Saturday, August 31, 2013

Anniversary Pincushion Swap-ola!

Well, would you believe it? 

 Bright Hopes Quilting is turning 10 this month!

Ten years ago, Pearl opened the door to Mandeville's first complete quilt shop and now, we are gearing up to celebrate like it's 2013! Oh yeah....... it IS!

Man alive, I can't grasp that so many years have gone and so many quilts have passed through the doors but it's true. 

We are going to celebrate the occasion over the three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-21 and along with the sales and specials, we are hosting a Pincushion Swap.

Who can have too many pincushions, I ask you!? I have one specifically for the long-arm, one at the sewing machine, two on the cutting table that also act as weights for rolled up patterns and Heat n Bond type papers, and a few more just hanging around. 


Make a fun and unique pincushion, place it in a Brown Paper Bag and staple it (or we'll do that here) so no one can peek inside. Then, bring it in prior to the Anniversary or during the Sales Days and swap it for someone else's.

 Now, these should be not be purchased but rather, handmade and new. We carry patterns here at the shop and walnut shells for filling or you can find lots of free patterns on the internet by googling the words. 

As 10 is the Big Number, all of our specials are revolving around this number: 10 fat quarter bundles, patterns that feature ten fabrics, you get the drift.


So, stop by during the 3-day Celebrations and join us as we party down! 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sept. & Oct. Class Schedule

Okay, we're off and running with our new list of classes for September and October!

Once again, I think you will find a splendid selection to choose from, old favorites and new products, from beginners to veterans.
 The class coupon is the best buy in town so if you haven't taken advantage of this yet, come in and get yours. 6 months of classes for the unbeatable price of $60.00. As many as you can take.

We only ask that if you sign up, you make it and if you have to cancel, please tell us in advance in order to allow someone on stand-by to take your place.

Print the last page with the calendar for easy reference and give us a call at 985-845-9554.


 

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Learning Never Ends

With Shop Hop behind us and our 10th Anniversary looming, Bright Hopes Quilting staff took a Saturday day off to make a mini retreat!

As you who receive our weekly newsletter know by now, we have been stocking this interesting ruler, the Quick Curve Ruler for about 6 months now

and Celeste has offered a number of classes that use the ruler to make very cool quilts, such as the Urban Abacus.


Well, some of us have been casting a wistful eye on the ruler ourselves and decided to get in on the action together on Saturday and make Metro Rings.

Metro Rings is a pattern that totally takes the stress out of creating the traditional Double Wedding Rings quilt design and makes it a manageable and, dare I say enjoyable, experience. It's true!!!

We got our cutting instructions ahead of the class from Celeste and met at 9 am. After a quick overview, we started whacking away at our pre-sewn strip sets and moved on to the background pieces. By 10:00, sewing machines were humming up a storm.


You can see in the photos that we all use a wide selection of machines, from Featherweights to full Berninas and our fabric selections could not have been more varied if we had auditioned them prior to coming to class......

It isn't often that we get a chance for a play-day and everyone showed up for this one.....

Here, Mary is bringing together the concave and convex shapes of Japanese indigoes in a smooth sewing line.

Mona uses her stiletto to control the curve with Aunt Grace fabrics.

After a quick break for pizza (gotta keep the energy up!) we began putting the blocks together and look who is very pleased with the results!


Here you see 6 of the 8... from top left to lower right, 

Mona, Linda Kay
Jayne, Mary Green
Georgia, Mary Gerardi


So, now when you come into the shop with questions about the Quick Curved Ruler, we can all with great confidence explain how easy this ruler is to make fabulous blocks in a wide variety of patterns. 

We really love it when one tool creates many choices. It is especially gratifying to know that curved piecing is NOT difficult, when you know how to do it!

Next month is our 10th Anniversary and the start of another two month schedule of great classes. I'll be posting the new class calendar shortly. Stay tuned for more information on both of these......

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler! Shop Hop 2013

This is the first weekend of the 2013 South Louisiana Shop Hop and the fun begins in less than 24 hours.

We have 10 participating shop this year and we are happy, happy, happy to welcome Angie and The Quilted Owl into the group!

We have all been working hard to bring the 'Hoppers' the best and newest out there in the Quilting Universe and hope that everyone who is taking part in the festivities has a good time. After all, that is our theme every year!

 As we do each year, we design quilts in each shop and sell 'kits' to make the block that is specific to each store.  Each shop will have a different kit for sale for $5.00. The kit includes the fabric and instruction for that particular block. If you make it to each shop, in addition to getting your passport stamped, you will have a chance to buy your kit and see how each shop put them all together in their unique design. Finishing kits will be available for purchase at each shop as well so you can choose the one like and have everything you need to make a quilt top by the time you hit the last shop.

Only participating shops in the area will have these kits available.
 
Here again are the participating shops taking part in the Shop Hop for 2013.

Bright Hopes Quilting in Mandeville, LA
Sew This! in Abita Springs, LA
Mama's Quilt Shop in Independence, LA
Mes Amis in New Orleans, LA
The Quilted Owl in Jefferson, LA (on Jefferson Hwy near the Huey P. Long Bridge)
Cottage Creations in St. Gabriel, LA
Fabric Krazy in Baton Rouge, LA
The Quilt Niche in Houma, LA
The Quilt Cupboard in Morgan City, LA
The Borne Quilter, Lafayette, LA
 

Needless to say, dropping your name in the box for a chance to win any one of our fantastic baskets and getting your passport stamped at each shop is of high priority so make sure you come to our cutting table as you enter the store. If you bring those preprinted return address labels with you, you will save a little time there for looking around.

Remember that each passport includes $5.00 off coupons for regularly priced items totaling $25.00 and you will have a coupon for this at every store in the Shop Hop.

We also have a memory pin available for purchase if you have a passport, available only at participating stores and it is really pretty! $5.50


So, that brings us to the Prize Baskets!! Each store has a Big Prize Basket that will go to a lucky winner and all the passports that have been stamped by every shop will go into the box for the Super Big Prizes including the Grand Prize Tower.


(Notions & fabrics shown not included; For display purposes only)

 
The fun begins Friday, August 9 and we have extended
our hours to 9:00am to 6:00pm on Friday and Saturday and then again next Thursday- Saturday.
 
Come pass a good time with the participating shops in the
2013 South Louisiana Shop Hop!
We'll see you here!
 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Hoffman Challenge 2013 Results


I am so excited to announce that the Hoffman Challenge has posted the results and 5 quilts from Bright Hopes Quilting have been accepted into the traveling trunk shows.

At this writing, all the 'travelers' are being assembled at Loveland, Co at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Show and this is the only time all the quilts will be shown together.

After that, they are separated into trunks and sent off in various directions. You should know that Mary Gerardi's quilt will be at the Houston International Quilt Show in Oct-Nov. so look for it when you get to the George Brown Convention Center.


If any of the other quilts find their way to shows in the immediate area (East Texas - Pensacola, FL) I will let you know. I will also be on the road to go see them!

We are so excited and what a fantastic way to end our 10th year in business and spring-board into our 11th!