Retro Coffee Pot Hot Pad

This is such cute fabric in one of my favorite color combinations, don't you love the coordinating coffee beans on the binding. I had never tried using the big grommets and was amazed at how simple they are to work with. You basically cut the hole and pop the 2 parts in (one from each side and they snap together. My husband asked me what I had done this weekend and really burst my bubble when he said " thats all." I just had to clean the sewing room it was totally out of control.

We are having a real blizzard today and I hope to have more to show for my time at home soon. Stay warm and safe.

My First Zippy Strippy

I just finished this little bag from Atkinson Designs , Zippy Strippy pattern using some fun fabrics by Moda. This is the medium and the pattern includes 2 more sizes. It was fun to audition all sorts of buttons and you could make these as sweet little gifts in no time. Hope your inspired, we carry zippers in lots of colors for only 99 cents and this pattern has easy directions to follow for those new to sewing with zippers .

Lady Bugs and Hearts

I Know I know it makes you smile doesn't it. This adorable fabric by Alexander Henry has just arrived in time for your Valentines Day projects. So many possibilities are your creative juices flowing, it won't last long so stop by soon.

Remember to mark your calendar ; March 19th ,National Quilting Day and plan to attend our free QIY (quilt it yourself ) Event at the Calico House. We will have demonstrations from 10:00 to 4:00 and experts to help you with all the steps to preparing your quilts for quilting ,both hand and machine. A list of times and subjects will be posted here and in our e-mail newsletter. Stay Tuned .

St. Patrick's Day Fabric

These wonderful Hoffman fabrics arrived today and they are just perfect for any St. Patricks day quilting projects you might have been dreaming of. There are very subtle gold metallic dot accents throughout the magical wavy green tendrils . We know your gonna need some for your stash.

FYI; Save the date Saturday, March 19th , National Quilting Day, to spend with us at the Calico House.

We will have free demonstration all day and will post a list soon so you can make plans on which ones to attend.

January may be cold and dreary, but we are receiving new fabrics daily that will brighten your day. Stop by soon. We are open 7 days a week.

Jenaveve Cotton Linen Fabric by Valori Wells

Jenaveve is sturdy enough for home dec projects, but has a beautiful drape for clothing also. These beautiful cotton and linen blend fabrics by Valori Wells are 45% cotton and 55% linen and are 55" wide. They call these the sage and grey coloration and we know you will love them.

If you go to Valori's blog: www.valoriwells.typepad.com and scroll back to November 02 2010 she is taking photos in Oregon featuring this collection.

Valentine's Day House Hot Pad

My friend and fellow co-worker Patt suggested I make a house hot pad, so over the weekend I drafted and sewed this fun project. I had been wanting to use the ribbon that you see for the chimney for a long time.(It also became the hanger for the hot pad) It is perfect with the X's and O"s for Valentines Day. We also carry the ribbon in pink , but much narrower. The cutting directions are being developed and we used our wonderful wool blend felt for the heart. I love the black and white fabrics, but I promise to try some other color combos soon.

I also was trying to make tiny and not so tiny roses out of rick rack and after some trial and error ended up with 6 flowers from a yard . The smallest one ended up as the door nob and was glued in place. They would also be really cute glued onto hair clips for little ones this coming Valentines Day.

If the weathers giving you the winter blahs stop in to see the new fabrics including a shipment of Hoffman Batiks that will be sure to brighten your day.

Valentines Day Display

Do you need a little inspiration ? We have been busy sewing up some sweet ideas you need to stop in and see. We know your busy, so we have tried to find fun and easy Valentine's sewing projects that you won't be able to resist.

FYI; Lora Rocke will be demonstrating machine quilting this Saturday the 15th from 11.30 to 1.30 . She has several classes scheduled ,so check on dates and times when you stop by. She also is the author of several books and will have them available for sale that day.

New Fabrics from Marcia Derse

This is a small sampling of the newest fabrics designed by Marcia Derse that we just received at the Calico House. We carry the whole collection and feel that Marcia is one of the fabric designers who is still just being discovered. Her originals are all hand painted and each of these prints is just as beautiful to behold. Remember it maybe be cold and cloudy outside ,but we promise to brighten your day.

Max and Whiskers from Moda

I took this picture to share with you in the Moda booth this past fall at Quilt Market in Houston. The quilt features new fabrics by Basic Grey called Max and Whiskers with lots of cute puppies and kittens and little paws every where. Today the precuts arrived: charm packs (5 inch squares) jelly rolls (2 1/2 " strips) and layer cakes (10 inch squares) I really think you will love the colors and as always the bolts arrive about 30 days after the precuts.

FYI; We are offering a great selection of Classes this winter, so if your looking to try something new stop in and pick up a schedule. Lora Rocke offers a wonderful free motion machine quilting class that always gets rave reviews from her students and Jan Cutshall will be offering 2 Hand Applique classes. For those who have taken her basic class before she just added a new applique class with more techniques and information.

Great News yesterday Patt checked in all the new Soul Blossom Fabrics by Amy Butler. Every single piece is beautiful and will have your imaginations stirring. Winter is such a great time to sew so if you need a lift stop by . The colors are bright and sunny even if its cloudy outside.

chocolate kisses fabric

This adorable fabric with little chocolate kisses has just arrived and inspired us to sew up this hot pad for you to give to all the sweethearts on your Valentines list. The pattern developed here at the Calico House will include 3 sizes of kisses to applique and needs just a bag of real chocolates to be a perfect gift.

FYI; The entire new collection of Soul Blossom fabrics by Amy Butler will be arriving this month. We loved them all and know you will to. Stay tuned we will post it here as soon as we spot the boxes from the UPS man.

I did spot the boxes of Marcia Derse's new collection Third in Line on Tuesday. We will be unpacking them on Thursday and we will have the entire collection to choose from. You may remember her first group Gerta which was so spectacular and the new collection is just as stunning. These fabrics have been a well kept secret that more people are just discovering.