Happy Thanksgiving

We'd like to take a minute to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! It's kinda quiet here at work today. I guess that many are getting a head start on the cooking. It is always a nice holiday time here at the store because we get many out of town visitors stopping in.

We are thankful for so many things--our families and friends, our wonderful employees, our great customers! We are also happy that we share our passion with so many wonderful people. Thank you to all who came to our lectures and took our classes this year. You have enriched our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Lynda and Nancy

Making Beautiful Clay Buttons

I finally finished the slide show of how to make the clay buttons pictured in our blog of October 19th, 2008. The buttons are very easy to do and add a one-of-a-kind embellishment to your work. We have added beads to the buttons to stitch them to this wallhanging. This is the added bonus project included in our pattern booklet, Cappucino. Visit our website to see all of the embellishment product we have, including the Makin's Clay and the Jacquard products. Enjoy the slideshow!

Lynda

Another sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek at another of our new Block of the Month programs we will be starting in January. Judy is already working on this one. Let us know if you would like more information.

It is a gorgeous fall day here in Denver. It is so nice that we have the doors opened wide. My husband, daughter, and I spent the morning and part of the afternoon raking leaves and putting the summer furniture away. It was very satisfying, but the wind has picked up this afternoon and more and more leaves are falling. Raking leaves reminds me of cleaning house--just when you thought you were finished it is time to start again. Well, speaking of cleaning, I'm off to the basement to work on my sewing room. Time to clean it up and get started making my Christmas presents.

Lynda

From scrapbook paper to fabric--Urban Couture

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We just received the entire Moda fabric line of Urban Couture by BasicGrey. BasicGrey is a scrapbook paper company known for their refreshing palettes and exceptional prints. Here is what Moda has to say about this line: "Upscale attitude with a touch of metro-style, Urban Couture features illustrative prints, natural form, and unconventional design. You can now take your favorite scrap booking papers into the sewing room. This flawless translation from paper to fabric still has an edge and reminds us that attitude is everything."

Enjoy watching the slideshow of the collection for yourself. We do not have the fabric online, but you can get the SKU numbers from the Moda website and call or email us at info@greatamericanquilt.com with your order--or better yet, stop by the store and see it in person.

It's great fun waiting to see what the UPS man brings to our door everyday. We bought some great stuff at Quilt Market including several new Block of the Month programs we want to start in January. We just need to decide if we want to do them all at the same time or stagger them. Two of them are Christmas BOMs that would be nice to start in January.

Here is a sneak peek at a block from The Night Before Christmas. Judy can hardly wait to start this one. I'll give you more sneak peeks of the other BOMs over the next couple of weeks and if you are interested in any of them e-mail or call us and we will keep you updated with information.

Have a terrific weekend!

Happy stitching,
Lynda and Nancy

InterFaith, Diaper Dash, & Tie One On Day

If you are local to our store you no doubt know that we are avid supporters of InterFaith Community Services. This fantastic organization serves families in-need in the Denver area. Recently we participated in the Pack-To-School program, where we provided new back packs, all school supplies, new school outfits, and other little surprises, to a group of deserving kiddos. We received some of the most wonderful thank you notes from these kids, and we've posted them on our website, so feel free to take a look.

InterFaith is always in need of donations of many kinds. In November, we are asking your help. During the week of Nov 2-8th we are sponsoring a Diaper Dash. Bring in one package of 10 or more diapers of any size and get 20% one item of your choice. The much needed diapers will be donated to InterFaith.

We are also celebrating Tie One On Day (Nov. 26) for the entire month. Tie One On Day celebrates the humble apron and the spirit of women of earlier generations. On the eve of Thanksgiving, wrap a loaf of bread in an apron, tuck a note of hope in the pocket, and deliver it to someone in need. Don't have time to bake? Join us to donate money to InterFaith for their food drive. For your donation of $10 or more, you will receive a coupon for 20% off one item of your choice valid during December--just in time for Christmas shopping. Also, throughout the month we will be featuring some great patterns for aprons and kitchen accessories.


We, and InterFaith appreciate anything that you can do to help!

Lynda and Nancy

Amy Butler Trunk Show and Bread Bag Ties

We are lucky to have a trunk show from Amy Butler. She sent us several bags and articles of clothing and we added all of the fun stuff that we have been making. We have a great selection of Amy's books, fabrics, and patterns in now, so if you are in need of inspiration, we have it. Enjoy the pictures of the display.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This next photo is of my 20 year old son, with his permission. He had braces for several years---way, way longer than any of his friends. He is missing a tooth and needs to get an implant. But, he lost his retainer several months ago--he swears Murphy, our dog, buried it. I think not, but I have noticed that Murphy's teeth are looking straighter. Well, he finally made the appointment and I said that I thought the Dentist should make sure that his teeth have not moved too much. He assured me that they were OK since when he had his retainer, he would leave it out often and it would only be uncomfortable for maybe 5 minutes when he put it back in. Besides he said, "I tie them together with bread bag ties".

OMG, if I had only known, we could have saved lots of money in orthodontist fees--I would hate for his orthodontist to read and see this. : ) Luckily his implant appointment is coming up in about 3 weeks. Till then, I'm saving bread bag ties.

Here's to fun, inspiration, and innovation!
Lynda

Quilting Treasures, Marie Osmond, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

Whew! Another Fall Quilt Market is over. We work hard getting ready to go, we work hard while there, and we work hard catching up when we get home. But, we really have a great time!!!

Our new line from Quilting Treasures, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, made it's debut. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod is a poem written by Denver journalist, Eugene Field, in 1889.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe...
Sailed off on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
The main print is a panel and it's supported with some other fun prints, including a star that would be a great addition to anyone's stash. The best thing is that the fabric wasn't supposed to be in until December and we already got ours--yeah! For quilt market we made lots of samples, including 3 quilts, teddy bears, a slumber sack, a day pack and lots more. Nancy quilted the entire poem on one of the quilts and embellished the stars with crystals.

Another fabric designer for Quilting Treasures is Marie Osmond. She actually came to Quilt Market and spent part of the day being photographed and signing autographs in the Quilting Treasures booth. Here she is below (sorry for the blurry pic) with Cranston Print Works President, George Schuster. Cranston is the parent company of Quilting Treasures.

Isn't it a shame that some people have soooo much hair (I'm referring to Marie, not George)--I sure could have used a little more. I especially liked Marie's Gypsy Breeze fabric line. The color palette is soft celadon, aqua, periwinkle, and purple.

While Ashley and our good friend Peggie manned our booth, Judy, Nancy, and I set out to see what QM had to offer. We looked at hundreds of fabric lines--including 5 Christmas 2009 lines at one booth alone. We have lots of new patterns and books coming in--if you are in town, we have a QM preview coming up Nov 19th. Last market we pooh poohed the Clover pom pom maker--this market we saw a demo on how to make wonderful fabric Hydrangeas and we ordered two sizes!

Needless to say, we had a great time, ordered wonderful product, ate delicious food, met up with good friends, and will be ready to do it again in May! I'll be sharing more pictures soon.

Welcome to November,
Lynda