Tag: Various & Sundry

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

My friend Marty showed me Kohatu Patterns website. She was making a pumpkin tablerunner. I decided I want to make a pumpkin tablerunner for my buffet after seeing her blocks.  I was interested in the patterns, but not as much as the blog, which has some very interesting tips and tricks. She calls them Modern Quilting Guides.

Lindsay pointed me to an older Tula Pink project called Rainbow Waves. It is a basic Storm at Sea quilt, but the fabric selection is GREAT.

Watch Sara from Sew Sweetness as she talks about the magnetic snap die for a rivet press.

If you want to sew along with me, get the A Place for Everything v.2 pattern from ByAnnie. Watch Tula Pink’s video on her versions.

I thought about joining KnitStars this year. It looks awesome, but I slapped myself and didn’t. My knitting skills are not up to the challenge even though I want to pretend they are. Also, remember when I said I was super busy?

Bonnie Hunter has written the introductory post for this year’s Mystery Quilt, Rhododendron Trail (I can see this name quickly becoming RT!). I will definitely read and save the posts, but I am going to wait for the reveal to see if I want to make the project. I do like the colors, however. The pinks and turquoise/aquas are right up my alley. That Burgundy/ Garnet, however, ruins the look for me. Bleah.

Emmaline Bags has a tutorial for installing an internal zipper pocket into a bag. I still like Sara’s video.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Stash Fabrics has a Kona themed wall calendar. Even if you no longer use a wall calendar, this one would be a great year long color inspiration piece.

Modern American Vintage has some beautiful tools. They make wooden point turners, seam rippers and Hera markers. Often wooden tools are over the top, but these are simple and gorgeous. They also have an IG account.

I found a shop called Mashe Modern. They have a great selection of fabrics and great prices. It is a great addition to the list of shops from whom I should not buy more fabric. < LOL >

I am thinking about getting the block-of-the-month option for making Tula’s Butterfly quilt. Petting Fabric has two great selections of fabric. remember when I talked about being super busy? That is what is holding me back.

I am a huge fan of color cards. They are very useful for online shopping and for identifying, especially, solids when they show up on your doorstep.  I have been using mine to differentiate between the Free Spirit solids, Sweet Pea and Freesia, in my Pink Door La Pass BOM fabrics. It comes in very handy for such things. Hawthorne Supply has a good selection.

Media and Inspiration

I haven’t been surfing much lately, so I missed some of Julie’s posts over at High Fiber Content. Take a look at Friend Julie’s August Cornucopia for more, interesting links.

Do you like mid-century modern designs? Carrie P pointed me to a site with a ton of mid century modern designs. They really should open a Spoonflower shop and make the designs available in fabric and wallpaper, etc.

I follow Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness on Facebook, as you know since I can’t shutup about her, and get to see the creations of of her other followers. One is Stephanie and she has a great shop filled with bags. She uses lots of Tula Pink fabrics, if that is your jam. She showed some fabulous Daytrip Wallets, but they never made it to her shop.

The International Quilt Museum presented “Abstract Design in American Quilts at 50: Raising the Profile” with Dr. Jonathan Gregory on June 9. The video is now on YouTube

Exhibits & Shows

Did you attend PIQF? I didn’t for the first time in, maybe, 15 years. I have scaled back my attendance in recent years, but have always gone. I wasn’t up for dealing with the crowds this year. Apparently, there were no crowds. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the event, if you attended.

Other Artists

One of the things I enjoy about fiction set in England is how well versed the fictional British are with poetry. I think they are often assigned poetry in fictional schools and it carries over into their fictional lives where they quote it at appropriate times in their fictional days. I read Shel Silverstein poetry to my son and he demanded more and more. Beyond that and a few long poems in high school, I am woefully under-educated in poetry.  One of my exceptional nieces (I have a few), Michaela, is a talented performer. She has recently started a YouTube channel where she reads poetry.

The County Library System is creating a makerspace and they need supplies. Take a look at their wishlist and buy something or send them a gift card. I hope they get the Cricut so I can try it out.

Melody Johnson of the Chicago School of Fusing fame is creating some really great knitting lately.

 

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Recently my guild had Heather Black as a speaker. She was a really good speaker. I went to her website after and bought a couple of her books. The price was better than on Amazon! I also noticed that she has the Classic Curves ruler for sale. This is the Color Girl quilts ruler I bought some time ago. The thing I liked about Heather’s site was that she said which of her patterns could be used with the Classic Curves ruler. GREAT idea and GREAT marketing. Heather is also updating her blog again after some life upheavals.

The last time I bought Decovil Light (Pellon #525) I had to buy it from Emmaline Bags. That isn’t a bad thing as Emmaline Bags is awesome. The problem is they are in Canada so customs, shipping, etc. I found some, based on a recommendation from a fellow Sew Sweetness fan, at HarrisSquared on Etsy.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

I am thinking about doing Tula Pink’s Butterfly quilt. I have the pattern, but have never made it. Friend Julie pointed out the Colorways shown on the Gnome Angel site. I found a site called Petting Fabric, which has kits that are much more my style. Now I have to decide if I want to take on another kit type project like this.

Angela sent me a link to Kitchen Table Quilting’s ‘Valued Scrap Quilt’. The pattern reminded her of my Fabric of the Year quilts.

Need to make a simple tote bag? Apple Green Cottage has a basic pattern that you can use to make a quick gift. They have a ton of other free patterns as well.

If you are interested in the A Place for Everything 2.0 bag, you can see a full demo on one of Tula Pink’s IGTV videos. It shows the size, which is smaller than I thought, and all of the features. Tula also talks about the differences between the newer vs the older versions.

Sara Lawson just came out with 4 new patterns. If you want to see the first two, check out her Sunday Sewcial where she shows and talks about two new tote bags.

Really interesting patterns on the In Sewing Times page. The iron carrier is interesting. It looks like the same idea as the Mini Maker Case I made awhile ago. I also like the Swing Basket.

Judy Martin has reduced one of her patterns and recolored it as a wreath. Great idea for reuse.

Basket tray free pattern from Noodlehead. I saw it mentioned somewhere…NY Times, maybe?

Carrie P shared a new pillowcase video tutorial with me. She made an adorable mini-pillowcase for her friend’s travel pillow.

Media

Accuquilt has videos on how to use different dies. I think they come out with them as companions to a new die. A recent new die is the Schoolhouse block. To accompany the new die, they asked Barbara Brackman for a history fo the block. She has some great examples of Schoolhouse quilts, including one that is a village, in a recent blog post.

Sara Goer pointed me to Material Girlfriends, a blog and shop. They have a cheerful tone in their posts.

Timna Tarr’s gallery is awesome!

Check out John Lovett’s color page. It is fantastic!

Exhibits & Shows

Luke Haynes and Joe Cunningham will be doing a collaborative show. the opening will be on September 26 at 1803 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94103-1107 from 3-6pm. Find out more information on their FB page.

Other Artists

You can now purchase your own Gee’s Bend quilt from the comfort of your living room. Etsy has partnered with the Gee’s Bend quiltmakers and XX to make their works available with no fee for the quiltmakers from Etsy. A blog post talks about the whole program and provides links to the individual quiltmakers’ shops. I found all of the information in a New York Times article about Souls Grown Deep, a foundation working to preserve art made by diverse artists. The details of documenting Joe Minter’s installation artwork is amazing. The photos in the article are interesting as well.

 

 

Events, Articles, Exhibitions and Shows

Bonnie Hunter reminded me that the Quilters Take a Moment virtual event is coming up on September 17-18.

