Websites, Articles, Classes and Information
Tina, of the Weezyworks podcast wrote a limerick for me. I was so thrilled! It was very sweet of her. Go listen to her podcast. It is listed on iTunes and at WeezyWorks. She reads my limerick on episode #25. The limerick is:
There once was a woman named Jaye
A quilter from San Francisco Bay.
She turns her dots
and fabric spots
Into a quilty ballet.
Molly, Jan Burgwinkle of Be*Mused blog fame’s daughter, has a website and Etsy shop called Tokodots. Her cards are cheerful, colorful and vaguely quilt related. The site has an associated blog, which seems to be more about her projects than about sales. It is a nice refreshing change to read about loving fabric, then sincerely disliking it, only find that it is perfect again two days later. Her post on the robe she made in Field Study fabrics is lovely.
Marsha McCloskey really popularized the Feathered Star pattern when quiltmaking was young. Craft University has captured her genius with a class, Craft University Online Feathered Star Workshop. It begins on September 15. Too bad Craftsy didn’t get to her first.
I was very pleased to see a story about quiltmaking on NPR’s All Things Considered. Of course, it was about the Missouri Star Quilt Company and Jenny Doan, but still! It is good to get the word out about the fabulousness of quiltmaking out to the Muggles.
Sherri D shared a couple of posts from Geta’s Quilting Studio with me. The first is about washing quilts pre-binding. I don’t have experience with this as I don’t wash my quilts pre-binding. The second one is about making binding right after you have finished the top. I do this all the time as making the binding is such a chore that I just want to get it done. Having it done feels like an accomplishment. Also, my quilter machine sews the binding on for me, so I have to have it done before I take it to her.
I was very pleased to see a post on labels on the Dining Room Empire. Cheryl Arkison uses the same print on fabric technique that I use. Yay!
Books, Patterns, Magazines & Projects
The New York Beauty block on the Sew E.T. blog makes me want to get back to some spiky triangles. The thing about this block is that she has some fabrics in a rainbow configuration. I want to do that, but will have to take the time to organize the fabrics.
As if I need to add more to my To Do list, Amanda shared the X Plus pattern with me. I love the scrappiness of the versions I have seen on Instagram. Perhaps this would be a good pattern (and a reason to make it!) for my next Niecephews quilt.
Generation Q magazine has a new newsletter called Stashed. Aside from being super fantastic, I am not sure how I got on the list. It wasn’t too long, had plenty of pictures and a giveaway (which is probably closed by now). Take a look and let me know what you think.
I love the X Plus pattern!! Id on’t know why I love it so much, but I do. Perhaps that lozenge shape that I have been seeing? I am plotting to use this X Plus pattern somehow. I have an idea for one of the Niecephews quilts.
Ami Simms has some good ideas about bibs. She has taken those ideas and made a tutorial.
I saw another fabric basket like the One Hour Basket. I thought I might try it but after reading the directions, I thought it sounded like the fabric handbag pattern TFQ and I made together one time (last time??) when I was at her house. I am not sure how I feel about using the paper bag as the interfacing either.
Kathy M put up a tutorial on making a pillowcase. It is a smaller version of the burrito or magic pillowcase tutorial.
Fabric, Tools, Shops, Supplies & Embellishments
A few weeks ago, I took a trip with two friends to Scruffy Quilts. It is not to far from me. It is a small shop, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of quilt related tools, fabric and supplies they had. For my pillowcase project, there were a wide variety of designs from which to choose. I was also interested in the Judy Niemeyer patterns available. I don’t plan on making one, but the complexity and possibilities for the designs were wonderful to look at. I also had fun looking at the notions! I did sign up for a Tuffet class. I had been wanting to make one since I bought the pattern. I tried to win one at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association show, but was not successful, so I bit the bullet. Check out Scruffy Quilts if you are in the area. They also have an online site.
Check the accuracy of your rulers, tape measures and cutting mats. That might help your accuracy.
Exhibits, Tutorials & Events
Marsha McCloskey has posted another lesson in the Winter Star Tutorial on here blog. This one is about finishing the 3″ Ohio Star for the center of the block, and includes setting up to piece, and an accuracy test. You can see all the posts she’s done so far at: https://featheredstar.wordpress.com/
I always like to find good basic tutorials, because then I don’t have to write a tutorial for everything. 😉 Sewmotion has a tutorial on cutting fabric. It is a good, basic tutorial and not long. My only problem with this tutorial is that the photos show her rotary cutter ope in between cuts. CLOSE YOUR ROTARY CUTTER EVERY TIME!!! You never know when you will be called away and little fingers (or big) will come nosing around. Alternatively, you can get a rotary cutter like mine that closes automatically and can be locked closed. I can’t live without it.
Doing Good
“From Stashed Newsletter: Last April, Nepal suffered a devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000. Even more thousands of residents were left homeless from the destruction the 7.8-magnitude temblor left behind.
Luana Rubin is a GenQ friend, owner of eQuilter.com and one of the most compassionate quilters around. Over the years, she’s led efforts to bring quilts to the victims of other disasters, as well as standing charities helping people throughout the world. For more information, go HERE.
Now she’s leading a quilt drive to benefit the Nepalese people left homeless by the earthquake and she’s asking for our help. She needs lap, twin and double-sized quilts in bright, cheerful colors. You can donate finished quilts directly to Luana by shipping them to eQuilter, 5455 Spine Road, Suite E, Boulder, CO 80301. Consider getting your bee, guild or small group together to make some quilts, too. It’s all about fellowship and giving back, something we quilters have always done.
On our own home turf, GenQ staffer Bev Mabry is collecting quilts for victims of recent floods in Wemberley, Texas. If you have finished quilts or you can make a top, contact bev@generationqmagazine.com.”
NQR
If you have a kid going to college as I do, you might enjoy this article about the grief int he process. A librarian friend sent it to me. I don’t know how I will feel, but I will miss my Young Man.