Premier Prints - Hopes & Dreams Grand Sponsor

 

Premier Prints, Inc. was founded in February 1991 in Tupelo, MS by the Hodges brothers. Coming from backgrounds in textile sales, the family has always had a strong passion for the fabric and furniture industries. As the Premier Prints brand evolved and expanded, the customer experience and the desire to source as much as possible in the USA has always remained our center focus. Our fabrics are 100% printed in our facility in the USA by our dedicated team of skilled craftsmen and are stocked in our warehouse enabling us to ship most orders within days of receiving them!

Striving to remain an environmentally friendly company, we use a water-based pigment printing system utilizing Stork rotary equipment. Our company has experience printing on a variety of substrates including medium weight cotton ducks, 9-ounce textured cotton, cotton/rayon, 11-ounce cotton/linen blends and outdoor polyesters. We are capable of applying water resistant and ultraviolet enhancing finishes. 

We inventory hundreds of fabrics across a multitude of design aesthetics qualifying us to satisfy all your printed fabric needs whether it’s a project for drapery, upholstery, bedding, pillows, tableware, kids’ rooms and nurseries, pet beds, bags and crafts, events or outdoor pillows and cushions. We offer 30 or 60 yard bolts and cut yardage (anything less than 30 yds) with no minimums enabling you to order the exact increment of fabric for each project eliminating waste and the stockpiling of useless fabric! 

In addition to our expansive inventory options, Premier Prints offers custom printing with the lowest minimums in the rotary print industry. We realize that some projects require a very specific design or coloration and are happy to discuss options for recoloring our patterns, printing your artwork, or helping you source something to fit your needs.

Visit our site to start viewing this extensive line of over 2,000 printed fabrics and coordinating solids: www.premierprintsinc.com . 

Email megcurtis@premierprintsinc.com with any questions.

Hopes and Dreams are so grateful to Premier Prints for being a Grand Sponsor again this Quilt Challenge year! The prize they sent us last year was four 100 yard rolls of cotton fabric!! All of our challenge winners loved receiving Premier Prints fabric as a part of their prizes. Thank you for supporting ALS patients and helping to find a cure ~ one quilt at a time!

The Dream Team

Erin D, Erin S, Jane, Jennifer, and Neva

StashTools - Hopes & Dreams Charm Sponsor

 

StashTools was established with the goal of providing quilters with tools (acrylic templates) to assist in reducing their stash.  Acrylic templates are a great way to ensure fast and accurate rotary cutting of fabrics and our templates are designed to work with left-over pre-cuts but can easily be used with the fabrics in your stash.

Quilt shows, guild presentations, classes, our online store, and a small number of quilt stores are the only places StashTools templates can be purchased. ​ Check out our show schedule and stop by our booth for a demonstration.  Also, videos on how to use the templates are (or will be soon) posted on the video tab of our web site www.stashtools.com.

​We strive to provide quality, made in the USA, products to reduce your fabric stash. 

StashTools is one of the 2021 Hopes and Dreams Charm Sponsors! They have generously donated 58 StashTools Tumbler Templates. The winners of the Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS will each receive one of these handy templates!

The StashTools Tumbler Template is 4 1/2" tall and is perfect for use on a 5" square. Template finishes at 4" across the bottom and 2 1/2 across the top and is 4" high. The template is made of 1/8" fluorescent acrylic and includes a 1/4" seam allowance. The template is laser engraved and extremely accurate. The template is made in the USA.

2019-2020 Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge Winners

Thank to every who participated in the 2019-2020 Hopes & Dream Quilt Challenge year! We received over 1090 quilts and quilted items that will be given to patients living with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) or to raise money with 100% of the proceeds being used to fund research toward a cure for this terrible disease. 

VOTE NOW!

We invite you to vote on your favorite quilt in the Top 11 Finalists in the Sew Popular Category Voting will end Monday September 28th, 2020. Please invite your family and friends to vote as well!