Quilters Take a Moment is a virtual fundraising event for the nonprofit Quilt Alliance, featuring captivating speakers, deep-dive interviews, joyful conversations, a quilt exhibition and moments of community for quilt lovers everywhere. Tickets are now available. Because the event is online you can watch live or watch the recorded content any time, anywhere! And because it is a virtual event – you can participate from anywhere in the world, from the comfort of your own home, wearing whatever you want to wear.  We live in the world of Zoom, etc now, so we all know this, right?

Lots of interesting artists, speakers & presenters. I was interested to see that there were a number of researchers and historians on the agenda.

Media

If you want to learn how the best way to thread a hand sewing needle, watch the EPP n.2 video with Tula Pink. Check at about minute 13.5 or 14.

If you want to learn how to glue baste fabric to EPP papers, watch Tula’s first EPP video, about halfway through.

Tula talks about pattern-first quilting and fabric-first quilting in a recent video. She also talks about making colorwash type quilts (similar to my Fabric of the Year quilts).

I am sort of Tula obsessed right at the moment. I blame Lindsay, though I have to admit that she helped open my eyes to the genius of Tula. I still am not a huge fan of the animals, but I admire her work ethic, her creativity and her willingness to share her process. I love process and hearing about other people’s process for creativity. I found an old interview with her from a UK Quilt Shop. In that interview, she talks about a book called Quilts from the House of Tula Pink**. I want to take a look at it.

A needlework pocket book was mentioned in a recent Barbara Brackman post. I was able to find it in the collection of the Royal Collection. [Warning: librarian speak coming] I was disappointed that the metadata wasn’t better and I wasn’t able to find it using Mary Delany or ‘sewing’ as search terms. I am interested in this as I ma making some Sew Together Bags and the items are related because they are both designed carrying tools and supplies around. I wish the Royal Collection had a picture of the pocketbook open so I could see how it was laid out. Also, I wonder what some of the items are used for. A spoon? What about that twisty hook tool (bottom right)? Eventually I’ll look them up, but for now I will wonder.

The Wall Street Journal, periodically, attempts to talk about crafts in an intelligent way. They don’t seem to be able to find someone who actually does the crafts and come up with interesting, if somewhat stilted articles. This time it was about crochet. (You may need to login or use your library)

Other Artists

Friend Julie put up her cornucopia post at the end of July. It is so interesting to see what different sites and links she finds, then chooses to share. One interesting link was for Seamwork – a kind of how-to-sew network. I hope they can make it work.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

We all need a plush whale, don’t we?

Need some chickens? These are appealing to me, probably, because of the polka dot fabrics. Make them into pincushions and give them as gifts.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

I am obsesssing, as I have said, about Tula Pink right now. I don’t have an embroidery machine, but I wanted to see her machine embroidery options. I finally found a link, which was not quite as easy as I thought it should be.

I am trying not to buy more bag making supplies, but in case YOU need some, check out Gold Star. they have a wide variety of different things. It looks less ‘curated’ than some of the quilt shops. they have some industrial type machines to install grommets and such in case you are churning out bags for sale. They have a variety of lobster clips in different shapes and finishes.

I have the Tula Pink Butterfly Pattern. I saw the video she produced about her updated version of the quilt and it got me interested in making it. I saw a quilt store that has fabrics packs – a kind of subscription – for that quilt. I don’t think I want to buy it. I have a lot of fabric and I want to use it. Anyone planning to make the Butterfly Quilt?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Admin

Anyone whose email is on my Feedburner list has been moved to the WordPress feed. If you have not verified your email, then you won’t get any emails. I have deactivated the Feedburner feed, so if you weren’t able to make the change up until now, you will no longer be hearing from me. 🙁

If you have no idea what I am talking about, then ignore this admin talk and read on for quilty goodness.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Check out Friend Julie’s village blocks. I think this is a larger project. Are you working on these blocks?

As I said, I am gearing up for the La Passacaglia project. The first month’s shipement of the BOM is shipping at the end of this month. <squeeeee!!!> The BOM group is really fun and I can’t wait to read the messages every night to see what people were talking about. Many of the participants are trying to organize their supplies. To this many are making the A Place for Everything 2.0 bag from byAnnie. I, too, would like to make one as I do think it would be a great bag for this project. I might make one, but I don’t have the bandwidth right now (have  you read my posts about clearing out my workroom?). I do enjoy thinking about it, though.

Tula Pink has a FB video where she talks about her process for making byAnnie patterns. One of the things she highlights is the way she chooses fabric with fussy cutting in mind. I think I am seriously going to make the A Place for Everything bag for the La Pas project. When? Who knows. Soon. Maybe. I enjoyed the TulaTalk video, though she does say ‘like’ a little more than I like. ?

If you want to learn the basics of EPP, Naudia Tatum has an EPP 1 video where she discusses making the Smitten BOM with Pink Door. This BOM has already started, but you can stretch your imagination to your own project and learn about the tools she uses. She goes into a good amount of detail. From what I have watched, I agree with her on most points about tools. She uses the Jen Kingwell template grips**. As she shows how to use them, they look just like True Grips**, which are what I am used to using. I use a different kind of thimble, but any thimble that works for you is fine. The second part of the video discusses cutting.The third part discusses glue basting. I don’t glue baste, but I was interested in her discussion of the direction of her dog ears (at about~50 minutes). I can use that information, I think even though I will be thread basting.

A good follow-up to Naudia’s video is another one by Tula Pink. The thing I like about this video is how she talks about choosing fabrics. She says choosing fabrics for EPP is like eating an elephant. If you try to cram the whole thing in your mouth, you will choke. Watch this video. It is really helpful.

Yes, I have EPP on the mind!

Barbara Brackman’s Flora Delanica block-of-the-month has setting and fabric options posted, now that all the blocks are finished.

Media

In another video Tula talks about the new Free Spirit pre-cuts. In an offhand sort of way she highlights that nobody ever knew where to measure pre-cuts when they had pinked edges. FreeSpirit is now cutting layer cakes and 5 inch charm packs with straight edges! Yay!

Alison has shop called And So There. She makes beautiful cards, journals and other paper products. Take a look at her small journal with the scissor motif.

Textiles in Lockdown is a podcast by Ruth Singer which “explores the research project ‘Textiles In Lockdown’ which she has created for Gawthorpe Textiles Collection. During August 2020 Ruth created surveys to delve into the stories of textile making practice over the months of lockdown. 180 hobby makers and over 120 textile professionals responded to our survey to share their stories.” The “Gawthorpe Textiles Collection is an internationally renowned collection of global textiles located in the heart of Pennine Lancashire. The Collection is an accredited museum and independent registered charity with a focus on education, well-being and the preservation of traditional craft skills.”

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

I was led to the FIGO fabrics site and spent a happy amount of time looking at their current and forthcoming fabrics. I love their solids and Bijou is interesting.

Check out the Hemline various bags and boxes for sewing supplies. Their Craft Bag looks very similar to the Ultimate Carry All Bag.

Articles, Exhibitions and Shows

I found an article on Fons & Porter in the Quilting Daily. I think I saw it on Friend Julie’s blog. While their quilts may not be your style I have always admired them. I watched their shows on Friday nights while the YM and my DH were at Scouts. I would draw pictures of interesting blocks in my journal and try to make them later. This is an interesting article about the trajectory of their business and what they have been doing since they sold it.

I read an article about Russel Wright and his ceramics in the Wall Street Journal while I was waiting for a meeting to start. That sent me on a journey to find out more about him and his work. I read an Artnet article. I love his dishes and, especially the pitchers.  They have a great shape.  I saw a blog post, which shows more of his work and links out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art article about him.

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Admin

Google will be removing FeedBurner from its suite of products. I don’t know when. They sent me an email some time ago and I thought I would deal with it later. Well, it is later, unfortunately.

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Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Moda Blockheads #3 has an archive of all the blocks, the blog posts and the instructions. What a great idea! Thanks to Cyndi W.

