Winners of Postcard Challenge

We have the winners of our Postcard challenge. All of the postcards were great and we really enjoyed seeing how they were embellished. The winners are shown below.

Purple Autumn by Monica Blitger, from Spain

Zen by Carol Waugh, from Denver

A Quilters Peace by Michelle Jackson, from Denver

Fern Goddess by Susie Johnson, our employee winner

Sophisticated Lady by Michelle Jackson, our online winner

A big THANK YOU to all who entered, our talented judges, and for all of you who voted online.

To see all of the customer entries, click here.

Frenchy Bag and Blue Sky Hat

Let me introduce you to my daughter Kim. Kim has worked at GAQF since she was about 10 days old. Her job then was to just look cute--seems like she holds the same position today, along with many other responsibilities.

Here she is looking cute in the Amy Butler Blue Sky Hat, holding the Frenchy Bag. She made these herself and she is very proud. She's been sewing quite a bit lately and is working up to the Lotus Tunic. Kim, along with several other kids, was the inspiration for our I'll Teach Myself series of kids sewing books.

For those of you in the area that are Amy Butler fans, we have made several samples with the Midwest Modern fabric and have two classes on our fall class schedule . Maybe you'll see Kim there with helpful advice or maybe, just looking cute. : )

Lynda

Postcard Challenge, Summer 2008

We thought we would like your help in choosing an online winner for our Postcard Challenge. Preview the postcards by playing the Smilebox slide show below and then email your vote to Ashley at ashley@greatamericanquilt.com . Vote by September 14, 2008. One vote per email address, please! We will announce the winner Sept. 15th. Thank you!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Renee's Boxes

I told you that I would share some more pictures of Renee Peterson's work. Below are 2 boxes that she has made. She uses a variety of techniques to make each one unique. Renee has taken embellishment classes and participates in a monthly 'creative' session, here at Great American Quilt Factory. The box below showcases many different embellishments, including Lumiere paint, Angelina fibers, sequin waste, clay, wire, and special buttons made exclusively by our friends, Terry and Michele. See lots more of their buttons at EYEmbellishments.

The hexagonal box below, also showcases several techniques, including Angelina fibers, clay, handmade beads, sequin waste, and two more buttons from EYEmbellishments--Michele writes a might fine and fun blog. Check it out by clicking on it in "Our Favorite Blogs" on the sidebar to the right.

I hope the creativity that is shown by Renee's patchwork pillow (see August 26 blog) and wonderful boxes inspires you to bring a little embellishing to your projects. Please check our website to download an informative brochure on these embellishment products. Happy Labor Day!
Lynda

Postcard slide show

Sorry, but the Postcard Challenge slide show will not be on the blog until Tuesday, Sept 2. We still have some postcards coming in this weekend. Be sure to come back to place your vote then. Have a great weekend.
Lynda

Close up of September forever e.friends block

Here is a close-up photo of our September forever e.friends block. For information on this exciting new block of the month, click here http://greatamericanquilt.com/efriendspage.html.

Also, be sure to check the blog tomorrow. We want to have an online viewer's choice award for our summer 2008 Postcard Challenge. There will be a short slide show to watch and then e-mail us the number of your favorite postcard. The winner will be posted on the blog on September 8th.

Lynda and Nancy

Renee Peterson's Patchwork Pillow

Renee Peterson is a good friend as well as a very accomplished quilter. She inspires us often with beautiful handmade greeting cards, painted Christmas ornaments, beautiful quilts and now with this gorgeous pillow. As you can see, Renee has a great sense of color and style. She made 4 of these pillows for decoration on a brown leather couch--yummy, huh! She also brought in some embellished boxes that I am saving to share with you on another day.

Thank you Renee for your inspiration and for sharing your creativity with us!

Lynda and Nancy

forever e.friends block of the month

We are so excited. We are starting a new Block of the Month in September. Forever e.friends, shown above, is a charming collection of patchwork and applique blocks. If you wish, four seasonal wall hangings can be made instead. Each month you will get an email newsletter with a link for downloading a set of pages that includes the directions, the patterns, a full-sized layout guide, two or more bonus projects, and recipes. We are starting with the block in the lower left corner. If you would like more information, please contact Ashley at ashley@greatamericanquilt.com .

