If you are planning to come to my neck of the woods (Lancaster Pa area) then bring lots of shopping money. There are several great places to shop and you wont want to miss them. I am so lucky to live withing driving distance to any of these fantastic places to shop for fabric. It’s like walking into a candy store, I can never leave with just one piece of candy/fabric!

These stores all carry such a huge inventory of fabrics, its often hard for me to not spend hundreds of dollars. Zooks Dry Goods is one of my favorite shops. I am often smiled at there as I usually have the biggest piles on the cutting table and the ladies all know me. I like to get half yards of everything this way I get a larger variety and it works better for my designs. So save up your dollars and make a shopping trip

• ZOOK’S DRY GOODS
      3535 Old Philadelphia Pk.
  (Rte. 340)
  Intercourse, PA 17534-9999
  717-768-8153  their website 
• M-Saturday 8-5
• closed sunday

Then you have Sauders, also owned by the people at Zooks and they have just as much fabric.

• Sauder Fabrics
  S. Muddy Creek Rd., RD 1, Box 409,
  Denver pa
• 717-336-2664
  Store Hours: MTThF 8am - 8:30pm, W &Sa 8am - 5pm, Closed Sunday

If you are out that way you might as well drive up the road a few miles to Bird In Hand and visit the  Bird in Hand Country Store

• Bird-in-Hand Country Store
  2679-B Old Philadelphia Pike / PO Box 259
  Bird in Hand, Pa
  17505
  (717) 393 - 5321
• call for their store hours.
• They carry lots from Primitve to Japanese Sateens, MODA, hundreds of Homespuns & Flannels, Moda’s brushed homespuns, Hoffman - cotton prints & batiks, Bali Fabrications, Marcus Brothers, Maywood Studios, Alexander Henry, RJR- Thimbleberries, reproduction fabrics, Robert Kaufmann, Benartex, P&B, Kona Bay, Momen House, Seven Islands, Rose & Hubble, South Sea Imports, Nancy Crow, and so much more!

You will be amazed at the thousands of fabrics to choose from.

They are located next to the Bird-In-Hand Junction

Look for the FABRIC SOLD HERE! sign on the building.

And out in Lititz is Weavers Dry Goods, this is also another fantastic place to shop. Bring lots of money and your comfy shoes.

• Weavers Dry Goods
  West Brubaker Valley Road
  Lititz, Pa 17543
  Store Hours: No Sunday hours.
  Specializing in: An extremely large selection of Cotton Fabrics, traditional to contemporary. Also sells other fabrics for the plainer Amish/Mennonite community.
  Located in Lancaster County and owned by Mennonite family, it’s a quilters dream. Because they are owned by Mennonites there is poor lighting in the shop, very typical of shopping in Amish or Mennonite shops, but you will be glad you came. Clearance barn in back with sales the last Fridays and Saturdays during the summer.

Then there is Marian’s Fabrics a little closer to Maryland but worth the visit.

• Marions Fabrics
  15021 Molly Pitcher Hwy
  Greencastle, Pa 17225
  (717)597-3266
  Store Hours: Mon - Thurs 9-5
  Fri 9-8
  Sat 9-5
  Sun Closed
  Owner: Marian
  Specializing in: Large supply of quilting fabrics, homespuns, flannels, wools, polar fleece,denims and dress fabrics. Designer/Brands include: South Seas Imports, Benartex, Fabric Traditions, Rose & Hubble, Northcott, RJR, Kings Road, Spiegel, Maywood Studios, Marcus Brothers, Chanteclaire, Andover, VIP, Springs, Fabri Quilt, and Robert Kaufmann.
  This store sits in sight of the northbound PA Welcome Center on I-81. They will do mail order and are especially helpful in looking for just the right fabric!  Very close to Hagerstown MD!

These are the best shops in the area and they all have a large selection of fabrics. I would also mention GStreet Fabrics in Rockville Md, but I have found them to be very pricy. Their prices on almost every bolt start at 9.99. There was the new Market Fresh fabrics out and at GStreet they were 13.99 a yard. I found them at Zooks for 6.49 a yard, a whopping difference. Their batiks, which I collect a lot of ran 9.99 a yard, they run from 5.49 a yard to 6.49 a yard at Zooks. While a nice shop with lots of unusual fabric, if you are going for quilting fabric then I highly recommend the other shops listed above.

First I prefer to use batting in my bags, not only because I quilt my bags and batting is a necessary component, but because I like the little extra it gives the bag and keeps it from being to flimsy a bag. I usually dont like just a plain  cotton sack for a bag. I prefer the bag to keep its shape and well batting is something I usually have on hand.