Crafty Gemini has a new, free mesh tote bag video tutorial. If you need something for wet bathing suits, this is your bag.

My mom told me about a Missouri Star Triple Play video she watched. She loved the special surprise in the middle of the video. I liked that segment as well, but I REALLY loved Natalie’s version of their Missouri Star quilt. It is a small Missouri Star block in a large Missouri Star block. I think what I really like about it is the True Kisses by Heather Bailey fabric she used. I might have to make a block to see if I want to make a quilt. They use a perfect trimmer**, which I have never seen before. I may need to try one.

Media

It is worth checking on this NY Times article on crafts, What We Learned from a Year of Crafting, for the following quote “And the qualities that craft teaches — resourcefulness, resilience, flexibility — were much needed in a year filled with so much uncertainty and loss….”. It talks about crafting during the pandemic, how it took off, the benefits, how people returned. A great acknowledgment of something many of us do on a daily basis.

Check out Friend Julie’s Cornucopia post. Lots of interesting links to follow.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Check out the Remarkable Rainbow Block Resizer from Tartankiwi. The Remarkable Rainbow Resizer is a simple table which will allow you to increase or decrease the size of a wide variety of blocks.

Articles, Exhibitions and Shows

Check out the crocheted coral reef.

I really like Joanne Sharpe’s work. Take a look at her website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Other Artists

The Gee’s Bend Quilters are raising money to improve the lives and working conditions of their quilting community. Make a donation now.

Media

I recently took another class from Maker’s Mercantile. This was a color class. Though I am confident in color theory and choosing colors, taking a class is a good way to learn new things. During the class, they instructor used a site called Unsplash to find photos he could use in his presentation. The site describes itself as “… the Internet’s source of freely usable images.” I, of course, tried looking for ‘quilt’ – just doing a simple search in the search box. The photos that came up were beautiful, but there is a lot of scope for more beautiful quilt photos. I also searched for ‘Austria’ and found photos of places I know. In searching for ‘red-violet’, I came up with a variety of subjects which all included that color. I am impressed with the search engine.

The other site I learned about was the Adobe Color site. First, choose a ‘rule’ on the left, then move the arms on the wheel to your desired color. Under the color wheel, you will see the colors based on your choices. The colors are listed as RGB, but you can switch to CMYK, HSB and LAB, if you prefer. Use your fabric color chart to match the colors listed to fabric.

My guild was filmed back in 2016 and the video has just his YouTube. I am not in the video, but many current guild members are pictured. Many quilts are shown as well. If you want to see what our guild is about, take a look.

I mentioned Alex Anderson’s Stash building classes a few weeks ago. These are free classes on YouTube. She styles herself as a Luddite and that gets old since she is clearly successful in her profession and not an old geezer. I watched two and half of them the other night. They are seriously dumbed down color classes, but not without their usefulness. The first ‘class’ is about Value, Character and Color Family. This class was interesting, especially when she showed examples of different kinds of fabric and show she puts them together successfully. She uses a lot of tone on tones/blenders in these examples and doesn’t show many ‘modern’ fabrics. I think you could translate what she is showing to your own fabric collection. She also uses solids a bit throughout the series. The second is about how to use the color wheel for different results. The third is about how Alex buys fabric: quantities, etc. I like the terminology she uses for the different fabrics and she goes into that a bit more in the third class. I didn’t plan on watching the third class, but they lost Internet at the end of the second class so she finished up her talk about the color wheel at the beginning of the third class. The classes are free, but you have to watch the bits of The Quilt Show marketing she throws in. I did skip some of that, which was possible since I wasn’t watching it live and didn’t have much interest. Also, she shows pictures of her grandchildren and talks about her family quite a bit. In a way, these classes are part of the conversation Alex and Ricky are creating in the Quilt Show. They want their viewers to think they are part of the family. I respect that.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Those tempters ad temptresses at Maker’s Mercantile send me a newsletter every week. It is often easy for me to resist the fabulous yarn temptations, but this most recent newsletter showed that they have mulberry silk embroidery thread. It comes in a bout 33 colors, some of which are variegated. I’d love to try it. There is no shortage of embroidery floss at my house so I am resisting for the moment.

For Sale

$60+ shipping: La Passacaglia papers and acrylic cutting templates. PayPal cash only. This set includes:

• Complete Piece Pack Includes ALL the Pre-Cut Papers, approximately 2900 pieces, to make La Passacaglia.
• 5 Piece La Passacaglia Acrylic Set includes shapes A, B, C, D, and E and is available with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I updated the Minikins page and the Supplies page.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

Sara Lawson’s Sewcial Sunday from a few weeks ago included an interview with Megan Doherty.  Some parts of it made me laugh out loud.

The 2021 Quilting Trends survey is out. According to the survey, “…there are now 85 million “active creatives” in North America, meaning people who have done at least one creative project in the last year. Crafts generate $35 billion in annual sales. There are currently 10-12 million quilters and the quilting market is expected to approach $5 billion by 2026-2027. In 2020 there was a more than 12% increase in the number of new quilters. The quilting market is expected to grow to $5 billion by 2026.” Can you believe the increase in 2020? I guess people had to do something with all their free time during the shelter-in-place orders. I’m glad it was quiltmaking.

I know most of you had crayons when you were a kid and probably, like me, coveted the giant box of colors. I also jealously guarded my box and refused to share with my sister, because she would break the points. I never delved into the history of the humble wax implement until the other day. I read the LAPL newsletter, which had a brief history of the crayon. It was so interesting. Did you know Crayola LLC is now owned by Hallmark? Did you know that Mr. Binney’s wife helped create and name crayolas? Another woman nobody ever heard of until now. Did you know that Binney & Smith bought the Munsell Color Company in 1922?

Barbara Brackman recently posted about an interesting wreath quilt on her Material Culture blog. It is the first picture of a square wreath quilt and it is really interesting. I love the woven and squarish look. I’d like to think I would make one, but I probably wouldn’t.

Sharon at ColorGirl Quilts shows you, in her newest video, how make Flying Geese and half circles using her Classic Curves Ruler.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Michelle Graham, one of the moderators of the Sew Sweetness Facebook group mentioned Sincerely Jen, a pattern company with a lot of bag patterns. They do not have as many patterns as Sew Sweetness, but some are interesting. I particularly like the Rossatron.

I have been contemplating different methods of organizing my Sew Tites. Funnily enough a new pattern designed by LillyElla Stitchery for a folio that holds Sew Tites along with needles, etc was advertised in the most recent SewTites newsletter. It is like a needlecase, but includes storage for Sew Tites as well. Pattern is a free download.

Because I think Im ight become a great knitter some day, I look at some knitting sites and newsletters. As you know, I do knit a bit, but I struggle. One thing with which I struggle is the organization of my circular needles. I prefer circular needles, but they don’t really fit in a conventional bag. I saw one by DellaQ in the Maker’s Mercantile newsletter recently. It turns out that DellaQ has quite a few knitting needle bags. Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I went hunting for a pattern. I love the DellaQ versions, especially the one in turquoise, but I have a lot of fabric here, so can’t I just make one? I found one pattern from Charlotte Copper that looks reasonable. I also found a pattern by Olga (@zaudalcreates )on Etsy that I really liked. You can see a video tour of the case on IG. She has a website, too. I found a nice tutorial for a large shopping/travel tote, which I think would be good for the guild officer gifts. She uses a lot of canvas. If I make the circular needle case, I may have to use quilting cotton and Soft & Stable instead of canvas to make something I like. I don’t really want to get into buying canvas, but I understand the need for stability.

I am tempted by Olga’s Oslo Pouch (different from the Sew Sweetness Oslo Craft Bag). It looks like a cute little handbag. I am trying to be restrained as I just bought the Minikins 3 and have only made 3 projects from that set.

