To celebrate not-quite-spring, Quilters Newsletter is giving you a chance to win this fabric collection of Toomuchery by Helen Dardik for P&B Textiles.  Leave a comment about how you make it through the winter months for your chance to win.

Leave your comment before 11:59 p.m. MST on Sunday, February 5. One comment per person, please. This giveaway is open to people who haven’t won anything from Quilters Newsletter in the past 90 days.

Remember, the best way to learn about giveaways and contests is to follow us on Facebook.

Even though I love shopping for fabric online from the comfort of home, I’m always happy to hear good news about new local shops not just opening but doing well. A few days ago I saw a story about two quilting shops, Calico Mermaid and Josie’s Longarm Machine Quilting, that opened in Porterville, California, in 2011. The article stressed that the brick-and-mortar stores offer more than just yardage of the latest collections — they offer the community that has always been part of quilting.

According to The National Survey of Quilting in America 2010, most dedicated quilters (someone who spends more than $600 per year on quilting-related purchases) still prefer to shop in stores more than online. In fact, only 11% of dedicated quilters surveyed reported spending more money online or through mail order than they did in retail shops. That’s a lot of economic muscle, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

A little over a year ago we asked to hear about your favorite local quilt shop, and we loved reading your responses. Consider this blog post a way to check-in about the state of quilt shops in your area at the start of 2012. How are things going where you live? Do you have more options now than you did 10 years ago or fewer? What do you think are the secrets of the shops that survive and thrive in this economy? We want to help celebrate the successes out there!

Source: Quilting is here to stay (Recorderonline.com)

I also have a design wall here at work, a 7´ x 4´ cork board that reflects what I am currently working on. This week it holds preliminary designs for the cover of the April/May issue of Quilters Newsletter.

Here are some design tips I always use:
• When you are working on a design put every idea you think of out there; good, bad, whatever. Then analyze, add, combine or eliminate.
• Get some distance from your designs. They look different at 1 foot, 2 feet and 6 feet back.
• If you can look at them the next day, do so. Of course, that’s not always possible, deadlines being ever present in this business.
• Get opinions from others. Everyone see things in a different way. What may seem clear to you might be interpreted differently by someone else.
• Stay loose, have fun with it.

[Please Note: This giveaway has ended, congratulations to Linda Ann, winner of Caroline's Collection!]

Share your design tips  or comments with us and we’ll give you a chance to win this bundle of pastel florals from the Elm Creek Quilts: Caroline’s Collection by Jennifer Chiaverini for Red Rooster Fabrics.

Leave your comment before 11:59 p.m. MST on Monday, January 23, 2012. One comment per person, please. This giveaway is open to people who haven’t won anything from Quilters Newsletter in the past 90 days.

Remember, the best way to learn about giveaways and contests is to follow us on Facebook. Good luck!

We were glad that the snowstorm we got on Wednesday cleared out in time for today’s scheduled pick-up!

Joli checks and re-checks a packing slip to make sure everything's in order.

The last boxes of quilts are loaded into the shipping container.

The February/March 2012 issue of Quilters Newsletter is already arriving at the homes of subscribers and will be on newsstands next week. The stunning quilt on the cover is Star Berries, 85″ x 85″, designed and made by Gail Stepanek and Ronda K. Beyer.

As for what’s inside the issue, we thought we’d let our Table of Contents do the talking.

Features include:

• International Art Quilters Share Their Work and Wisdom — Eight art quilters from around the world showcase their quilts and share advice.
• Re-creating the Bayeux Tapestry — Get a sneak peek at Pam Holland’s interpretation of an 11th century masterpiece.
• What’s in a Name? — Explore how signature quilts mark significant life events, chronicle family genealogies and honor people.
• 1930s Governors Quilt — See how one Kansas woman captured a piece of history in cloth and thread.
• Little Women Inspires Japanese Designer — Learn how images from a popular U.S. children’s book and a Japanese color palette come together in a fabric collection by Yoko Uematsu.
• Inside Taupe with Reiko Kato — Discover taupe as a rainbow of colors.

