Hey everyone, welcome back to the weekend! It’s been another fun-filled and busy week here at Primitive Gatherings, both in the shop and at the retreat house. We kicked off the week by hosting three CommentSold sales in 24 hours, including a special pop-up online “Christmas in July” event. Then on Thursday I held a LIVE Q&A session on STITCH with Lisa featuring my friend and fellow quilter, Linda Hrcka of the Quilted Pineapple. My crew and I also welcomed cross stitch master Teresa Kogut to The Gathering where she is currently instructing a multi-day cross stitch class and retreat with a full house. What a week!

Needless to say, there is certainly a buzz of activity going on, with no end to the excitement in sight. I love it! To add to the list of things happening at PG, we cant’ forget that along with Friday also comes the next block release in my Twilight Stars Quilt-Along! Remember, patterns for these blocks are located in my book, Triangle Gatherings (required to participate in the QAL along with a few other items), which can be purchased on our website by clicking HERE. New to the quilt-along? A blog post I did explaining the full details on Twilight Stars can be found by clicking HERE. The full list of details and required supplies can be found at the Twilight Stars Info Page by hitting the button below!

Ready to get started? Let’s do it! This week’s Twilight Stars Quilt-Along block releases are block numbers 43 and 58! Thank you to everyone who has been sharing their work on social media – I love seeing all the varieties of fabric and color ways. It’s always interesting to see what other people like vs what I do. As far as my own blocks go, I’m using my Rustic Gatherings fabric line combined with Jackie MacDonald’s Halloween-themed collection, Spellbound. Both lines feature color palettes including rusty oranges and rich blacks, along with some nice grey selections from Rustic that go together perfectly.

How are you doing with all the half-square triangles in this quilt? If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times… If you find half-square triangles to be a challenge, Primitive Gatherings Triangle Paper is the solution! For those of you new to using triangle paper or if you never have before, I obviously highly recommend them as do many of my fellow stitchers. In fact, if you love my Primitive Gatherings Triangle Paper and want to share why you do with the folks who don’t want to take my word for it, let them know what they’re missing in the comments! There might even be a prize in it for you… Need help getting started using Triangle Paper? Follow my list of tips and tricks to help you get going in the right direction:

For those of you having trouble with flying geese, I went over a few pointers on how to get them to turn out better during a LIVE show last week during STITCH with Lisa Bongean. If you missed it you can always watch the replay by clicking HERE (start video at 21:10 for conversation on Twilight Stars). Also, to clear up any confusion, I recently posted a chart showing what your flying geese units should measure according to the size of your quilt. You can find that on the the Twilight Stars Info Page by hitting the button above.

Since I mentioned prizes, let’s give a shout-out to our latest Twilight Stars Quilt-Along prize winner, Kinna H.! Kinna won a sweet little care package from Heidi’s prize vault for simply posting a photo of her completed blocks last week, along with the required book, Triangle Gatherings and Primitive Gatherings Triangle Paper included in the picture, and the hashtag #TwilightStarsQAL!

Well stitchers! That’s about all I have for you until next week. Remember, if you get bored over the weekend and feel like doing a little shopping, you can always go back and revisit our CommentSold “Christmas in July” event by visiting your account page. And just a friendly reminder, if you were on the fence about pre-ordering American Gatherings II pre-cuts or quilts kits but missed the cut-off day for the discount, I extended the sale through today! That’s 20% OFF pre-cuts and 15% OFF quilt kits for just a few more hours! Haven’t had a chance to see American Gatherings II yet? Click HERE to check out one of the best patriotic fabric lines ever to be released since American Gatherings I!

Before I go, I want to say thank you to Kamaile G. and Lori G. for their comments on the blog last week. Heidi will be sending you each a little something to show how much we appreciate you! If you’re wondering how you too can win one of Heidi’s cool prizes, it’s really very simple. Leave me a comment! I always like to hear what you’re thinking (remember, 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.). Ok everyone! Have fun stitching your blocks and I will see you all next week! Take care. ~Lisa