On January 28th and 29th, we were lucky to have Debi Gower from Illinois here at the shop to teach 2 special classes. On Friday the students learned to draw free form
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On Saturday, February 5, 2011 we hosted a class to raise support for our local food bank. It was the weekend of the Super Bowl. Participants had to bring in 10 cans of food to get the class for FREE plus FREE Lunch. They needed to purchase a Hoffman Bali Pop or a Timeless Treasures Tonga Treat. These are pre-packaged 2 1/2" strips of batik fabrics color coordinated in luscious combinations (Berry Bliss, Mango Margarita, Chocolate Mint, Zinfandel, Sugar Plum, etc.) In addition they needed 1 extra quarter yard of batik to blend and 3 extra quarter yards of batiks for accents. They also needed to purchase the pattern but could not see it because it was a mystery.
Students cut and sewed and cut and sewed some more. Finally after lunch someone was ready to got to the design floor for color arranging. The mystery pattern is by Karen Montgomery of the Quilt Company, in PA. The our sample quilt was revealed to Ohhs and Ahhs! By mid afternoon the students were ready to go more and plan thier color placement on their design space. Can't wait to see them come back in the shop for a final picture.
Check out our wide selection of Bali Pops and Tonga Treats and the Migration pattern. Creative Grid Quick Trim Ruler is needed for this project.
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Suzanne's Qult Shop Fall Retreat was held November 5-7, 2010 at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Norman Park Georgia. The retreat theme was "Dance to the Music". Participants chose their fabric kit by a musical theme. Choices were: Country (1930's) Oldies (Civil War), Rhythm and Blues (Blue and White) and Rock and Roll (Brights on Black) Suzanne and the staff designed the Record Spin quilt as a mystery project for this retreat. Pattern and kits are now available to regular customers.
Retreaters participated in a challenge block competition with a music theme. Everyone voted for their most creative, most unusual, best technique, and favorite, Prizes were awarded for each category. Three names were chosen from the group of participants to win a set of blocks.
Special entertainment was provided by staff member McKenna her husband Russ. Everyone enjoyed the folk music retreat and even sang along at times. Plus there was dancing to the music as well as quilting to the music. There were plenty of goodies left by the Fabric Fairy. Grace from Canada shared with us the 15 Minute Tablerunner. Suzanne demoed the Little Twister ruler and the Striped Tablerunner. Of course there were trips to the quilt shop 15 minutes away to make extra purchases to make these items. A good time was had by all and old friendships and new were cherished.
Spring Retreat 2011 will be held March 18-20. Come join us! http://www.suzannesquilts.com/suzannes_events.asp
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The Colquitt County Arts Center located in Moultrie, is hosting a quilt exhibit from September 10 - November 6. The arts center is open Monday-Friday 10-5:30 p.m. and Saurdays 10-2 p.m. McKenna Linn is the featured quilt artist. In addition a wide variety of quilts are on exhibit from local quilters. The exhibit is FREE to the public. The arts center is located at 401 Seventh Avenue S.W.in Moultrie, Ga. On Saturday, October 9 at 11 a.m. there will be a luncheon and lecture with featured artis Mckenna Linn. Tickets are available for $10.00.
Blue Rhapsody Donation Quilt - Blocks made by Suzanne Leimer, assembled by Creative Quilters and quilted by Lisa Smith of Artistic Threads. This beautiful blue and white quilt measures 86" x 100". Tickets are available to purchase at the Colquitt County Arts Center or Suzanne's Quilt Shop in Moultrie or www.suzannesquilts.com Proceeds from tickets sales go to the Colquitt County Arts Center which is a non-profit organiztion.
Here are some photos from the show.
Log Cabin Quilt by Jimmy Gainey. He made his first quilt a year ago.
Bargello by Terri Schuler
Nancy Coleman made this Packer Quilt for son's graduation.
Fall Saturday Sampler by Joy Ann Thompson.
Wheels of Whimsy by Donna Hembree
Balitmore Ablum Style by Linda Heirs
Featured quilt artist and new Moultrie resident McKenna Linn
http://www.mckennalinn.com/
1930's Circle of Stars by Suzanne Leimer
There is more to see. Come to the exhibit.
