Hop Into Spring Giveaway!

It's here! It's here! The very first A Thread of Red giveaway and I am so excited.

Yesterday I had the chance to poke through the shop to find just the perfect fat quarters to usher in Spring. Get a load of these bright, beautiful colors! Gorgeous.

(Please ignore the craft room background. The photos were to be taken hanging in my friend's pear tree, but it is raining today!!)

Now, of course, if you have fat quarters in your hands you need to have something to make with them. Right? Well, how about a sweet Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern (and a zipper)?

I should have grabbed a pattern for myself, because I could use this bag for all sorts of things. Especially for yard sale-ing and junking at flea markets.
It will hold everything you need:
your ID, a credit card and, most importantly, a wad of cash.
In my case, it would be a wad of one dollar bills.



Really, how cute is this?

And it only uses two fat quarters, so you can sew more than one.
So, one lucky winner receives:
5 Fab Fat Quarters
1 Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern
1 12" Zipper, to complete one bag



Now for the rules:

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. If you would like your name tossed in the sewing basket twice, post about the giveaway on your blog and include the link back here. Make sure you tell me in your comment that you have done so.

It's that simple!

Entries for the giveaway will end on Saturday, March 21, at noon.

The winner will be announced here Saturday evening.

Good luck!

10 Reasons To Quilt With A Friend.

This week has found my friend, Cilla, and me in my sewing room making the newest strip club quilt. It's a doozy. Just complicated enough to make you second guess every cut and stitch you make. That's why I have decided that when a quilt is in progress, you should always have a friend with you.

Here are my ten reasons for quilting with a friend:

1. A friend will stop you when you start tearing your hair out because you've missed that point for the umpteenth time.

2. A friend will say "Wow! That looks beautiful!" even when all you see are flaws.

3. A friend will not mind if you make lunch from the leftovers of last night's dinner.

4. A friend will read and reread the pattern with you until you are comfortable with it.

5. A friend will reread the pattern again, just to make sure.

6. A friend will tell you stories about her childhood pranks that will make you wonder how she survived in tact.

7. A friend will talk to your sewing machine when it acts up. And it will listen.

8. A friend will not mind listening to The Wailin' Jennys on Pandora Radio.

9. A friend will laugh at your corny jokes.

And finally,
10. A friend will fill your day with fun, laughter, encouragement, commiseration and make the time speed by. Really, what more could you ask for?

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PS- Be sure to check in tomorrow. We're hosting a sweet giveaway!

Inspiration/Design Wall.

After strip club on Saturday, I came home determined to make a design wall for myself. Especially since the new quilt is complicated enough to require one.
My sewing/craft room has zero space for anything more than an object the size of an orange. I have crammed so many things on the walls in there, it looks like a patchwork quilt all on its own! So, I had to think out of the box, literally. That is how my sewing room leached itself into the family room.
A trip to Home Depot yielded a sweet discovery- a 4x8 sheet of white Styrofoam, 1 inch thick, for $7.35. Cheap, cheap, cheap! Next, it was a trip to Hancock Fabrics, where I bought three yards of snowy, white fleece- on sale. I also grabbed three packages of red jumbo ricrac for trim. With the fabric, ricrac, washers and screws for installation, the total cost was right about $25. Perfect! (And no arguments from the hubs. Even better!)
One word of caution- do not buy the Styrofoam panel on a windy day and you will need a truck to get it home in one piece!
To cover the panel, lay the fleece out flat on the floor, place the panel on top and square it yup. Then, clip the corners to make neat folds. Start in the middle of one side and squeeze some craft glue on the panel. Then, pull up the fleece, smooth it over the glue and staple to hold it until the glue dries. (I also found duct tape to be helpful, as sometimes the staples did not want to hold.)
Continue gluing and stapling all along the entire panel, beginning in the middle and working your way out to the ends. Allow the glue to dry for about thirty minutes before placing on the wall.
Next, have someone hold the panel for you while you screw it into the wall with drywall screws.
And Voila! You can now have a place to play to your hearts content!
Just outside my sewing room door is a bit of wall space made for this project. Just a hair over four feet wide, the panel slipped in like a dream. Ah, lovely. It is also right next to my ironing board, which makes that press and lay-out step a breeze.




As you can see, I had to make a cut to accommodate an electrical outlet. It was very easy to do.



What? You don't have wall space available for a design wall? There's a solution for that! Use the doorway (a closet would be great for this.) Purchase two tension rods to fit your door opening. Make a rod pocket at each end of your fleece and insert the tension rods. Attach the top rod first, then the bottom, making it taut but not so tight that the rods slip. And another Voila! Done. When you are finished, just roll it up and slip it out of sight.
If you are a quilter, you need one of these. I didn't really think it would make that much difference but, boy howdy, does it ever.
Now all that is left for you to do is sit back and let inspiration be your guide!

Oh. My. Gosh.

