A Modern Flair

Denise Schmidt is one of my favorite designers and I just love her new pattern, Stacking the Odds. Great for beginners and experts alike, this pattern has templates for each shape to make piecing a breeze. You can make it any size - we chose queen and were thrilled with the results. Using the new Big E Group fabric by Michael Miller, the quilting has big psychadelic swirls and screams modern!

Good job lil' sis!

My little sister, who is more commonly referred to as "Coach Hansen", completed her very first quilt! Her team couldn't believe that she went to a quilting retreat, but little do they know that her big sister (yours truly) has reeled her in and she is hooked on this fun, new creative outlet. This quilt is a new pattern and fabric by Sweetwater for Moda. The fabric is called "Make Life" and the pattern is "Make Life Sweet". What a great graduation gift - get the kit online or in the store for $79.00 and let us quilt it for you for just $35!

Merging my hobbies

Before my life at the Quilt Barn, I used to love to make greeting cards. I wanted to send some thank you notes to the good people at Moda who provided such an amazing retreat for me last weekend. I used some Steam A Seam lite and ironed it to the back of my charm pack squares, then went to town with my scissors. After playing with almost every decorative stitch my machine can muster, TA-DA... here are the results. I had "sew" much fun making these cards from a new charm pack by Fig Tree called "Fresh Cotton". I met Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts at the retreat and she is just as sweet as can be. The Quilt Barn is so excited to introduce Fig Tree Club this summer!

needs and wants...

Halle loves the new Freebird fabric by Moda and she tells me she "needs" a new skirt. She's obviously using the word "need" VERY loosely, because I make her a skirt from every other fabric line that hits the store! How can you not when Pink Fig gives you such a piece of cake pattern (The Girly Skirt) that wastes no fabric? With this skirt, it is less expensive to sew one than buy it in the store. And how fun is it to have an original!

It was a beautiful day in Dallas, Texas, and I spent the day learning from Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts, Roseann Kermes of Rosebud's Cottage, and Susan Fuquay of American Quilt Retailer. Let me tell you, their creative talent was inpiring! Doug played a sympathy card to win a new "Slice" - a cutting machine that is AMAZING! He wrote on his entry card, "I deserve to win the Slice because... since my wife won't let me use her scissors with the flowers on the handle, I am left with no way to cut my applique shapes." So, as if Doug doesn't get enough opportunities to get in touch with his feminine side by simply working at a Quilt Shop, he now owns a pink cutting machine! One of my favorite things about visiting Moda is their "lab", or their version of the perfect Quilt Shop. It is always decked out in adorable quilts, projects, and displays and inspires me to make my shop more beautiful. As soon as I get somewhere with a faster internet connection (this hotel internet is almost as fast as Morse Code), I will post a slide show for you to drool over!

Moda's Warehouse

Today was AMAZING! Doug and I arrived at Moda's Headquarters, here in Dallas, Texas, and had the opportunity to tour the warehouses... thats right, I said warehouses. They have 3 huge buildings that house their facilities. Fabric arrives on huge 150 yard rolls and are rolled onto the bolts you see in the store on a machine like this one. It is amazing how fast they can empty 150 yards onto bolts!

We also were lucky enough to get a sneak peak in the design room. :-) Fabrics currently in the "design" phase, will hit stores in January 2011. The first picture is a fabric line from a brand new Moda designer. More sneak peaks tomorrow.....stay tuned!

Quilts Baby!

Jenele has been busy sewing these ADORABLE baby quilts from Linda Kopp's book, "Quilts Baby". This book has 12 patterns from simple to advanced and is perfect for a new "Mom to be" or "Grandma to be"! Kits will be available soon at the Quilt Barn and online www.thequiltbarn.com