L'amour is in the Air

L'amour by Sandy Gervais

From what I've seen around bloggy land, everyone seems to really be getting into the holiday spirit, seems like it's just about the right time to start promoting Valentine's fabric!! Actually, we really liked this new line, L'amour, by Sandy Gervais, because even though some of it is seasonal, a lot of it isn't. We have many precuts for you, finally, a reason to purchase the book called Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls, and Charm Quilts! We have some cute charm packs:
We've been told we have the best price on charms on all of Etsy.

We have the scrumptious Jelly Rolls, perfect for tote bags and quick quilts:

And we have fat quarter bundles that we'll be splitting up into Short Stacks, don't forget you can always create your own Short Stacks by purchasing the listing called Create Your Own Short Stack. There are SOO many cute patterns out there that used fat quarters and these would make up into some CUTE gift baggies for your children's best friends for V-day or just for anytime. Fill them with cookies, candy, or some crayons and a coloring book. The pinks and browns are perfect girly girl colors.

If you need a little more inspiration, we have several books and patterns that are specifically made for precuts. We have an awesome book just about jelly roll patterns called Let the Good Times Roll. You can find the patterns for the precuts in the same section of our shop as the precuts you are searching for. So for example, if you are curious what other Jelly Rolls we have, just choose the Honey Bun/Jelly Rolls link on the right side of the shop home page. We want to make it super easy for you to find fabric and complimentary patterns in our shop. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

In the Holiday Spirit

Yeah, I know it's sort of late to be thinking about making Christmas-y decorations but I can't help it. Lots of people around blogland seem to be finding the time somewhere to make such cute things! For example, Jodi, over at Pleasant Home has created some of the CUTEST table runners ever and with just simple strips! She said I could borrow her picture to show off her work. She takes such awesome pictures too! See!?

She gives pretty great instructions on her post about this as well, if you want to whip one up before all the great holiday parties you're planning to host! (I'm not going to host any until I get some new flooring and my downstairs painted, but that's another story.) Now, how does this relate at all to my shop you might ask? Heehee, I have to relate it back, well, wouldn't this tablerunner look SOOO awesome done up in some CUTE retro fabrics like we have in our shop? How easy it would be to cut them into 2 1/2" x 11" strips and one short stack would get you A LOT of strips! Here are some of my suggestions for cute fabrics for this from the shop.

Riley Blake Retro Christmas Short Stack (1 of 3 choices)

or

for a more traditional look

Studio e Christmas Short Stack

Remember you should be able to get several table runners from each Short Stack and if you were to add in a little bit of our solid white, Moda Bella Snow it would be a perfectly quick project. I think the best thing about those Riley Blake FQs is that because they aren't so traditional and they have snowmen, you can keep the tablerunner out way into January! Fun! Thanks Jodi for this inspiration and thanks for letting me borrow your idea. This is what I call collaboration! Oh and don't forget, if you want a variety, we do have the Create Your Own Short Stack option too! Then you can get 3 of the Riley Blake and 3 of the Studio e or add in some from Anna Griffin or even some of the red, white, and blue stars for a jump on a July 4th runner. (The combinations are endless you know.)

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

Black Wednesday SALE

So is anyone getting ready to hit the stores on Friday for the Black Friday shopper mania? I, for one AM NOT planning to do that. In fact, I've never been a 4 in the morning get the best deals, get out of my way sort of shopper. Usually, Regina, my husband, and I travel an hour north to Fredericksburg to shop the town, eat at our favorite Italian place (Pasta Bella), and go to the Country Peddler craft show in the afternoon. BUT after doing that for the last four or five years, we've actually been increasingly disappointed with the offerings at the Country Peddler show, fewer crafts and more kitchy, rhinestone studded purses and not so crafty stuff. So, this year, we're going to take a day off after Thanksgiving to rest (I'm going to hopefully learn to crochet with my sister) and on Saturday and Sunday Regina and I are planning a Sew-A-Thon! We're hoping to sew up some cute stuff to get a good head start on building a handmade inventory that we can sell at a craft show in the Spring. Yes, I said SPRING (have to start early because we want to do A LOT of sales). A thought just occurred to me (that happens sometimes early in the morning). What do you do in other countries since you don't have the "official" start of the Christmas shopping season the day after Thanksgiving? Perhaps this is why it is easier to focus on handmade gifts and the less commercial reason for the season in other countries. Well, that's just a thought, if any of you out there are in other countries, I'd love to hear what you're doing this holiday season. Alright, now, for the exciting part of this post, the...

BLACK WEDNESDAY SALE

10% off ALL

Fat Quarter Bundles

The prices have already been adjusted for you so stop on by and grab some goodies before they disappear! Why is it called Black Wednesday? Well, Brandy (sorry about that), over at The Buzz decided to set up a list of all the great sales that are going on from Etsy sellers starting the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. Perhaps you're like me, and you're stuck at work instead of able to be at home prepping for Turkey day (or perhaps you don't have the Thanksgiving holiday in your country, you can still benefit), but you don't feel like working, well, why not surf on over to our shop and check out all the great Fat Quarter bundles we have for AWESOME prices! Throw in one of our great patterns and you'll have a great gift for a friend who sews/quilts or a great gift for YOURSELF!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Shopping,

Anna and Regina

The Crafty Girls

Create Your Own Short Stack!

