Our version of The Raven quilt

We are a little behind in welcoming all the new readers to our weekly newsletter.  We pop in for a visit every Thursday and try to keep our newsletters short but filled with things to inspire you.  If you ever decide you'd prefer we go away, you can unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of the newsletter. We've had some fun 4-legged visitors to the shop lately.  Mr Turtle greeted us in the parking lot early one morning followed by baby deer the next morning.  We know deer babies grow into flower nibbling machines but we'll take it a day at a time and enjoy them.

Kay is working on The Raven quilt by Blackbird Designs.  It probably comes as no surprise to you that we are changing things.  Here's the quilt as designed by Barb and Alma.

Here's the first 3 blocks of Kay's version.  You'll have to use your imagination as the blocks are works in progress.  The house block will have a tree with lots of beautiful green leaves and vines.  All backgrounds are Diamond Textiles fabrics.  She's also 90% sure she will add a border. We know many shops are offering this project as a block of the month.  We also know many of you signed up for our block of the month without knowing what direction we were headed.  If you're on the list and would prefer to make the quilt with fabrics used by Alma, we're happy to remove your name from our list.  We haven't started cutting kits so it's no problem. Now that you've seen the direction we're headed if you would like to be put on our block of the month list, send us an e-mail (info@sewgracefulquilting.com) or call 479-372-7403.  We anticipate starting this block of the month in September.

The 4th of July means family gatherings for many which often means a cookout following by a slice of ice cold watermelon.  We thought it would be fun to spotlight our Simply Watermelon pincushion kit this week.  Your $8.95 kit includes the pattern, background fabric (yours will vary from ours -- most kits now have a nice star print in them), wool, and the cute bee button.

If you like small piecing, you'll love our next project.  "Little Red Eight" finishes 18" x 20".  Kay made the sample and said it was actually pretty fun (small piecing is not on her "Yay I get to play with teeny pieces of fabric" list).  Your kit includes a charm pack which will allow you lots of options for your fabric placement.  Kit is $28.95 and includes the pattern, fabrics for the top, binding, and two different button packs.

Kathy Schmitz' book "Stitches from the Garden" arrived.  Below are photos of the book cover and some of the projects from the book. We are working to process the pre-orders but have a few extra.  If you'd like us to reserve a copy, let us know.  $24.99

We hope to be able to share a really wonderful new pattern with you next week -- we're still working out details and have our fingers crossed everything will fall into place. We hope you have a nice holiday weekend.  We will be open regular hours on Saturday. See you soon. Darlene and Debby

Anderson's Farm layout

Kay had a great time at the show in Wichita:  beautiful quilts, sweet people, and a nice location.  We are home for a few weeks before we pack up and head to the show in Edmond OK July 8 - 9 (9:00-5:00 both days).  The show will be held at the Memorial Road Church of Christ (Summit Building), 2221 E Memorial Road, Edmond.  If you'd like more info you can visit the guild website at http://www.edmondquiltguild.us/index.html One of the most enjoyable parts of vending at shows is getting to meet new people.  Saturday afternoon a lady stopped by with two very sweet children.  One immediately noticed the project displayed on our front table and read it to her brother "That's it ..... I'm calling Santa".  She went on to mention mom had to call Santa on her brother last year.  You can imagine the course of the conversation from that point with both children explaining everything one would need to know about the Santa system. If you'd like a fun conversation starter, we have kits available for "That's It".  Your $24.95 kit includes the pattern, all fabrics for the pillow (back included) and wool for applique.  If you'd prefer to use your own materials, the pattern is available for $9.50.

Being inquisitive children, they continued to explore everything in the booth.  Our "Liberty" table runner caught the attention of the little boy.  He sheepishly asked if those were eyes on the quilt (he was referring to the white flowers on each end of the table runner)......quilting through the eyes of a child..... If you'd like to make your own "Liberty" (aka eyeball) table runner, we have kits available.  Your $58.95 kit includes the pattern, background fabrics (notice the beautifully pieced background), wool for applique, borders and binding.  It finishes 25" x 50". The only photo we have of this piece was taken when it was hanging on the wall.  Both ends are identical.

