Hey stitchers, welcome back! I’m in the studio today getting back into the swing of things after a wonderful weekend of partying with the family in Wisconsin Dells, celebrating my grandson Jace’s 9th birthday. If you recall his actual birthday was a couple weeks ago, but he was unfortunate enough to get sick right before his party so we were forced to change our plans. Thankfully, the resort allowed us to reschedule our stay, so the potential cancellation was only a mere delay. We stayed at the famous Wilderness Resort, which is the largest waterpark resort in the United States. You should see this place!!! It literally takes up more than 12 football fields of space, featuring EIGHT waterparks with over a dozen indoor and outdoor attractions, three mega arcades, an 18-hole championship golf course, and an award winning spa for the adults to sneak off to when no one is looking. Not to mention, just about any kind of restaurant that your little heart desires! Needless to say, we all had great time – especially the boys – but this Mimi is beat and glad to be home.

If you’ve never done it, taking young kids to a waterpark that size is a LOT of work! I was definitely dragging a little when Kali and Heidi showed up to my house yesterday morning ready to shoot photos for “Dear Santa,” my upcoming red and white fabric line that’s due to release this May. I’m really excited about this one! It’s a simple red and white collection that brings a truckload of possibilities and creative opportunity to the sewing table. My favorite feature of the line is a nostalgic Redwork Santa panel that can be turned into a variety of different festive projects for Christmas. You can use it to make a simple quilt just by adding borders, or go for a more advanced version by adding quilt blocks. The rest of the collection consists of nine coordinating red and cream prints that are perfect for making simple to advanced projects. The best part is, the prints are not holiday/Christmas specific, so they can be used for several types of projects all year round!

As with most of my fabric lines, I also have a collection of projects based on “Dear Santa “ in the works. Despite my lack of energy during our shoot yesterday, between the three of us I think we got some really beautiful photos of all the projects for the book, which I think you’r really going to love. I will say, we couldn’t have done it without the help of our resident star quilt model and “tester,” Jax leading the way. Isn’t he the sweetest???? Who’s a good boy!?!?

Red and white quilts are definitely one of my all-time favorites so I’m especially antsy to see “Dear Santa” arrive here this spring. If you’d like to take a closer look at this collection of red and white eye candy, I invite you to check out the official Moda “Dear Santa Swatch Pages” by clicking HERE! And once you’ve decided that you absolutely NEED every project in the book along with every single fabric that the line has to offer, you can pre-order them on our website now by clicking HERE!

Speaking of favorites, before I run off to my sewing room for the evening I wanted to let Rowenta fans know that one of my most favorite irons is currently on sale! We unfortunately don’t have the floor space to offer these awesome machines for purchase here at the shop, but anyone who’s been to my studio or to The Gathering knows that the Rowenta Steam Station has been one of my main go-to’s in the iron department for many years for lots of reasons…

With a large removable 37oz water tank, locking system and cord storage, this machine is super easy and safe to use. The Rowenta Pro Steam Station also gives you meticulous steam control, which means you get the perfect amount of steam for whatever project you’re working on. Now that’s iron gospel right there… Amen!!!

As I mentioned, we do not currently carry the Rowenta Steam Station here at PG, however a little birdie told me that she recently picked one up on Amazon for a smokin’ hot deal… Usually these bad boys retail at around $300, but she was fortunate enough to stumble upon them listed for… get ready for this… $198.79!!! If you’ve been on the fence about one of these, now is the time to pull that trigger! I have no idea how long this price will last or how many they have in stock… All I know is that in all my years of using these irons I have literally never seen them so cheap!!! If you’d like to get your hands on one, don’t wait. The sale could literally end tonight… Who knows!? I don’t… So grab yours before they’re gone by clicking the button above!

Alright, everyone! I will see you all back here tomorrow with the next block release from MBH5, and then again on Thursday for our usual lineup of LIVE shows starting at 1:00 p.m. on my YouTube Channel, STITCH with Lisa Bongean, and then again at appx 2:15 p.m. for CommentSold. Until then, get some stitching done! See you soon. ~Lisa