StitchCraft Open Today!

StitchCraft will open today at 10:00 am!  What is StitchCraft?  it is Three Crafty Quilters and then some!  We wanted to be more inclusive to EVERYONE who loves to create with a needle and thread, so we have expanded.  We will have the wonderful Baby Lock sewing machines (arriving later this week), displayed on gorgeous Koala sewing furniture (and the most comfortable chairs!).  Our Handi Quilter long arm machine was assembled yesterday and will be ready to run soon!

We couldn't wait to share a peek, so we used our camera phones.  See it in person to appreciate the colors and light.  We are open today at 10 - yay!!  Follow us on Facebook for regular updates and cool things we will be doing at the shop (like bolt-of-the-day!).

Road Trip in the Midwest

Having a fabulous time in Missouri at Baby Lock headquarters!  A full week of intensive training with the nicest people around!  Everyone at the company has been unbelievably friendly and accommodating and we have learned lots.  The group that is training together is a super group from all over the country and we have been sharing ideas and information and bouncing our plans off of each other.  Two of the gals in the group are from nearby Jackmanns, which has two shops in Missouri/Illinois.  We took a road trip there last night and it was such an inspirational field trip!

There were so many wonderful samples and merchandising ideas (which I photographed but will not post because of copyright issues.  I am proud to respect other shop owners and their designs!)   Nancy and Diane were our wonderful hostesses - they work in their Baby Lock department.

They have machines, quilting fabrics, every thread imaginable, tons of embroidery patterns (watch out, friends, I am loving the machine embroidery capabilities!), and home decor fabrics.  Wonderful.

We are finishing up today and heading back home to move the shop.  Will need to keep the caffeine flowing - although I think the adrenaline from the new shop excitement will be fuel enough!  cheers!

Crafty Quilter (and Animal Lover)

Lisa is a wonderful quilter and sewer and has created this spectacular quilt using a lot of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.   Isn't it gorgeous?  (She made her dress, too!)

I added the animal lover as, Lisa is the owner of Fins, Furs and Feather - a pet supply store that is an institution in Boca Raton.  Located at 1975 North Federal Highway (at 20th Street) in Boca Raton, the shop offers what the pet chains stores do not - and that is knowledge of pets and appropriate products and a selection of natural, healthy products for all animals.  Long before I quilted I bought my Red Barn dog food at Fins Furs and Feathers (the only local shop that carried this food that was recommended by some dog breeders).  Over the years we have added bird, fish, hamster and hedgehog food to our shopping list.  They always know what to recommend and are advocates of healthy, homeopathic alternatives to keeping our loved ones feeling and looking their best.  Lisa won't even know of this plug for her shop - she is not a computer girl!!  She is a beautiful person with lovely sewing and quilting skills!

September is National Sewing Month!

(every month should be National Sewing Month and National Quilting Month, but I digress)

We are excited to have representatives from the local American Sewing Guild groups at our shop on September 17 to celebrate and share information on the ASG.  We will have refreshments, door prizes, and more.  More details will follow here and in an email - but mark your calendars to stop by the shop!

Baby Lock Tech 2011

Thank you, St. Louis!

We had a great time at Baby Lock Tech 2011!

Johanna and Shirley have returned from the 2011 Baby Lock Tech, the annual convention for all things Baby Lock and affiliated businesses.  It was a blast!  Being the newest dealers there, we think, we just soaked up the excitement and knowledge from everyone participating.  Saturday night kicked off the weekend  - themed Go for the Gold!  Being our first time there, we enjoyed the speakers telling us the history of this family owned and operated (3rd generation) company.  From the people we met, we could feel the family atmosphere.

We took many classes and attended many seminars.  We both attended the Serger Line-up workshop, where we used all of the sergers.  Must say we are in LOVE!  Couldn't contain my excitement when I used the ruffle foot and thought how much easier it would have been than using a gathering stitch and gently pulling (and pulling) for our Maggie bag.  

While Johanna attended the seminar introducing the Ellisimo Gold and the amazing embroidery capabilities, Shirley did some heirloom sewing on a beautiful shirt.

We attended some Sashiko workshops, including this mini quilt workshop.  Did you know you can mimic hand embroidery with the Sashiko?  In addition to the tradition stitch that looks like hand sewing and quilting, you can get the look of a stem stitch, cross stitch, seed stitch and feather stitch.  

We met a lot of WONDERFUL people, and Barbara Randle was one of them.  She is a talented artist who teaches bobbin work.  Shirley switched into her class so she could learn some of her techniques.  The results, using a special bobbin case, are stunning!

Her bags are gorgeous (she also does super cool lampshades!!).  We can't wait to have her at our shop!!!

The trip was inspiring!  We came home with heads filled with ideas for classes, techniques, much more sewing and quilting knowledge, and lots of new friends.  And we will share them all with  you!!

New Floor for the New Store

Now if only we had the permit we could do the walls!

And the Winner Is....

Three Crafty Quilters is proud to announce the winners of the very first Crafty Challenge.

(The challenge was so popular we had to have a second fabric and so we have two winners - one for each fabric!)

Congratulations to Sue Wiggins, winner of the check fabric challenge.  The judge was impressed with Sue's design an hand applique skills.  

Congratulations to Charlotte Noll (not pictured - yet) and her beautiful mosaic wall hanging using the lavender fabric.  It was a beautiful, original, design.  

Special thanks to our special judge, Becky Sanders, who is the director of the Art School at the Boca Raton Museum of Art .  Not only has Becky quilted, but she is surrounded by all mediums of art and fine craft at all times.  We thought that made her a perfect choice to judge a craft challenge using fabric!  She was so impressed with the wide variety of projects and skills of our talented participants.    We all agree!  

There is still time to vote on Viewers Choice, so stop by the shop, see the projects, and vote for your favorite!