If you need to match a binding in various places to specific designs in your quilt, A Quilter’s Table has a tutorial.

I saw the Bubba Bowling Bag in the AGF newsletter. There are some nice photos on the page, but none of the inside. 🙁 I even checked IG and didn’t see any. Of course, I could put whatever pockets I wanted inside, but I still like to see what others did.

A few weeks ago, I talked about cross body/Japanese aprons. Alison, a friend from the guild, mentioned a pattern I had found before from Purl Soho.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Recently, in various patterns I have had to press pattern pieces a certain amount (usually 1/4 inch). This is such a hassle as it is a small amount and I have to keep my fingers out of the way. I have a weird double headed stiletto type thing that I use, but it doesn’t help with the measuring. I found a ruler by Clover that I am considering called the Clover Hot Press Perfect Ruler **.  Keep in mind that I haven’t used this, but it looks like you can lay this down on the fabric, fold over the part you need to measure and then press. That would be perfect, if it works and isn’t too thick. I Like Clover products and think they are high quality, so fingers crossed that it is a good product. Let me know if you have one or if you have tried it.

Check out the Tatter Journal, a quarterly publication “offering of original content, which explores our relationship to cloth through a quarterly theme.” The first issue is about isolation.

I am still on the hunt for a chart of zipper sizes and descriptions. I found a comprehensive blog post about zippers, which is really interesting and helpful. It only gives a brief description of what size zippers to use for what project. Not helpful for my purposes, but interesting. It also says that a zipper foot is a must. I have never had good luck with zipper feet. I use my 1/4″ foot. Perhaps it’s my machine?

I found a yardage converter page on the AllPeopleQuilt site. My only question, because it is not readily obvious, is 4.5 inches x what equals 1/8 yard. I presume 42 inches or the fabric width from selvedge to selvedge. The chart does implicitly say.

 

Other Artists

My friend Nancy created a website recently to showcase her artwork. She is much more deliberative in her work than I am. Thus, the pieces she shows are carefully selected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I updated the About page to include the most recent podcast in which I was featured.

For Sale

$60+ shipping: La Passacaglia papers and acrylic cutting templates. PayPal cash only. This set includes:

• Complete Piece Pack Includes ALL the Pre-Cut Papers, approximately 2900 pieces, to make La Passacaglia.
• 5 Piece La Passacaglia Acrylic Set includes shapes A, B, C, D, and E and is available with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

You know you want to make a flock of chicken ornaments. Check out this tutorial from Ann Wood Handmade. She has a number of free patterns and resources, including a slightly grumpy looking apple core ornament. This site, which is new to me, came through the Oliso newsletter. They frequently have interesting sites to visit. They also tell you about new products and when irons are back in stock.  Sign up for their newsletter through MailChimp.

Check out the BlockBase Sew-a-Long.

Barbara Brackman is starting a new appliqued BOM. Free patterns will be released on the last Wednesday of the month. It is taking place on her Civil War blog, but think about what you could do with more contemporary fabrics.

Marie Bostwick has new pattern, designed by Deb Tucker, to go with her new book, The Restoration of Celia Fairchild. Find other patterns linked with previous books in the same location. Deb is the head of Studio 180 Designs, and creator of two of my favorite rulers, the SplitRects, which I have discussed before, and the Wing Clipper.

Katie Ward is hosting an HRT class on May 15.

Sew Kind of Wonderful is hosting a Rock-the-Block Sew-a-Long. Maybe it is a Block of the Month? Anyway the blocks are really great. They do require all three of the SKoW rulers – the Quick Curve ruler**, the Mini Quick Curve ruler** and the Wonder Curve ruler**.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

As I may have mentioned, I signed up for Winsor & Newton’s articles on color. The recent one is about about Green, specifically Chromium Oxide Green. What caught my attention was “What humans do have in common is a shared ability to recognise variations of green better than any other colour.” I have been thinking about this in the context of our 6000 piece puzzle. We have done all the easy bits – the castle, the wall, the lakes. Now we are on to trees (green), mountainsides (green) and sky (flat blue). It is a matter of trying every piece in every space and celebrating when you find one piece. BUT that has nothing to do with what I was talking about. I have been trying to sort the green pieces in this puzzle and I realized that I my efforts were working, but I wanted to sort them in much more detail. While driving down the highway recently, I glanced at the mountains and noticed (again) how many greens I could see. Somehow all of these experiences came together with the Winsor & Newton newsletter.

The other thing the article says is “The average number of colours humans can distinguish is around a million.” A MILLION!! Sheesh! No wonder my photos never look like what my eye can see.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

The Glenstone Museum in Maryland is having a Faith Ringgold exhibit. Faith is an artist who sometimes works in textiles and quiltmaking. She expand one of her quilts into a book called Tar Beach. There is a book that goes a long with the exhibit. The buying process is a little strange, but I am sure the book will be fascinating.

I was a little disappointed in the colors I received from my recent zipper order. It occurred to me that there might be such a thing as a YKK zipper color card. There is! I’ll add it to my WAWAK order next time I get zippers. It is also available at ZipperStop on Etsy, but is slightly more expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I updated the Minikins page after I made another project from the Minikins series. I am not making great progress on this series of patterns, but I am making some progress.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

Friend Julie had a great February Cornucopia on her blog at the end of February.

Barbara Brackman posted a wonderful article about Arnold Savage, a quilt historian of sorts who shared his family’s quilt legacy with others. I didn’t know she had designed a fabric line using his fabrics as inspiration.

AllPeopleQuilt has an article about where to donate fabric scraps. If you have a lot, this might be a good article to start with. If one of these places takes your scraps it is much better than putting them in landfill. You can also make pet beds and fill them with your scraps and schnibbles.

I was looking up information about circles on Latifah Saafir’s website when I saw she was part of a ‘Back to School’ blog hop. Her post is about accurate seams using masking tape. Other entries in the blog hop are about sewing long seams without stretching, Say Yes to Y Seams (or just read my tutorial) ruler slipping and a lot of other basic-adjacent topics.Take a look at the whole list included after the end of Latifah’s post.

Sharon from ColorGirl Quilts has posted a video on making HSTs from scraps. she uses the method where you have to draw a line. This is a fine method and you don’t need additional tools. However, check out the Simple Folded Ruler for another method with no drawing of lines.

Weeks Ringle is starting a lecture series about color … “She is a modern quilter and taught at a college along with her husband Bill Kerr …. They always have interesting videos. ” The first video is now available.

Melly Sews has a post called “9 Things Sewists Do That No One Understands”

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

I was surprised to the see the Emmaline March Bag of the month club pattern, The Tumbleweed Toiletry Tote. It looks just like the Cavalcade Travel Bag by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness, though smaller. It makes me suspicious about copying, though it is also none of my business. I do like the smaller size of the Tumbleweed.

The Bagineer Bonanza is coming from Mrs. H and her affiliates. By joining you can sew along with Mrs. H and friends. There are a number of bags you will make.

Vanessa at Crafty Gemini has a new Snappy Wristlet video tutorial. She says that it is a quick weekend project. This was part of her 12 Days of Christmas series of small projects from a few years ago, so you may have seen it already.

In case you don’t have enough machines associated with quiltmaking, there is a tutorial on making templates using a 3D printer.

Bonnie Hunter shows readers how to make a zillion HSTs with the Simple Folded Corners ruler in a recent (for me) tutorial. I wasn’t able to find any tutorials on how to use that ruler for more than flippy corners, like I talked about in my tutorial. I am sure there is a discussion in the many patterns available, but I was hoping to see something so I could make HSTs or other units when I wanted not as part of a pattern.

Zen Chic has a tutorial on getting a perfect 1/4″ seam every time.

