Good morning friends, I want to talk to you about this book. The name is Ruthie Anne and is a book publised by Sweet Treasures. Wow! I must be super honest and say the truth is this book really impressed me to the extent that Tina did our store sample in a couple of days.

Our store sample was done using pastels reproduction fabrics and is soft and sweet. Also, this book is jelly roll friendly but it does not stops there, you can also use yardage or scraps. Yes, those scraps from our stash that we do not have the heart to throw away because we are going to use them sometime. Well, this is the time.

In this book they show you variations to the quilt and also shows you in different color combinations so you are not limited to pastels you can also go brights, darks, batiks in other words the sky is the limit.

With this said and done we are moving on now. Today is Sunday and went to church and now I am home and guess what? I am staying home all day, at least that is the plan. Yes, I need a day at home and this is the day. Iam going to impress my husband and cook dinner, do some cleaning and then sewing.

Yard work? no way it is cold outside. Is this early fall like October weather or is it August. I am confused. We are wondering what kind of winter are we going to have since summer has been a few days here and there since it has been over all a very cool and comfortable summer.

So what are we going to do today? Open those windows a little bit to let the fresh air in and sew. sew, sew. Will you join me?

Well to sew I go. Take care and see you all at the shop and around the web quilting frame, see you soon, mary

Good evening my friends. Yes, It is 9:35pm and I am here blogging with my friends. It does not get any better than that.

Isn't that fabric just plain old yummy. That is one of the different prints from the fabric line called Kiwi from Timeless Treasures. Talking about a fun group this is it.

Today I just received the packet from Thimbleberries for the 2010 club. I tell you the fabric and quilt are super nice. I was thinking of saying no to next year but the answer after seeing the fabrics is plain old YES.

I have in the store pictures and samples of the different fabrics.

Today a friend game me a piece of paper and I think I will share with you. Warning!!! you are going to laugh with this one. So here it is.

Quilters Tranquilizers

Directions: Take one as needed.....hint they are M & M's

Yellow......soothes nerves when you want to buy fabric and the quilt shop is closed.

Blue....calms tense muscles when your fabric stash looks a little low.

Red....reduces frustations when you can't find the right fabric.

Brown....relieves panic attacks when you can't find another place to hide your fabric.

Orange...Minimizes depression if you can't afford more fabric.

Green....cures the urge to buy more fabric.

Author anonymous

I needed some red today since I am working on the sample for the Stateline Shop Hop that is starting on the 25th of September and everything I put together one just does not work. Question? why I can always find the right combinations for you but I cannot make up my mind when I am trying to put some things together. I am going to find it tomorrow morning first thing I am going to do. There I said it now I am going to do it.

Well my friends it is almost 10:00pm and I am still going like the bunny that keeps going and going and going. So see you soon around the web quilt frame, please take care and see you soon, mary

Good afternoon friends, this is one of the quilts from Open Gates Design.

On this quilt you see the quilt and then a great close up picture of this great quilt and wonderful combination of colors. The shadow effect created by the very well coordinated colors was just stunning.

On this quilt the theme is very somber but on the same token extremely elegant. If you have a print (large) that you want to show without joining this quilt is for you. As you can see there is (really 2) a long strip where you can show your nice print and with coordinating fabrics you can have the talk of the town quilt. Needless to say, this one is one of the quilts that we are planning to get started. Finally the fabrics has been chosen and it will be a stunner.

Remember on September 12th, we will be having a Mr. Lehman in the store and he will be sharpening your scissors and rotary cut blades. He is super reasonable on his prices and he can sharpen the scissors while you wait.

The Stateline Quilt Shop Hop begins in September too. There will be 9 fantastic participating stores with awesome prizes. The hop starts on September 25th until October 3rd. with extended hours and Quilts n Gifts in Bluffton, Indiana will be open on Sunday from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

I will be listing the shops on my next post but get those calendars out and start writing those dates on the calendar because this is one you do not want to miss. I will be working on the feature quilt this week. What a bummer!!!! I have to sew :)

On this our last picture that will be posted from Sunday we see a group of friends talking and having a wonderful time. As you can see those walls are covered with wonderful quilts.

When I said that I would like your input as to whom to have next year, I really mean it. Please email me at mary@quiltsngifts.net or you can call the shop at 260-565-4438 or my cell 260-273-2611. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Well my friends back to work I go, please take care and remember, you are special.

Until next time around the web quilting frame, your friend, mary

Good afternoon friends, well here we are posting pictures of the wonderful afternoon we had last Sunday. In this picture we have a couple of friends registering. As you can see there are quilts on the side of the hallway but there were more on the other side too. In other words, you were greated with quilts.


