Shop Hop

Wow! Cozad sure rolled out the red carpet to welcome Shop Hoppers to town. Thanks to all the businesses that extended a welcome to our special guests. Your hospitality was appreciated.

We had a wonderful turnout of hoppers on the 11th Annual Nebraska Independent Fabric Shop's Hop. 1400 quilters enrolled in the hop to visit 33 participating quilt shops across the state. Quilt shops handed out patterns for 12" quilt blocks designed by Thangles - plus original patterns for projects utilizing the blocks.

Hoppers validated their passport cards at each shop they visited to qualify for gift certificates ranging from $25 - $500 dollars that can be redeemd at any of the participating shops. We'll draw for certificates on May 6th, so be sure to check back to see our winners. You can visit http://www.fabricsandquilts.com/ for more information.

Thanks to everyone that came out to visit us. It's always great meeting new quilters as well as reconnecting with friends we only get to see every one in awhile. Hope you had a fabulous time.

Where did March go???

As you can tell, I haven't kept too up to date on the good old blog posts. Now, here it is, offficially spring on the calendar, and I feel like I'm still back in February.

This snowy, blustery weather is for the birds . . . or if you happen to hop on over to http://www.weefolkart.com/, perhaps you'll remember that spring is for bunnies.

They have the cutest free pattern download for this basket of eggs. Plus, they have some free patterns for adorable little appliqued wool blocks too. Now hop on over there, and tell the gals we sent you. Plus . . . you'll find a handy little special link on their site back to our wool felt site with a special discount code so you can fill your easter basket with goodies.

Creative and Then Some . . .

Wow! Two posts in a row, can you believe it. Those of you that follow my blog at all know that I have a habit of being pretty random. I'll be inspired and do several consecutive posts, then life gets in the way and it will be over a month before you hear from me. Wish I could make one of those promises that I'll post regularly from now on, but I know me too well. As I told one of my friends today, I'm much better at finding ideas than actually caring them out.

Which leads me to the real topic of today's post.

I've followed the blog http://www.skiptomylou.org/ for quite awhile. She is the most super-creative-inspired blogger I know. She had the BEST tutorials for all sorts of projects. There are crafts for kids, holiday decorations, recipes, and directions for all sorts of handcrafted projects like CD holders, tote bags, you name it!

One of my favorites is her wool felt crayon roll. Check out the directions here:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/ (Fabric Roll)

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/08/06/felt-crayon-roll/

(Felt Roll)

While you are on the Skip to My Lou site, be sure to check out the following sites that are part of the Chic Chick Network. We're advertising http://www.woolfeltcentral.com/ on all four of these blogs this month. Be sure to stop by and see what these talented ladies are up to.

7 Degrees of Blogs

Remember that whole "7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" thing where you supposedly could link Kevin Bacon in 7 steps to any other movie star? Well, I think the same thing is true for Blogs! I just love to read all the creative goings on out there and admittedly, pursue waaaaay too many interests. It's amazing how many connections you can find out there, though, in the creative community.

Here's an example that I discovered this past weekend . . . .

I love digital scrapbooking. One of my favorites sites is http://www.designerdigitals.com/

Every week they post a color challenge where they create a little digital mini kit freebie based on an image from an advertisement, website, etc. Last week they had this beautiful picture as their inspiration. Well, you all know my obsession with wool felt as part of my http://www.woolfeltcentral.com/ store, so of course, I had to check out the link to the origin of the picture which was http://www.princesslasertron.com/.

I fell in love with this gals creations. She makes custom wool felt and button bouquets for brides, proms etc.

Then . . . . I noticed from her column that her work had been featured in the Omaha World Herald (Nebraska's largest newspaper). Hmmmm . .. .. Could this gal actually be from Omaha? Lo and behold! She is! What a small world to discover such an incredibly talented gal right here in Nebraska.

Now run on over and check out Megan's blog so that you can continue the 7 degrees loop! You'll be glad you did. What gorgeous eye candy!

Christmas Ornaments

Our Junction Function club had a fabulous time at our Christmas Party last night. The gals folded green and brown fat quarters into darling little Christmas Trees. Wow! 10 Junction Functioneers proudly display a completed project. (We're known for starting projects, not finishing them!)

We also made these super-easy poinsettia wool felt ornaments. You can download a FREE copy of the pattern at http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/ornaments/poinsettia-ornament/.