If you want to learn to read a knitting chart (not quiltmaking, I know), check out the Maker’s Mercantile video on that subject. I actually sat in on the class and it was great. I have a much better understanding of reading charts. I wouldn’t say that I am an expert, but it was very useful. Perhaps I’ll try a knitting project that requires a pattern!

Olfa has a tutorial on making HSTs. It is the two triangles method. This is great if you want scrappy HSTs.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

The new and improved updated Blockbase is now available. To celebrate EQ is hosting a BlockBase quilt-a-long. Starting March 29, the team will feature a block to sew from BB+ every two weeks. Each blog post will highlight a different feature of the BB+ software. You will choose the size and method you want to use to make the blocks. “At the end of each two week period there will be a link up post” on the EQ blog “so you can share a photo of your sewn block and we can all oohh and aahh over each other’s beautiful blocks!” The only requirement is that you have the new BlockBase software installed on your computer. You can purchase it (no affiliation!) on the EQ website. Check out the chart comparing the older version of BlockBase with the new version.

Here is a chart for hand sewing needles.

Want to know about the new Tula Sew-Tites? Friend Julie has a review.

Craftsy has a sale going on. I get notices in my email, via FB and IG. You get a premium membership for $2.49 per year for one year. Yes,  2 dollars and forty-nine cents. I almost did it, but then I read the rules on cancelling. The good part is that you can cancel any time. The bad part is that you have to call their customer service and request cancellation. That means talking to a person who will, probably, do a really big and hardcore sales job on me to try and get me to keep my membership. I completely understand why they would want to do that, but it makes it hard to cancel. I’ll think about it. I haven’t watched many of the videos I have there now, which tells you how much I might use it.

I saw a box called The Sew Stack by Noble Notions in the Maker’s Mercantile newsletter. It is mostly a knitting/yarn related newsletter, but they are starting to have fabric and I can pretend I am an experienced knitter. There are two versions of the Sew Stack. One is for machine feet and the other is for bobbins. They also have one for thread. The thread color would be protected by the solid colors. I love the shape and style of these things. I can’t tell whether they are a soft plastic or hard. They are latex free & made in the USA.

For those of you who used to work in offices and have been working remotely for the past year, you may have heard rumblings about going back to the office part-time. I read a WSJ article that said that a certain pouch would be critical for carrying cords, chargers, etc to the office as we would not have desks to stash these items ever again. Of course, by the time I clicked on the link, the pouches were sold out. I could still see them and though they were very basic. I have started to troll my favorite bag designers for something similar. I think the Crafty Gemini Zip Away Organizer is the perfect type of bag. You no longer have to buy the club, but can buy the pattern (with video!) on its own. I think it might need a wider spine and more cord holders on the inside, but it is the right shape and the zipper all the way around would make it fit a lot of those types of items. If I figure out how to make the modifications, I will definitely let you know.

Other Artists

Need to pass on some good quality materials? Friend Julie provided a list of Native Americans who accept good quality fabric for mask making and quilts.

I watched a video from Ehrman Textiles about Kaffe Fassett and color in his house.

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I updated the Tutorials page to include the Folded Corners Ruler tutorial.

Another late birthday gift came in on February 6. I love getting late gifts, because it makes my birthday last longer. This latest gift came in on February 6 and it totally made my day. The bad part was that I didn’t know who it came from. A week or so later, Gerre contacted me and told me she was my fairy godmother! 😉 What a fabulous surprise! Another bonus is that now I have 3 Clammy sizes. I need to try them out!

I have seen people’s work using on the Parallel Universe mystery quilt. Reviews are good, so I am not afraid. I just need to make some time.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

One of my students told me about Gyleen Fitzgerald’s Butterfly Seam technique for Y Seams. You can see this technique demonstrated on The Quilt Show #1403. While I think the way I teach Y seams (inset seams) is valuable, Gyleen’s technique is revolutionary. Gyleen’s technique is a lot easier to understand if you understand my method first.

You know that 1″ square for printing patterns? My nemesis? I know for many it has become despised during the pandemic, because we have no or fewer options for getting patterns. Help is here in the form of a post about adjusting the size of your patterns and blocks by Barbara Brackman.

The Craft Industry Alliance has an article about Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness and her video add-ons.

Floors are a great place to get inspiration. This article about the world’s best libraries shows a number of tile floors that could be used as quilt settings.

Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies

Barbara Brackman has a new line of fabric out called Ladies Legacy. It is based on a sampler quilt from the Civil War. In conjunction with this new fabric, on her Civil War blog she is leading an appliqued block of the month based on New York albums. The first block will be up there as a free pattern on March 31st. Some of the money from the fabric goes to support the Quilt Research Center at the University of Nebraska Special Collections, which includes a comprehensive collection of vintage quilt patterns and papers from some of today’s best-known quiltmakers. 

Friend Julie wrote about her adventures in pre-washing Jane Sassman Hand-Crafted solids by Free Spirit. Julie writes “They are advertised as “hand-dyed” with mottled surface imperfections. I found that the hand of the fabric was truly lovely, with a slightly nappy softened surface, called peached.” Don’t avoid them; just make sure you pre-wash!

I am not left-handed for rotary cutting, but I know some of you are. I saw the Left-Eze tool on the A Left Handed Quilter blog and thought you might be interested. It is described as being used to trim the selvedge, cut Half-Square Triangles (HST), cut Quarter-Square Triangles (QST) for Hourglass Blocks (and others), Flying Geese units, and Squares. Let me know if you try it out.

I watched a Facebook Live presentation with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably. It was fun and I found out about Zappy Dots, where Kaffe Fassett Studios has a ‘shop’ various products using their designs. Nice gifts.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Quilt & Surface Design Symposium has released their catalog of classes. I would love to take another class with Rosalie Dace or a class with Jane Sassaman.

Remember that I recently made a composition notebook cover? After that I found that Sara of Sew Sweetness has a 10 minute version. It’s 10 minutes because she doesn’t have to worry about raw edges. In the Sew Sweetness FB group one member made the notebook cover and wrote ” Just finished this notebook cover using alligator cork, based on Sara’s pattern. I read quite a few comments that the pattern was too small for most composition notebooks, so I did some measuring and came up with cutting the cork to 10.5” tall by 16” long, and cut the 5” wide panel covers to 10.5” as well. I also added the inside pocket, the bookmark and the pen loop. So much fun to make and feels really high-end. I’m going to make some extras to have on hand for gifts. ” I am thinking that if I made another composition notebook cover, I will use the 10.5 inch measurement and see if that works.

A friend asked me to make a skirt or curtain for her kitchen bar. I don’t have the time right now, so I pointed her to a sink skirt pattern. I haven’t tried it, but it was the concept I thought of when I read her message.

Sharon from Color Girl Quilts is hosting a quilt-a-long using the Rise Above pattern by Charisma Horton. I love the layout of this quilt. I do not love all of the blocks, but changing them out would be easy enough. I like the alternative setting for a sampler quilt.

Kerry Goulder (KidGiddy on IG) talked about the Sew Plush Mini Planner. This is an organized needlecase pattern available on her Etsy site. I thought it looked a little like the Floral Supply Case from Clover and Violet, but smaller and made specifically for needles.

The guild will be making Japanese aprons. We will all be working on our own projects, but helping each other. Right now we are sharing pattern options. Maria found a list of multiple patterns in this style. The good part about the article is that it gives a mini review of each pattern as well as a download link where available.

The Zenaida backpack is a really interesting bag. I like the shape, though I might put a cross body strap on rather than the backpack straps. I worry about the requirement for leather. I wonder how it would be with canvas or quilting cotton?

Other Artists

Susan Carlson talks about sorting out her fabric.

