Stitchin’ Heaven Howdy

This is a press release for our Patchwork Party that says it all:

Internet quilting party attracts thousands of quilters. This isn’t your grandmother’s quilting bee, where a dozen gray-haired ladies gathered around a quilting frame to stitch and chat. In this day of the world wide web, quilter’s are Internet savvy, surfing the web to find quilt shops, block patterns and fabric.

In 2006 Debby Luttrell, owner of Stitchin’ Heaven in Quitman, Texas, envisioned 12 online quilt shops getting together for a new and exciting quilting event. Each shop would sell a different sampler quilt block kit then take the 12 different blocks and come up with a unique design for completing a quilt. That would give the customer 12 different options for completing her own quilt. Luttrell, researched the Internet for the best online shops to include in this project and chose well known designer Marti Michell to design the quilt blocks. Maywood Studio’s Willowberry Winter fabric was chosen and the first Patchwork Party was launched in August of 2006.

After an overwhelming success , quilters were clamoring for more. Patchwork Party 2007 – Spring edition followed using the Sanctuary fabric collection from Moda. Each Patchwork Party edition is only offered for a limited time.The next Patchwork Party begins August 15, 2007. This party will feature:

• Home for the Holidays, a beautiful floral fabric, designed by Fay Burgos for Marcus Brothers.
• 12 Incredible online quilt shops
• 12 newly designed blocks from Marti Michell
• 12 completely different finished quilts.

Everyone is invited to join the next Party. Visit www.patchworkparty2007.com

That pretty much tells you all about our Patchwork Party and we want you to join in on the fun! This is the quilt that I designed for the Fall Edition. It was named “A Tisket, A Tasket…” by my friend Deane from Amsterdam. It features basket motifs that can either be machine or hand embroidered (the digitized designs are included in our finishing kit as well as the line drawings for hand embroidery). This is a Deb Luttrell original design and I would be so honored if you decide this one is your favorite. However, visit the Patchwork Party 2007 website and make sure you choose the one you like best. There are some incredible quilts this Edition!

©2006 – 2007 Patchwork Party by Deb Luttrell

Hey everyone! I just wanted to stop a few minutes and update you on some neat things going on at Stitchin’ Heaven. First of all I wanted to let you know how hard the gals at Stitchin’ Heaven work to bring you a really great selection of some of the finest items in the quilting industry. You might be amazed to know that in the past 30 days some 900 items have been added to our website! That’s right…amazing. When you are on our homepage be sure and check out the “Newest Additions” page. That’s where we show what has been added in the past 30 days. We have had a push this month to get as much fabric on-line for you as we can so Donna, our good friend, stopped by for a few weeks to focus on just this task. She did a great job before she left to see her grandsons in Ohio. Donna will be finishing up nursing school this fall – go Donna!

Another thing that I want to let you know about is our Big BOM Sale that is coming up on Friday. For a couple of weeks if you join a BOM program and join the 2nd for free (a $25 value). At Stitchin’ Heaven we love BOM programs. The ones we offer are beautiful because we never offer something we would not love to do ourselves and many of our employees actually do the BOM along with you. Trish, our webgirl, has been working particularly hard to be sure all of our upcoming programs for the next 6 months are so are available for you during this sale. Here are some of the ones you won’t want to miss:

Botanika begins in August. This is a beautiful program designed by Robyn Pandolph. The Stitchin’ Heaven version will be on a much lighter background fabric (shown at right), however so don’t let this dark homespun look keep you from this quilt. The blocks are very romantic and the pieces are huge so it will be great for both hand needle turn as well as machine appliqué of any kind.

In September we have a wonderful Baltimore album style quilt “Not Anywhere Near Baltimore: A Prairie Version”. This great quilt we discovered at Quilt Market last fall in Houston and the designer was just finishing up on it saying all she needed to offer it to us was to finish the borders. It is ready to go now and we love it.

There are three BOM programs beginning in October. Atlantis is a beautiful art-type quilt made from batik fabrics. When you look at it be sure and look at all of the different blocks that are on display. They use a form of curved piecing that gives a unique look to the quilt. This quilt has no appliqué – everything here is pieced and it is very gorgeous. Equally beautiful is a new design we found called Celebration Sampler based on the Friendship/Album Presentation quilts, so popular in the mid-nineteenth century. It features 25 beautiful sampler blocks. And, finally you can start the project “Pumpkin Hill” which is a great applique quilt featuring all sorts of great animals busy getting ready for autumn.

