THE LIST

A new year and a new list of unfinished quilts.

Although these posts are supposed to be about the shop, the unfinished quilts that end up on my list usually start as a shop sample or a new idea for a class.  I can't help it--surrounded every day by fabulous colourful fabrics,  the temptation to start something new is too great.  Usually by the time I finish a sample the fabric in the quilt  is no longer available.  So I start a new one with new fabric--its a vicious cycle!

 I work well to deadline(and sometimes not) and this past year I found myself putting off doing THE LIST quilts because the year end was so far in the future.   I have long suspected that procrastination and deadlines were cut from the same cloth.  Like night and day, we can't have one without the other. Well, here we are; December is almost over and there is no way, not even with a month of Sundays before me, that I will finish ALL the quilts on the list! 

So I have made the decision to divide THE 2012 LIST  into 12 months, and I will post a new list every month. (This also saves the embarrassment of posting the whole list all at once.)

So here is the list of the unfinished projects I will complete by the end of January.  Drop by the shop to see what gets completed.  Or, better yet, send me your list and challenge yourself to complete a few of your own UFO's. 

JANUARY'S LIST

1930's Baby Bricks 

1930's Beginner Sampler (one of many started while teaching the beginner class)

Turquoise and Brown Florida tote (A Trace and Create bag pattern)

Black and White Florida Tote

Purple Carol's Convertible purse

Bali Bag

Ursula Bag (turquoise)

Black/White/Orange Knotty Basket

Heart wall hanging

Miniature stars quilt

HOLIDAY HOURS AND YEAR END SALE

The shop will be closing at noon on December 24  and will remain closed until 9:30 a.m on Wednesday, December 28.

We will open regular hours on December 28 – 30,  9:30 - 5:00

Year End SALE on all fabric in the shop.  Three days only.

The shop will be closed December 31 until Tuesday, January 3.

Peace and Joy

This is the time to reflect on the year gone by. Seems like just last week I was doing this, but a year has passed already.

 After nine years I still look forward to the happy faces of visitors to Picket Fence Fabrics, and the stories of old and new friends. And of course, I have to mention the deliveries of fabric and quilting supplies—I look forward to those too. And then I go home every day and share my day with my wonderful guys, who politely share my excitement and enthusiasm for the happenings at the shop. And I love them for that!

 To everyone who has spent time in the shop this year from near and far, I thank you for your continued support of Picket Fence Fabrics. You are a big part of what makes the shop so much fun. May you have peace and joy in your life.

In search for the perfect bag and other workshops

The pursuit of the perfect bag continues.  If you love a new bag for every outfit this post is for you.
Picket Fence Fabrics is offering more bag classes this spring, and a basket class, just in time for Easter (class March 29). Our current favourite is the Bow Tucks Tote which keeps things organized (if I put things back in the same place everytime !) Here are a few Bow Tucks totes. By popular demand this class is being offered again March 24.

Another favourite is the Bali Bag.(April) I love this one to use up batik scraps. New to the line up is the Mari Lyn.  The whimsical thread heads on these gals are sure to turn heads and great for carrying to class or to the market.(April)  Pattern will be available later this month.


Linda's Irish Bouquet pattern is now available and charming little project for this month.

Shopping local--you can find it right in our own backyard!

The Brockville Farmers' Market is a great place to find locally produced veggies, fruit, jams and jellies and all things hand-crafted. If you are in the shop on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning, the market is only two blocks away. And you won't want to miss the newest addition to downtown Brockville--Limestone and Ivy. After picking up my samosas and green beans this week in the market before opening the shop, I stopped in to welcome the staff to the downtown, and couldn't help but say hello to the shoes on display. Well, I should have known it would happen--a pair of shoes came home with me! I had a wonderful time at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair this weekend. For the second year in a row I sat among fabulous quilts, old and new, beautifully displayed in the Anglican Church Hall in Lyndhurst. Lunch was turkey or beef on a bun and a drink. As always, lunch sold out quickly. You could hardly move in downtown Lyndhurst for all the people and cars, tables and tents! For a small community they put together a great little fall fair. The turkey quilt I started after last year's fair is at the top of the pile again so I can finish it before next year's fair! There are many country fairs at this time of year. Strap on a good pair of walking shoes, and take time to savour the season. You won't be disappointed.

Workshops and News

We will be visiting the Common Thread Quilters' Guild as Shop of the Month this Tuesday and have some fabulous new batiks and fabrics to share with guild members. On Saturday the shop will be at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair as a vendor. If you have never been to Lyndhurst for the Turkey Fair make the trip. . . it is a fun day for young and old alike. Both of our 8-week beginner series are full and start this Wednesday. We have started a waiting list for a Tuesday evening beginner class starting October 4 . If there is enough interest we will run another beginner series. On Friday, September 14, there is still space in the Bow Tucks bag class. This class is the first in the bag series and is almost full so don't delay in signing up. If you haven't heard, we have a different bag class almost every week until Christmas. These bags and totes make wonderful gifts and great accessories for any wardrobe. We will be posting a picture of the bag class for each week so check back on Monday evenings. Rapid Fire Hunter's Star taught by Donna has been moved back a week.If the first date conflicted with your schedule we may be able to fit you in. Our Block of the Month class, Snow Days starts on September 24. There is still space in this workshop, we have deconstructed this beautiful quilt to make construction fit into this 6-month workshop. Another block of the month is the Pomegranate Sampler with four-patch chain. This Block of the Month is a pick-up class. Drop in for coffee on the first of every month, meet other participants, and pick up your kit which contains two blocks per kit. Part of the chain border isalso included with each kit so you can complete the quilt centre and be quilting the quilt in time for display at a quilt show next summer!

