babsnjasdesigns

And another sale

Dec. 22nd, 2009 at 10:33 AM

Cotton-By-Post in Arva are having 30 - 50% off selected fabric and kids' fabric from December 28 to January 4th. Garnet also says that they have The Canada Bag, regularly $39.95 for $15.00 though there are limited quantities of them.

I hear the jingle!

Dec. 21st, 2009 at 10:24 AM

I hear the jingle of money being spent at area quilt store sales! Okay, here is a listing of what I know so far. BTW I am not responsible for any errors in dates, percentages etc. I'm only here to alert you as a public service. :-)

December 27 to 31st Marsh Store Coldstream, ON 30% off

January 2nd, 2010 Quilts and Calicos, Exeter, ON - post Christmas sale Note. Q & C is closed between Christmas and January 2nd.

January 9th - 14th - Greenwood Quiltery, Guelph - selected fabrics $5, $7, $9/m, selected yarns 20 - 50% off.

January 20 - 30th, 2010 The Quilt Place, Shakespeare, ON Customer Appreciation Days 20% off everything Please note The Quilt Place is closed on Sundays from now until April 2010.
More will be posted as they come up.
Barb

Such inspiration

Dec. 9th, 2009 at 10:20 AM

Last night I went over to my DIL's house to have a quilting evening! I love her house! The living/diningroom is basically a quilting studio! She and her friends have taken it over; three machines sit on a table, two ironing boards and irons are set up, fabric is stacked in neat piles, half-finished quilts are laid out on the floor waiting for another row to be added - cutting boards are on the kitchen island - it's wonderful, and kudos to my son who doesn't seem to mind this quilting take-over of his house. It is also really wonderful to see young women so excited about creating and carrying on a long-time tradition of quilting, bringing their own style and ideas to an old time art! I'm sooo inspired.
Barbara

Tatting

Dec. 2nd, 2009 at 11:39 AM

In my newest book, a Dear Canada coming out in fall 2010 with Scholastic, I introduce tatting. Here is a snowflake I made many moons ago. If you need an instant gratification fix, tatting is not for you - it takes a long time, but it is sorta cute. I think I'll try to tatt this onto a quilt. Barb :-)

Mood: busy

It's back!!!

Nov. 29th, 2009 at 1:08 PM

Win a Free Pattern contest. For every week in December, starting today, we will do a draw for a free pattern! Enter your name through the blog and we'll let you know if you've won!
babs 'n' jas designs!

Quilt in an Afternoon

Nov. 13th, 2009 at 10:28 AM

Move Over Eleanor Burns! Judy Ann and I made a quilt in an afternoon! At least we pieced the top. We got some fabulous fabric from Northcott designed by Mark Lipinski called "Oakdale" and we made a quilt top this afternoon. AFTER we had second breakfast at Williams Coffeehouse and a short trip to Fabricland for me to look at curtain material. Then we sewed all afternoon, piecing together a top that at first we thought we had the measurements wrong for, so after half an hour of hairpulling and calculators - we had it right! Onward we went. In the evening we went to quilt guild and saw a great presentation by designer Brenda Miller of "Among Brenda's Quilts." Today? So..... tired.
babs

I'm out of control!

Nov. 8th, 2009 at 6:26 PM

I'm trying very hard to shut off the quilting part of my brain (I think it's the large part in the front) and concentrate on my writing. I'm on a mission to finish my Dear Canada book, but in the middle of writing, suddenly a quilt idea pops into my mind. I also have about seven tops to quilt, so I have to keep stuffing those quilt ideas back into the small part of my brain (at the back) until the book is done and the quilts are quilted, but still...would it be nice if I took those polka-dots and matched them with those stripes and....NO! NO! NO! Book!
Barbara

Mood: artistic

Catching up...

Nov. 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 AM

We are finally all caught up after the Creative Festival in Toronto, and the "Irish Show" put on by the North-End Sewing Centre/Cotton-By-Post. We really enjoyed meeting everyone at our trunk show at the Creative Festival and our booth at the Irish Show. Quilters are a special breed, friendly and open and enthusiastic. Both of us have turned to our writing lives for a little while, though we're still working on some new patterns. One trend we noted at the Creative Festival was the return to quilting. There was less scrapbooking and beading than previous years and we thought there was more quilting being offered. We both picked up some great deals on fabric - like we need any, but what the heck, it's fabric. Need we explain further?
Barb

Mood: busy

Haunted Reading

Oct. 30th, 2009 at 2:03 PM

Just a reminder that "Haunted" by Barb is to be launched on Saturday, October 31st - Hallowe'en - at 2:00 p.m. at the Oxford Book Store on Richmond Street south of Oxford. There will be food - and fun! And a scary reading! All welcome

Oot and aboot!

Oct. 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 PM

What a week! Judy Ann and I were oot and aboot. First we went to the Creative Festival in Toronto and did a trunk show! We noticed that quilting is making a come back. There were more quilt vendor booths than in previous years. Great to see! After that twelve hour plus Saturday, on Sunday we went to set up at the Irish Show in Ailsa Craig, where we manned a booth from Monday through Wednesday. What fun! We got to meet a ton of quilters! Seriously, if there are any friendly people in the world than quilters, show them to me! The Irish Show is on until October 24th and you won't want to miss it!!! Here are some pictures.

Judy Ann and I in front of our booth in Ailsa Craig.

Some of the Irish quilts on display.

More tomorrow!
Babs

Creative Needlecraft Festival

Oct. 13th, 2009 at 9:05 AM

Just a quick note: Judy Ann and I will be doing a trunk show at the Creative Needlecraft Festival in Toronto at the Conventioin Centre this Saturday, October 17th, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. We are so excited to be part of the Festival! If you're there, be sure to come by and say hello to us.
Also folks, don't forget the Irish Quilt Show in Ailsa Craig next week, October 19 - 24th. Cotton-By-Post are the hosts and they do a wonderful job of these shows! Being of Irish descent, I'm really looking forward and am delighted that babs 'n' jas designs are to be there on Monday and Tuesday, 19th and 20th. Hope to see you there!!!