Have you ever wondered if there was something that could be made from the selvage edges of the fabrics that you love, with their beautiful writing and sweet, colorful polka dots or squares waiting, wanting, to be used in a creation instead of tossed into the trash bin?
Clearly there are women out there who feel as you do and have gone to great lengths to do something about it! Take a look at this:



Does that not take your breath away? Stunning is the word that comes to mind, along with a few others- beautiful, artsy, exquisite, and so on. This selvage frock is the creation of a woman named Jodie, from Ballarat, Australia. Her blog is called RicRac and it is a veritable candy shop of fun things made from castaway selvage edges. What a creative spirit.
I know what you are thinking, "How many selvage edges have I thrown away over the years?" Don't worry. There are always more to come and there is no time like the present to begin collecting them for your own creation. Apron? Easy-peasy. Pillow? Oh, yeah. (See Moda Bake Shop today!) Skirt? Yeppers. Shorts for your kiddos? Paired with a top from the actual fabric, they would be darling! Pin cushions? Perfect for someone with only a few edges to their name.
I have a thought for mine tucked in the back of my brain. What will you make with yours?

Shop Hop 'Til You Drop.

Who ever came up with this idea is a genius in my book. Gather up a varied selection of local quilt shops, bind them with a theme and let them be inspired to create something that will make quilters everywhere drool with anticipation. Quilters drool a lot, don't they?

This year, the theme is "The Magic of Childhood". Each of the shops involved have come up with their own version of that theme and they are all so darn cute, I cannot wait to go see what they have to offer!

The Sweet Home Quilt Company has chosen "Grandma's Closet". I remember my grandmother's closet full of beautiful dresses and high-heeled shoes. It was like a jewel box of color and texture. Other grandma's may have had different closets, full of homespun frocks or woolen suits. I wonder which closet will be represented, or will they choose them all?

Tiny Stitches has chosen "Read Me a Story (and tuck me in with a quilt.)" Doesn't that conjure up the most charming image -Moms and children cuddled together, book in hand, heads on shoulders as a story unfolds? I spent many hours doing that very thing with my own children.

Little Quilts asks us to "Join Us Under the Big Top". Did you go to the circus when you were a child? I did and I can still feel the excitement of that day many, many (many, many!) years ago. When my husband and I took our children to see the circus, it was everything I remembered it to be- bright, colorful and exuberant. I am sure that circus-inspired quilts will be just as thrilling.

Red Hen Fabrics is taking us for "A Day At The Farm". Well, if that isn't right up this farmgirl's alley! Who here received fluffy, yellow chicks for Easter? Or maybe ducklings with their downy feathers pointing in all directions? Cows, anyone? Sheep, perhaps? Just the word "Farm" brings a sense of down-home goodness and nostalgia. Yep, farmgirl's the life for me.

Heritage Quilts & Fabrics shares the anticipation and joy of "Christmas Morning". Who wouldn't want to see what lies beneath the tree?

Intown Quilters will not be lazing about during this "Summer Vacation"! One of the most eagerly anticipated events in a child's lifetime- three months of bliss! Blue skies overhead and green grass tickling your toes, there was nothing better than that! Long bicycle rides, hula hoops, swimming, gigging frogs- What? You didn't gig frogs? You don't know what you missed!! But, don't miss this event!

Patrick's will be spending the "Weekend At Grandma's" My brother and I spent two weeks out of every summer at our grandparent's house. Grammy always had something for us to do- crafts, sewing, playing games, baking. The time we spent there was never boring and always one we looked forward to. Having fun, taking adventures, being spoiled, all are required when you are at Grandma's!!

Quilts and Fixin's is spending time in front of the TV for "Saturday Morning Cartoons". Wasn't that what everyone did on Saturday morning? Dash for the television, wait for it to warm up and then settle in for hours of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, The Pink Panther, Foghorn Leghorn... the list of my favorites is pretty long, I'd better stop. Full of color, action, humor (that sometimes sailed right over our heads) cartoons were non-stop delight. Sadly, the day of the Saturday morning cartoon has passed. Yay for Quilts & Fixin's for bringing it back!

An at our own A Scarlet Thread, well, "It's A Birthday Party!" Now, how about that? A birthady party for each of us! There is nothing like having every attention to detail being made just for you. Now, I can give you a little hint as to what you will find at AST. But just a little one. When you think birthday party, don't you think party games? There will be some of those, as well as a little party favor to take home! 16 new quilts will be hung in the gallery to feast your eyes upon and of course, there will be tons of "Take 5" kits- a great grab and go, sit and sew project! AND, new fabrics are coming in and will be on the shelves just in time for the whole shebang!!

Now, if this does not make you want to grab your best friend, hop in the car and spend four (or three, or two) days chatting, ooh-ing and ah-ing, entering giveaways, making new friends and filling your mind with new ideas, I don't know what will.

So, start saving your pennies, mark your calendars and join us for Shop Hop 2009! I hope I will see you there.

PS- If you don't live in the Atlanta area, I will be writing all about it when it's is done. So, really, you won't miss a thing!

Moda Bake Shop!

Have you been here yet? No? Oh my gosh- go! Go now! Look at all of the cuteness that is waiting just for you!

It is a tutorial treasure trove!!