Starting the New Year Off Right!

It's been a month since I last posted? Oh, my goodness!

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying a wonderful new year. Except for the fact that it is already flying by, it's been quite good so far!

Last Saturday was the first Strip Club of the year! (I think it's # 53 or 54- can you believe it?)

We had a great group for such an early hour!

Cookie started us off by sharing the adorable Grammie's Buttons quilt from the Sassy Scarlets class, made by the equally adorable Jenny Weaver! There were 16 of us chatting, cutting and stitching.

Then it was tie for show and tell. Kris made it to the first spot with his Galaxy quilt. I am pretty sure that every single person wanted to take it home with them!

It was Gridlock next, the strip club quilt from November. Love, love, love it!

And a trip through the Spin Cycle with a luscious aqua and gray scheme. Yum.

Mary brought a blast from strip clubs past with her version of Pop Flower! So, so sweet!

Next up is her sherbet-colored New Wave quilt, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!

And our own Laura Coons' All Square quilt, which is now a purchasable pattern at the shop!

Mary quilted all of her quilts on her Baby Lock Melody sewing machine. Beautiful!

Gail constructed this gorgeous pansy wall hanging with some very teeny-tiny pieces. Very teeny-tiny. It is just stunning!

Remember the On Point! block of the month quilt from last year? This is Linda's and it is positively magnificent.

Especially the quilting, which took her between 40 and 50 hours using her Handi Quilter! Just. Gasp.

Liz brought her friend, Judy's, lovely pottery pieces for show and tell. I love the colors in these mugs. You just can't beat hand-thrown pottery!

Cindy made a table runner! Cindy made a table runner! How darling is this? The colors are fab and she is so cute.

Mary made the large Sew Easy Strata Star (Oy, say that  times fast!) table topper or wall hanging, using In the Beginning's Camelot fabric. We have the newest line, Deco, at the shop and it would be beautiful made up in this pattern!

Did you know that Mary designed our Bundle of Joy bundle pattern? Yep, she did! And did you know that you can get 3 baby quilts from one bundle? THREE of them! That's an awesome deal. :)

Over the next month the Scarlet Strippers will be stitching away at their own version of Sierra Stars. Isn't it pretty? I think it's such a happy quilt!

And we are happy to announce that Cookie, aka Karen Cook, has accepted the position of manager at the shop! We are all very excited for her, she's such a great gal!
Congratulations, Cookie-Candy-Cricket-Bunny-Chocolate Chip!

You are going to be awesome. :)

Sewn.........Soon.

The blogging world is all abuzz with the coming launch of Sewn. You can read all about it here. Well, who wouldn't want to be a part of the blog party that is taking place in anticipation of the launch of a super cool new website? Hmmm? Well, me for one.

So, on the launch date, June 8, I will draw a name to win a Scrappin' Scottie Mini Quilt, like the one hanging here. Well, maybe not exactly like it. You'll want yours to be a bit different, I'm sure.

Leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered. Simple, simple. On June 8, I will put all of your names in my big yellow bowl and Flora, my trusty assistant, will draw out a winner.

.

By the way, this is Flora! She's always up for a drawing!

Good luck, everyone!

Sewing Dummy.

Not the cute thing that stands in the corner of a sewing room wearing the latest creation. Oh, no. In this case, the sewing dummy is me.
After piecing the top of the new strip club quilt this weekend, all I had to do was to attach the borders. So, I measured and attached border one. Check. Measure and prepare to attach border 2 by inserting a pin into the right end of border 1. Check. Begin sewing border 2 to border 1. Check. Run out of border 2. What?!
Yes, I stitched border 2 to the wrong end of border 1! Twice! Why? Because not only had I cleverly placed a pin in border 1 so I would know where to attach border 2, I had left a pin in the other side of border 1 as well.

So, my friend the seam ripper and I have had lots of time to bond today.