Remember these? We call them Short Stacks, sort of like a yummy stack of pancakes, they are smaller bundles of coordinating fabrics from various lines. The one shown above is from Aster Manor and we have 4 bundles in this group! We thought that with the economy how it is, you might want to grab some fat quarters but not necessarily an entire bundle of 40 which can run close to $100, so we decided to split them up. Well, it turns out that even though we created some really cute bundles of of fabrics, everyone has a different idea in their head of what fabrics they want and we've gotten many requests to pick and choose fat quarters from different bundles. Regina and I have thought long and hard about this, because it's a little more of a time investment to let people choose one or two FQs from different bundles because at that point, we'd have to rescan all the remaining fabrics and then change the listing for those bundles. But, we aim to please so we think we've come up with a compromise that will make everyone happy! That is why, if you look at any of our listings for Short Stacks, you'll see that there is a second picture that looks just like the first, except that there are labels on each of the different fabrics, just like this:

That way, if you look at this bundle for Aster Manor and decide you really only like the redish ones, you can tell us that you like AM-2, AM-4, and AM-9. And we'll know EXACTLY which ones you want! But to make this even easier for you (and for us a little) we're going to create a special listing called Create Your Own Short Stack (CYOSS), which will be for a minimum of 6 fat quarters. If you see the three red ones in the picture above and oh, say you see three more in another bundle, you can choose the CYOSS listing and in the MESSAGE TO SELLER section, just let us know which ones you want. Then you can process the sale through Etsy and Pay Pal, paying for 6 FQS (they are all priced the same at $2.75 each) and we'll pick out your FQS, package them up and send them on to you! Easy Peasy! But wait, there's more! If you decide you LOVE the bundle we've already put together, you can purchase it instead and in some cases, you'll even SAVE a little money! (There is a slight upcharge if you choose your own since we have to do the rescanning and reslisting.) The preselected bundles run between $2.50-$2.75 per FQ, so you can definately save some money if you like the entire bundle. So, does that make sense? We want this to be as easy and fun as possible for you! Oh, and if you want MORE than 6 in a CYOSS, we are happy to accomodate you, just send us a quick convo by clicking the "contact craftygirlsworkshop" link on the side of our shop. So click the following button (or look for it in our shop) and start shopping!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Shop Update: Magazines!

We've just listed some great new magazines and some lovely Short Stack bundles. This is THE perfect gift for a Sewing Secret Santa gift. Just grab a short stack and a magazine to suit your buddy's tastes and you've got it all taken care of! For example:

PLUS

EQUALS: A great gift for a beginning sewista!

Do you have a young sewing enthusiast in your life? Someone who is interested in getting started but a little nervous about taking that first step? Why not pick out a fun and funky short stack from the Bloom and Grow collection or the Just Dreamy group and add to that the Fall issue of Quilts and More? I just can't say enough about Better Homes and Gardens' publication for the beginning sewista (or sewist), Quilts and More! The patterns are awesome and easy and always include more than just quilts. They have tote bags, pin cushions, pillows, table linens, and they always include a color photograph guide at the back of the magazine that explains terms that are used in sewing and quilting. That is a great go-to guide when you need a little reminder about cutting on the bias or how to put on binding. The Fall issue has lots of inspiration and a perfect pattern for using a fat quarter bundle.

Or perhaps you have some friends who are a little more experienced and would like to venture out a little more? Check out Quilting Arts for the artistic side or the Quilting Arts Holiday issue if you'd like to MAKE your gifts this year, you know there IS still time!

We've also got the Fall issue of stitch which has been all abuzz around blogland lately. Some of my favorite bloggers have patterns featured in this issue! This is a super duper issue and is jam packed with patterns, suggestions, ideas, and inspiration! The photography is amazing and it's a great way to stretch your quilting wings beyond quilting and explore the world of sewing. Our price on these special big issues is $4 less than regular retail because we know that we're an online store and you'll probably have to pay shipping, so we want to help out by offering a discount to our wonderful customers.

Last, but not least, we're happy to offer this commemorative issue of Quilt Scene that is all about the 35th annual International Quilt Festival that took place this year in Houston. 35 years and still going strong! This issue features all sort of wonderful photography of the quilts as well as projects that you can do and to inspire you in your quilting endeavors! We have 5 issues available and we hope you'll go grab one before they're all gone!

I hope you'll stop by and check out our new "magazine aisle" and perhaps consider adding a short stack to your order so that you can give someone you love not only beautiful fabric but the perfect inspiration to go with it! Until next time.

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

Short Stacks Now Available!

Allow me to introduce you to a new idea we had, Short Stacks! What is a short stack? It's a bundle of some of our FABULOUS, DELICIOUS fabrics, pre-cut into Fat Quarters (18"x22") and beautifully coordinated just for your shopping pleasure! You don't have to think much, just see the one you love and buy it! We've kept these bundles close to 10 cuts, some have 9 some have 11, but they all have plenty of fabric to get you started on a lovely quilt top, or to make several cute tote bags, or pillows or table linens, without totally breaking your budget! It's up to you! Plus, right now, the Short Stacks we have are in the Mill House Inn line of fabrics (SOOO beautiful) and we DO have coordinating yardage which you will most likely need for borders, backing, sashing, or lining your totes. So, stop by the shop TODAY and get a short stack while you can! I am sure they are going to sell like hotcakes (hence, the name, short stack, get it? That's a little pancake humor there.)

Hey, did you notice? There's a NEW Secret Item over there!!! ------------------>

Remember, FREE Shipping on the Secret Item (even international, that's like saving $5!!)

Happy Stitches,

Anna