Welcome to the latest issue of the Quilting Gallery Newsletter.

That’s right… there’s a new swap in town. See below to find out more information about the Friendship Bag Swap. Come join the fun with this quick and easy project.

Calling all Canadian quilters: The current Friday Give-Away is extra special for me, as it’s a one year subscription to the new Canadian quilting magazine, Quilter’s Connection Magazine. I wrote an article for the inaugural edition, and can’t wait to see it. This contest is open only to Canadian residents.

This coming Friday, 10 lucky winners will each win a pattern… WOW! I’m now taking reservations for Friday give-aways for November and December; send me an email if you are interested.

Also, mark your calendar for August 24th for a brand new contest with fabulous prizes. It’s sure to be tonnes of fun. I can’t wait to see the submissions. (Think: birds, bugs, flowers, sunsets, mountains, trees, food, animals and other wonderful inspirations from Mother Nature.)

Happy quilting!

Michele (aka Mishka)
Quilting Gallery
michele@quiltinggallery.com

Summer Savings – Quilt Shop Locator

The Quilt Shop Locator is a growing database of quilt shops, online retailers, retreat facilities, pattern and fabric designers, authors, teachers and other quilting professionals from around the world.

This powerful map-based tool makes it easy for quilting enthusiasts to find retailers and plan their travels. Don’t have a bricks and mortar shop but still offer quilting-related services? Our unique categories allow customers to find you here too.

Join today!

Welcome to the latest members of the Quilt Shop Locator:

• peace & Applique Quilt Shop – Rochester, Illinois, USA
• Quilt N Bee – Cache, Oklahoma, USA
• Quilts At Home – Frederick, Maryland, USA
• Quilt with Mo – Sammamish, Washington, USA

News from the Quilting Gallery

Rachel Griffith created this fabulous tutorial for the Friendship Bag Swap. You can use Rachel’s design or come up with something unique. Registration closes August 20th.

• Registration
• Participants
• Flickr group (these are so cute!)

The beauties below were created by Viv. Check out what I’ve been working on as I play with free motion quilting.

Have a look at the gorgeous mini quilts being worked on for the Good Ol’ Summertime Mini Quilt Swap.

A new give-away is posted each Friday. You have until the following Thursday to leave a comment for your chance to win.

Many thanks to past sponsors for their donations:

• Quilter’s Connection Magazine – One year subscription & 3 inaugural issues
• The Electric Quilt Company – Quilting Designs: Quiltmaker Collection Vol. 6
• Sheree’s Alchemy – Two $20 Gift Certificates
• Jane’s Fabrics – 15 Pack of 1930′s Fat Quarters

The Quilting Bloggers directory has more than 3,185 bloggers from 65 countries. Thank you to everyone that has joined and promoted the directory.

Around the Web

• Nadine Ruggles has this great feature on her web site: The Daily Stitch. Short snippets of useful information. Best of all, you can subscribe via Email or RSS feed.

  Be sure to check out Nadine’s blog too. She posted a great hand binding tutorial the other day.

• As both a web developer and a quilter, I love this Color Scheme Designer tool.
• Another great site I found recently is Hand Made News. Lots of interesting tidbits to be found including this faux hearts by Ebony Love made with the disappearing nine patch technique.

Horrible 4-letter Words!

A young couple got married and went on a cruise for their honeymoon. When they got back from the honeymoon, the bride immediately called her mother, who lived a couple of hours away.

"Well, darling," said her mom, "how was the honeymoon?"

Oh, mother," she replied, "the honeymoon was wonderful! So romantic, we had a terrific time! But, mother, as soon as we returned, Sam began using really horrible language… Stuff I’d never heard before… Really terrible 4-letter words… You’ve got to come get me and take me home… PLEASE MOTHER!"

And the new bride began to sob over the telephone.

"But honey," the mother countered, "WHAT 4-letter words?"

"I can’t tell you, mother," said the daughter, "they’re too awful! COME GET ME, P L E A S E !!!"

"Darling daughter, you must tell me what has you so upset… Tell mother the 4-letter words!"

Still sobbing, the bride said, "Mother….words like: DUST…WASH……IRON….COOK"