Christmas is the season of much joy and giving. Even if you do not celebrate Christmas, this is also a season where we have the opportunity to attend many parties, large and small. Whether this is a party for friends, co-workers or family, we all enjoy them to the fullest.

As Christmas fast approaches, it also will mark only one week before a very important party ends.

The 2010 Patchwork Party will come a close on December 31st. You absolutely must order your blocks prior to the end of the month or you are not going to be able to fully enjoy this particular party. Blocks will not be available after midnight on New Year's Eve. It is a celebration of your quilting year of 2010, don't let the calendar slip up on you. Don't be caught watching the ball drop in Times Square and knowing you dropped the ball on this party.

You will be able to order the finishing kits after that time as long as the shops have fabrics available, but why not go ahead and order the one of your choice while you are getting the blocks. This will allow you a special quilt to work on if you find some quiet time, or need some quiet time, during the holidays.

This party has been a particularly popular one with the use of Marti Michel's beautiful line of fabric, Wild Rose.

The blocks are only $7 which includes your shipping from each shop. The price of the finishing kits varies from shop to shop.

Our finishing kit is for "Sweet Briar Rose" and sells for $99.99 and the backing is also $99.99 for the 96" square quilt (save 20% if you order at the same time as the top). This is a savings of $20, with your total at $179.99 (top and back).

As a special holiday gift to you, if you order your finishing kit, plus the backing, prior to Dec 31, we will discount the entire package an additional 10%, for a total of only $161.98 with FREE SHIPPING. But you must order before the ball drops in Times Square.

Whether you order our finishing kit or not, the entire staff of Quilters Quarters wishes you the very best of the season and the merriest of Christmases ever.

May God Bless each and every one.

Jerry

I promised you more photos from the Veteran's Day Parade. These are some really nice shots of the activities and the great ideas that went into the making of this tribute to our Veterans.

Yes, we honor ALL vets, even those from the very beginning.

Here is a pretty good indication of where Leavenworth fits into the scheme of things with regard to the military. If you cannot read the sign it says "35 Leavenworth High School students have attained the rank of General".

Here Kathy is leaving a group of soldiers after presenting another quilt.

This car, driven by my friend John Harris, honors the POWs and MIAs from Vietnam.

This is a very graphic display for the POWs and MIAs.

And in closing, the symbolic 'fly over' of jets in honor of our military.

As you can tell, this was a very impressive parade, as it always is. But more importantly, an impressive tribute to the military.

Home of the free, because of the brave.

Thank you.

VETERAN'S DAY - What a blast!






As I have said, Leavenworth has the largest Veteran's Day parade in the state, it goes on for several hours and is first class all the way. Of course, we have a huge contengency of veteran's here so it is not hard to feel good on this day.

Before I opened the store in the morning, I was looking outside at all the decorations up and down the street and feeling really good about all of it and made a decision that I wanted to make some people smile. And we did!






We gathered up some quilts and as the parade started, we watched for a veteran that struck our hearts. No rhyme or reason to the choices, just anyone who got to us. We had so much fun doing this that we ran back to the shop and grabbed more quilts to give away. Even pulled one from a window display.






I have only loaded a few of the photos here as I have not figured out how to download all of them from my new phone (hate technology). I wanted you to share the we joy we felt as we gave a tiny bit back to the people who provide our freedom.







This is a helicopter that was loaded on a flatbed and filled with Vietman Vets, I handed a flannel quilt to one of them and they were all so excited that I thought they were all going to fall out of the helicopter. They just kept saying 'thank you' and I did not seem to be able to get them to realize that it was I who was saying 'thank you'.





Here I am walking away from the car of another Vet to whom we gave a quilt.









Here Lynn is giving a quilt and receiving a hug from an active duty soldier and then if you look closely you see the huge smile on his face as he walks off clutching it to his chest.


Lynn gave this quilt to a female active duty soldier, her husband is also on active duty.


Doesn't she look happy?




We are all so busy leading our lives, we sometimes forget the joy we receive from quilting is something that should be spread around. This was a perfect example of "give and you will receive" as we all received far more joy than we gave away.



