Sentimental Stitches

Today was the day! I got my phone call from Wool and Honey in Cedar. The yarn had come in for the awesome shawl I’d seen while I was on the Amazing Quilt Race Shop Hop.
I threw on my cha cha sundress, tossed some makeup at my face and was out the door.

Here it is! It’s soft and drapes beautifully over your shoulders. You can’t see the ends in this pictures but it’s large enough to wear around your neck in several different ways.




It’s an easy knit which is good for a quilter but the yarn, the yarn……….it’s hand dyed in great blends of color and I found out today Wool and Honey is one of only five shops in North America who carry this yarn.





I chose a dusty turquoise that goes to a soft yellow green and then to something between olive and army green. The colors are unique.
There’s more – it takes just one skein to knit the shawl. The yarn is only $24 and they’ll tell you where to get the pattern for free online! Can you tell I’m excited about this one?





I also treated myself to a set of stitch markers made from Michigan stones. The missing set is my chosen Petoskey stones. They are beautiful.




I didn’t miss this new scarf that just went on display. While the shawl will be something I can wear all year round, this scarf is a must have for winter.




It’s knit with worsted weight yarn, soft and cuddly. I bought the pattern but resisted temptation to get yarn until I finish my shawl.

There isn’t online ordering from Wool and Honey but if you call Melissa she’d be happy to ship things to you. The phone number to the shop is 231-228-2800.

I saw some great handcrafted jewelry and yarn that looks good enough to eat. The yarn for the shawl is a color changing cotton. The color I bought is called “Willow Sky”.




I’ve had these Kaffe Fassett brick blocks spread out all over the floor for two days. I better get them sewn together. It’s almost block of the month time!

I started my day at Renee’s House of Quilting in Williamsburg which is just a little to the north of Traverse City. You have to watch for the bright pink mailbox on M72 to turn in the right driveway. It’s not too far east of Turtle Creek Casino. One of these days I’m going to have to get one of the boys to go to the casino with me. It’s hard to believe I’ve never gone there and plugged $20 worth of quarters in the slot machines.

I wonder whose big finger spoiled this picture?


There are some much nicer photos on her web site along with pictures of their new classroom.
Renee’s is probably the largest shop in the area. Every corner of every room is filled to the brim with things you didn’t even know existed. I don’t know where she finds them all!





Just a few of the flannels in one area. There are so many cozy looking choices that I think I could plan several quilts without any problem at all.





Some of the novelty and bright color fabrics to choose from. There are sections for Halloween, Christmas, Seasonal, Baby, Oriental, Flannel, Batik and on and on. It’s wonderful!




You never want to miss the opportunity to check out the bathroom at Renee’s……



It’s decorated so cute and you never know what you might find.

Just some of the batiks. And yes, there are samples everywhere to inspire you!


Some of the solid color Minkee fabric. They cut their own Layer Cakes of Minkee for quilt making.


Fall celebrations


A look down one of the ‘color aisles’.

No matter what your favorite style of fabric is, a stop at Renee’s is a must. Her husband always has a pot of coffee going and snacks in the kitchen for you.


I made my way back toward Traverse City to the shop where I spend most of my time and have attended classes. It’s Quilt-n-Bee on Airport Road.



The windows are always decorated so nice and always reflect the season.




There are always beautiful displays and lots of the newest fabric, patterns and books to choose from. Clutch and I have spent many a Thursday evening at their Bee Creative presentations on the last Thursday of each month. I don’t know how they come up with so many wonderful samples, techniques and new products to share. If you have a chance to attend one of the sessions I highly recommend it.

Quilt-n-Bee has been featured on the Moda Bake Shop site for their great displays of Moda merchandise.
They carry a great mix of Civil War reproduction prints, traditional, modern, batik, flannel and specialty fabrics. If you love sewing clothing for little girls you won’t want to miss seeing their samples. They are the cutest I’ve ever seen.





I’m sure you’re all wondering what I brought home with me from my visits to all these shops. I didn’t really have anything I was on a search to find and no special projects planned but that didn’t matter. I love quilting, fabric and shopping!



Pretty new reproduction prints




Awesome handles for purses or totes


Some Moda Bella Solids


A selection of batiks to make straps for a sundress


A black and gray polka dot just because……..


Two pretty background prints


A few patterns


Two very nice books


I might use this purple print for the grapes in the Beyond The Cherry Trees quilt.


Beautiful turquoise prints!


Reproduction double pink and yellow green.


Quilt shoes!


Summertime Minkee for…….


a new blankie for a special little boy.


a few pastel dots…


with a stripe and a plaid.


A gorgeous floral!


A little bit of this and a little bit of that.


I found a green that is almost a perfect match to the green used in the Potted Blooms pattern.


Looks like pretty pillowcases for me!


Just too pretty not to buy!


Had to have a little of this and a little of that too……….


