Summer School for Everyone!

Like the song says, "School's out for summer", unless you like to sew and quilt!  This is the perfect time to carve out a little time just for your own enjoyment.  Like a little mini-vacation in White Bear Lake!  Bring along a friend or 2 or 3 and make it "Girls' Day Out" as often as you can!  We try to focus on short-term classes in the summer, meeting fewer times for the most part, to work in around vacations and holidays.  And our monthly groups are the type that you can attend when you are home, and don't worry about missing out if you are away for a month.  Take a look at our website listings and this slide show for inspiration!

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Summer Classes 2016

We have been working on a whole new batch of samples for summer classes!  Enjoy our slideshow!

Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox

You can view all the details, dates, times, fees, etc., over on our website page for classes.  Click on any of the individual classes to open the complete information.  You can email a registration using the form in the dropdown menu for Classes.  Or you can call it in at 651-429-1039.  Or you can come to the store to write down your class choices while viewing the samples up close and personal.  Next Saturday, May 7, will be our official sign-up date starting at 8 AM.  Individuals in line at that time can take a number and will have first dibs on class spaces, followed by all the other registrations taken in the order they are received.  So even if you can't make it to the store on Saturday morning, you can still get your name on the list!

Twin Cities Shop Hop 2016

It's nearly May, so it must be time for Shop Hop, right?  Shop Hops in some parts of the country can happen all year round because they don't have to deal with winter weather and road conditions.  However, here in the tundra, we experience a big black Shop Hop hole over the winter.  Now that the weather is turning nice again, we have Shop Hoppers coming out of hibernation all over the place!

The annual Twin Cities Shop Hop started yesterday, April 28.  It runs through today and all day Saturday (4/30).  We are open 9-9 today (Friday) and 9-5 tomorrow.  We had such a great time yesterday, so many people visiting the store!  Everyone gets a little sample of a solid color from each store on the tour.  Our color is pink!  Laurel has designed and written directions for a pillow cover to help you use those solids!  Free for everyone with a passport.

Visitors also get a chance to draw for a door prize, and we had quite a few lucky winners yesterday!  You get to participate by having your passport stamped.  There's no charge for a passport!  But just don't try using it on your next trip over the border!

We are featuring a new ruler, the Corner Pop, for the Shop Hop by enlisting Laurel's great teaching skills to present ongoing demonstrations on how to use it.  She has samples made of 3 quilts that she made with the Corner Pop.

Laurel is so happy to have the chance to demonstrate the things that the
Corner Pop ruler can do for you!

This is one of 2 quilts by Me & My Sister that Laurel made with the Corner Pop ruler.
She explains how to bring the ruler into good use in patterns that
don't specifically call for the specialty ruler, just like this one.

The same pattern for the "jars on a shelf" quilt includes the directions
for the "spools on a shelf" quilt!  And better yet, just 1 charm pack of 5" squares
was needed for the pretty colored fabrics in both quilts!

But what if you can't make it in for the demo, but want to know what this ruler is all about?  Well, Deb Tucker, the brains behind the ruler, has an instructive video for you!

Partnered with the Shop Hop, we are collecting pillowcases for kids that will be donated to

  "Cases For Smiles" (formerly ConKerr Cancer).  For every pillowcase donated 

before 5PM Saturday, the maker's name is entered into a drawing for a new sewing machine, 

a Janome 7330 donated by Valley West Sewing.  

So you still have time to make up some cute pillowcases to help out some sweet kids!

And yet another feature for our Shop Hop visitors!  Local designer, world renowned and multi-talented Terry Atkinson has loaned us some samples for her 2 newest patterns, due to be released in the very near future!  You can be one of the first to own the patterns if you pre-order with us!

Marching Band by Atkinson Designs

  Bubbly Bags by Atkinson Designs.  
See those cute colored handles?  

Two more hot-off-the-press features:

Spring 2016 Block Magazine

The Trendy Table by Heather Peterson

And, of course, we have coffee, tea, bottled water, cookies and bars all waiting for you!  We feel a responsibility to keep you hydrated and fed with all of this work of Shop Hopping!

So hop on over to Bear Patch and join the fun!

Employee Trunk Show

We have some fun things to share with our customers, mostly things that you have not seen before because they are from our own private collections!  From different times in our lives, for different reasons, these are some of our favorite things!

