The last V&S of 2024! Can you believe it?
Admin
I now have 100 subscribers! Hooray! Thanks to Eleanor for being the 100th subscriber. If you are not a subscriber and want to subscribe, go to the box on the right and enter your email address. Go through the verification process and you will get an email every time I post.
Happy Birthday to my friend, Pam G! Hope your day is great!
Projects, Classes, Patterns, Techniques & Tutorials
Make sure you download the directions for Bonnie Hunter’s Old Town mystery quilt. Part 7 was posted yesterday and the directions will go away in late January or early February. I have made some progress and Friend Julie has as well. She has finished the first clue and is making progress on the other clues. I have finished the first clue and am also working on some of the other clues in a scattershot kind of way. I have to be able to focus and some of the easier parts are better for me at the moment.
One thing I saw right after I posted V&S 2024 #10 was Technique Sheets by Deb Tucker of Studio180 Designs. She is the designer of the Wing Clipper**, which I have mentioned a couple of times. The Technique Sheets show you how to make another design. Sometimes the Technique Sheets refer to one of the Studio180 rulers and sometimes they don’t. There are some examples of what the technique sheets look like on the Free downloads page. Check out the Corner Pop II Replacement Rectangles Technique Sheet.
I was really pleased to see Kristina of Center Street Quilts post some small bag and pouch type projects on her blog for the holidays. She also posted short videos on IG. I am interested in trying the small vinyl zipper pouch. This is a good use of leftover bits of zipper and vinyl. There is also a small round pouch that looks super fun and could be a great way to fussy cut a small motif you like. Kristina uses a handbag zipper for this pouch. I would use a smaller zipper, but it is good to know that a handbag zipper works. She also has a trinket basket in various sizes, which is great for organizing.
If you want to know how to use the Wing Clipper, check out a tutorial I found by accident. I found it on the Quilting Affection Designs blog.
I saw several new bag designers recently. One was Andrie Designs. The team there have a blog and post regularly. While we all have plenty of bag and pouch patterns, I thought some of these had great shapes.
It’s a little late now, but a good time to get started on a Holiday 2025 project. This Moravian Star tutorial was posted by AQS. Another option is the Scandinavian Folded Star ornament. I found a tutorial on the SandyStar blog. I wanted to make these for small gifts, but decided not to make myself crazy. Maybe next year.
Check out all the different tutorials available on the AQS site. Some I saw were about binding, pinning, designing your own quilt and many others. I didn’t know this resource existed and was pleased with the quality. A few of the tutorials direct readers straight to YouTube videos.
Want to declutter in 2025? Just Get It Done Quilts has a declutter challenge starting on January 1.
I didn’t see anything earth shattering in this new-to-me group of patterns from Linda Handmade, but some of them were interesting, such as the family travel wallet. The Lindsling is also an interesting shape. I couldn’t quite figure out where you put larger items.
I haven’t worked on any of the Arabesque Scissors patterns I bought. Maybe in 2025. I was perusing her blog and saw the Creator’s Companion pattern. If you are getting a planner for Christmas or Hannukah, then you might want this cover pattern to enhance your new organizational goals. You might want to use a little vinyl in place of some of the fabrics so you can see your stuff.
Also, if you want a printable planning sheet for preparing to create your quilts, Arabesque Scissors has that also.
Have you seen the Pantone Color of the Year for 2025? UGH! They call it Mocha Mousse, which sounds delicious. In reality, the color is a depressing beige. The IG video makes it look fabulous, but it is just beige. I guess those fancy color people were just depressed.
I found a really good tutorial on pinning of all things!
The Kona Color of the Year for 2025 is better than ‘Mocha Mousse’. It is Nocturne and it is a deep purple. Lovely.
I was really interested to be introduced to Sewfisticated. Jassie is a bag designer and her bags are different from some of the designers with whom I am familiar. The FoldnZip Pixie looks like it could be useful for a quilt tools bag. She is one of the designers in the Bag of the Month Club for 2025.
Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies
I have talked about LP Sharp, the company to which I send my rotary blades for credit and recycling. I was talking with Mary the other day and couldn’t find the name. It was clear out of my brain. I wanted to share it with her as they do give a discount when you send them old blades. I am pretty sure they recycle rotary blades they can’t resharpen and re-sell. Try them out. I have been using them for years.
I have only about half a yard left of the Paris fabric I have been using for my sister’s bags. On a whim, I went looking for it. It is old, so I figured it was long out of print and not available. Amazingly enough I found 3 yards of it on a site called US Fabric Shop. When I had a moment, I went to look at the site. They have a LOT of different fabrics. Need a team fabric (except Cal)? Need some peacocks? Travel fabrics? This is your store. I was able to find some new Stonehenge with Celtic knots that was very appealing. They have that chocolate fabric I have used to make pillowcases! I am pretty excited about that. I don’t have anyone for whom to make pillowcases at the moment, but I am keeping that tab open. I will need to buy some more travel fabric for the nephew’s pillowcases, so maybe I’ll add a couple of yards of chocolate as well.
This is listed on Amazon as “MagnoGrip Magnetic Wristband for Holding Screws, Nails, Drill Bits for Men”. I think this could certainly be used for quiltmaking. What do you think?
If you want to know everything there is to know about sizes in yardage, check Brown Bird Designs Ultimate Cheat Sheet On The Yard + Make Your Own Pre-cuts. This is a woman after my own heart.
I received an email from Hawthorne Threads about Anna Maria’s new line, Loves Hue. It is all about stripes and I really like the Marathon in Vintage and Marathon in Circus. I could really use those for bindings. I need to see them in person and look forward to them coming to a shop near me.
Media, Books and Articles
My DH does Artle every day, or nearly every day. One day he showed me a piece by June Paik, which I think looks like a quilt. It does until you look closer. I like the outlines as well.
I thought this short video on the archeology of knitting was really interesting. The narrator speaks really quickly, so pay attention!
Other
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