September 26th, 2008

What a beautiful fall season we are having!  There are so many pretty red and yellow trees this year and there is lots of color coming yet.  Be sure to get out and enjoy it!

We have found that lots of people are already starting gifts for the holiday season.  Vicki just finished a quilt from a group called Snowy Silence from South Seas fabrics.  Great quilt for any guy in your life. 

This tote bag from This & That, is fun to make and fun to use!  I made this one to match a dress that I wore to a wedding recently.  It has lots of pockets inside and was great to carry everything that I needed for me and my 3 year old.  You can make it from fat quarters, jelly roll strips or even your stash.  The strips are sewn on an angle so you don’t even have to worry about getting them straight.  Add some decorative stitching and a button and it is ready to go.

The Yo -Yo Makers from Clover are close to being the best thing since sliced bread.  I am not overly excited about sewing by hand but I will make yo -yo’s with the Yo-Yo makers.  They are a great project for the car or watching a movie.  You can select some beautiful fat quarters or use scraps in your stash.  For this little kitty we just finished, we selected specific batik fabrics.  The pattern for this little kitty (and many other very cute little creatures) come from Indygo Juction. 

I have started to go “green”.  Not like Kermit the Frog or anything, but I have been making these wonderful tote bags for groceries.  They hold lots of groceries, have great handles and because they are made of fabric they can easily be washed if something spills.

It has taken many, and I do mean many years to be talked into knitting socks.  I have given in to the peer pressure of the knitting world and have started a pair of socks.  Actually, I am knitting socks out of desperation.  I have a pair of leather clogs that have either stretched or my foot has shrunk because they are too big and I can not find socks thick enough to fill the space.  I was originally going to make tube socks but I have even been talked into doing heels.  I do have to admit it is going better than I thought it would.  I am cheating a slight bit by using 2 strands of worsted weight yarn and a size 8 needle but hey, we all have to start somewhere.  I am using a knitting technique called “The Magic Loop”.  With the Magic Loop you use one long circular needle instead of 4 double pointed needles.  It is easy to learn and once you do it, you will never use or need double pointed needles again.  For example, if you were making a hat and started on the bottom as you work your way to the top and decrease you will be able to keep using the same circular needle.  It is kind of hard to explain but The Magic Loop book has great pictures and much better instructions than I.  You may notice an orange colored yarn running through my knitting; that is where the heel will be placed.  With this heel technique you place a waste yarn where the heel will go and keep knitting the rest of the sock.  When you are done with the sock, you go back and pick up stitches and knit the heel.  Stay tuned – there will be more updates on the sock!

Happy crafting and remember “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa

August 19th, 2008

We hope that everyone is enjoying summer. It has been a beautiful summer and the blueberry crop this year is wonderful. I hope that some of you were able to make it to our 25th Blueberry Festival last weekend here in Paradise. Kyle and I had some great blueberry muffins on Saturday from the Festival. Thank you to all the hard working people that help put the Wild Blueberry Festival together and keep it going year after year. Mark it on your calendars the Wild Blueberry Festival will be Aug. 21- 23 in 2009

Currently I have a wall hanging that needs borders and a new chenille project that I will show you next time but today I am going to showcase some of the wonderful gadgets that we use each day to assist us in our crafting. Today I will concentrate on sewing gadgets but will feature others in coming posts.

Curved safety pins are a great invention. They are used for basting your layers together and the curve helps to bring the point of the pin back to the top through the layers making it a little easier on your fingers.

Bobbin Savers are a rubbery type ring that you put your bobbins in so they don’t roll away on you. The bobbins fit in tight, yet they are easy to get out. We can attest to how well the bobbins stay in because when Kyle was a baby he thought they were a toy and would pick them up and play with them!

The above gadgets are all fairly new products that we have been using and just love. The mechanical pencil can be used for marking quilting lines on your quilts. There are different colors of lead also; white, yellow, green and gray.

Next, we have the new lighted tools from the Widget Company. There are lighted scissors, needle threader, seam ripper and snag grabber. They have a little LED light so they are nice and bright, plus an on/off switch and replaceable batteries. I know from experience that the seam ripper works great especially with dark threads and dark fabrics.

