Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop March 2018 Newsletter
SSQS Journal
Issue 7 March 2018
Hello Sweet Stitches Friends,
With Spring on the horizon, my mind is moving towards warmer days and open windows, the enjoyment of those soft bursts of color against the cloud grey skies and the need to do a little spring cleaning - in the sewing room anyways! Nothing like an organized sewing room to make you feel on top of all those quilting projects that are stacking up. Spring Cleaning in the sewing room for me always starts with going through my fabric stash and from here I know what I actually have and what I really need. When I go through my bins of fabric and purge my stash, I tend to ask myself these questions as I hold each fabric in my hand.
- Does it have good color and design? Would I use it in a quilt today? If not, there is no sense in holding on to those really old fabric colors and designs because they will never come back in fashion in quite the same color, shade or design, the fashion and design industry will see to that. Let them go!
- Is it a quality fabric? Is it a fabric that is cheap and crunchy that you bought in your earlier quilting days before you knew what good quilt shop quality fabric feels like? Please don’t add these fabrics to your quilts as they will only disappoint you in the long run.
- Do I have too much of my “favorite color” in my stash? We all have our favorite colors and we think we can’t have too much. As a recovering “Green” addict I can tell you, yes, you can have too much of one color in your stash! Everyone needs to take a second look at their “favorite color” and go through each piece and donate the ones you really don’t LOVE. Use the whole box of crayons to make your quilts interesting!
What will I do with the fabrics I am eliminating from my stash? I recommend three places to donate your fabrics.
- For your really bad, ugly, cheap, crunchy fabrics, I recommend making Pet Beds for your local animal shelters. Make a simple pillowcase, fill it with torn or cut up strips of fabrics, sew up the fourth side of the pillow and drop off at a shelter. The animals will love them!
- Everyone has fabrics that they just don’t love the pattern or colors anymore, donate these good quality fabrics to quilt guilds or church sewing groups that sew for both local and overseas charities. Charity quilts are put together quickly to fill a need, these quilts are meant to warm a body and comfort a person going through life's struggles.
- For the best of my donated fabrics, especially if they are red, white and blue, please consider our local Quilts of Valor Sewing Group who makes quilts to honor active duty soldiers and veterans of war for their service and sacrifice. We are a Quilt of Valor shop so any of these fabrics you would like to drop off will be given to the String-A-Long Stars & Stripes Group here in Chesterton. They create beautiful quilts that are presented to local veterans.
Each of these organizations that I have recommended would be grateful for your donation from your spring cleaning fabric stash! They would also greatly benefit from your help as well.
May All Your Stitches be Sweet,
Joan
National Quilting Day March 17, 2018
Join us on March 17 to celebrate both National Quilting Day and St. Patrick’s Day from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. We will have a FREE Make and Take Class throughout the day. Come and make a Clover Quilt Block to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We will have our Elna Sewing Machines set up for you to use, Some special Deals in the Shop and refreshments too!
Where better to Celebrate National Quilting Day than at the quilt shop!
On National Quilting Day we hope you will share some of the Quilting projects you have made on our Facebook Page. Be sure to share some of your favorite quilt projects made in a Sweet Stitches class, event or demo day or maybe show us what you made out of your Sweet Stitches fabrics and patterns. Show a photo of you and your new Elna Sewing Machine or what you made with it, we would love to see it! Whether you are just getting started on a project or just finished share your picture on our Facebook page or come in the shop on National Quilting Day, March 17 and share your project. We will be glad to post a picture for you!
Let's Spring into a Mid-Month Mystery!
Looking ahead to April, we are planning a fun twist that we are calling “Middle of the Month Mystery”. It seems that all the good stuff happens at the beginning or at the end of a month, so we thought a middle of the month mystery would be a good time for working on a quilt mystery (but really when isn’t there a good time for any kind of quilting!) The Mystery Quilt will be a finished 88” x 88” quilt and will last for 8 months April through November 2018. There will be no monthly fees. We will have a one-time registration of $25.00 and you can work with fabrics from your stash, shop our selection of fabrics or use both, it will be up to you!
