Why We Sew

I just HAD to share this homework assignment done by my 8 year old niece, Sophia.

Sewing can make you happy. When you finish you can lie down with the quilt you made! Fist you need someone to instruct you. But when you are done with lessons, you're making spectacular quilts in a jiffy. Sewing is a calm thing to do.

Sewing can be fun! If you try doing a quilt you will be warm when you get it. And also when you're finished you can show your friends.

Sewing can be easy. Look at a picture of a quilt I made. It's easy.

Well, What do ya know!

The Clayton Family has some incredible genes. Sue Clayton, the mother of our first prize winner in the Stocking Challenge in Riverhead, was the winner of the Viewer's Choice award. Now these two can live peacefully under the same roof! Sue's work is incredible. Her stocking was beaded from head to toe. And the viewers loved it. Here's Sue accepting her BIG stocking full of quilters good stuff.

Wendy Won the Audrey!

Congratulations to Wendy Rottner, the winner of the Baby Lock Audrey machine. Now Wendy has a friend to take to class. Our Baby Lock Shower was a wonderful success. So many of you enjoyed coming in to test drive the new Baby Locks and make an adorable scissors keeper. You can make them for all your friends, now that you know how easy it is.

And again the generosity of our customers is just astounding. We collected lots of baby food, diapers and other great stuff for Island Harvest. They were VERY happy with your donations, including one wonderful quilter who hand crocheted TWO beautiful baby blankets. Island Harvest was just so happy to receive all this. Thanks so EVERYONE who participated.

Check out THIS young designer!

Here's a message I received via email from one of our customers, Maria Tobiasz.

Hi, I am an aunt of the 6 yr old nephew for whom I have made 'The Rocket Quilt'. The story goes like this, last February when visiting my family, my 6 year old nephew, who is fascinated with rockets, drew on the piece of paper design for a quilt the he wanted me to make for him.In the next few months I have searched the web for rocket or rocket related designs or fabrics, visited your store several times as well, but could not find anything that would inspire me, until one day, I have stopped in you store and all was there. Beautiful fabrics that were so perfect for the design.Since, he has the quilt. He shows it to everyone who visits.

Somebody, please call Benartex Fabrics!

And the Riverhead Winners Are.....

Well, these challenges sure are a challenge! The competition in Riverhead was steep. You MUST come in to see what our most creative quilters have come up with. Angela Clayton of Manorville was the first prize winner. Angela is a home schooled young lady. The second place winner was Ann Kurz of Riverhead and third place was Sherri Guthrie. of Calverton.

East Northport Stocking Challenge

Boy, the judging was VERY tough in the East Northport Pieceful Quilting Stocking Challenge. This time our participants were REALLY presented with a challenge. And they did not dissappoint. Do come in to see what our creative elves have made with the difficult raw materials we gave them . All the stockings are just fabulous and it was very hard to narrow it down to just three winners. And the winners are: Gloria S from Farmingdale won the first prize sewing machine, Claudia H from Smithtown was the second prize $100 gift certificate and Margaret K from Commack won the third place $50 gift certificate.

Gloria S.

Please come in and vote for YOUR favorite in the viewer's choice category. That lucky winner will receive an extra large stocking chock full of the things that quilters dream of. Stop by before December 7th.

Claudia H. on left

Margaret K on right.

Back From Quilt Market

Just got back from Houston Quilt Market with lots of great stuff. Including three beautiful Block of the month programs. The first is the tried and true Thimbleberries Club. We've decided to do the program in the Throw or Lap size quilt. You can always purchase additional fabric to make the larger quilt. We are including backing and binding in our kits this year so you don't have to worry about that. We have chosen the MIDNIGHT colorway based on our very "scientific" survey. The picture at the left is of the larger quilt but it will give you an idea of just how pretty this quilt is. This will be a pick up Block of the month at either shop in East Northport or Riverhead. Monthly fee is $15.

The second Block of the Month is a beautiful floral in creams, greens, burgundy and a touch of blue. The fabrics are by Timeless Treasures and the quilt design is by Wing and a Prayer. The results are incredible. The border fabric alone is one you just might drool over. This will also be a pick up Block of the Month in either East Northport or Riverhead. It is also a 12 month commitment and includes the back and binding at $25 per month. This quilt is a whooping 96 x 106 inches.

