Kaffe Fassett and Quilting Outside the Box

China Dishes by Black Mountain Quilts is a great pattern when you want to incorporate the Engish chintz/ china dish fabrics ..... but .......

 

when you think 'outside the box" and look over at the outrageous selection of Kaffe Fasset's, you can get a whole different feel!

 

 

This kit is $72.99 and includes the binding. Pattern sold separately. Pattern $8.00

March April Calendar of Classes!

We are posting our new list of classes and calendar..... We have some new projects and old favorites on the schedule, something for everyone!

(if you want to print the whole PDf, hit that little button on the upper right left of the bar (t would be on the right, if I were hanging upside down from a tree).  Otherwise, scroll down to the last page and just print the calendar, itself.

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Remember to sign up early to assure yourself a place and if you have to cancel, please call us ASAP to allow someone on the waiting list a chance to sit in.

We have the "Best Deal in Town" class coupon. For $60.00 you may take as many classes as you wish for 6 consecutive months. You can't beat that value!

2012 Block of the Month Kit

Now that February has arrived, our 2013 Block of the Month kits are available and flying out the door. We are very excited to offer three great choices. All are light-colored and light-hearted. There are 3 different sizes as well, one huge, one large bed and one lap-size.


Last year's BOM  have come to an end and we have 2 complete kits of the beautiful Amish with a Twist quilt available.

Here it is up close with out the last border....

 

... and here is a close-up of the last border with the applique embellishment.

 

Mostly piecing with just a touch of applique to keep it interesting.

This kit has all the fabrics to complete the top, the binding and pattern, all for a low price of $ 189.99. But there are only two kits in stock.

We also have the fabulous Planetary Party ready to blast off. This fun BOM by Amy Bradley was a popular fusible applique BOM a few back and we have one complete kit left. All patterns, fabric and binding included for $ 129.99 

Louisiana Northshore Quilt Trail

Pearl's thoughts-Did you know that we have a wonderful quilting resource to enjoy right here on the Northshore?  As you may know, I love quilt barns, and I went looking for some on my trip to Kentucky last summer.  I recently became aware of the Louisiana Northshore Quilt Trail after talking with Rosemary Ydarra and Donna Mollere.  The web site is www.louisianaquilttrail.com, and you will find lots of useful information, including specific trails for the quilt blocks, addresses, and the stories behind the quilt blocks.

The block below is Classic Clay at The Clay Station, 140 West Oak St., Ponchatoula.  It is the first block to be installed in Louisiana, March 1, 2011.
 

The block below is Ponchatoula on the Tracks, located at the Ponchatoula City Hall. 

My husband and I went to Ponchatoula and saw 22 blocks in the area.  There is even one at Mittendorf's-lunch, anyone?   The block below is for Paul's Cafe in Ponchatoula on Hwy. 22.

These blocks range in size from two feet square to four feet square. You will find them on fences, garages, and the sides of buildings.  All of these wonderful blocks are the work of the board members for the Louisiana Northshore Quilt Trail, an enthusiastic group who would love to see more blocks added to the trails! 

In addition, you might enjoy visiting The Art Station 146 West Oak St  in Ponchatoula, which sells items associated with the quilt trail.  The hours are Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and all day Friday.  We at Bright Hopes Quilting have a poster from The Art Station which depicts the original 50 blocks-the art work is so intriguing, and I love the stories! 

By the way, there is a new block in Covington at the Covington Trailhead, installed Jan. 30, 2013.  There will soon be a block in Slidell.  I hope perhaps you will be curious to go see some of these quilt blocks!  I'm not sure which is my favorite, but I'd love to know which is yours!

Blocks of the Month Programs

I don't know about you but January has just blasted past us in a flurry blur of activity! The Visit Your Local Quilt Shop day was a hoot across the country and I hope anyone reading this had the opportunity to do just that. We are independent quilt shops that do business in competition with the large franchise craft stores so we truly appreciate our loyal customers who make coming to work for us so much fun every day. We love to see what you do with your talents and time. (And speaking for myself, you invigorate me with what you bring in for show n tell. I just itch to get home and give it a try!)

The day after VYLQS we had the pleasure of a visit from a McCall's cruise ship leaving the port of New Orleans on a quilting adventure. Thank you for coming both to our Great State of Louisiana and to our store! We hope your cruise is exciting and productive. What a wonderful way to kick off a new year.

It's been quite a busy start to the New Year at the shop and now that a little of the dust has settled, we can focus on shipping out the 3 new Blocks of the Month that we have been working on.

We finally received the gorgeous batik that will feature in the beautiful Marti Michell Sampler quilt and Pearl made the first block to give you a preview of what is to come. (side note: I made two of these large quilts 9 years back when I was still learning to quilt and it is a fun one to make because the blocks are more than simple but easier than difficult so it challenges the sewer but doesn't make her pull her hair out and throw things)

So here you can see what I mean..... it's a 9 Patch, okay, but you've got Square in a Square, Half-Square triangles and Quarter-Square triangles all coming together to make one exciting block. The BOM uses the Marti Michell Set B templates for the most accurate cutting of the pieces and they really make this quilt practically fool-proof. This quilt is a 12 month BOM and costs $18.99 a month. This will cover all the fabric for the 79" x 98" quilt top, including borders and binding.

This is Noa's Garden, a lovely sofa-sized quilt which will feature the Victorian Modern fabric line. Mona is working on the samples of this fine pieced and appliqued quilt. As you can see, it has only a small amount of applique and has a very old-fashioned look to it.

 Some of the fabrics we're using, shown below, are from Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, and Andover Fabrics.  This quilt will measure 60" x 68" and lasts 13 months  for $14.99 per month. Mona is holding a class for BOMers on this quilt in early February. She does beautiful applique!