How much is that writer in the window?

Our shop was one of the participating shops in the Storefront Writing Challenge on Saturday, organized by the Thousand Islands Writers Festival. Wendy seen here, and Melanie, in the other window,(sorry Melanie no photo) spent Saturday in our windows with their laptops writing a story in any genre. Participating writers were given the same prompt and had to include the prompt somewhere in their story. I can't wait to read what these talented local writers came up with. You can read completed works later in September--I'll keep you posted.

Quilters from Italy

We had a visit from two quilters from Genoa, Italy at the end of the summer, who were delighted to find a quilt shop on their trip to Canada. There are no language barriers when you are a quilter!

Erica's Quilt

One Saturday this summer Erica made her first quilt top at the shop , with a little help from Mom and I. This colourful quilt was hand-quilted by Erica and completed for a friend's new baby. Congratulations on your first quilt!

The Grand Adventure and the Perfect Bag

In the last post I mentioned our oldest son was going off on a grand adventure across three continents. If you wish to follow his adventure go to Overland to Australia.

Finding the perfect bag is our latest adventure at the shop, whether it is a carry all for travel around the world, or a shopping tote to go to the market. This week a few new shop samples were completed. The Smoosh Bag is exclusive to Picket Fence Fabrics shown here. Drop in to see other new bags, all of which, will be offered as workshops this Fall.

Jenn

Summer Blues

I am nostalgic for summers past. . . Every August growing up, we would take a city bus to the CNE to enjoy the rides and junk food, arriving home well after dark carrying a giant stuffed animal and sporting a sunburn. I can no longer stomach the rides or the food but the smell of fried donuts and cotton candy always take me back to those simpler times.

The Ex, as it was affectionately called, was also the signal that school was just around the corner. A visit to the Ex when it opened was always better, because you still had about two weeks of summer to savour. If ever someone could feel blue in summer though, this was the time. And, if you missed the Ex completely because you were sick or the parents decided to visit family in Northern Ontario, the summer blues were really bad! As the first day of school approached we could usually be found lolly gagging around a swing set or on the top of a picnic table in the park, remembering the cool things we did earlier in the summer. Talk of school would surface briefly, rumours about a teacher or a back to school shopping trip, but reminiscing about the summer took precedence, as if bringing up school and the future would break the happy spell of summer.

This year the Summer Blues have hit early . With the oldest heading off for his grand adventure across three continents, the second son back at university and the youngest heading off for his first year at university, this month will be a time for reminiscing, not just about summer, but about the past 25 years - about their childhood and also ours.

Do you have a favourite summer memory? Share it with us in the comment section.

For the month of August, all blue fabric will be 10% off the regular retail price when you mention the Summer Blues blog entry.

Shopping Downtown

Are you a downtown shopper? On Saturday we demonstrated the Accuquilt GO! for the "Shop Outside the Box" downtown promotion. What a busy day! Customers were given a "Shop Outside the Box" reusable shopping bag with purchase. The blue bag is great for grocery shopping, or carrying your quilt to guild for Show and Tell. A number of bags are still available to be given away with purchase Why not drop in and pick up yours.

The prepared fusible leaves we cut during the Accuquilt GO! demonstrations are now available for purchase in packages of 7 leaves. Drop in to see the fall runners we made using the leaves. What a quick and easy runner to make for fall!

You can still purchase the Accuquilt GO! dies and accessories until the end of July for 15% off the regular retail price.

Our Shore Birds window topper is next on the GO! project list.

A Beginner with an eye for design

Gisela, who was visiting her daughter from Germany in May, took our beginner class and finished her quilt for new granddaughter Hanna. She completed everything in the short time she was here including stitching down the binding! The quilt was left here in Canada for Hanna and Gisela went home with a few projects to do.

Although the blocks are simple, her layout and choice of fabrics made this quilt exceptional! Well done Gisela!

And the Winner is. . .

Congratulations to Jody Allum! Jody won the shop hop quilt top, pictured in the previous post, on the recent Brockville/Kingston/Harrowsmith Shop Hop. Jody was already sorting through her stash to use the green kit she purchased at the shop.

The complete list of gift certificate winners will be posted here when the committee meets at the end of the month. It was so nice to see quilters from near and far visit the shop and show their enthusiasm for the new patterns and fabrics. Thanks to everyone who participated.

We will be posting images of the construction process for Jewel Window. Please send us images of your completed Jewel Window quilt and we will post them here.