It was one of those times when you walk into a

room and you cannot stop smiling because it was an ambience of friendship and laughter all the






time. We had quite a friends that has been to all three of the reunions and cannot wait now for #4.


On this next picture we see a group of friends concentrating and learning about the wonderful rulers that Monique Dillard from Open Gates Design, our featured designer for this year, the Fit to be Geese, Mini Fit to be Geese and Fit to be Square.A flying geese never been easier. thanks Monique you just saved me taken headache medicine.
Standing right in front of this wonderful quilt we

find Monique. This quilt is one of her very favorites and it became one of mine too. Needless to say, I am already planning the colors that I am going to use to do this quilt.
Tomorrow I will add more pictures so you can see around the room that is covered with quilts to the extent that they had to be folded in half in order to place all of the quilts. Nice and sweet but I will also give you some close up pictures of the quilts so you can admire the wonderful quilting work and selection of fabrics.
On our feedback sheets we asked about the event like once a year or every other year and the results were every year so I will very hard to make this possible. The dates will have to change since Appleseed Quilt Guild from Fort Wayne will be having their magnificent show around those dates and we are part of the stores that will be vendors. If you have a suggestion as to whom would you like to see please let me know. You can email me at mary@quiltsngifts.net or call the shop at 260-565-4438 or my cell at 260-273-2611.
Belive it or not I have been trying to do this post now for almost 5 hours on and off and I think that this is the best I can make it. Remember computer savy I am not but that will not stop me from sharing some time with all of you and sharing pictures and friendship.
Please take care and see you soon, mary

Good morning my friends, here are the first set of pictures from our wonderful weekend of Quilters Reunion.

These pictures are from the Saturday workshop. We had 14 ladies having a lot of fun and learning Monique Dillard from Open Gates Design technique using the Fit to be Geese ruler and what a great way to do the flying geese. Just too sweet. Needless to say we all learned and if you are around the shop we will be more than happy to show you too.

On the first picture (upper left side) we see two of our friends talking and exchanging ideas about fabric. On the second picture we can see Monique (she is at the side of the table all by herself with a pink top) talking and ready to explain the Fit to be Geese technique.

On the third picture we see a couple of friends busy cutting. Yes, on our next workshop we will precut fabrics and on the last picture we see a finished block.

What was the most interesting is that we had 14 friends and we did not have one block that was the same fabric from another person. In other words, 14 friends 14 different fabrics used and that made this so great because we displayed the blocks as they were finished and it was absolutely awesome.

Tomorrow we will post pictures about the Sunday luncheon. We had a comment sheet and we asked if you wanted this event to be a once a year event or every other year and the poll was 97% voted for once a year. What does this tell me? I have to get busy and start looking for a wonderful designer for next year. Do you have a name or suggestion who will you want to see? Please email, stop by or call me since that will help me a lot. Our phone number is 260-565-4438 email at quiltsngifts@adamswells.com or mary@quiltsngifts.net Thank you for your help.

We just received some wonderful fabrics here at the shop. We have some great Timeless
Treasures dinosaurs fabric and a line called Lotus that is driving me insane because I really want to do a sample with that fabric.

Tailgate time!!!!!! We just received IU and Purdue table cloth vinyl with a soft flannel on the back (by the yard) so you can make your very own table cloth for the football season almost ready to start. Wether we wanted it or not fall season is upon us and we have to get ready and start those Christmas presents and fall decorations going.

One last thing, on September 12th, we will be having a gentleman here in the store and he will be sharpening scissors and rotary cutter blades at a very reasonably price. He will be here from 10:00am until 1:00pm. In other words, let's get those rotary cutter blades and scissors ready for quilting season time. Me? quilting season is all the time. :)

Well my friends until next time around the web quilting frame. Please take care and see you all soon, mary

Good afternoon my friends, as you can see I am running late on doing our blog but that is because there are major reasons why and that I will explain in a little bit.


The first two pictures that you will see are friends working on our Helpful Wednesday day.


We are very proud to say that we had two new quilters yesterday on our group.


What is Helpful Wednesday? This is the day we reserve just for you to stop in the shop and we will help you with any questions or techniques that you have. This is a complete free service for all of you. We also have Helpful Saturday on the

first Saturday of the month. Does that means that I cannot stop by any other time to get help?

Absolutely not!!! You can stop in anytime you want but on those days I can guarantee you almost a one on one help.
Customer service is our number one priority and this is another way for us to say THANK YOU for your friendship here at Quilts n Gifts in Bluffton, Indiana.

Can I come as many times as I want? YES, can I request a special class or technique? YES, do I have to call for reservation? No, but sometimes is advisable in order for us to make sure we have enough room for everybody.Can I stay the whole

day and sew? Definitely YES. If you are planning in an all day or you have to have a special need (like food) you have the option of bringing your own food (we have a refrigerator and microwave you can use) or we can order out. Will we see you on a Helpful Wednesday? I hope.

