The spring issue of Stitch Magazine has landed! Start dreaming of the warm days ahead with 36 new projects! This special issue focuses on 5 themes: bird motifs for baby & home decor, al fresco projects for the great outdoors, combining dots & stripes, working with tiny prints, and hand sewing. Read about the Scandinavian design influence with articles about Marimekko & Lotta Jansdottir, learn tips and tricks for proper pressing, and an interview with designer Joel Dewberry! Awesome!

This issue is especially exciting because one of the designs belongs to Spool sewing instructor, Heather Holiday! Congratulations, lady! Her adorable Lola Clutch is looking like THE perfect accessory for spring- so much so that Heather will be teaching a special class on her pretty project in February! Many of you have learned to sew with Heather and know what an enthusiastic instructor she is. Learn how to make pleats, use interfacing and install a magnetic snap from the Lola Clutch expert!

If you’d like to join us, please call the shop to register. Here are the details:

Lola Clutch
$40 plus materials
Saturday February 11: 12-3PM

Materials: Stitch Magazine, 1/2 yard of 2 fabrics, 1/4 yard interfacing, thread, magnetic snap.

Putting up the Christmas tree was a big deal in my house growing up and a tradition that the whole family loved! Hmmm, maybe I should say that trimming the tree was a beloved activity, as I remember getting the thing in the house and standing upright was quite the production for my parents! As a result, I love a good Christmas tree ornament and decorating for the holiday is one of the best parts of the season.

At Spool, we always decorate the tree with our signature birds, but I also like to add something new. This year, I got a ton of cute little 3″ embroidery hoops for our ornament inspiration. We collected a variety of red and green fabrics and set them in the hoops. I love how they look like little 2-D versions of traditional glass ball ornaments!

The prints looked so sweet on their own, but the solids needed something more. We embroidered a variety of stars using a simple chain stitch. Olan even created this awesome menorah- just perfect for the multi-faith family!

I think our tree looks smashing- especially at night outside our window! If you need a little last minute ornament inspiration, we have the tiny hoops & embroidery floss in stock. There is so much stitching possibility with these- you can embroider names, holiday greetings, or even little santas! Enjoy!

Between the staff at Spool and our sister store, Loop, you may be surprised to know that there is a lot of talk of tattoos. Everyone except me and Kathy from Loop had one, and it seems that planning for the next one was always in the works! In reference to our fabrics, the phrase, “This would make a cool tattoo!” is often heard!

I know tattoos aren’t for everyone, and honestly I didn’t think they were for me either, but one afternoon in September, the tattoo bug struck big time! Craig and I have been very fortunate to assemble a team that gets along extremely well, and it was decided that we should get Spool/Loop tattoos together that day after work! Since we couldn’t all agree on the same design, we decided that our unifying theme would be to take our inspiration from any fabric on the shelves at Spool.

Amanda combined two of the dainty little flowers from the Flowerpop print by Erin McMorris for her Summersault collection. It has to be said that I think Amanda may have been the most excited of our group to get her tattoo! She said, “This makes us a real family now!” What a sweetheart!

Craig chose Ragg Tagg from Daisy Janie’s Shades of Grey collection. This print looks just like knit stitches, so it couldn’t be more appropriate for a yarn shop owner. In tattoo form, don’t the stitches also look like delicate leaves? Craig is the only one who got color added to his work, and I love that it is very close to the Loop logo blue!

Amber went with this lovely dandelion from Valori Wells’ Wrenly collection. The name of the print is Wildfield, and it suits Amber’s love of the natural world perfectly. Andrew, our tattoo artist, did an exceptional job with this one, I must say!

Kristine, Olan and I all fell in love with The Banks print from Cloud 9′s Across the Pond collection. Kristine chose 3 of the little arrows for her left foot. I think Kristine was the fastest tattoo decision maker out of all of us. She saw it, she traced it and tattooed it. Done! I was very impressed!

Olan made his own design using several of the arrow styles from the original print. He created a fantastic little talisman all his own!

