Shop Hop 2013 is NEXT MONTH!!!

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler, Y'all! 

We are now selling Shop Hop Passports!

Passports are $5.00 and include a $5.00 coupon for each participating Shop Hop store.

  

The coupon can be used for regularly-priced merchandise with a $25.00 purchase. Customers purchasing a passport are eligible to buy a 2013 Shop Hop Pin, (which are beautiful!), for $5.50.

   

Each participating shop will be selling their "quilt block" kit for $5.00. In addition, each shop will sell finishing kits for their individual quilt setting. As you hop, don't forget to look at each quilt. This year, all the block fabrics are identical and each setting is unique to each store.

  

 Here is the Bright Hopes Quilting Quilt for 2013

   

   

Every shop has their own prize basket as well; this is ours!! 

You won't believe the goodies we packed inside, valued at $250.00!

  

And when you drop your name in the tray, you will be in the running to win it. If you get your passport stamped in every shop, you are entered to win the Grand Prize,  a rotating Tower to hold books, fabrics, notions, rulers, threads and has a dry-erase board and bulletin board. It's really cool!!
  

  

Here is a run-down of all the participating shops:

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 (under 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

10 SHOPS, YA'LL!!!!

Shop Hop 2013 takes place over 2 weekends this year for the first time,

 Friday and Saturday, August 9-10 and again, 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 15, 16 and 17.

So, if you have never done a SHOP HOP, here are a few tips!

1. Bring a Friend. It's always more fun in pairs. Or teams!

2. Pace yourself. You have 5 days to hit every store so don't even THINK about getting to each one in a single day.

3. Have a plan. You can break down the distance by grouping the shops by location. 

4. Stop for lunch somewhere fun and make it memorable.

5. Bring those adhesive return address labels you have thousands of and save time filling out the drawing cards. You get a chance to win the basket at every shop!! But only if your name is IN THE HAT!

6. Chocolate. Bring chocolate. If you don't eat them, you can always feed the shop staff!

7. Bring a camera...... you never know. 

8. If you have a project that has hit a hard wall, this is the time to look for inspiration so bring swatches and a photo of it with you because you just might see something that will kick-start it again.

There's probably many many more hints and tips our there that I don't recall just now so if you have any, please leave us a comment!

Saturday with Cherry Guidry

I hope you had the opportunity to join us welcoming Cherry Guidry to Bright Hopes on Saturday. We had a wonderful time hearing her journey into the world of pattern-making. For those who unable to attend, I have a few photographs to share.

Here is Celeste, who has made a number of Cherry Blossom Quilting samples for the shop and Pearl with Cherry, standing in front of her newest pattern offering, Sunday Ride (one of two Cherry brought for the show!!!!)

Earlier this year, Cherry loaned us this sample of her Christmas wreath and I had a chance to shoot a close-up so you can see the lovely machine quilting . Cherry does her own quoting as well as piecing. SHe gave us tips on creating the tranpunto appearance you see below. This is one of the reasons Trunk Shows and Meet-Ups are so exciting; you never know what you will learn!

Here are two close-ups of the blocks from Sunday Ride, to give you and idea of her quilting and fabric choices. This sample used batiks. Notice the attention to detail!!!

I want to make this block as a stand-alone!

Here is a good shot of the second sample of Sunday Ride, using a more muted palette and gives you a better idea of the final size of the quilt itself. Her quilting on this one was fabulous and inventive!

Here is a close-up.

And another. Fantastic work!

In addition to the machine applique designs, Cherry has a new pieced pattern for your viewing pleasure. The center of each block has an appliqué but the rest of the design is pieced.

We have complete collection of Cherry's pattern in stock and several shop samples. 

I hope you enjoyed a short review of the Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio trunk show, THANK YOU THANK YOU to Cherry Guidry for her time and enthusiasm, 

 and remember, 

next Saturday, July 20 is Mary Green's presentation of Modern Quilts and a review of QuiltCon. This is a free meeting and open to anyone who would like to learn more about this new direction in the world of quilt-making.

As seating is somewhat limited, we ask that you give us a call to reserve a chair and give us a more accurate idea of space requirements.

985-845-9554

See You Saturday!!

Hoffman Challenge 2013

Good morning, everyone! After a long wait, I am revealing the six entries into the Hoffman Challenge by various coworkers here at Bright Hopes Quilting.

 These are made by Mary Gerardi, Mona Lowe, Pearl Squires, Celeste Chabert, Georgia Farnet and Chris Teague.

 When Hoffman released the fabrics this year, we were so inspired that we grabbed our stash and whipped these out. They have been received by the committee and we now await the viewing and judging.

 I'll let you know what the results are when they are announced.

www.flickr.com

Okay... So It's Been a While....

Let me start off with a hearty apology for the silent blog. I have been distracted by home and travel lately and as a result, have neglected this site for waaaayyy too long.


BUT! I'm back and hopefully will be up-dating more frequently from here on out.

I want to thank Pearl, Mary Green and Georgia for picking up the slack and writing about their trip to the Austin QuiltCon and the passing of Patricia Campbell. It was Patricia Campbell's exquisite jacobean designs that made me ache to want to learn how to appliqué and I've been steadily working on a Block of the Month (which is turning into more of a "Block of the Years") with 12 of these.

