me and my sister

Here at SKJ we are raising awareness of our Pillowcases for Soldiers program.  In March, I started asking fabric designers to make a pillowcase from their fabric line and send it to the shop for us to raffle.  The response has been so great and very encouraging!

I heard from Barbara and Mary of Me and My Sister, Moda Fabrics fame.  Barb sent us 2 pillowcases, and blogged about our escapades!  Aren't their fabrics the cutest? They must know my favorite color.... But this is a pillowcase for you!  To win.

You can read all about it here, on their blog.  And see the pillowcases that she made in real life in the shop. But.... not until May 1st.  Then the raffle will begin.  Tickets will be on sale for the month of May at $1 each, or six tickets for $5.

spell it

Visit each day to make this cute alphabet quilt and to enter some pretty fantastic giveaways!

little black dress and andrea victoria

New fabrics are coming in fast and furious! Two gorgeous collections just came in this past week.

Andrea Victoria from Riley Blake

Love this yellow and gold combination

AND... Little Black Dress 2 from Basic Grey

So many to choose from!

What I really love about these collections is how well they will work together.  I am dreaming of making a low contrast quilt of grey and cream.

modern and improvised with a bit of yellow

trip around the world

court house steps

I especially love the traditional quilts made with low volume colors making it modern. And then add a pop of yellow.  What would you like to make?

mom's birthday

Last weekend I was in Portland, OR with my mom, Donna, and sister, Mary.  Mary has a quilt shop in Minnesota, Quilter's Eden. She is the one that I now blame/thank, for my opening Sew Katie Jean. I also have a middle sister, Judith.  We three are closer now than ever ~ I love my sisters!

Our mom is going to be 80 year's old in January. We are throwing her a party.  I don't think she knows that just yet! sshhh :)  And she needs the perfect gift.

We decided to make her a quilt!  Each one of us will make 3 quilt blocks a month. One block to go to mom's quilt, one for ourselves, and the other goes to the other sister. Judith sews, but doesn't quilt.  She has made one block already, and gets a few lessons from Mary along the way since they both live on the east coast.

We decided to use only fabric by Bonnie and Camille from Moda.  Each collection goes together so perfectly, that we will have a lot more fabrics to choose from.  I want to share with you my quilt blocks that I am making.  And since I am a bit behind in making my one a month I will be posting at least two a month!

So look for my Gram Quilt tutorials.  Each quilt block that I will be using will be based on something different about my mom.  I hope you will be inspired to quilt along with me!

thank you mice

I had a great day off from work last Friday!  My friend Tessie and I went to the Sacramento Quilt show together at Cal Expo.  And... I got my hair cut and colored.  That was a big treat!

I was happy to go to the quilt show.  Just to see what everyone was making.  I did see a lot of cat patterns... really?  And I did buy a bit of fabric.  Could not resist!

But what I was really happy about was running into American Jane aka Sandy Klopp from Moda.  Her fabrics have been one of my favorites to collect for such a long time.  I love the vintageness of her fabrics.  When I opened my shop I knew I wanted to carry her fabrics!

I am even doing my Farmer's Wife Quilt of 111 blocks in American Jane.  I love to fussy cut these little images.  They are perfect!

I hope all of my customers had fun going into the shop for the 10% off while I was gone!  I came in for a peek before I got my hair cut and had just part of this pile of fabrics to put away.  Thank you Cindy and Arlene for joining in on the fun and getting me out for a great day off.

here I am

It has been a long time since I blogged.  But I am writing to tell you a good news!

Sew Katie Jean is having a fabric sale!

25% off of all fabrics

Friday, October 5 and Saturday, October 6

Lincoln is celebrating the opening of a long awaited highway bypass.  And what a better way to celebrate than by doing a little bit of shopping for fabric!

I hope to see you there.

Shop hours:

Monday - Friday 10 am - 3 pm

Saturday 10 am - 4 pm

farmers wife - class 3

Block #2 -  Autumn Tints

I was having a busy day in the shop last Friday, so I didn't get as many of my Farmer Wife blocks done as I would like, (great for the shop though!).  I just finished three this time.  But I did have fun doing a bit of fussy cutting.

block #23 - Country Farm

My collection of American Jane fabrics make these blocks come together in a way that I am totally lovin!  I'm trying to not over think my combination choices too much. This block, #23, is fun in the two different plaids, I love how it looks!  I just need to take some seams out and get them all squared up right.

Block #6 - Big Dipper

And sewing up these seams was simple and fun!  I love how nicely my points came out.  And I do love seeing the pinwheel star in the block center.  Are you making any of these blocks too?

summer quilting

Here are two great quilts for you to make this month!

This one is called Carnival and is made using 10" squares (a layer cake) and the Lazy Angle Ruler.

