Sharpen you’re rotary cutters ladies! Colleen and I have come up with a great excuse to cut, sew and play with abandon – no tedious fussy cutting, no slaving away with templates, not stress! All you need is some Nuance from Paula Nadelstern (kits and fabric are available in our store) and a copy of the April/May issue of McCall’s QUICK QUILTS. Make one like ours or use the simple method we used and create a unique Square Cut Gem of your own!

Special thanx to Beth Hayes and her editorial staff at Quick Quilts for doing such an amazing job with the article . For a preview of April May Issue click here. Please be sure to send them your kudos when you see the Square Cut Gems article, it’s simple outstanding!

c & c

available for free download courtesy of Windham Fabrics, click here to download.

We just finished the most amazing quilt called Aurora for Quilters Newsletter using Robert Kaufman’s new Imperial Collection in blues, creams and rich bronze browns shown below – delish! And yes, we’ll have the fabrics in store soon along with the kits in the summer. We feel like proud parents on this one… Lots of work, and a wonderful challenge but the sense of accomplishment we feel having designed and sewn something so beautiful is simply unmatched. It’s already under lock and key with the long arm quilter so you’ll have to wait until mid July for the August Issue of Quilters Newsletter to come out. We are counting the days until we see Aurora again and can’t wait to hear what you think!

As soon as Aurora came down we started the next project for Quilters Newsletter, another stunner we’re calling Eclipse. This one I did have the good sense to take some pics of yesterday when we got the first group of blocks up. The collection we’re working with is called Shades of the Season, also from Robert Kaufman. You should have seen the focal print we cut the centers of the blocks from….…Yummy! (so sorry I didn’t get a pic of the fabric, I had a fabrigasm with the rotary cutter before I thought to get the camera out, oops – enthusiasm to get started got the better of me there, I’m sure you know how it is). So yummy we ordered 9 bolts of the stuff as we’re pretty sure you’re going to like it as much as we do LOL! Hope we’ve got your curiosity perked…. This one will be in the October issue of Quilters Newsletter, which comes out mid September and we’ll have a few kits, if you’re interested, let us know.

It’s winter and we know if you’re a quilter and you’ve got a design wall, you’ve got something on it… We’d love to know what you’re working on . Happy quilting!

C & C

How Can You Win?
Tell us about about your favorite Toadusew pattern and what you enjoyed about it! Leave your comment here, or post it directly in our store by noon on 31 March 2010. The winner will be randomly selected from all the comments on 31 March 2010, with the winning comment will be posted on our blog and announced in our April Newsletter. If you have more than one favorite pattern, multiple comments are welcome, the more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!

The Prize

Robert Kaufman Fusions FatQuater Bundle
Color Me Happy Kit
Beautiful Bargello Book
Quilted Décor Book
Publish Your Patterns Book
Fairfield 80/20 Blend Twin Size Batting
Klasse Quilting Needles
That Purple Thing
Robison Anton Piecing Thread Assortment
A Few Other Treats We’ll use to fill the box!

We appreciate your continued support and can’t wait to read your comments and share them with all our customers!

Happy New Year to all!  The new year is off to a great start for us here at the Studio.  We were thrilled to see one of our quilts featured on the cover of “America Makes Quilts from the Heart”, a special issue magazine from McCall’s Quilting.  This magazine is a little bit different from others you’ll find on the Newsstand – it features a really unique assortment of quilts as well as very detailed instructions on a great sampler quilt.  A great source of inspiration and wonderful sampler blocks to mix and match makes this magazine worth splurging on….  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

If you’re looking for a project that will give you an excuse to use all those fat quarters we all hoard (or an excuse to buy some new ones LOL) be sure to check out the current issue of Fons and Porter.  “Paprika” was one of our favorite projects from 2009 and it’s so nice to see it again.     Don’t look too close at the quilting, it was the first one I quilted with my new long arm….  simply nerve racking using the long arm for the first time on a quilt for a magazine, but proof that if you think you can do it and just go for it, you WILL get it done .

We’ll also have an amazing watercolor quilt coming out in the April Issue of Quilters world so be sure to keep your eyes pealed.  Pine Tree Quilts before they sell out will be offering kits, and I’m sure they’ll go quickly so don’t wait too long to order.

We have some other exciting things coming up and our new contests starting soon, so be sure to check back.

C & C

If you want another chance to win  stay tuned to our blog and watch for  Toad Trivia questions- the first one to answer correctly gets a prize!

What a whirl wind trip!  All that preparation for just a few days that seem to fly by all too quickly…  It’s almost like Christmas and I find myself wishing I could just slow time down when I’m at Quilt Market so that I am able to savor all the amazing sights, sounds and people.  There never seems to be enough time to see all the quilts, fondle all the fabric, check out all the new gadgets and fully admire each and every booth that was no doubt painstakingly designed and planned months in advance.  Every year I come home and regret not having taken more pictures.  The best I’m able to do it seems, is run around like a crazy quilt paparazzi Saturday morning before the show officially opens, snapping quick shots of all the Toadusew quilts.  Our Toadsters have to sew and quilt at the speed of sound to get those samples done in time and if I came home without photos of their quilts proudly displayed at Quilt Market, they’d be most displeased.  They’re pretty amazing ladies, we simply could not have pushed through the last three years without them (to get to know them check out our Team Toad Gallery).