You'll have to login to their website, but it's worth it for the amount of things you can do there. My son loves to play their "Create a Cookie" and "Make a Snowflake" games. Keeps him busy when I'm tyring to get supper together. To find these games go to their "Holiday" tab at http://www.bhg.com/holidays/

This pattern by Better Homes and Gardens was so quick to make. We used Moss wool felt for the background and Rustic Crimson, Barnyard Red, and Red wool felt for the poinsettia. Don't have wool felt on hand, you can order it on our website at http://www.prairiepointjunction.com/.

Wool Felt Advent Calendars

I just love how the world of blogs allows you to jump from place to place getting inspired. All the great links on my favorite blogs lead me to a wealth of creative ideas.

One of my favorite ideas that I stumbled upon today was on the blog Squirrel Acorns at: http://squirrelacorns.blogspot.com/2008/11/advent-calendars.html

This crafty gal is working on making her own version of a Pottery Barn Advent calendar that is now sold out from the catalog. Check out her blog to see what she is up to. We were so excited to see that she had mentioned Prairie Point Junction as her source for the felt for her project. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Mini Market at Camp Comeca

I had a wonderful time out at Camp Comeca, just outside of Cozad on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The Nebraska Independent Fabric Shop Owners group met for a business meeting to plan Shop Hop 2010. After our meeting we had the opportunity to attend 20 minute "Schoolhouse" sessions to learn about new products and techniques. The best part of the event was getting to meet with 13 vendors to purchase new products for the coming year.

Fabric is typically ordered for delivery 3-6 months down the road - so I was actually ordering Christmas fabric for next year's season. Its hard to plan so far ahead, but sooooo much fun to see all the fabrics. Pictured below is Cheryl Cantoya, my rep for Moda fabrics. You can check out all the new Moda lines that will be appearing this spring at http://www.unitednotions.com/.

Moda is famous for their Charm Packs and Jelly Rolls. Well, now they've added even more "treats" to their Bake Shoppe Line. The idea is that you are able to get a little sampling of about 40 fabrics from each collection in a pre-cut size that is ready to sew with. Pattern designers have stepped up to the challenge and have "cooked" up tons of designs to use these pre-cut fabrics.

Here's a quick "recipe" list of what all the pre-cut terms mean:

Charm Pack: 5" squares

Layer Cake: 10" squares

Jelly Roll: 2 1/2" strips

Honey Buns: 1 1 /2" strips

Turnovers: Triangles made from 6" squares (They fit perfectly with 5" squares when sewn into half-square triangle units.

We ordered the new Patisserie line from Moda in both Honey Buns and Turnovers. They are expected to arrive in February. We'll let you know when they are here.

Wow, its been a whirlwind of a few months both at the shop (Prairie Point Junction, home of Wool Felt Central) and in life in general. I'm so glad to feel like I'm finally catching up a bit over the last couple weeks. I'm looking forward to start up some regular posts here on the blog.

I love to see all sorts of creative endeavors that people are up to. My plan is to feature a creative, crafty, inspiring artist periodically here on the blog. Let us know what you are up to; whether is be quilting, crafting, sewing, beading, scrapbooking, or whatever it is that brings you creative joy! We'd love to feature you here. E-mail me prairiepointjunction@yahoo.com for consideration.

The first gal I'd like to profile is my friend, Kelli Sweet. Kelli is one of the most talented people I know. She loves to dabble in all sorts of creative projects. We were roomies in college, way back when, and still love to get together and quilt or scrap whenever we can. Check out Kelli's blog at http://www.sweetkelli.blogspot.com/. You'll find all sorts of cool links too.

Wool Felt Central SALE

Don't miss out on

http://www.woolfeltcentral.com/

Wool Felt Frenzy

July 4th-14th, 2008

Take 20% off all wool felt

yardage, bundles, and 12" x 18" pieces.

Welcome

We're working to get a blog for Wool Felt Central up and running. We'd love to hear your suggestions of what you would like to see here. E-mail us a woolfeltcentral@yahoo.com to share your requests.

In the meantime, visit our website at www.woolfeltcentral.com to view our selection of 60+ colors of wool felt available by the yard, in 12" x 18" pieces, and in coordinated bundles too.

Looking foward to your visit.