Best Press is a starch alternative that helps to give your fabrics a bit of crispness and helps to relax those stubborn wrinkles that you get sometimes. It comes in four different scents as well as unscented. If you have tried it and like it, we now have one gallon refills available.

The Dritz pillow template helps to make your throw pillows the right size so that they are nice and full. The template allows you to taper the corners of the pillow slightly so that the pillow form fills out the pillow better. It does make for a very nice looking pillow.

Till next time – Happy Crafting!

Lisa

July 21st, 2008

We hope everyone is having a great summer so far. We are! Our 4th of July parade float won the 1st prize for best business. If you haven’t seen the picture of our float be sure to check out the posting for July 4th.

We have been trying new and different techniques with the fabric inks. This picture shows using a quilt stencil on a t-shirt or you could even do a quilt block and then adding the fabric ink. Deb made the table runner by using a black and white fabric and a batik fabric. The black and white fabric was colored with fabric ink to match the batik fabric. Think of all the possibilities! You find the perfect fabric but you can’t find anything to go with it – color a black and white fabric ink with colors to match. They are permanent once heat set and can be washed. Decorate a plain t-shirt or a tote bag with a quilting stencil design to make a unique gift. The pattern for the table runner is called “Bent Pieces” from Maple Island Quilts.

I finished a new table runner from the book “Let’s Do Lunch” from Atkinson Designs. There are 13 table runners featured in this book as well as 2 tote bags and a wine bag. The table runner I chose uses a striped fabric. You can use a closely striped fabric or something like what I chose. It has a striped look to it but has the flower design in it also.

I also just finished a children’s quilt made with an adorable puppy panel and I am currently in the process of writing up the pattern.

Vicki and Kyle have been out picking the first blueberries of the season and it has been raining enough to keep them watered so the crop by the Wild Blueberry Festival (Aug. 15-17) should be great. If you have never attending a Wild Blueberry Festival here in Paradise this should be the year! It is the 25th anniversary this year and there will be entertainment, an arts and crafts fair and local food specialties including the Blueberry Brunch each morning. It is fun for the whole family! Visit www.paradisemichigan.org for more information on the Wild Blueberry Festival.

Happy crafting!

Lisa

July 4th, 2008

Happy 4th of July! We have just finished our 4th of July parade here in Paradise. It was a lovely parade and the weather is beautiful today. As promised here are the pictures of the float and parade. Enjoy and have a safe and happy 4th!

Lisa

Paradise 4th of July parade line up.

Village Fabrics & Crafts 4th of July parade float.

How Village Fabrics & Crafts pulls the float! With Kyle too. It is quite a family affair!

June 29th, 2008

We are gearing up for the 4th of July which is coming quickly. Float ideas for the parade are being formulated and plans are being made. If you are unable to attend the wonderful 4th of July festivities in Paradise, which end with fireworks over Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay, make sure to check back here at the end of next week and you can see how our float for the 4th of July parade turned out.

All four of us are in the middle of projects so I don’t have any finished items to show today, but I do have some pictures of the beautiful wildflowers that are growing right now. These flowers are growing right along the road so it makes a very pretty drive.

Aren’t daisies a happy flower – you just have to smile when you see these.

My very favorite is the wild iris and they are blooming in every slightly wet area from the swamps to the ditches at the edge of the road. There are some areas along the road that are green with the grasses and then you see all these little purple flowers poking out.

If you look closely, in this picture you can see all the flowers together.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July. If you are in the Paradise area stop in to visit us and join us for our parade and fireworks. Till next time happy crafting and remember all threads lead to Paradise!

