Last Call! Freestyle Block of the Month Starts Tomorrow!

How It Works

1. Come to the shop on the First Saturday of the Month for class at 10:30am

2. Stop by the register to buy your pattern for $3.50 (or one regular priced, pre-cut Fat Quarter if you prefer.  You'll get a ticket for door prizes.  This is not a grab and go type of program - class is free and lasts about an hour. If you can't make it on class day, the block is $5
3. Grab a seat in the classroom - class starts at 10:30! 

4. We'll go over what's new and then how to do the block.  We'll go over anything that might be a new skill or something you'll want to be attentive to.  Then, it's time for Show and Tell, and door prizes!

5. Go forth and be creative...and get your block done before the next class! 

6. Bring you finished block back to class for Show and Tell the following month and get entered into the drawing for a free backing and other cool prizes.  But you have to bring your finished block to class to get entered in the drawing!

Things to Know

- There are nine total blocks.  You may do as many or as few as you want.  

- There will be a free chain block provided at the end of the program to help you make the quilt bigger if you choose to. 

- Class will have door prizes as always! However, you will only get entry into the bigger drawing if you bring in your finished block from the previous month for Show and Tell.  Blocks are available for pickup on the First Saturday during class for $3.50, and $5 after class.  We understand this may not be convenient for all, but this program doesn't operate on sign ups or larger fees so it helps us stay organized.  

This is a great opportunity to dive into a Block of the Month and use your stash at the same time.  We're excited to see how this new approach comes to fruition - no two quilts will be the same and all of the different interpretations will be awesome to see!  Plus... have we ever mentioned we love fabric?! Seeing a little bit of everyone's stashes is going to be very cool.  We hope you join us! 

See you tomorrow!  

EDITOR'S NOTE:  This information originally went out on 3/2/22 via our Newsletter.  Over the last couple years, we have had some really unkind messages come our way.  While the vast majority of feedback we get is positive or constructive, we have had some really hateful comments thrown in there.  We are always completely fine with constructive feedback (I mean, hey, we're human and humans are imperfect), but we received a couple responses to the Block of the Month information that went far beyond constructive criticism and went right into blatant mean spiritedness.  That is absolutely unacceptable, and we will not tolerate that behavior towards any of our staff for any reason.  Our goal for the shop has always been to make quilting accessible and affordable for anyone who wants to join in, and that is what we will continue to strive for.  

Our New Freestyle Block of the Month Starts 3/5/22!

2022 might be the Year of the Tiger, but it is also the Year of the Stash.  We all have a stash - some are small, some are big, and some we will never get through in our natural born lives - but all stashes are good stashes and are meant to be used!  This year we are looking at how to help you (and ourselves!) better use the stashes we have and to get more bang for the bucks we've already spent.  

This means re-thinking some things.  Taking a minute to stop and reconsider our approaches to things is never a bad thing to do in general.  Just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean we have to keep doing it that way, just because.  So we took a good, hard look at our First Saturday Block of the Month and decided it was time for a change - a Block of the Month where you get to use your stash! 

Freestyle Block of the Month - Starting Saturday, 3/5/22!

Cost to Sign Up:  NONE!  There are no sign ups, and no cost to join.  Come and go as you please.  

Cost per Month: $3.50 (or one pre-cut, regular priced Fat Quarter)

Class time: Every First Saturday of the month at 10:30am (sorry, no Friday class)

What does the quilt look like?

What I can tell you is that there will be nine 12.5" blocks.  Do as many or as few as you want!  You can use our setting at the end of the program, or create your own.  We will have an expansion pattern pack available at the end if you want to make the quilt bigger.  But that's up to you!  And sorry, no sneak peeks :-) 

How Much Fabric Do I Need?:  Well, that's a tough one to answer.  This is a mystery quilt and the idea is for you to use your stash! The background for the nine blocks is one yard.  If you want to make the quilt bigger, you'll want more background, but that's impossible for us to say exactly how much since we don't know how you might approach making it bigger.  That's up to you!  

How Hard are the Blocks?

Can you make a half square triangle?  Good!  There will be some skill builders in here, but nothing you can't handle!  We will go over each block in class and any tips and tricks to look out for.  

Program Perk!  Bring in your finished block for Show and Tell for the next month's class and get entered in a drawing to get your backing fabric of choice for free (First Prize), a layer cake and pattern (Second Prize), or a charm pack and a pattern (Third Prize).  The more blocks you complete, the more entries you will have (up to nine)!  We will also still do our door prizes for class too.  

If you're interested in joining us on this new Block of the Month, come to the shop for class at 10:30am on Saturday, March 5th!  If you're not comfortable attending class, stop by any time after class and let us know you'd like to get the March Freestyle Block of the Month pattern.  

Next week we'll show you what Diane and Lauren chose for their versions of the quilt...yes, out of their own stashes!

Freestyle Block of the Month - Shop Picks

Our Freestyle Block of the Month is just around the corner and as promised in a previous post, we're going to show you our picks for the project - yes from our very own stashes. 

Diane is first up.  If you read the newsletter, then this will sound familiar.  But she decided she wanted to do a blue and white quilt. She had some blues and whites in her stash, and initially picked out a blue and white French General print, but while looking through her stuff she rediscovered some wonderful Dutch Indigos she bought in the 90's.  They are 8" squares, and were pricey even by the standards of the time. She's adored these prints for years, but could never bear to cut them. She'd been saving them for the "right" quilt but questioned what that meant and whether or not she was only saving them to look at every few years but do nothing with. From there she tossed in some other prints from her stash that complemented the Indigos, and there it was - her palette was ready to go.

In case anyone is curious or concerned, when she cut into the first piece to make Block 1, the world did not end. Not even so much as a tremor.  She mused that as quilters we get kind of possessive of these special fabrics and then they sit and mature in our stashes but don't get made up into anything.  A great tip to pick up from her color selections is that maybe it is time to revisit and reimage some of your most precious pieces of fabric that, like her Indigos, were aging on the shelf waiting for the "right" quilt.  

Lauren had a different hurdle to get over than getting into the mindset to use prized pieces.  Whereas Diane had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted to do for the quilt...Lauren had no clue what she wanted to do.  She spent what is (probably) a silly amount of time thinking about it.  Should she use a fat quarter pack she'd been hoarding away?  Another scrap quilt?  Yet another "Falloween" themed thing?  Nope, nope, and nope.  She tried several times to find a color scheme, and kept coming up with bupkis. If you haven't read our previous post How to Get Over a Color Choice Rut, go give it a read because here's the proof in the pudding. She walked away from picking colors a few times as suggested.  But inspiration eventually hit in the form of finding inspiration in music.  

She was listening to a playlist while working on a different project, and the song "Green Man" came on. The song is about the Green Man and the changing of seasons, specifically the change from winter to spring.  How appropriate!   This made her think of foliage and the wide range of greens we see in the springtime as everything is leafing out. She went for everything in her stash that was leafy and green (much of which has punches of purple, go figure!). This time, a song playing in the background did the trick. 

Hopefully this helps give you some ideas with what to use in your own stash!  Let us know in the comments what you're thinking of using.