In November you batik lovers won’t want to miss Diamonds Are… as well as a wonderful house quilt called Rosebud Lane. With Rosebud Lane there will be an accessory fabric packet that will have a pre-printed fabric with all of the little cute things in the windows of the houses. It is very unique.

On the website we have all the upcoming BOM’s listed so why don’t you head on over there and check them out early. Then, you can be ready to make your selections on Friday when our sale begins. Also, check out why we are the best in the industry at this sort of thing. We have worked very hard to make it good for you with extras like a fabric key in each packet so you don’t have to guess at where the fabric goes, a set date to bill and mail out the packets on, and a tremendous amount of effort to select just the right fabrics. See what our Happy Customers are saying about us as well.

BOM programs are great for three basic reasons:

1. You only get a small part of a big quilt every month so it is easier to complete the project and not be overwhelmed. Get it from your mailbox, do the block, and before you know it you have it all ready to put together
2. Generally we don’t have the variety of fabric in our stashes to make these quilts and the fabric choices are critical to the success of the project. This is what we are best at so take advantage of us!
3. You get to pay it out over time without interest! So, instead of having to pay a huge chunk of money up front, we let you pay it out at $19.95 per month. Too easy! The payments are automatically drafted from your account and you don’t have to hassle with it every month.

So, get yourself another cup of coffee and spend some time deciding which programs you would like to join in on with us. Then, on Friday place your order and get ready for some fun!

Until we meet again, may your days be pieceful!

deb

Dear Deb,
Can you tell me what a Baltimore Album quilt is and a bit about how they originated?

Thanks

Wondering about Baltimore

Dear Baltimore,

You’ve hit on one of my own favorites here! Baltimore quilts are thought to have started in an attempt to emulate the autograph albums that were very popular at the beginning of the 19^th Century. In about 1840 inks were developed that could be used on fabric without damaging them, so it was a short step from collecting signatures in albums to collecting them on quilts! These simple quilts became known as friendship quilts, each block the same except for the signature or poetry written on it by a friend. Eventually, friendship quilts developed into sampler quilts, with each block being different. They featured beautiful appliqué motifs.

At this time in history, Baltimore was very wealthy and the home of a growing textile industry, and the appliqué sampler quilts became all the rage. Because there was a large German community in Baltimore, German folk art motifs and symbols became a standard part of the designs. Mostly, the fabrics used were crisp and new, which made for marvelous appliqué techniques.

Baltimore are not thick or heavy because only a thin batting was used and, generally, they were used for show rather than to keep folk warm at night! Making a Baltimore quilt is a long-term project because they are heirloom pieces but they are tremendously satisfying to make and you can incorporate loads of memories, or perhaps incorporate symbols that are special to the recipient of the quilt.

Because these quilts are made block by block, in the hand, they make for very portable projects. I have never completed a Baltimore Album quilt although I love to see them and to admire the work that goes into designing and making them. We have a couple of great Baltimore Album style Block of the Month projects that will be starting soon in the shop. One is called “The Shade Garden Sampler” and was a quilt designed by Susan McCord and is rich in history. Another more modern designer has a Baltimore Album style quilt named “Not Anywhere Near Baltimore” that features Prairie motifs in the quilt including a covered wagon!

If you are really interested in this type of quilt, look out for books by Elly Sienkiewicz, where you will find instructions for making your own blocks and quilts. One such book is “Baltimore Elegance” and can be found on our website. A from Elly is Fancy Applique which is more of a technique book that includes 2 unique Fancy Sampler Quilts + 50 different blocks + All the techniques you need including: – cutaway and reverse cutaway appliqué – Needleturn – Non-decorative appliqué stitches – Stumpwork – Scenery blocks – Methods for perfect points, inside corners, and smooth curves …not to mention that it is just a beautiful book.

Hope that helps – a word of warning though Baltimore Quilts can be addictive!

Until we meet again, may your days be pieceful!

Deb

**Do you have a question about quilting? If you do, there are other quilters who have the same question! Simply email it to deb@stitchinheaven.com and she will answer it for you!