Charity Finish and Tried a New Ruler

 I finished this quilt recently.

I used some scraps of older Kim Diehl fabrics and the Cats Cradle ruler from Creative Grids.

I tried several different layouts of the blocks and blank squares. I went with this one because I had enough fabric. Other layouts would have required me to dip deeper into my stash or buy more fabric. The only thing I had to use from my stash for this one was the inner border fabric and binding. The binding was actually leftovers from my binding bin. They are several different black fabrics but it is hard to tell that from the photo. You can really only tell they are different fabrics up close.

The quilt finishes at 46" by 54". My Cats Cradle units finish at 4". I quilted this one myself using my Q20.

Online End of the Year BlowOut Event

 My shop is participating in FabShop's End of the Year Online BlowOut Event.

The sale doesn't officially begin until the 26th, but all of the items are already up on the website and ready to go so you can shop now if you want.

My physical shop will be closed December 25, 2022 - January 2, 2023 so orders won't ship until January 3, 2023, but you should shop early to be sure that you have the best selection. Click to following link to go directly to my clearance section: BlowOut Event Clearance Section

Most of our clearance section is older, under-appreciated fabrics listed at $9 per yard but there are also some canvas fabrics, books, patterns, notions, and quilt kits too. The discounts range from 30% to 75% off regular price.

Do you like Mystery Boxes?

 There are mystery boxes and subscription boxes available from all kinds of shops and Alamosa Quilt Company is jumping on the bandwagon in 2023. Our first mystery box is ready for pre-order purchase. It will not be available for pick-up and shipping until January 15, 2023, but if you want one you need to buy it now.

To purchase one you can click this link, Mystery Box, and purchase through our website, call the shop at (719) 937-2555 to purchase over the phone, or stop into the shop to purchase in-person. Remember though, no one gets their box until January 15th to make sure it's a mystery for as long as possible.

Mystery Box for January 2023 from Alamosa Quilt Company

What is a mystery box? Well ... it's a mystery! But seriously, while the contents will remain a mystery until you open your box I can tell you a little bit about our boxes. Our mystery boxes will all contain a pattern and fabric to make it (a kit). There will also be other goodies or notions too. The price of our first box will be $49.99 and I will try very hard to keep it at that price all year. You can collect them all or pick and choose. Most of the time all of the boxes will be exactly the same, but if I know you and know your fabric and color preferences, I just might do some custom boxes too.

This first box contains 2 3/4 yards of fabric to make the included pattern. You are getting all of the fabric required for the project - all the fabric for piecing the top, the binding fabric and the backing fabric. It also includes 3 to 4 notions and other fun stuff.

If you want to sign up and just have me charge your card on the 15th of every month I can do that, but you will need to come in, email me or call me so I can set that up. Please do not send me your credit card info in an email though! I will call you when I am ready to add your card information.

Charity Finish

 I did a big clean out of my office at my shop last week. I threw out a bunch of junk and found a few treasures.

I found a one yard piece of convenience fabric (cheater cloth). I also found a scrap of batting that was the perfect size, left over backing fabric from a shop sample that was the perfect size and leftover binding fabric from my binding leftovers stash at home. So this project cost me nothing!

Not sure if I will just donate this to my local guild for them to do whatever they want with it or if I donate it elsewhere.

Eclipse Quilt :: A Finish

 My Eclipse shop sample is all done. 

I used all Australian Aboriginal Fabrics for this. I love these 5 yard patterns! They are all so well written and easy to follow. 

The details

Finished size: 58" by 70"

Pattern: Eclipse

Fabrics used: Kangaroo Path Blue, Plum Seeds Orange, Bush Spinifex Green, Bambilla, Untitled Neutral

Buying Fabric for an Entire Store

 Have you ever wondered how a shop owner buys fabric for her shop? It's a question I get asked often so I made a little video to give you an overview of the process and how I do it.

Buying fabric, notions, books, patterns and all the stuff I have in my shop for customers to buy is a big job. I hope the video gives you an idea of what it is like to buy fabric for a shop. If you would like to check out my shop click the following link: Alamosa Quilt Company

Sew Along Update (Photo Heavy)

 I hosted my very first Sew Along through my shop the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 25 & 26, 2022). We made Potato Chip blocks. I thought I would share the clues here with you in case you want to make some too. It won't be a mystery like it was for my participants, but it's still fun.

To get started you need to cut a bunch of 2" by 3.5" pieces from scraps. Don't worry about color or value. If you can get at least one 2" by 3.5" piece from the scrap use it! You will need (32) 2" by 3.5" pieces per block. The finished block size is 12" by 12".

Press the seam to one side. I pressed to the darker fabric. However, if you prefer to press your seams open, go for it. Pressing really doesn't matter that much for this block as long as the seams are nicely pressed.

Press all seams one direction. It really doesn't matter which direction.

From here on, press seams away from the center.

When you sew your blocks together, if you alternate the direction of the center pieces then none of the seams from one block to the next line up. You can just sew the blocks together or you could put sashing between them - your choice. I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I only have these two blocks finished. I was too busy doing other shop stuff during the Sew Along to actually be able to sew - oh well!

Alternate versions: You can do the same thing with 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" pieces but you only need 18 pieces to make a 12" by 12" finished size block. If you do this, Clue 8 is the LAST clue for this size of piece.

If you do pay attention to value you can make something like this. Note: this is not my quilt. I just found the photo online with no name or link. If you know whose quilt this is I would love to be able to give the maker credit.

This quilt used 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" pieces. The maker made two sets of blocks. One set had dark center pieces and she alternated the value of each round. The second set had light center pieces and again, she alternated the value of each round. When you put them together you alternate the two sets of blocks.

If you decide to make any potato chip blocks I'd love to see photos of your blocks. You can leave them in the comments or email them to me. My email is in my profile.

By the way, they are called potato chip blocks because "you can't make just one," or so they say.