Lisa

June 18th, 2008

Well, we have been knitting, crocheting and sewing- oh my! I have some great new pictures to post and more to come since we have all been hard at work and the UPS man is here many times a week bringing new things. Since I haven’t posted any knitting or crocheting in a while I will start with those. First, I have been crocheting and felting bowls. I had two missions: one, make a penny dish for next to the cash register and two, design and write up a pattern for a crocheted and felted wine bottle cozy. Well, as some of you may know felting with wool yarn is sometimes a bit of an experiment. This little coin bowl made with Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky come out slightly bigger than I wanted but all in all I am very happy with it. Now the wine bottle cozy on the other hand, turned out to be a beautiful bowl. In other words, I really made it too big to start with and I felted it just as much as I possibly could. I added a really cool new yarn called Circus, to a wool and silk blend yarn to get this bowl. Circus is a fuzzy yarn and also has little balls of color hanging off it.

I absolutely love the look of this bowl (even though I was aiming for a wine bottle cozy) and I knew when I was making it that I was making it a bit too big around and I should have went back and tore out a row before making the sides. Now I just need to make the wine bottle cozy to match! Great gift idea here!

Vicki just finished a really cool knitted hat. The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky and the pattern is from Halfmoon Hallow Designs. Since it is made of bulky yarn with big needles, it knits up quickly and can be made in an evening. There is a wide selection of colors and the new Brown Sheep hand dyed looking yarns. Here’s the hat with Kyle modeling:

The 13th and final banner of the month is done. If you purchase all twelve you get the 13th one free. This one is adorable and embellished with lots of buttons. You can join our banner of the month club and have the banner kits sent to you each month. Each kit includes pattern, all fabrics for the top as well borders backing, binding and embellishments. Contact us if you have any questions or would like to join our club.

I made a new table runner from a pattern from Maple Island Quilts. It has curved borders and is so much fun. Don’t fret; the curves are not hard to do. I think the bigger and bolder the print for the center, the better it is!

From Blank Textiles we have the Chelsea collection and this cool new bright quilt with geometric flowers. Made with strips and borders with fusible machine applique, it can be completed quickly. Makes for a great size for a student going off to collage.

Deb just finished these great Christmas ornaments from Susie C. Shore designs. They are colored with the fabric inks and are as cute as a button and couldn’t be easier. Add trim and embellishments and you have a wonderful gift for co-workers or a newly married couple. The fabric inks are fun and it is just like coloring in a coloring book such a wonderful and relaxing activity.

‘Till next time, happy crafting and remember “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa

May 19th, 2008

Happy Monday to all! First, I have to post a picture of my new sweatshirt jacket. The pattern comes from the designers at The Teachers Pet and it is fun. You pick 5 fabrics, make a quilt top, cover the sweatshirt, bind and your done. Well, there are a few steps in between but you could have this done in a weekend to wear to work on Monday.

We have some wind issues today so Vicki and I tried to take this next picture 4 times before I got one. Thank goodness for digital cameras. This table runner comes from a pattern from Kansas Troubles Quilters and uses the Jelly Roll Strips or you can cut your own strips from your stash of favorites or a specific color group with the new strip and charm square ruler. As a bonus there is a pattern for a strip tote bag too. Both projects are quilt as you go, so piece, binding and you are done! Either one would make a great gift, especially during this time of year when there are many weddings and graduations going on.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and all your travels. For you that will be in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula stop by and visit us. We are open everyday including Memorial Day. We have met some wonderful people lately that have been traveling to here from all over the United States – Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virgina and Alabama just to name a few off the top of my head. Happy crafting and remember “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa:-)

May 14th, 2008

Deb finished a quilt using some of Mark Lipinski’s (of the Quilters Home magazine fame) line of fabric called Katmandu. This pattern is great for beginners (because the designer takes you through step by step and includes great pictures) as well as those who are more advanced but looking for a quick to make project. You can do all squares or make the triangles, fun fun!

I recently finished putting together my vest that I had quilted and posted pictures of a little while ago. I absolutely love this vest pattern (LOVE the Favorite Things designers) and love being able to pick fabric to go with shirts that I already have. Batik fabric is my fabric of choice for these vests because it washes and wears so well. Into the washer, into the dryer, give it a good shake and hang it up. They also seem to travel well; even after being folded and squashed in a suitcase they still look good when you pull them out. I have two of these vests now and have been wearing them quite often with our sometimes cool spring weather when you don’t really need a coat.

