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Be sure to sign up for the newsletter because soon I’ll start sending out monthly e-mails telling about shop updates and with exclusive e-mail only coupons! If you were opted in to the OLD Crafty Girls Workshop newsletter, it’s likely that I’ve transferred your e-mail over. But you can always opt in again anyway, the miracle of technology is that you shouldn’t receive the newsletter more than once as long as you used the same e-mail address.

Thanks for your support of this blog and my former shop. I assure you, that you will barely notice a difference in the excellent service, quality or prices from my old shop (except the prices might be even lower!) and the only real thing that has changed is my name and the look of the store a tiny bit.

See you on the flip side!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

P.S. I’m offering to send you a FREE fabric panel if you’re interested and would e-mail me your address and I’ll include a panel for FREE to anyone who orders from the shop as a thank you. Check out the post over on my new blog right now!

Happy Shopping!

Anna

One of my absolute favorite pattern designers (and a very sweet person too) is having a DIY for the Holidays Pattern sale now through November 27. Please go check it out, click the image or this link to shop! (Yes I get a a small affiliate commission BUT I also teach classes from her patterns as well as have made many of the items several times and I LOVE the way Michelle writes patterns) I might have to go get some more of her patterns too! I LOVE the Easy Reuseable Tote Pattern, it’s so easy to make and would be a great Earth friendly gift!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

When I check my e-mail today I received a post from Amy Lou Who about this mini quilt she received from Jill (Made on Mainstreet) that was just so adorable and MODERN! Well, I hopped over to Jill’s blog and realized I had just discovered ANOTHER awesome modern quilter! Yippee! Now I have more reason to procrastinate from my real work! (haha)

QUICK DIGRESS:

In December of 2010 I signed a lease and moved in to a great space in an urban loft on the third floor of an OLD building. It wasn’t for an apartment (which was 400 sq ft), no, this was 1500 sq ft of room for me to have my very own sewing studio! I had been dreaming of this sort of business for at least the last two years. It combined both my LOVE of sewing with my LOVE of teaching and I’d be helping NEW people learn to sew and quilt! All the while being able to sell fabric and buy new fabrics and patterns and be on the cutting edge of it all. How could anything be better?

As time went on I was only teaching classes in the evenings and weekends so I could continue working my full time 40 hour a week job (plus all the fabric was still online so I’d fill orders as needed). It was a busy schedule but helped take my mind off my recent divorce and the people I met in the brand new San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild have become some of my very best friends.

Amazingly, after thinking I would NEVER find real love (I was a little jaded after the divorce) I DID! I met a man who is supportive of my dreams and won’t let me give them up and I know he’ll do everything he can to take care of me and our family. So this fall, we tied the knot, and now as you probably know, we’re having a baby in March!

But, with the baby coming and hubby finishing up graduate school this fall, I’ve had to think about what is truly my dream for my life. What do I really want to do and where does Crafty Girls Workshop fit into that dream? The truth is, I’ve made a TON of mistakes having this business open, but I have enjoyed it to the fullest and learned SO MUCH. I’m sure I’ve taught more almost 100 people how to make pillowcases and other projects and shown them that sewing isn’t as difficult as it seems (and neither is winding a bobbin or threading the machine).

Now it’s time to transition again. As much as I’ve enjoyed teaching, I’ve run into some roadblocks this year, especially considering that my studio, as funky and urban as it is, is on the third floor of a building with NO elevator and NO sign outside. That kinda makes it difficult to find me sometimes. SO, I’ve decided to pack up my studio and move it all home, which means I won’t have a designated place to teach anymore but I’m still going to keep selling fabric through my website. I hope that someday I’ll be able to find a good location for a studio space that works for my family and my students and I’ll be able to open up again. Please keep in touch with me since I’ll continue to post to this blog (hopefully MORE now actually) and to my Facebook page. And don’t forget you can sign up for e-mail updates through the sign up block in the sidebar of this blog.

Oh and the best news for YOU? I’m having a MOVING/CLEARANCE sale on my website! That means everything is priced to help it MOVE so I don’t have to find a place to store it after November! All the Bella Solids are $6.99 a yard, most of the printed fabric is $5.99 a yard and there are still some great deals to be had at the $5.00 per yard price point. I’m also marking down all the printed patterns I have in stock and will combine the shipping cost to save you money!

I have a few charm packs still left listed at $5.99 per pack also! It’s such a steal you should get a couple!

I hope you’ll have fun helping me clear out my inventory. As sad as I’ve been I know this is the best move for my new family and for myself.

Happy Shopping!

Anna

And we found out yesterday that it’s a boy! So plans are in the works for lots and lots of boy projects including bibs and blankies and wee wee wigwams. I’m so glad I bought so much BOY themed fabric for the shop back in the summer, I must have known somehow this was gonna turn out this way.

Guess I’m gonna have to get going on these wonky log cabin blocks I started ages ago too! I have 4 so far, and lots more of this fabric so I think I have enough for at least a crib quilt. PLUS it fits in perfectly with my jungle theme baby stuff plan.

Of course, I’m planning to share this on WIP Wednesday.