Either of these Block of the month programs can also be shipped monthly for $6.95 per shipment.

And finally we are really excited to have an exclusive Civil War Block of the month program from Marcus fabrics. This will be offered in East Northport as a monthly 3 hour sit and sew class as well as a pick up Block of the Month in either Riverhead or East Northport. The class fee is $40 per month and the pick up fee is $25 per month. This is a 12 month commitment and the kit will include the backing and binding.

We saw the "real" quilt in Houston and this picture, pretty as it is, is no where near as beautiful as the actual quilt. I just LOVED it. It has a charming soft warm and wonderful feel.

We are working on our samples now, so stop by in a few weeks to see just how beautiful these quilts really are. See you soon.

And the winners are......!

We just HAD to give you the details on the winners of our Bernina Staff Challenge. It was very stiff competition. But the winners were Liz Doyle in the Riverhead store with the VERY bright quilt with the appliqued borders and Kathy Kelner in the East Northport store with her quilt call That's what summer is all about.

Liz said, "Oh boy! the bali fabric fits perfectly with my favorite colors! Using EQ6, I found a great block which I decided to make 9" x 12" instead of square. The blocks were paper-pieced using the 830. The machine applique in the border was also done on the 830. I quilted my piece on the 730. Enjoy!!!"

Kathy's quilt was mostly created on the Bernina 820. What a treat! The applique was a snap and the blocks were created using the layered method used in the Accidental Landscapes. The lettering was done using the embroidery module on the 730.

For sure everyone had fun and produced incredibly creative quilts. We are SO proud of our staff!

The Pieceful Quilting staff has outdone themselves yet again! We just had the entries in the Bernina Staff Challenge submitted and hung in the East Northport store. All I can say is WOW! But check it out yourself and vote for YOUR favorite because the lucky winners will receive a $150 gift certificate. The entries will be hung in East Northport from now through August 20 and in Riverhead from August 21 through September 4th.

LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH A BERNINA!

They Shopped 'til They Dropped

We just finished up the THIRD annual Island Shop Hop. Once again, it was quite a wild weekend. We organized a bus from the Pieceful Quilting shop in East Northport on Sunday and The Quiting Bug organized a bus from their shop in Massapequa on Saturday. There were lots of laughs and the prizes were great. The grand prize Bernina Sewing Machine was won by Maura Pinnavaia from Brooklyn. She was just thrilled. The two Pieceful Quilting baskets were won by Lisa McEnany and Jo-Ann DiMarco.

For those of you who didn't hop, here are some pictures from the East Northport bustrip. It was just great to see the Shop Hop quilt done in so many different ways.

Busy Customers at Pieceful Quilting

Our customers have been very busy. Here's what they've been up to:

This is Lisa McEnaney with a wedding quilt she made in an Irish Chain. Check out THIS fancy border!

This is Brenda Hoffman. She made this adorable baby quilt using her Janome 11000 and a disc from Anita Goodesigns. I love that ruffled girly border.

Go Green Getaway Weekend

Now that was fun. Twenty six ladies from all over long island gathered for a wonderful relaxing and fun weekend. We had mother/daughters, sisters, old friends and some new friends.

We were busy, busy, busy from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. The hotel had a fitness center, but I don't think anyone used it. It may have been the only place in the hotel WITHOUT loose threads.

Diane requested that everyone wear a name tag, but you know how some people just won't follow the rules. Here's a picture of Annie Mae wearing the nametag that Diane made for her. Yes, it IS made from Kotex!

Here's Donna playing Peek a Boo and Mary Lou with the technical tool.

And now for the unveiling of the finished (and some not so finished projects)

I'm Back!

Ok, I've been busy all year and I've finally found the time to get back into the blog. So much has gone on, I can't look back. But you just have to see this quick pic of me and Libby Lehman. We had a blast when she was here last week. And Beverly is going to teach Thread Play as soon as we can fit it in the schedule.



So let's look forward. We have a new Simple Sampler coming up in March. Here's a little taste of what it will look like. You can sign up on line.

Another fun event coming up is a visit from Jennifer Chiaverini. You know her - she wrote all those wonderful Elm Creek novels. If you haven't read them, get out those reading glasses for a real treat. Start with the Quilters Apprentice. She will be here on Friday April 3rd from 7 - 9 pm. You can sign up on line for that one too.

See you at the shop.