Wednesday, October 21, 2015

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather last week for the annual fall craft festivals -- just a hint of coolness with beautiful foliage.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the JQ Hammons Center and those who made a trip out to the shop.  Also, welcome to all the new subscribers.  Thanks for inviting us to your home each Thursday.

Our new website is up and running.  After you read the newsletter, please stop by and let us know what you think.  The developer updated the opening page slideshow, added an Events calendar that's easy for us to keep updated, added a Needful Things tab where you can find many of our favorite tools, and broke Lynette Anderson products into Patterns and Buttons to make navigation easier.  She also added Facebook, Blog, and Instagram buttons to the upper right side so you can jump from one place to the other effortlessly.  You can also sort all pages in a multitude of ways.  Best of all, you now have a choice of payment methods -- not just Paypal.  Visit it at http://www.sewgracefulquilting.com/index.html

Unfortunately with our new host, we are unable to archive newsletters on the site, but all is not lost.  You can keep up with us via our blog.  We'll keep the blog updated with the newsletter each week.  http://sewgraceful.blogspot.com/
This week we'd like to share a piece Debby recently finished.  It was supposed to be framed but she added black rick rack and a border to make a table topper or wall hanging.  Ours finishes 14 1/2" x 17 1/2".  Your $21.95 kit includes the pattern, fabrics for the top, wool for the applique, jumbo rick rack, and binding.
 
It's probably no big secret that we love snowmen.  We just can't help but smile when we see a pattern featuring a snowman.....and it's even better when the pattern features more than one.  "Frosty Fellas" fits all our criteria and just makes us smile.  It finishes 29" x 34".  Your $42.95 kit includes the pattern with full size templates, background fabrics, wool for applique, borders, binding and our changes (you know we can't help ourselves when it comes to changing things).

Notice the sweet little snow fella in the lower right block?  He's got such a sweet, angelic face........
....we like primitive but the original snowman was just a little too primitive (translation - creepy) for us.  Look at him in the lower right block in the quilt below and let us know what you think.  We've included wool in your kit in case you want to create him as the designer envisioned him but we've also included wool in case you want a less primitive look. 
If you enjoy making and looking at little quilts, you'll want to be sure to get a copy of Little Gatherings by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  The book contains 13 quilts and at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" is the perfect size to fit in your stitching bag or sewing machine case.  Lisa obviously must get tired of fighting with book spines trying to get the book to lay flat because this book is spiral bound.  At $23.95 for the book that's only $1.84 a project -- hard to beat that price.
If you'd like to place on on line order for any of the items shown in this newsletter, simply click this link.  http://www.sewgracefulquilting.com/index.html

Fall quilt market starts this evening.  Darlene and Kay are leaving for market Sunday and staying for festival.  They'll be helping Lynette Anderson at her booth so if you're at festival, be sure to stop in and say hello.  Debby will have the store open regular days/hours.

See you soon.

Darlene and Debby