First she had to examine all the kitty stuff.  Down the ramp to the bedroom, she ended up filling the spaces our last three left last year in the bed at night…

She loves the Kitty Corner.

There’s a movie coming out March 2^nd (Dr. Seuss’ 108^th birthday, incidentally) that tells the Lorax’s story. We have a great line of fabric that shows the Lorax as well as the other characters from the book.  Appropriately enough, the fabrics are organic cotton printed with low impact dyes. The panel offers “book pages” showing the Lorax, some of his adventures and timely warning to us “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Fans of the Cat in The Hat can enjoy the images from the classic book as quilts, clothing, bags or purses by using the fabric line. There are wonderful Seussian prints, bold colors, and memorable characters.

We have laminated fabrics in several Seuss prints too!  This vinyl coated fabric makes great lunch bags, tote bags, book bags, place mats, and more. (More of these great Seuss prints are still on the way.)

Book bags are very appropriate, as the National Education Association began the Read Across America program in 1997 to celebrate reading and honor Dr.Seuss.

We have Cat in The Hat and Grinch fleece on order and expect it and the “How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2012” collection to arrive in May. Be sure to check the web site for their arrivals.

Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and enjoy the wonderful worlds created in his books. Delightful for all, not just the children. Use these fun fabrics and make those great characters a part of your everyday life!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the highlighted words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

Northcott (properly known as Northcott Silk Inc.) is currently famous for the stunning collection of “Stonehenge” fabrics and pre-cuts, which you can find here at Erica’s, but the company has been producing quality fabrics for more than 75 years.

Their fabrics offer a great variety of styles, including wonderful floral prints, children’s lines and whimsical holiday groups. Northcott is also a great supporter of the fight against breast cancer with their “Quest for a Cure” program which donates a portion of the purchase price for every yard they sell of selected collections to Breast Cancer Research.

Be sure to check out everything we have from this noted company! (Scroll down the index page and look for “Northcott”)

Now for your questions:

1. What city is the home of the US division of Northcott?
2. Name one of Northcott’s designers.
3. What is the name of Northcott’s Stonehenge 5” x 5” squares (named by an Erica’s customer at a Northcott special event here at the store)?
4. What is the name of a basic line from Northcott that is also a word for spots on your skin?

Answer the questions correctly, and we’ll enter you in the drawing for two packs of Stonehenge 5” x 5” squares and a package of mixed fat quarters of Northcott fabrics for each winner (we’ll have 6 winners!). And 2 of those winners will also get a Stonehenge tote bag!

The comments must be posted to this blog, but they won’t show up until the contest is over, on Thursday, February 23, 2012!

Good luck!

To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the highlighted words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

I love Lazy Girl bags ~ they fit into a busy schedule because they don’t take a lot of time to have a professional looking finished product.  They have great features, too.  I like the way these handles attach.  That way you can replace them if they show wear.  The front is a pocket, which I learned from my Margo Bag (50135), is essential.

This one will also hold more kitties from the Humane Society, so I took it along when we went to look for our new boys  We ended up with older cats, so they didn’t climb in, but this little one was thinking about it!.

This one ended up as a model in the store, so I needed to make another one for myself.

Same colors, of course!  I had liked the pockets on my Margo Handbag, so I enlarged them and used the Candace pockets on one side and the Margo pockets on the other!  (You might have noticed that I have the pocket opening on the right side of this Candace and on the left in the first one.  I could tell you that was on purpose, but I’d be lying.  Of course, it works either way.)This time I used a foam stabilizer for added stability.  I had used it in the handles of my first one, and loved it!  We carry both Soft and Stable (A13749) and Inn Control (A12989) and they both work.  There is a black version of Soft and Stable. I tried it in place of fusible batting in the pattern instructions, which put it against the lining.  I ended up having to make the lining smaller.  Doing it again, I’d put it against the outside fabric instead.  I really like the stability. I also added feet, as I do with my bags.

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the highlighted words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

The technique involves using 5” squares (charms) or 10” squares (Layer Cakes), depending on the size of template you’re using and the size you want the finished project to be..

Sew together your squares, add a border, and the fun begins!

