Good Bye?

It's so hard to throw away fabric and books and magazines. Does it make it any easier to donate it or give it away? When do you have too much stuff? Like most quilters, I have enough fabric to last me for the rest of my life. There is a saying, "whoever dies with the most fabric wins". There are lots of other sayings, but I'm sure you've heard lots of them.

I knew it was time to destash when I bought a longarm quilting machine. We had to empty and remove 3 bookshelves that were full. The bookshelves were used to close off the dinngroom from the living room. This is what it looked like when the shelves were removed.

Then I had to find a place for everything and that's when I became ruthless when it came time to decide what to keep and what to let go. This is my foyer with my donations.

I am donating a lot of my magazines and some books to my quilt guild. I do have a bunch of magazines that have my Chanukah patterns or quilts in them. I thought there might be some quilters who would want the Chanukah patterns, so I am offering them for the cost of shipping. If you want one or more, email me and I will send you a PayPal invoice for the shipping cost. I will need your address.

I have 5 of these from McCalls Quilting, 2009

And this is the pattern.

I have 3 of these Quick Quilts, 2008

With a pattern for this:

I have just one of this 2009 Quivk Quilts

 

With this pattern

One Quilt Life, 2013

 

With my Frosty Flake pattern

The Love of Quilting, 2009

Has an article about my quilt, Willoway

2 copies of Quilting Arts

 

With an article about My Motherhood quilt - 2 copies (sorry it's sideways)

2 copies of QNM

Also with my Motherhood quilt

And finally, one copy of The Quilt Life

With an article about my Mexican tile hilts and a pattern for

They are all FREE!! Yes FREE! You just need to pay for shipping. I will ship anywhere n the world. As soon as you email me and let me know your email, which copy (copies) that you want, the cost of shipping will be determined and you will be sent a PayPal invoice.

So please take advantage of my de stashing and help me to not have any regrets!

 

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Content, Content, Content

For better or worse, I have become aware of the importance of social media in promoting and growing a business. It's important to reach as many people as possible. I appreciate that you read what I write, and I share because we all have an interest in quilting or art. Would I rather spend my days at my sewing machine, stitching, designing and creating? I would, but then how could I share my knowledge with you. So I've decided that it's time to try and expand my audience.

So first I will share with you my most recent Mini Mosaic that I have named "Heart Milagros". This is what I really love to do- Design, Create and Share.

Then I will share that I am trying to offer information that you really want to read as well as consolidate my social media.I have 2 Facebook pages. One is my personal page and the other is my Professional page. I will only be posting quilty stuff to my professional page. To receive this stuff, you need to "like" me. You can do that by clicking HERE. I will no longer post to my personal page.

In addition to posting quilty goodness on Facebook, I will be sending out a monthly newsletter. The newsletter will include what I'm working on or have completed, a link to a free video tutorial, a fun artsy app, where I'll be teaching or exhibiting that month plus a recipe from Don's kitchen. (I'm so excited that he has decided to share his yummy recipes.)

If you have not been receiving emails from me, it means that you are not on my mailing list. To be put on my mailing list, click HERE. if you're already signed up for my emails, but you're not sure, it will let you know. A response in red will tell you.

I am so excited about sending out my first monthly newsletter. It will come out the beginning of September and include a tour of my studio, with a Show and Tell of a couple of my bicycle quilts plus my favorite tools. You'll have to sign up to find out my favorite photo transformation app and which recipe Don will be sharing. I know you will enjoy it.

I'd love for you to help me work on my goals of providing you with information that will interest you as well as growing my social media following. So "Like" me on Facebook - click Here and sign up for my Newsletter HERE. I promise I will not share your email with anyone and that you can unsubscribe whoever you want.

 

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All Was Not Lost

When my trip was cancelled to the AQS Show in Grand Rapids, I gained 6 days. You know what I mean, those days when all of a sudden your plans fall apart and you can do whatever you want. With such a jam packed schedule I treasure these found days. It's like a vacation for me. So I decided to get some small projects done.

