A Quilt Minnesota Retrospective

Today I'm sharing our new window display at the store.
We'll call it the Quilt Minnesota Retrospective.
And it's all about me, Pam Hansen, your friendly blogger!

Way back in 2008, I began a little journey into the land of designing and writing patterns.  I have learned so many things along the way!  Even if everything is proofread 3 times there can still be typos!  And math is really important!  I've learned ways to improve the formatting, and learned to create diagrams.  I've also been using photos in some patterns, so I've worked on making those as clear as I can without being a pro!
I've gotten pretty good at shooting the pictures for the pattern covers, with tips and ideas picked up along the way.  My son, Dan, is responsible for the template on the front and back of the pattern.  I send him pictures and text and he makes it work!

Debbie (store owner and therefore the boss) encouraged me to try writing some quilt patterns specifically using the exclusive fabrics designed each year for the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop.  I thought sure, I'll give it a whirl!  And so the story goes.....!

I searched high and low in my house to find each year's special quilt.  The first year I only made a tablerunner, I didn't have time for anything large.  But from then on, I designed something different each year, and sometimes more than one!  When I got all of these displayed, I had to step back and take a deep breath!  That's a lot of work!

Slug Bug, Wound Around and Pie In The Sky

 Each year there is usually some sort of panel or border print or decorative scenes.  So I usually incorporated that whenever I could to just give customers ideas of how they could turn those into something more than they started with.

16 In Between, Star Light and Wild Child up above.

Pie In The Sky and Explore More

 I've used the row quilt layout more than once.  There are 2 examples in the picture below, although the quilt on the upper left isn't very visible.  The quilt on the lower left was made with fabrics originally designed by James Meger, a noted nature/outdoor artist.

Ten and Sweet Treat on the left, MN Mixer on the right.

MN Mixer, Connections and Stix Mix pillow below.

 The quilt on the right above is called Connections, and it is one pattern that I have made in multiple sizes.  The baby quilt is cute and just the right size!

Below are 2 patterns that are small items that were part of the collection - a tablerunner and a pair of tablemats for centerpieces.  

I've used that round tablemat design for making some Christmas gifts, too.

Ring A Ding and Winner Spinner

So that's the saga of my Minnesota quilts!  It's been an interesting endeavor, and it's been fun to see many patterns come to life in fabric.  We always make up some kits for the quilts, and I've taught some as classes.  The 2018 fabrics can be viewed online but we haven't received any bolts yet.  I'm wondering what I will come up with this time?

19th Anniversary & Remodeling Sale!

Our annual Summer Sale has been super-sized!  

It has grown from 3 days to 9 WHOLE DAYS!  July 15 - 23!

25% off the following:
 all fabric on bolts, including already discounted sale fabric! 

(minimum 1/2 yard cut)

25% off in-stock patterns, including clearance

25% off in-stock books, including clearance 

25% off regular priced in-stock kits 
25% off wool on bolts

  

Please note that these items do not receive an additional 25% discount:
wool cuts already discounted for clearance
selected kits already discounted for clearance

This is going to be fun!  Don't miss out!

Regular store hours:  

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday  9 am - 9 pm

Thursday, Friday, Saturday  9 am - 5 pm

Sunday 12 noon - 4 pm

PS - If you think this is good, wait to see what happens for 20 years!

New Window Dressing!

We have spruced up a lot of things at the store within the last week, hanging dozens of new samples on display.  Many of them were new class quilts, which I will compile into another post real soon.  What I am showing today are the lovely baby and child quilts that our employees have made to entice and inspire you!  If I count correctly, there are 13 samples of an assortment of patterns.  

Most of them also have kits available using the same fabric that was used in our sample.

We even have Paddington Bear on hand to watch over it all!

PS-- we really do have a great team of ladies who work together very well!  It takes a village to make a quilt shop successful!

Patterns Picked For You

Some new patterns to highlight for you---

A Quilter's Dream has designed some inspiring quilts and bags.  Here are 5 new patterns in the store.  I am thinking about fabrics to choose for Wildflowers.  And do you see the cool thing about Box of Stars?  The star points are "floating" on the background square, so you don't have to worry about matching and chopping them off!  Genius!

 Madison Cottage Quilts has again released some quilt patterns that are sure to be favorites.  One of our teachers, Sue, has already used some of the Madison Cottage patterns for class and display samples, and people have loved them.  These new designs will likely be just as popular.

Watch for a Madison Cottage trunk show display later this year!

Pam

Abbey Lane Newness

I promised you more updates on new items in the store, so here you go!

4 new patterns from Abbey Lane Quilts--

Know My Name, Pepperland, Maybe Baby and Dizzy Lizzy

Know My Name is 40 x 52, and includes the full alphabet so any child's name can be worked into the pennant design. 2 sizes of  ricrac is used for the embellishment.

Pepperland is 56 x 70 and uses 7 fat quarters in addition to the focus fabric and white fabric.  I am picturing this for a Halloween quilt using black instead of white.

Maybe Baby is 48" square, uses 8 fat quarters plus the white and another fabric for the circles.  The circles are fused into place then stitched down with your preferred method.

Dizzy Lizzy is 60 x 75 and would make good use of any small cuts of fabric that you have collected.

New For You!

I am going to try to highlight some of the new things we are getting into the store from our trip to Portland for International Quilt Market.  Some of these are patterns from designers that we already know and love.  Others are new to us, and that is one big advantage of making the Quilt Market trip.  We get to see and learn about patterns, etc., that we might overlook otherwise.  

Many of you probably already know the names of Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle, a design team that has published books and patterns with a more contemporary look.  Their company is the Modern Quilt Studio.  They have had several quilts featured in magazines, too, so you might have seen them there.  Here are 3 patterns that we selected to add to our supply.  Party of Four, Full Tilt and Fabric Fusion.

I wanted you to see the quality of the directions, too--

 We are working on a couple of samples from these patterns, so we will soon have the "test drive" report.


 Here is a new product for us--

Tag-It-On, little woven ribbon-like tags that are intended to be sewn into an edge or seam.  Especially nice for something that is a special gift for someone.  They are $5 for a little bag of 12 tags.  We have these 2, and if they are popular we will see about getting others, too.

Happy Sunday and Happy Sewing from Pam!