New Fall Class Scedule looks Exciting!

 Oh!  The good old summer time.........  We have had such an amazing summer so far, and it looks like the weather will be good for as far as the eye can see.  Don't you just love it?  BUT!  It makes it kind of slow in the old quilt shop.  I get customers asking for a class schedule only to say, "I can't take it on THAT day!"  So, OK.  I can't blame you.  Enjoy the summer while we can.  We will have lots to look forward to in the fall.  We have been filling the calendar with some pretty neat classes for September, October November. This cute little black and white snowflake quilt is a class with Stephanie Davis, called "Snowflakes and Trees" (The tree one is at the quilters..... stay tuned) 

This is a really pretty " Bargello quilt.  The instructor will be Jan Davies. Her husband is the knife Sharpener guy that come over from Wenatchee.  He will be here in September and Jan will teach this class while she's here.  She teaches classes there and I have seen some of her other projects at the Q.A. Show.  VERY NICE!  WE have some classes for gift giving season and another Christmas Mystery.So, I think the schedule will be exciting.  Oh, did I mention we have a visit from my friend Freddy Moran?  Yep she will be here for a two day workshop.  In the mean time though. We do have a few fun classes this summer. Not to mention a few fun events like our Customer appreciation sale and BBQ, and our customer garage sale.  You should also know that Aunt Mary's has air conditioning.  We stay quite cool here.  You can come and be cool too.

Huray!!! For The American Heros Quilt Group!

I'm excited to have the American Hero's Quilt Group here in my classroom this Saturday, July 20th.  If I wasn't here in the shop most Saturdays, I would make sure to be more involved with this group.  They meet monthly in Stanwood at the senior center.  I love to host them every few months here in the shop.  I am VERY proud of their work.  They have a mission to give a hand make quilt to all the wounded soldiers. This group alone has made over 900 quilts.  I think that is so special.  When they get together each month, they work on quilts as a group.  You don't have to be responsible for a whole quilt.  You can come in and just help.  Sit and sew on a binding, press blocks, or whatever you are good at. There is something for everyone to do.  They also take donations of fabric, batting or even money.  So if your looking for something to do this Saturday, you won't be sorry you helped out!  AND, Aunt Mary's has air conditioning so it's so nice and cool in here. For more information about this group, go to www.americanheroquilts.com  Hope to see you!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Well, I'm back! Did you miss me?  I took almost two weeks!  WOW!  I truly love my job, however it's so nice to be away for awhile.  It is a real push to get ready for "Shop Hop" and to the marathon it is to be here for it.  So, it's very nice to just be at home and enjoy life for a little bit.  My husband is working at a new job, so I only saw him on the weekends.   That was nice as well.  Time for just me.  We always have a big party for the 4th of July.  I had such a good time with my friends and family.   Lots of laughs and good fun. We had great food and the fireworks were great this year as well.   I LOVE the 4th of July!  I spent lots of time just "fiddling" around the house.  No real big projects, just tinkering.  Recently, I was diagnosed with type two Diabetes, so I have working on getting a little exercise.  We got our bikes out and got riding.  I really enjoy my bike, and there are lots of great places to ride.  The Centennial trail,  the waterfront in Everett. We even road all the way around Arlington Airport.  The great part of that ride was we conveniently parked real close to Scookum brewery. Something nice a cold to drink!  One day, my friend Heather and I went on an adventure to Laconner.  This picture was taken at Christienson Nursery.  Beautiful place!  We had a really fun day.  Such a fun time off!  It's nice to be back though.  Lots of new fabric came in while I was gone.  Time to start getting ready for some fun events coming up.  So, I will post again real soon.  Happy summer! 

Tri County Treasure Chests Have Winners

I drew the names of the winners for the three big "Treasure Chests" full of quilting goodies.  Here is one of the lucky winners.  This is Pam.  She was very excited.  It's was so fun to see her look through all the goodies.  We are very lucky to have all our vendors be so generous. There was fabric, fat quarter pacs, jelly rolls, layer cakes, books, tools and so much more in the chests.  I would have loved to get one myself!  I think we had a great response to our little treasure hunt.  I know it was fun to play with the customers as they looked for our mystery clue.  I will be looking forward to doing it again next year. 

A Very Memory Filled Day With Lorretta Bennet From Gee's Bend

Saturday was such a fun, memorable day, here at Aunt Mary's.  Stephanie Davis hosted a gathering of quilters to spend a day with Loretta Bennet of Gee's Bend.  It was such an honor to have her here.  What a truly sweet, beautiful person.  We started the day with a video of  the story of Gee's Bend.  Then Loretta talked and answered questions about her and her family, her community and her journey. So interesting!!    This is Sue and Loretta looking at the big museum book with many quilts made by her.  The graphic style of the quilts are very distinctive. 