This photo slideshow created with Smilebox

Our Retreat in Review

As explained in our last post, we had a wonderful employee retreat to attend, and lots of stitchin' was accomplished!  Even knitty stitchin'!  Here's a fun group picture--

From the top left:  Anne, Diane, Pam, Eileen, Kristina, Karen,
Jeanne, Tammy, Nancy, Linda E., Linda P., Sue, Sharon and Barb

Missing from that photo are Debbie and Laurel (hiding behind the lens!) and Beth and Marlene, both out of state in warm climates!  

Some pictures of our works-in-progress--

Modern Logs by Christa Quilts.  This is Debbie's quilt for the next Easy As Pie class.
It's way outside her box!

During our fat quarter game, we were very focused!  

Karen learned how to use the serger, thanks to Jeanne's help.
Receiving blankets, which means the Karen will soon be receiving the title of grandma!
And possibly dreaming of owning a serger?!

This is a quilt that Linda E. was making, it uses flannels that look "suedeish", probably not a real word, but it is a really cool quilt!  We have coordinated packs of the flannels for purchase, and I will find out where her pattern came from.

This little doll reigned over the sewing room, staring down anyone within range!  And Jeanne, who is hiding behind the machine, made a fabulous little backpack for her!  She also made a little ruffly skirt for her granddaughter and one to match for the doll.

Sharon showed us her embroidered quilt top, a pattern by Crabapple Hill.
 Sharon is a pro at embroidery, and teaches our classes.
There are a lot of ladies who love embroidery!

Laurel worked and worked and worked on these blocks!  And the result is fabulous!  Soon to be a class, I am told!

Barb worked on some beading, look at that neat and tiny little chain she made!

Which Witch?

It's almost time for spooks, and buying some candy in the "fun size"--which means fun for me to eat!  But seriously, it's now time to buy the candy to hand out, not eat!

To go along with that candy, here are a couple of Halloween machine embroidery designs that we have ordered and will have soon.  These are from Claudia's Creations, and they had 2 samples made of the same quilted wall hanging, to show the different appearance when done on black vs. white background.  Either looks great!

 They also have this very pretty smaller design, if you want something that is not so "Halloweenie"--

I'm picturing this done in less purple and more autumn colors.

A new Christmas tablerunner design is coming our way, with options for separating the elements to make towels, aprons, napkins, etc.  I consider 

Now, switching gears back to a new tablerunner pattern for all those stripes and border prints!

This is Mitered Magic from The Designer's Workshop.

Unless you have been living under a rock, or are reading this because it just makes such fabulous reading, you probably have heard of Tula Pink.  Her colors and designs have gained quite a following, and now she is beginning her signature line of notions.

This looks like they are fighting over those beautiful scissors!

She also has a seam ripper and a little snips scissors, all done in that iridescent metal.  She told us she has more notions in the development stages.  We have ordered these for the store, and can't wait to see them arrive!

Something else that we have been wanting to bring into the store for quite awhile are the Rennaisance ribbons.  So we finally placed an order for an assortment, and we will be showing you some fun ways to use them in your projects.  These are gorgeous top-quality designer ribbons.

We visited awhile with Sue Daley, and in my last posting, I mentioned her designs.  What I didn't include there was this picture--

It shows some quilt and block designs, all using English Paper Piecing.  We have these instructions and the paper packs for these now, so I hope to see some fun stitching soon!  If you are interested in learning more about this technique, Sue has some great instructional videos on YouTube.

The Trip to Quilt Market in Houston

Finally!  I get to share a recap of Houston International Quilt Market 1 week ago.  Due to some "technical difficulties" I couldn't get this written and posted while I was there, but I did get some pictures for you.  I actually did write a post but it vaporized into thin air.  Once we got home Tuesday, I was right back in the middle of homelife without time to put my thinking cap on to write.

International Quilt Market is a trade show for everything about sewing and quilting.  It is only open to people "in the business" in one way or another.  It is followed by a quilt show and marketplace for the general public.  From machines to fabric to tools and gadgets, this is the place to be to keep up with the constantly changing ideas in the business.  There are also classes and seminars for shop owners to learn and discuss ways to make our stores better places for customers.  And there is a lot of networking and connecting going on at the same time.  There are hundreds of vendor booths in the convention center.  We spent 3 full days on our feet, walking up and down the aisles to find the latest and greatest for Bear Patch.  

And when it was done, we felt like we hadn't had enough time to see it all.

Now, to review:

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel in downtown Houston, within walking distance of the convention center.  It was a few blocks, but doable, plus Debbie was counting her steps so we needed to get the total boosted.  These pretty colored lights were hanging in the hotel lobby.

