Katie Cat Top

Last year, I decided that I was getting tired of buying cheap clothes that lasted one wear before they start to shrink or fall apart on me.  Dresses are the worst when it comes to shrinking...tall woman problems. 

Not having a lot of money to spend on high-quality clothing, I made the decision that I needed to start dealing with my clothing problem to the best of my ability.  

With not much thought, I decided that I would make my own clothes.  I'm surrounded by beautiful fabrics every day that not only can be used for quilts but clothing as well and I know two highly intelligent women who know a thing or two on how to make garments so... why not? 

I started by designing a sleeveless crop top that buttons on both sides. 

Then I roped my mom into helping me figure out how to make it. 

And BABAMM! I now have a top that won't shrink or fall apart on me in the near future.  A top that I can happily say I made myself.

Let's make this the bee's knees.

Baby Quilt

What do you do when you own a fabric shop and am invited to a baby shower for your boyfriend's niece to be?

You make a baby quilt of course!

I started out wanting to make a simple but elegant quilt with this cute animal panel fabric by Gingiber that we have available in the store. 

From there I decided that I would frame the creatures with green and pink fabrics from the same designer.

Because I had an even number of animals and an odd number of blocks, I had to create something different for the middle of the quilt.  So, like the pinterestite that I am,  I took to Pinterest to figure out how best to make a heart.  Found a design I liked and modified it to fit my quilt block, and voila! Cute little heart.

I was all set to finish the quilt right then and there when my mom told me it was too small for a baby quilt.  I thought this was rather dumb because babies are small anyway so what did it matter?  

But like always she got in my head and I started second-guessing myself.  She had recommended adding a simple border but I thought that was too boring.  

In typical Katie fashion, I had to find a way to go above and beyond my expectations for myself.  That is when I thought of Susan Daniels, a woman who inspires me with her continuing creativity, who came into the shop one day and showed my mom and me a baby quilt she had put together with triangle tabs going around the border.  

I was inspired.  And it's freaking adorable. 

And a little bit of a pain in the butt to put on, but well worth it. 

I then bound my quilt with the same fabric I used for the heart to frame it all nicely.  I even tried my hand at sewing the backside of the binding by hand, which takes a while but comes out a lot nicer than if I had used the machine. 

This small, baby quilt took me 13.5 hours to make plus $65 in materials.  If I had to price it, I would say it's worth about $335.  

What many people do not understand is that homemade quilts take a lot of time, effort, and money to make.  That the ones you buy in stores like Walmart or TJ Maxx are massed produced by people who barely get paid for their efforts.  So, when you walk into a quilt shop and start complaining about how much the quilts cost and get a weird look from the proprietors or other quilters; you know that odd expression you catch on our faces before we have time to fake a smile?  That look of you having four heads is because you're being clueless and rude.  

Quilts are works of art that have a lot of thought and love put into them.  They are meant to bring about a series of emotions and desires.  When one is made for you, a loved one is showing you how much they care and how special you are to them.  Quilts are timeless and often unappreciated treasures that are meant to be cherished for the rest of your life.

I'm extremely grateful and glad that I was able to make this quilt for the new addition to a lovely family and that it was well-received.  I hope it will bring her comfort on gray days and make her smile on sunny ones.  That it will dry her tears and vanquish her fears.  But most of all I hope that the majority of the baby spit-up will wash out. 

Let's make this the bee's knees.

Simple Picnic Blanket

You know what people don't do enough?

Picnic!

That's why I decided to make my own picnic blanket.  Not only that, but it adds some color and originality to the inside of my car where I keep it just in case I need an emergency picnic blanket. 

 If you want to make an extremely easy and relatively fast picnic blanket then this is perfect for you.

 All you need is a pack of 10" precut fabric.  I chose one that I liked from Moda and spent forever organizing them into rows.  Hello perfectionist.

Then all you need to do is sew them together.

I added a border and cornerstones to give it a little something-something.

Then I backed it with a dark fabric to hide the dirt that I will inevitably get on it while picnicking, stitched the front and back together in the ditch between squares, and bounded it with a cute green binding. 

Voilà! An easy yet cute picnic blanket! 

Perfect for picnicking anywhere your heart desires.

Let's make this the bee's knees.

Dog Bandannas

                         (Sadie)

Lately, I have gotten the doggy bandanna bug and have made an unbelievable amount of dog bandannas. 

Why?

Because look at how cute they are! 

                                   (Ally)

A year ago one of our fabric reps gave us a bag of last seasons sample fabric and I have been racking my brain for what to do with it since. 

Finally, I decided that some of the fabrics would look cute as dog bandannas and would be fun to sell in the store. 

So while listening to Rhys Bowen's "The Royal Spyness" series (I recommend if you like a posh female by chance detective in the early 1930s) I hashed out a ton of dog bandannas. 

I even designed my own label to add to them.

These bandannas are cool because you can slip your dog's collar through them, ending your worry about them falling off. 

The dog bandannas are available for purchase at Bloom, 724 Main Street Margaretville, N.Y.

Let's make this the bee's knees.  

Trout Tales

Last year as a benefit for the little village of Margaretville, BAM (Business Association of Margaretville) hosted a garnished trout event.

The premise of the event was that different local artists could apply to get a wooden cut out fish.  They would then decorate the fish any way they sought fit as long as it was appropriate.  The fish would be put on display all over Margaretville for the summer.  At the end of the summer, they would be actioned off and the majority of the proceeds would go to BAM to help fund the village-wide events they put on every year and the village decorations.