In Stitches,
Jenn

Shop Hop Quilt The New Nines--Jewel Window

So this is what we made with the of the Shop Hop kits this year. We are calling it the the New Nines--Jewel Window. Thanks to Lore for helping with construction. It was great fun to make, like a big puzzle. The pattern was included with the kit, and following the Shop Hop we will post the step-by-step process in pictures.

We will also demonstrating the constructions of these blocks during the Shop Hop so you can see how easy and fun this quilt is to make.

See you at the Shop

J

The Lindsay Show and other news

I just finished the last of our Spring quilt shows, the Lindsay Creative Quilters Guild Show. Although I love travelling I am looking forward to spending the summer in the shop in Brockville.

Our "away" friends have started their annual trek to summer homes on the St. Lawrence and we are delighted to see each and every one of them when they visit the shop. The last few weeks were especially busy, covering both Canadian and American long weekends and the weather cooperated in fits and starts.

We will be spending the next few weeks finishing the kits for a weekly summer applique project . Pick up one block for a pillow or all 10(one a week) and receive the bonus setting instructions and border applique pattern for free. Kits are limited and sign up starts on the Shop Hop weekend. First Kit is available June18.

The Annual Shop Hop is June 9, 10 and 11. The quilt offered this year is both colourful and simple to make--right up my alley!
Drop in to pick up you passport/map and see our version of the quilt. A very happy quilt!

Summer is finally here!

Catching up

This winter has been a whirlwind of activity and happenings in and around the shop and regretfully, I have neglected this blog. I will be catching up over the next few weeks and posting images from the past few months. Some old news is worth sharing so stayed tuned!!

J

Spring Show Season is here

My favourite spring flower, bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis), has revealed itself a week early this year. It’s a sure sign of spring and my cue to start working in the garden.

Of course, this time of year is also quilt show season so I will have to squeeze in an hour here and there in the yard until the shows are over in the middle of June. I had a great time at the Peterborough and Belleville quilt shows in the last few weeks and collected a few more ‘30s prints for my latest project. Yes, it is true. I buy fabric from the other vendors for my stash! The quilts at these shows are so amazing and inspiring too!

While packing for the upcoming OVQG show at the RA Centre in Ottawa, a new line came in called Byzantium. We are madly cutting this fabric for the show. It is fabulous! Inspired by the artwork of Klimt it is a gotta have stash fabric.

Colour Spectrum

Colour colour colour! Color Spectrum is here! Amish quilts, 1930's quilts or Gee's Bend quilts-- these solids work everywhere.

Colour Spectrum and Bear Essentials

If you have ever had difficulty finding the perfect colour for your project we have the solution. Just arrived at the shop is the complete collection of Bear Essentials from P & B Textiles, and expected this week the complete line of Colour Spectrum by P&B.

Bear Essentials includes 64 rich tone-on-tone colours. For those quilters who search out whole collections, we have packaged the whole line as fat eights (8 metres), perfect for applique enthusiasts. Supply of this gift-boxed collection is limited, although we will be carrying the whole line as one of our basics.

I cannot wait to work with the Colour Spectrum fabrics. These solids will work into traditional Amish Style quilts or more contemporary Gee's Bend quilts. This stained glass window from Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria is my inspiration for a new quilt using these two lines of fabric. The pattern is drafted. . . .

Morning Madness--Its coming!

Psst . . . Pass it on. Picket Fence Fabrics is making room for lots of new fabrics in 2011! To accomplish this we are holding our Morning Madness Sale on Saturday, January 29 (last year it was in February). Sale starts at 8:00 a.m. Every fabric, book,pattern and notion will be on sale. Early Bird Specials include 40% on total purchase (some restrictions apply) and the best selection of the "Buy One getTwo free" bolts.

More details here and in the shop in the coming weeks.

Start making a list!

2011 My List of Lists

For me, a new year always begins with a day (or three) of sorting through my stash and planning a few quilts for gift-giving throughout the year. I do this to take stock of what I have and make a shopping list of fabrics and supplies I should be on the lookout for. This year was no exception.

This nesting/cleaning frenzy ends with lists of the quilts I want to finish last week, lists of fabrics and supplies I need, lists of quilts not finished last year that were supposed to be gifts. . . This year I organized the lists by month. I like lists—I could save my lists to make an art quilt! I usually lose the lists within hours of their creation! This year I made these lists on my new phone—there is an app for that you know! Still figuring that out. Heaven help me if I lose the phone!

So, from all the sorting and lists I plan to make, or at least start, a few scrap quilts. More on these quilts when I get through cutting but for now they are sorted and resting comfortably in their new stackable storage boxes. Scrap quilts aside, a few smaller things I wanted to finish got done .I did finish a few little things in the first week of this new year and thought it might provide some momentum to continue working through my lists. Wish me luck. I will post a list or two when I figure out how to get if from my phone.

So here are pics of a few projects completed! Only one was on a list.For now back to the machine on my day off!

Calendar Blocks from the new book Count on It from Art to Heart are a great small project. My numbers are a work in progress. For the Pumpkin I used a pattern by Happy Hollow Designs but instead of using men's neckties as they suggested I strip-pieced the fabrics.


Jennifer