Wish Upon a Quilt Blog

You all know that we love, love, love the Perfect Ten quilt pattern by Swirly Girls Design. Nancy made this one out of pastel Batiks. Isn’t it gorgeous? By the way, the quilt hanging next to it was also a perfect ten from holiday fabrics. Just 10 fat quarters and an afternoon and you will have a Perfect Ten too!

I think this is Lynne’s third “Perfect Ten” quilt! She just proves how much fun the pattern is and how quick it is to put together. Her first Perfect ten was made in batiks and was just gorgeous. She then remade it in soft prints like Nature’s Notebook. This third version shows how versatile the pattern is.

The pattern calls for 10 fat quarter’s and promises you can finish the top in one afternoon. The designer is Swirly Girl Designs who are developing a reputation for graphically appealing patterns. Check out other Swirly Girl patterns at Wish.

I must say that I have neglected blogging over the past couple of weeks. Not because I did not want to post, just not enough hours in the day. What has been keeping us so busy? We were exhibiting last weekend at the Quilting and Fiber Arts Marketplace. It was great to see so many of you there but for our non-local customers, I thought you might enjoy seeing what we have been doing. Here are a few pictures from our booth.

The best part of any show for me is meeting so many great people. It also gives me a chance to show some of the things I have made. One of my favorite bags is Amy Butler’s  Birdie Sling , can you find it? My new favorite quilt pattern is the Perfect Ten  and my latest quilt features fabrics from Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane, see it all the way in the back corner? My good friend Susan Emory of Swirly Girls Designs loaned me the Megabits quilt using Sandi Henderson’s Meadowsweet, it was fun to hear all of the wonderful ooohs and aaahhhhs as people looked at the quilts.

Everyone at Wish contributed to making the booth a big success but Janice Pope and Cindy Massey had the great fun of joining me at the show! Janice is the owner of Anything But Boring and her Two Hour Tulip purse pattern was the top seller at the show. We also had her College Bound, Jewel Box and Circle in Square quilts in the booth. All of Janice’s quilt patterns are designed to be quick to put together but not boring! How do you like them? 

The Jewel Box quilt is the one in the left corner with a white background and 5″ batik charm squares. The College Bound quilt is behind Cindy and is made with 10″ and 5″ batik pre-cut squares. Yes, we have these in the store

 

 

 If you haven’t seen the Accuquilt Go! in action, stop by the store sometime and take a test drive. What is on your sewing table today?

I started playing with the X-block rulers and patterns in July when we had our Christmas special and I made the table runner. I was intrigued by the designs that used the fabric trimmings from the rulers as the borders for the quilts – no fabric waste! They are so much fun and addictive too! I’m on my second quilt and I have two more planned.

To start, I recommend the 7 1/2 inch ruler . Most of the cutting for that size is done on 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch marks making the cutting a breeze. Some of the 6 1/2 inch block instructions require 1/8 inch cuts, still doable, but requiring a little more concentration. The larger template also accomodates the large scale prints that are so popular now. The book X-Block Land is a great palce to get started with X-blocks - it shows you several designs based on strips and several based on blocks. It’s amazing that a complex quilt is made with such simple piecing! The cover for the book really doesn’t do it justice. You need to look at the centerfold gallery to truly appreciate this gem, come on in and take a look! If you are already making X-blocks, let us know what you have created and share any tips that you have found useful!

If you are familiar with Johnny Gruelle’s lovable character Raggedy Ann, you will know that she is a kind and adventuresome little rag doll. Raggedy Ann has moved on to a new mistress who accidentally left her at Wish Upon a Quilt overnight. Her new mistress was distraught over her absence but Raggedy had a great adventure.

Raggedy Ann kept marveling at the beautiful fabrics and patterns since she last visited the mercantile with her Mistress Marcella.  She had great fun watching how the Accuquilt Go cutter worked.

She even gave it a whirl herself.

She hoped her new mistress would make a new quilt for her bed with the Critter shapes just like the one from the Accuquilt Go cutter trunk show hanging in the store. It is from the book Quilting on the Go. 

Raggedy was impressed with the new Martelli rotary cutters. She watched a video on how they are used. She kept saying “My my!” after she saw how the blades where so sharp that they could cut through and aluminum can and then cut through multiple layers of fabric and a single layer of fabric without a hitch.

Raggedy had fun sliding down the new laminated fabrics, and playing blocks with the Jelly Rolls. She took a cat nap in the fat quarter bins after all of the excitement. She was very tired but happy when her mistress finally returned to collect her.

About a year ago, we posted introductions to our amazing team here. What have they been up to lately? Well, Kris Harris and Cindy Massey recently won ribbons at the NC State Fair for their wonderful hand crafted projects. Stop by and see these award winners and their projects in at Wish Upon A Quilt. Great job Ladies, thanks for sharing!

This is Kris’ blue ribbon winning holiday house:

We had a such a great time last Saturday at our first Christmas in July event. Thank you so much for your overwhelming support of our event. We appreciate it very much!

 Santa has delivered some great fabric and the Wish staff did a fabulous job on finishing their holiday quilts before the event!  To continue the fun, we would like to know which quilt is your favorite? Post a comment to let us know and we will draw a winner for a 1/2 yard of fabric from your favorite quilt on Monday, July 20th. The Wish employee that made the winning quilt will get a special gift from me as well as bragging rights until next year’s event. 

If you missed our event, we have a special candy cane coupon for you in the shop for the remainder of this week. Stop by and see these beautiful quilts in person and don’t forget your candy cane

First up, two great wallhangings using the Crazy8 by Sandy Gervais for Moda collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Nancy Halvorsen’s I Believe in Santa collection, three beautiful projects:

Nancy Kennedy’s quilt on the left used the Shadow Box pattern by Mountain Peek Creations. Cindy Massey used Nancy Halvorsen’s book I Believe to create this great Christmas card holder. One of our customers, Grace Lents, loaned us her quilt for the day from the Believing Tree book.

Looking for a quick project? Kris Harris sewed up these stockings and little bag that are perfect for secret pal gifts, gift toppers or hanging on the tree!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hollie used Moda’s Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey to create this quilt. FREE Pattern here. This beautiful quilt was quilted by Three Bears Quilting.

Although I made my first quilt in 1977, it did not become my full-time passion until 6 years ago. I prefer to design my own patterns for bags and quilts. (Translation: I am better at writing insructions than trying to follow them!) I have stumbled on to several tricks and tips that are available in my patterns which are sold at Wish Upon A Quilt. For example, I have always prefered to use bias binding rather than crossgrain binding on my quilts. My directions for making Jiffy Bias Binding are included in the Schlepping Bag pattern.  I also love to experiment with color and value placement in quilts. I have an extensive collection of batiks as well as African fabrics, which are a passion of mine. 

 

I work after hours at Wish, making sure our inventory on line matches what we have in the store. Currently I am serving as the President of Capital Quilter’s Guild. My term will be over in June this year, and I hope to have more time for developing patterns and marketing. I also have my own company, Anything But Boring and my website is www.janicedpope.com.  The Wish staff is so much fun to work with and they have been great to have as friends!

If you have been in our store, you may have wondered what the woman in the office is doing, it seems she never leaves that computer! Meet Janice, our online order processor. Janice is the one that makes sure that our orders are shipped out timely and accurately. She is the “glue” that holds everything together at Wish! In her spare time, Janice is also a very talented quilter. She made this beautiful batik quilt all out of fabrics in our sale room! Do you have a project you would like to share made from “great buy” fabrics?