Cat's Away in Vegas!

Happy Birthday to Katie!

Her friends took her to Vegas for her birthday......


So - while the cat's away - we need to clear out some bolts!

Before Katie took off, she and Demi rearranged the shop to make room for some new stuff, which means we had to move about 50 bolts to the sale room. I also cleared out a bunch of bolts to fill up the flat fold sale cabinet, and it is too full, too! Then I turned a bunch of skinny bolts into fat quarters and snippets, and we are out of room for those. We are outgrowing our shop!

I have been driving Katie crazy with the goofy sales and promotions, but since she is gone for a few days, I think we will add a quick little sale to move some old stuff out and make room for new!

All day on Saturday, February 21st we will have the following extra sale:

• All classroom sale fabric $4.50 per yard - One yard minimum cuts
• All Sale Flat Folds an extra 10% off the already low prices
• All Fat Quarters $2.00
• All Snippets 50 cents

ONE DAY ONLY! Be there!

Carrie

What is your Quilt Worth?

Hello Pieceful Quilters,

I was recently fortunate enough to be involved in a lecture/discussion group headed by AQS Certified Appraiser, Sandy Schweitzer. Sandy has worked with our shop since we opened as an advisor and appraising quilts for our customers. She is truly one of the most knowledgeable people I know regarding quilts, from antique quilts to the newest art quilts.

What brought about this particular lecture was a fire suffered by one of the group members. Sandy was called in to do an after-the-fact appraisal on the damaged and ruined quilts, quilt tops, fabric, sewing room supplies, and various other textiles and sewing related items. Because of her thorough and detailed work, our member was able to get the full appraised value of everything that Sandy appraised.

Although our member did not divulge the values of everything, she did share with us a few of the values on some of her quilts and tops. To say we were stunned would be an understatement. Even though I have gone through the appraisal program, the methodology for appraising new quilts hadn't really hit home for me before this.

When you go to figure out the value of a quilt that you have made, you base the value on what it would take if you were to hire someone else to make it, from shopping for the fabric to the finished quilt. When you start figuring out what you paid for fabric - and you know you had to purchase more fabric for the top than you did for the backing. You can't usually purchase less than a quarter yard of anything, so if you are making scrappy quilts, think about how much fabric you bought for it! Then consider the time that went into finding all those fabrics. What if you had to do it again? You could spend months on the Internet trying to track down a fabric that just came out a year ago!

Now start adding up all the time it took you to cut the fabric and piece it together. Did you quilt it yourself, or did you pay someone to quilt it? What is the quality of the workmanship - excellent, of course! I know all my quilts are masterpieces - aren't yours? (ha-ha) Even if you aren't winning any awards, it still takes a lot of time. If you had to hire someone to make it for you, it would cost you at least $20.00 an hour. Start adding that up and you will realize that maybe that quilt you made is worth something after all.

This is another reason to make sure you put a label on EVERY QUILT YOU MAKE and TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH! (If we quilted your quilt, we have a picture of it in our computer) You would be amazed at how many quilts are stolen each year. We may not value our quilts enough, but there are plenty of thieves out there that know the value of our quilts. Wouldn't you just be sick if you had a quilt stolen, and you couldn't even get something from your insurance company for it? If you don't have any way to prove you had it, the insurance company will pay you for a blanket - maybe $40.00, if you are lucky!

The point here is that you should get at least one of your quilts appraised. That way, if you should have a fire or loss, you will have some proof as to the quality and value of your work. Be sure to label and photograph every quilt. This way you will be able to a) prove you made it, and b) have the quilt returned to you if it should turn up somewhere strange. These things happen all the time.

Ok - end of lecture....

Sandy will be at Pieceful Gathering to do appraisals for the women that were in attendance at the lecture, however, several appraisal spots are still open, so I am opening these spots up to anyone that wants to come in that day. You can have any quilt appraised, old or new.

