Hello friends, and happy Good Friday to you! It’s been a relatively calm day around PG since a lot of my staff took the day off to enjoy with their families and friends. Speaking of a day off, that actually reminds me to remind you that we will be CLOSED this Sunday, April 9th, 2023 in observance of the Easter holiday – so if you’re planning a trip out to the shop for basket stuffers (don’t forget the caramels!), make it happen Saturday! We are open tomorrow as usual from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. CST. If you can’t make it then, we’ll be back open for regular business hours on Monday, April 10th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. CST.

Despite the lack of hustle and bustle going on today, Gloria is taking full advantage of the extra space at The Gathering while she teaches one of her coveted basket making classes. With a smaller class size of only eight, participants are able to spread out and work and still have a good view of what’s going on. It’s also much easier for students to get one-on-one help from the Basket Guru herself with a fewer people to attend to at once.Jealous yet? Don’t be! We have so many clubs, classes, and retreat opportunities in store for 2023, there’s plenty of opportunity to get here before the snow flies again. Not within driving distance? No problem – the airport is only a 15 minute zip up the highway! Though it’s still tentative (as in expect some changes – there WILL be some), as I mentioned in my last post, the 2023 Event Schedule for Primitive Gatherings and The Gathering is now available for your viewing pleasure! You can download a printable PDF of the schedule by clicking the link below. Then call Gloria at 920.778.8031 to book your stay! I hope you’re having a pleasant Good Friday. I have always felt that this day should be a quiet one, with time spent reflecting and without conflict. Stitching sure can be a great way to sneak in a few moments of quiet time for yourself throughout the day. You know, stitch a little here, stitch a little there… Whenever you have a minute to spare. If you need a little something to stitch on this evening, you’re in luck! This Good Friday also brings the weekly Friday Sewcialites 2  block release – just in time for the weekend! This week Andy Knowlton of A Bright Corner Quilt and Pattern Shop brings us her contribution to the quilt-along with her block “Changeling.” Like many top tier quilt designers, Andy began sewing at a young age. As the years went on she combined her creative side with her comptuer-savvy side and eventually turned her hobby into her career. Known for her bright color palettes and cheerful designs, these days Andy is an accomplished quilt designer, published author of multiple books, and the owner of A Bright Corner Quilt and Pattern Shop.

Designers participating in Sewcialites 2 were asked to design a block that we are crazy about – meaning either one that DRIVES us crazy to sew, or one that we’re crazy in love with. When deciding on her design concept for this block, Andy immediately knew that it had to have two things. Number one –  it to be a star block because she absolutely loves star quilt blocks, and number two – it had to have a unique fabric placement creating a variety of fun possibilites. “Changeling” does not disappoint.This pretty block is basically a 9-patch. It is made up of a square in a square center, four snowball cornered blocks, and eight stitch and flip units (that will be sewn together together to create four units). It receives an intermediate rating on the scale but really should not give you any trouble after all the skills you’ve sharpened by this point in the quilt-along. Take your time and do each block as its own unit. Then sew together after all nine are completed, and voila! Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

In case you were wondering, for my blocks I’m using my Garden Gatherings fabric line, leaving out the five tans. For this block I chose to go with a gold floral print on a dark green background, paired with a rust floral print on yellow. For the background I used a selection from the Garden Gathering Shirtings Collection, #49176 15 – a cream fabric with an adorable tiny mustard/orange floral print. If you’re a Wisconsinite it kind of screams Green Bay, doesn’t it? Go pack!

I’ve always said that one of the things I love most about this quilt-along is that you can do it on your time, however your schedule allows. In fact, please don’t let the fact that we’re just about to the end of this QAL scare you off. Many of the blocks are fairly simple to make and can be done in an afternoon, so catching up is a snap once you find the time. You can always grab patterns for previously posted blocks on the Sewcialites 2 Landing Page by clicking the button below. You can also visit the Sewcialites 2 Block Archive on my blog which is listed in the main menu of links at the top of the page.

Newly released blocks are posted on Kim’s blog The Jolly Jabber, along with a video tutorial on her YouTube Livestream the same day. Each designer will also post their own block to either their blog or their website on that day as well. I will also be posting each block release here on MY blog every Friday for your convenience. Fabric requirements and all block patterns are on the  Sewcialites 2 Landing Page, which you can access by clicking the link below. If you’d like to get automatic updates on Sewcialites 2 you can subscribe to the blog by signing up in the Email subscription box by visiting the Landing Page, or by subscribing to the YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

Reaching Block #23 means we are just about to the end of the Sewcialites 2 quilt-along. It went fast, didn’t it!? Weekly quilt-alongs always manage to become part of my routine so when they end I always feel a bit confused for half a second. Like, it’s Friday – aren’t I supposed to be doing something??? It never takes long for the next big project to push it into the past, however. There’s always another project starting soon! For me, my next quilt-along will be “Bountiful,” the 2023 Fat Quarter Shop Charity Quilt Along, which has technically already started but I decided to throw the rules out the window go about it in a slightly different way. I’ll fill you in on all the details in a blog post next week, but first we need to get Sewcialites 2 put to bed. And wouldn’t you know it, the final block, “Energize” is my little baby, which I will proudly be featuring next Friday in our final Sewcialites 2 post, so watch for that!

Well stitchers, before I cut you loose for the Easter holiday, let’s hand out some prizes. As always, thanks a million to those of you who continue to leave comments each week on the blog. Even if it takes a while I really do read every single one of them and do my best to reply as fast as I can! Sometimes it might take me a day or two because well… There just aren’t enough hours in a day – so don’t panic if I don’t answer right away! I will as soon as I can.

And now without further ado, congratulations to Renee B., Robyn W., and June K.! Please check your emails for a message from Heidi (Note: I do not post last names or email addresses for your privacy, so if you think you’re one of the lucky winners this week please be sure to check your email. You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received a prize confirmation letter from her. If you think you are a winner but have not received a prize confirmation email, be sure to check your spam folder – it’s not often but our emails will sometimes end up there)!

Don’t forget, if you missed STITCH with Lisa Bongean yesterday you can always catch the replay by hitting the button below! Gloria and I talked all about our latest cross stitch inventory plus had a LIVE Q&A session about our new selling platform, Comment SOLD. Never heard of it? Click the link below to learn more! See you next week everyone. Take care and HAPPY EASTER from Nick & I, and all of us at Primitive Gatherings! ~Lisa