Light at the end of the Tunnel

We are slowly catching up. Thank you for your patience!

Volume Still High

Once again we ask for your patience. Volume has been very high, orders are running 7-10 days out.

Please be Patient!

The volume of orders has been very high (thank you) and Mike and I are doing our best to get every order filled and out the door.

We ask that you all be patient with us.

Thanks!

Chris

Huge Clearance!

The accountant says some of it has to go, so we have marked down ALL of our fabrics to $4.75, $3.75 and $2.75. 

Minimum order is $10.  Minimum cut is 1 yard.  If we don't have the exact amount you ordered, we ship what we have.

Clearance goes on until the accountant says stop!  Hurry, at these prices it might not last long.

Enjoy!
Chris

Never Forget

It's That Time of Year!

The holidays will soon be upon us and it's time to get all those gifts floating about in your head,  made........this year!  We have some great holiday fabrics, traditional and retro, that are perfect for:

placemats and napkin:

aprons:

and pillowcases!

And don't forget your favorite pets!  Wouldn't this make a great stocking for Fido....filled with homemade dog biscuits no less!

All these fabrics and more at great prices!

Enjoy,
Chris

CLEARANCE .....RIVERWOODS FABRIC

All of our Riverwoods fabrics are now $5.00 a yard and under.  You will find lots of great fabrics like.................

Marblecake Blenders in a full spectrum of colors..................

 Or children's lines like wacky Surf n' Safari.................

Or Cap Nappin' ........................

Or something more eclectic like Katmandu............

You are sure to find something to fit your sewing and quilting needs in these Riverwoods fabrics.  And at $5.00 a yard or less you'll want to stock up!

Enjoy,
Chris

Riley Blake 'Nantucket Summer'

We have finally gotten in our bolts of 'Nantucket Summer' by Riley Blake Designs.  This fabric is so pretty in this pink, green and brown colorway.

Riley Blake Designs is a new line for us, but they have been around for a little while and are slowly gathering quite the following.

They're designs are fresh and fun, with a little retro thrown in for good measure.

You may want to check out their website for the online classroom and their blog has a free pattern for 'Baskets of Nantucket'.  I am sure we will be carry more of their fabric in the future!

Enjoy,
Chris

Pillowcases with French-seams

I bought.....yes, you heard me bought a new bedspread.  We were is desperate need as the 30's pinwheel quilt I made 16 years ago had seen better days......MUCH better days.  It was time for retirement and a new look.

I have no time nor inclination to make a queen size quilt, so off to Target I went.  And for a mere $50 and 1/2 hour of time a got a nice reversible two-tone aqua quilt.  It was just what I wanted, perfect color and everything, it just needed wild pillowcases to punch it up a bit.

Pillowcases are the easiest thing to sew and if you're like me and don't have a serger, french-seams are a nice was to finish the seams.

Here is a quick tutorial for making pillowcases with french-seams.

For one pillowcase cut the following:
Body Fabric: 25 1/2" x 41"
Accent Fabric: 1 3/4" x 41"
Cuff fabric: 10" x 41"


Making the Pillowcase Body

Attach the accent strip to the cuff and press the seam to the accent strip.  Attach the body fabric to the accent strip.  Press the seam to the accent strip.  Your pillowcase now looks like this:

Make sure that all edges are even, trim if needed.  It seems that after I don't how many years of sewing and quilting I still have trouble with this.....I think I cut something wrong!  So pay attention as you cut!

Press the raw edge of the cuff under 1/4" (sorry about the pic, my battery was fading fast).

Fold the cuff to the inside, covering the accent seam up to the stitching.

Use a few pins on the wrong side to hold in place making sure the accent seam is covered.  The turn to the right side and pin (remove the pins from the back BEFORE you start to sew).  Using matching thread, top stitch along the accent strip about an 1/8" from the edge.  This is what the front should look like:

This is what the underside should look like:

Making the French-Seam

Fold the pillowcase in half, WRONG sides together, lining up raw edges on 2 sides.  Stitch a very narrow 1/4" or 1/8" seam on these 2 sides.  Although hard to see, it will look like this:

If you had sewn a 1/4" seam, carefully trim to 1/8".  Turn pillowcase inside out.  Make sure corners are poked out and square.  Press along the stitched seam so it is nice an flat. Stitch approx. 1/4" to 3/8" along the seamline, encasing the raw edge.   It should look like this on the inside:

Turn the pillowcase right side out and your done!

Here are my fabulously LOUD pillowcases, made from Michael Miller's Feelin' Groovey fabric available at The Cotton Loft, of course!

