This has been a fantastic fabric delivery week for Spool! Laura Gunn’s new line, Poppy, has arrived and I am swooning! I fell in love with Laura’s first collection, Lantern Bloom, last Summer, and her sophomore effort does not disappoint. These colors are glorious!

Giant poppy and dogwood flowers mingle with painterly stripes and polka dots- my favorite! The visible brushstrokes from Laura’s original paintings lend a lively and personal feel to the designs. You can just tell she had a wonderful time creating these. A light and airy palette is perfect for Spring projects. These cheerful prints would be amazing as home decor. Just walking into a room with these flowers would make you smile! We’ve already started making a swoopy circle skirt in the larger than life orange poppies. What would you make?

I know that there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground outside the shop, but I am looking forward to Spring in a big way! The recent completion of these Simple Tanks are a big part of the reason! I made a one using Kwik Sew 2498 last summer, and it quickly became a wardrobe staple. I am not a big fan of stretchy, clingy tanks in the warm weather, and I love that with one yard of cool cotton you can make a breezy top in different styles.

Elizabeth sewed up these versions in a rosy pink Shot Cotton, and one in Kaffe Fassett’s Serape Stripe. I thought the rosy one needed a little something extra, and since we recently got some gorgeous embroidery floss in at the shop, I decided to embellish! I carefully stitched a row of little french knots along the neckline. They were easier to make than I thought, and I love the shine of the mercerized thread. Sparkly!

If you’d like to get a little dose of Spring this weekend, we will be having a Simple Tank class. Here’s the details:

Saturday, February 20: 10AM -2PM
$45 plus materials

Materials: Pattern, thread, .75- 1.5 yards of fabric depending on size. All materials are available for purchase at Spool. Use of our sewing machines, rotary cutters, scissors, mats, and rulers are included for class sessions.

Please call the shop to reserve your space. See you soon!

The groundhog has predicted 6 more weeks of winter, and the weather forecasts a TON of snow in Philly this weekend! Despite this news, a temperate Spring breeze has wafted through Spool in the form of Dolce. This delicate, art deco inspired collection is the latest from Freespirit designer, Tanya Whelen. It has me thinking of warmer days, open windows and, of course, pretty new projects!

I would love to see these fabrics as a new dress, a set of curtains for a french door, or a simple throw for a porch glider. The soft colors would even make a sweet, but sophisticated, choice for a baby girl’s nursery. What would you make?

The Eavesdropper (aka Patient 14) dvdrip

The story of Quilt Market continues with the designers of Freespirit. Right after I chatted with Ms. Butler, I got the pleasure of meeting Erin McMorris, designer of our favorite Park Slope and Wildwood collections. This girl has got it going on! She’s sweet, bright and so talented. I didn’t remember to snap a photo with her, but check out this amazing hexagon quilt with her Wildwood fabrics. You’ll be seeing lots more projects from us with her fabrics.

Valori Wells and her new collection are so inspiring! We currently have a swath of her Del Hi fabric hanging in our front window at the shop, and seeing her quilts made us excited for the arrival of more fabrics from this line. She also has these adorable project cards that will soon be making an appearance at Spool.

Joel Dewberry’s new Deer Valley fabrics are stunning. This is quite possibly one my favorite things we bought at Market. Spool customers will be familiar with Joel’s woodgrain print, which I know is one of your favorites (by the way, a new shipment of quilting & home dec weight woodgrain just arrived at the shop- so many colors!). Joel stopped by as Craig and I were selecting his fabrics. He is so tall and so charming, it sold us on it even more! Look for this line at the end of June. To see more swatches, check out Joel’s website here.

Up next: Michael Miller. Stay tuned!Valkyrie on dvd

This past weekend, Craig and I attended the International Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. Quilt Market is a trade show where shop owners can see all the new fabrics, patterns and notions for the coming season. It’s so much fun being a customer, and we are quite pleased with our purchases. I can’t wait for you to see them! In the meantime, Craig took some great photos of our trip, so I can share some of the fun things coming in over the next few months.

Since our rooms weren’t going to be ready by the time we arrived, we went straight to the show from the airport. The whole ceiling of the convention center had windows which provided natural light! Such a welcome change from the usual fluorescent bulbs. All the better to see fabrics and take photos!

Within 20 minutes we found ourselves at Amy Butler’s booth. It was gorgeous as usual and we got a chance to chat with Amy. She is so nice, and has lots of exciting things coming up. Her new line, Love, ( which wasn’t yet available at the show) will be out in August. Our Westminster Fibers pal, Elyse, told us it was looking wonderful. Of course!

Here’s a little peek at Amy’s new patterns, due out next month. Both of these are destined to be summer essentials!

• Blood Trails ipod Stick It film

One of the most exciting things we found is Amy’s new project software. She has partnered with the people at Electric Quilts to bring us 22 projects- quilts, bags & pillows all on one CD! You can make the projects as Amy designed them or use her virtual swatch gallery to customize your project. I will definitely be posting more about this, but if you can’t wait, we already have the software available in the shop and at our online store Newcastle !

Seeing Amy’s booth was incredibly inspiring and made me want to start creating right away. All this in the first hour of the show! I’ll be posting this week about the fantastic things we saw from Freespirit and Michael Miller. If you want to see more photos of Amy Booth check out our Flickr page Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas rip

!

The Everything Tote is the first project that jumped out at me in Heather Ross’ new book, Weekend Sewing True Lies buy Vacancy 2 divx . Right away, I wanted it made up in this amazing print from Amy Butler’s August Fields Shanghai Kiss buy Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron on dvd home dec collection. I think this pattern showcases the fabric beautifully, and vice versa! We lined the bag with a home decorator weight fabric as well, which makes for a nice, sturdy bag. Great for groceries, picnics, beach towels, and sewing supplies, of course!

Of course, when you don’t need to tote around all your groceries, you can easily fold in the top corners for a cute, hobo style bag. Just enough room for you wallet, keys, phone, and a cardigan in case it gets chilly- now you’re all ready to head out for dinner. I can tell this is going to be my go-to bag for Spring!

Thank you to everyone that commented, emailed and called about our bird mobile. I’m so glad that you love these little guys as much as we do! The pattern is now available as a downloadable pdf in our sidebar, just in time for the long weekend.

Spool will be closed Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day. We are open our regular hours of 11-6 Saturday and Sunday. Have a great weekend!

When I first got a sewing machine my boyfriend’s mom, an excellent quilter, seamstress, and knitter, gave me a subscription to Threads (thanks again, Shirley!). It clued me in to the basics and gave me something to aspire to. I remember thinking, “Oh, that’s how you would do that!”. Threads magazine has been around forever and has undergone a bit of change in the past few years. It has an updated look with projects and tips that help beginners as well as more advanced sewers. You can go as simple or complicated as you like.

The July issue has arrived and the tote bag on the cover has summer written all over it. We made it up in Olive Rose on the outside, Zazu for the lining and a little Amy Butler for the trim. It’s a great size for your summer essentials: phone, sunglasses, sunscreen, and your beach reading. Threads takes you through step by step, so this is a good project for a beginner looking to learn some new techinques. The most difficult part (and the most enjoyable!) is deciding which fabrics to use! Have fun!