Little Quilts for Big Occasions

Congrats to Jane in SC for winning my advance copy of Sandi Colwell’s Little Quilts for Big Occasions! Now, the rest of you can shop for your own!

Want a peek at the projects? Sandi’s covered all the major occasions with adorable little quilted wall hangings:

Let Freedom Ring is perfect for upcoming Flag Day and July 4th celebrations!

Happy Memorial Day!

Remember...

The Leisure Arts Fountain

Why are fountains so captivating? Are we soothed by the running water? Calmed by the white noise? I know Leisure Arts folks certainly appreciate the fountain in the center of our building. Look how cool—

This is a straight on view of our fountain from the first floor…

From the second floor…

And the view of the very top from the third floor.

Stripped Down Patchwork Blog Tour: Day 13

It’s the last day! Don’t miss the fun! Be sure to take a look at Erin Gilday’s new sewing pattern book—Stripped Down Patchwork, today at:

Pat Sloan’s Blog – http://patsloan.typepad.com/ - Saturday, May 28

You might win a prize!

Plus, you can visit Erin herself at http://www.patchworkunderground.com!

In the meantime, you don’t have to wait to win to get your very own copy of Stripped Down Patchwork. Order it now and receive a 15% discount!

Patriotic Pincushion

To kick off Memorial Day weekend, I thought I’d share an idea for a Patriotic Pincushion. Years ago, in recognition of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, many of our Leisure Arts employees cross stitched a little design called God Bless America. With a little help from one of my more quilty coworkers, I turned my stitched piece into a wall hanging, but just think how easy this design would be to make as a pincushion!

No, I didn’t actually have time to stitch the design again myself, but here are the basic pincushion crafting instructions. (Just pretend the big blue X in the how-to photos is the design and know that my version is done in miniature as an example of the technique.):

1. Download our God Bless America pattern.

2. Cut two 8" x 8" pieces of 14 count White Aida.

3. Center and stitch the design on one piece of the Aida.

4. With wrong sides together, join the two pieces of Aida with backstitches (I used 3 stands of floss) until you’re an inch or so from being done.

5. Stuff the pincushion with fiberfil and finish backstitching.

6. Trim off excess threads (I left about 6 threads beyond the backstitches).

7. Fringe the pincushion edges (I usually leave a couple of unfringed threads between the fringe and the design).

Just think what a great 4^th of July gifty this would make!

Stripped Down Patchwork Blog Tour: Day 12

Check out Erin Gilday’s new sewing pattern book—Stripped Down Patchwork, today at:

Sew News – http://www.sewnews.com/blogs/sewing/ - Friday, May 27

You might win a prize!

Plus, you can visit Erin herself at http://www.patchworkunderground.com!

In the meantime, you don’t have to wait to win to get your very own copy of Stripped Down Patchwork. Order it now and receive a 15% discount!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Thursday, May 19, Leisure Arts treated our employees to a trip to a Traveler’s Game. The Arkansas Travelers are our minor league baseball team, and we got to go see them play at the new Dickey Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Here we are at the entrance…

Play ball…

Our Leisure Arts folks got engrossed in the game…

Check out the scoreboard. Yes, the Travelers did win: 4-2!

Stripped Down Patchwork Blog Tour: Day 11

Celebrate Erin Gilday’s new sewing pattern book—Stripped Down Patchwork, today at:

A Mountain Hearth – http://mountainhearth.blogspot.com/ - Thursday, May 26

You might win a prize!

Plus, you can visit Erin herself at http://www.patchworkunderground.com!

In the meantime, you don’t have to wait to win to get your very own copy of Stripped Down Patchwork. Order it now and receive a 15% discount!

Quick Knit Afghans

Big needles, multi-stranded yarn, and easy stitches—these all add up to a fun, but not time-consuming adventure for knitters, thanks to the 8 easy afghan patterns in Rita Weiss’s new pattern book—Quick Knit Afghans!

Take a peek at the pretty designs in this book: