October 28, 2013
Hi everyone, hope you are having a great fall and pre-holiday season! Stitching feverishly all those hand-made gifts? SHHH…don’t tell, but I kinda decided in my head that this year I will give my family all things made by me…one way or the other! Lets see if I can do it, but will report here how it goes. How about you – handmade for gifts or not, this year? This past weekend, I was not too productive in that regard, partly due to home-improvement projects still going on and partly due to gawking into my iPad in every break – following all the exciting new things at International Quilt Market in Houston. Market is a trade show, open to quilting professionals only (not public) where all the new things coming are exhibited – new fabrics, patterns, notions, trends… It is then followed by the famous International Quilt Festival in Houston […]
October 23, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Do you have quilts that you only use at certain times of the year, or for certain special days? I’m talking about not just bed quilts, but any type of quilted project–table toppers, pillow covers, place mats, wall hangings, … I have more quilts that are wall hangings than anything else. I do make bed sized quilts, but not nearly in the numbers as my other types of projects. Why? Mostly for the fact of having the project finished sooner, I guess. A bed quilt is a long-term project in my book. Often I have one underway that I work on in between my other things. My favorite way is to have the pieces going as leaders and enders (see Bonnie Hunter’s site for this idea. She’s our seminar national teacher for 2014; I learned this idea from Bonnie.) I’ve been getting out a few […]
October 3, 2013
Hello all, Mary Ellen here. Did you get your latest copy of Quiltmaker magazine? I think it might be my favorite of all the quilt magazines I subscribe to. Our next seminar national teacher, Bonnie Hunter, is a regular contributor to Quiltmaker. I like the scrap ideas she submits-see page 62 “addicted to scraps”. This month that’s all she’s got, but some months she has additional articles in the magazine. Bonnie just finished up a 3 part mystery quilt through the last 3 issues. Start watching for her in your issue, and in other magazines to get a feel for her style. At seminar one of our members told me that her sister and a friend are making a special trip to seminar next year from out-of-state because they love Bonnie so much. And she says that Bonnie is like a stand up comedienne–so funny! Looking forward to the lecture […]