Halloween Baltimore Quilt Unveiled

Have you ever seen something and knew that you had to possess?  Well that is how we are with the Quilt we are about to show you.  It is the "Halloween Baltimore" designed by Pearl P. Pereira of P3 Designs.  It was the talk of Houston and we searched for it.  Thanks to FabShop Network we located the designer, we called and couldn’t wait for the patterns to arrive.  The fabric choice took close to three days.  The next question arrived as to whether we should do it as the designer had needleturned or fuse it. 

Time constraints made our decision easy and fuse it was.  We wanted to have it for our show season. Margy traced and fused the original design on parchment paper as we awaited the backgrounds we chose from Kaufman fabrics.  As they grew on the paperwork we were thrilled with the look.  Here are a few close ups for you to view.  The owls are too cute and we love the fabric that makes them look feathery. This next one is the most difficult but it was done perfectly, if you worked on it one step at a time.  Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves when it is totally not that bad.  Just sit down, fuse and sew.  Margy is good at that.   

There are also easier ones that help in getting this project done for this Halloween.  The center is completed at the end and by that time, you are so experienced, it comes easier.  The next to last picture is of one of the easier blocks and the last one is of the center.  We do have kits available and it can be purchased as a set or a set of the patterns alone.  Or you can purchase it as a BOM (Block of the Month) Just give a call or stop by and see it in person.  Yes, I am afraid this is on my list of things to do.  It is a quilt I must do and own.  We are happy to share with you the tips on how we did it.  Margy, also, did the quilting and she hit it on the nose.The center appears to be a large snow dome with bats and witches and our personal favorite candy corns floating around.  Pretty cool addition to our Halloween stuff, wouldn’t you say.

Visitors were last week's excitement. Yes, we are located in Florida so visitors in the winter are something we are experience quite a lot. They add so much to our daily happenings that they couldn't go unnoticed. The Lady to the right is Margy's sister, Karen, who visited us from upstate New York. Karen is not a sewer but over the years she has developed quite a style with Paper Bags and Duck Tape. Here is her newest design including a pill box hat and monogram purse. Even her flip flops were covered with duck tape. She had the store in complete hysterics with her stylish arrival. Karen has quite a history here. During the Flamingo Run she was our Duck Girl and in charge of the duck pond where you won prizes. That was the beginning of the paper bag outfits. Margy's Mom was also here as well as their mutual friend from New York, Theresa. That was the start of wonderful week here. We had a Quilt Designer stop by while golfing through Florida. Her name is Jamie Kalvestran who is known as "Scrap-bags" and she is from Minnesota. She called and said she was in the area and would we like to see her samples. Boy, we were glad we did. As you can see by the pictures below, they were great and we were so happy to see them. We purchased patterns from her and got instant gratification as she brought them with her. It was so much fun to be able to touch and feel the samples.

This is Margy and Jamie in our classroom. Here are some of her samples.

There are times when you just don't know what to do next so I am doing what I want to do and that is to share all that is going on at the JaM Patch. We spend most of our waking hours here or working on projects at home for it. It is time-consuming but in a fun and wonderful way. This past weekend we spent with such creative groups of people and we are so excited to hear of their village plans. We have some photos to share of these activities and we are really looking forward to next month when we will be start a building, the church in fact. Margy is finishing up today the "One Block Wonder" class. We have some samples to show you as well. The first and second one are done by Rozann. The First one is a Hexagon which she has incorporated cubes into. The second one is an Octagon and has set in triangles and uses a Henry Alexander fabric called "Aruba." The original fabric is in the border. We are testing our new camera and so we hope our pictures will improve.

The third one is a hexagon done in Laurel Burch fabric. It is bright and happy. And finally a wonderful poinsettia Christmas print was used by Jeri. The white flowers weren't working in the main design area, but never fear a quilter can come up with a way to use them. The piece was cut and green fabric was insert and another small quilt section was added. It is stunning in person.

Well, is it our imagination or did January just fly by. We are so surprised that it is already February. Where does time go...and don't remind us it goes faster as we age because we could swear we heard a young child say that January had flown. We are busy with so many things going on that is hard to settle our brains and start sharing all that is happening. The store is busy with all our friends from up north who winter here (just in case you aren't aware we are in Florida) and our friends who stay here. Lots of new programs are in full swing and we are excited at the great response. We have a full plate of activities this weekend, beginning on Friday with our monthly Holiday Club. We are doing the sweetest project from Cheryl Haynes of Prairie Grove Peddler called "Carrot Top." It reminds us of Dedham Pottery and see if you agree. It is 38" x 38" and you can chose to do the bunnies in wool or cotton fabric. There is still space so send us a post and we will sign you up. Friday afternoon we will be working on our "Village Stash Project" and we plan to share pictures as samples are brought in. Here is a few more pictures of the projects, we are doing. The Key West or as some refer to as the Shabby Chic is definitely a crowd pleaser. See if you agree. The project is so much fun and we are personally having a ball doing it. This month the group will start working on the Alternative Block and next month they will start work on the buildings. We guess a lot of us are really frustrated architects and this quilt is fulfilling that dream. The Designer of a Village, isn't it great what quilting can do for you?

There is one trend that we are noticing and Saturday Afternoon will be our answer to that--The Clutch Party. It is a monthly session devoted to things that you clutch. Purses, totes, scarves, anything other than driving a car.

More work to do so please check in later.