November 3, 2009

I may have mentioned it before but I have fallen in love with a new machine called the Accuquilt Go!  It is easy, fun and there are endless possibly projects that can be created from it.  If you have not heard of the Accuquilt Go!  it is a fabric cutting machine.

A lovely little thing that is very portable and can be taken to classes and retreats as well as used at home.

Here it is all ready to go.  The handle in the center turns a roller that runs the dies through the machine.  The dies have blades in them surrounded by foam and when they go under the roller it compresses them and the blades cut the fabric.  You layer the die with fabric and then cover with a cutting mat.   There are approximately 3 dozen dies to choose from and more coming all the time.  You can choose from more traditional cuts such as 2 1/2″ strips (like Jelly Rolls), squares, triangles, tumbler blocks and more.

There are also applique dies; feathers, critters, flowers, circles, snowflake, tree, fall leaves and more.  With the applique dies you can actually put your fusible web right on the back of your fabric and run it though the Accuquilt Go!.  After your pieces are cut they are ready to be fused on your background fabric.  No tracing and cutting with scissors.

I needed to cut charm squares (5″ squares) and a lot of them for a project I was working on- 24 different fabrics in fact and 8 charm squares from each one.  That is 192 squares and I was done in under 20 minutes.  (20 minutes includes the little bit of extra time that was needed because my four year old wanted to help turn the handle.)

24 different fabrics

The die, fabric, cutting mat

Going through the machine

Two charm squares

Completed charm squares .

 

I used salvage to salvage cuts of fabric from bolts, but you can also use scraps and pieces.  For example if your pieces are smaller you may only be able to cut one charm square from your scrap but you can layer a few up together and discard any little bits left.  So far we have cut up to 6 layers at a time, some of it will depend on the thickness of your fabrics.

We will be demonstrating the Accuquilt Go!, and many other things, at our Holiday Open House this Saturday (Nov. 7th) starting at 10am.  Come and join us!

Happy Crafting!

Lisa

October 28th, 2009

Just a quick post today to share with you some of our beautiful fall leaves.  Vicki just took these pictures in the last week.  You can we have been able to enjoy the fall colors for quite a while this year and there are still green leaves on some trees.

 

These pine trees aren’t dying.  They are Tamarack pines.   They loose their needles each fall and grow them again in the spring.

This picture was just taken yesterday on Lakeshore Drive (between Sault Ste. Marie and Paradise, by way of Brimley)  which is one of the prettiest drives in the fall (and other seasons too!)

Have a happy day!

Lisa

September 14, 2009

It is only a few days till the first day of Fall but we have been having some very Summer like weather and hasn’t it been nice!  We will be at a quilt show this weekend in Sault Ste. Maire, MI sponsored by the Keeping the Piece Quilters Guild.  It is being held at Sault Area Middle School on Saturday Sept. 19 and Sun. Sept. 20.  We will be one of the vendors at the quilt show so stop by our booth and say “HI.”

A note for those of you on our mailing list that receive our All Threads E-Newsletter – we haven’t forgot about you!  We have a new computer.  This is a great treat and very exciting except that the old programs won’t work with the new computer so there is reformatting and redoing going on.  Once all is said and done it will be so much better I promise.  Now on to our regularly scheduled blog.

A great gift idea here – 4 sided placemats!  Make a whole set or make one and add a candle for a wonderful table center piece.  4 fat quarters will make one placemat.  See the four different fabrics?  There is moose, lighthouses, flowers and blueberries.    We have this in the shop and it will also be at the Flying Geese Quilt Show this weekend.  This is a must see!

This wall hanging or table runner can be made with a wide variety of fabrics.  Our model is make with batiks with one being used for the larger focus squares.  Great for a larger print or photos.

For the crocheters or the wanna be crocheters we have this crocheted rug pattern.  It is written for beginners with no crochet experience and offers round, oval and rectangle rugs, plus hints and tips for making your fabric crochet rug. My rug is coming out quite thick and soft and would be great for standing in front of the sink doing dishes.  Great way to use up leftover strips of fabrics.

Hope to see you at the Quilt Show this weekend.  Till next time happy crafting!