Mood: busy

A few new things

Oct. 6th, 2009 at 2:51 PM

Omigosh! What a busy few weeks we've both had, and both with family. But hey, they come first before anything else except chocolate.
Here's a few new offerings. Patterns are available for sale on our website!

What a Hoot! Our newest skinnie. Owls courtesy of guest designer Lisa Buccella

And In Color, Too!
This is a fussy cut for the centre with fabric courtesy of Northcott Silk Inc. called Flight of the Dancing Cranes by Ro Gregg. I really like appliqueing on top of piecing.

Workshop!

Sep. 28th, 2009 at 3:13 PM

Hello all,

It seems I'm doing more writing, baking and knitting these days than quilting! Last week I visited an awesome yarn shop, The Little Red Mitten, in St. Thomas, Ontario. Check them out:

http://www.littleredmitten.ca/home.html

I'm going to do a corking/spool knitting workshop for them on the afternoon of November 21, 2009, for ages 7 and up. Corking is such a great craft. I'll show lots of samples from my book, Corking, as well as other fun ideas of things to make with the long ropes of corking. Great fun!

As the autumn season begins and the days shorten, it just feels right to stay in and be crafty, doesn't it?

Enjoy,

Judy Ann

Mood: cheerful

an invitation

Sep. 26th, 2009 at 11:48 AM

Invitation
MEET ACCLAIMED AUTHOR BARBARA HAWORTH-ATTARD
AS SHE READS FROM HER NEW BONE-CHILLING NOVEL, "HAUNTED"

SATURDAY OCTOBER 3, 2009

2:00 P.M. TO 4:00 P.M.
ROSE COTTAGE BOOKS
20 BROCK STREET W.
TILLSONBURG, ON
519-688-6464
BOOKSIGNING TO FOLLOW

New Year's Party - in September!!

Sep. 3rd, 2009 at 11:09 AM

THIS SHOULD BE A BLAST! HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE THERE! IT'S JUST A SHORT DRIVE WEST OF LONDON

What's New in September 2009

New Year Party!

Tuesday September 15 7pm Komoka Community Centre

Celebrate a new year of quilting at this special event planned by Joan of ‘Sew Creative’ and Shirley and Tim of ‘The Marsh Store’. See what classes are planned for the fall in each store. Be there for the launch of new patterns by ‘Among Brenda’s Quilts’ and ‘Babs ‘n jas’. Bring quilts you have made from classes, patterns or fabrics at one of the stores. Win prizes. Visit with friends old and new.

To get an idea of how many people are coming, we ask you donate $5 for a card. The card will be stamped and become a $5 coupon when you attend the party. The money donated will be given to a local charity.

Introducing Georgia Imogen Attard

Aug. 17th, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Georgia Imogen Attard
Introducing Georgia Imogen Attard, born August 15, 2009, 2:30 a.m., 6 lbs. 13 oz. in Austin Texas. Welcome to the world beautiful girl. Proud parents, Jason and Bree Attard, grand parents, Barb and Joe Attard. "babs" I see many baby quilts in my future.

Mood: ecstatic

Looking again

Jul. 8th, 2009 at 9:40 AM

I've been playing with fabric again, one of my favourite activities. Yesterday I laid out 64 six-inch blocks on the floor then went off and did some laundry. I popped back into the room to look at the blocks again. I switched a bunch of them, looked from all angles, did some more rearranging and went off to do some other tasks. I checked the layout again and asked my husband and daughter for their opinions. More switching around. By the time I went to bed last night, I had rearranged the blocks at least a dozen times. (I have to admit I love this process!) I felt content with the layout but I knew that I wouldn't be completely happy with it until I looked at the blocks one more time. I was excited as I got up this morning to check. The layout is perfect! I'm ready to begin sewing.

Happy quilting,

Judy Ann

pictures!

Jun. 25th, 2009 at 9:41 AM

picture day
I've been doing some interesting research for my Dear Canada. Lots of stuff happened in 1937 - George Gershwin died of a brain tumour, Jean Harlow died of an unidentified illness, Edward married Wallis Simpson (you should see the comments about him in the 1937 newspapers!) and Amelia Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937. But along with that I did do some other things.
Look at this little fellow, one of seven, we found in the barbecue at the cottage. They scampered all over the place, jumping out of the barbecue and onto the deck.

And...Judy Ann's sister works for a furniture store and they were throwing out curtain samples so she snagged some and Judy Ann shared. Here are a couple of things I've made from those samples:

Mood: amused

Newest Quilt

Jun. 16th, 2009 at 11:31 AM

I'm on a mission to use up my scraps! And my stash! My very LARGE stash! Here's one of the stash quilts I made. Pattern is $8.99. It would make an adorable baby quilt and wait - I'm having a new baby in the family! Need baby quilts!
Barbara

Detail.

Mood: creative

Lotsa stuff going on...

Jun. 8th, 2009 at 10:55 AM

Some pictures. Every year a group of us get together for a three day quilting retreat. Unfortunately, this year my cottage sprung a leak and I couldn't put anyone up, so instead we went away on a one day shop here. Here we are at the Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph! Hey, Jas, you don't have your hair parted properly. Odd woman out. :-)

And the newest quilt designed...It's called "In Color." Great for summer.

And a mini- one day quilting bee at the cottage last weekend with guild members. Lotsa fun... Okay, that wallpaper has to go. I say that every year, but then, I never tear it down. It's coming down! Barbara

Advertisement