I am so happy to have the full range of Denyse Schmidt’s Flea Market Fancy back in stock! It sold out in a flash during our weekend with Denyse, so it’s nice to see it sitting on the shelves once again. I can now begin serious deliberation over whether to start the Flower Chain Quilt or the Point Me Quilt!

Fat quarter bundles are available in both shops in Crimson, Grass & Slate, and yardage is available in our South St. shop or by phone for $11/yd. Happy stitching!

Even though the weather lately suggests otherwise, the warm weather IS on its way! When it does finally heat up, I want to be wearing this pretty, breezy Crepe wrap dress from Colette Patterns. We made ours in a subtle, springy print with a fantastic diagonal stripe for the sash from Art Gallery Fabrics Modernology collection. AGF fabrics are fine, light and perfect for hot Philly afternoons!

This dress has super adorable cap sleeves cut right into the bodice pattern piece, so there’s no need to stitch those tricksy set-in sleeves! Crepe also comes with the option of 2 necklines: rounded, shown in our version, or sweetheart for some cool, vintage flair.

The ease of wearing a wrap around dress totally supports a “throw on a dress, flipflops, and go” summer style. What’s unique about this dress, though, is that it wraps around at the back. I always feel like wrap front dresses hold the promise of a potentially revealing cleavage situation, especially when stitched with woven fabrics! Crepe wraps around and fastens securely at the back and you don’t have to sew any zippers, buttons or closures. Sweet!

Crepe’s silhouette is universally flattering. The wide neckline, nipped-in waist and full skirt are classic and feminine. You can wear this to the park or a party and look just right. A relaxed, stylish summer awaits while wearing your new Crepe dress!

We have 2 upcoming workshops for you to make your very own Crepe just in time for summer. One starts tomorrow, and the second starts up at the end of the month. If you’d like to join us, please call the shop to register. To see our full class schedule and get all the details, please visit our class page!

Crepe
$90 plus materials
Session1: Thursdays, May 3, 10, 17 & 24: 6-8PM
Session 2: Thursdays, May 31, June 7, 14 & 21: 6-8PM

Materials: Pattern, 4.25-5 yards fabric depending on size, 1 yard interfacing, thread. All materials are available for purchase at Spool. Use of our sewing machines, rotary cutters, scissors, mats, and rulers are included for class sessions

We’re gearing up for our 5th month of projects from A Practical Guide to Patchwork. We started at the beginning of the book and are focusing on one quilt each month. May’s quilt is called Valentine. This week I picked out fabrics for our version and used my latest addiction, Instagram, to document the process!

I usually go for fabrics that are saturated with color, but for this project I wanted to lighten up! I selected a palette combining our brand new Shot Cottons with Art Gallery’s Summerlove collection. We used a fat quarter pack of each to get started. These pastel bundles are pure spring!

Olan got to work cutting out strips to start string piecing. He identified 4 subtle color groups from the fabrics to use in each diamond.

Once the cutting was done, the string piecing commenced! It’s amazing how quickly the blocks come together once you get started.

Valentine Quilt class is starting next week and you should join us! For all the details, and to see our full class schedule, please visit our class page.

Valentine
$45 plus materials
Sundays, May 6: 11:30-1:30 & May 20: 11:30-3:30PM

The first session of each class will be devoted to fabric selection and learning how to create the chosen block. From there, you will work at your own pace while creating your quilt top. You should be familiar with sewing machine basics to take this class.

A few weeks ago we received Cloud 9 Fabrics latest collection, Monsterz! We fell in love immediately with it’s 100% organic goodness! I wanted to make a baby quilt that would be simple & cute (of course!). Fortunately, one of the prints, titled Adventurez, is a super cool border print and lent itself perfectly to this purpose!

We sliced along the line where the circles & zigzags in the print met. Then, we stitched together a simple striped panel to insert between the 2 border print segments. Voila- a quilt top!

For the backing, we paired the zany Monsterz Mash print, which is full of lil monsterz getting into all kinds of trouble, with the graphic triangle print for a fun pieced back. It’s like having 2 quilts in one!

I wanted this little quilt to come together quickly, so I could send it out to a new long-arm quilter one of my customers recommended to me. Her name is Sarah Fox and her long arm business, The Meandering Fox, is right here in Philadelphia. She is talented & lovely person and, as you can see, did a beautiful job on the simple loopy design I requested. Her pricing is very reasonable, and it can feel so good to get some lingering quilt tops quilted up so you can feel better about starting new projects!

If you like the looks of our new quilt, kits are available in the shop! Priced at $62.00, each kit comes precut and ready to stitch! The only cutting you’ll have to do is a little trimming at the end. Pretty sweet, no?
Materials Included:

Pattern
Quilt Top:
1 panel of Adventurez Monsterz
2 strips of Orange Monsterz
3 strips of white Nursery Basics White
Quilt Back:
1 panel of Monsterz Mash
2 strips of blue triangles
Finished size: 40″ x 54″.

Skirt weather is upon us, ladies! It’s time to bust out our cute sandals, new pedicures & super cute prints for spring! We have chosen 4 of our favorite skirt styles for this season’s class projects, so there’s a little something for everyone!

For all the details and our full course offering please visit our class page. If you’d like to join one of our workshops, please call 215-545-0755 to reserve your space!

Clockwise from top left:

Ginger Skirt
$70 plus materials

Mondays: April 23, 30 & May 7: 6-8PM
Mondays: June 4, 11 & 18: 6-8PM

Add a little spice to the aline style with Colette Patterns Ginger Skirt! This flattering aline shape has a high waistband that can be made 3 ways: pointed center waist, curved shaped band, or straight across. Learn to fit this skirt to your measurements and install an invisible zipper.