Here's a look at some new tools and templates for miniatures of traditional blocks.  Miniaturization seems to be a big trend, possibly less here in the midwest than in other locations, but still a popular technique.  I put that business card in there to show you the tininess of this sample.  (Is that a word?)

I even got to sit down and sew a couple of seams under the guidance of Darlene Zimmerman in the EZ Quilting booth.  Many of the makers and distributors of sewing notions partner with real live quilters to develop and promote their products.  Darlene has several specialty rulers and templates with the EZ Quilting label.  And since she's a Minnesota quilter, we always are glad to see her!

The little seam I sewed above goes into the quilt below.  I didn't get very far, just enough to know that it is easy to sew this curve without pins.  Become liberated and sew without pins!

 We paused at the booth of Whirligig patterns, also a Minnesota connection!  

Since I had just finished teaching an English Paper Piecing class (Paper Pizzazz) with much smaller pieces, I was interested in this quilt called Hump Day.  These clamshell pieces are about 5.5" across and are machine sewn.

Whirligig has another pattern called Full Moon Rising which I have seen done in dark colors, but when I saw it in these pretty light prints I said to myself, "Self, what a good idea to go to the light."  Would love to use some of our pretty Art Gallery fabrics at the store to make this.

Full Moon Rising

 We found a new-to-us company, Lumenaris, supplying kits for wool applique.  We did some picking and choosing of just the right things to stock at the shop.  These are going to be a great addition to our selection of wool supplies.  The boxed kit contains the precut wool felt pieces, thread, directions and even a needle, I think.  I picked one ornament kit to carry home with me and I opened it up and started stitching right away.  Then I checked my sister's blog, and found out she was one step ahead of me!  Since she is way out there in California (probably still hoarse from cheering for the Giants), I can only say that it must be in the blood!

So that's the beginning and I will continue to add more pictures and information in the next few days.

A Multitude of Projects!

We are inching our way along through so many beautiful quilts, bags, tablerunners, etc.  What I have here is a small sample of the fun things we are working on.  This is a retreat that is not centered on teaching a specific class.  Instead, everyone is working on their own ideas and patterns.  Some are starting entirely new quilts.  Others have unearthed a few "oldie but goodie" projects that were started sometime in the past, but set aside in favor of something else.  There can be any number of reasons to file a project in the UFO (UnFinished Object) bin.  A missing fabric, a shortage of fabric to match, a misprinted pattern that requires re-working, a loss of interest, or just the allure of something else sparkly and new.  Whatever the reason, it can take a lot of discipline to control the urge to start new things while the old ones sit sad and forlorn in the closet, just waiting until someone kind will bring them out into the light of day and release them from the plastic bag prison.  I swear that sometimes I can hear them calling out to me, but usually so faintly that it is easy to ignore!

These pictures will show you some of the things going on.  If you follow us on Facebook, you will catch more glimpses of our ideas.

Judy brought along a quilt she recently finished to show.  All of the pictures and words are done by machine embroidery.  The designs come from Anita Gooddesigns.

Marlene finished all of the blocks for this beautiful pineapple quilt, named for the layered pieces.  This was a pattern by Edyta Star.

This little purse was made from the hedgehog fabric shown above.  The pattern is Bucket Bag from Kenzie Mac & Co.  The jute webbing really makes a nice finish.  I made this for a store sample, and there are some kits available.

This small tablerunner is a free pattern on allpeoplequilt.com.  It is called the Scrap Lab Tablerunner.
Debbie gave each person a bundle of 5 coordinated fat quarters to make their own souvenir of retreat.

Marlene made this eye-popping tabletopper from a pattern called Triangle Frenzy by Bunnie Cleland.  This pattern, and others like it, are some new best-sellers and are offered in a class at the store.

Eileen made this quilt and we have named it Sea Glass.  Actually, the pattern is named Flora by Valori Well.  But it will be forever Sea Glass in our minds!  I don't see it listed as available on their website, but it was originally from The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR.

I did a little assembly line sewing and made 8 of these zipper bags yesterday.  They are really fun to put together in interesting fabric and color combinations.  It's a good way for me to use some of the things that I collect and think are precious.  The front is clear vinyl, letting the inside of the pocket show through.  The pattern is Bridget's Bagettes by Atkinson Designs.

Last night a few of us actually had a sewing break long enough to watch the season premiere of The Good Wife.  Some knitting was going on, but I really had to pay attention to what was going on with the characters so the knitting was not serious.  We all loved the plot, and we are worried about Kerry.  I won't say any more so I don't spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it.  But I can tell you that when the closing credits came up, we all let out a group cry of anguish because we didn't want it to end!