What in the world are you doing now? Mary. Well, I am just taking the picture but Tina and Jeannette are working on getting the door prizes for Sunday and Saturday events for Third Quilters Reunion weekend.
I just talked to Monique, our featured designer this year, and she is ready to meet all of you and spend some quality time with all of you.
Monique will also be having special door prizes for attendees.
I tell you this year I think will be the best yet. WHY? because our designer is a wonderful person, we have some wonderful door prizes and because of YOU. You make this event the best. Take care and I will be posting pictures from Saturday and Sunday.
I hope you all have a great day and see you soon at the shop, take care, mary
PS: we did not eat all of the Teddy Graham cookies from the box in the picture.

The Quilt is In

Good morning my friends it is Sunday almost afternoon and today is our Sunday to be open. Yes! the quilt from Open Gates Design is in the store now. We just received it and it is beautiful.

As of today Sunday we only 10 spaces available for next Sunday's luncheon. You still have until Wednesday when we will not be able to accept anymore reservations from that day on and tickets will not be available at the door since food will be prepared according to the number of attendees. So, if you have not made your reservation yet, hurry up because time is running out. Call us at 260-565-4438 or my cell at 260-273-2611 or email at mary@quiltsngifts.net

Guess what? I have been looking around here in the store and decided we need a new look at least on the fabrics. So, with many fabrics still on the way to us, we are redesigning and reshuffling the fabrics and with this job we are adding fabrics to our finish the bolt for 25% off regular price and to our 50% off marked price table. So stop by because there are a whole bunch of great savings in patterns and books and gift items too.

Now tell me you are not smiling now. Yes this is another one of those medium size panels that we have here in your store.

This one is Winter Joy from Clothworks. They are just beautiful and the coordinates fabrics are to die for.

Well, the music is going and the fabric is screaming at me asking where are you going to move me. So, I will go now and start moving more fabric but one thing I have to say it is looking nice and Andy Williams singing is just too good to be true.

Talk to you later around the web quilting frame, take care my friends, mary

Good afternoon my friends, ok, who said I was 15 years old? I don't know but yesterday I could have fooled anybody since I was taking pictures of new fabrics, panels etc. I built a section with a backdrop and all and then got on the floor to take pictures and to top it all I decided to walk on my knees. I know you can tell that Susan was not working yesterday because she would have been in my case and not let me do those dumb stuff. Thanks Susan for taking care of me. Today, I am paying all that with interest since I feel every single year I have and more to come. Anyway enough of complaining, one thing for sure some nice pictures were taken and we will share with all of you.

The picture to the left is a small panel from Clothworks and is super nice. Rich colors of reds, browns, taupe and it is a very happy Gingerbread Panel. The coordinates to this panel are just as

wonderful as the panel by itself.

Ok, now I know that you are wondering what is the quilt to the left and who is holding it up. Well, this is the pattern that will be released nationally with our Quilters Reunion next weekend here in Bluffton, Indiana.

At the time of this picture it was when Monique (our guest designer for this year) from Open Gates Design passed the quilt to us as the banner quilt for our reunion.

Wait a minute....you don't know about this yet? Yes, Sunday August 16th here in Bluffton, Indiana to be held at Timber Ridge Country Club will be our Third Annual Quilters Reunion. Doors open at 11:00am and lunch will be served at

12:30pm and Monique will take the honor to be our guest speaker and share with us more than 50 quilts at 1:30pm.

Also, Monique will be having demonstrations and a book signing segment. Price is $30.00 for the whole day and yes it does include the lunch. We still have 11 seats available.

Oh my! did I forget to tell you that every friend that is with us on this great day goes home with a wonderful gift. Yes, all attendants will have a door prize.

So come on down and join the fun.

You can call us at 260-565-4438 or my cell at 260-273-2611 or stop by the store for your reservation. You can also email at mary@quiltsngifts.net

Oops, wait a minute. The new issue of Quilts and More magazine just arrived. Nice fall projects on the cover.

Well my friends now is time to go back to work since Iam planning of rearranging so I will see you around the blog quilting frame in a day or so. Please take care and talk to you soon, mary

Wednesday-Information Highway day.

Friends I am in the process of writing the update but had to stop since I place a reference to this page and I thought I had to do the blog first. In a few minutes I will go back to finish the update and send it to all of you. You are not part of our weekly update? Just email me and I will be more than happy to sign you up. It is free like most of the classes in our store. Email at quiltsngifts@adamswells.com or thru our website at www.quiltsngifts.net

Well my friends here you have two pictures, not one but two and that is because we are rolling on information highway today.

