Hi ,

 

When it rains, it pours! Our basement, which includes my quilting studio and home office flooded this past Thursday. 

 

Dad first noticed the flood and we quickly grabbed our shop vac, Josh ran to the store to get another, and we worked together to suck up the water and limit the damage to the basement.

 

But in the end, water infiltrated almost every room.

 

I cannot describe how devastating this is, but the one thing Josh and Dad and I keep repeating is this: It could've been worse.

 

I decided to share another tour of the basement for this week's podcast episode. I just shared a studio tour for 2020 and it's surreal just how much has changed in 5 days:

This water damage was not covered by our home owners insurance. This means Josh and I will have a lot of extra, unanticipated expenses in the coming months as we rebuild.

 

We're already doing much of the work ourselves. Today we ripped out two walls and the basement kitchen cabinets. Tomorrow we will tackle the back wall in the den.

 

But the materials to fix the basement - new walls and floors are going to add up quick. This is basically a bathroom and kitchen and three room remodel all rolled into one!

 

 

We are continuing to pack and ship and run our business in addition to managing these repairs. It's quite overwhelming, but this is the challenge set before us, and we will rise to it on a daily basis.

 

I'm also continuing to shoot and share Mini Block Monday and Free Motion Friday videos. Please share these videos online with your friends so we can reach more quilters that may never have heard of the Free Motion Quilting Project or any of the free tutorials we've shared for years.

We stitched it up a notch Monday with an On Point Heart Quilt Block. Shocking admission – I’ve never made an On Point quilt. Maybe I should do something about that and make a whole quilt of cute On Point Hearts

Looking for a pattern for this On Point Heart Block Pattern? It’s all in the video! I’m trying something new with these Mini Block Monday videos and including all the information in the video itself. Just hit “pause” when you need to and write down the pieces to cut.

 

This month we have the very best sale on the Q-Zone Hoop Frame - Ever!

 

The new Grace Q-Zone Hoop Frame is specifically designed for smaller spaces. If you have 4 1/2 feet, you can fit this quilting frame!

This is the perfect entry-level frame because you can use your home sewing machine to quilt your quilts. It's much faster and easier to quilt this way because the machine is on wheels and you no longer have to fight the drag of the quilt against your table top.

 

And you can always upgrade and add a longarm machine to your frame later.

 

UPDATE - You can now use popular sit-down longarms like the Babylock Tiara and HQ Sweet 16 on the Q-Zone Hoop Frame.

 

It’s easy to love your quilts when they’re quilted with Open Heart! It’s February and I’m celebrating with heart themed Mini Blocks and heart designs all month. Open Heart is sure to become a go-to designs because it’s fast, easy, and adds a gorgeous loving texture to your quilts.

 

I know I must seem like super woman to still be sharing videos during this time. The truth is, I filmed these videos in January and had them scheduled so I could focus on writing my new book about free motion quilting and narrating Mally the Maker.

 

While I'm ahead right now, I know that won't last so I'm working hard to film new videos on the Dream Big Panel for March. Please help support our quilt shop, our family, and our efforts to teach quilting online. Please check out our quilt shop, pick up a pattern, workshop, book, or kit. Please spread the word about our tutorials and the amazing wealth of free information we've shared for years.

 

We sincerely appreciate your support and with your help we will be able to recover and rebuild quickly.

 

Let's go quilt,

 

Leah Day