Kathy Schmitz's All Stitched Up! A Block-of-the-Month with Some Special Surprises

Shop owners and quilters alike enjoy Block-of-the-Month (BOM) quilts.

All Stitched Up!

Rather than being overwhelmed by ONE BIG QUILT, the one-block-at-a-time format breaks a quilt into smaller sections that quilters can imagine accomplishing. Quilters often choose a BOM with techniques they may not be familiar with but want to learn. And because most BOMs involve different blocks, quilters aren’t stuck making six or twelve blocks they don’t enjoy: if one isn’t their favorite, they know there will be a different one to try.

Shop owners enjoy having quilters stop by on a monthly basis to share their progress and get their next block. It provides time for learning, companionship, and maybe even a little shopping.

Kathy Schmitz knows all about the popularity of BOM quilts. Kathy, who’s been designing fabric for Moda for more than ten years (and whose newest line, Piecemakers, is now in stores), has created a number of popular BOMs in the past. This year, she’s putting a twist on the concept with her newest, All Stitched Up. Each block combines piecing and seasonally appropriate embroidery and can be finished individually as 13”x23” table mats. “With a big quilt, you don’t get to enjoy what you’ve made for an entire year and this way you have a finished project you can have fun with, and then bring out to enjoy annually,” says Kathy.

The center blocks of each table mat can also be combined as a quilt with the addition of embroidered sashing (that's it, at the top of this post). Kathy’s incorporated special touches to make it as easy and fun as possible for shop owners to share All Stitched Up! with their customers.

“I’ve created a shop pack (downloadable through my web site) that includes photos they can use on their blogs and web sites for advertising and cute little labels to print out and add when they kit up their blocks," says Kathy. "And to make it easy to kit, I had the bags made just a bit bigger so a kit will fit into a pattern bag. My whole thought process was how to help stores make it as easy and fun as possible.” Yardage requirements for six kits and twelve kits are available and Kathy’s also suggests creating challenges with the blocks—encouraging customers to combine them in a variety of ways. “If you don’t want to do an entire 12 months, the patterns will also be available individually,” says Kathy.

To make All Stitched Up! even more enticing, Kathy’s added a couple of bonus features. Each pattern includes a fabric accent professionally printed on cotton poplin: examples are a bird in the hand for January’s snowman, a bow tie for October’s cat, and a festive flag for July. Kathy’s also added a 1.5”x7” bookmark with one of her watercolor images and a quote, printed on card stock, for each month. “People have really been liking these,” says Kathy.

So, if you’re looking for a project that will be just as popular during the cold winter months, when quilters have lots of time to sew, as it will be in the summer, when shorter projects appeal, check out All Stitched Up!

Kathy's newest fabric, Piecemakers