Various & Sundry 2013 #16

Recent merit badges
Recent merit badges

Tools/Supplies

One of the things I wasn’t able to do when my machine was in the shop was to sew on merit badges. I finally was able to sew on the most recent two – chess and sculpture. He has more merit badges than are shown. I just folded over the sash, because I was in a hurry.

Aurifil Club November
Aurifil Club November

I got my Aurifil package for October (or, perhaps, November) while I was away. I was somewhat disappointed with the last installment and I was disappointed in this installment as well. I really wanted bright colors and wasn’t getting them. I decided to cancel my subscription to the Aurifil club. I still think the Aurifil Club is a great idea. I know running a small business is hard, I just don’t want to receive the colors I already own or are locally available. I know some of you are thinking that I should tell Mary Jo and Matthew. Yes, you are right; I just didn’t have the energy to explain at this time. They, of course, have no way of knowing what I like and don’t like. I might join again another time. We will see.

The other day I posted a review of Sarah’s video. Towards the end of the video she mentioned a free Quilting Daily eBook called Quilt Binding and Finishing: Free Tutorials on How to Bind a Quilt Plus Tips on Finishing a Quilt. It is in PDF format (I would prefer Kindle, but beggars can’t be choosers. All you have to do is sign up for the Quilting Daily newsletter. It is annoying to get it everyday, but I usually take a quick glance and glean what I can and delete it. The eBooks are great. They aren’t like real books, but free is good.

I did buy a bolt of ShapeFlex. The bolts are only 15 yards big and about $80. I had a 50% off coupon from Joann, so I used it for that. I am pleased and have already cut into it. One great thing about ShapeFlex is that I can use the little bits and pieces to fill in places where I just need a bit.

Exhibits

I got the notice that my local county fair is starting up marketing for their 2014 exhibit. Commit to entering your local county fair. Usually, the cost of entry is low. At our fair, as I have mentioned, we get entry tickets and parking passes, which makes the cost of a day out with the family very affordable. Why not? What have you got to lose?

Projects

Need an idea for birthday card. Check out how Jill made a great card with machine embroidery.

While Sewing
As many of you know, I listen to audiobooks as I sew. I pretend that I only buy quilt books, but, in reality I do buy audiobooks from Audible.com. They make it easy to download and listen. Still, the cost adds up even with a plan. If you are on the fence, there are free books from Librivox, but also you can borrower them from your local public library.

Other Artists

Camille Roskelley posted another version of her Round and Round pattern. I love that block. It is essentially a Friendship Star, but she has made it better. I guess I should say that she has taken a moderately successful block and made it really interesting. I know I sound judgmental, but I think that the Friendship doesn’t work well as a large block (e.g. 12″), works better the smaller a quiltmaker makes it. Roskelley’s version takes the best of the block and really makes it sing.

You might remember that I recently participated in a blog hop for Sarah Ann Smith‘s new DVD Workshop. As part of that, she wrote a nice post about me! It was fun to see the impression that I make on someone else.

Inspiration

I love this idea: Winter is a chromatic palette cleanser. This is paraphrased from The Lost Art of Mixing.