forever e.friends October block

Happy October!

October is one of my favorite months. The weather is cooler, the colors are gorgeous, and Halloween is coming. My house is decorated to the hilt with everything Halloween.

We celebrate forever e.friends in October with a cute witch, a scary ghost and some yummy-looking candy corn. We've added recipes for Freaky Franks and Creepy Corn Casserole. The extra October project is a Crayon Frameup--just perfect for the little ghouls in your family.

It's a great time to start a new project--or perhaps finish up one you've already started.

Have a BOO-tiful month!

Lynda

Show and Share

One of the best things about working at GAQF is the inspiration we get everyday when customers and students come in with or send pictures of the projects they have been working on. This last couple of weeks we have had several people share with us and thought that you might like to see them, too.This stunning quilt is by Edlith Haak, a longtime customer. Nancy and I both love red and black quilts. I'm not sure of the name of this pattern (and I wish my photography was better) but the quilt is beautiful. What's next, Edlith?

This is a Pineapple quilt made by Robin Newton. She took our Pineapple class in Wichita a couple of months ago. She chose to use lots of homespun plaids and made me wish that I hadn't pared down my homespun collection. Robin, I love the quilt and your backyard!

Karen Hammond, also of Wichita, chose to use 30's prints. Each of her Pineapple blocks starts with a black print square. We were playing with mirrors trying to decide on corners. The narrow black strip seemed perfect. It seems like her friend here agrees. : ) Great job, Karen!

Another long time customer of ours, Dorothy Mannon, made this gorgeous Pineapple quilt in a class here at GAQF, taught by Jane Dumler. I love the beautiful blues accented with the red. Way to go, Dorothy!

Last, but not least is a wall hanging made by Nancy Sampson. She made it in the Mini Licorice Star Garden GAQF class taught by Ann Petersen. Ann won a 1st place ribbon for her Licorice Star Garden quilt at the IQA show in Houston last year. Nancy's piecing is beautiful and her quilting is great. Nancy also made this incredible DU quilt. She is always up for a challenge, so I think we will be seeing more of her work. Thanks, Nancy!

Thank you all for making our jobs more fun and inspiring! Our goal is to open up a gallery on the website to share the inspiration. Please keep sharing your projects with us.

Lynda and Nancy

My new favorite notion

I have a favorite new notion. It is this Bendable Bright Light that easily attaches to the side of your sewing machine and directs a powerful beam of light just where you want it. And...it doesn't get hot. I spent several hours appliqueing a new quilt (sneak peak here) and it helped sooooo much! I could move the light to help me see the threads to pull to the back and then move it back to see the applique. It is terrific! Call or e-mail today and we will save one for you from the order that should be in this week.

Another product that was very helpful was the new Sewline pencil. I used the yellow one to draw a vine on this very dark chocolate colored fabric. It was easy to mark and it stayed on the entire time I was appliqueing, then erased off just as easily. I do admit that I am a gadget junkie.

Have a great weekend. It is a beautiful almost fall day here in Colorado.

Lynda

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