You will love this if you are interested in learning a new technique!

Friday, June 15

10:00 am - 3:00 pm / $40.00

Teacher: Jen Kramer

 This quilt is called Urban Cabin, from Atkinson Designs. If you are a fan of Terry Atkinson quilts, you will love this creative pattern.  It is perfect for the newest fat quarter collections.

Saturday, June 16

10:00 am - 4:00 pm / $40.00

Teacher: Melody Lake

When you decide which quilt you would like to learn to make, or decide to make both quilts, call the shop to register and get a class supply list. (916) 209-3930

blitzen

 My first bits of Christmas fabric is now arriving in the shop!  This is Blitzen by Basic Grey from Moda.  Very modern.  I will love to see what you do with it!

Might I suggest this quilt, using the 10" Layer Cake.  Love it!

contrary wife

Calico Puzzle #16

 Contrary Wife #21

Prairie Queen #70 

Railroad #72

So yes, I am having a blast sewing these up!  I would love to take this class twice a month.  I dug through my own stash today and found even more American Jane from collections past.  This is an ongoing class and we would love for more quilters to join in the fun.  Stop by the shop or call to sign up!

farmer's wife

The first Farmer's Wife class was today!  All day sewing - was sew great!

Plus, the night before I finally picked out what fabrics that I want to use. The lovely American Jane from Sandy Klopp and Moda.  I have been collecting some of her fabrics for awhile and now I get to dig them out and start cutting them up.


I was really proud of my work too! I did a little dance every time I finished a block. I finished four of them.  Now I just have 107 blocks left to go.

Plus these Marti Michel templates really did the trick.  I used my tiny 18 mm rotary cutter and it made my blocks so much more precise.  And less stressful for me!  I'll show you my 4 finished blocks next...

kaleidoscope quilt

This Kaleidoscope Quilt class was last Saturday.  Each student brought in 2 yards of fabric with a large repeat. It was so fantastic!  I had to share each student's quilt with you!

made with love

Sew Katie Jean was recently involved with Moda to sew together a quilt made with star blocks.  Each block was signed by the person who made it and their state.   They came from all over America, sent to Moda, and then packaged with instructions for our shop.

This is the finished quilt.  My mom, Donna Coughlin sewed these blocks together with her little black Singer feather weight.  It was her first quilt.  Cindy Lloyd did the quilting with her long arm.  She used variegated red, white, blue thread on top, and white thread on the bottom of the quilt.  Both sides are equally striking with a quilted star motif.  And Arlene Irby did the quilt binding.  She chose a beautiful solid red color and hand stitched the binding onto the quilt back.

Thank you ladies for donating all of your talents and making this project possible.  This quilt is truly made with love, to honor all those who serve.

sewing day

I am working on finishing a project that I started last weekend.  It's not that big or complicated.  It's just a table runner.  But life gets in the way of our sewing sometimes.

This is the one that I asked Jenn to make for the shop.  I am making mine using a set of 5" charm squares of this fabric.

Reunion from Sweet Water by Moda.  I love the little banner fabric.  And just adore the green, navy and faded yellows.  I think I have a sister that might like it too.

I used a cream muslin for the side 2" strips, grey for the back, and the binding will be navy.

One of the prints has a subtle chevron pattern.  And that's how decided to use it for the quilting.  Cream thread on top, and grey thread on my bobbin.

The stitching is a little harder to see it on the front of the runner.  But I just love how it turned out.  And I did it!  I'll show it to you again when I get my binding on.  Maybe I'll even show you a picture of it on my table.

a walk

I opened up a beautiful box this morning from Moda and look what I got!

A stack of 5" charms

and a stack of fat quarters.

I am in love all over again!

Visit Comfort Stitching to see what Aneela is creating with her newest fabric line. 

precuts = love

These precut fabrics arrived in my shop this week.  And who wouldn't love finding one of these wrapped up under their tree this Sunday!

Good Fortune jelly roll (2 1/2" strips) from Kate Spain 

Reunion charm pack (5" squares) by Sweetwater 

Sassy charm pack (5" squares) by Sandy Gervais 

A Stitch in Color fat eights by Malia Dubrowsky

love this

Do you love Atkinson Designs?  Terry Atkinson makes these quilt patterns so easy for us to sew up and it can be modern or traditional.  Her patterns are always complete and always easy to follow for even the newest of quilters.


Here is what she says about Urban Cabin:
Whether you live in an apartment in the city or a house in the woods, this log cabin variation will add a dash of color to your home.  Make the basic version using your favorite large prints, or choose the strippy version for smaller prints.

Plus one of our teachers, Melody Lake, is making up one of these quilts for the shop now.  She is using the Little Apples fabric by Aneela Hoey.  Can't wait to see it!  Then a new class will soon be on it's way.