New in the shop

It is quite the production outside my window today: rain, thunder, howling winds, a little bit of hail...

Perfect sewing weather, n'est-ce pas?

These gorgeous new fabrics came in last week and I meant to write about them at the time, but the shop has been sooo busy with shop hoppers that a lot of things I *meant* to do got put on the back-burner.

The good news is that even though this busyness has delayed me updating the blog, it is probably the perfect day to talk about these gorgeous new fabrics from Cloud9 Organics: the collection is called "Cut Out & Keep" and was designed by Heather Moore of Skinny LaMinx fame.
























I love!

I want!

I need!

I see a Winslow Market Tote in my future!

Fat quarter bundles of "Cut Out & Keep" can be found right here and yardage of the individual prints, along with all of our organic fabrics, can be found here on our organics page (which is getting bigger and bigger... exciting!)


Also new in the shop is the latest from Carolyn Gavin (remember her debut collection, called "Wild Thyme?" It was one of those collections that came into the shop and within one month was absolutely gone... not a scrap to be had!).
























This new collection is called "Spring Street" and bears Carolyn's signature style (in other words, super-cute and colorful).

We gave Carolyn her own page on the website and Jessica cut out fat quarter bundles that would be perfect for a Turning Twenty or a Yellow Brick Road quilt. The fat quarter bundles contain all 15 of the prints that we carry from the Spring Street collection, plus five fat quarters of coordinating solids.
























So if the weather is bleak where you live, let's all just stay inside in our PJ's today and pop a good movie on the TV and make ourselves a cup of tea and stitch something up from these new fabrics.

What do you say, who's with me?

XO,

Rhea

Hand-pieced hexagons class announced with guest instructor Brooke Biette

4/18/11 edited to add: only 2 out of the 10 spots are left in Brooke's workshop. Please do call or stop in if you would like one of them! XO, Rhea






















Sooo excited for this guest workshop!

I'm pleased to announce that my good friend Brooke Biette (of AprilTwoEighty fame) will be making the journey from her home in Portland to come and teach our students how to hand-piece hexagons using the tried-and-true English paper-piecing technique.
























In addition to being a fabulous photographer (as evidenced by all these glorious images she has allowed me to use), my little Brooke is also a very talented hand-stitcher... take a look at her "Little Hexies" flickr set here.

If you would like to take the workshop with Brooke, spaces in the class are $25 each and can be reserved by calling the shop or stopping by in person. The hand-pieced hexagons workshop will take place on Sunday, May 22nd from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon and will cover the "how-to's" of hand-piecing hexagons and then explore options for using them.

















These little hexies are so cute! Stitched together, they would make a great tablerunner, potholder, mini-quilt, pillow... any number of things. Brooke will help her students figure out creative ways to use their hexies. For some inspiration, take a look at the current issue of Stitch magazine, which shows s a sweet little hexagon detail on a tote-bag. So many options for using up these sweet, sweet little hexagons.

















What I think has me the most thrilled about the workshop (besides the prospect of spending the afternoon with Brooke) is that students need no previous experience, making this a great workshop for beginners and more experienced stitchers alike. And since the hexies are pieced by hand, you won't need your sewing machine, which means you can travel light! Just toss some fabrics, needles, thread, scissors and your hexagon templates (we've got 'em at the shop) into a bag and you are good to go!

















Fair warning: I have sold two spots just this morning and haven't even "officially" announced the class yet (guess I am doing that now...), so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like a space. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away and in the meantime, check out Brooke's blog and Flickr sets!

XO,

Rhea

Happy Birthday to me!

And now for the winner of the Summer 2011 Stitch magazine giveaway...

The winner is a local girl...

Christine Peters Hamilton(!)



Christine said...

I love this magazine--so inspirational!

Chris, I know you are a local so I am hereby making you come in and pick up your magazine in person, mwa ha ha...

Plus, it's my birthday today and I can get away with these things.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered and who sent me happy birthday wishes.

In about an hour work will be done and it's a gorgeous day out there.

As we say in Maine, "I'm gonna come out of here right sideways."

I happen to know that when I get home there is a mystery birthday present waiting for me from Ollie, plus a bottle of Prosecco and a sunny backyard deck and a grill.

Perfect birthday evening, I'd say.

Year 32: so far, so good!

XO,

Rhea

Have you seen...

... the ribbon page lately?

Something about spring that makes me think of ribbons.

Here are some of my favorites:























Dala Horse ribbon


























Purple Beets ribbon


























Cherry double-fold bias tape



























My personal favorite is this Marigold bias tape... this would make a great trim on a plain linen tote bag, n'est-ce pas?


























Coral Twill (this is 2" wide! Parlez-vous bag handles?)



























Marine Blue twill... (also 2" wide)



So as you can see, there's a lot of good stuff and a lot more than ribbons on our ribbons page.

If you visit the shop in person you can find these and other goodies in our "Hall of Notions."

Don't forget that Thursday is the day I pick the winner for the Summer Stitch Magazine.

You can still enter the giveaway here.

See ya then!

XO,

Rhea

New Oliver+S patterns in stock

If you've been (not so) patiently waiting for the newest pattern collection from Oliver+S, the wait is over! These three patterns are some of Liesl's best work and once again, I find myself yearning for adult versions...

The Family Reunion Dress:





The Seashore Sundress: (So cute! This looks to be a re-working of the super-popular Tea Party Sundress and would be great for beginning seamstresses... Remember my friend Francesca's happy sewing experience with her first Oliver+S pattern? )





And finally, the Class Picnic Blouse and Shorts:



And in case you are wondering, Liesl's newest fabric collection, Modern Workshop, should be here as yardage very shortly. We do still have a few of the charm squares and jelly rolls left, though!


See you again soon!

XO,

Rhea

New Stitch Magazine is here and it's fabulous/wonderful/inspiring!

Today is a rainy/snowy/windy/generally miserable kind of day.

Just the kind of day where we need a little treat/goodie/pick-me-up.

You can imagine how pleased I was to return from a trip to the bank/post office/newspaper to find that the new Stitch magazine had arrived!

Just what the doctor/therapist/general-sewing-enthusiast ordered, I'd say...

This is the Summer 2011 Color Issue, with lots of fun/useful/inspiring articles, as usual.

You can get your copy of the new Stitch magazine in the online store/brick-and-mortar shop/ leaving me a comment here on today's post.

In other words... if you are still reading... this is a giveaway!

Good luck and I will pick a winner on next Thursday/April 14th/My birthday #32!

XO,

Rhea

Wild and woolly for the first day of the Shop Hop

5 to 10 inches of snow are forecast for today, which is not the most conducive weather to traveling across the state for the 8th Annual Maine Quilt Shop Hop...

We have already lost power several times today but I have been puttering around here having a grand 'ol time.

(Updated to add that after an outage that lasted a couple of hours, the power seems to be on now, for good! If you are out there reading this and wondering if we are open, we are open! And Sewing Lounge is on for tonight as well!)

Luckily hoppers have the entire month of April to get their passports stamped, collect their free goodies, enter all those door-prize drawings and maybe even squeeze in some shopping!

We've got new kits at the shop and new fabrics, plus we have goody bags to hand out with some fun surprises inside... one of which I will post about next week.

And for each and every shop hopper that comes through our door we have one of these as well:























So hope for better weather the rest of the month (let's get the snow out of the way now, shall we?).

Hop 'til you drop!

XO,

Rhea