Patterns and techniques include:

• Easy Lesson: Dimensional Daffodils — Seven quick steps is all it takes to create this cheery spring flower. Learn how to make this embellishment and then check out the full pattern for the 50″ x 50″ quilt A Gathering of Blossoms, one of this month’s free web patterns.
• Quiltmaker’s Workshop — You’re going to love whipping up bright, happy wall hangings with Rose Legge’s whimsical and easy printing technique. Free full-sized patterns are available on our website.
• Little Women pattern — The story behind the fabric in this 54″ x 72″ quilt suggested its oversized log-cabin design and center applique.
• Kite Flying in Winter pattern — Sunbonnet Sue bundles up in Japanese taupes and yarn dyes in this delightful 12-1/2″ x 10″ rendition of a quilting classic.
• A Good Time Was Had by All pattern — This easy-to-piece, on-point 44″ x 44″ signature quilt is an ideal project for quilt guilds, quilting bees and quilt retreats.
• Rose de Provence pattern — Foundation piecing, curved piecing, straight-line piecing — this pretty-in-pink 94″ x 94″ quilt has it all.

And of course, the rest of the issue includes our regular departments, like 300 Words about Quilting, a profile of Free Motion Quilting Project creator Leah Day, a new column by Pam Rocco, Staff Picks and Quilting Bee.

We’d love to hear what you think about the issue. Buy it on newsstands or from www.QuiltandSewShop.com starting January 17!

We are happy to report that the final shipping arrangements have been made and the 4,000+ quilts for Japan will be leaving our Golden, Colorado, offices on Friday, January 13, 2012. We can’t thank enough all those who donated and packed up the quilts.

Volunteers packing quilts for Japan into storage bags

Quilts packed and ready to be loaded into the pod

More quilts ready for the pod

We traveled home through Taos, another New Mexico city with a rich history of art. But also two fabric shops, which I visited. Taos Adobe Quiliting was on the Plaza and bulging with fabrics, books and lots of quilt-related goodies. Common Threads was another shop which had me gaping at gorgeous fabrics; silks, velvets, fancies. I bought a royal blue silk which caught my eye. I don’t know what I will make with it, but I just had to have it. You know how that is.

I came away with lots of ideas and energy for 2012. I’ll share that energy with you through the Quilters Newsletters we will be putting out this year and through the two Specials we will also be producing. My best wishes to you all for a happy and creative New Year.

We’re getting our final 2011 Top 10 list in just under the wire, and we saved the most fun for last — fabric! Oh, who are we kidding? It’s hard enough for us to choose only four collections to feature in each issue’s Staff Picks; how are we supposed to further narrow them down to only ten collections for this list and call them our absolute favorites? We have such varied tastes among the staff that the best we can ever hope to do is show you a range of the new collections we receive from manufacturers that we find interesting.

What follows is a list of ten collections, presented in alphabetical order, that made at least one QN staffer or another immediately say, “Ooh!” and start petting the fabric. Because really, isn’t that what we all do when we see new fabric that lights our imagination? Read our list and then scroll down to learn how you can enter to win one of two fat-quarter bundles for yourself.

1. 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House for Andover Fabrics If every quilt tells a story, this collection — with a cupola-topped royal city and a cast of characters straight out of Scheherazade’s tales — makes it that much easier. Coordinating blenders feature stars, candles and geometric abstracts. The dusk, purple and turquoise colorways were designed to complement the red, blue and green colorways of House’s earlier Castle Peeps collection. (October/November 2011)

2. Hanna Wallis by Windham Fabrics Safely tucked away in the archives of the Daughters of the American Revolution was a quilt made circa 1840 by Hanna Wallis of Pennsylvania. With generous assistance from the DAR, Windham Fabrics carefully referenced the quilt to create this gorgeous collection of 37 prints. Blues, greens, browns, creams and reds are showcased in delicate stripes and bold prints that represent some of the most elegant fabrics from the quilt Wallis made 170 years ago. (February/March 2011)