 

Look at all the smiley faces!  It was a fun group of ladies.  We had a BIG pot luck lunch and lots of giggles.  Even though I had to stay up front most of the day,  I had a great time too.  After lunch Loretta helped the group make some blocks in the "Gee's Bend" style.  The group will be  sending the blocks to Loretta for the quilters of Gee's bend to put together and quilt for them.  I get to send a block as well!  COOL!! Stephanie and Sue even got an invitation to come visit.  After a day with loretta I think she would truly love to have any of us come for a visit.  What a special lady!!!  I hope she can come back again someday. Thank You, Loretta for a very memorable day!

Traffic, Up North is Not So Bad!

The BIG Shop Hop is under a week away!  YIKES!!!!  All of the great shops in the Tri County Quilt Association are getting prepared with a vengeance.  the big question among us is how the "Bridge" is going to affect us.  Will it keep all of you from venturing north?  I sure hope not.  From all the reports that I have gotten and from going through it several times myself.  It really is not a big deal.  There is MORE traffic going through Seattle or Everett than the "bridge traffic." is causing. I personally think we have THE BEST shop in the whole shop hop in our area.  ALSO!  Don't forget about the Tri County Treasure Hunt.  This will be the second year we have held the Treasure Hunt in our "Tri County" shops.  Last year everyone really enjoyed it.  I can tell you the Treasure chests full of goodies that you can win are really fantastic!  Just wait till you see.  I will be posting a picture of them on Facebook latter today. So make plans to not miss out on all the fun stuff up north just because the news has nothing better to report than traffic.  Hope to see you all!     

New Patterns From Jenny Pedigo - WOW!

 Spring market is over and now we start getting in all the new patterns from the designers.  I am so lucky to have Jenny Pedigo lives ringht here in our area.  She let me borrow lots of her quilts for the shop.  Here are two of the new patterns, and I have four more coming in maybe today.  I just love every one of them  I know that lots of people will look at them and see curved piecing and look away. Jenny has the coolest ruler that makes it a breeze,  I'm really not just saying that to make you buy one.  I have had several customers tell me how neat her ruler is.  It's called "The Quick Curve" ruler. In each of the patterns Jenny has great instructions with detailed diagrams on how to use it. 

But, if you still don't get it....... she has wonderful videos on line.  How cool is that?  So stop in and see all the pretty quilts of Jenny's that we have on display through June.  You will be inspired!

 

Check out the pretty smile!

Here's my friend Dorothy with her beautiful FINISHED quilt.  Isn't it pretty?  This was our "Saturday Sampler" from last year.  She did such a great job.  I think she thought it would never get done.  She works very hard to finish all her projects.  Great job! The best part is her pretty smile.  Gotta love it!  Thank you for sharing, Dorothy!

Never Sell Yourself Short

I recently saw this on "Facebook."  It got me thinking about quilters and how under appreciated quilting can be as an art form.  For me, quilts are not just for the bed.  They truly are art.  The people that create them are amazingly talented.  Now, I'm not really talking about all the quilts you see in the big quilt shows.  I'm talking about just about anyone that takes two pretty pieces of fabric, sews it together and smiles.  It's the feeling we get when we stand back and say wow!  I like what I've done! There is sooo much feeling in a quilt.  They all have stories to tell.  They are part of my history and what people will remember me by.   It's so hard to put a price on a quilt. Many are not for sale for any price.  When I have someone ask me how much they should sell a quilt for. It's hard to come up with a fair price.  Freddy Moran says, "If you sell a quilt, You take the money and spend it or pay a bill.  Then...... You don't have the quilt and the money is gone as well!"  If you truly want to sell a quilt.  I have been told to figure out just how much it cost to make.  Price of fabric, thread, batting, and the cost of quilting if you had it done for you.  Then triple that amount.  If it's applique or lots of hand work, maybe even triple and a half or more.  I know most of you will say to yourselves "that's too much!" Nope!!! Think about all your time as well.  Your worth much more than that!  A fine quilt IS ART! Don't sell yourself short.

Ok!  Off my soapbox!  I just really love the art of quilting and the people that do it!  You guys are the best!!!! 

Some Fun New Things

 New things are coming in almost every day. This is a new line from Moda called "Simple Marks." I love the colors and textures.  I'm always thinking applique, however I think this would make a great pieced quilt as well.  Hmmm.....  the possibilities ........????

 

 

 

 

I also wanted to introduce you to a new friend of mine that will be living at Aunt Mary's.  She was made by of of my favorite people.  Karen spent all last winter making these sweet knitted dolls for all of her grandchildren.  I fell in love with them, and Karen made one just for me!  Aren't I just the luckiest?