Now go and make some WILD pillowcases for your bed, or your teenager's, or your toddler's or anyone's!

Limited Special Additions

I just posted some great charm pack bundles in the "Limited Specials'" on The Cotton Loft.  These are all Northcott packs.  Each consists of enough packs to make a nice lap quilt.  So if you love romantic florals check these out!

Blog of the Week

It's been quite awhile since I've posted about an interesting blog.   I don't think I will try to do it every week, but sometimes I do run across a blog that I just have to share with you!

This week's blog is Maryquilts. And boy, does she ever! She turns out lots of gorgeous quilts of her own, from start to finish, and also does long arm quilting on charity quilts. She's pretty proficient with her Accu Go cutter, too!  And computer savvy, designing quilts with EQ and her iPad!

Did I also mention she knits!

Mary's blog is full of pictures......quilts, socks, her family and travel.  It really is a very nice blog, you should go check it out!

Enjoy!
Chris

MOD Retro Tunic

I knew when I saw this pattern, McCall's 5882:

I had the perfect fabric for it in P&B MOD, here is my version in sunny yellow (we also have this in a lovely spring green):

This pattern for McCall's is the same as the Sabrina Tunic for Serendipity Studios, I am pretty sure the designer is the same.  This tunic was easy to make up and is very flattering to a wide variety of figures.  I especially like the high neck.  I can think of lots of other fabrics in the shop to make more versions of this top out of......in fact I may go try the dress next!

Enjoy!
Chris

Update

Just a quick note that I have added some new fabrics to the "Limited Specials" on The Cotton Loft site.  If you haven't checked this section out yet hurry over and take a look.  I've got some awesome buys on fabric yardage that is perfect for backings and all sorts of other projects. 

Also in the next few weeks I should have some great charm packs deals and a few other goodies to add!

And check the Blog  later this week to see what I am making from this fabric:

Enjoy,
Chris

Farmer's Market Bathrobe

As I mentioned in the earlier post I have been doing more garment sewing than quilting. I think this happens to a lot of quilters, you just make one too many quilts and BAM! You just can't make another one.

But what do you do with all that fabric you have? And you certainly can't give up buying fabric, but how can you justify buying new fabric if you're not making quilts? Well, you make other things! Purses, placemats, and yes......clothing!

I learned to sew in high school and I remember now why I took to quilting.......it's easier! Now I'm not saying quilting is not a challenge but I can piece a simple quilt a lot faster than I can make a simple article of clothing. Garment sewing has given me a challenge and new interest that I had lost with my quilting. It provides me with another creative outlet.

Garment sewing is hard, it is even harder to sew a well fitting garment. I am still learning to make more fitted items like pants and jackets, but that process can be long. While I work on those projects I like to throw in a simple project so I feel like I am accomplishing something. Like this:


Yes, it is blindingly bright, but I love it! If that fabric looks familiar it's because it is Michael Miller's Farmer Market (which you buy at The Cotton Loft). I used this pattern (which you can buy here):If you've done a little sewing this is a pretty straightforward pattern, nothing to difficult. I did underline my fabric with white cotton batiste to give it a little more body and finished the seams with bias binding. This is the perfect bathrobe for our warm Florida mornings!

This pattern has a lot of options to it and I plan to make a few more of them. I can see some cute pajamas made up in some wild retro fabric! If you have a teenage daughter or niece this is the perfect pattern to use to make her something she'll love. A cute little cami top and matching shorts, extend the look by making a pair of long bottoms in a solid color.....the possibilities are endless. Some pieces require as little as 1 to 1 2/2yds of fabric, surely you have that in your stash! And this pattern is simple enough for the novice sewer.

So if you've been thinking about trying something different.....get to it......get sewing!

Enjoy,
Chris

9 Months!

Yes, its been 9 MONTHS! And no there isn't a baby in sight....I'm way too old for that!

Things have just been a little up in the air around here. My quilting mojo was gone, adios, bye...bye, no where to be found. I've been doing other things and thinking hard about where The Cotton Loft was going to go.

Well, my quilting mojo is still in hiding but I still love fabric! I don't think I am ready to give it up yet. But my sewing has been leaning toward garments more than quilts lately, but hey you can make lots of things out of cotton fabric.

So I am going to try and showcase a little bit of everything...clothing, crafts, quilts. Maybe you'll get inspired to try something else.

We also are doing a visual overhaul of The Cotton Loft site. It will still be simple and easy to use, just a little cleaner look! But best of all, our prices are still some of the most reasonable around.

So check back often, both here and the site.

Enjoy!

Chris