The highlight of the trip for me definitely had to be getting to meet Alex Anderson.  The lady practically taught me how to quilt via Simply Quilts and the many wonderful books she’s put out.  She looked fantastic, had a great sense of humor and was gracious enough to sign not only our Toad, but also offered to give me an autograph for every Toadster back home.  I was really happy to get the autographs, not only because the Toadsters will treasure them, but it took Miss Alex about 10 minutes to sign all the cards – I was more than happy to keep her company .

We met with all of the editors and magazines we’ve been working with this last year as well as a few new ones.  We’re really excited about all the projects that will be coming to the newsstands in 2010 in even more of your favorite magazines, so be on the lookout.  We also got a sneak peak at some pretty incredible fabrics…  there was one or two collections that really gave us a fabrigasm!  We’ll be posting previews of our favorite picks from Benartex, Robert Kaufman, Avlyn, Windham and a few others in November so be sure to check back!

A really nice surprise was the great display Fairfield Batting build for Toadusew in their booth.  They had a whole section set up that was just for us – too cool!  We love their 80/20 Quilters Blend, Wool and Bamboo Batting, it’s simply amazing stuff and is the batting we use for our samples these days.  It’s the most forgiving batting we’ve come across, recovers from being folded faster than anything else on the market, breaths and insulates well and drapes like your favorite worn and loved quilt.  They sent us some samples last year and we were immediately hooked, If you haven’t tried it, you’re really missing a great product.

Our long arm quilter Cathy Messner came with us again, thank goodness.  She is a true angel and if we could box up her smile and charm, I think we’d make a million!  Special thanx to Miss Cathy for all her patience and unyielding sunny disposition.  Colleen’s husband Mario also came with us and was a super trooper as well.  The man destroyed a brand new shirt building us a make shift table, had to walk seven blocks to get us Advil, hauled crates, ironed drapes, lay flooring – with a smile on his face and the enthusiasm of a teenager going to prom.  The man is a saint.

As much as I loved Market, I’m glad to be back at the studio into a normal routine again.  Colleen and I are all juiced up and inspired by our trip to Market.   The design wall is a blank canvas that begs to be covered in shrapnel of fabric and color.  Just a few more chores to take care and then we can dig again and have some fun!

We’ve got some of the pictures on-line already in our Gallery if you’d like to see some more of our quilts dressed up in new colors and fabrics plus get a preview of some exciting things to come…

We’ve gotten some wonderful comments from everyone about why Autumn is such a great season! Our friends at Robert Kaufman have  helped us put together a wonderful Autumn inspired prize that is simply divine!

Fusions Fresh Foliage Fat Quarter Bundle (Robert Kaufman)
Mix Master & Scribbles by Patrick Lose Fat Quarter Bundle (Robert Kaufman)
Twist of Fate Pattern (Toadusew)
Perennial Favorites Pattern (Toadusew)
Crescendo Pattern (Toadusew)
Maple Sugar Pattern (Toadusew)
Quilted Decor Book (Toadusew)

Contest ends 3 November 2009
Winner will be posted here 4 November 2009

The winner will be randomly selected from all the comments posted by everyone
about “Why We Love Autumn”.   The winners name and comment will be
posted here on our Blog on 4 November 2009 so be sure to keep those comments
coming and check back on the 4rth to see if you’re the one who can claim this
wonderful prize!

Special thanx to Robert Kaufman for sending such great stuff.  They’re pretty generous folks sent way more than we asked for so it looks like we’ll have some more contents going in short order!  We’ll start Tweeting some clues in November so be sure to follow us on Twitter!

In Florida we don’t get a full spectrum Autumn like they do in the north. We’re delighted if the humidity backs off enough for us to crack the windows a little. We’re both from up North and remember it well… the changing leaves, the smell of a looming frost intertwined with the smokey aroma of the chimneys being being rekindled and brought a light again. The colors of the landscape become so vibrant, you’d swear there was a fire…
It’s my favorite time of year and naturally the time I crave my home time and family the most. Of all the things I miss about autumn up north it would have to be the color, and I’m pretty sure Colleen would say the same. All you have to do is look at our catalog to see how much we appreciate these colors.
So it got me thinking about what other people might like most about Autumn…. hoping you’ll share a comment or answer the below.

All the comments will be entered in a random draw to receive a Fall Inspired Prize when we get back from Quilt Market in Houston towards the end of October.

CONTEST UPDATE:  Robert Kaufmam Fabrics caught wind of our little contest and will helping out with the prize.  Our friends at Kaufman are notoriously generous when it comes to fabric and we’ll be putting in some of our own goodies as well.  Keeps those comments coming, the winner is sure to be handsomely rewarded!