Can you tell I have a ‘thing’ for polka dots?


I had to have this panel for a baby quilt. Doesn’t the pup look like Clutch?


Going to try this new pencil. Maybe it was the polka dot paint job that convinced me to take it home.


One thing’s for sure………everywhere I went they handed out very nice free treats.


I started the race with my shop hop bag, passport and ice skate pin.


At every shop I visited I tucked a little plastic bag with a charm in it safely in my change purse.


Voila! Jewels more precious than diamonds!


A special thanks to Renee’s husband for the pretty tote to carry my purchases in.


Did you know how perfectly fabric fits stacked inside these totes? This is one of several I purchased at Quilt-n-Bee last summer. I use them to take fabric back and forth from the cottage and to quilt retreats. There’s plenty of room to stack more on top of what you can see in the picture. Love it!


Would you look at this! We already have pillowcases made.

That’s it for the 2010 Amazing Quilt Race. I’m looking forward to next year already but am sure I’ll be visiting each of the shops again long before next August.

Tomorrow is a sewing day for Clutch and I. We’re working on a couple of new projects to share with you. You’re gonna love ‘em.

I started my day with quilt shops that were closer to the cottage. They’re shops I’ve visited many times before so I knew right where I was going and pretty much what they carried. At shop hop time there’s always bound to be surprises though.

My first stop was Liberty Bell Quilts in Cedar. It’s a quick trip down a couple of country roads and I’m there. In fact, I was there a couple of weeks ago for a book signing by Amy Barickman from Indygo Junction. She was introducing her new book Vintage Notions..





The book is one of the most interesting and well presented books I’ve seen in a long, long time. If you like vintage and I don’t mean just quilts, this book is a must have for your library. You can go back to it again and again for interesting reading and inspiring ideas.
Amy and her Mom share a cottage on Torch Lake so she’s here for a few weeks every summer. I hope to see her at one of the shops again.




There’s a table just inside the door at Liberty Bell Quilts and it always has interesting finds or something new on it.




These are some of the new vintage hankies from Moda. The children’s group you can purchase individually or already sewn together by the yard. How cool is that?




This is just a glimpse of the fabrics you’ll find. Lots of great modern and repro collections, flannels, batiks, Kaffe and more including wool and embroidery supplies.





While not part of the official shop hop, I couldn’t resist going in Wool & Honey that’s next door to Liberty Bell.




Inside is a wonderful selection of beautiful yarn, supplies and even handcrafted jewelry. She carries lots of hand dyed yarn from local artists so you can always find something unique and the inventory is constantly changing.




I hope to be back there later this week. I saw the most beautiful shawl knit with a fine gauge, hand dyed yarn in the most yummy colors. A trip to a nearby fiber festival over this past weekend should mean a phone call letting me know more of the yarn is in. I’m going to get some of the beautiful stitch markers made from Michigan stones too when I’m there. I promise to take more (better) pictures for you.
Beautiful yarns, great samples and ideas, friendly and helpful. You can’t ask for more!

From Cedar I made my way to Interlochen which is about 6 miles from the cottage. It’s known world wide for the Interlochen Center for the Arts. I spent a lot of time there growing up. We attended concerts, plays and church on Sundays among the talented artists attending the six week summer camp held each year. Every year there are at least 2500 students in grades 3-12 from over 40 countries attending camp. Felicity Huffman, Josh Groban and Norah Jones are all alumni of Interlochen.



The Interlochen Theme – music to sooth your soul……...

This is Interquilten, a new shop that opened last year. They’ve already moved once after growing so quickly. Their current location is a charming spot that I remember as the Music Box Gift Shop growing up. I love seeing it now as a quilt shop.





The high ceilings make for perfect quilt display and their fabric offerings are growing each week. Earlier this summer I was able to find just the right pink print to complete a baby quilt I was working on.




There’s a nice yarn corner with both basic and specialty yarns for knitting and crochet along with patterns, books, needles, hooks and such.





Each time I stop in I admire the beautiful handcrafted bird houses they have. They are all a little bit different and some have rings on the top if you want to hang them from a hook or ribbon. They cost about $45 which is a bargain considering all the materials and work it takes to create each one.





You’ll find a great mix of fabric styles with something for baby quilts, landscapes, brights, flannels, traditional, holiday, batiks, basics and more. Don’t miss their music theme prints in honor of Interlochen.







They have a growing selection of wool fabrics, patterns and kits. If you are in the area I encourage you to stop in and enjoy a bright and cheery new shop. They have some very nice classes listed on their web site too.
I forgot to get a picture of their version of the shop hop quilt. Oh well, that means I get to take a drive over there and see if I can snap one for you.