It’s fairly reasonable, you can always get it on sale at Joanns. So you get a yard and it is 110 inches wide for about 6 bucks. I can make a lot of bags with that. And I just love to add stitching/quilting for interest and texture.

I tried making a bag with a thicker batting and unless you are going for the poof it has it was much more difficult to work with in the bag. So I prefer to stick with Warm and Natural batting. And I found recently that there is a difference between the Warm and White and the Warm and natural. The Warm and White seems to be thinner, and have slightly less body than the Warm and Natural. That must be something that happens in the bleaching process. So I stick with the Warm and Natural.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what kind of batting to use for what project and  there is a nice article on the Sew Mama Sew Blog  that will give you some info on the different kinds of batting there are.

And if you still would like some more depth on the issue of batting you can head on over to Quilts.com  where there is even more information on battings. Scroll on down the list to find a good deal of information from varying sources and personal experience and knowledge.

I guess it all depends on what project you are working on, what look you want and what you like to work with and why.

It is one of my favorite ways to make a design. I love hand appliqué, but I find that my mind works to fast and I just cant get that done quick enough. I save hand appliqué for my personal quilt making. That is truly a labor of love.

Raw edge appliqué actually works better for me because it allows me to do any shape no matter how odd easily. It works with my funky style and I also like all the decorative stitching that I add to my designs when I do raw edge.There are so many more options for designs when you applique too.

All kinds of flowers and garden designs, just about anything you can think of. There are many books on the market today that will show you different ways to approach applique and I think we each have to find the one that works for us and the project at hand.

I recently came across this blog All About Applique where you can find a wealth of information on applique. From book reviews, to a list of applique designers, info about needle turn applique, photo tutorials and much much more. So if you ever wished you could do applique or just wanted to learn about all the ins and outs of applique then you should check out the All About Applique Blog there is a wealth of information.

by Jeanne Williamson

About this book Jeanne Williamson decided to expand her creative horizons by making one small quilt a week.

She placed no limits on what materials she could use and she created her quilts almost exclusively from found objects. The goal was simply to create.

If you want to look outside the box, want some motivation to get up and try some new things, like using found objects then this is a great book to add to your creative library.

This book inspires you to think small and cast aside your fears and try new things.

This is a STUDIO_259 GIVEAWAY. To win this book you can do any one of the following

• Make a post on this blog
• Link to this blog from your website or blog and let us know where the link is.
• Make a post on your blog about any of the fun projects offered by Studio-259, send us the link or post about it here

I will take a name from the list  on March 28th you just might be the happy winner of this quilting book.

Collage mania is a Fiberart for a cause run by Virginia Speigel, to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. It begins on May 5th.

I spent the weekend putting together a piece of collage art to donate to this wonderful cause.

I was inspired to use yellows for a starting point, the rest just came together as I went along. My daughter named  it the Secret Garden of Hope.   Some thoughts on what it all means now that its all together. Flowers  represent the ability to always start anew. They do that every year. So nothing is ever forever, we can always make today a new day.

Tea, you might wonder why the teacups? Well tea is that rejuvenation, a sort of inner comfort we all have in times of need. To just sit and relax the world away in a nice hot cup o tea . Buttons which just remind me to stay grounded and seek support in loving places. And a few spiritual guardians to help light the way on a bright sunny background that just inspires postive energy which makes everything brighter. My new outlook on life is to emanate positive energy in my days as I travel thru life.

be sure to stop by the Fiberart For a cause on May 5 and peek at all the wonderful art, maybe even buy yourself one.

A fellow quilter and one amazing lady has been working hard and using the talents of many wonderful fiber artist to raise funds and awareness for cancer.

If you havent met Virginia Speigel then take a moment to visit her website. Check out some great art and see all the great things she has done for raising money.

Her efforst have raised over 150,000 for Cancer

Fiberart For A Cause
Fundraising for the American Cancer Society
Over $150,000 donated to the ACS.

#2 Nationwide Fundraiser for 2007 ACS Relay For Life

I finally got around to turning one of my bags into a backpack. You know sometimes you want to do something and other things just keep getting in the way.

I was in the process of finishing up the backpack when my daughter walked into the room and quickly laid claim to my new blue Lizzy backpack.

She could hardly wait for me to finish things.

This is her trying to run away from me with the bag before I can make the final adjustments.

when you sit down to create or are you neat all thru the process?

This is where I started yesterday, making a nice neat pile on a chair beside my work table. This does pile does not last long. I really have no energy to worry about how big a mess I am making when I am creating.

This is where I ended up! Piles everywhere, scraps everywhere! Cleanup is a job in itself. But I dont think about that until I am done. I can’t even imagine being neat all thru the process that would so interrupt my zone of creativity with the reality of what was to come at clean up time.

