Zanzibar prints and a few others...

 Beautiful new prints titled Zanzibar by Quilting Treasures arrived this week!

The teal blue is from a line called KASHMIR prints, also from Quilting Treasures.

And this fun bolt features balloon animals!

All of these Quilting Treasurers feature new digitized printing, allowing more vibrant colors without losing any of the well known 'soft hand' that makes this employee-owned company so famous and respected. Retail price for each yard is $11.60, but Quilters' Quarters always has a discounted price ... 20, 40 or 50% less!

The shop will be closed on Friday October 4th as a friend is in need of hospital transport ... but will be open as usual from noon to 5 pm on the Thursday and the Saturday.

Come on in and see what else is in store! 

Thanks for signing up to follow this blog. If you are reading this in your email, please feel free to share this with your email friends. Fabric discounts continue in 2019 ... all customers will receive a 20% discount; folks who become frequent customers will receive a member discount of 40% on everything cut from the bolt. Quilters who are working on charity projects can purchase fabrics for those at 50% discounted!

Terry

AtQuiltersQuarters.blogspot.com

Do you want to make some toss pillows?

I can purchase pillow forms from an online wholesaler.  I had ordered some a few years ago for a customer, and she was pleased with them ... I think she ordered the down filled forms ... 

This week, I ordered some regular poly-filled forms, because they were more affordable and I knew they could be washed and dried as needed. I plan to turn a spare bedroom into a playroom, and wanted to use the bed as a day-bed, so needed pillows to dress it up.

Imagine my surprise when the smaller, 16" x 16" pillow forms arrived ... six of them ... in a box that I thought must hold only two!  And then I opened the box ... and found what appeared to be six flat, seemingly-deflated, balloons! But they were not as light as deflated balloons would have been...and so I tentatively reached into the box and drew one out.

It was a wrapped white fabric (I thought,) wrapped in a clear plastic bag. When I slit the bag open, nothing happened ... until I pulled the item out of its plastic wrapper ... it began to decompress ~ it had been vacuum-sealed into the wrapper. I had my doubts ... I'd seen vacuum-sealed vegetables at my mother-in-law's house years ago,  and while the bag was deflated, the green beans had their same size and shape, before and after opening.  But within moments, the pillow form achieved its intended shape and size ... I measured it ... and then struggled to put it into the fabric cover I'd made for it. It fit perfectly, and retained its shape!  When I opened the second one, I put it into its fabric cover more quickly, before it reached full size, and it was a bit easier!

I've made four pillows so far, and will make a few more to fill out the look of the intended day-bed. In time, my grandchildren will perhaps enjoy their soft cushy nest. Meanwhile, I'll order more pillow forms and make some up for gifts.

The forms took only two business days to arrive. If you want some, let me know what size you'd like. And if you're not sure how to make a pillow, I'll be happy to show you a way with just fabric, no zipper. If you'd rather a zipper, we can figure that out together, too.

I'll price these forms to agree with the regular retail price at fabric shops, but remember, you'll always get your Quilters' Quarters discount! 

Yes, that sad looking thing on the right is the pillow form

But to its left is a pillow made with one of these 'flat' forms! 

It fills out nicely and fairly quickly once the
plastic wrapper is removed!

left

Two sixteen inch and two twenty-two inch pillows ...
it's a start!

You'll find a complete size and price list, but for a start here are a few of the sizes available at the online warehouse ... I can order what you would like and it will be here within a matter of days.

Pillow Form Size	Poly-filled	Feather/Down filled
16” square	$11.99	$18.50
18” square	$14.50	$23.50
22” square	18.99	$36.00
24” square	$20.99	$40.00

More to See at Quilters' Quarters

They apparently had a backlog of fabric orders overseas (where many of our fabrics today are printed.) But the July order of Quilting Treasures fabrics arrived this week, and I'm told the August order will be here sometime in the next month ... then more later as winter begins. 

Fabric prices have increased each year ... those I purchase from the companies directly show the steadiest climb, and today's prices can run between 11 and 13 dollars per yard, retail. But you will always have at least a 20% reduction in per yard prices at Quilters' Quarters ... and sometimes I can buy last year's prints at a lower price, and when I get a sale, so do you!

Here's what arrived just the other day:

This line is titled Blanc et Noir, and I chose
the floral and 'scribbled floral' bolts

Carnivale Dots and Floral Designs

The unicorns measure about five inches in length
and are scattered across the 44" width of fabric.  

Here they are shown with some batik fabrics
that blend beautifully with the Mystical line.

Artworks Rainbow Animal Panels is the name of this line ...
the animal bolt has alternating zebras and elephants

The blender bolt that accompanies the panel is called
"Paint Strokes."

Beautiful New Fabrics Arrived

Six bolts of beautiful Timeless Treasures 100% cotton quilt-quality fabrics arrived this morning.  When I get a sale, so do you! A beautiful black on black blender, two gorgeous colorful prints and three sweet Tonga Batiks priced to sell before the summer season ends! Stop by to see these bolts ... and enjoy working with nature's beauty as you stay cool indoors...

Timeless Treasures "Electric Trees" and "Garden Sanctuary"

Garden Sanctuary print by Timeless Treasures $7.00  yard

Tonga Batiks by Timeless Treasures, $9.00 // yard

And another bolt arrived ... this one is a panel that measures 36" x 44" and bears the Psalm 23:6 verse ... "Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life."

