All Work and No Play...

Well lately it has been all work around here, so last night I took some time off to Play a little!  Today, I finished up this little quilt top for my Riley Blake challenge for the Baltimore Modern Guild meeting tomorrow (I know...nothing like waiting until the very last minute).

We were given fat eighths from each of the six prints that you see in the squares above (Thank you Riley Blake!), and we could add a solid, so I added this aqua color and started making squares...

I didn't get mine quilted up yet, and don't plan on entering it in the Riley Blake challenge contest, I just wanted to play for fun :)

I added the "UnRuly style word "Play" kind of Tonya Ricucci-ish and added it to the bottom border...And this is what I came up with ~  It was fun to just play today :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Some Amazing Class Samples are Arriving at the Shop!

Our cure for the Winter blues is to think Spring here at Spring Water Designs!  I've been booking dates with Teachers and every day more class samples are being dropped of at the shop for upcoming Spring classes! This is the Spring Tulip Wool Penny Rug that Mary Nielsen will be teaching on April 14th & 28th. 

Part of her class will be teaching these embellishing stitches that really punches this little project up to the next level :)

 How can you not get cheered up when looking at this little project :) 

Class sample arrangements are going up in the shop, with more samples scheduled to come in tomorrow.

This is the Machine Raw Edge Applique "Daffodil" being taught by Patti Rusk on March 6th & 20th...Let Patti help you forget this cold weather and get in the mood for gardening :)

 ...and this is the "Oriole" both appropriate for Spring and the start of Spring Training too :)  Patti will be teaching the Oriole on two Fridays, March 21st & 28th.

And keeping with the seasonal theme, Barbara Burnham, author of Baltimore Garden Quilt will be teaching her hand applique techniques with this little Cherry Bird on Saturday, March 22nd.  Barbara does amazing work, and I can't wait to host her class here at the shop :)

And last (for now), but not least ~ I'm so excited to share that internationally known quilt teacher, Pat Sloan will be teaching an all day workshop in our classroom on Saturday April 5th from 10 - 4:00! Come out and enjoy a day learning Pat's techniques in her workshop The Magic of Easy Machine Applique, and work on her Little Blue Bird quilt (pattern is included in the cost of the class).  Space is limited so register early!

You can register for any of these classes Here on the Website, or call me at the shop (410)381-0695

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Latest Additions to the Shop

So this afternoon Bob rolled this new section to my check out counter into the shop.  It abuts right up to my current counter and has slat wall on this side to display things. (I immediately loaded it up with these apron samples that we have kits for and I thought they needed to be displayed, and a sample for our upcoming English Paper Piecing Class ~ more on that soon!)

But the best part of this new unit is this side...I now have my Bernina here at the shop with me and can sew to my heart's content!  ~ I'm really way more excited about this than I should be...it kind of feels like Christmas :)

Another new addition this week was this cabinet.  We found it at ReStore (my new favorite store by the way).  It needed a new back on it, and Bob added casters to the bottom so I can wield it around.  I painted it up on Tuesday, and now it holds the beginnings of our Wool display!

We had Wool Chunks, cute little wool charm packs, and yummy Valdani Pearl Cotton arrive this week...

...And Mary made these adorable little wool pincushions that we just happen to have kits for :)

If you think these are cute, stay tuned for photos of the Wool Penny Rug Class that Mary is going to be teaching ~ Photos, dates and details coming soon :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another Quilt Publication Siting

So a few months back I was working on this one.  It's made with the "Delicate" fabric line from Fabric Editions.  I just love this fabric line ~ the combination of yellow and gray, and throwing in the turquoise is perfect :)

 I wanted to do something with diamonds because I've never worked with them, so...

 ...This is what I came up with ~ It's called Jewel box.  ~ Sorry I really didn't take any good photos this time before I shipped it off to the magazine, but they did...

 ...Here it is in the current issue of Quilt-it Today magazine :) 

It's in the March/April issue, and there has been at least one siting at JoAnn's newsstand.  (And look at that pillow project that incorporates Cathedral Window blocks ~ is that stinkin' cute or what!) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

New Fabrics are Arriving!

Even though it was snowing, new fabrics have been coming in the shop during the week.   These sweet colors are "Polka" from Andover Fabrics (And since I took this photo, we now have fat quarter bundles cut of them ~ So Cute!)

 ...And speaking of cute, this is "Hugs for Heroes" from Quilting Treasures.  QT donates a portion of sales of this fabric line to the Project Linus National HQ.  We're making up pillow case kits with this fabric because I thought it's a cute fabric to use for kids who have Daddys or Mommys away on deployment.   And we are also becoming a drop off point for ConKerr Pillowcases ~ so keep an eye out for more pillowcase fun :)

This is some of the fabrics in a line called "She Who Sews" from Quilting Treasures.  I'm making up a quilt sample that I'll show you soon with this one.

 

 And this is some of "Amelia" designed by Jo Morton for Andover Fabrics.  We have bundles, fats, a quilt kit for a large quilt made with this one, and of course we're taking registrations for our Jo Morton's Little Women's Club starting in February, so contact me if you want to join in! 

...And tomorrow just happens to be Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day ~ and since now I have a local quilt shop ~ I'm inviting you to stop in and see us!  It might be flurrying a little snow outside, but inside we'll be thinking Spring and having a "Yard Sale" : Rest assured, we'll be Inside, and select one yard cuts of fabric will be on sale, along with some other little bargains.  And since a little more snow is in the forecast, we'll probably carry over our little "Yard Sale" to Monday too (We're closed on Sunday).

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Our HQ Room

I finally got some photos snapped of the second room in the shop.  This is our HandiQuiter Room!

 More products are on the way, and I'm adding to my thread collection...

And I'm pleased that we have plenty of room to hold our HQ Machine Quilting Club meetings and for renters to come in and use our machines. 

We've only been in a week now, and we've already held a couple of Rental Classes and an HQ Club Class ~ It's fun to see quilters learn to use the machines and get excited about getting their quilt tops finished!

 ...And this week, the first rental quilt has been finished in the new shop!  Janet brought a nice size batik quilt to use as her first practice piece.  (And because she booked her first rental time within two weeks of taking the class, she got her first two hours of rental time for free to practice!)

 ...And she did a great job trying out assorted quilting motifs in the different sections of the quilt!  Great practice, and a finished quilt :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

New Shop Photos

I want to thank everyone that stopped in on our first day open in the new shop ~ they all managed to find us in our little corner! We had a great day, and saw many old friends and made some new ones.  All the support and well wishes that I've been getting means more to me than I can say, and I appreciate everyone who has been spreading the word about us opening up over here :)

(And, did I think to take some photos of our busy first day? ...Of course not...So here are some photos of the new shop's front room taken yesterday morning before we opened for our second day.)

Right now in this corner we have Jo Morton's "Amelia", "Jo's Best Friends", and fabrics from other various Jo collections.  More Civil War era repros are coming in along with some yummy wool that I have on order.  (We're taking registrations for our Jo's Little Women Club now and already have a great group that will be starting on February 13th!)

I originally fell in love with this space because we're on the corner and have lots of windows.  With all the trees around us, it even looks good on a rainy day.

 ...And you can see out the window, we have lots of our very own parking...a nice improvement from my home studio! (We had our own parking, but not much of it.)

I have some more modern and bright prints coming in too, along with a bunch of jelly rolls, charms and pre-cuts. 

...And that's our first empty bolt that you see at the end of the cutting table.  ~ I'm looking forward to fun quilting times with friends in 2014, and many more empty bolts to come :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

...Stay tuned for photos of our middle room with our HQ Studio, and progress pictures on our big classroom build out!