The Prairie Queen Press

Rouenneries Deux, Prairie Paisley II, and Athill Range

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:05:07 +0000

This month we received two beautiful new lines of fabrics. The first is Rouenneries Deux and the second is Prairie Paisley II. Both of these are their second generation of previous lines from French General and Minick and Simpson, respectively. Rouenneries’ colors are reminiscent of the first line with the the red, creams and beige tones. Many of the patterns are different, however.

Our other Moda line that has arrived is Prairie Paisley II. This grouping from Minick and Simpson includes red, white and blue fabrics which also are similiar to their first line, but with different patterns as well. We are currently working on a kit from this line and hope to have that available for you to see soon.

Finally, keeping with our theme of “two”, we received the precuts of Athill Range which is the second line from Cabbages & Roses. We love the subdued pastel pinks, purples, blues and beiges. We expect to have the yardage in the shop in March.

Sorry for the delay….

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:17:15 +0000

We hang our heads and say sorry to all our wonderful customers and blog followers. We were so busy at the end of last year, between all our shows and then the holidays, we just couldn’t get everything done, but no excuses now. We appreciate all of you hanging on with us and promise to be better about updating our blog more frequently.

Now on to the fun stuff! We’ve received lots of new fabrics and wanted to share some of these with you. We can’t possibly post all of them, so we hope that you can visit our website and check our What’s New Page and New Fabric pages. We know you will find something new to inspire you. Additionally, we’ve just ordered more fabric so look at our Coming Soon page to see what fabric will be arriving at our shop!

Prairie Queens is one of the only stores in the area to order the full line of fabrics from Pam Kitty Morning. We have a fun kit available as well. This line is so versatile and the colors are so bright and vibrant.

We received the full line of Marblehead. This line looks like stone work and is quickly becoming a go-to favorite for blenders and tonal quilts.

We also received a great new line from Moda called Summer Breeze II. This line features fabrics with a variety of floral motifs in blue, yellow, white and green colors.

In addition to all these wonderful new fabric lines, we just received a huge assortment of new wool from our friend Beth Upstill. The colors are amazing and we love these new additions to our exising wool products. Look for some exciting kits soon!

And finally, we have a one-time only offer of Cosmo Pearl Cotton #5 Embroidery Threads that are only available in Japan. Once these are gone, they will not be available anywhere in the U.S. again.

We hope that these new products inspire you to get creative and we look forward to seeing you in the shop soon!

Show and Tell

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:26:50 +0000

In California, we always enjoy Indian Summer in August and September. Typically we get our warmest weather during this time and it also means the kids are heading back to school. For us at Prairie Queens it also means one thing….Show Time!!!

This year we will be hosting three booths at three different shows. The first two fall on the same weekend, September 24 and 25th. The first show is at The Morgan Hill Quilt Show, which runs in conjunction with Taste of Morgan Hill. The quilt show takes place in the Community Center where you can visit the booths and see a huge assortment of quilts from local artists.

The second show is Quilting in the Garden at the Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore. This will be our first time at the show and we are looking forward to this new venue!

Finally in October, we will have a booth at the Pacific International Quilt Show, October 13 – 16. This show takes place at the Santa Clara Valley Convention Center and is the biggest quilt show on the west coast. This year our booth will be extra special because we are making all brand new kits which no one has seen. The staff have diligently been working on the samples in secret and we are excited to unveil them to you at the show.

http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=7

Speaking of special…April has been working on a fabulous quilt for a year now and it is a breathtaking sampler made from the Farmer’s Wife book by Laurie Hird. April has been hosting a group of 12 ladies every Monday night and they are all working on the same quilt but using a variety of different fabrics. Everyone is in different stages of completion but April’s is done!

There are many groups of ladies across blogland that are working on The Farmer’s Wife sampler. It seems to have gained a cult following in the last few months! One group is even calling themselves The Real Farmer’s Wives…..taken from The Real Housewives titles. You can visit the Farmers Wife Quilt-a-Long at www.fussycut.blogspot.com. These ladies work for United Notions/Moda and became interested in the book after seeing it fly off of the shelves in the warehouse.

There are a few different ways to go about piecing the blocks. April’s group is using the Electric Quilt program to help with cutting instructions. Eighty Nine of the blocks are traditionally pieced and twenty two are paper pieced. Marty Mitchelle has also jumped into the ring and come up with instructions using her templates to help with the cutting process. This information can be found at www.frommarti.com.

There are a few other links that we thought you might find useful before you jump into the Farmer’s Wife and they include:

- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/farmerswifesampler/ This is a yahoo group moderated by the author Laurie Hird.

- http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/ - Nicole Reed and her daughter Sara are also working on their blocks.

- http://www.electricquilt.com/Support/FAQ/other/farmerswife.asp - There is an add-on CD available in the Farmer’s Wife book that can be used by Electric Quilt software.

Although it seems like a huge undertaking, this quilt was quite fun. April enjoyed the process of selecting fabric for each block and she is now enjoying the fact that it is DONE! We hope this inspires you in finding your inner “Farmer’s Wife” and take the leap into a fun project!

Where Have We Been….you Ask?