May God bless all who serve.



Jerry

Readin', Writin' , and Blessings

I just LOVE to write. Almost as much as I love to quilt. You would never know it when you look at the date of my last blog post. Good grief, where have I been?

And I dearly love to read. I am reading a darling little book right now, actually it is about the 3rd time I have read this one. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The book is a series of letters written between a lovely British lady and other characters in the book. Guernsey is a very small island in the English Channel that was occupied by the German army for almost the duration of World War II . They were completely cut off from the outside world, no newspapers, no radio, etc.

One of the many things I dearly love about this book is the softly lilting language and thoughts. When I am reading it, I always hear the lovely voices of the British friends we got to know while in the Army. I have always felt that the British people sound so refined. Most that I know really are, however, since they are all human beings, I am certain there are some who are not, I just have never met any.

And before you ask, the answer is "no, I will not tell you how the name came about". What is a potato peel pie anyway? I know and you can find out by reading this book. Have I ever tried one? Nope, but I might just have to someday.

The book also reminds me of just how very blessed we are each day to be in the United States where we have never known the hardships of war on our soil. Sure, during the second World War there were rations of things, but no where near what happened in Europe. We have never (9/11 being the exception) had the threat of bombs dropping on our homes and schools. We have never had to evacuate our children to keep them alive.

All this reminds me that I never say "thank you" enough to our military men and women for keeping that a reality. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and I will thank them as they pass the shop in the largest Veteran's Day in the state of Kansas. I will remember, especially, to say Thank You to the Vietnam veterans as they have never been afforded the many honors of other veterans (In my humble opinion). I will remember to say a thank you also to my husband for all the years he spent in service to our country. Maybe I will give him his own Tea with Martha and Betsy quilt.

As I read this lovely book, I also think of my darling friend, Karen Hellaby who writes great quilt books in the UK. Karen's got a great eye for design and color as well. We are planning a time when Karen will be coming to the shop, so keep looking for that.

I have just returned from Quilt Market where Karen and I had a lovely time chatting about quilts.

Maybe this time, I will continue to exercise my desire to write and keep up better with you on the blog.

Until then, please take nothing for granted, we are blessed.

Jerry

Summer time with the family

Don't you just love summer? The kids are out of school, you have more free time to play. You get to spend more time working in the garden and to spend more time with kids as you drive them to the pool. You get to spend more time shopping for groceries as you will spend many more quality hours in the kitchen cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for the kids. You will get to spend even more quality time with them as you drive them to the library and to their friends' house and then back home where they swear they will help you clean the kitchen, but then they disappear.

Then comes the wonderful adventure we call "The Family Vacation". This is sooooo much fun. You and your husband have the great idea of an old fashioned family trip and rent a cabin by the lake for a week of family fishing! Wow! Aren't the kids gonna love that? They get to run around in the woods for a week: you get to check them for ticks. They get to fish along the shore: you get to worry that they will drown. On yes, you get to check them for ticks and MUD. You get to clean the fish. They get to go out on the canoe with Dad: you get to make certain they have sunblock and hats and life preservers. You get to clean the fish.

Your husband gets to build the bonfire and gather the kids for s'mores. You get to make certain that they have plenty of mosquito spray. They get to tell lots of ghost stories around the fire: you get to sit up with the little ones all night who have nightmares. You get to check them for ticks, again.

You get to cook all week in a cabin without the modern conveniences of your home. You get to try to keep clean clothes for everyone and keep track of the swimsuits and towels without your washer and dryer. Wow, what fun.

When you get home, the kids run around the neighborhood telling all their friends how much fun it was, your husband is tired so he will drop in front of the tv with a beer. You get to do laundry, but woohoo, it is in your own laundry room which never looked so good.

Man! Aren't you glad when your darling little ones start to whine that school starts tomorrow. We did not even get to have any fun this summers.

Time to plan for school starting, shopping for school clothes and shoes. BUT, it is time now for you to plan your school starting activity.

