These are the projects for our annual Christmas Open House which will be Monday December 6. We'll have a sale and lots of demos for easy gift ideas.
The workshop will be held two times (2 pm and 5:30pm) in the Retreat Center. Cost is $7 or a donation for the Food Pantry. You will need to register for the workshop (712-764-7012) so that we will know how many kits to cut.

I've been waiting for this fabric from Alexander Henry to arrive. I know how hard it is to find fabric for guys. This would make a fun throw or even pillowcases.

We had a busy day yesterday with all the people attending Julefest in Elk Horn and Kimballton. Our "surprise" (not a surprise any longer) Julefest Sale this year is 25% off red or green fabric - I'm amazed at how many fabrics have red or green. Julefest conotinues today in both towns.

Shar, Karen and Sarah (Jackie's daughter) braved the cold yesterday to put up some outside lights in preparation for Julefest in the Danish Village next Friday and Saturday. It's our opening of the Christmas shopping season. After taking time to celebrate and savor Thanksgiving on Thursday, why not come here for fun shopping, easy parking and good food instead of braving the Black Friday hassle?

There are two great boutiques at the town halls in both Elk Horn and Kimballton. I started the Prairie Christmas Boutique in Kimballton 32 years ago. In 2000 I sold it to Cheryl Rosenbeck one of my folk artists. She has done a great job of carrying on the tradition. One of her current artists is my sister, Jan Speed. Many of you are familiar with her patterns for wool, wool felt and embroidery at Prairie Star Quilts.

At the shop (we will open early both days at 9am) we'll have a surprise sale. We'll also be doing ongoing demos of fast and easy gift ideas for you to make. All of the staff at Prairie Star Quilts make our great samples. When we are done displaying them the staff members don't always want to keep all of them. Once a year we display and sell the excess samples in our Retreat Center. Opening day for this is the first day of Julefest (Friday after Thanksgiving) at 9am.
the show and sale will continue until Christmas.

Click here for a schedule of events.

Yesterday i put the binding on one of our latest samples. This photo is for the kit Moda puts out. Mine looks like it except I cnanged the diamonds to easily pieced half squares. The fabric is the new Collection for a Cause, Hope. We used layer cakes for all the stars and will have a kit available soon.

PSQ sponsored a couple of categories at the Nebraska State Fair. Ann brought her winning entry in the miniature star division to show us. She tells me her inspiration was an antique Texas star quilt. This little quilt represents one corner of the quilt (oautside the large Texas star). there were four of these in the original.
We also sponsor the Traditional Star Bed Quilt.

I just finished quilting this "convenience fabric" runner from Jo Morton. I know I've said it before, but I like hand quilting "cheaters" - no marking, no seams to quilt through, no hassle. I call it a stress buster. Sometimes in the evening I just want to sit in a quiet place and quilt by hand.

Mary brought in her latest project. It was fascinating. It's made almost entirely from the striped fabric in my Prairie Homefront collection. There are certainly a lot of striped fabrics that would work for this.

I'm starting work on a project for our annual Christmas Open House which will be Monday December 6 this year. We'll have two workshops at 2:00 or 5:30 pm. You'll need to pre register if you'd like to attend because we'll need to know how many kits to make.