Lisa

August 27, 2009

Is it really almost September?  Where has the time gone.  I know that we have been enjoying visits from each and everyone of you that have been in the shop this summer.  It is so nice to see familiar faces year after year.  We love to see and talk to you about the projects that you are working on and we ADORE show and tell!

So speaking of show and tell, I have lots to show.  We have been busy with new shop models and getting everything for the fall class schedule ready.  So here are some of the new things we are working with lots more to come!

Snibbles is one of my favorite new patterns.  It is all about using bits and pieces from about 1″ – 2 1/2″ wide and any length.  This can include binding, scraps and trimmings.  All colors and prints welcome! 

Vicki quickly knitted and finished this new wool hat.  It is made with a super bulky yarn and size 17 double pointed needles and can be finished in a couple of hours.  There are many delicious colors to choose from. 

For the kids – I know it is one of my sons’ favorite books – The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt.  Wouldn’t it be fun to give the quilt and book together for a special gift?

That’s all for today but I have much more to come.   I have in the works a couple of posts featuring two great new tools.  Stay tuned!  Till next time – happy crafting!

Lisa

July 21, 2009

New items have been arriving from the yarn show that Vicki was at about a month ago.  Lots of great new sock yarns, a chunky weight acrylic yarn in marvelous variegated colors, some new hand dyed wool/mohair scarf kits and some felted coin purse kits.

Vicki put this fish quilt together recently.  It is made from 9 different shaded fabrics and has a great blue background that looks like water and bubbles.  The shaded fabrics consist of 4 shades of a color per bolt. 

The Paradise Wild Blueberry Festival is coming Aug 21-23 this year and includes family events and entertainment, an arts and crafts show and of course blueberry pies, muffins and more.  Vist the Paradise Chamber of Commerce website at http://www.paradisemichigan.org/blueberry/festival.html for more information or feel free to contact us.

All of us here are in the middle of projects so there will be lots of new finished items to  post soon.  I have been working on Halloween things and knitting one of the new felted coin purse kits, Deb is working on a new table runner and Vicki is making a fall leaf quilt.  We will keep you posted on all that is going on.  Plus, we have some great new fall fabrics coming any day and some 2 hour knitted hat kits coming this week.  Never a moment with out something to do and we love it!

Till next time, happy crafting!

Lisa

4th of July 2009

The 4th of July in Paradise was wonderful.  We had great weather, a great parade and ended the day with fireworks over Whitefish Bay.  If you haven’t ever seen the fireworks over Whitefish Bay it is a beautiful sight.  Here are some pictures of the Village Fabrics & Crafts parade float.

Another view:

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July.

Lisa

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Attention yarn lovers – are you ready for World Wide Knit in Public Day? We will be holding a World Wide Knit in Public event at Village Fabrics & Crafts on June 20th starting at 10am, and we are extending our invitation to this event to all of those who love yarn – knitters, crocheters, those who use knitting looms and even those who would like to learn.  If the weather co-operates we hope to be able to be outside, if not our classroom will be available so you can come rain or shine!  You will need to bring a project, lawn chair, beverage, lunch (or go out for lunch), sun screen, friends and anything else to make your day fun and comfortable.  If love yarn and want to learn how to knit or crochet; bring your enthusiasm and we will teach you how!  This is a FREE EVENT and there will be lots of really good door prizes, too! Contact us if you have any questions and to let us know that you will be joining in on the fun.  Stay for the whole day or as long as your schedule permits.

We will hope to see you and your yarn on Sat. June 20!  Till next time – happy crafting!

Lisa

May 28, 2009

Spring has definitely sprung and summer is on its way!  You can almost see the leaves on the trees grow everyday.  With the rain we are having today the woods is full of the most beautiful green colors.  One would never realize that there where that many shades of green- how inspiring.

To inspire you I have some new things to show you.  My sons’ favorite new thing is this great play tent, we even let him make the final decision on which fabric he liked best.

There are so many wonderful fabrics that you could use to make this tent.  You could choose leaves, bark looking fabric, flowers anything!  In fact it is fun to let the kids choose and see what they pick out.  This pattern from Maw Bell also includes a pattern for a sleeping bag.

Journey’s Beginning is a new collection of fabrics from Wilmington Prints.  We have kits available for this new quilt that features bears, deer and wolves.

