Names and Places

All quilted now. Last week I showed a preliminary photo of this table runner. The pattern didn't have a name yet, and I put out a request for ideas. Wowee! Did I ever get some great responses! Thank you so much! The pattern is now at the printer and won't be available yet for another week or two . . . in the meantime, let me introduce . . .

. . . the Toss Across Runner! Many thanks to Mary Jean R. from northern New York. Hey, MJ, send me your mailing address and I'll send you a copy of the pattern once it's in stock! The pattern should be showing up at your local quilt shop--ask them to carry it--or watch for it in the Hummingbird Highway shopping cart in a few weeks!

As for the Row by Row Experience. Here's a few things you might want to know:

 - It starts on July 1
 - You travel from shop to shop (1,250 of them are participating in the US and Canada!)
 - Pick up a free pattern
 - Repeat until you have at least 8 rows then put a quilt together using the patterns you collected to be eligible for great prizes
 - Or keep repeating, collecting, and sewing rows to your heart's content. Make a quilt, or a table runner, or whatever you like from the row patterns you collected for a memento of a great summer-long quilt shop hop.

You can find more information and answers to your questions on the Row by Row Experience website.

As for me, I'm proud and honored to have provided the row patterns for a small handful of the many shops across the country who are participating. This week, I'd like to introduce you to three of the row patterns I wrote. I'll even tell you where you can find them!

Here's the row pattern you can pick up at The Quilt Foundry in Maumee, Ohio. It's called Summer Sails.

And if you're traveling through Kansas, maybe you should swing by The Sunflower Quilt Shop in Hiawatha. Their row is called Autumn Parade.

As long as you are in the middle states, a drive through neighboring Nebraska and a visit to The Quilt Basket in York will allow you to pick up Summer Kernels. Hey, I know the rows are supposed to be horizontal, but I just couldn't resist creating a Nebraska corn stalk. And the shop owner agreed with me!

And here's the Quilt Basket row rotated so you don't have to get a kink in your neck to look at it!

And just a heads-up, don't even try to call or email the shops and ask them to send you a pattern in the mail or over the internet. There aren't many rules with Row by Row, but one big one is that you have to visit the shop in person to get your pattern! So hop in the car, mini-van, scooter, or mobile home, be safe, have fun, and send me pictures, especially if you pick up one of the row patterns I designed. And tell the shop owner I said, "Hey!"

Next week I'll show you the rest of the row patterns I worked on.

Happy Stitching!