Dear Quilting Friends,
If you live anywhere near northwest Ohio, you
know what I mean when I say that this is the winter that just
won’t quit! On Wednesday, March 5 Glora Belle and I had committed
to go to Shipshewana to a fabric show. Freezing rain, followed by
snow, hit on Tuesday eve; so we decided to leave an hour later in
the morning in order to give the snowplows a chance to work and
also so that we could drive in the daylight. In the morning,
after numerous phone calls, we decided we just weren’t going to go
at all. Then, an hour later, the county trucks had plowed us out
and the sun was shining, so we changed our minds and headed
out. I’m very glad we decided to make the trip because we were
able to see most of our major sales representatives and ordered
LOTS of fantastic fabric that you will love! These fabrics will be
coming into
the shop between now and August, so we have great things to look
forward to, including all the new Christmas fabrics arriving in
May and June!
One of the most notable groups that should be
arriving in March is the entire line of The Very Hungry
Caterpillar fabrics by Andover. These fabric designs are based
on Eric Carle’s famous children’s book and will create fun and
colorful quilts. Also due in March are more Amy Butler
fabrics, Snow Wonderland by Whimsicals and a patriotic
collection from Timeless Treasures.
New Fabrics
Now Showing at Threads of Tradition
A great variety of fabric ordered at Quilt
Market arrived almost daily during February. Since pictures are
worth much more than words when describing fabric, I’ve included
photos of many of the new fabric groups that we have in stock. As
you can see, there is everything from a darling Mother Goose baby
quilt, construction equipment for the boys, to many pretty spring
floral groups in a variety of popular decorator colors and even
the fabulously funny Fruit Ladies. Many of these fabrics have
patterns designed for them, some for purchase and some are free
with matching
fabric
purchase. Come in and see what the most popular designers have
dreamed up for spring 2008!
Construction - Heavy Duty...
The stripe is shown here, but
coordinates
are available including a play mat of a construction site. Free
pattern available for a twin size quilt.
Mother Goose & Friends...
This
quilt is a free pattern included in the quilt kits.
http://www.pbtex.com/html/mothergoosepat.html
|
In the Park |
Rain Blossom by Windham |
Gatsby by Timeless Treasures |
|
Friends & Flowers by Mary Englebreit |
Fuschia II by Maywood |
Natalie by Moda |
|
Fruit Ladies by Elizabeth Studio |
Muted Transitions by Benartex |
|
Memories
from 2008 OH-MI Shop Hop
We
are very thankful for the break in the winter storms during
the OH-MI Shop Hop. I
think February 20-23 were some of the best weather days of the
entire month! Over 400 participants, shop staff and volunteers
enjoyed the chance to get out of their winter routine and spend a
fun-filled day with friends. The Mardi Gras theme, complete with
New Orleans jazz, balloons, beads, glittery crowns and jester
headbands provided a party atmosphere that helped to brighten the
day - thanks to all of you who decided to dress up with us. We
hope everyone who came is enjoying their free sewing kit and all
the wonderful purchases you made at all eight shops. Special
congratulations to Sandy Oyer, grand prize winner and all
the many other prizewinners.
For our Shop Hop food, we altered a snack mix
recipe to create spicy, Cajun finger food. We made 16 batches of
this mix and still ran out before the end of the shop hop, so I’ve
included the recipe for those of you who enjoyed it at Shop Hop as
well as for those of you who came Saturday evening after it was
all gone. My apologies to those of you who didn’t get any!
Cajun Snack Mix
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
4 cups Crispix cereal
4 tsp. chili powder
2 cups Bugles snacks
1 ¼ tsp. garlic powder
2 cups small corn chips
½ tsp. onion powder
2 cups mini cheese flavored crackers
1 ¼ tsp. Cajun seasoning
5 cups small pretzel twists
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat
oven to 250* F. In a deep roasting pan, melt butter in the oven as
it preheats. Remove pan from oven and stir in seasonings. Add
Crispix, Bugles, corn chips, cheese crackers and pretzels; mix
well to coat. Bake 15 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and stir to
coat well. Bake 30 minutes longer, or until golden brown, stirring
every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered
containers. This mix freezes well in containers or zip-top plastic
freezer bags. Makes about 15 cups
Quilters
Retreat
This weekend, March 14 & 15, at least 22
women will be relaxing at our 2nd annual spring
Sauder Village Quilt Retreat. Plans include lots of free
sewing time to finish your UFO’s or to begin a new project,
talking and laughing with quilting friends, great food,
demonstrations, door prize drawings and goody bags. After the
retreat everyone will go home with finished projects, new ideas
and wonderful memories. If you haven’t registered yet, we can
still set up another table for you - call Jan Nofziger at
800.590.9755 today; or for more information visit our website at:
http://www.saudervillage.org/Hospitality/quiltshop.asp#Classes. We
look forward to spending the weekend quilting with you!