The last clue will be provided in November, so a Fall or Christmas color pallet would be in season and the quilt can be ready for the holiday's. Like any Mystery Quilt, you will receive clues (sewing instructions) in the middle of each month from April thru November.
Printed clues will be made available each month for pick-up at the shop and for those that live a distance away, we can email the monthly clues to you. this way everyone can join in the fun!
This Mid Month Mystery is already on our website for anyone that would like to register early.
Mystery Registration Page
We will have more details as we get closer to April!
String-A-Long Quilt Guild Show
"A Spring Garden of Quilts"
17th Biennial Quilt Show
The String-A-Long Quilt Guild's Biennial- Quilt Show "A Spring Garden of Quilts" will be held
April 7 - 8, 2018 at the Porter County Expo Center. Over 200 quilts on display, vendors and merchants, raffle quilts and baskets, on-sight scissor sharpening, food, members boutique,
silent auction benefiting "Kits for K-9s" and String-A-Long Stars and Stripes Quilt of Valor Display. Admission is $5. Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop Looks forward to seeing you at the show!
Block of the Month - Sadies Keepsake 
For those of you participating in our Hand Embroidery Block of the Month Sadie’s Keepsake your Month 7 Block is now ready and available for pick up on or after March 3.
Block of the Month - Mystical Prism 
For those of you participating in our Mystical Prism Batik BOM, your Month 3 Block is now ready and available for pick up on or after March 3.
First Fridays
Our “First Fridays” Demonstration Day is March 3, 2018 from 10:30 am - 11:30 am in the shop classroom. Our topic for the Demo is "Totally Tubular". Learn how sewing tubes can speedup your quilt block making, help you design quilts with visual movement, add detail to your applique, make quilt storage easy and even dream up more quilts! Lots of Fun Ideas! Everyone is Welcome to Join Us!
Immediatly after the demo at 11:30 am, we will be presenting tips and tricks for Block 3 of our Mystical Prism Block of the Month. Joan will have block construction tips to share with those who are participating in the Mystical Prism BOM program.
The classroom will be open for Free Sew Fridays after the Block of the Month Construction Tips for anyone who wants to stay and sew the day away until 4:00 pm so bring your projects, machines and meet other quilters!
Class Schedule for March and April
We have published our class schedules for March and April - be sure to check out the new schedule by clicking the link here. Be sure to stop back often as we add classes during the month.
A Machine Minute
General Maintenance and proper technique are critical for optimum performance of your sewing machine and project outcome.
Do you Floss?
No, we are not talking about plaque build-up, we are talking about proper thread tension...
Whether you are preparing to wind a bobbin or are threading your machine, it is imperative that you properly guide and seat your thread between the thread guides and the tension plates and disks. This can be easily and consistently accomplished by flossing your thread. After placing your thread around a thread guild, hold the thread with both hands and with light pressure rock the thread back and fourth, ie floss the thread to ensure that it seats under, between, on the tension devise. Depending on your machine, if it is quiet, you may hear a small "click" when the thread is pulled through the tension apparatus. Proper tension is accomplished by way of friction as the thread moves through, under or between disks, plates or bars. If the thread is not seated properly, you will not have sufficient tension which will result in soft bobbins or stitch issues.
Be sure that you Floss everyday!
Keep in Touch with Facebook
We hope that you enjoy our Monthly Journal. If you are interested in more frequent shop updates, thoughts and images concerning quilting, projects and customer activities, please be sure to like us on Facebook. Keep up to date on the latest projects, fabric arrivals, events and sales! Just click on the Facebook logo to reach our site.
1585 South Calumet Road Chesterton, IN 46304
219.250.5942
www.sweetstitchesquiltshop.com