That was my last stop of the day. There’s two more shop on the hop before I share the spoils of my labor.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me. Rob was here at the lake for more vacation. We worked and played and the time went by way too fast. Clutch was glad to have another man around the house to chase the critters and just do general ‘guy’ stuff with. It’s back to work for him now but he left Clutch and I “armed and dangerous” with his new pellet rifle that will take out a muskrat from 30 yards away. I think just knowing it’s is in the house has scared away every muskrat within 5 miles of here!

Do you have all 24 of the blocks sewn from Midget Mania? I have to admit I don’t but I have been shop hopping so that’s my excuse. I hope you enjoy reading about a few of the stores here in northern Michigan.

Each year in August, the Amazing Quilt Race Shop Hop is held. This is the first year I’ve been able to take part in the fun. It was my first visit to some of these shops and I can guarantee it won’t be my last.
I took over a 100 photos, fighting all the way with the camera on my iPhone. For some reason we just weren’t getting along so I apologize the pictures aren’t better.



My first stop was Hearts to Holly in Charlevoix. I’d never been there before so I was excited. The store is a very nice mix of fabrics with Fresh Cottons by Fig Tree Quilts (which I wish I’d bought) to the newest Civil War and 1930s repros.

Fun displays with unique finds tucked everywhere. The fabric is beautifully displayed in these pretty white cases.

This is their version of the shop hop quilt and I picked up my first pattern. It was fun seeing how each store interpreted the pattern. Wait and see……………




They played a fun game every half hour or so and I was lucky enough to win a book. I spent a bit of money while I was there. If only I had an unlimited budget!




I wish there had been time to visit some of the other shops along the main street. Charlevoix is the town Kathie Lee Gifford was raving about on the Today show a couple of weeks ago. She talked about our beautiful water for swimming and fun stores for shopping!




Charlevoix isn’t in the upper peninsula but she showed the right spot in northwest Michigan on her big red mitten and yes, Kathie Lee, shhh…..shhh…..shhh….these places are supposed to be our little secret.
The American Spoon store she visited in Petoskey is near the Items by Boutique Emmanuel shop I managed a couple of winters ago while they were looking for a new manager. Petoskey is about a half hour north of Charlevoix. There’s also an American Spoon here in Traverse City. I’d offer to shop for you but they have online ordering on their web site. There are recipes and they have a blog too. Yum, yum, yum! In case you’re wondering, the basket she gave to Hoda costs about $100

From Charlevoix I headed back toward the south for a quick 15 minute ride to The Quilt Cottage in East Jordan.

A nice shop where I felt right at home among all the 1930s and Civil War fabrics. I’d never been there before so I had lots to see.




I loved having the majority of their notions all on one wall so I could find just what I was looking for.




This was their version of the shop hop quilt and I fell in love with it. Bright and cheerful, perfect for a dreary Michigan winter.




I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you when I say I spent quite a while looking at their nice selection of 1930s fabrics. If you’re wondering, the quilt is a Lori Smith pattern.

From The Quilt Cottage I wound my way through the country back roads to Cousin’s Quilt Shop in Bellaire.

The minute I saw their sign I knew I was hooked!

Who knew that in the middle of the little town of Bellaire there was such a wonderful quilt shop? Not me! I really missed the boat on this one.



These beautiful flowers greeted me on the porch.


Batiks are straight ahead and all the wool is to the left.


Wait until you see my turquoise and green prints from the cabinet!


Cousin’s version of the shop hop quilt.


It had wonderful touches of wool applique. I loved this one too!


Just a few of their batik fabrics.


Cousin’s Quilt Shop has a great selection of Civil War fabrics, batiks and Kaffe Fassett style prints as well as all the traditional quilting choices including a beautiful offering of wool.

That was my last stop for the day. I hadn’t been to any of those shops before if you can believe that, so I tried to take my time at each one to get a good feel for what they’re like. I found each one to be a little different which is good and I’m looking forward to shopping with them again as soon as my budget allows.

I still have four shops to hop to. I’ll show you more tomorrow.

I’m right down to the wire on posting these Block of the Month patterns but wanted to finish all 24 blocks of the Midget Mania blocks first. It was fun picking out new Midget Blocks and I printed off foundations to do some sewing myself.

Finding the hidden stitches in this months Beyond The Cherry Trees block has been so much fun and there’s been a lot of them to find.

This is one sorry looking quilt block. As you can see there isn’t much left of it. The original green fabric has not only turned brown, it’s falling apart too.




It was a surprise to find that the background fabric had been pieced to make the piece of fabric large enough. It made me wonder if that’s why the quilter put so much effort into the quilting on this particular block.




There are twelve quilting designs within this single block! How cool is that? I never know what I’m going to find when I start searching for the designs hidden in the stitching.




There are two flowers quilted within the flower pot and an arc on each side down near the bottom.




These designs extend over the seam line into the block above.




These are on the lower right side of the block next to the flower pot.




