Wish Upon a Quilt Blog

These aprons say we are ready for fun!

The Heart of North Carolina Stash dash started on Saturday. This is our local version of what others might know as a shop hop.  Eight quilting shops local to the center of Notrh Carolina (i.e. Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Wake Forest and Selma) have come together to promote quilting and fun. You get a Stash Dash passport at your local participating quilt store, get it stamped, receive a 20% discount, and then dash to the next shop to see what fun they have in store for you. If you get your passport stamped at all eight stores you will be entered in a drawing for one of nine great prizes. But even if you don’t make it to all eight stores there is still a lot of fun to be had.

This is the first year that Wish Upon a Quilt has participated in the Stash Dash and that the fun has been extended for an entire week! We have been planning for months and lots of new things have popped up at Wish thanks to the inspiration of the Stash Dash fun. Everyone made new work aprons, exciting kits were put together, and the shelves are filled with luscious fabrics.

So in the spirit of fun -  we will be posting the top reasons to dash to Wish Upon a Quilt during  the Stash Dash. Today’s top reason is where else will you find Fat Quarter Sushi?!? What fun!

It’s September and time to pick up another block in the Y Not? Block of the month program. I just love this mosaic! Don’t forget to pick it up before the 10th.

Yay another month and another block. Here is August’s block for the Y-Not? block of the month program. Some participants will receive Mirror Image Kits. These kits have an additional slip of paper with tips for sewing the mirror image.  The demonstration video is below. Don’t forget to pick your block up before the 10th.

Here is a great virtual quilt show for you…our customer’s gorgeous quilts. Click on each picture for a close up view. Thanks to everyone for sharing! We love to share your quilts, stop by and show us what you are working on!

We always have such a great time and the quilts are beautiful! Our quilt for July was made using jelly roll strips of Nostalgia by April Cornell. Isn’t this a great quilt?

Our cut up club members brough back their finished projects from previous months to share (I’ll get better with the new camera  

We also have show and tell and look at all of these great projects!

Our Cut Up club continues to be so inspiring and fun! Each month we take different pre-cut fabric shapres and turn them into beautiful quilts. We also have show and tell time, giveaways and more. Join us by signing up here.

Our June quilt used a Summer Fun Turnover by Moda and the Belgian Waffles pattern by Happy Zombie.

Nancy's Belgian Waffles in Summer Fun

Jessica's Belgian Waffle

Kathy's Belgian Waffle in Sorbet

Show and Tell…..

Helen's Circle

Helen's Sweet Treat Bag

Jessica's Locker Hooking

Do you have old quilts or quilt blocks stored away in a closet somewhere? One of my favorite quilts is this one made from blocks that my Great-Grandmother made but never finished. These beautiful blocks stayed in a closet for about 60 years! My Mom found someone willing to finish the quilt (by hand!) and this quilt now has a home in my mother’s guest room. I sleep under it every time I visit and I feel very connected to my grandparents under that quilt.

This past weekend, Mom and I brought some of my Grandmother’s blocks out of the closet. We estimate that they are at least 50 years old. They were kept in a freezer paper box all of these years and are in great shape. We have 12 of these hand embroidered blocks and we are making them into two quilts. One for Mom and one for her sister. We have chosen a very simple setting for them with the plan of highlighting the blocks with quilting.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

 Do you have quilt blocks hidden somewhere in a closet? How about dusting them off and seeing what you can do with them?  They may turn into your next favorite quilt!

Hello Mystery Quilters! How are you coming along with your mystery quilt adventure? Have you figured out the design yet? The next clue (#3) for the quilt is available in the shop. If you haven’t joined us yet, it is not too late! Pick up your FREE pattern in the shop and join us on our Mystery Quilt adventure. We will have a reveal party and viewer’s choice contest later this summer. Lots of fun!

Your completed Step 3 pieces should look like this:

I’m very excited about the new Sew Sweet Shoppe Scrap program that Cathy has published. This is a brand new scrap program that was introduced at the fall Quilt Market. I love scrap quilts. Scrap quilts just sort of found me. I couldn’t afford to buy all the fabric I wanted but I was usually happy with just a fat quarter of it, especially if I didn’t have a specific project in mind for it.  So a typical scenario at the quilt shop would be I went to buy fabric for a  specific project and I’d fall in love with a new fabric that didn’t fit that project at all. So I’d grab a fat quarter and sneak it home. It was the fat quarters sitting off to the side that would inspire the next projects. (And encourage me to finish the one that was in progress.) The thing was that when I started planning the next project I’d realize that a fat quarter wouldn’t do.   I needed more. Sound familiar? I became a fan of scrap quilts because they allowed me to use the fabrics I loved with out the agony or worry over how much to get. I don’t have to worry if I’ll have enough for a project because I can just use it as an excuse to go get more lovely fabric.  And there are so many lovely fabrics calling to me – scrap quilts are definitely the solution.

But it’s not just the need to use up fat quarter and half yard cuts that make scrap quilts appealing. I often get to reuse fabrics left over from other projects like my brother’s wedding quilt, a friends baby quilt, a baby quilt for my own children, a purse, or tote project. Those scraps have sweet memories and are still a joy to handle and use.  Scrap quilts can also be a journal of sorts of all the quilts I’ve made and given away.

Scrap quilts often have a deep richness of pattern and design because it’s the piecers use of value and color that is noticed not the fabric designers art. All of those pretty pieces of fabric come together to make a beautiful new whole. Whenever I find myself thinking a piece of fabric is too pretty to cut I just remind myself the joy it will bring me when I find it again in my scrap bin.

I also have a sweet tooth and love bakeries and baking. The sweet shop theme of the program just tickles me pink. (Which happens to be the colorway of the first quilt.)  The first session of the Sew Sweet Shoppe is Thursday, Feb 12 at 6pm. The second session will be Saturday, Feb. 14 at 8:30am. Both sessions will be the same. There will be a $15 charge to reserve a slot, and you will receive a free quilt pattern, a demonstration of the how to construct the quilt presented, a yummy treat and recipe to take home! I will also give tips on how to adjust the pattern to accommodate jelly roll strips, charm squares, and/or layer cakes.

If you would like to exchange scraps please bring precut strips of 3 1/2 inch width or 2 1/2 inch width, 5 inch charm squares, or fat quarters. We will trade like for like. Looking forward to seeing you on the 12th! What will your scrap quilt look like?