Speaking of years......... we are inching up to our 10th Anniversary! It's hard to wrap the mind around that fact! 10 years and they went by so quickly. It's been quite a ride and such a blast to be associated with the happy place we think of as our escape away from home.

As the big day looms closer, we will announce our plans to celebrate and look forward to seeing our friends as we party party party!

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Hey!, were you "in that number"on Saturday when Kathy Brown brought her latest samples form the new book, Fat Quarter Quickies? If you missed it, here's a little recap.

This quilt, Sail Away, was a BIG hit and the quilting is delightfully nautical.

 This is Spinners from the cover and again, just beautiful! The book isn't only about full-sized quilts, either. Sometimes we just want to make a quick, small project and she's got that covered ,too.

Come flip through the book & you're certain to find this book to be a great value at the low price of $16.99.

Okay, it's Mid-Summer and that means

The Louisiana Shop Hop 

is rapidly approaching. 

We have 10 shops participating this year and as such, we are extending the Hop to cover 2 weekends, giving the Hoppers extra days to get from one end of our fair state to the other without causing a wreck on I-10.

Once again, Bright Hopes Quilting is organizing a coach bus to carry 40 riders over to Lafayette, Morgan City and Houma and if you have taken the easy way in the past, you know it's more fun to arrive at a shop refreshed rather than harried from the long-distance dash.

A box lunch and afternoon snack is provided as well so no time is wasted at drive-thrus. If all this sounds like something you'd like to sign-up for, give us a call at 985-845-9554 and reserve your place.

I'll be posting more information as the weeks pass by on Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler 2013.
Wait til you see the prizes!  Stay tuned......... and here is a video of the fun from last year.

Calendar of Classes for July and August, 2013

Okay, quilters!

 Here you go..... I know the blog has been silent for a few months but our gears are definitely turning at Bright Hopes Quilting with new samples, new fabrics, new books and patterns and a whole slew of classes to fit every desire.

Check them out and give us a call to save your place!

Now...if you are using an iPad or iPhone and cannot see this this PDF file...... It is a problem that exists between Apple and  Adobe.      what to do, what to do?

Well, folks, I have tried several different "fixes" to remedy this and every suggestion so far has failed. If anyone out there has figured out a way around this problem, please let us know.

May - June Class Schedule!!!!

It's out and Fabulous!!!!

After you check through the list, give us a call to sign up for classes at 985-845-9554.

Remember our class coupon, too. $60.00 and you can take as many classes as you like for 6 months. It's the best deal in town!

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QuiltCon 2013 - Part Two, Mary's Two Cents

Pearl and I had such a great time at QuiltCon and we learned a lot about the origins of the Modern Quilt Movement.  I want to share some of things we learned and the quilts we saw.

Modern Quilting is a combination of attitude and aesthetic with a focus on functionality and less of an emphasis on the difference between quilting as art versus craft.  Many in the Modern Quilt Movement participate in on-line experiences such as blogs, flickr, and web-based guilds, however the modern quilt community exsist both on-line and in person - as evidenced by the tremendous success of its first convention, QuiltCon 2013.  Here are some statistics:

QuiltCon had 6,500 attendees.

If you thought Modern Quilting was for the young - check out the ages of attendees:

• Age 25-34       18%
• Ages 35-44      24%
• Age 45-54       23%
• Age 55-64       23%
• Over 64           09%

It seems Modern Quilting is for the young at heart!

The categories at QuiltCon reflect some of the differences and similariries between modern and traditional quilting.

• Applique - quilt includes either machine or hand layering of fabric where the quilt's focus is applique.

• Handwork - quilt includes at least one element of handwork including, but not limited to hand piecing, hand quilting, emboidery, redwork, cross stitch, crewel, etc. 
  
  
  
• Improvisation - quilt is pieced improvisationally (without the use of a pattern or templates).

• Minimalist Design - the design of the quilt expresses the principles of minimalism including one or more of the following traits: simplicity, clarity of focus, singleness, and use of large forms.
  
  
  
  
  

Use of Negative Space - quilt design incorporates a significant use of negative space which organizes the composition of the quilt. (BTW - I bought this quilt!)

Piecing - quilts that are machine pieced.

Modern Traditionalism - quilt design incorporates the use of an identifiable traditional block pattern and modernizes it by applying design elements such as alternate grid work, asymmetry, color, scale, etc.

What was also interesting about the quilts at QuiltCon 2013 was the quilting.  Modern machine quilting is focused on using quilt designs in different ways, often combining several designs to give the quilting a different look - like a quilting mash-up.  Sometimes the quilting is used to create a secondary pattern. The quilting is often dense and since a lot of modern quilts have a lot of negative space the quilting takes the stage - but the designs remain simple.  Check out some of these examples from the conference:

Simple long flowing lines draw your eyes across the quilt but the pattern is dynamic, sometimes echoing the piecing and sometimes connecting the piecing, drawing the viewer in closer.

This Texas quilt demonstrates the dense quilting often seen in modern quilts with the added wonderful detail of the Texas star in the upper left corner (detail lower).  Just stunning!

You can see from these photos and categories that QuiltCon was very exciting, stimulating, fascinating, and an overall wonderful experience.  I hope to start a chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild at Bright Hopes Quilting in the near future, adding to the growing 250 MQGs worldwide.  If you are interested in joining please let me know by emailing Mary Green at marytfiberart.green@gmail.com