Designed by Susan Winget, for Springs Creative fabrics

Come back to this page later today to see the July Block of the Month ... and more information on Quilters' Quarters stock. 

June 2019 Block of the Month at Quilters' Quarters!

I didn't want to post the block until the new Clover tool for making yo yo's arrived at Quilters' Quarters - but now they are here ... and we are half way through the 2019 block of the month patterns and kits! I think you'll like this new way of forming the yo yo's ... I've made hundreds of them through the years ... some for family quilts (my first quilt ever~) and some for Books in Bloom entries ... But here is my favorite so far, made with the Clover tool!

A rusty-looking watering can filled with bright June blossoms,
set on a background of fabric that echoes 1970 kitchen wallpapers!

Clover Yo-Yo Maker
Very clear directions in several languages,
 and free patterns for various yo yo uses!
Less than $6.00 each with your QQ discount.
Only five more of each in stock at Quilters' Quarters.

These are the first six months' QQ 2019 BOM blocks.
Patterns, fabrics, tools for each are available at
Quilters' Quarters in Georgetown, Massachusetts.
Quantities are limited!

Zipper Sale!

Quilters' Quarters is receiving some much needed maintenance this month ... this weekend, a new storm door replaced the old one, which was decaying from the moisture ... and many of you had tried to close it and found it wouldn't line up anymore with the frame.

But new storm doors are no longer made of wood, and some don't have much in the way of horizontal  or cross-cut structure, as the old ones had. So to help myself, and all of my visitors, avoid blindly walking into and through the nearly invisible screen, I've hung ribbons and colorful zippers across the screen, at eye level!

Look closely to see the red white and blue zippers~
on the nearly-invisible screen door.

To celebrate the new door and its 'decorations,' I'm having a sale on 14" nylon zippers ... both the traditional style, and the new 'invisible' style. I'll be helping people find videos on you tube that instruct you in creating 'box pouches' using fusible fleece ... with your choice of a visible or invisible zipper.

The yellow zipper is 'invisible' when sewn in;
the blue zipper is the traditional style.
Both at Quilters' Quarters for 75 cents each!

Quilters' Quarters does not stock the invisible zipper pressser foot, but you can find them for your favorite sewing machine at eBay, Amazon, and in quilt shops that sell new sewing machines.

This is the bottom of the new clip on 
invisible zipper presser foot.

For those choosing an invisible zipper, there is another you tube video that you will find instructive ... and another clip-on "invisible zipper" presser foot that you might or might not have in your collection, depending on the age of your machine. I found some on eBay, for Singer and Brother low shank sewing machines, and for Bernina tall shank as well.

Two coordinating pouches in dark and light
purple prints, made for my granddaughter's
vacation!

Stop in to Quilters' Quarters for help with the directions ... I'm happy to learn with you!

Here are the links:
Zippered pouch bag tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-SsfnXbVrc
Invisible Zipper Foot instuctional tutorial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ttAN0D1XOI

Stay tuned for the June Quilters' Quarters Block of the Month photo in the next post!

May Flowers

The lilac bush in our back yard in South Boston grew at the edge of the man-made cliff ... hundreds of years of coal furnace ash built up the land behind our two family home, creating a space that measured about 12 x 15 feet and ample room for a five line clothesline, an ash shed for the rubbish barrels, and a lilac bush.  When we moved to Georgetown, we found a similar old fashioned lilac outside the screened in porch, and enjoyed the fragrant blooms each May. The date of blossoms opening varied with the weather year to year, but I planned to carry some of our home grown lilacs as my wedding bouquet ... unfortunately, that year the bush bloomed early and by the thirtieth they had all passed their bloom. My bride's bouquet forty nine years ago, a small white, French family bible covered with trailing stephanotis, was instead a simple one. But every year following our wedding, Rick brought lilacs into the house whenever in May they bloomed, and we enjoyed their beauty and scent for weeks. He could always reach the best blooms at the top of the bush.

Curved blossoms, heart shaped leaves and wooden stems...

This month's QQ Block of the Month honors those lilacs ... The background is a deep blue print that echoes the cool, clear spring skies here in New England;the blossoms are made with Moda marble swirl fabrics, the  leaves and lilac blossoms are fused in place and will be decoratively quilted. The stem is a simple narrow zig zag stitch repeated three or four times. The pattern and various appropriate fabrics are available in the shop upon request.

The shop itself will be once again 'under construction' at times this spring and summer ... old clapboards are sagging, the window shutters are losing their louvers, paint is peeling, the storm door has paid its dues and will be replaced with a newer model, and some windows need replacing.  I had enough of a tax refund this year to do one large project and had two to choose from ... and the shop repairs won out over the new kitchen floor.  Such is life in New England, where one's barn is always prioritized, as it is where one's occupation takes place. One step at a time, one project per year ... eventually it will be as good as a two hundred year old barn can be.

I took my first sick day in five years today ... Grieving my loss of Rick sometimes leaves me without wind. But tomorrow is another day, and things to be done await. I'll be out in the shop at noon for quilters looking for fabric, notions and ideas.

As always, thank you for reading this. Please share the link for this blog with your quilting friends ... tell them of the automatic discounts that increase with time. I look forward to seeing you all. New shipments of fabric will occur in June, August and November ... come check on what's on hand each season!