The Third Annual Strip N Stitch Bus trip is September 24, 25, & 26! At last, time for YOU. This bus trip will originate with us and you will travel through four states and visit 12 really great quilt shops. You will spend two nights in nice hotels and have the time of your life. Your husband can spend his quality time with the kids.

All kidding aside. This trip is a really great time to spend some time with your friends or to make some new ones. Each year, we have a wonderful time going to see shops that create a warm and welcoming atmosphere just for you. They go out of their way to make your time in each shop a memorable one. See new quilts, kits, and places. Each shop has gone over the top to make this a happy weekend totally designed to cater to your every quilting desire. Think of it as a 12 stop quilt show with limited visitors.

The price is kept to a minimum so that you will be able to concentrate on your fun. $229 includes your bus trip, all hotels and most of your meals. We book a beautiful motor coach with modern conveniences and great hotels.

We have been doing these for several years now and we also add an element of fun-factor in for you. Each paid bus hopper will receive the opportunity to win $200 cash in spending money. Watch our newsletter for the details on this one. This could make your trip almost FREE and we all loveFREE, it is our favorite 4-letter word.

Sign up today with only a $50 deposit. $90 will be due July 15th and the remainder on August 15th.

Southern: A State of Mind

For those of you who may not know me personally, I am Southern. Born and reared in the deep South. For a lot a people that may not mean much, however, for a Southerner that says it all. No matter where the Army moved me, no matter that we retired in Kansas, I am still a Southerner. Always have been, always will be. It is not a location thing, it is a mind-set.

(at this point you may begin hearing a deep southern voice positively dripping with charm)

Having said that, have you seen the new Gone With The Wind fabric? Did you know that 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the War of Yankee Aggression? Well it is! It is also the 70th anniversary of the movie Gone With The Wind. When you think about that you realize that when the movie first came out there were possibly people who actually remembered that war. Wow! I saw it the first time on New Year's Eve of 1961, the 100th anniversary.

Anyway, is there a woman anywhere who does not dream of having a man look at her as Rhett Butler looked at Scarlett? Just makes you positively swoon, now doesn't it?

And those beautiful magnolia blossoms? I can almost smell their heavenly fragrance.

The beautiful quilt using this fabric that is in the pattern of the Tennessee Waltz also makes you think of a more gentile time when men treated ladies as though they were truly ladies. When the strongest language a lady uttered was a "well fiddledey dee" and you did not hear gentlemen use strong language either, except in extreme circumstances when Rhett tells Scarlett, "well frankly, my dear, I don't give a d*#%".

So, while you enjoy these lovely fabrics and the quilt, I think I will have a nice mint julep and rest in the shade, since a lady never wants to have freckles, and remember that

"afterall, tomorrow is another day".

EASY BREEZY QUILTIN'

Now that Spring has finally arrived, most of us want to spend some time in our gardens. However, we do not want to stop quilting. So how do we do it all?

I think we do it the easy way. We purchase plants at the nursery rather than starting our gardens from seeds and get new hanging baskets rather than trying to do them ouselves. (At least that is how I simplify my gardening and insure it has a better chance of living).

Quilting is no different. We can simplify. We have found several easy breezy patterns that take only one yard of five different fabrics each. We then put together numerous combinations of colors to make it even easier to do.

These quilts take very little time and effort yet yield a great quilt. This is a good way to knock out some of those graduation quilts, maybe one for Mother's Day. They truly are fast and fun. I made one in an evening. The colors we selected are also indicative of a garden in full bloom.

They will be like potato chips, you cannot have only one.

ALL THAT JAZZ

We just completed the 12th annual quilt shop hop. Quilters were out in force and having a ball. I have been thinking and trying to decide what it was that excited our customers so much. I am not certain that it was any one thing, but a lot of things.

One thing that I think was very important was our EXCLUSIVE fabric. Our beautiful music motif batik from Hoffman is filled with a song to sing. We sold over 450 yards in a very short time. We have placed a reorder and will have it in stock in July. If you would like some of this gorgeous fabric, please pre-order so we can be certain to hold it for you.