Did you ever wonder how I go about finding these designs? This flower on the upper left side will give you a little bit of an idea. I know all of the background is quilted in a clamshell design the size of a quarter which measures about 14/16″, okay a little less than 1 inch.
Believe me, that 2/16″ wouldn’t make a difference to me. I can’t imagine quilting clamshells that small across the background of a quilt this size! I’ve gotton so that I can look past the little clamshells until I see stitching going in another direction. Sometimes I can tell what the design is but other times I have no idea until I start restitching the original in a darker thread. There are times, like with the flower in the picture above, where I’m not quite sure if the two clamshells at the bottom are an added design element for the flower or just the beginning of a new area of background quilting so I guess.




These are on the lower left of the block and just cross over the seam line into the block next to it.



Here's a closeup of one of the flowers inside the flower pot and the arc down at the bottom.


You can get this month’s Beyond The Cherry Trees block HERE
and
Sally Post Floral Sampler block HERE

Here we are, the last block of our Midget Mania. I hope you’ve had fun with this blitz of 24 new blocks to add to your collection. I didn’t actually sew any during the last week or so but after I get the Block of the Month patterns for August posted I’ll show you some pictures of the blocks I have stored in my binder.
We’re up to 116 blocks now and I think the time has come to retire some of those first blocks. I’m trying to give everyone plenty of time to download the free versions but want you to know I’ll be retiring the first 55 Midget Blocks at the end of August.

You Cherry Trees ladies are going to go crazy when you see the August block. I know I officially have until tomorrow to get it posted but as soon as I’m done with a couple of chores I’ve got to get it uploaded. I can’t wait for you to see it. I might have to applique these blocks myself after all!

Nothing too difficult about this last Midget Block. It’s foundation pieced and I don’t remember having any problems with mine when I was sewing it.

Midget Mania Block 24 – Garden Maze

Block 116

This is a block I actually finished quite a while ago. It really is an easy one to do until you get to the applique part. That’s where mine was neatly tucked away in my Week by Week Sampler binder along with a piece of fabric for the applique.
I have no idea why I didn’t do the applique. I do it all the time, big or little or tiny.

If you’re not a big fan of tiny applique, you could embroider the school bell or even use a little button. Another option is a piece of light weight Ultra Suede fabric. You don’t have to turn under the edges when you applique with it, can cut perfect points and use a paper punch for a perfect little circle. It’s also washable so there’s no problem mixing it in with your cottons in a quilt. I’ve used Ultra Suede lots of times and have a stash of colors I bought as scrap bags. Makes great little black mary-jane shoes for Sunbonnet Sue and lots of other itty bitty applique shapes.

Midget Mania Block 23 – Schoolhouse

Block 115

Thunderstorms last night + Clutch = sleepless night and morning headache. He’s now snuggled on the couch in the sunshine sleeping with his back feet tucked up under his chin. I’m trying to get enough coffee in my veins to induce some type of activity and ibuprofen into my system to kill this headache.

None of this is going to stop the Midget Mania parade. We’re on our final three blocks. Yippee skippee!

For those of you looking for August’s block of the month patterns, they should be posted tonight.

Midget Mania Block 22 – Kansas Beauty

Block 114

You would think having spent all of my summers here at the lake that I’d be pretty ’sea worthy’. Truth be told, I don’t know if I could swim well enough or long enough to save my own tushy. I just never learned to swim I guess. That got me to thinking about Clutch. If I couldn’t save myself I sure wouldn’t be able to save him. Because swimming comes naturally to dogs you’d think he’d be okay but he’s just a little guy and would probably get too tired. So………..

He is not too thrilled with his new blue polka dot life jacket. He just stood there, frozen in place with his eyes half shut like “if I can’t see this thing, it’s not here”!




He was not thrilled when I tested out the handy dandy strap across the back so he could be snatched out of the water in a heartbeat.




Even a little loving from Mom didn’t change his mind. He’ll tolerate that life jacket but he isn’t going to like it (or at least let me know if he does)!

I would normally rotary cut and machine piece this block but because of the 3/8″ half square triangles, I opted for foundation piecing.

Midget Mania Block 21 – Ship



Block 113

This design didn’t show up in any of the places I searched for it. There was a similar block in BlockBase so I made a few adjustments to that block and added a couple of extra lines in order to sew the block using foundation piecing. I was surprised to find we only needed three units to piece this complex looking block and one of them is just the last section of background fabric you add to complete the block. It’s a pretty cool looking butterfly.

I’ve had some very pretty butterflies here at the lake this summer. I try to grab my phone or the camera and get pictures if I can. Usually they move faster than I do and they’re gone by the time I get back. Luckily this little lady spent some time sunning on the Myrtle.

You’ll have this block sewn together in no time at all. I hope you enjoy this one and it’s foundation piecing improvements.

Midget Mania Block 20 – Butterfly

Block 112