I thought about including some of Friend Julie’s Cornucopia links. It’s much easier to point you to her post. 🙂

Recently, Roberta Horton died from Lymphona. Roberta Horton may be an artist that modern quiltmakers haven’t heard of. She was an author, teacher and an amazing quiltmaker. Her books, especially An Amish Adventure** and Scrap Quilts** were really inspirational at a time when quilt books weren’t as prevalent as they are now. I used to belong to EBHQ and I still follow them on Facebook. The current President wrote a post, which is how I heard about Roberta: ”

The sad news reached me today that our beloved Roberta Horton passed away Thursday afternoon, February 4th.  I don’t have any more details at this time, but I want to reflect a moment on what a gift her life was to us.

It’s impossible to overstate her impact on our guild, on quilting nationwide and even worldwide.  Roberta made her first quilt in 1972.  She was an important bridge between the quilters of the Depression, who carried the craft with them for love through the post-war prosperity that suppressed the craft.  Roberta caught the baton, and passed it to us. She was there, already teaching, when the Bicentennial revived interest in quilting. She taught the first state accredited adult education classes in quilting back in 1973! I know of a number of long-time Guild members who learned to quilt from Roberta.  Roberta and her sister Mary Mashuta were EBHQ founding members.

Roberta stretched beyond tradition.  There had been Story Quilts before of course, but her exploration of her European heritage through her quilts helped popularize the form.  Her exploration of ethnic fabrics, and the design influences of artists worldwide helped make EBHQ in the early days, before the Studio Art Quilters Association (SAQA), a welcoming home for the burgeoning Art Quilt movement.  And she taught all of this, through Albany Adult Education and beyond. She wrote 5 books on quilting, donated some of her most important quilts to the then new San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and was honored nationally and internationally.

She was also an avid gardener, and two years ago at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire I had the honor of teaching a Woman Of A Certain Age, who had known Roberta for decades from the Garden Club, how to piece a nine-patch, as we shared stories of our beloved friend from different contexts.  

Roberta was unfailingly gracious, welcoming and kind to me, a much younger MAN, encouraging my sometimes strange quilts!

Keep her memory close, and I challenge YOU to challenge yourself, as SHE did; learn, this year, a new technique, use some unfamiliar fabric, and always, always, teach whomsoever you may.

“And gladly wolde she lerne, and gladly teche.”  -slightly altered from Chaucer, “Canterbury Tales”

I have asked the Web Support Team to create a Forum Thread on the Discussion Board where we can share our memories of Roberta.

May her sister, Mary Mashuta, Be Comforted In Her Loss, along with all of Roberta’s family. And May Her Memory Be For A Blessing.  I’ll pass memorial details as I get them.

You can read and remember at http://www.robertahorton.com/

– Ryan Young    -EBHQ President, 2020-2021″

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

If you missed the Altoids tin sewing kit tutorial, I have updated the AQ Tutorials page so you can find it easily.

I got a late gift from the YM that didn’t make it into the Birthday Extravaganza post, a Martelli rotating mat**. This is the nicest rotating mat that I have used. I like that the edges are round. They don’t poke me when I am trying to spin it and cut. This is useful right now as I am teaching Peaky & Spike units, equilateral triangles and diamonds. A rotating mat to cut these shapes makes cutting much safer.

I also updated the Sampler Quilt Class page. After posting the setting tutorial, I decided to add a finishing section to my Sampler Class.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

I have posted about the EBHQ shows in the past. The EBHQ Voices in Cloth Show  that was cancelled last year can be seen virtually now. 

Books, Fabrics, Notions

EQ8 and Accuquilt Dies: There are new Add-ons from Lori Miller – Lori has created more EQ8 Block Libraries that work with the Accuquilt GO! Qube and Block on Board (BOB) dies. Check out all the sets she has available in her Etsy shop!

Judy Martin has an index of all of her block and quilt designs available as an ebook.

One of the items I received for my birthday was a Violet Craft seam roller.  Friend Julie swears by it. I don’t do much paper piecing, as you know, but I came across this description and it made me think in a different direction. “The Violet Craft Seam Roller is the perfect tool for all quilters & BAG MAKERS! Used in place of an iron, the rounded barrel places all the pounds of pressure right on the raised seam for a crisp press. The Seam Roller is superior to the iron for foundation paper piecing and is the perfect replacement for on-the-go sewing such as English paper piecing and retreats. Use this to flatten hard to reach seams inside your bag, tight corners, or just getting a vinyl or cork seam to lay flat!” (Italics are mine) This thought provoking description came from the Emmaline Bags newsletter.

I am sure most of you have heard that we should now be wearing masks with 3 layers of fabric. Also in the Emmaline Bags newsletter, I saw a link to Pellon Sew In Cambric Polypropylene Mask Filter Material. I couldn’t find it on Amazon, but only did a quick search. I did find 915 Cambric listed on the Pellon site, but the description doesn’t say anything more about mask making. I also found a ByAnnie product called Mask Filter Material that seems to be similar. More research is required.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

I looked through the In Color Order tutorials and found a lot of good ones. There are a variety of her drawstring bag patterns, too.

Need to bring your charger wherever you go? I feel like I do because my phone’s battery routinely dies in the middle of the day. Of course, since I never go anywhere now, I am just planning ahead with the Sallie Tomato video tutorial on making a Key Fob Cord Keeper.

Charlotte Hawkes has another scrap mystery quilt project going.

Gnome Angel has tutorials for all of the Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler** blocks.

Other Artists

Sarah Goer has list of goals for 2021. I like it that she included life and business goals as well as quilt goals. I also really like her quilt goal “use pretty fabric.” That should be a goal for all of us.

Valerie made 36 quilts last year! WOW!

One of my friends, Sonja, has been doing art on paint chips. I know this sounds crazy, but her work is fantastic and these aren’t ordinary paint chips. The Kelly Moore Essential Color Set is like a tablet of small art canvases. You can see the fabulous work that Sonja is doing on her KM Color Set on her Instagram feed. Pokey Bolton spoke with Sonja in an IG Live Interview.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

In Austria the traditional greeting for the New Year is ‘Gute Rutsch’, which means good slide into the new year. I hope your slide out of 2020 and into 2021 was pleasant and happy. Thanks for reading. I look forward to another year of you reading my thoughts and posts about my projects.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

I found an article about Sarah Bond’s family history and how quilts have been a part of that history since the early 1800s.

Pantone has released their Color of the Year for 2021. This year they chose 2 colors. The grey is ok, though a little dark for my use. The yellow is too neon-y for me. Pops of it would spark up a quilt.

Kona has done a much better job with their color for 2021. Their blue-sky hue called Horizon is much more my speed. It is similar to the color we painted part of our house last year. That color was called Cloudless from Sherwin-Williams and I am very fond of it.

Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools

The Dream Cart site has some nice looking storage solutions. They are not cheap, but if they are well constructed and not flimsy, then the price seems fair. These do not seem to be available on Amazon.

I saw groups of magazine downloads at Quilting Daily. For example, you can get all the2017  issues of Quiltmaker for $35ish. I can’t decide if that is a good price or not. For 2017 issues, it seems high to me, but I understand they may be paying artists, editors, etc. I thought the prices would be lower. Anyway, if you are looking for magazines to flip through on your new tablet, check these out.

Check out the catalog for Sew Expo, Puyallup! Sew Expo, 2021 will be a virtual show. Now is your chance to attend without leaving home! Although there isn’t too much of a quilty nature there are some interesting looking classes. Mister Domestic (Matthew Boudreaux) will be teaching. Sue R posted this on my guild’s member forum.

Friend Julie (all over this post, I know! She is a font of information) told me about Fabric Bubb, an online quilt shop. I was pleased to see they have the Cotton Couture solids by Michael Miller. I do wonder about the names of some shops. I am sure there is a good story there.

Books, Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

it isn’t too late to join the Spoonflower Doodle-a-Day Challenge. Yes, you’ll be a bit behind, but I have faith that you can catch up. This is similar to my Creative Prompt challenge from a few years ago.