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Click to shop! WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Happy (Spooky) Stitches,

Anna

So I was reading today’s post from one of my favorite blogs, Craft Buds and since (as you can see) it’s Craft Book Month over there, of course the post was about a book. But seeing all these posts about books that people love and how to write a book, etc., has made me think about books that are just so ME that I get totally excited when I just see the cover! I thought I’d do a little summary of the books I love.

Just a note here that yes, I’m an Amazon affiliate and the images are links  to the Amazon link which will earn me a tiny commission if you happen to click and then buy the book. But know this, I’m not just promoting the book to get the tiny commission, I’m telling you about the book because I feel like it speaks to something about what I love about sewing and quilting and the type of aesthetic (LOVE that word!) I lean toward and that I love.

The first book I totally fell in love with this year and had a chance to review and give away a copy is called Block Party, A Modern Quilting Bee (C&T Publishing).

This book speaks to me because the colors are bold and modern, they use a mix of solid and print fabrics and several of the blocks have a “wonky” look to them. Now, wonky is not necessarily specific to just modern quilting but it certainly gives modern quilts a different feel that I love! (Also could be because of my deep down need for justification for NOT sewing on the straight and narrow.)

In addition to the modern feel of quilting I have a passion for the look of mixed media. Some people may call it Crafty A.D.D. because I hate to just pick one media to work in, should it be paint, should it be fabric, should it be stamping? Why not all of them!? Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered the term mixed media and that it goes hand in hand with sewing and quilting! Apparently this look is becoming so appealing to so many people that Interweave press has published a book called Sew Wild and it speaks to my inner mixed media goddess! Just the cover of this book gives me heart palpitations!

I was so excited when Interweave agreed to send me a copy to review. The inside is just as awesome as the cover, reviewing steps on how to print, dye and stamp your OWN fabric to create something completely unique and then if that isn’t enough, there are several projects at the end soyou can create something with that awesome fabric you just made! Oh and don’t forget that if you’re local to San Antonio and this sort of project makes you want to grab some paint and fabric, you’ll get exactly that chance with the Painted Collage Quilt workshop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer on October 17, here at my studio!

Now I’m sure I could go one with more books that describe my aesthetic and that give me goosebumps because they just LOOK fun, but here’s the one I’ll leave you with (that also inspired this post!)

I haven’t actually seen this book, Modern Mix, IRL (in real life) BUT from the cover (and in my experience that’s enough so far) I can tell I would just LOVE this book. This book expands outside of the quilting realm – just a little because there are still 7 quilt projects in the book, and adds in other projects for the home. Personally, I think that any book with the words Modern and Mix in the title in relation to sewing and quilting is MEANT FOR ME! Well, that is exactly the name of this book and of course it’s from C&T Publishing, and I’ve loved everything from them so far!

So do you see a pattern (ha no pun intended) forming here? I love solids, modern, funky, quilts and sewing projects for the home! I also love mixed media and tapping in to my creative side. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize that but I’m glad I have and thanks to Craft Buds for that indirect inspiration to discover this!

Finally, how do you feel about these books? Do you have a recommendation for other titles to check out? And what is your sewing and quilting style?

Happy Stitches,

Anna

P.S. I just hit 1000 fans on my Facebook page! I’m hosting a fabric giveaway OVER THERE and you can enter, just visit the page and leave a comment on the giveaway post.

First up is a Crafty Kid’s Camp on Monday October 10, a school holiday.

Let your kids spend a crafty morning making a cute tote bag to use for trick or treating OR whatever their creative minds can think of! These bags aren’t overly big but are great for carrying just a few things that kids like to carry. They’ll spend a couple hours decorating them with fabric paints and glitter glue and meet some other crafty kids too! 7 years and up only please. Supplies are included!

The second event is Monday October 17th. It’s an all day workshop 10am-5pm with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, one of my mixed media heroes! I have been following her blog for awhile and when she mentioned that she would be in Houston the weekend of October 15-16 for a trade show I immediately e-mailed and asked her if she would want to come to San Antonio and teach a workshop! Of course I was totally thrilled when she said yes! The picture above is a sample of the collage and painted quilted wall hanging (roughly 18″x22″) we’ll make the day of the workshop.

Personally I can’t wait for the workshop with Julie, I just know it’s going to be SEW fun and give me a chance to spread my creative wings!

Well, those are two of the exciting events coming up in October. The schedule is filling up with requests for classes so if you want to schedule a class for yourself please e-mail me and let me know so we can put it on the calendar. At the end of next week I plan to fill in any gaps in the calendar with other classes as I see fit and once it’s set then it’s set and I won’t be able to change it.

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Here’s one of my favorites, Ballerina Fairies, by Moda!

Stop by the website to find some GREAT deals, 30-50% off, all my 100% cotton fabrics from the TOP manufacturers and designers.

Yes, that means Moda, Free Spirit, Michael Miller, Blue Hill and many others! There are 3 pages of fabrics for you to choose from.

In the mood for Christmas? This cute mittens motif from Riley Blake is only $5 a yard!

Better get over there and stock up now.

Something to note: For US orders, I can fit 20 yards in a flat rate box! You can buy 20 yards of fabric and only pay $10.70 shipping! Why not get together with a friend or two and combine your order and save on shipping? (Well, it’s an idea at least)

Happy Shopping!!

Anna