 This is Kaleidoscope, a huge (96" x 100") quilt that again is mostly pieced blocks with a scatter of applique on the outer border.  Mona made this sample and we're using the jewel-tone Shadow Play fabric line  for this 12 month BOM. It costs $18.99 per month. If you were yearning to make a quilt for your own bed this year, this is a good one! ("you mean, I get to keep one?"  "yes! This is a keeper!")

Okay, the kits are being assembled now and will be ready to mail anywhere in the US for those who don't live near-by. We do not charge a sign-up fee for our BOM programs and you can sign up by phone or in the store. (985) 845-9554.

Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day!

It's Back! It's Big! It's This Thursday!

I don't know about you but once I have stowed the Christmas decorations and cleared the decks of the holiday cheers, I am rarin' to go on something new, something forward-looking. Something, dare I say, challenging?

Something like the Hoffman Challenge.  Have you seen the fabric they chose for the focus? It is spectacular! Here, have an eyeful!

Right? Spectacular! Very inspired choice! 

If you have never ventured down this path before, let me tell you briefly what's what. You make a quilt, a piece of clothing, an accessory or a doll using an obvious piece of the challenge fabric itself and any other fabric (there's a nice selection of 'friends' that came with the "challenge" fabric)  and submit it to the jury. There are several additional categories like 'best use of Sulky Thread, first submission, best workmanship, etc as well as the usual 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mentions.

So, some of us at Bright Hopes Quilting are going to challenge ourselves and make a project using this fabric. I have already seen something of Georgia's work and I can tell you this much: It's gorgeous!

I know what I am going to make but this has taken me 3 weeks since I purchased the fabric, hanging around on the design board and no, I have not even started. We have until mid- July to enter the contest but Pearl is going to hang our finished creations around the shop and she welcomes everyone to join, even those who do not intend to enter the contest. All the rules are at that Hoffman link above.

We have some of the Challenge Fabric left on the shelf so if this is something you'd like to do, Thursday would be a great day to drop in and grab a piece. 

Why Thursday?

It's Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day! Stop by for refreshments, demonstrations, door prizes and while you are at it, we encourage you bring along a quilt of yours that has a special place in your heart. This can be something you have made or one that has been handed down through generations. It does not have to be in mint condition, either! Like the velveteen rabbit, a worn quilt is a much-loved quilt. Bring it in and tell us about your quilt and see some of the quilts that have been with us in our homes.

I am the lucky duck who gets to work that day with Georgia, Mary and Celeste so I will be on hand with my camera. If you see me lurking, smile and wave!

 I want to make another fun video.

I Am So Excited! Kate Spain ~ Up-Dated!

This coming Tuesday, Kate Spain is paying paid us a visit at Bright Hopes Quilting!

Okay, as quilters, you are probably aware of her fabrics (Verna, Good Fortune) if not of the designer herself, but we have had her bolts on our shelves for several years and have seen some lovely quilts made with them.

We tried to meet up with her at the Houston Market in October, but weather conspired against that. As busy as people can get during those hectic days, it is probably better to have a few more uninterrupted minutes here in Louisiana instead.

Honey Honey is her latest line of luscious lovelies and we have a new sample or Perfect Ten up behind the register featuring all of them...

We eagerly anticipate the arrival of the bolts to accompany the layer cakes we already do have in stock.

Kate designed a unique pattern to showcase the fabric line, appropriately titled Apiary. You can download the PDF at that linked site. The honeybee alone is awesome!

Up-Date: Let me correct that... Kate SPAIN is AWESOME!

She and her delightful husband, Peter, arrived safely and we had an all-too-brief visit at the shop before heading over to our favorite lunch spot, Ponchartrain Po-Boys. As the best of luck would have, we had just an hour before received our bolts from her new line, Honey Honey.... and they were sitting brightly on the shelf.

I am so glad she met Georgia, who knocked out the sample of Perfect Ten, here behind them and using the fabric line.

So, while they reside up in the colder Northeast, I think the temps were colder still here in the South as they made their way through Atlanta and Alabama. A trip to Gee's Bend left a strong impression and they told us about the aging population of quilters in this small tight-knit community.  If you want to see the birth of the Modern quilter, hot-link over to the Auburn University's swell archive.

As we peppered them with questions between bites, we learned that Kate comes to fabric design by way of Rhode Island School of Design and Hello Kitty! (I kid you not!) and has been licensing her unique works with Moda from the start. We often hear about designers jumping from one manufacturer to another but Kate has an excellent rapport with Moda Fabrics (which is wonderful to hear because they produce exquisite fabrics and in such an outrageous diversity.)

Of course, we are curious to learn insights in the production of each line, how the colors and motifs are created but the real mystery to most of us is "How does Moda know how many yards of each line to produce?" This is a critical question because these manufacturers typically only make one printing and what is done is done! This can be so maddening to us quilters who perhaps didn't get quite enough of that border to finish and then the wild goose-chase begins!

The Answer Is: She doesn't know! They have asked this question themselves and still have no answer. She was able to give an insight into how many bolts are usual in each line (approx. 40) and these are what you will find in the pre-cuts. When there are fewer than 40, you will find repeats of several bolts in the rolls to make a total of 40 strips.

Kate IS a quilter, although her time is more limited now and she DID design the Apiary pattern, linked above.

I truly hope we meet again in this life..... they are super-good people and we would like to thank them for taking the time to visit. Road-trips are sprinkled with the unexpected, for sure, and those of us who stand stationery experience them vicariously through people like the Spains. 

(I really am a groupie at heart .... I could ask an endless stream of questions and sit there, rapt in attention and they were so gracious about it. I hope their sandwiches didn't cold as they answered)