THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED!!

The origin of my little hooked scottie rug find (see the previous post) was a mystery until today! My Twitter friend, moxonsawyer (of course, I don't know her real name) sent me this website: http://www.cheticamphookedrugs.com/

Apparently this little island called Cape Breton in Nova Scotia has an enterprising population of rug hookers who formed a cottage industry to help supplement their income. They do beautiful work and the prices can't be beat! They tell me that my little rug was from 1972. According to their website, they have even been featured in O Magazine!

It's wonderful to have a group of friends who can answer almost any question you can come up with! I just wish I could meet you all!

HANDMADE BUTTONS FROM GINA M STUDIO!

Handmade, one-of-a-kind ceramic buttons from Gina M. Studio are in the shop! 44th Street Fabric managed to snag some of these fabulous art buttons which Gina puts on little original art tags. Each one is unique! They are awesome on tote bags, clothing, primitive dolls, embellished quilts and more. I'll be putting more on each day for a while so be sure to check them out. Not shown are reds, blues, greens and lilacs but they will be listed. I've tried to get Gina to make more buttons but she claims she is busy with her own life, children, Fabulous Shopping's website...blah...blah...blah...

We'll see!

MY TINY ANTIQUE SCOTTIE RUG

I just had to show you the adorable tiny hooked antique scottie rug I found! It is very small and has an old tag on the back with something hand-written like a signature and the words: "I was made at Chetacamp, C.B. My wool yarn was gathered, spun and dyed in someone's home. I am hand hooked. Camp Brenton. I don't know where that is but this little work of art is only 5" across. The label is yellowed and looks very old. If anyone knows anything about its history, I would love it if you would share!

THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

Alice in Wonderland

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

Marina and her Baby Doll

I just wanted to share some art from fabulous folk artists, Jo James and Dylan Curry, the husband and wife team behind Cart Before the Horse. These gorgeous contemporary folk art creations are individual works of art. I personally think it is some of the finest folk art around today. I aspire to become a collector of their work. I just had to share this amazing art with you. Happily, Jo and Dylan have a wonderful website where you can see a gallery of their unique works of art. Just click on any of the pictures shown above to go to their Etsy shop and buy their fabulous items.

BEACH GIRLS - DYLAN AND MOMMY, APRIL

Dylan's first trip to the beach! She only swam in the hotel pool though. Lucky Dylan! It was snowing at home! They are beautiful girls, aren't they? Daddy Jason is so proud!

HUSHABYE BLOG GIVEAWAY! DRAWING APRIL 5TH!

First, 44th Street Fabric thanks everyone who entered our last giveaway for Rainy Days and Mondays fabric! If you didn’t win, we would like to offer you 25% off any Rainy Days and Mondays fabric you buy from us! Just convo me when you buy it and tell me you were a blog giveaway entrant and I’ll send you an invoice reflecting the savings! This offer is good until April 5th!
Here are the rules for our Giveaway: It’s kind of like “Find Waldo” but you will be looking for a photo of our owner, Jason, in one of the listings for the fabric shown above in our Etsy shop http://44thstreetfabric.etsy.com. We call our contest “Find Jaso”!
FIRST: Go to our Etsy store (just click on the link). SECOND: look for the fabrics shown above. There are 7 listings that feature Hushabye fabric by Tula Pink in the Etsy shop. Jaso’s picture could be hiding in any of them! THIRD: Leave a comment on this blog entry and tell me the fabric listing in which you found Jason’s picture. Easy-peasy and you will be entered to win! Comments will not be shown on the blog until after the contest but you will be entered. Winner will be announced on Monday, April 5th! Be sure to leave your email address on the entry so that I can notify you if you win!
What is the prize for this giveaway? A one (1) yard cut of EACH of the Hushabye fabrics shown! That’s a total of SIX (6) YARDS of fabric from the "makes me think of spring" Hushabye line designed by Tula Pink for Moda. If you blog about our contest, just put the link in a comment and you will get an extra entry. Let me know you are a follower and you will also get another entry. The winner is chosen at random by www.random.org. Let me know if you have any questions and GOOD LUCK!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

We have a winner! Our blog giveaway winner (courtesy of Random.org) is Sandy from Sandy Ala Mode! Congratulations Sandy! You have won 9 1/2 yard cuts of Rainy Days and Mondays fabric for a total of 4.5 yards! Please send me your mailing address and I'll ship your fabric. My email is: bev@44thstreetfabric.com.

For everyone else who took the time to enter we thank you and offer you this: From now until April 5th, any Rainy Days and Mondays fabric you buy from our etsy shop will be 25% off! Just tell me what date you commented when you purchase your fabric! Here's a link to the 44th Street Fabric Etsy shop: http://44thstreetfabric.etsy.com.

Watch for our next giveaway which will be posted tomorrow! Thanks again everyone!

SORTING TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNING QUILTERS

Because of many requests, I'm repeating my sorting tutorial here. Many beginning quilters have problems with value and determining what fabrics are light, medium or dark. It has been my experience that sorting fabrics when you are choosing them for a quilt is very helpful with determining whether you have enough of each value represented in your quilt. I tend to go all dark if I'm not careful or all medium. At any rate, here are some strips I've cut for a Lady Liberty quilt and I'll show you how to sort them.