I kept it super simple (and small!) and chose just 2 little arrows for my tattoo. These little guys were my favorite because of the tiny flaming tails- I love ‘em! It’s my first one and I was probably the most nervous in our group. I really didn’t know if I would go through with it until the last minute, but I’m so glad I did it!

Everyone’s ink turned out so well! A big thanks is owed to Andrew of Body Graphics on 4th Street for making our experience such a good one and for accommodating such a big group on short notice. Seriously, Andrew is thoughtful, calm and puts you right at ease- we highly recommend his work!

Of course, there is now talk of our NEXT group trip to include our staff that wasn’t working on that impulsive day! Even if this is my one and only tattoo, I am so happy to have a little permanent piece of our Spool & Loop journey to take with me everywhere!

When our Winter 2011 Stitch Magazine arrived about a month ago, one project caught attention right away. Michelle Lizcano designed the Felt Circles Table Runner as a bright festive accessory for your holiday decor. The simple circle stitched into a square was incredibly appealing to me and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to break into our gorgeous stack of wool felt!

Since we weren’t quite ready for full-on holiday colors back in early October, we opted for a more autumnal palette filled with subtle neutrals. Using the pattern templates, we cut out the felt circles and then the white square background fabrics. Since each circle is first sewn to it’s own square before being joined into rows, this makes a fantastic travel project!

We used a combination of hand stitching and decorative machine stitching to applique the circles. I LOVE the contrast of neat hand stitches with the crazy zig-zags and spirals sewn over the circles!

After all the circles were sewn and joined into the mini- quilt top, we backed it with Jay McCarroll’s West River Drive print complementing the felt’s yellowy golds. We quilted ours in the same style as the original, and bound it with a barely-there gray solid. It came out beautifully, if I do say so myself!

Recently, there has been much talk among customers of new babies on the way; it always comes in waves, doesn’t it? Everyone is looking for the perfect welcome to the world gift. For all things baby, I am loving our new My Happy Nursery from Cloud 9 Fabrics. 100% organic and printed with low impact dyes, the hand is soft, supple, and almost suede-like. Ideal for baby swaddling! It has the sweetest little birds, leaves, and baby elephants in a soft, serene palette. A classic, but updated baby style that is truly lovely!

In making this very special quilt, I wanted to keep it simple. Orderly squares, arranged in an interesting pattern. Cutting is a snap, and piecing is a cinch! I finished it off by machine quilting across the center of every row, to give a faux four patch look. I love how the rich cocoa color makes the coral & chartreuse pop, and provides a frame for the whole piece.

Finished measurements are about 38″ square, making a suitable stroller or playmat size. This would look super sweet hanging in the nursery until baby is old enough to sleep with it. Artistic and functional – sensational!

The quilt top takes just one fabric bundle, and our kits in both pink and blue include the backing in pink dots and blue dots respectively, with chocolate brown for the binding. The pattern for the quilt is included free with purchase of fabric bundles and kits, and is available as a .pdf download for $3.00 here.

Happy stitching!

Amazingly enough, it's time for our 2nd Annual Sample Sale! Where did 2010 go? It's seems impossible, but as I look at our overflowing sample storage, the timing's just right. Judging by all the lovelies I have here, we've had a very productive year!

Hmmm, the title of this post sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Actually, it is a pretty fun story! Craig and I traveled to Houston last weekend for Quilt Market, the quilting industry trade show. We found gorgeous and exciting things, many of which will be arriving this month, so stay tuned!

At the top of my shopping list was wool felt. It is just the thing for all manner of holiday crafts and decorations. I was so pleased to find this pretty wool/rayon blend, that is substantial, soft, and richly colored. Imagine my delight when the felt arrived just a day or two after our return. Quilt Market is so busy it can be a bit of blur, so I was so happy to see that the colors I picked were indeed pretty! See?

It was like an early Christmas present! I happily bundled together my favorite combinations (all in the shop right now!). Of course, as with all new arrivals, I wanted to make something right away!

Since our return from balmy Houston to 40 degree weather here in Philly, it had become quite clear that the holidays really are right around the corner. Now I admit, I am a bit of a procrastinator, so instead of actually working on my holiday projects I made something to help me work on my holiday projects. Since my favorite Christmas activity is decorating the tree and it’s not yet time to put up the real one, I thought I would make a tiny version to decorate with pins and wear on my wrist!