Prairie Quilt Guild, Wichita

We spent 2 lovely days in Wichita, Kansas at the Prairie Quilt Guild. We were picked up from the airport last Monday, by Brenda Ramey, the VP of Programs. On Tuesday, we set up our books and quilts and then went with several members, including the Pres. Sonya Saylor, to a great local French/Mediterranean restaurant for lunch. The afternoon meeting of PQG started at 1:00. Sonya led a very quick business meeting to allow us as much time for our presentation as possible. We finished up about 4:00 and then went to dinner at the Lone Star Steak House. The evening meeting started at 7:00 and we finished up about 9:30. Both groups were so welcoming and generous in their compliments! Thank you all!

On Wednesday, we taught Pineapple. It is one of our favorite classes to teach and our students were first class as is witnessed in the slide show. We look forward to seeing their finished quilts in the near future! What a great group of new friends who have the same passion for quilting as we do.

Thanks PQG for your hospitality and a great couple of days!

Lynda and Nancy

Grandtwins 3rd Birthday

I found this great website to make the best cards that include photos. I had the best time making this one for the "grandtwins" 3rd birthday. I hope it makes you "smile". Lynda

Make a Smilebox greeting

Nancy Sampson's DU Quilt

This beautiful quilt was designed and made by a very dear customer of ours, Nancy Sampson. Nancy is a professor at the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business. She made the quilt over the 2006 summer. It depicts the distinctive architecture of the DU buildings with the Rocky Mountains in the background. Included on the quilt is a pin that celebrates DU's 2005 NCAA Hockey Championship and a 2006 Colorado quarter. The quilt currently hangs in the athletic director's suite in the Ritchie Center. Kudos to Nancy!

I love my Quilting Arts 2008 calendar, especially August, because I get to see the winning August block that was made by Nancy. The challenge, "A Novel Idea", was to show in stitch, fabric, and embellishment how a favorite work of fiction inspired them, influenced their life, changed them, made them laugh, or brought them joy.

Nancy chose the book Under the Tuscan Sun. She says "This book is inspirational in showing that life can be full of second chances. It is about living life with passion and splendor, and the story has shown me ways to stretch my own wings, breaking from traditional quilting techniques to experiment with new avenues of embellishment." I think you will agree with me that the block truly is a winner. I'm going to find it hard to flip to September.

Keep stretching those wings Nancy! We'd like to see more.
Lynda

Mary Swinton's Pineapple Quilt

We just received this picture from Mary Swinton. She was in our Lincoln, NE, Pineapple class with Cathie Miller. She finished her quilt in time to enter it into her guilds quilt show in May. Look how the circles stand out. WOW! I hope you are proud of yourself, Mary.

We are teaching Pineapple next week in Wichita. Mary's and Cathie's quilts should provide lots of inspiration.


Mary said "Thanks for all the wonderful help, tips, support and suggestions. I'm so pleased with my quilt. I would never have tackled such a project if it had not been for the class."

Thanks Mary for sharing your quilt with us!

Lynda and Nancy

Amy Butler and Heather Bailey Fabrics

The much anticipated fabric from Amy Butler and Heather Bailey arrived yesterday. We have 16 pieces from Heather's Pop Garden and Bijoux collection and almost the entire Midwest Modern collection from Amy Butler--Westminster fabrics back ordered a few of our choices. : (

Pop Garden is vibrant and dramatic--a smart mix of modern and romantic prints. Bijoux prints are jewels or trinkets that play well with Pop Garden. Click below to see what we have. http://greatamericanquilt.com/store/heatherbaileyfabric.html. Heather is also designing a line of patterns that should be out soon.

Amy's collection is quilting weight fabric and was inspired by Amy's lifestyle book, Midwest Modern. It is an absolutely beautiful line with 3 luscious palettes--Ohio Sky, Pink Dahlia, and Orange Dahlia. We will also have some of her new solids to coordinate.
http://greatamericanquilt.com/store/midwestmodernfabric.html .

We have several of Amy's patterns in stock and will be ordering more. The patterns are posted to our website http://greatamericanquilt.com/store/amybutler.html. We will be making lots of samples and Amy will be sending us a trunk show--check our weekly e-mail for more information. Nancy and I were lucky enough to spend 3 days with Amy at a creative workshop put on by American Patchwork and Quilting two years ago. What an inspiring lady!

Lynda

Rocky Mountain Gold Shop Hop Quilt

The Rocky Mountain Gold Shop Hop is in full swing. The shop hop mystery quilt has been unveiled. I haven't seen any of the other quilts, but I hear that they are all slightly different. Here is a photo of ours. I think it turned out beautifully.

It's been HOT, HOT, HOT, but the shop hoppers are great. I have enjoyed chatting with new friends and long time friends. Thanks for all of your support.

Lynda