Quilt Fair
Once we
turn the calendar page to March, I know I really need to get to
work on all the final details for our annual Quilt Show. I’m
hoping you are planning on coming for at least one day and better
yet, taking a class from Sharyn Craig and entering a quilt
in the show. It’s rewarding to see your quilt hanging with so many
others and to share your talents with other quilt lovers. If you
are planning to enter a quilt in the show, please do so
soon. There are over 100 quilts already registered and the last
several years we had to close registrations early because we had
met the maximum number that we can hang in Founders
Hall. Registration forms are available online at
http://www.saudervillage.org/Creativity/quiltfair_RegTag.asp
and you can either register online or print out the form and mail
it in to Jan Nofziger. Also, classes with Sharyn Craig are filling
fast, especially the Wednesday and Saturday classes. There is
still plenty of room in the Thursday/Friday two-day class, which
is going to be a great time to learn a lot from Sharyn’s
expertise. Also, I think you would really enjoy the Friday evening
Dinner Lecture and Awards Banquet. Sharyn will show quilts and
talk on the subject “Trees Don’t Have to be Green”. We will also
be presenting all the top awards to the winning quilters. The food
will be great and the company even better so register now to join
us on Friday, May 2 at 6:00 PM for a wonderful evening.
Classes
We have two great classes coming up in
April. There is still space available for you in either class, but
reserve your spot soon! Before the April 12 class, we should have
even more Amy Butler fabric to choose from, or make this wonderful
bag out of any fabric you choose.
If you have always wanted to learn to machine
quilt, or just need some pointers to improve your technique, Donna
will gladly answer all your questions as she leads you through the
Skillbuilders practice exercises. The supply fee includes all the
fabric, batting and thread you need as well as the companion book
that includes lots of basic machine quilting tips.
Weekender Travel
Bag...
Saturday,
April 12, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Instructor: Glora Belle Yoder
Skill Level: Skilled Beginner
Class Fee: $30.00 / $27.00 Members
Class Size: Min 4 / Max 10
The perfect carryall bag, designed by Amy Butler, for your next
getaway. The finished size of this bag is 14 ½" high by 7 ½" deep
and 17" wide at the bottom.
Machine Quilting
with Skillbuilders...
Thursday, April 17, 6:30 - 9:00 PM
Instructor: Donna Missler
Skill Level: Beginner
Class Fee: $15.00 / $13.50 Members
Supply Fee: $36.00 / $32.50 Members
Payable with registration fee
Class Size: Min 4 / Max 10
Learn to machine quilt while completing all the practice exercises
printed on your Skillbuilder sampler. Preparing the quilt sandwich
for quilting, straight line and free motion quilting will be
covered in this class.
Books
and Patterns
Of all the new patterns, two catch my eye the
most, It’s A Guy Thing by Pieces from my Heart would be
great pieced in plaids, flannels or any “guy” fabrics, but I think
it could also be wonderful in “girly” florals. Debbie Caffrey’s
new pattern “Surrounded by Monkeys” is a classy pattern
that would be wonderful in a throw or bed size. If you are curious
about the name of this pattern, Debbie explains its origin on the
back
of her pattern, so you’ll just have to come in and check it out
for yourself!
The
Tale of Alice’s Quilt is a storybook with the added bonus of
instructions to re-create Alice’s quilt for your very own.
Charming watercolors illustrate the heart-warming story of Alice,
her family history and an almost forgotten tradition of
quilting. When Alice, as a young girl, discovers a stack of
appliquéd quit blocks from the past, a thread to another time and
place opens up for her to explore. Her desire to piece together
the blocks she found leads her on a journey full of lessons about
life, love and even death - and how a love for quilting can bind
generations.
With spring arriving in just over one week,
hopefully we will soon see the end of this winter that refuses to
quit. But in the meantime, we can cheer up our surroundings and
anticipate the warm spring weather by sewing with the beautiful
colors of new spring fabrics that are abundantly available. Stop
in Threads of Tradition for a burst of springtime color!
You sew girl! Linda
Threads of Tradition @ Sauder Village
22611 State Route 2, Archbold, Ohio 43502
800.590.9755 or 419.446.2541 ext. 3011
www.saudervillage.org
send email inquiries to:
lrufenacht@saudervillage.org
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