The first project was an apron for my grandson. He likes to bake with his Mom. I had a huge zucchini from my garden and I thought it would be fun to make zucchini bread and eat it!

The next project was a small quilt for Penn Oaks Quilt Guild. They have a quilt show every year and raise money for their speakers by selling tickets for mini quilts. I have lots of friends in Penn Oaks and plan on joining, so I made this adorable Bumble Bee quilt. The quilts need to measure 16"x20".

I found a pattern for paper piecing this cute bee on line. I enlarged it to 16" and then added the top and bottom borders. The pattern is by Modern Quilting by B. You can find the pattern at www.patternpile.com. The quilt show is in the Spring. I'm glad I got this done now and I'll let you know when the auction is. There a are a bunch of people that want this mini quilt, including me!

I bought the frame for this purse at a quilt show in July. I always wanted to make a bag with this type of frame. I found it was very easy. I'm glad I bought two frames because I think I will do something a little more involved next time- maybe with pockets inside or an outside with multiple fabrics. It's a May Chappel pattern.

I also spent time organizing some of my fabric and working on a new website

I would say that these "found" days were very productive and rewarding for me. Hope you find some extra days in your week. There's nothing like it!

 

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Step back in time

On the way home from our lake house, we stopped at the Kutztown Folk Festival. I've wanted to go for years becaus I heard they had quilts, but it never seemed to mesh with r schedule. This time it did. 
We headed straight to the Quilt Barn. It was filled with hundreds of quilts. Some were for immediate sale and others, the best ones, are to be auctioned. 

The Adorable DIY Curvalicious Skirt

The cuteness of this skirt comes from the scalloped hem made using Curvalicious, the fabric (Hawthorne Threads) and of course the model. Curvalicious is available in my Etsy shop. The model is NOT for sale, however her Mother did tell me that she will rent her out for the cuteness factor - just kidding!!!!!

I consulted a bunch of different size charts for measurments to create the skirt. I compared 6 different charts and I have to say the measurements were all over the place. I was only looking for waist and length to knee measurements. So I will not give measurements based on age or size. I recommend that you actually measure the child. There are only 2 measurements and they are easy to take.

Once you have the waist measurement, it is time to figure out the the amount of fabric needed for the scalloped hem. I take the waist measurement and multiply by 1 -1/2. So if the waist measurement is 22", I would need 33" of fabric for the width of the skirt. However, for the scallops to match at the seam where they are joined, the length needs to be a factor of 6. I would increase that number to 36". Then add 1/2" for joining the seam.

This would be what the calculation looks like for the width of the skirt.

1. Waist in inches x 1.5

2. Increase that number so it is divisible by 6

3. Add 1/2"

For the length of the skirt body, measure to the knee and subtract 1"

You will also need 3/4" non- roll elastic that is 1" shorter that the waist measurement

CUTTING

Cut two strips for the scalloped border, 4" x width of skirt

CUt the skirt body based on the above measurements and calculations

DIRECTIONS - skirt border

1. Place the 2 strips of the border fabric right sides together and fold in half

2. Place Curvalicious as close to 1 edge as possible and cut along the edge with a 28 mm rotary cutter

3. Unfold and pin the 2 strips right sides together. Sew 1/4" from the curved edge.

4. Clip the inner curves

5. Turn right sides out and using something like a bamboo knitting needle, smooth out the curves, press.

6. Cut fusible 2" circles and. Place them with the ruler.

Press in place and carefully open up the border and stitch in place with a blanket stitch. Tie off the threads.

I encased the raw edges when putting the skirt together.

