—by Gina

First off, I want to be sure you’re all marking your calendars for Friday, July 27th for an evening book signing and chat with quilt designer extraordinaire, Denyse Schmidt.  It will be held at Modern Domestic and you can see their great post with details here.  (There will even be some great give aways from Bolt and MD!)

The boxes are rolling in!  Since last week, we’ve received some of the ever-clever Tula Pink’s latest group, The Birds and the Bees, including a couple of wonderful coated cotton prints.  The middle two prints in the above pic are from Amy Butler’s new line, Cameo.  The bottom print is from Tina Givens’s Pagoda Lullaby.  We have lovely, perfect for summer wardrobe sewing, cotton voile from both Amy Butler and Tina Givens.  I love sewing with the Free Spirit voile, it’s amazing.

Some of my favorite prints lately have come from the V&A collections.  This is part of the latest group, Bromley.  I’m smitten with the colors and ikat-like prints.  Love the cheddar orange and pink on the navy blue.

Other fun arrivals—new prints from Michael Miller, including this super cool stretchy, PUL in four colors/prints.  The perfect thing for diaper covers, wet bags, raincoats…We have a number of patterns for knits and babywear (including diaper covers) that would make great use of this product. 

As we receive more new things, more things transfer over to the sale section, to make some space.  You can imagine, we are full, full, full with all the great things coming through the door, so I was thinking, we need to have a sale!  It will be a “20% off everything that’s regularly priced, an extra 10% off already marked down items” sale.  We’re firming up other details, but know it will be in the beginning of August.  We’ll let you know details soon.  Come help us clear some space!

—by Gina

Some super sweet, designer cotton lawns arrived yesterday.  Perfect for whipping up some warm weather tops and dresses for your summer wardrobe!

Art Gallery has started printing on a lovely, silky hand, cotton voile.  Also a perfect choice for summer-ware.  I love the goldenrod color of the top print.

A few beauties from Bari J’s latest group, now with Art Gallery Quilts (top photo). And, tree rings, twigs and bold florals from the ever-talented Martha Negley (lower photo).

In other news, Last Thursday is today!  That means a big, fun gathering on the street this evening.  Our own super talented April and Hannah, and another pal, will be selling their wares out front, so come by, say hi and see what they’re up to!

Also, we’ll be closed Wednesday, July 4th.  We’ll resume our regular hours Thursday, the 5th.  Have a fun and safe Fourth!

-by Hannah

Summer scarves. These two words juxtapose one another just as the two words Portland summer. I should have a little grace considering the first day of summer is five days away and things may very well change drastically. I’m not complaining. I love how the air feels and smells here. I just like to be prepared and dress appropriately.

To make these I use 1/3-1/2yd of fabric that is 44/45” wide. I prefer 44/45” fabric because anything wider may be too hot because you’ll need to loop it around your neck more than once. I tear the fabric so it has a frayed edge and stay stitch so it doesn’t continue to fray. Colette has a great french seam tutorial that would be an acceptable way to connect the two ends. Also a flat fell seam or mock flat fell seam would work. These seams are traditionally used for heavier fabrics but they work perfectly.

We’re all used to layering in Portland and summer scarves are a great way to throw a splash of color to your outfit. Here at Bolt we always have a great stock of lightweight breathable fabric such as cotton voile, cotton lawn, cotton batiste, Liberty of London, silk, silk/cotton. Right now we even have a linen/silk blend that would make a delighful summer scarf!