The Row by Row Experience began Tues, Jun 21.  If you're not familiar with Row by Row it's basically a giant shop hop with stores in all 50 states and Canada participating.  You visit participating shops between Jun 21 and Sep 6 and pick up a free pattern.  The theme this year is Home Sweet Home. Most shops offer kits so you can make your row exactly like theirs.  We have a cotton version available for $15.95 and wool version (cotton backgrounds) for $24.95. Unfortunately, we cannot mail kits until after the event ends Nov 1.  If you're out of the area and would like to reserve a kit for mailing, let us know.

Most shops participating in Row by Row also opted for a personalized fabric license plate.  Ours is available for $5.95.  We are able to mail license plates now so let us know if you'd like one.  We would also love to see what you create with your license plates.  Last year we saw quilts and totes made using the plates.

We've been having a lot of fun with Anderson's Farm.  We're sold out but Lynette will be starting another group later this year.  You can sign up via her website at http://www.littlequiltstore.com.au/ Lynette posted a blog update with a peek of the Anderson's Farm quilt layout.  You can visit her blog at http://lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com/ to see a preview of the finished quilt's layout.

Debby is still learning how to use her leg scooter apparatus.  She is very appreciative of all the cards and well wishes she's received from so many of you.  If things work out, we are hopeful she will be back to the shop in a few weeks. We'll be back next week with photos of a few blocks from The Raven quilt.  We know many of you are eager to see what we're doing with the pattern.  See you soon. Darlene and Debby

The animals

Last week our newsletter wasn't delivered to any of our Cox subscribers on Thursday.  After several live chats, emails and phone calls, the problem fixed itself.  Rather than try to go through our subscriber list and identify Cox subscribers, we decided to just resend the newsletter on Friday.  In the future if you don't get our weekly update, you can visit our blog at http://sewgraceful.blogspot.com/  Each week we put our newsletter on our blog. After a quick few days at home, we are in Wichita for the Common Threads Regional Quilt Show.  We're bringing a brand new project to share with the folks up there.....as well as lots and lots of other projects.  Our newest blocks of the month, The Animals and Winter Sampler have been quilted and we can't wait for you to see them.  We also will bring a couple blocks of our version of Blackbird Designs' "The Raven" quilt. The shop will be open regular hours Thurs and Sat. This week we'd like to share a few projects with an animal theme.  "Bluebird Sings" is by Briar Roots.  We love what Robin creates; she is among one of our must visit booths at quilt market.  Your $34.95 kit includes background fabrics (notice the pretty pieced background), wool for applique, borders, and binding.  It finishes 20" x 20".

"Weedz the Barn Cat" is also by Briar Roots.  It also finishes 20" x 20" so you could swap out pieces during the year.  Your $34.95 kit includes the background fabrics, wool for applique, border, binding and the rusty bell for the cat's collar.

We love how Debby changed Lynette Anderson's "A Dog's Life" pattern.  She used wool instead of cotton and added some darling wooden buttons.  Your $28.95 kit includes the pattern, background fabric, wool for applique (the hill is cotton), border, binding, and 3 buttons.

"The Animals" is our newest block of the month. Each month for 12 months you'll receive a full size pattern, background fabric and wool for applique.  During the 12th month you'll receive border fabric, wool for the border, and binding.  The quilt finishes 48" x 53".  Cost per month is $19.95.

Just in case the photo above isn't enough to make you oooohhh and aaaahhh over those darling animals, we created a collage of some of our favorite animals.

It's looking like we are moving into the dog days of summer.  What better way to spend those hot afternoons than with a stitching project?  We hope you are inspired to create. We'll be back next Thursday with more fun projects.  See you soon. Darlene and Debby