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The Colquitt County Arts Center in Moultrie, Ga is hosting a quilt exhibit from September 8 to November 6. The quilter's in our area have been busy getting the finishing touches on their quilts and filling out the paper work. Ms. Joyann stopped by this afternoon for some assistance in completing her paper work. Here is one of her beautiful quilts that will be showcased at the exhibit.
Her quilt design comes from the Cake Walk pattern by Quilt Country. The pattern features 12 hand embroidery designs and instructions for putting the quilt together. Everyone in the shop ooohed and aaahed over it and wanted one just like it. The quilt was hand quilted by one of Ms Joyann's daughters.
If you are in the South West Georgia area this Fall make a stop at the Colquitt Country Arts Center for this exhibit that is open to the public and FREE! Teddy Pruitt will be appraising quilts on Saturday, September 11. Featured quilt artist for the show is new Moultrie resident, McKenna Linn. More into on these talented ladies later.
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On Saturday, May 15th Suzanne's Quilt Shop will be hosting yet another sewing event for a worthy cause! American Patchwork & Quilting has issued the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. Suzanne has agreed to participate, and she's inviting volunteers to help out. On Saturday, May 15th from 10:00am until 5:30pm our doors will be wide open to any and all volunteers who can come and sew pillowcases for donation to local charities. There are currently 7 pillowcase patterns posted HERE on the official website, and more are posted quarterly. We also have pillowcase patterns available to participants. You're more than welcome to bring your own fabrics from your stash, and we also have ready-to-sew pillowcase kits featuring beautifully coordinated fabrics for males and females of all ages.
At this very moment, AP&Q has collected 71,131 pillowcases (and counting)! To help AP&Q keep count of how many pillowcases you're making and donating, you can simply let us know or sign up HERE and enter the number of pillowcases in their site directly.
We look forward to this event, and we hope you can come! If you plan on making it in, even if it's only for a small time, please call or come in to let us reserve a place for you to sew. If you simply can't join in this time, no worries! We will accept pillowcases any time and happily donate them in your name for the cause. This is a great event for us to participate--Suzanne works every year to support local charities by donating when she can. Amongst other charitable events such as Quilting for ALS and Stars for a Cause, Suzanne's coupon book (still available for in-store purchase!) is always a popular product with customers--Suzanne matches every dollar from the sales of the coupon books, all of the proceeds from that go to The Serenity House, a local shelter helping local battered women and their children. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident. We have a list of local charities in addition to Serenity House that will welcome your made-with-love pillowcases with open arms and grateful hearts.
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Quilts from this weekend's Spring Retreat just bloomed before our very eyes. The quilters all did a great job at piecing and sewing everything together, and the results are beautiful! Everyone really made Suzanne's design show beautifully. Here's a look at the finished quilt tops:
Batiks: Brights:
Pastels:
Once again, great job and big thanks to all the quilters who came out and quilted with us at the Spring Retreat! We can't wait to see how y'all plan to finish out your projects!
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Well, another of Suzanne's retreats has come and gone! This past weekend, quilters from all over Georgia--actually, from all over the United States!!!--joined together at the Gerorgia Baptist Conference Center in Norman Park, Georgia for another fun weekend of quilting. Because the 2009 Fall Retreat was such a success, Suzanne couldn't pass up the opportunity to host a Spring themed event.
This time around, just like Fall 2009, the Retreat weekend project was another surprise! Before they arrived, the only information quilters were given was the theme "Spring Brings a Garden of Quilts" and the colorways they had to choose from: Sunrise (pastels on white), Midday (brights on white), or Evening (batiks on black). Just like the retreats before this, Suzanne kept the entire project under wraps until her grand reveal at the retreat. And the grand reveal still kept a lot of secrets from the quilters! Of course, everyone was given all of the fabrics in their chosen colorway to complete the project. But the entire project was still a secret--Suzanne handed out the pattern and instructions one step at a time! So, this kept her secret going even longer. The quilters would see what they were making as they finished the project! Below, you can see the creative display of fabrics that was true to the theme of the weekend. Each colorway was rolled into a rose-shaped spiral and placed into a decorative tin flower pot. Once all the flower pot fabrics were revealed the sewing room was filled with the brightness of Spring, sounds of happy chirping from the elated quilters, and a cool Springtime breeze from their busy sewing machines.