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:31:44 +0000

Busy……that’s the only excuse we have! We have been busy ordering fabric (love), busy on vacations, busy covering for those on vacations, busy making quilts for Japan, busy watching our children graduate and throwing parties and busy preparing for our shows this fall!

Debbie has even been busy with this………………………

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see evidence of this!

A Mother’s Day Wish

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:00:53 +0000

It’s that time of year again! The time when we stop and think about the women in our lives who have been an important part of the person that we have become…..our Mothers, Grandmothers and Aunts or maybe just a special woman that God has placed in our life and has served a purpose above and beyond. In the United States we celebrate Mother’s Day with flowers, Hallmark Cards and maybe brunch at a very over-crowded (and over-priced) restaurant……all so Mom doesn’t have to cook!

I was reflecting this past week on the Women who have been a part of who I have become and hope to be someday. I know where each one of them will be on this Sunday, Mother’s Day. I know where to send a card or when to call and say hello. They all know where I am and how my family is doing. It seems that life is good, or as good as it is going to get for right now, anyway!

In contrast, I have also been reflecting on those families who’s lives have been devastated by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan. My heart goes out to those children who have lost their Mothers, Grandmothers or Aunts. My heart bleeds for those Mothers who have lost Children and Spouses. I can not even imagine the horror of not knowing where your family member is……were they swept out to sea; are they buried under piles of rubble; are they gone forever, or will they be found in another part of the country, waiting and wondering the same thing.

My wish for this Mother’s Day is that we would all take a moment and thank God for the beautiful women in our lives and pray for those in Japan who are lost without theirs!

Join Prairie Queens as we celebrate Mother’s Day Sunday with a special Boutique and Bake Sale to benefit the victims of the disasters in Japan. One hundred percent of all proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross.

May your Mother’s Day be special and filled with family!

April B

Craft & Bake Sale

Sunday, May 8, 2011

11 am – 4 pm

at

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop

14922 Camden Avenue

San Jose, CA 95124

408-559-6735

All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross to help the people in Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami. Monetary donations are also welcomed.

And the Winners Are……

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:07:55 +0000

Leila pulled the names for our Bunny Day Giveaway and the winners are……

Robin Milewski (Pink), Michelle Lewis (Blue), and Debbie Simmons (Green).

We know where to find Robin and Michelle, but we need to hear from you Debbie! Please email us with your mailing address and we will ship your bundle to you. A big thanks to everyone for your comments.

Happy Weekend to all from the Prairie Queen!

Save the Date for Hearts for Japan – Crafts and Bake Sale – May 8, 2011

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:49:40 +0000

Please join us for this wonderful event here at our shop!

Craft & Bake Sale

Sunday, May 8, 2011

11 am – 4 pm

at

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop

14922 Camden Avenue

San Jose, CA 95124

408-559-6735

All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross to help the people in Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami. Monetary donations are also welcomed.

Hop this way for a giveaway!

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:19:23 +0000

If you are a regular reader of our blog postings, this challenge should be a breeze. In honor of “Bunny Day”, we are doing a Bunnyhill giveway. So hop through our previous blogs and find the answers to these simple questions. Answer all questions correctly, and we will put your name in a drawing for one of three fat quarter bundles of Lily and Will from Bunny Hill Designs.

Questions:
1. What does Mark keep?

2. What designer calls Prairie Queens home?

3. What’s the name of April’s famous appetizer?

4. What fabric company warehouse did April and Debbie recently tour?

5. Who is the store comedian?

Submit your response by Easter Sunday, April 24. We will announce the winners in our blog post next week.

Lecien USA & Prairie Queens Team Up for Japan

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:50:40 +0000

In our continuing efforts to help those families whose lives have been devastated by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Prairie Queens Quilt Shop has joined forces with Lecien USA to make quilts for both children and adults.

Lecien USA has donated a generous amount of fabric that is being used by our students and staff to create quilts and pillowcases. If you would like to participate with the growing effort to somehow help those in dire need of basic living essentials, please feel free to bring in or mail completed quilts to the store. Lecien USA is covering 100% of the shipping costs to deliver the quilts to Japan. Lecien JAPAN will facilitate the distribution of the quilts to those in need.

We have a group of ladies who will meet here at the store for the next few Mondays to work on their quilts from 10:00am – 3:00 pm. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact the store to reserve your spot. Any type of fabric can be used to make the quilts, but we are recommending a child’s size quilt be approximately 40” x 45” and an adult size be approximately 50” x 60”.

Living in California, we can only imagine the devastation and loss that is being felt by the people of Japan. No individuals have been untouched by this horrific tragedy. As quilters we are able to show community, compassion and warmth through our craft. We are proud to be a part of this humanitarian effort.

We Invite You to a Spring Boutique

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 21:51:00 +0000

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop will be hosting a Spring Boutique on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8th from 11:00 – 4:00. We will be opening the shop for this special event which will be hosted by our own Keiko Clark and her many talented students and friends. All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross to help the people in Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami.

We will have over a dozen vendors selling a variety of homemade items. These items make perfect gifts for Mother’s Day, teacher gifts, or graduation presents.

Here are a few examples of the items that will be sold at the boutique.

Our hearts go out to all the people who’s lives have been touched by this disaster. We pray that every kind act and contribution will add up to making a big difference in the recovery of Japan. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us here at the store. We hope to see you all there!