The date is Sunday, March 15th in the afternoon. The appraisals are $45.00 per quilt. You will receive a written appraisal that you can submit to your insurance company. Sandy is an AQS Certified Quilt Appraiser, so her credentials will be recognized by any insurance company.

Call the shop for details, or to have your name added to the list. If you can not make it on that date, you can make an appointment with Sandy at another time. The cost is still the same.

Happy Quilting!
Carrie

Call is at (847) 516-7911

Deb's Cool Tablerunner

Hi Pieceful Folks,

Deb Walker is teaching the Pineapple Quilt Class - I made her do it because I saw one at market that I totally fell in love with. I am making a full-size quilt using the paper-piecing method, but I am pretty much a self-taught paper piecer, and Deb is much better at teaching it than I am, so I thought you might like learning from a Pro! So far, I have nine blocks done and about 20 more started (it is kind of labor intensive):




Deb was worried that not everyone would be interested in making a huge quilt (I guess you are not all as crazy as I am), so she came up with an adorable table runner pattern:





You will get the pattern if you attend the class. The next class is still a month off, on March 14th, but there are still a few openings. If we fill those, you will have to wait until next session, so call right away to reserve a spot!

Have a Pieceful Week!

Carrie

Crazy Stew!

Hello Pieceful Quilters,

I know - I promised Snippet Stew pictures, and here they are:

The first Snippet Stew I did was this blue number:

As you can see, I got a little carried away. I was having so much fun playing with the blue and cream fabrics, I just kept going. This one is a queen made with 100 snippets. More recently I decided to repeat this pattern using wovens, and so was born, "Man Stew." We put together kits for this one, and there are still a few left.

After the first Snippet Stew, I did Snippet Stew #2 - and since I used mostly fabrics from the Regency line, it became Regency Stew. We still have a couple of kits left for this quilt, too.

After Regency Stew I came up with this nifty quilt - Snippet Stew #3 - Hot Crossed Stew:

I just finished putting this one together, and I love it! I can't wait to get it quilted and bound. We have kits for this one, too.

After Hot Crossed Stew came Stew Squared. I am still working on that one. It is a neat square in a square design that I am doing with Civil War snippets. I was not happy with the way it was going together, though - because I got in a hurry and didn't square up the blocks. so I took apart the portion I had sewn together, and I have them all squared up now, however.... I decided that I really like the way this one is turning out - even some of you "bright" people will like it, so I decided to make it a tiny bit bigger. I don't know if we will do kits, or just put together some snippet packets, but this one is going to be really neat.

After the Square Stew, there came Jelly Cake Stew. Vonnie just finished quilting this one and it came out beautifully. I am really happy with this one.

I used one jelly roll and one layer cake (pile of snippets - Moda stole my idea), and some yardage for the border. There was even some fabric left over! Pattern handouts are available for this one.

So, at our Saturday demo a couple of weeks ago, we introduced Snippet Stew #6 - Stewed at the Cabin. Log Cabin has always been my favorite quilt pattern, so I have been trying to come up with a good way to use snippets to create a log cabin block. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, since I really try to use the whole snippet when I make my "stew." I finally came up with a plan that doesn't have too much waste, so if you love scrappy Log Cabin quilts, stop by and pick up your pattern sheet. I am plugging away on that one, and it is going pretty fast, so I should have a finished sample soon.

I also introduced the first Leftover Stew. I have been encouraging you to cut your snippets so that you usually will get a one inch strip (assuming you bought it here) off of one end. I promised ideas for those strips, and so was born Leftover Stew#1 - Leftovers at the Cabin. Basically it is a mini log cabin quilt that I have been using as a thread catcher for quite awhile now. It is actually turning into a full-sized quilt, and I am loving it. The little blocks are so cute, and the full size quilt is simply wonderful. I will have a picture of at least part of that one soon, too. Handouts for this one are also available for $1.00. Get them now before I turn them into a real pattern!

That's all for now - stop by soon and see all the fun things we have been up to!

Carrie