So lets's start with the red, white and blue quilt at the left.

Susan and I designed this quilt to be part of one of our block of the month but we have a problem...it needs a name. So we are asking for you to come up with a name and email to mary@quiltsngifts.net or stop by the shop and drop the name of the quilt plus your name and phone number. Why the phone or email? because if your name is selected you will receive a $50.00 gift certificate from the shop as a thank you for helping us.

We are already accepting friends to join us on your block of the month that will start in December of 2009 (that is the red, white and blue that we are talking about) and with that it will come with a new twist to what a block of a month is. Questions? just call or email us and we will share all of the details with you. This pattern cannot be duplicated or copied. Thanks.

With a week and half to go our 3rd. Annual Quilters Reunion will be here so I decided to share another of Monique Dillard from Open Gates Design (our featured designer for this year). Monique will be bringing 50 to 60 quilts to share with all of us. We still have 11 tickets available for Sunday August 16th. If you do not have your ticket yet but want to join the fun just call me at 260-565-4438 that is our shop number and make your reservations today.

Well, I better go back to the update since I am almost done writing and then I have to add the names to our group. I hope you have a wonderful day and if there is anything we can do to help, or if you have an idea, feeback or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. After all, we are here for you. Store number 260-565-4438. email mary@quiltsngifts.net or quiltsngifts@adamswells.com cell 260-273-2611 anytime.

See you around the quilting frame, mary

It is Monday!!!

Good afternoon friends, Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Engines!!! It is Monday afternoon and we are roaring to go. Are you? Ok, I will explain about this panel that we are featuring today.

This is the Monster truck panel by Avlyn and is great for that little guy in your family. There are coordinates fabrics to match this great panel.

Now, how was your weekend? We had a great time babysitting and when we got home Mary was sleeping before 8:00pm I guess I was a little bit tired but felt wonderful being with our family.

We are still receiving fabrics two to three times a week and we are taking pictures to post here on our blog and slowly but surely they are getting posted on our website too.

You know it takes time to do this and sometimes I rather be sewing but I cannot forget my web friends.

We are in the process of getting our class list ready for fall and winter but this Wednesday we are having our Make It and Take It class for the quilt as you go table runner. This is a free class YES Free but you need to have a sewing machine, quilting tools and fabrics. The pattern is supplied to you for free on this class too.

Remember you can call us at 260-565-4438 or email us at mary@quiltsngifts.net or quiltsngifts@adamswells.com we are only a phone call or email away.

We have been asked as to when are we going to start our PMS nights again (Pizza, Munchies and Sewing) see it is not that bad and the answer is: we will start in September again. I will post the night that we are meeting so you can call and claim your space.

Well friends we are having Thimbleberries club tomorrow, therefore, I need to go and start getting the fabrics ready. So, until next time around the blog quilting frame. take care, mary

First Day of August

Yes, today is the first day of August, where and how fast is this year going? In only 12 days kids will be back in school and we can more or less safely can say "the end of summer is almost here."
But with August comes our reunion time. The quilt feature on today's blog is one of Monique's quilts from Open Gates Design our featured designer on this year reunion. Wow, I just received an email from Monique letting me know the date of arrival etc. and she just told me that she is bringing 50 to 60 quilts to be displayed, talked about what inspired her to design that quilt, and for all of us to say ahhhhhhh ohhhhhh that is really pretty.
So, I am pretty excited to see these quilts since, even though, I have seen a lot of her quilts during market time I most likely have some that have never seen and cannot wait.
Have you signed up for our luncheon on Sunday August 16th yet? No? Please don't wait too much longer since we only have 14 spaces available as of today. So call me today here at the store 260-565-4438 or my cell at 260-273-2611 and make this reservation because, this one you do not want to miss.
A Sunday with quilting friends, quilts, fabrics and the conversation, quilts. Do not get better than that. Waiting for your call.
Now, let's see what are we are going to do this weekend. This Sunday I am off from the store but I will be working hard since Al and I have been asked to babysit two of our grandchildren so we are doing it. We have to be on the road by 5:30am YES that early on your day off, so we can get there on time. Then I have to play, go shopping and take them for lunch and then we are taking a nap. I will need one by that time. It is going to be a lot of fun since we don't get to see them that often so it is always a special treat when we see them. Ok, it is special when we see all of our grandchildren.
Sometimes this next week I will have to go to Fort Wayne to find something for August 16th. and I am asking our oldest granddaughter to drive me there.
She just got her permit so we are going to cruise to Fort Wayne.
Well, it is past 9 in the morning and that means I have to go back to work but don't forget to call me and make your reservations for Sunday August 16th. You will not regret it if you call.
See you later blogging around the quilting frame,,,,,,,,,mary