Perkins Dry Goods

Quilt Minnesota is a huge statewide shop hop that happens every summer for the first three weeks in August.  It is a must-do event that is a ton of fun.

This year the fabric that Holly Taylor designed just for the shop hop is the best yet and it inspired me to make a couple of samples just for the shop hop.

These are existing patterns, you might already have them, so click here for yardage information and a sheet that you can print out and take with you to shop with!

These special pattern covers will be available starting July 16.  Patterns retail for $6.00.

Hopscotch~Minnesota Style uses 2 Quilt Mn charm packs for the top.  I used the dark stripe for the binding – it’s darling!

Peppermint Twist~Minnesota Style has a simple fabric plan and easy pinwheel technique.  Check out the striped binding on this one too!

What fun we had at market!  Eating at places like Hell’s Kitchen and The Cooper, shop hopping before and after the show (Rosebud’s Cottage, Silver Lane Quilting, Bear Patch, Four Seasons, The Nobel Quilter, Quilted Treasures, Quilter’s Haven, Blue Bamboo and Fabric Town).  I will post more later, but wanted you to see the booth.  My friend Robin has more pictures of it here (I forgot my camera!). PS – if you think I look tired, I was ready to fall over!

Passport to MN was a huge success – winners will be posted soon too!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by.  It is wonderful to see shops come through – to match a name and a face….what a treat!  And a huge thanks to all of the shops who are so supportive of me by carrying my patterns.

If you are a shop owner planning to attend Quilt Market in Minneapolis, you don’t want to miss out on this event!

A group of designers from the Twin Cities area decided that we wanted to showcase the talent in our great state.  Passport to Minnesota is a “booth hop” of sorts  with a drawing for 26 stitched samples or products you can use in your shop!

There is a Passport to Minnesota website  that has more detail, a list of participating designers as well as a sampling of the prizes being offered.

Don’t miss the schoolhouse on May 20th  – get a goodie bag and your passport and find out what it’s all about! Passports will also be available at participating designer booths.

Rosie is wondering if we will get snow out of the rain that’s coming…..

Thanks for all of the great stories about how you started quilting – I loved reading all of them.

My mom taught me how to sew. I just loved playing with the fabric scraps left from her dressmaking.  I used to wrap them around my Barbie doll and hand sew them to her ….such exotic creations!  My first authentic quilting class was at Glad Creations in Minneapolis in 1983.  A friend from work talked me into it.  The rest is history!

Now for the winners…I just put all of the comments together and used a number generator.  Please send me your mailing address!

Amy C
I’m still learning how to quilt. I started a couple of years ago. I’ve learned the basics but now I am challenging myself to find ways to improve my skills. I love being challenged.

Mary on Lake Pulaski
I started quilting on my own when I first got married in 1972 just because I needed some warm blankets. From there, I picked up books and magazines and taught myself.

Shawna
I made my first quilt when I was a kid. My mom helped me finish it into a quilt. It was a pinwheel design with poly sashing between the the blocks. I still have it today. I have always been a crafty person. I think that comes from my Grandma.

Badlandsquilts
I took a hand quilting class @ Eagle Creek a few years ago and have started machine quilting on my own in the last year.

Kathy in Wisconsin
I learned to quilt in 1980 when a friend/neighbor encouraged me to take an adult ed. class with her at our local elementary school. It was within walking distance and we wouldn’t even be spending money on gas to go. Her quilting has slowed down in the last 30 years, but mine is just more passionate all the time!

This version of Cotton Candy is done in the Astor Manor fabric line from Moda.  I have a weakness for brown and pink….this is such a pretty group!  Again, a charm friendly pattern.

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment this week about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Hopscotch is kind of an addictive little pattern, a new design in the Just for Fun! group.  I made this one from a Crazy Eight charm pack – a darling Christmas line from Sandy Gervais.  Maybe you have one or two charm packs stashed away waiting for the perfect project?

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment this week about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Designing and making these little quilts was the most fun I’ve had in awhile.  Plus I love this fabric line – it’s Simple Pleasures from Moda.  This is a one block quilt that can be done with scraps, or you can plan your fabrics.  There is an opportunity to make bonus half-square triangle units to use in another project too!

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five  new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

Twelve Oaks was inspired by Judie Rothermel’s recent fabric line from Marcus Fabrics by the same name.  I love the pops of blue among the browns, reds and golds in these prints.  Two-block quilts are a favorite of mine, the secondary patterns that come out are always interesting!

Click on the image for more information.

Remember to comment about when you learned to quilt – the drawing for one of five (not four ) new patterns will be held on Sunday May 9th.

I am pleased to be able to start showing you what I’ve been up to all of these weeks of silence!  I have a new book that is now available.  It’s a project book that can work as a block of the month.   There are four size options that you can make with the twelve basket blocks. I love baskets, don’t you?

I will be drawing four names on Sunday May 9th for one of each of the new patterns – be sure to stop back each day to see what they are.  To be included, be sure to leave a comment…. about when you learned to quilt!

Thanks to everyone who commented!  What a wide range of favorite projects…scrappy quilts, mysteries, small projects and so many of you give almost everything away!

If the winners could send me their mailing addresses, I’ll send the magazines right away.

Kathie L from Allentown
My favorite projects are quilts to give to family members to mark milestones – graduations, birthdays, etc. I get to enjoy making them and enjoy giving them.

Sequana
My favorite kind of quilt project is one that uses a bunch of fabrics from one collection. I love looking at them all while I work.
One I just finished like that is a pattern that used almost all the fabrics from Laura Gunn’s Lantern Bloom collection. Every block I made just seemed so much FUN and so beautiful.

Shirley
I love doing mystery quilts as you don’t know what you have until it’s done!