Aline Skirt
$70 plus materials

Sundays, April 15 & 22: 1:30-4:30PM
Wednesdays, April 25, May 2 & 9: 6-8PM
Wednesdays, May 16, 23 & 30: 6-8PM
Wednesdays, June 6, 13 & 20: 6-8PM

This our most popular class, and it’s easy to see why- this skirt is a classic! Learn to use a pattern and take good measurements to ensure a proper fit. We will be using Amy Butler’s Barcelona Skirts pattern. Use this pattern again and again to create a unique skirt for every day of the week.

Circle Skirt
$70 plus materials

Sundays, May 13 & 20: 1:30-4:30PM

Our pretty, feminine circle skirt will have you wanting to do twirls! Using Kwik Sew 3637, learn to make a faced waistband and insert a side zipper.

Wrap Skirt
$50 plus materials

Mondays, May 14 & 21: 6-8PM
Sundays, June 17 & 24: 1:30-3:30PM

Nothing says summer like an easy wrap skirt! Kwik Sew 2954 has a simple tie around waistband, straight skirt styling, and darts at the waist. You will be wearing this to all the backyard barbeques this summer!

Art Gallery Fabrics has given us the best color palette for the season with their new Summerlove collection. I love the citrus & coral hues, rambling florals, and retro vibe. The weather has been warming and I have skirts on the brain! I think these prints will look extra 70′s-tastic in skirt form- especially when paired with my new orange platform sandals!

Art Gallery’s designs are printed on a super fine cotton that feels amazing to the touch and drapes beautifully for garments. I asked Olga to stitch a new Circle Skirt for the spring with one of my very favorite prints from the collection. She did a lovely job! Kwik Sew 3637 has a slightly dropped waist (which is a nice way to avoid extra fabric at the waistline from such a full skirt!) and a side zip. The hem is finished with bias tape, giving it a nice, clean look as well as adding a little weight to the hemline. It makes it look extra twirly!

We are having a Circle Skirt class starting May 13. Wouldn’t a sewing class be the perfect way to spend the afternoon after Mother’s Day brunch? I think so! Here’s the details- please call the shop to register!

Circle Skirt
$70 plus materials
Sundays, May 13 & 20: 1:30-4:30PM

The complete Summerlove collection is available in fat quarter bundles in both shops, and yardage is in our South St. shop by phone for $11.00/yd.

Monsterz have invaded Spool! The latest from Cloud 9 Fabrics has arrived and it is equal parts hilarious and adorable. Look closely at what all those little guys are doing: having a sock picnic (is that where socks disappear to in the laundry?), biking, swimming and growling. I totally want to hang out with them!

Michele Brummer Everett is the artist behind this whimsical, 100% organic Cloud9 Kids collection. She did a fabulous job of keeping the colors cool & modern and the Monsterz cute & sweet. My favorite print just might be the Adventurez border print in the top photo. It has 2 completely different motifs running along each edge, so you get snoozing Monsterz & parachuting Monsterz all in one fabric. Cut it in half lengthwise and you have the borders all ready for an awesome baby quilt!

We had such a sunny day yesterday, that I got inspired to make a cheery baby dress with the bright yellow Static print. I love how the secondary prints are hip & cool and can be used on their own. I might want a top for myself in that turquoise triangle print!

Monsterz fat quarter bundles are available in the both shops in two colorways. Yardage is available in our South St. shop and by phone for $13.00/yd.

We had a fabulous time with Denyse Schmidt this past weekend! Denyse traveled to Philly to meet up with 18 intrepid souls ready to turn their patchwork all topsy turvy . We got to look through Denyse’s new book with her and heard all the back stories, and we got a sneak peek of her new Free Spirit fabric line (it’s gorgeous and will be on the shelves of Spool in August). Most importantly, we got to sew, sew and sew some more!

Saturday’s Improvisational Patchwork class came with open minds and enthusiasm galore! Students were asked to blindly choose fabrics from a grab bag and start stitching! Eliminating the fabric selection decision making helped people loosen up and create awesome abstract blocks. It was so fun seeing everyone go from, “She wants me to do what? I’m not so sure about this.” to ” Wow, I made that? It looks amazing! I want to do MORE with this!”. It’s wonderful to learn to that just by changing up your process for an afternoon you can refresh your outlook for your craft and start out in a new direction.

Pure Improvisation was held on Sunday, and was such a treat. This is a brand new class for Denyse, and I am thrilled that the first time she taught it was at Spool! In keeping with the theme of her new book, Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration, the idea for this class was to riff of a traditional quilt block to improvise new modern blocks.

We used the triangle block from Denyse’s beautiful Shoeman’s Puzzle quilt in her book (shown top left) and used templates to learn the block inside and out. I think Denyse was just as surprised as we were to be using templates in class with the Improvisational Queen! Once we mastered the block, Denyse led us in a series of Improv exercises using the basic shapes of the blocks in ever changing variations to create our own unique versions of the Puzzle block. As you can see, everyone’s turned out so differently and so beautifully. I think Denyse was surprised and delighted at what we created, and it was more than even she expected!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for classes and the book signing this weekend! We had a great time! For those of you too far afield to attend, Denyse has quite a busy touring schedule this year so try to catch her at one of her upcoming events. Thanks, Denyse! Come back anytime!

Did you know that today is National Quilting Day? It’s true!

Come celebrate with the launch of Denyse Schmidt’s new book Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration at our booksigning today from 5-6PM at Spool!

Copies of the book will be available, as well as Denyse’s Flea Market Fancy collection. See you soon!

Spool’s getting spruced up this week! We will be closing today at 3PM and will be closed all day tomorrow, March 15th. Classes are still running, and will be held in our 1906 South St. studio.

We’ll see you on Friday for our regular hours of 11AM-6PM!