Some might think that having a big mess and huge piles of fabric and supplies everywhere indicates that  somehow  we dont know what we are doing. You feel indecisive, not sure of yourself and the mess proves it.

Not so! I think it means I have a big palette and I am not afraid to use it.

I work in the zone, my creative zone, I fill it up with all the things I might use and I begin to think, try different colors, differnt fabrics, changing this and changing that until my eye finds just what works for this project.  And most of all I enjoy the process without thinking of the aftermath.

How do you create? What sets you free, where do you find yourself when in the zone? I find myself in the middle of a big mess having loads of fun, playing with everything on my palette!

I have had quite a few people inquiring about the Cat Sack Class. This has resulted in a mid winter Sew away the blues February Special Sale!

I will be running a one time only Special Winter Cat Sack Class! If you are interested in this class you can purchase it here

Sign up to make your Cat Sack and receive a 30% discount on the class fee.

Regular price $60 winter special sew away the blues price $42

That means you will get the 6 lessons covering

• fabric selection
• Cutting out and designing your cat sack
• stitching your cat sack
• constructing the head
• sewing the lining
• assembling the bag
• adding the tail/handle
• you will have access to all 6 lessons at once so you can work at your own pace
• my full support should you need help with anything.

This special will run for 2 weeks from today Feb 26, 2008 to March 10, 2008.

If you sign up during that time you will receive the Cat Sack Online Class for 42.00 for this fun bag!

If you are interested in this class you can purchase it here

There are many classes available out there and each one is presented differently depending on the designer offering the class. Some live up to our expectations and some don’t. Some teaching methods fit our needs and others don’t. It depends on your learning style.

And it can be difficult to know just which one is which on the internet. So I have created this post to share with you what you can expect from a Studio-259 E-Pattern or Online Class. We have a high standard, we want you to have fun, be happy with your experience and most of all want to try another one of our projects.

We also understand that some of the projects may seem to be a bit more than you think you can do and you might not be sure if you get through it. We want to assure you that you will have personal support at your fingertips. We are just an email away. If you ever have a question we will help you through.

We also have a forum and a yahoo group where you can also go to chat, those are just opening and so still new. But we specialize in on one email support because we have found many times that it can be intimidating to ask questions in front of others some of us are still new in our sewing confidence. Whatever it takes to help you through I will be there for you. Customer service is my number 1.

What will you get with our classes and patterns

• the first lesson of every class and pattern always covers fabric choices, what fabrics you can use for specific projects, clear pictures of the fabrics I would choose for this project, why those fabrics work for that project, other fabric choices that might work as well.
• I dont usually use any hard to find supplies, I like to use whats on hand, that makes it easy for me and you.
• you can also send me photos of your fabrics choices and ask me questions about your fabrics and I will work with you until it works for you. So you will have total fabric picking support.
• extensive instructions, where I walk you through each step no matter how simple .
• lots of clear close-up photos that also show you just what to do for every step so you can see it as well as read it.
• the ability to pay for the class and get all the lessons all at once and work at your own pace.
• you can also make payments on a class to make it more affordable
• full support, I am personally available to you through email to answer any questions you might have about any part of the pattern. I want you to be successful. I am here for you.
• lots of clear photos and detailed instructions on how to do all of the quilting stitches that I use in each project. If necessary I will even make a small video of the stitching so you can see it being done.
• step by step photos and instruction on bag assembly.
• I use Presencia cotton and Rayon Threads in almost all of my projects ( no specialty threads that you have to find and buy to make my projects, just plain cotton and rayon)
• I can also send the files on CD if you would rather have it that way. Just ask!
• most of all you get total encouragement and support every step of the way.
• if you have a question about any pattern or class before you take it please email me so I can answer any questions you might have.

I don’t want you to miss an opportunity to make something you would love to have because you have a concern about something.

My door is open, I will gladly take the time to respond to each of your concerns. I want you to have a great experience with my designs. I want to share what I love and most of all I want you to have fun and be successful!

In order to do that I take the extra step and offer you all of the above. I feel it makes me a better teacher and you more successful.

I put more into my patterns and classes than some other classes out there, I do that because it matters to me whether you have a good experience in my class. It matters to me whether you get it and come out with a great finished project. It matters to me that you have fun.

I offer my designs as E-classes and E -patterns because this allows me to take up as many pages as it takes to put in as many photos as I can to show and tell you every thing I possible can to make your journey through my projects as pleasant as I possibly can. This assures me that I have given you plenty of info to make your project a success. It’s everything I can do short of sitting right there with you and helping you.

If you would like to know what others have said about my patterns and classes then take a moment to check out the happy customer page, here I list the many comments I have received from students, so you can hear from others what it was like taking a Studio-259 class.