The cutest little ballerina backpack fabric panel is here.  The fabric panel features all the outer backpack pieces and you just need batting and lining.  It assembles quickly and would make a great gift.

Looking for a great gift for a special someone -  this note book holder from This & That.  It could be for the kids to make notes, leave one in the car, carry one in your purse, give one to a friend, sketch new quilt designs, or make notes on your knitting project.  Fun and easy to make!

Enjoy the day and until next time happy crafting!

Lisa

April 15, 2009

Wow, it is a pretty day here today.  The sun is shining with blue sky all around and the snow is practically melting as you watch.  Ironically, we could use some rain because where there isn’t any snow it is almost dusty.  There is currently 1,930 cubic feet of water going over Tahquamenon Falls  each second.  If my calculations are correct that is about 14,417 GALLONS PER SECOND.  Amazing!

The birds are migrating across Whitefish Point.  A gentleman was just in and said he saw a bald eagle, a golden eagle and sandhill cranes today.  Spring certainly has sprung!

In a way, I am kind of glad there is still a little snow on the ground.  That means I don’t have to rake yet and since I can’t quite get to the garden yet, I get to sew and knit and enjoy the next couple of weeks till the snow is gone.

New in knitting is this pair of socks that Vicki just finished.  It is hard to see, but there is a pattern in the leg of the sock called Chain of Hearts.  These socks are made from one of the yarns that has aloe in the yarn.  If you haven’t tried out this yarn yet put it on your list.  It is great on your hands as you work with it too.

Spring makes us think of bunnies and these bunnies featured in Bunny’s Day Out are having a great time playing in the fields.  This would be great for any child – boy or girl.

Speaking of children Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabrics are here and selling quickly.  We even have the books to go with them.  A great gift for a new baby could be a quilt and a book.  Or for a little older child, how about a pillow case and a book.

Vicki has been playing with the Strip Tube ruler and book again.  The possibilities with this ruler are endless.  She has about 16 blocks or so done and it is so fun just to move them around on the design wall to see what you can come up with.  Here are just a few of the designs that I put together just playing around.

As you look at these pictures, remember they are all the same block.

It is hard for me to pick my favorite design.

Now I just stuck these blocks together, but you can use them randomly or spend a little more time laying them out.  Either way this technique is really neat and I think that I will have to be experimenting with it soon.

Enjoy your spring and till next time – happy crafting!

Lisa

March 18th, 2009

It’s coming up quickly.  National Quilting Day is this Saturday, March 21st!  This is such a fun and exciting time to celebrate and experience quilting and National Quilting Day gives us an excuse to do so.  Although, we don’t find that we need an excuse to do something so fun!   Quilting has come a long way and there are so many different facets to this gem.  To celebrate National Quilting Day we are doing a free quilting event.  We will be running a quilting open house all day 10am  -5pm, where students can choose a technique and make their own mini quilt to take home with them.  Some technique options are; chenille, fabric ink, applique and piecing.  Here are a few sample pictures of what we will be doing on Saturday. 

From Left to Right:  Chenille, piecing, fusible machine applique, quilt as you go.

Fun with fabric inks.

Remember, if you are in the area stop by on Saturday, March 21st.  National Quilting Day is for everyone from want-to-be quilters, beginning quilters and even those who has been quilting for years.  We hope to see you there!

I have a couple of new projects to show you today.  First is a new knitting technique called k1b or knit one below.  This technique uses two yarns and you get a really cool stripe effect.  Now I can’t give a lot of details on this technique because Vicki has been working on it but I can tell you that it is really cool, not hard and we currently have classes scheduled on it. 

Also a new felted bag or purse.  Brown Sheep company yarns are so pretty and they felt wonderfully!  It is hard to tell in the picture but there are really cool shell buttons on the pockets at each end of this bag.  There is also a zipper so all your things stay inside.

A new quilt that we have just completed is this beautiful batik quilt made with Bali Pops (pre packaged 2 1/2″ strips of assorted batik fabrics) from Hoffman fabrics.  This quilt uses a new technique called Strip Tubing to easily make all the triangles.  We are currently running classes on this quilt. 

We hope that everyone is having  a good spring.  We have had some beautiful weather the past couple of days and it makes me want to start a new project!

Till next time, happy crafting!

Lisa