3. Katagami by the Allentown Art Museum for Red Rooster Fabrics Bring katagami, the 1,000-year-old Japanese art of making paper stencils, to your next quilt or home-dec project. This bold cream-and-indigo line is based on Pennsylvania’s Allentown Art Museum’s extensive collection of the delicate stencils, many of which were used for kimono printing. (April/May 2011)

4. Magnolia Lane by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller Fabrics Vibrant yellows and greens combine with cool turquoise blues and warm browns to make this a serene collection. Gunn’s over-sized florals and painterly solids will lend a fresh summer feel to your next project. (August/September 2011)

5. Nature’s Poetry by Chad Barrett for Robert Kaufman Watercolor birds, butterflies and flowers are the central motifs for this rich line. Featuring large-scale panels, medium-scale prints, stripes and solids in a nice range of values, this collection would make beautiful quilts and home decor items. The elegant scroll-work prints add a touch of old-world drama and are available in cool beige or golden tan. (April/May 2011)

6. Plum Rose from Blank Quilting This versatile collection comes in three colorways: black, indigo and cocoa. Romance is in the air when you pair the large floral focus fabrics — the stars of the collection — with the small overall florals, wavy stripes, swirls and blenders that have a touch of gold. (December/January 2012)

7. Summer House by Lily Ashbury for Moda Perfect for a summer vacation — or staycation — comes this debut line from one of Moda’s newest designers. The vibrant colors of a summer garden under a blazing sun are tempered by cool blues and aquas, capturing the feeling of an idyllic seaside cottage. The collection’s 40 prints include florals, paisleys, stripes and blenders in shades reminiscent of pink lemonade, cherry popsicles, green olives, marshmallows and robin’s egg blue. (August/September 2011)

8. Third in Line by Marcia Derse for Troy Riverwoods Collection Vibrant jewel tones like turquoise and raspberry are grounded by cool grays and warm mustards, olives and chocolates. With one neutral abstract panel and 24 prints featuring loosely drawn interpretations of bamboo, basket weave, springs, birch bark, argyle and hoops, you can easily let these fabrics take center stage in your next quilt or use them as blenders. (June/July 2011)

9. various prints from M&S Textiles Australia Drawn from Australian Aboriginal culture, motifs in these fabrics tell stories of the Dreaming Time, the time of creation of the universe. The fabric names reflect the symbols used, from the literal Dancing Place to the whimsical Kangaroo Fan. The fabrics are designed by Australian Aboriginal artists. (October/November 2011)

10. Wild World by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit Fabrics Part art nouveau, part 1960s nostalgia, this contemporary collection is available in two mix-and-match colorways. Soft pinks, grays and blues combine with fresh apricot, grassy green and buttery yellow to make a well-rounded line — 22 prints in all — that offers lot of options for feminine quilts or pretty home accents. (February/March 2011)

So now it’s your turn. What collections made your eyes light up when you spotted them from across a crowded quilt shop? What fabrics immediately made you dig out your credit card when you saw them online? Tell us in the comments section below to be entered for a chance to win either a fat-quarter bundle of the 1001 Peeps collection by Lizzy House, described above, or a fat-quarter bundle of the Together collection by Brannock & Patek for Moda, a traditional set of florals and blenders in olive, brown, beige, navy, plum, crimson and black. That’s right, you have two chances to win! Leave your comment before 11:59 MST on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. You may indicate which prize you’d prefer. One comment per person, please. This giveaway is open to people who haven’t won anything from Quilters Newsletter in the past 90 days.

Remember, the best way to learn about giveaways and contests is to follow us on Facebook. Happy New Year!

UPDATE: We have winners! The random number generator chose #21, Janice A., and #9, Kasey P. Congrats to you both! Please contact us at submissions@qnm.com with your mailing addresses so we can ship your prizes. Thank you to all who entered! Keep checking the blog for more great giveaways throughout 2012.