The other thing I realized is that I have made

border 1 with the border 2 fabric and vice versa.

Wonderful.

Eye of the Beholder.

Hand a group of women each a box, inside of which are identical strips of fabric.

Have them open the box and peek inside.

The result?

Magic.


Because each set of eyes that takes that first peek sees something different,

each and every time.

You can tell a lot about someone by their quilts. Bold and sassy or soft and subtle, personalities shine through each fabric choice.

You can tell that imagination is one part of us that is never bound.



You can see the wheels turning as they create something from nothing.
What could have been discarded is now a treasure.
(Scraps from the Chain, Chain, Chain quilt now become a new quilt of their own!)



No second guessing here. Every woman experiences the same process- their eyes see, their mind melds and their heart speaks.

The result is a stamp of individuality on the paper of sameness.

Each one lovely.



Each one the same,

but different.



5
5
5
I wonder what they will do with this?


Y



*Remember the Miss Mary's Charm School post? Well, I think I have made you wait long enough for the reveal! The pattern Mary chose is called Butter Cake, a luscious layer cake pattern. (Hence the photo of the Sara Lee butter pound cake!) It is a sweet pattern with a ton of possibilities.




Here is Mary's finished top. Isn't it lovely? The colors are sublime- soft pastel paisleys melt away letting the teal butterflies fly to the front.

Soft. Simple. Perfection.


Put your stamp of individuality on something this week.

Resourcefulness.

One of my favorite things to do is to navigate through the fabric manufacturer websites. Some of my favorites- Moda, P&B Textiles, Clothworks, Michael Miller and Robert Kaufman.
All of them have the latest fabrics front and center and I am never disappointed. The other thing they have is free quilt patterns! How nice is that?

Say you wanted to make a quilt with this- Delila by Clothworks:

Well, you can click here and find a darling pattern!

Love Elanor's Picnic by P&B Textiles?

Click here and see what cuteness is in store for you!

AndaLucia one of your faves?

Find a stunning quilt here!


Does Howard Marcus' beautiful Collection for a Cause
make your heart go pitter-pat?


Then you will adore this 19th Century-inspired quilt here.

When you delve into the pattern (or project) files at these fabric houses, you will want to fill your favorites file with everything you see! There are quilts large and small, and for all levels of expertise. While you will not find all of the fabric lines at your local quilt store (because, really, where would they put them?), the patterns themselves are enough to inspire you to create your own version using something completely different!

Take a peek at these. You'll be surprised what you will discover!

Robert Kaufman (scroll down for free projects)

Moda

Studio e

Clothworks

P&B Textiles

Benartex

Michael Miller

Set aside a few hours, stock the printer with paper and have fun looking!

The fabric collections shown are available at A Scarlet Thread!

It's An Early Delivery!

Here it is, my very first quilt block design!

It's like birthing a baby, I tell ya! Well, it doesn't hurt as much.

This A Scarlet Thread Scrappy Scottie was a challenge for me in every way. From the drawing of the pattern, to calculating the cutting measurements, to execution, it pushed me to my limit. Which is a good thing. Everyone needs to be challenged every now and then!

There are still a few adjustments that need to be made, such as his nose. I think it needs to be a bit bigger. And the pieced border? Forget it! What a pain! Really, stitching together 1 1/2 inch strips and cutting them to fit the sides....um, no. Never again. But that's okay because I think a border done in four different fabrics will be just as cute.

I am working on getting this pattern* done in a PDF file so that you, our A Thread of Red readers can make one for yourselves. How cute would this be as a baby quilt? Two wide and three tall? Cute, cute. Maybe pink Scotties for a girl and the black for a boy. Actually, I can see this done a lot of different ways! Red and white would be adorable! Eek, the possibilities are endless.
I think I rather like this designing thing. :)



*As this is an original design, I would ask that you honor it and use the pattern for personal use only. Please do not sell the pattern or items made from it. Thank you for understanding.