5^th Block of the Sew Red Sew-a-long from Saremy Duffy

We are just bursting at the seams (hee hee) to show you the next block in the Mystery Sew Red Sew-a-long!  This inspired-by-Cathedral-Window quilt block was designed by the wildly talented Saremy Duffy of Chicken Boots. 

All about Saremy

Saremy Duffy is an extremely avid seamster with a business making and selling accessories for knitters, crocheters and others creative folks called Chicken Boots.  All Chicken Boots products are made right here in the USA in Chico, CA, and we proudly carry them at Jimmy Beans. Saremy is passionate about knowing where the things she buys come from and tries to buy Made in US and handmade first—within reason financially.  I bet what you really want to know, though, is why she chose the name “Chicken Boots” for her business.  The Duffys have raised a lot of chickens and after a 1.5 year hiatus while they found a new home, they hope this year they will have chickens again.  Saremy says she falls asleep dreaming about the Chicken Coop / Bunny Hutch she will build in the yard next to their pool once they're all settled in their new home.  During all that time of raising chickens, they’ve called their boots that are worn to take care of chicken chores their 'chicken boots'. Their daughter was five when she coined the term and it stuck!  

If you’re local to the Chico area, check out the public knitting group that Saremy hosts at the Chico Library each week.  You can also keep up with all of her adventures on her blog (http://www.chickenbootsusa.com/blogs) or by connecting with her on Facebook. Don't forget your boots!

Saremy and Sew Red

 Saremy picked up on heart-healthy eating and exercising habits from her mother’s example; her mom was a nurse who worked in a heart catheterization lab, which runs diagnostic tests to see if someone is at risk for heart disease.  Saremy is passionate about knowing where her food comes from and tries to eat organic, local foods as much as possible.  Saremy knits and sews a lot, which can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, but she’s very conscious of being as active as she can.  As an avid cyclist-turned-runner, Saremy makes it a point to get her morning run in before becoming consumed by work.  She has also challenged herself that she’ll get to knit for every hour she exercises this year.  We think that’s a great way to stay active!  Seeing firsthand how devastating heart disease can be made Saremy excited to be a part of the book.  You can find her amazingly practical and stylish Jewelry Case in Sew Red!

Saremy’s Block for the Mystery Sew Red Sew-a-long!

Saremy was inspired to re-interpret the traditional Cathedral Window quilt block.  She used fabrics from Luella Doss's Fowl Play collection - perfect for the creator of Chicken Boots! We love that her block can be assembled in many different ways, and can’t wait to see how you all choose to orient your own blocks!  Click over to the Chicken Boots blog to find instructions!

National Wear Red Day and Sew Red!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all wearing red today for National Wear Red Day and the kick off of American Heart Month! We certainly are! The crew at Jimmy Beans Wool wore red today and snapped this photo after our morning meeting. 

Also, I wanted to tell you all about a fun contest we are hosting for the kick off of our new book Sew Red! Sew Red is the follow up book to last year’s Knit Red and features sewing and quilting patterns from over 25 celebrity designers! Each copy purchased from Jimmy Beans Wool will be signed by the author herself, Laura Zander (aka. Jimmy)! Inside Sew Red, you’ll find pattern sheets, instructions, beautiful photography, heart healthy tips and recipes, and personal stories of heart disease shared by the designers themselves. Not only that, but we also had the honor of welcoming back Deborah Norville to write the forward for this very special book.

Some of the many designs from Sew Red include quilts from Kaffe Fassett, Valori Wells, Tula Pink, and Mark Cesarik as well as gorgeous accessories and garments by Brett Bara, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Ty Pennington and so many more! We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such an accomplished crew of designers and are sure that there is something for every type of sewist in this book!

As our contribution to the Stitch Red campaign, we have agreed to contribute a minimum of 5% of our gross profits from the sale of Sew Red to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) in support of The Heart Truth® and women's heart health education and research.

You'll be hearing much more about Sew Red in the coming month, and we hope you'll be adding it to your library soon. In fact, if you Pre-order your copy from Jimmy Beans Wool starting today, we'll add you into a drawing to win your copy for free! We’ll draw names on the day the books arrive to our warehouse, which is expected to be sometime next week! How fun is that?!?! 

We all hope you have a lovely, heart healthy weekend!

<3

Kristen, and the Stitch Red team!