jingle bell hop winners...

...we have some great gift bags filled with treasures. the lucky winners who selected to pick up at our location are: 

Patricia Arnwine

Sally Hawks

Carolyn Baker Jenkins

Myrya Johnson

Helen Masino

Barbara McDowell

Debbie Messer

please come in any time during shop hours to pick up your goodies.  congratulations and thank you to all the shop hoppers.  we hope to see you again for the next hop in the spring.

the spain effect...

i heard there was product from a new designer recently at target, that sold out in a few hours. well...missoni has nothing on our kate spain. do you like this fabric...

well...unfortunately you won't be seeing it in our house of fabric. it. sold. out. in forty minutes. two bolts in fact. i ordered an extra just in case. the first one was basically gone before i even had the plastic off. the second within minutes of it going on the floor.  not the display. the floor. as in leaning up against the wall behind the cutting counter floor.  kate has surely outdone herself with terrain. it is a must hurry kind of situation.

no rulz art...

love the name. love the mission...

and now we love the fabric!!!  the crew over at no rulz art, llc are happy to announce they have started to hand dye fabric in addition to their socks and headbands. and we are so happy to tell you it is in our store!!  

if you're not familiar with this creative group of young adults, click here and read a story sarah wrote on her blog last year (wow the store sure looked empty then:) the fabric is cut into pieces approximately 18 x 18 and sell for two dollars each with 100% going directly back to no rulz art to help keep their program rolling.  the fabric is moda bella solid pfd (prepared for dyeing).  no two pieces will ever be the same.  

sunday sweetness...

i'm so excited to share this next photo...

meet kirill and his brother clayton. the journey for kirill to reach his forever family was not easy. his new mom and dad were tenacious in their fight to be sure he lived a life full of love and hugs away from the orphanage he resided. you can read more about sarah's work on kirill's quilt and pillowcases here.

hop til you drop...

going into this shop hop, we had no idea what to expect...

today as i looked about around two thirty, i was thankful the fire marshall didn't pay us a visit. even more thankful everyone was able to enter and exit without incident. goodness, i never thought we would fill three parking lots and get that many customers into the store at one time.  thank you so much to all who stopped in during this jingle bell hop. we appreciate your support and hope you will return soon.

i could never have survived this week without the help of a great group of women, aimee, diane, katrina and penney.  mucho gracious!!! 

the shops will be meeting toward the later part of this month to hold the grand prize drawings. we will announce winners here. stay tuned...

last call...

it's the final day of the jingle bell shop hop. haven't started yet?...

...not to worry. we've had several shoppers complete the hop in one day. just grab a friend and start early.  if you find you're getting close to the end and need a little more time, just give us a call at 440-684-9830 and we will be happy to stay and wait for your arrival. 

hopping treats...

have we mentioned there are snacks waiting for you along the route...

at jellen's we have a sweet treat hunt for you. you'll have to look throughout the store displays to discover your treasures.  here we have some bulls eyes among the max & whiskers...

the colors of the hop...

together they form a beautiful rainbow. all twenty seven...

...shown here, cut to be featured as ohio stars, our block for this hop.  are you participating in the challege? i hear there are some great prizes to be awarded to the winners. there will be many different categories and the rules are simple...utilize all 27 colors on just 1 block or all the blocks in your design. be sure to check with any of the shop owners for greater details.

shop hop quilts...

...i am fortunate to be sharing in the splendor of some extremely talented shop owners.  if you are traveling around on the jingle bell shop hop, you have likely already seen the quilts hanging in the other shops. if not, you can click here and scroll down to see the photos.

so that you may make your own quilt,  each shop has available a kit of fat eighths for your purchase. i'd like to send out a warm and sincere thank you to...

...sister maughan and sister manwaring for volunteering to package our kits up for us. they did such an amazing job and i think they enjoyed doing it. both of these young ladies are serving their mission in the cleveland area and we love when they stop by.

be sure to come get your kit while the hop is in full action for $5.00. after the hop they will increase in price to $8.00

chapter two...

our shop hop is in full swing.  have you been able to start hopping yet? if you're new to the jingle bell hop, you might not know there is a complete story being told.  each store has a chapter to this tale...

we have chapter two.  the story is all about being snowbound at grandma's.  and reading about her wonderful quilts.  guess which quilt block she talks about in our chapter?  you'll have to come get it to find out...

come play blocks with us...

on our interactive design wall.

we are into day three of the jingle bell hop. if you haven't come to visit yet, we have some fun waiting for you.  just how fast do you think you can build an ohio star? come give it a try. ladies, there are some pretty quick husbands out there. i think they might be practicing in your sewing room when you're not looking:)

i was thrilled to be assigned the ohio star as jellen's contribution to the 2011 jingle bell quilt. you can read more about my enthusisam for this block here.  as you can see, i chose to make an apron with my block. there are some great quilts out there too.  you just need to start hopping to see them. you can start at any store, hurry though, before it's too late.

monday, monday...

so good to me...monday, monday...it was all i hoped it would be...

...ok, so now that i've got that little jingle made famous by the mamas and the papas singing through your mind...let me just tell you that yes, Yes, YES, we will indeed be open this monday, september 12 from 10:00- 5:00 for all you jingle bell shoppers who are hopping about this first day of the week. 

we will also have diane wantz, queen quilter at longarm legacies, in the shop all day long. she has graciously agreed to help us out during the shop hop, so should you wish to discuss your long arm quilting needs, monday would be a good day.   

it's time to hop...

if you've had a chance to read our vision over on the website, one of our dreams on the wish list is to be in a shop hop.  a month or two ago i received a call asking if we would like to participate in the quilters fling 2011 jingle bell shop hop.  of course i said, YES!!!

the time has come to start hopping. september 10 seemed so far off yet it has arrived. and so have we, i'm pleased to say. please join us and all the shops participating. we've all been working hard to make sure the blocks are well thought out and the story of being snowbound at grandma's is a must read. we hope to see you this week.  for more information or to print out a copy of the map, click here.

beauteous batiks

my love for batiks seems to expand with each delivery...

...this day it was not on bolts, rather wrapped in creativity and mutual love of the fabric.  quilt in montego batiks by moda and designed by libie at livin4prim. fabric art on side wall by marlene of karmacreations 

thank you suzy...

a few months back sarah and i had the pleasure of speaking with a delightful woman who writes a column for quilts inc.

we were not sure when the article was to publish, so it truthfully went to the back corner of my mind.  then i receieved word it went live.

as i first read the story, i cried. it was as if i was reading the tale of a stranger. then i blinked twice at the picture and realized that truly is sarah and sari standing there. in our store. this really is our story. it still doesn't seem real for some reason when i see it in print.  yet, we have so many wonderful new friends, i am quickly reminded that indeed it is real. still, i pinch myself every so often. 

thank you suzy for capturing our mission so perfectly. (click the picture to read the story)

dear sophie...

by chez moi has arrived...  

every group from this talented artist is masterfully hand painted using classic watercolor technique. she uses her traditional training to compose highly stylized and surprisingly contemporary landscapes. it is exactly this juxtaposition that sets chez moi apart.

sophie which means wisdom, is done in beautiful aquas, rose, pinks, olive green and chocolate brown along with cream.  the charming quilt by libie of livin4prim.  the pillow comes up from atlanta, georgia by warm'n'fuzzies.