Hello Quilt Friends!
It is May already and I realized that I have not sent out a newsletter in a while so here is an update on what's happening in the shop.

Sweet Stitches vended at our first show in Wheatfield, Indiana at the "Quilts Along the Kankakee" Quilt Show hosted by the Country Cut-Ups Quilt Group. This was a great show put on by the nicest group of quilters. We had lots of visitors to our booth both old friends and new who we enjoyed talking with. We have more shows and events on the calendar that we are looking forward to.

Our next upcoming event will be with the String-A-Long Stars & Stripes Quilt of Valor Group on May 4th. I will be leading a Mystery Quilt for the group that will be a fun way to get lots of quilt tops made for Quilts of Valor. This free 'mystery quilt in a day' is open only for members of the String-a-Long Stars & Stripes Quilt Group which is a wonderful organization to be a part of. The group meets to sew quilts for veterans and soldiers on the first Thursday of the month at the Westchester Library Service Center in Chesterton, In. For more information on the group visit www.stringalongqg.org.

On May 6th at the shop we will have a book signing with local author Heather Hagen Bessler. Heather has written a wonderful book on Crazy Quilts called Antique Crazy Quilts & Their Stitches. This book is a documentation of the Crazy Quilts in the collection of the Porter County Museum in Valparaiso, Indiana. Antique Crazy Quilts & Their Stitches is also a great reference for embroidery stitches and the step by step hand drawn illustrations are easy to follow along with too. Copies of the book will be for sale here at the shop and the author will be here to sign your copy between 10:30 am - 1:30 pm. Heather will also have many of her embroidery pieces on display at the shop. Please join us on Saturday, May 6th to celebrate our local author and friend Heather Bessler. In addition, Heather is a wonderful embroidery teacher and we are lucky to have her teach embroidery classes here at Sweet Stitches coming up this summer/fall. We will also have an Embroidered Block of the Month coming soon that Heather will be a part of so keep an eye out for that on our website.

Coming up in June I will give a talk on piecing with triangles at the June 8 String -A- Long Quilt Guild meeting. I will have lots of ideas, helpful tips on piecing triangles and samples to share with the guild.

Sweet Stitches will be part of the Illiana Quilt Shop Hop June 16th thru July 1st. This Shop Hop takes you to 11 shops in Illinois and Indiana. You can purchase a passport for $5.00 at Sweet Stitches which will get you 15% off 1/2 yard cuts or more at all 11 shops. You will also receive goody bags from each shop and if you visit all 11 shops and have your passport stamped at each shop you will be entered into a drawing for some great prizes! Grand Prize is a Janome Jem 760, Second prize is 110 fat quarters and there are 11 third place prizes for $25.00 dollar gift certificates to each of the 11 shops. This years quilt theme for the shop hop is " Illiana through the Year". Each shop has created a block that will represent one month out of the calendar year. Sweet Stitches will represent  the month of August and we have created a Sunflower block. Each shop will also have a March block on display as there are 11 shops and 12 months in a year. You can collect kits made by each shop to represent their month for $6.50 per kit or you can pre-order all 12 kits before June 9th for a discounted price of $72.00. After June 9th all 12 kits will cost $78.00. All shops will have the same hours (check your local time zones) during the shop hop, Monday thru Saturday 10am - 5:00 pm and Fridays open until 6:00 pm. Stop by Sweet Stitches to see the blocks, purchase your passport and grab a map before you hit the road on your shop hop adventure.

Also starting in June is the National Shop Hop - Row by Row Experience -This years theme is "Row By Row on the Go!". Sweet Stitches will be participating in this national event this year and our row is currently under construction and will be revealed soon. Sweet Stitches will also have a Row by Row license plate this year and they are cute! There will be a limited number of plates so don't wait to long!

July 28 and 29 Sweet Stitches is going to have a booth at the Shop Till You Drop - One Stop Shop Hop in Kokomo, Indiana. The event will host 30 quilt shops under one roof at the Kokomo Events Center, 1500 North Reed Road. There will be games & prizes, Fun & Lots of Fabric! Pick up a brochure about this fun event while you are at the shop.

As a NEW shop we are always looking for ways to provide you with what you need to grow as a quilter and to inspire your creativity.  As we move towards summer, 3 new Block of the Month Quilts will be announced - an embroidered quilt, a pieced quilt and a an appliqued quilt. New classes and new teachers are in the works as I look to find positive, knowledgeable teachers to inspire you. 

Wishing you all sweet stitches and happy quilting!

Joan

Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop
1585 South Calumet Road
Chesterton, IN 46304
219-250-5942
info@sweetstitchesquiltshop.com