy space.

A highlight for this sewist - designer fabric lines not previously available in local shops.

Beautiful yarn too!

Friendly (and tolerant) staff.

Temptations galore.

You have been informed and warned. Our job here is done.

Little Cabins in the Woods

Our earthy period left a lot of scraps.

Perfect for a woodsy version of "Surburbs" by Cluck Cluck Sew.

See how the cabins creep out to the edge of a birch woods?

Perfect for a lake retreat bed.

Expertly machine quilted by the talented J. Bauer.

Sewn in Stone

Santa Maria in Trastevere is very fancy inside.You can look it up.

We found the patterns in these fragments from past versions of the church as beautiful as the gilded interior walls of the current edifice.

We see quilts. Do you?