On Saturday May 3rd the volunteers got together to make quilts for Whitefish Township EMS, which is our local volunteer ambulance crew. The quilts are carried with the crew in the ambulances and are given to seriously injured or ill folks who are transported to the hospital. Eight quilts were completed on May 3rd for a total of 215 quilts that have been made and donated so far. The two quilts that are pictured are made from the 55 quilt squares that were made during National Quilting Day on March 15th. (See my March 24th posting of our National Quilting Day activities.) A BIG THANK YOU to all of the wonderful women and men that spend time with us to make these quilts.

I am off to finish a new sweatshirt jacket I have been working on. ‘Till next time, happy crafty and remember “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa

Spring Has Sprung!

Wow where does the time go. I can’t believe that it is May 1st. Our snow is almost gone and the flowers are starting to bloom.

I have a favorite new book that is all about short cuts to crazy quilting. It is all done on machine and you get to use all the wonderful decorative stitches on your sewing machine that you never are sure what to do with. If you don’t have a sewing machine with all the fancy stitches a zig zag with variegated threads is equally as stunning. Here are the pictures of this great new project.

Be sure to stop into the shop and check out this book and sign up for a class!

For the frog lovers we have finished a quilt in these lovely frog fabrics. We are finding that the adults want it as much as the kids.

For the little kids a quilt with silly animals and bright colors.

I have been working on Kyle’s sweater vest. I have only pulled it all out twice to start over. I wanted it a little bigger but it was turning out almost big enough for me. I have recalculated and I am on my way again. I really hope it turns out now that I have all the bugs worked out. I would like to make a lighter weight one for him to wear to my cousins wedding this fall.

We hope all of your projects are turning out perfect and sometimes you just need a little break or change of scenery to get back in the groove. Happy crafting and remember – “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa

Final Endings and New Beginings

It has been a week for finishing up all the little details on those on going projects.  And then of course getting to start new!  There are so many new patterns and ideas coming into the shop that it is hard to decided what to start next.

Vicki finished making heart shaped yo yo’s and finished this very cute table runner.  Great gift for someone getting married, a house warming gift or just because!

I have been meaning to post my finished floor quilt/cloth.  I started with a place mat size and learned a lot of techniques and discovered some helpful hints and tips for when I do classes.

To all the mothers, aunts, grandmas, friends and any one who has children or knows children – this it the best gift ever.  A nap sack!  Pick fabrics in the child’s favorite colors or prints and with the simple construction you can have this nap sack done for the next days nap.  Easy enough for beginners with  basic sewing skills and it includes an attached pillow.

The spring type weather makes me think of a new wardrobe and this quilted zip up vest is perfect.  Here is a picture of the one that is finished.

And a second one that is quilted but has to be assembled.

For those who don’t really like to do zippers, no fear, there is nothing to putting this zipper in!  I picked out batik fabrics that matched two long sleeve t-shirts that I have.  It can also be worn with a sweater or a short sleeve t-shirt.  If you have a special collection of fabrics you want to use, the pattern gives you the pattern pieces and directions so you can also make a patchwork version of this vest using a group of five fabrics.

Last but not least is a wonderful strip quilt that can be made from jelly roll strips or cut your own 2 1/2″ strips with the new jelly roll strip ruler.  We added some wider strips to our quilt to feature a group of fabrics with a cabin scene on them. 

Quick and easy to make with any group of fabrics or stash and makes a great gift or throw to spruce up any room.

So now that we have finished up these projects it is on to new.  I have started on a new project that is crazy quilting by machine.  It allows you to use all the fancy stitches on your machine if you have them and if not you can use a zig zag stitch and jazz it up with decorative threads.  I have my blocks cut and sewn together and now on to the fun part of the stitches oh, and it is quilt as you go so you when you are done there is no extra quilting.  Plus the quilt as you go technique allows you to do a bigger quilt on your sewing machine.  I have in mind a Halloween themed quilt for one of my dear friends quilted with glow in the dark thread- yum!

Till next time – happy crafting and remember “All Threads Lead to Paradise!”

Lisa