The Royal School of Needlework is encouraging people of all stitching abilities to create a piece of hand embroidered art in the form of a postcard about an aspect of your home, garden or region. They want the “RSN Postcard from Home” project to go viral. Find more information on the RSN website. Use the hashtag #RSNPostcardFromHome

Sarah Ann Smith has a free pattern for pattern weights on her website. If you do not sew garments, these can also be used for taming unruly interfacing.

Jennie, from Clover & Violet, has a[nother] zipper pouch video tutorial. One thing she says in this tutorial, which I have never heard is that top stitching next to the zipper helps keep the lining from getting caught in the zipper teeth. That makes a lot of sense to me. She is slowly adding tutorials and other videos to her YouTube Channel. Remember I mentioned the hidden zipper tutorial from Sotak Handmade? I see in the available Clover & Violet videos that they have a two part series on adding a hidden zipper to the back of pillow. You can start with part 1.

Somehow I missed  that Joan Hawley is the brains behind Lazy Girl Designs. I went and took a look at her website and found the Freebies area, which has a number of great tutorials and patterns. I like the 1 hour 1 yard free tote bag. There is also a PDF area of hacks where Joan gives information on sewing on a button by machine, choosing zipper colors and making a lanyard for guild (or other meetings).

Yes, Christmas is over, but I keep thinking about bunting. I saw the Apple Green Cottage tutorial and think I might try and make one for Thanksgiving. My sister made me a paper version for birthdays, but never got around to the Thanksgiving version. Perhaps I’ll get my SIL to embroider some of the designs from the napkins as well as letters.

Friend Julie pointed me to a[nother] mask tutorial. I haven’t tried it, but it looks similar to the one I use. I like the pointy bit for the nose, so it will be worth a try. According to an interview with epidemiologists I read , we will be wearing masks for the next 12-18 months at least.

Take a look at the info Julie provided on block printing. We block printed our Christmas cards a million years ago, but haven’t done anything since.

I found another eye mask tutorial. I am not sure I want to bind the whole thing. It seems easier to just flip right sides out after sewing and top stitch. Still, it is another option.

A friend posted examples of this market bag on the Kaffe group on FB. I really like the way it looks.

I saw a photo on Instagram of a pouch. Big deal, right? The photo was in charisecreates top 9 for 2020 post. The pouch was shown on the left in the middle. I love the curve of the top of the pouch. I looked around and the pattern, apparently is in a book called Perfectly Pretty Patchwork by Kristyne Czepuryk. I was able to see some parts of it on amazon, but nothing about this particular pattern. At the moment, I don’t want to buy the book as 1)I have enough patterns and 2) I don’t want to buy a pattern for one pouch. The other projects in the book weren’t interesting to me. Granted I didn’t see them all, but from what I saw I don’t want to invest. Sadly, the library doesn’t have it either.

Krista Moser has a great tutorial on scalloping borders. Note this is not your grandma’s scalloped borders.

All People Quilt has a UFO challenge for 2021.

Karen the DIY Addict posted a YouTube tutorial on the flat back stitch. The flat back stitch is useful for sewing EPP pieces together.

Other Artists

Friend Julie pointed me to an article that references FabMo. I scanned through the article and was pleased to see that the artist featured, who gets her materials through FabMo, makes pieces that are not a jumbled mess. Jumbled messes are perfectly valid forms of art, especially if they create some kind of discussion. I prefer to see FabMo’s materials used in a creative way that conveys a story I can understand or being to parse. I also like to see good technique, which the artist also demonstrates. The piece that highlighted these thoughts for me was Dare! by Zwia Lipkin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Happy birthday to my YM! He’s 24 (OMG!!) today!

Other Artists

Bonnie Hunter had to move her FB page. Find the new one and the sad, FB tale of woe on the new page. She did finally get the problems with the old one worked out, so now there are two pages! More bang for your buck?

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Sara Lawson came out with four new patterns this month. She sold them as a bundle at first, but that sale is over. They can be purchased individually. One of them is a sewing machine bag. One of her testers has written a tutorial for adjusting the size of the bag if it won’t fit your machine.

Kirsty from Bonjour Quilts has written a tutorial  for matching patterns on a quilt back. You could use for other purposes as well.

Sharon from Color Girl Quilts talks about the Stitch Pink blocks in a recent blog post. I talked about the Stitch Pink project in a recent V& S post.

Sharon also has updated her website and the new shop is really easy to use. Very tempting, especially since she is having a sale and donating 5% of sales to the ACLU through the end of 2020.

Jeni from In Color Order is having a sew-a-long using her drawstring bag pattern. She has a post on tips for choosing fabrics and one on using scraps for bags in addition to showing regular fabrics. Remember? I used one of the patterns for the bag I sewed for the Juggling Balls. I really like that pattern. I bought some twill ribbon (not sure if that is the right word) last time I made one to make it easier to thread through the casing. I also don’t like turning small strings like those the drawstring bag requires.

Are you doing the Bonnie Hunter Mystery, Grassy Creek, this year? Check out the Grassy Creek Mystery tab for the color choices and the first clue. I am going to collect all the clues and then see if I want to make the quilt. I don’t plan on using the colors she selected, if I do it. I am planning on using colors from a photo of a house nearby  I took YEARS ago. Alternatively, I could use a group of paint buckets that has a selection of fabrics I like, but looks very like my Frolic! color selections. IF I decide to make the quilt.

Camille Roskelley and Maureen McCormick (yes, from the Brady Bunch!!) are doing a quilt-a-long using Camille’s Flower Girl pattern. Hashtag is #ABloomingBunch.

Svetlana of Sotakhandmade has a new video tutorial for her scissor keeper (AKA scissor cozy) pattern. I made a couple of these last year and I think they make great gifts.

Svetlana also has a good video for making the front pocket of a pouch (Devon pouch??). Using the techniques int he video and your own measurements would allow you to add a front pocket to other bags.

Frau Schnitte shows her Yve bag in one of her posts. It is available as a pattern, but only in German.

Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows

One of my Spiky Stars blocks has been made into a virtual quilt and is being displayed on the website of the Toledo Museum. By this I mean that my block is one in a sampler quilt virtually stitched together. The website says “nspired by the Toledo Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change, TMA organized a COVID-19 Virtual Quilting Bee in advance of the exhibition opening. Nearly 100 quilt squares were submitted from across the United States. Community members submitted both traditional patterned quilt blocks and those addressing aspects of life amid the current global pandemic, which marks a moment of change and uncertainty on a global scale. Many of the squares were digitally stitched together by The Electric Quilt Co. and can be viewed below.”

Sara of Sew Sweetness has a new video on how to remove rivets.

The New York Times had an article called “What Could Be More Comforting Than a Quilt Coat?” about ‘quilt coats’. Remember wearables from the 1990s? Rachel Clark? This is the second NYT ‘quilt’ article that has annoyed me because it is poorly researched and incomplete.

Barbara Brackman has a short video on the history of her Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. The blog post where is read about it talks about the upgrades to Blockbase as well.

Barbara Brackman has post about an exhibit of Women’s Suffrage quilts. My favorite is the ‘Votes for Women’ quilt. Remember Mary Poppins?

The New York Times (you may need a subscription or check your library) had an article about making cloth masks more helpful in keeping away the virus. The main points are:

• Three layers are better than two (check out Craft Mask Maker if you want to buy masks)
• Flexible material is better
• Ties are better than ear loops
• Face shields should be used with a mask
• A well-fitted mask protects the wearer

Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools

Sew Tites** are a favorite notion/tool of mine. I find them useful for areas that pins** won’t go through and WonderClips** won’t reach. They have come out with another new version, the Sew Tites Magnum, which is designed for loading quilts onto longarm machines. I am sure they can be used for bags as well. Let me know if you try them on your longarm.