 

Featured Battgirl // Tommie Jean

 

"This quilt top was appliqued some thirty years ago while I was living on Maui in Hawaii. I had become mesmerized by the Hawaiian quilting and it's traditional quilters. There was something ethereal about it. 

Unfortunately my stay in Hawaii was not to be permanent and I returned stateside and life went on. Now at 94, having to think about what will be done with my beloved "stuff" on my passing, I can't bear the thought of this quilt top staying in a bottom drawer, or worse, for another 30 years! I am taking action to have the top, batting and backing basted to make ready for my attempted quilting. It will be on its way and to my Granddaughter in whatever stage it may reach and my long ago effort will not be for naught. 

Having researched quilt batting to ensure manageable weight, ease of quilting, care and most importantly "loft" I have decided on Quilters Dream Wool for my quilting. It will maintain loft and set off my Hawaiian Echo Quilting."

Again my many thanks to you and Quilters Dream Batting. I would like to tell you of my progress. Hopefully I can get a good amount done before my time Is up. It has truly been a joy to have met you and told my story!

Stay safe and stay well,

Tommie Jean Roosmann

Featured Battgirl // Melissa Martin (Six Kids Quilts)

#Battgirls/#Battmen Questionnaire:

1. What inspired you to start quilting and what inspires you now?

I have always wanted to learn to piece-quilt, but finally got the inspiration to do it when I was cleaning out my closet and found my husband’s old police uniforms. I took the patches from the fronts and sleeves and pieced them into my very first quilt! It’s definitely not my best work, but you have to start somewhere!

I love the art of quilting and that’s what keeps me inspired. 

2. Your favorite thing about quilting and/or being part of the quilting industry?

I love that I am able to meet and talk to people from all over the country - and even the world - that love the same thing I do and have such a passion for it. 

 

3. Any special connections and friendships you have gained through quilting.

I made a lot of new friends when I joined my local and quilt guild. 

 

4. Any upcoming events, classes, guild meetings, etc you’d like to share or spread the word about? If so, please include links, address & contact info.

I will be teaching my very first long-arm quilting class to a group of ladies in Mississippi later this month. 

 

5. Which Quilters Dream Batting product is yours and your customers' favorites and why?

My customers and I love Quilter’s Dream Wool. I love the loft and softness it gives to the quilts even when they’re heavily quilted. 🐑 

6. Please share your special or helpful quilting techniques and tips?

While I am rolling the quilt on the frame I mist it with water to remove wrinkles. 

If I mark on the quilt with a blue mark-be-gone I spray a mixture of one teaspoon of baking soda with one cup of water to remove.

The first time I quilted for someone for a quilt show, I won best machine quilting.

We are loving the quilt ink!

Thank you Melissa for being the featured #battgirl this month! Be sure to follow Six Kids Quilts @6kidsquilts on Facebook and @sixkidsquilts on Instagram.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming one of our Featured #battgirl/#battman, then click HERE for more details!! 

Happy Quilting from the Dream Team!

Quilters Protecting Their Communities

Quilters are known for their giving hearts and stepping up in any way they can. Recently, quilters from all over the world have come together to protect their communities. In the mist of social distancing, they have been diligently sewing face masks to help defend people who are exposed to Covid-19.  

Some people are making masks for hospital staff and first responders. They are also making them for essential employees and their coworkers. Others are creating masks to keep their family and friends safe. No matter the reason that they have, they are putting their time, money, and materials aside to protect the people they care for.

We are learning more about this developing disease and how to combat it. Aside from hand washing and disinfecting, CDC recommends homemade face masks to slow the spread of the virus and help people, who may have the virus and do not know it, from transmitting it to others.

Cloth face coverings are a good option for those who are in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. With the limited amount of medical grade masks, which should be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, these homemade masks are great secondary option. They may not stop you from getting the coronavirus, but they will help slow the speed in which it spreads.