7. Place the border on top of the skirt body, wrong sides together. ( yes, wrong sides together)

8. Stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance

9. Trim the allowance to 1/8"

10. Press this open and then press on the other side

11. Now fold it so the right sides are otgether and stitch with a 3/8" seam allowance.

12. Top stitch down along the seam

DIRECTIONS - skirt body

1. To sew the side seam together, follow the directions above starting with folding the skirt together with wrong sides facing.

2. Prepare for elastic insertion by first pressing 1/2" along the top edge to the inside

3. Fold over 1" and press again

4. Top stitch along the casing from the inside with a matching thread in the bobbin, leaving a 1" opening for inserting the elastic

5. Insert the elastic with a safety pin, being careful not to lose the free end.

6. Overlap the elastic ends and stitch across twice about 1/2" from each other

7. If possible, check the fit first and make any adjustments in the elastic. Stitch the opening in the waistband to close it.

8. Tada! Finished and ready for your own adorable model.

For more ideas for a Curvalicious hem, visit HERE

 

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Model Shoot

Check this out!

I have been wanting to experiment with a scalloped skirt hem created with Curvalicious. I have designed these sweet skirts with a Curvalicious border, but could I do it as the edge?

The answer is a resounding YES!! It just needed some inner curve clipping and careful pressing.

This project started with fabric from Hawthorne Threads. They are an amazing on line fabric seller that has started designing their own fabric. If you remember, I ordered a yard of 3 fabrics from them from their Zebra Hills collection. It arrived as one piece of fabric. I realized it's because they print the fabric as its ordered. How cool is that?

My first thought was to create a Curvalicious quilt I would have called "Mirror Images" inspired by a drapery panel that I saw at IKEA.

My friend Kelly of Pinkadotquilts often tells me that people want to see our failures as well as our successes. So here's the beginning of my quilt. Iset it aside because it just did not work for me.

It was time to switch directions. When I ordered the fabric, my initial thought was to try the scalloped skirt, so I returned to that idea. I sized it to fit my friend Dina's daughter. Miriam arrived with the perfect patent leather clogs.

The skirt is just too cute - and so is the model. Miriam was a natural and the poses came just effortlessly. She made my scalloped skirt look fabulous and has decided that she will wear it on the first day back to school!

Check out her hair band. It's a square of the polka dot fabric folded and rolled as a bandana.

I will share a tutorial for the skirt in my next post.

 

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Eat, Shop, Quilt

Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the Lancaster Modern Quilt Guild (LMGQ). When you think of Lancaster County, modern quilting does not really come to mind. But believe me, it's alive and well with a very healthy and enthusiastic following.

SHOP: It was a crazy day for me, but I was able to drive like a wild woman to meet the gang at The Old Country Quilt Store. The new owners have kept that store stocked with some very current fabric at some very good prices. I have a Curvalicious project in mind using Tula Pink fabric. They had some of her fabrics in stock and I could have used another fabric to add to the ones I own, but of course I didn't have them with me. This is a frequent and frustrating experience.

EAT: We drove in the pouring rain to eat a quick dinner because we had to get to the LMQG meeting.

QUILT: I am a member of the National MQG but not this local chapter, because quite frankly I'm getting old and it's not fun for me to drive at night. Their meeting is located over an hour from my house. Also, I am not a Modern Quilter, but I am an admirer. I went to hear Michelle Engel Bencsko, co-owner of Cloud 9 Fabrics. She started the business with a partner in 2009. I love to hear about the fabric business and she was very informative and interesting.

Here she is with one of the quilts made with her fabrics. Cloud 9 fabrics are made with certified organic cotton. She brought lots of quilts and shared th ins and outs of the fabric business - everything from her background to how the business started to how the designs go from inception to the arrival of the printed fabric to their warehouse in NJ.

Cloud 9 hires lots of different designers whose background is not necessarily in textiles to design their fabrics. She brought lots of quilts and here are a bunch of photos. Please excuse the backs of heads, but it was hard to get clear shots.

 

 

 

 

It was a great evening. How could any evening not be fun when quilts are involved?

 

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