The template guides you through cutting your sewn piece to create pinwheels – so much easier and quicker than piecing triangles!

There’s also a way to “cheat”. We used a fabric with printed squares (996033) and the Lil Twister to create a table topper.

The books, “Let’s Twist” (A12677) and “Let’s Twist…Again” (A13679) each have 12 patterns using the Twister tools in both sizes, giving you lots of ideas and options.

You can add more borders, add pieced borders, change the arrangement of your pinwheels, and more, to give a variety of looks. Make table toppers, runners, wall hangings and quilts by changing the number and size of your blocks.

Once you start, you won’t want to stop!

(To find an item or event on our web page after clicking on the highlighted words, hold down the “Ctrl” key and touch F. Enter the item number in the box, press enter, and you’ll be taken to that item.)

You can see What’s New at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “New Items” in purple, and click to find out.

We start each new year with our Footbowl Widow’s Sale.  After the ball falls in Times Square to mark the beginning of 2012, our annual  Sale begins!

Save on more than 450 bolts of fabric! Buttons! Patterns! Books! Magazines! We’ve got it! Be sure to check out our sale pages for details. As soon as the clock ticks past Midnight EST on January 1, 2012 the Footbowl Widow’s Sale prices start at 50% off on select items, and progress from there. Our Bargain End of Bolt fabrics will be 50% off instead of 40% off!, be sure to check them out!

If you live in the Michiana area, we invite you to come to our sale from Noon until 3:00pm on Sunday, New Year’s Day, and we’ll start the new year together.

In either case, again, we wish you a Happy New Year.  Thank you for letting us be part of it.

The winners are:

TerriAnn Harms wrote: 
“There are many reasons to love Moda, but I guess the main reason for me is that Moda has really been inspiring to my 14 year old daughter.  She is just learning to quilt and really enjoys the pre-cuts Moda offers.  It gives her a nice jump start and helps her confidence build.  She loves the various designers that offer such bright and up-to date colors.”

Laura Hess wrote:
“I love Moda fabrics because they always have new creative designs, ideas and high quality products.”

Anna Bain wrote:
“Contact me if I win!”

Regina Schroeder wrote:
“I like Moda because they have such a great variety of designers.”

Megan Anderson wrote:
“I love Moda fabrics because they are all such classically pretty designs.”

Thanks for Playing!

Erica, Cathy, Cathy & Cheryl

This year we’re also thankful for the wonderful memories of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, the loving felines we lost recently, and we’re thankful to have two new boys who are helping fill the holes in our hearts and emptiness in our home.

Some may not feel that Bernie and Pucc (pronounced “Pooch”) are good names to join our other noted composers, like our little 8 year old girl, Kassia. (Kassia was a rebellious 8th Century composer who, against the wishes of the men in the clergy, wrote liturgical music. And, yes, our Kassi is just as headstrong and determined!) However, when you know these nicknames stand for Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story..) and Giacomo Puccini (La Boheme, Madame Butterfly..), it might change your mind.

So many of you told us you wanted photos of our new guys when we got them, so here they are!

We picked out these two the Friday after we got home from Quilt Market. Really, they picked us out. We were looking for small, older tabbies and Bernie is a 7 month old part Munchkin (though we didn’t notice that at the Shelter because he was always in our arms or climbing around our necks), and Pucci is white with black spots, a year old. We arranged to pick them up the next Wednesday, since I had to prepare for my Handi Quilter Club meetings Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and I knew they would be too much of a distraction.

So Wednesday came and we brought the boys home.. to hissing and spitting from Kassi. So they stayed in a spare room for two days as we exchanged blankets and toys to try to start them adjusting to each other. The boys were amazingly already buddies, just having been together since we picked them out.

But Kassi was another story.  The first time we let them out that 3rd day, they raced all over the house with Kassi watching safely from a cat walk above.

It’s the call of the holiday vendorwith his wonderful evergreens putting us in the mood for Christmas. It’s also the title of a fun, fast and festive quilt pattern. Trees for Sale (43242 $8.00) was designed by Sandy Gervais, a noted designer of fabricsfor Moda (and patterns for her company Pieces of My Heart). The pattern uses 10” squares for theblocks, and an innovative technique for cutting.