If you are like the many who would like to sew masks; there are several different mask patterns/instructions available for free on the internet. Most are simple, fast, and easy to understand:

https://www.missouriquiltco.com/msqc/tutorial/DIY-face-mask

https://sarahmaker.com/how-to-sew-a-surgical-face-mask-for-hospitals-free-pattern/

https://thecraftyquilter.com/2020/04/face-mask-pattern-updates-and-a-finished-quilt-top/

Even the CDC have some tutorials on to make cloth face coverings.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

If you are looking for a place to donate masks https://www.masksforheroes.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/millionmaskchallenge/ are constantly updating the hospitals that are currently requesting masks.

Here at Quilters Dream Batting, we are so inspired by the number of quilters who are trying to make a difference. Whether you are making one mask or one thousand, we applaud you for helping stop the spread of this virus.

Please stay home if possible, be safe, and keeping sewing!  

The Dream Team (Jane, Neva, Erin S, Erin D, Jennifer, and Gina)

We Scream for Ice Cream (Fabric, That Is)!

With only being in the new decade for two months, and new resolutions being kept and new habits
created (dang healthier eating resolutions), ice cream has been on my mind constantly! It doesn’t
matter that there’s a snowstorm passing through Eastern Idaho — all I can think about is ice cream. 

This ice cream-themed quilt has been in my head for a couple years, so when Shannon Fabrics came
out with 2 Scoops Digital Cuddle® print, I knew it was time. 

Want the “scoop” on making one of your own? Here are the fabrics I used:

Background - Cuddle® 3 Navy

Binding - Cuddle® 3 Lime

Cone - Luxe Cuddle® Frosted Gem Camel/Beige

Scoops - Luxe Cuddle® Hide in Lime, Banana, and Carnation

Backing - 2 Scoops Digital Cuddle® Multi

Let’s get started. 

The first thing I did was hand draw my ice cream cone on craft paper in the approximate size that I
wanted it to be, and labeled my pieces — top scoop, middle, bottom and cone. Feel free to draw
yours from your own idea, or use the ice cream cones on the digital print as inspiration. 

Pro Tip: Find your centers on the ice cream cone. Make a gentle fold by bringing the tip of the cone
to the top of the top scoop, and mark your center. Make a gentle fold by matching the sides of the
cone/scoops, and mark your center. This will help you place the ice cream scoops and the cone
directly in the center of your background piece. 

Next, carefully cut out each of your scoops and cone from your paper. 

Place them right-side down on the back of your fabric, taking care to make sure the nap goes from
the top of the scoop to the bottom. Trace around your pattern piece. 

Pro Tip: When tracing, add a little bit of extra fabric to your tracing to allow for any fabric movement.
Also, you can actually use a lightweight soft fusible iron-on adhesive on Cuddle®  (be sure to read the
“tips and tricks” on their website so you don’t melt your fabric), but for my scoops/cone, temporary
adhesive spray and a few pins worked perfectly. 

Find the vertical and horizontal centers of your background fabric. Make sure your nap is going from
top to bottom. 

Starting with the cone, lay your pieces on the background. Use your center line guides and your
templates to lay your pieces out where they should go. Once you have them in place, starting with
the cone, use the adhesive spray to make it stay in place. Pin for added measure. 

Once all the pieces are pinned, and, using the tips and tricks guide for applique available on the
Shannon website, use a similar color thread for each piece and stitch down to the background fabric. 

Once your ice cream cone is stitched in place, baste together with batting and backing. I used Quilters
Dream Poly in my quilt to provide a warm and stable center for such a large quilt. Quilters Dream Poly
is the perfect loft and is super easy to work with and stitch through. I think if I make another one
(because I may know a kid or two who will want their own ice cream quilt), not only will I use Quilters
Dream Poly for my batting, but I will also use Quilters Dream Puff under my scoops/cone to give my
quilt top more of a trapunto feel and look. 

I want to give a big “shout out” to Quilters Dream for providing their Quilters Dream Poly for this quilt.
It is so warm and gives the quilt a nice weight without being super bulky or heavy.