First sort your fabrics into two piles. One light and one dark. Here's my dark pile:

And here is my light pile:

Now sort your light pile into two more piles. You will have light-light and light-dark. Here's mine:
Then sort your dark pile into two more piles. You will have a dark-dark pile and a dark-light pile. Here's mine:
Your light-dark pile and your dark-light pile are both medium! So here is what you end up with--a pile of dark, medium and light fabric:

You can keep sorting and refining all you want. I usually only sort into the 3 groups: light, medium and dark. Then to avoid my "matchy-matchy" tendancies and get a true scrap look, I put my dark, medium and light fabric piles into paper grocery bags so that I can't see them. When I'm sewing, I close my eyes and fish around in the bag and pick a strip. Sometimes I have to argue with myself to force myself to use what I've picked but I then have a randomish scrap look.

I hope this is helpful and that the people who have been asking can use this information. My photos are dark because it is snowing here and dark - yes, snowing on the first day of spring....Let me know if you have questions! Cheery wave!

OUR LITTLE BEACH BUNNY

Our little beach bunny, Dylan, daughter of our owner, Jason, is modeling her new beach couture. She's on her way to a relaxing beach vacation. Use sunscreen little Dylan!

BLUSH CHARM SQUARE QUILT

My weekend project for 44th Street Fabric is to use some charm square packs from the shop and make a throw for the back of the couch. Of course, Blush fabric is one of my (and my customers') favorite lines! We have already re-ordered it! I don't have the borders on the little quilt yet but it is only Saturday afternoon and I just started on it this morning!

It's an easy peasy pattern. Just sew your charm squares into 9 patch units. Then cut them down the middle and down the middle again (horizontally and then before you move it, cut it vertically). That gives you 4 squares. Arrange them any way you want.

What I like to do with any scrap quilt is (because I'm such a perfectionist) put the pieces in a paper bag and choose them without looking. That guarantees a scrappy look. So I'll put up more pics when I finish. We still have some charm squares left....

A QUILT FOR JASON

I made a quilt for my son, Jason. It is an original design and the most difficult quilt I ever made. The optical illusion pattern made me dizzy when I quilted it! I found out that it is hanging.....in his closet. I'll say no more but you, my quilting friends, will understand. At least it hasn't become a cat bed.....yet....

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS BLOG GIVEAWAY!

First, 44th Street Fabric thanks everyone who entered our last giveaway for Love U fabric! If you didn’t win, we would like to offer you 25% off any Love U fabric you buy from us! Just convo me when you buy it and tell me you were a blog giveaway entrant and I’ll send you an invoice reflecting the savings! This offer is good until March 22nd!
Here are the rules for our Giveaway: It’s kind of like “Find Waldo” but you will be looking for a photo of our owner, Jason, in one of the listings for Rainy Days and Mondays fabric listed in our Etsy shop http://44thstreetfabric.etsy.com/. We call our contest “Find Jaso”!
FIRST: Go to our Etsy store (just click on the link). SECOND: look for the Rainy Days and Mondays fabrics. There are 12 listings that feature Rainy Days and Mondays fabric in the Etsy shop. Jaso’s picture could be hiding in any of them! THIRD: Leave a comment on this blog entry and tell me the fabric listing in which you found Jason’s picture. Easy-peasy and you will be entered to win! Comments will not be shown on the blog until after the contest but you will be entered. Winner will be announced on Monday March 22nd! Be sure to leave your email address on the entry so that I can notify you if you win!
What is the prize for this giveaway? A one-half (1/2) yard cut of EACH of the Rainy Days and Mondays fabrics shown! That’s a total of FOUR AND ONE-HALF (4.5) YARDS of fabric from the Rainy Days and Mondays line from Riley Blake Designs. If you blog about our contest, just put the link in a comment and you will get an extra entry. If you are a follower, let me know and you get an extra entry for that too! The winner is chosen at random by www.random.com. Let me know if you have any questions and GOOD LUCK!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Congratulations to our Blog Giveaway winner: Mary on Lake Pulaski! Mary, please send me your mailing address and I'll ship your fabric. My email is: bev@44thstreetfabric.com.

To everyone else who entered: THANK YOU for taking the time to enter! Since we can't send free fabric to everyone who enters, we would like to offer you 25% OFF all Love You fabric or charm packs you purchase from 44th Street Fabric etsy shop between now and March 22nd. Just purchase the fabric and convo me and let me know you entered the giveaway and I will send you an invoice reflecting the adjusted amount.

Watch for our next giveaway which we will post this week! We don't have the fabric yet but we got the UPS notice that it is on the way! I just want to make sure I get it in the shop before I offer to give it away-lol. You will LOVE it!

CONGRATULATIONS TO AUSTIN!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Austin and crew, WINNERS of Quad Boys Heart of Texas Regatta!!! WOOT!! WOOT!!

LOVE U CHARM SQUARES

This weekend I'm making 44th Street Fabric shop projects from Love U charm squares! The bag and quilt top were so fast, fun and easy to do. It just took 2 charm packs for both projects and there are charm squares left over. The Bunny Hill Designs pattern for the charm squares and the charm square packs are, of course, for sale at the shop and we have fabric for the backing, binding, purse handles and interior. We have charm squares for other Moda lines and will be getting the Riley Blake charm squares too! Make a charm square baby quilt and tote in one weekend and have a great gift!

COMING SOON! FREEBIRD BY MOMO FOR MODA

Here's a little preview of Freebird fabric by MoMo for Moda. It will be in the shop in April. We love it! Very exotic and different.

LOVE IT--CAN'T GET IT!

I FINALLY found a wallet I want. Of course, it's a Radley and they will not ship it to the USA! sigh.... Then, JOY! Radley has a USA website! and sigh.... this is the ONLY wallet they are out of. Drat...

My search for the perfect wallet continues....