On newsstands now… in the July/August issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine, Homestead Hearth combines fabrics from two Marcus collections, ROMANTIC RENAISSANCE and PRIMO BATIKS, both by Molly B’s Studio to make the Double Monkey Wrench motifs on this pretty bed size quilt.  You can also visit the magazine’s website for instructions to make a lap sized version!

Each year, Olde Green Cupboard Designs sponsors four retreats that are held at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Florida National Guard Center in Starke, Florida.

These retreats are for attendees that want to finish up those projects they have been working on for a long time. What a relief it is for quilters to finish projects, loose the guilty feelings of unfinished UFO’s, and then get excited about moving on to the next project or purchasing fabric they’ve been lusting for!

This retreat is also about giving back to our military families here in Florida. Each retreat we have dozens of quilts that are donated by the attendees… made especially for fallen soldiers, soldiers that have been returned to the states with injuries… and/or for their families. Along with the quilts donated, we work on placemats for their “Gold Star Program”. These placemats are given to families whose military loved ones are away on deployment or have died in combat. It symbolizes the “love of family” by placing the mat at the dinner table, to acknowledge that he or she is always with them during “family” times. They are made like the flags shown in the family’s home windows or on their cars – Red with a gold star in the middle for a fallen soldier, while blue star placemats denote a service person away on deployment. In addition – all retreat registration funds are donated to the post to use at their discretion for families that may be in need while their military members are away serving our country.

All of us that attend take these gifts very serious and will continue to donate as long as our machines keep on sewing. Thank you to Marcus Fabrics for their donation of fabric for our Gold Star Placemats! Your support is greatly appreciated – from all of us and our military families. While our current retreats are all sold out, we encourage you to find a group in your neighborhood and donate your time and talent  today… it does our hearts good!!  —  Olde Green Cupboard Designs

Most quilters faced with a home relocation dream of enlarging and expanding their creative quarters, but sometimes, it just doesn’t work out that way… Case in point, Paula Barnes. She checked in with us after her recent move left her with a smaller workspace.

“This month has me digging out from under boxes. Boxes everywhere! I moved the end of January to a much smaller home. You may remember seeing my home studio in last years Quilt Mania Magazine.  In my former home I took over the game room upstairs when all the kiddo’s moved out. It was large and PACKED full of fun fabrics, projects, and some hobby items I haven’t touched in years.

Going from a large 2 story home into a smaller 1 story home has had its challenges.

So I packed it all up…it took days… and many, many boxes. Now I should tell you that I did purge quite a bit but apparently I didn‘t purge enough. Here are pictures of my new sewing room. Help!!!

I’m sure it will all fit, right? I started unpacking it last night and it’s going to work. I must say this over and over to make myself believe that it will. Can we have a Tinker Bell moment here. You remember in the movie where all the children clapped as hard as they could to show that they believed in her and brought her back to life. I wonder if that would work for me? Can we all clap hard enough to bring this sad room back to life.  I’ll share photos when it’s all done.”

———-  Paula, Red Crinoline Quilts

Thanks for sharing, Paula!!  Now, show of hands…how many of us feel her pain?  Got a small-space sewing area trick to share?  We’d love to hear from you!