Life can sometimes be a bit bumpy

We know many of you can relate to what we're going to share.  We never know where life's road will take us.  Sometimes the road is smooth; sometimes it's bumpy; sometimes it takes an unexpected turn.  We had an unexpected turn on Saturday.  Debby tripped and broke her ankle.  She was rewarded with an ambulance ride, a very short notice surgery, and a night's stay in the hospital.  She is home and taking some time for herself and learning to maneuver herself via her fancy leg holding apparatus. So......Kay is processing blocks of the month this week.  We hope you'll understand if your block arrives a few days later than normal.  We have a couple of projects to share this week.  We finished "Sleigh Ride" as a pillow but it would be equally darling framed or finished as a wall hanging.  Your $21.95 kit includes the pattern, background flannel, wool for applique, and pillow back.  Darlene and Kay had a wonderful time at the Green Country show in Tulsa last week.  Lots of beautiful quilts, great vendors, and a location which allowed easy loading and unloading.  As they talked with various quilters, they began to realize that Sew Graceful has a reputation of changing patterns.........we love having that reputation!  It's so much fun to take a good pattern and give it our look. "Count Your Blessings" is a great example of a Sew Graceful makeover.  Lynette's version is very nice...... ......but we wanted something a bit more primitive.  Your $22.95 kit includes the pattern, background fabric for stitchery, stitchery stabilizer, wool for applique, border fabrics, and binding.  The button is not included in the kit but can be purchased separately for $4.50. If you'd prefer to use your own fabric, the pattern is available for $10. Now that we look at both the original and our version we notice we put the button on the opposite side -- we really can't follow instructions!   Our newest block of the month, Winter Sampler, made its debut at the Tulsa show.  We were blown away by the positive response to it.  We plan (hope) to start this block of the month in July -- we'll keep you posted if the start date has to be moved back.  Every month for 12 months you'll receive a pattern with full size templates, background fabrics, fabric for applique (the quilt includes a little wool -- if you'd prefer an all cotton version please let us know when you sign up). The 12th month you'll also receive the borders and binding.  Cost per month is $24.95.  The quilt finishes approximately 70" x 70". Our friend, Joan T, made the sample and we love her idea of using 2 strands of Valdani perle cotton for the embroidery.  The embroidery doesn't get lost.  We have put together a thread kit with enough thread for you to use the double strands.  When you register, let us know if you'd like to reserve a thread kit. Since the quilt has a lot of embroidery, you may want to consider using stitchery stabilizer.  If you'd like us to send stabilizer, let us know when you register. We are preparing for the Common Threads quilt show in Wichita KS next Thurs-Sat.  The store will be open regular hours during the show.  If you'd like more info, visit http://wichitaquiltshow.com/. We hope your road is nice and smooth with no unexpected turns......we are hopeful ours will smooth out soon.  See you soon. Darlene and Debby

Simply Vintage arrived

By the time you read this, Darlene and Kay will be on their way to Tulsa to the Green Country Quilters' show.  They've packed several new projects and are excited to hear your reaction to them.  Packing for a quilt show is always challenging -- we know we can't fit everything in our little booth space so have to make tough decisions.  Hopefully we chose properly and you're oooohhhing and aaaahhhing.  We are super excited the summer issue of Simply Vintage arrived...... ........as always, it's full of great projects......but we absolutely love Pinwheels and Posies.  Perhaps we are a bit biased since it is our creation.  Kits should be ready by early next week and we'll be happy to reserve one for you.  $76.95 The photo below is our working photo - Guy, the Quiltmania photographer, has done a beautiful job photographing our quilt. Our Mrs Hen sewing kits are back in stock.  Like some of you we sometimes get lazy about our sewing kit and just throw everything in a Ziploc bag....but it's so much more fun to have everything nicely organized in a pretty sewing case.  Lynette has done a fabulous job on the pattern explaining exactly how to stitch and construct both the sewing case and the scissors case. Your $37.95 kit includes the pattern, fabrics for the case, wool for applique, and the 2 hand painted bee buttons. If you'd prefer to use your own materials, we have the pattern available for $16 and the Busy Bee buttons for $9.   While she was at quilt market, Kay picked up copies of Primitive Gatherings' newest book, Christmas Gatherings.  The book is beautifully photographed and contains full size templates.  Best of all, it's spiral bound so lays completely flat.  Let us know if we can reserve a copy for you.  $28 Debby and Kay's niece, Erin, will be minding the store today and Saturday.  While you're out and about, why not plan a trip out to the shop.  They'd love to show you the new Simply Vintage magazine.  See you soon. Darlene and Debby