Sunrise/Pastels: Midday/Brights:
Evening/Batiks:
Once the first round of instructions were handed out, fabrics were cut and sewn nonstop! Nonstop, that is, until it was time to take a break for more delicious food. There was also the Block Challenge to vote on. The Block Challenge was a fun extra project that the quilters worked on before they came for the weekend. Each quilter came to the retreat with a finished block and all blocks were displayed at the Retreat. Each quilter voted for his or her favorites: winner of best technique went to Jimmy Gainey and the other three awards most creative, most unusual, and most popular went to Sandy.
By the end of the weekend, everyone was full from the delicious meals served by the Conference Center Staff and happy with the quilts they had put together. Thanks to all who came to the 2010 Spring Retreat. It is because of our loyal and enthusiastic quilters that we can host such fun, eventful, and productive retreats for you all. We are already looking forward to our next retreat, believe it or not! The 2010 Fall Retreat will be held during the first weekend in November, the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Check our next eNewsletter for links to our 2010 Fall Retreat information.
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Every year's Quilt for a Cause event is a very special time for our quilters to work together as a team for a greater cause. Last year's was a great cause, and a great success. This year some of our quilters came together again in our large classroom and worked dilligently to finish six whole quilt tops to benefit patients associated with the ALS Association: Fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease. The donated quilts will be given to an ALS patient or used to raise awareness and research money for ALS by being photographed, displayed, auctioned, or raffled. The project, Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS, is sponsored by Quilters Dream Batting, and their website shows the complete list of sponsors.
We snapped a few pictures of our quilters in action. Not only did these gals enjoy a relaxing afternoon of quilting with their fellow friends, but they also quilted for a great cause. And to top it all off, all quilts that are sent in will be displayed on the Quilter's Dream Facebook page! So, get ready ladies: if you were here to help us quilt for this great cause, your work will be displayed on Facebook! :) Thanks again to all of you generous ladies for donating your time and efforts for this great cause!
(Disclaimer: Yes, we realize that Shirley's hair appears to be purple in the above photo. And, no, this is not a doctored photograph! She did, indeed, quilt for a cause wearing purple hair. Doesn't she just brighten your day?)
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On the second Saturday of every month, Suzanne's Quilt Shop hosts what we call Saturday Sampler. This month's meeting was on November 14th. It's a fun, busy, exciting morning filled with the reveals of our newest fabrics, kits, notions, and other goodies as well as a bit of Show-and-Tell by quilters who come. Perhaps the biggest perk to being a member of our Saturday Sampler club is the quilt you get to make, and Suzannes hands-on tutorial on how to do it! To join, all you need to do is sign up and pay your $6 membership fee. Each month a new block is introduced, and if you show up with last month's block finished, this month's block is free! During the gathering each month, Suzanne sits at her sewing machine as quilters look on and learn Suzanne's techniques for finishing the next block.
Saturday Sampler was so popular in the past, we had to plan for two separate groups! Our first shift comes tumbling through the doors at 9:30am while the second shift starts at 10:30. We always begin with Show-and Tell.
After everyone has had the chance to show off finished quilts, it's time for the ever-exciting new reveals. Suzanne loves the reveal of our newest products. Here, we got a snapshot of Suzanne showing off one of our newest fabric collections, Covey Toile. Just look at the captivated quilters!
Now it's time to get down to business: making this month's block. This month, the quilters also got their fair share of triangles on a roll to be sure all the pieces of this block come together perfectly. This is Suzanne explaining the triangles on a roll to those quilters in the group who had never used them before. You're always learning new quilting techniques at Suzanne's!
Next month's Saturday Sampler will obviously be the last one of the year, since it'll be December. :) We will be meeting at 9:30am and 10:30am on December 12th. The 2010 (!!!) year of Saturday Sampler is planned to start in February. For event details and class information, you can always visit the calendar on our site at suzannesquilts.com!
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