Last years theme was trout and I was lucky enough to be able to paint a fish.

I was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh and painted one side of my fish using him as my inspiration.

But then I got bored and couldn't possibly recreate the opposite side of the fish to be the same.

So I went in a different direction and painted it with flowers since it was going to be displayed outside of our fabric shop, Bloom.

At the end of the summer when the fish were being auctioned off, I was asked to be the Vana White of trout and help sell off the fish.

Lisa Scalf, the genius that she is, gave me a mermaid costume she had made in the '80s while she was studying at FIT to wear.

Let's make this the bee's knees.

Embroidered Jean Jacket

Over a year ago I became inspired by Susan Daniels, to follow in her footsteps and embroider a jean jacket.  Susan's jacket was embroidered with garden flowers and little bugs.  She decorated the back and sleeves to create an awe-inspiring, fashionable jacket perfect for springtime.  It was truly inspiring. 

After seeing Susan's, I was set on embroidering a jacket of my own. 

I couldn't help myself, I had to do the same thing.

Embroidering has been a love of mine for a long time.  It's incredibly relaxing and satisfying. It's also an activity that doesn't take a lot of concentration...meaning I can watch a lot of English murder mysteries while I do it.

I decided on a Turkish inspired flower design for the back.

And added a little to the collar to give it a pop on the front.

Let's make this the bee's knees. 

Bloom Fabric, Art & Retreat

Want to know about the best-kept quilting secret of Margaretville?

Hint hint, people mistake it for the flower shop all of the time because of its cute name that inspires growth and beauty.

Tired of guessing?

I'm talking about Bloom the local quilt shop and retreat that my mom and I opened up in August of 2017!

Why create a fabric/art supply shop and quilting retreat?

Because why not?  You see, I had just graduated from Denison University with a BA in Studio Art and was now home racking my brain on my next life move.  I had decided that I would try teaching English in South Korea for a year to pay off my student debts and bide myself some time on figuring out my next life goal and how to use what I was taught at Denison.  But then I started subbing in Margaretville and quickly decided that I Did Not want to become a teacher.  Teachers deal with WAY too much crap, from kids, parents, and administration.  Seriously how are they not paid more?  

My mom is a teacher and a quilter who has had the dream of owning her own quilt shop/retreat for years.  Where I, on the other hand, had always dreamt of owning my own art supply store.  So, we said heck with it and opened up our own store.  

And that is how Bloom was founded. 

Let me tell you about Bloom.

Besides being a really cute, little shop with 100% cotton fabrics, sewing notions, yarns, knitting and crocheting supplies, and some basic art supplies, we also hold classes.  

We offer classes on learning to quilt, advanced quilting, applique, tree skirts, rope bags, fascinators, wall hangings, and many many more. 

Every 3rd Sunday of the month we have a knitting and crochet circle where you can work on your projects or learn the craft. 

Not only that but we can teach you how to sew in a private lesson!

Lets talk Retreat!

First off, what is a retreat?

A retreat is where you can get the heck away from your family and responsibilities to spend time with your friends.  It's like the ultimate slumber party for crafty adults. 

Retreaters bring their own projects to work on whether it is quilting, scrapbooking, or knitting our workroom has space for it all.  

Retreaters are also responsible for their own meals.  We have a small kitchen but it has everything you would need to prepare meals and a dining table to eat them at.  If you're not much of a cook, there are some fantastic restaurants in Margaretville, walking distance from the store.

The retreat can fit up to 6 people at a time with a policy minimum of 3.  We have three different rooms.

                           The Coral Room

                        The Periwinkle Room

                           The Aqua Room

The retreat is located at the back of the store so you don't have to worry if you forgot your thread or scissors.  

We hope to one day be able to create a bigger retreat space on our second floor with the support and love of those around us.

For more details down to the nitty-gritty and to book a retreat with us check out our webpage bloomquilts.store. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook. 

Lets make this the bee's knees. 

Row by Row Experience 2018

Catskill Cats

The Row by Row Experience is basically the ultimate scavenger hunt for quilters. 

It's a quilt shop program where stores can drum in new business and quilters to their area.  

How it works is that each quilt shop designs, creates, and writes up a pattern for a specific sized row.  A picture of your row and a little blurb about it are then posted to the Row by Row Experience website and facebook group.  During a set time during the summer, quilters can then travel to your shop and pick up your row pattern for free or buy your row kit.  It takes 8 rows to make a quilt.  The first quilter who makes a quilt with 8 different rows can then submit the quilt to any shop who doesn't have a winner yet and get a prize.  

      "Quilt made by our winner, Ruth"

Once fall hits, shops can start to sell their patterns.  Our pattern is available for purchase at my Etsy store KonversingKate or in our store Bloom, located in Margaretville, New York. 

Last year was our first year in part taking in the Row by Row.  The theme was Sew Musical.  In honor of the Catskill Mountains and bluegrass, I decided that our row would be musical cats playing in the mountains. 

Get it cats in the Catskills?!

I've never tried my hand at quilting with solids before I started this project and thought that it would be interesting to make the majority of the row out of solids.

The fun thing about doing the Row by Row is that quilters can use whatever fabrics they want to make their row. 

I wanted our row to contain different sewing techniques.  I came up with a background that is simply sewn together to give the impressions of mountains.  On top of this, I added appliqued cats with instruments and garments.  Then to give a little extra Catskill advertising, I embroidered "Create in the Catskills" above the cats. 

Let's make this the bee's knees.