Sunday, June 24, 2012

We've just finished our first week of Flip Flop Camp and what a delight it was!  The hum of sewing machines and a room filled with young stitchers.  There's just nothing better than that!
I have to admit though, that more than once last week I thought about my friend and former teaching colleague, Janie Stokes.  It has been a few months since Janie passed away, but I will always think about her anytime children and quilting are connected.  Janie's organization, Storybook Quilts.org, along with the help of the Chattahoochee Evening Stars, sought to create quilts from children's books with a quilting theme. She wanted children everywhere to enjoy those books and quilts.  What a legacy!

That legacy will live on through Tiny Stitches as we seek to establish a Janie Stokes scholarship fund this summer for children who would like to be involved in quilting, camps, sewing, etc. Please watch for details on our website and in our emails.  Janie may be gone, but she will not be forgotten by anyone who knew her.

Janie taught me alot about living life to the fullest those last years she was with us.  Her sly smile, sense of humor and patience got me through many a challenging day.  Thank you, Janie for the inspiration you were to all of us; but especially to the children.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

It's raining!  I couldn't possibly go outside and walk, so...I think I'll go downstairs and sew!  Now that the East Cobb Quilt Guild has changed the date for the show to June, I've got to get to work on that project so it will be finished.  I've been working on this one for a while, but no matter how many patterns I see or how many new ideas I'm shown, this project is still my favorite and I'm just determined to finish it before next June. I thought I would share it with you in this blog post.  Let me know what you think.  I'd love to do a class on this one!


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My New Bathing Suit

O.K., So here's my story about the new suit.  Well, at least part of it.  I bought a new suit from Land's End this year because my black suit with the big pink bow across the chest finally gave it up.  I loved that suit!   All of the shirring apparently let go and I almost lost it in the pool when I dared to swim at Barnesley Gardens during our anniversary visit.  It was time to mourn and move on...

I had not planned to ever go in swimming again so at first I figured I didn't need a suit at all.  After 18 years of living in South Florida I was over the swimming thing. But then that Land's End catalog came in the mail and low and behold, there it was!  It was blue and that blue, my favorite color and that blue  just cascaded down the suit in deepening colors.  I tried it on and not only was it beautiful, but the amount of spandex in the suit brought a whole new dimension to walking...I took one step and the suit took two more for me!  I just had to have it!


It was the last thing I packed in my suitcase as we headed to Kansas City for Market.  It was definite...I was going to swim again.  When we arrived at the Holiday Inn I was a bit disappointed that the pool was outside, but what the heck, it was 88 when we arrived and so it was perfect weather for swimming.  As I ran outside there appeared to be one more obstacle; no water in the pool and the opening was set for Memorial Day weekend.  We weren't going to be there that long.  The eternal optimist, I watched every day for water until finally, the day before we departed the pool was filled.   It was a miracle...I ran outside hoping for a quick dip the day before we left (the temperature had dropped to the 70's), and was met by the pool attendant who spoke a limited amount of English.  You didn't have to speak another language to know that he wasn't going to let me go in the pool.  Alas...the suit went back in the suitcase - mission not accomplished. 
Think I'll just wear it around the
house until the next opportunity for a trip...

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Well, here it is...my 61st birthday and what a beautiful day it is! 
Many thanks to all of you who came to Saturday Sampler yesterday and helped me celebrate with the birthday song.  I feel so fortunate to have you all as friends and customers of Tiny Stitches.


Here's my one year old birthday photo.  I prefer it to the recent ones and I still find myself in awe of how quickly time has passed by since that picture was taken. As Henry always tells me, "Carpe diem", so I'm going to try to get out there and 'seize the day' a bit before heading to the store for Farmer's Wife!  Enjoy your day and come by to see us!  

Friday, June 1, 2012

Summer is definitely here - no school traffic!  This makes my drive into the store a bit shorter and that means I get to spend time in the store getting it ready for you to come and visit!  Lately that means making sure the customer quilts are perfectly displayed for you to see. We've begun our customer show, "Garden Party", and the shop is certainly blooming with your handiwork. I love spending time in the early morning finding just the right spot to show off your quilts and I especially love reading the stories that go along with them. 

I've pictured Elisabyth's bright and sunny Pink Lemonade quilt here for you to enjoy.  (You can find more pictures of the show quilts on our website.)  I loved the story behind this quilt.  Elisabyth selected the blocks from EQ5 and put them together using pink and yellow fabric from she found in shops all over the North Georgia area.  I could pick out our fabric in spots all over the quilt.The quilt was quilted by Keith and Karen Williams with little lemon slices - perfect!  Thanks for letting us share it with our customers!

Hope you'll all enter your projects of which Tiny Stitches has been a part,  It's not too late.  The show runs through July!