We have been busy. Very busy. We have been putting together beautiful new shelving for the yarn area. At the risk of embarrassing ourselves with such a direct comparison (but we're kind of used to embarrassing ourselves--hey, it's just our way of making you feel at ease), let us show you the unretouched photos from the same place in the store

BEFORE


... and AFTER
We are thrilled! And relieved. We feel as if our shop has finally grown up.

Come on in and see our new yarn shelving in person. Better yet, when you get there, take a look at all the new yarns on it! Our fall shipments have been coming in at full force, and we have many new, exciting yarns for you!

P. S. We've also been working on the newsletter. It is at the printer, so look for it in the mail soon!

Hey look! Some boxes just arrived! Let's see what's in them!

Now, their square shape does give us a clue--they are yarn, not fabric. (Fabric comes in long, skinny boxes.) Well, this makes sense. We need yarn. It is almost fall (the weekend is supposed to get cool), and that means that more knitters break out their needles.


We in turn have broken open the boxes, so read on for a little tour of what's inside.

First, here's what we've been waiting for for 2 years--a gorgeous mohair. We're very picky about mohair, and we didn't see any last year that knocked our socks off. (More about socks soon.) Mohair must be soft. Really, really soft. This year, we finally found one that's good enough: Joseph Galler, a small, family-owned company, has come through for us. More than one person has gasped when touching it for the first time:


Along with the mohair, we got some 100-percent alpaca from Galler in undyed colors. Is it possible that it's even softer than the mohair? You decide:


For those of you who like alternatives to wool, we have a wonderful cotton-silk from Misti Alpaca:


And a huge new range of colors of our favorite cotton yarn, Tahki Cotton Classic:


Or is it our favorite? Ack! We can't decide! See, we also got some incredible organic cotton in its 3 undyed colors, green, cream, and tan:


Onward to the feet. We have a lot of new sock yarns. This is a new cotton self-striping yarn from Skacel:


And a beautiful, soft version of Trekking. It has bamboo for extra absorption!

Need a shot of color under your jeans? Then go for the new Sockittome from Cherry Tree Hill. It's a merino with nylon--soft but strong! Each skein is different:


Oh sure, there's more new yarn (and lots more coming), but now it's your turn to come in and see it.

And finally, we're slowly getting new shelving to house all this yarn. We plan to pick up a little more every time we're at an Ikea. It shows off the textures and colors of yarn:


Don't tell the Kevins, but we love you, Billy!

We have so much going on that we can barely think straight. Kim has been home sewing samples like a fiend while Cynthia has been at the shop working on the new fall schedule and unpacking new stuff. We're excited about everything we're getting! Each year, the yarn and fabric industries just make everything better and better.

Let's start with fabric today; stay tuned and we'll show off the new yarns in a few days.

First, we're still loving the new Emperor II collection from Kona Bay fabrics. Each month we get new bolts. They are all incredible:



And turning to something completely different, how do you like these funky retro fabrics from Michael Miller? We admit we love them!


For quilters, it's Christmas time. We're ready for you with some new, elegant fabrics:


(That numbered one you see above is an Advent Calendar. Very fun! We'll have a class for making it in early November, so you'll be ready for Christmas.) Here are some of our blenders....


And some small-scale prints....


There are many more new fabrics, but you'll just have to come in to see them all! Sorry--we need to get back to scheduling and sewing now!

It's Time to Talk about Winners

We've acquired a small list of winners over the past month, so we're going to announce them now.

First up, congratulations to our block-challenge winner. Each spring, we decide on one challenging fabric, and many quilters make a block from it. Then everyone votes on their favorite block during our open house. This year it was very, very close--but the winner was Deb H., whose block looks like this:


Nicely done, Deb, and excellent use of the Paula Nadelstern fabric! Stop by to pick up your $75 gift basket, which contains 2 fat-quarter 6-packs, an Asian Vase kit, an embellishment book, and a pattern called "Home is Where the Quilts Are":



Going back to our Anniversary Open House as well, Kathy R. and Martha T. each won door prizes for knitting...

and quilting...


And finally, we also are thrilled to announce a winner from last week's contest. Several people guessed that Cynthia was knitting a squirrel, and one even guessed a giraffe. Good guesses everyone (although... okay... there is not much orange anywhere on a squirrel....). The correct answer is.... a penguin. Congratulations to Deb K., who won the adorable Fiber Trends penguin pattern!

What is Cynthia thinking?

What do you think Cynthia is thinking about making with this new yarn, in a kind-of orange....


And black....

Is it for Halloween? Could be. But look! She is also using a bright white that really, truly felts....


And a little bit of fuzz....
What on earth is she going to make?

Guess! And send your guess to stitchyourartout AT yahoo DOT com. If you're randomly chosen out of everyone who gets it right, you will win a free copy of the pattern that Cynthia is using to make........ well, what's your guess? Guesses are due by midnight on Friday, July 20.

What's New?

We have all kinds of things going on! The fall yarn shipments we ordered in June are starting to trickle in, and already we have our Christmas fabrics! (We ordered those in February!) We have all kinds of nifty stuff to show you, so here's a little tour....

Let's start with our newest thing--beads!


We have an assortment of size 6 (for knitting and quilting embellishment) and size 11 (for quilting embellishment). Plus we have Swarovski crystals in both sew-on and iron-on styles--you pick! We're going to be getting more styles and colors in as the summer goes on, so keep checking back as we expand our selection. We're thrilled with the quality and beauty of the Japanese beads we've selected! Also, we're going to be offering knitting and quilting with bead classes this fall, so look for those in your fall newsletter, coming out at the end of August.

Let the tour continue with some of our new yarns. We're in the middle of replenishing sock yarns, and we have new colors of Mountain Colors Bearfoot:

We also have new colors of Step (this sock yarn has Aloe in it for extra comfort). We have a new cotton yarn from Skacel called Sockina, which is self-striping and very comfortable! Coming soon: Trekking natural, and Cherry Tree Hill hand-dyed.

Along with the Christmas fabrics, we have a new collection from Benartex called Winsome. It is soft and pretty, and great for either baby quilts (the coordinates are beautiful with our Beatrix Potter fabric) or for grown-ups. Be sure to see the darling quilt Kim is making up from these!


We continue to love our Emperor II fabrics from Kona Bay. Only 1,000 shops in the country stock them, and we're one of them!


And we're getting a lot of new patterns in. We're loving our new tablerunners! Cynthia made this one, called Waffle Time:


And Kim made this one (which would also double as a wall hanging), called Kabuki:


We love the tabs on the outside--so interesting!

And guess what? We also have a wonderful, new air conditioner. At the moment, it is our most favorite new thing of all! So come in to our nice, cool store, and enjoy all our new things!

Hi! We haven't forgotten about you. We've been busy, but we wanted to take a moment to let you know what's going on.

Summer is a time to refresh ourselves and our shop. Our last couple weeks have been spent renewing our shop environment--rearranging fabric and yarn, creating and hanging new samples, discovering and ordering new product. We've also been planning for fall and winter. New fabrics and yarn are beginning to arrive so we're also making room to highlight our new collections.

In a couple of days, we'll tell you more about what we've been doing and what we have in store. Back to work!