Administration
I have updated a couple of the pages, which you may not always look at. I updated the Ends donation quilt page and the Glossary. The Ends page shows all the Ends quilts I have made so far. I was amazed that I am up to 9! I hope people like them.
Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools
I have joined with a Dutch company called Creative Fabrica. They are a creative startup and if you use my link to buy something, I will get a fee at no cost to you. I will be posting about them once in a while using my usual rules of being honest, but kind about what I like and don’t like. They have recently posted on their blog about inspiring quiltmaking blogs and I am first on the list!!! There are other more famous blogs included, but mine is first!!! At the moment they are graphics and font heavy, but are working hard to move their craft offerings to a separate platform and increase their offerings. I hope it will be great. Yes, I am taking a chance, but what the heck?
Emmaline Bags is a Canadian purveyor of Bag Clubs and hardware. Recently I received an email about some zipper pouches that had finally arrived in their shop. They write “During the months of May & April, we were proud to know that the cost of making these zipper pouches paid for wages for many women working at the WORK+SHELTER production facility. ” If you are not up for making your own zipper pouch, perhaps one of these fair trade/fair wage pouches will suit your needs?
I clicked on a Hawthorne Threads newsletter. I was happy and sad to have done so. They have some fabulous fabrics. First was Pardon My French by Dear Stella. I don’t really buy very many novelty prints, but these are so happy! The flowers include gorgeous colors. The famous buildings of Paris is just a fun print and how can I not love the macarons? Next is Parapluie. While I am not much of a fan of the colors this collection (a bit too wimpy), I do like the Paris Map in Spring panel. Would that make a great board bag? Why aren’t there more prints with Ferris wheels? I didn’t know Hawthorne Threads had a collection of solids. I’d love to feel the greige goods on which they are printed. It looks like they have about 24 different colors.
If you were never able to purchase the Johannes Itten Color Star, Katie Fowler’s Foolproof Color Wheel** might be a good substitute.
The National Quilting Circle has a short video on the characteristics of rulers. It also gives some tips on squaring up blocks and how to cut different angles. this is short and basic, so it gives you a little taste.
Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials
Anna Maria Horner’s Cadence quilt is available as a free download on the Free Spirit site. You can use a different large print than Hindsight focus fabric and it would look just as great.
Need to know about setting triangles and settings in general? Ebony Love has a comprehensive blog post about the topic.
Here’s another tutorial for a Scrappy Zipper Pouch from ColorGirl Quilts.
HolleyAnne from String & Story is hosting a Free Motion Quilting Academy. Cost is $197.
Thanks to Ronni, I found an article on how to do quilted lettering.
If you need another project, how about a Back-to-School themed block project? All the blocks can be seen on Patti’s blog, another one I found from Creative Fabrica blog post in which this blog was included.
Nicole of LilyElla has another Sew-a-Long starting, The Mini Maker Case. The previous Sew-a-Long was for the Undercover Maker Mat, which Friend Julie and I both made. The Mini Maker Case is a case made specifically for an Oliso Mini Iron. OMG! These mini irons are so cute. I even thought they were cute when I only knew about the pink and yellow options. I went to the webpage and saw that they also have turquoise and orchid! The latter don’t ship until the end of November, but still in time for Christmas, right?
I trolled through some of Sara Lawson/Sew Sweetness’ Pinterest boards and found a number of interesting things. There is a tutorial on making piping. It is pretty comprehensive and talks about materials as well as techniques. There are some good images as well, including one that shows selvedge and bias on a piece of fabric. As an alternative, I found another piping tutorial. Linked from the first piping page is another tutorial on adding piping to the handle of a cosmetic case. This tutorial could be used for your Mini Maker Case! There is another link to a tutorial on sewing the bottom of bag in the round.
I also like the round cushion tutorial. I think the basic idea isn’t very different from how I make the pet beds. I can see making one of these for one of my nieces. A stack of them would make a great decorative element.
I joined the Spencer Ogg FB group because I could get a free hand sanitizer pouch pattern (it’s now for sale). I never really thought about such a thing, but when presented with the option, I thought it would make a good gift. It turns out that there are tons of patterns for the same kind of thing.
Another gift is a lip balm/lipstick (if we ever need such a thing again!) carrier tutorial. The thing I like about this item is the way the D-ring is used. The site has an easy way to create a PDF from the blog post for the pattern, so you can save it.
If you are still sheltering-in-place, you might have time to start a collection of small gifts for the upcoming holidays or future birthdays, guild gifts, etc. DIY Joy has a post including 49 free small projects using your scraps. This post aggregates posts from different sites. Not all are great projects, but there are a few gems.
Xawam has a holder for woven ribbon posted on her blog. The post is in German and I didn’t find a tutorial, but you can get the idea and make one of your own.
Want to reduce your use of Saran Wrap/cling film? LilyElla has a pattern for reusable bowl covers. I think this is a great idea. We have some that are made from plastic, but are washable and reusable. Sadly, they are very poorly made and dying a quick death. The only issue I see with the LilyElla version is that one can’t see through them. Things go to my fridge to die on the best day, so I would have to figure out some fabric that I could, at least, sort of see through.
Other Artists
Ebony Love has left the Craft Industry Alliance. In her blog post, she explains why. She has some good graphics on what is racism, including implicit racism. I am not lecturing here, just providing a source of information. As a former law librarian, I appreciated the comments she made about the contract. I don’t know a lot about this situation, but it seems like she may be right in that the poster did not want to hear the answers. One of the lessons here is to read REALLY READ any contracts you sign. This is a good reminder for me to remember that another lesson is to assume kindness if there is any question.
Ronni talks about honoring finishes on her blog. What a great post that I haven’t thought about. She says she immediately starts a new quilt when she finishes one. I do that as well without truly honoring the finish. I have to think of how to do that.
Julie of Pinkdoxies briefly touches on a question from her husband, “don’t you ever get tired of quilting?”. While this is not the subject of the post, it is an interesting question and it stayed with me. I have so much interest in quiltmaking that I don’t think I will ever get tired of it, because there are so many aspects. There is always something new to try, someone new to meet, new fabric to enjoy. What do you think?
As a bonus, the post mentioned above shows some beautiful quilts.
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