My students and I had a discussion about where we buy fabric, supplies, notions and tools. Carrie talked about My Favorite Quilt Store. After just a quick look, I love it. I haven’t bought anything from them yet, so the eCommerce process might put me off, but we’ll see.

Carrie also mentioned ModernQuilter. This is a great shop as it includes a lot of my favorite prints and designers. Some are similar to what FabricParty has, but in larger cuts.

I am interested in the CriCut since Julie got one and cut out Cotton Candy pouch for me. There was a recent discussion I saw where I heard about the Easy Press. From what I understand, it is like an iron, but presses [interfacing?] various things on to fabric. Looking at the blog post makes it seem like an iron and I wonder if it is necessary if you have an iron or better than an iron?

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools

Sweet Home Quilting has Sue Spargo wool!

Friends Sonja and Alison have Sew Perfect tables. I was finally interested enough to go and look at them when Sonja said hers could move up and down so she could sit or stand at the machine.

Jennifer Sampou’s Chalk and Charcoal Collection by Robert Kaufman is wonderful. They have warm and cool colors as well as a number of widebacks. I really like the light grey.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Christina Cameli has online classes. I love the look of her Pathway Pillow project. The quilting is simple, but very effective.

I have been using the Spoonflower zipper installation, which installs a zipper in the top (or bottom) seam. The guild sent me to a page of Sotak Handmade’s site and she has some instructions for installing a zipper in the back of the pillow.

Sotak Handmade has a big list of tutorials, some of which would make great gifts (holidays are coming!). One that was used at a recent retreat I attended was a little flower pot. It can be used for schnibbles, as a quick gift, for paperclips or as storage for a myriad of other things.

After watching the video to make the Retreat Bag I mentioned a few weeks ago, I saw that the host linked to a cosmetic bag pattern. I liked the interesting shape of the bag. There is a video for that one as well. So Sew Easy has a whole bunch of different videos, mostly lingerie and a variety of different bags.

Other Artists

Tim recommended Lauren Mormino’s YouTube channel to me. She is a bagmaker and creates videos for making bags. I get the impression that the bags are made by her, but are not her patterns. Tim is sewing a Noel Bag and following Lauren’s video.  According to Tim, she talks about the most efficient ways to make the bag, provides some hacks and generally walks you through it. She, apparently, has two IG profiles, Sewing with Lauren and MoreMeKnow. I see a little duplication, but one seems to be more whole life while the other is bags. Her website is MoreMeKnow.com

Media, Exhibitions and Shows

Barbara Brackman showed some winners and related quilts from a 1927 quilt show in Seattle. You may view the show catalog on the Hathi Trust site.  You can download it from that site as well. It reminded me of the APNQ – Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters – show I used to attend in Seattle.

I went to listen to the interview I did recently with Jeff Rutherford. I am pretty proud of the way it came. I actually sound like I know what I am talking about. Then I went back and listened to the other episodes. It is interesting to hear how people answer the same questions. Also, I have never heard of these people! Am I just behind the times? One woman was Jessica Alexandrakis.

 

First, Happy Birthday to my fabulous Mom who is 29 again today. I don’t know how old that makes me (theoretically 9, but the math doesn’t work with a 23YO YM, so you can decide how old I am). Check out her blog, Mary’s Art Musings. She has started writing about drawing and painting again.

On to your regularly scheduled programming.

Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools

I received the Mrs. H newsletter. Apparently, the UK has Recycle Week and Mrs. H took the opportunity to provide upcycling tips for bags, including checking bags at thrift stores for good hardware. Sign up for the newsletter on their main page.

I have purchased from ZipIt before, but I have to say that they have super excellent, excellent customer service. I went back and forth with them because I made a mistake in ordering the colors (and I did try to be organized!) and Jennie, who helped me, was so nice and patient about it all. THEN I got the zippers the next day. I was talking to her one day and the zippers were in my hand the next day. No kidding, no exaggeration. It was all great.

Scruffy Quilts has a new website. It has a fresher look and links to a variety of supplies and services.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

I was looking around for a quick zipper pouch pattern. I found several. This one from CloudSplitter Bags has nice details.

I was looking up swap themes and came across a tutorial for a banner. I have been wanting to make (or be gifted) a banner for Thanksgiving and this tutorial might get me in gear!

You’ve already missed 10 days of the Stitch Pink Quilt-a-Long, but it is not too late to join and to catch up. This is a free QAL to support Breast Cancer Awareness. It is co-hosted by The Fat Quarter Shop and Moda. The quilt along began on October 1 on Moda’s blog where they are releasing a new block pattern each day until October 31! The FQS is sewing along with Moda using the Stitch Pink October 2020 Quilt Kit that includes more than 10 yards of Grunge Basics for the piecing and the background. They also have a matching Backing Set for a perfectly pink quilt that really pops with color! I am sure, however, you have enough pink in your stash to make this without buying anything new. I don’t know that I will sew along, but I’ll go look at the blocks and see what I think. Use the hashtag #StitchPink2020.

I found a pincushion pattern that is adorable! It is called the Little Birdie Pincushion and can be found on the Quiltscapes site. The tutorial and the pattern are free. Makes great gifts.

Jeni from In Color Order has a new Vote mini quilt tutorial on her site. I would love one to hang in my front window.

SuzyQuilts is leading the Shine Sew-a-Long. You need to buy the pattern.

The Sewing Loft is having a Zipper Bag Swap. Cost is $5.

Quilting Jet Girl has a tutorial on setting blocks in a circle. I did this sort of setting for my Carpenter’s Wheel. It isn’t really rocket science. You just need to fill in the gaps with blocks. I made up my blocks from 2.5″ squares, but you can do it with one piece of fabric.

Sophie at CraftBuds told me about their flat zipper pouch tutorial. I haven’t tried it, but I did take a quick glance at the site and there is a lot of information that might be useful.

I saw a great bag on the Sew4Home Etsy store. It is listed as a diaper bag, but it could also be used for general around town use. It has a great shape.

You still have time to start the Rockstar Bag Sew-along, which is starting in the Sew Sweetness Facebook group tomorrow.

Other Artists

The guild had a presentation from Cheryl Brickey at last month’s meeting. I wasn’t familiar with her work, but really liked her presentation. She has a blog, sells patterns, has a book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts, and another one, Just One Charm Pack, coming out. She also hosts mystery quilts and quilt-a-longs and teaches Electric Quilt class for the company. She has some of those classes coming up a QuiltCon Together.

Bonnie Hunter talks a little about reorganizing her fabric stash in her new space. She has some good tips. I especially like “put your fabric where you will use it”.

Media, Exhibitions and Shows

I mentioned my pal, Jeff Rutherford’s, new podcast, Quilting Stories. A few weeks ago he and co-host, Elaine Poplin (IG:@messygoat) interviewed me. If you are interested in hearing my story, check out the latest episode.

The popular Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, located in Oregon, went virtual this summer, so you can still enjoy the beauty of this show.

Thanks to Kristy of Bonjour Quilts, I go this tidbit and the links: “The Houston International Quilt Festival will be held online in December this year – bookmark this page for details. Similarly, Quilt Market will be held virtually in January 2021. Details will be released here.” Barbara Brackman has a post on the Houston Quilt Festival as well. She reports that there will be a Virtual Quilt Market January 26-28, 2021.

Philadelphia has a series of murals depicting quiltmakers and quilts, which was recently reported on the Quilting Digest Blog.

My longarmer, Colleen Granger, now has  YouTube Channel. Get in on the ground floor by subscribing now.

If you are making a quilt for someone who is colorblind, you might want to use Coblis to see how your selected palette will look to them. Upload a picture of your fabric to see how it looks with various types of colorblindness.