TWO QUILTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

Have you ever wished you could quilt faster? Make even more quilts? Well, I have a way for you to do just that. It will also help you use some of that wonderful stash of fabrics with which you just cannot part. You know the part I am talking about....the small, little bitty pieces.

Well, first take a few minutes one day and cut those little goodies into the same size, such as 2 1/2" squares or 3" or whatever you want. If you have a bunch of leftover shapes, such as half square triangles, cut those into the same size also. Anything works so long as they are all the same size.

Next get yourself a cute box, or an old cigar box will work. Put this near your sewing machine.

We were all taught (I hope you were) to keep a scrap of fabric under your presser foot when not sewing and also to sew across a piece of fabric and then feed your piecing into this. This is to keep the feed dogs from deciding to eat up the corners of your quilt pieces. You know the part where you end up loosing your religion cussing at the torn up corners. You keep using that little piece of fabric over and over until you have this 'cookie' of fabric covered in thread (think of all the money wasted on that thread).

With this method of making two for the price of one, you will no longer use that piece of fabric or waste all that thread.

Instead you will begin your piecing with two squares that you have cut from your scraps.

Layer these face to face and line them up with your presser foot, sew across and then begin your piecing for your quilt #1. The main one.

When you get to the end of your pieced part, line up two more of the little scrap squares and sew across and stop. Cut off the first two squares that you have sewn together and throw them into your cute little box.

After you have been doing this for awhile, you will have a box full of two-patches. Take some time and press them to one side.

When you are ready to piece on quilt #1 again, layer these 2-patches together face to face and sew across as you did before. Now when you cut them apart, you will have a cute little box full of 4-patches.

You keep doing this until you have a cute little box full of multi patches. One day you can take a few minutes and sew these together to make a quilt #2.

You have made all the quilt blocks without wasting any thread or fabric, and just as important, you have not wasted any time. Now don't get too matchy-matchy or it begins to be work, just let them land where they will, it will be more fun this way.

Remember, when you begin to piece these multi-patches together, begin them with even more little patches you have cut from your scraps and you are beginning quilt #3.

These make great scrap quilts all by themselves or you can add sashings and borders. You can have patches that are all half square triangles or just triangles, it does not matter, whatever shape you choose. And if your sewing machine decides to 'eat' the corner of a patch, so what, throw it away, it was just scraps anyway.

If you do not save scraps or don't have a stash (what? is there someone like this?), or just want to be really lazy, then you can order the little pre-cut 2 1/2" squares from Moda in our bake shop. They are the perfect size and all the colors coordinate to make a more coordinated scrap quilt. What fun!

Now aren't you glad you learned how to make two quilts for the price of one? Aren't you anxious to begin the next one?

Olivia The Great!

I believe there are very few people who don't try to volunteer to do something to help others. I did say, 'try' because there are a lot who think about doing something and then find the age old "I don't have time" response. They are not bad people because they don't volunteer, they are just very busy people.

Like a lot of quilt shops, we are involved in the 1 Million Pillowcase program from American Patchwork and Quilting. We donated a batch this week to The Alliance Against Family Violence which is our local abuse shelter. They have told us they love these and use them as a "ditty bag" for people who come to them. Each is filled with personal products such as soap, shampoo and underwear; anything that is of immediate need to someone who has left their home due to abuse. We are thrilled to help with that.

We have several customers who have embraced this project and have donated quite a few pillowcases. We welcome any and all who want to help with this program.

The most interesting volunteer, however, is not making pillowcases. Olivia is the 12 year old granddaughter of one of our volunteers. She created her own quilted item to make for others. They are called "Liv's Love Buddies" . They have been donated to the children at the shelter. So far she has donated 58 of these adorable little dolls.

Olivia has also made a few to try to sell in the shop to make enough to cover her fabric purchases. If you would like one, please let me know, they are only $4.99 each.

This is the type person we need to encourage to continue her humanitarian pursuits. We think Olivia is just a great young lady and deserves the very best there is in life.