This is a super simple project, taking a just few minutes of your precious crafting time. Tiny trees are easily stitched on the sewing machine or if you prefer, by hand. Using this pincushion makes me smile, and puts me in the holiday spirit. I feel like a little holiday elf!

So, here is my early holiday present to you, a Spool Christmas Tree Pincushion Tutorial. Get yourself in the mood for seasonal crafting and make some for all your sewing pals. Enjoy!

It’s the best time of year- the beginning of scarf season! Whether it’s cool and crisp or rainy and damp, it’s nice to have something to keep cozy. Our Shot Cotton Scarves fit the bill perfectly. They quickly became a Spool favorite when we introduced them in our first year, and since then have become an autumn Spool tradition!

Shot Cotton is special because the warp and weft yarns are dyed 2 different colors and then woven together. A depth of hue is created; a “shot” of color. When the raw edge ravels, a bright stripe of color appears. Our scarves use this to great advantage, as you can see in our Loop co-worker, Amber’s, scarf!

Each scarf is made with 2 coordinating Shot Cottons, simply stitched together at the center, raw edges showing, with just one seam. Toss it in the washer and dryer and pull out a modern, deconstructed, totally reversible scarf! The fabric is lightweight and gauzy, so it easily wraps around your neck, and can be comfortably worn indoors.

These make wonderful, thoughtful gifts, that come together quickly. Laundering them is what will take the longest! We have a lovely autumnal selection of our favorite Shot Cottons made up into kits and ready to be stitched. Which one will you choose?

My girl, Erin McMorris has done it again! How does she always manage to make prints I adore? Park Slope, Wildwood, & Weekends are Erin’s past collections, and Irving Street is her latest collection. It does not disappoint! Sweet little houses, line drawn cityscapes, and one of Spool’s all time favorite birdie prints all done up in a cuddly, soft flannel. Done and done- I love it!

Now that I have these fabrics in my hot little hands, I know exactly what to make for holiday gifts!( Loved Ones: stop reading here!) Pajama pants! I have PJs patterns for the ladies, the fellas, the kiddos, and the munchkins. If I am extra motivated, I could even make matching robes with our new flannel solids & polka dots. Handmade holidays, here I come!

As you may have guessed, we love the Piano Keys Quilt Pattern. We’ve made two others, and this third one may be my most favorite yet! Every time the last bit of binding is stitched, I am so surprised at how truly different this simple block pattern can look depending on the chosen fabrics.

Art Gallery’s Dreaming in French is certainly a vibrant color palette! In this quilt, every time I thought a color might be too bright, I was happy to find that the block next to it toned down and complemented some of the brighter hues. There’s a lovely range of light to dark in this collection, which you can really see when you step back from the quilt, like the photo below:

Doesn’t this quilt have a lovely movement to it? The play of dark & light coupled with the easy, meandering quilting lines creates an energetic flow. This was new staffer, Nadja’s, first machine quilted piece (she loves to handstitch). I think she did an awesome job, don’t you?!

We have pretty little kits available in both shops. Pick one up and join us for class next weekend! If you’d like to put your own fabric selection together for class, we are, as always, happy to help!

Here’s the class details. Please call the shop to reserve your space.

Piano Keys Quilt Top
$65 plus materials

Saturday, October 23: 11-3PM

Explore your color creativity with this amazing quilt! Come to class with your fabric cut and ready to go. With the guidance of the pattern’s designer, you will arrange your blocks & piece a unique quilt top suitable for a wall hanging, lap blanket or baby quilt.

Materials: Pattern, 10 fat quarters or 1/4 yards, thread. 60″ x 60″ batting, to be used as a design wall during class, and then you can quilt with it! You must come to class with your fabric already cut into blocks.

Finished size: 44″ x 48″. Pattern includes instructions for a 72″ x 80″ version as well.
All materials are available for purchase at Spool. Use of our sewing machines, rotary cutters, scissors, mats, and rulers are included for class sessions.