Archive for September, 2010

New blocks!

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

In keeping with the innovative construction technique of my Phatkat patterns, I’m working up some new fan blocks. Here’s a bunch of red-hot cats – they’ll get a bit of applique in the border shortly.


This cat uses a rather clever idea if I do say so myself. The “humps” on the cat’s back are inserted,3-d, and would look great embellished with buttons or beads to tack them down.

And now its time to drop the cat theme – stay tuned for more!

Hand Applique its not!

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Pretty neat technique –  especially if you own a Bernina because its got just the prefect stitch, 329 or 1329, to do the invisible applique. Sadly, I don’t have a Bernina and have to make do with slightly inferior stitches.

Saw Kathy S. at Bear’s Paw Sunday while we were hand appliquing by machine – she gave me a sneak peak at her new class – another Buggy Barn Quilt! Adorable!

Local Quilt Shop Show

Sunday, September 26th, 2010

Yesterday, the Lil’ Country Shoppe in Middletown, Delaware had a wonderful outdoor Backyard Quilt show – free to any one as well as no charge to the vendors for setting up and selling their wares. The weather was beautiful for the 60+ quilts that were on display. Needless to say they were all  safely protected under large tents.  Lots of mother-daughter crafters there too. Actually, the daughters were the crafters – the mothers were the support system!I bought an adorable felted ladybug pin from one enterprising young lady. I figure it will compliment my Ladybug Guild name tag very nicely.   I’m wondering if my “viewer’s choice” selection from the 60+ quilts won the $50 store coupon. It was a beautifully done cross-stitched and handquilted quilt – lovely and lots and lots of work put into it.  Mark your calendar for next year – always the last weekend in September – its definately worth the visit!

Lunch and a Lesson

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Had a great time at My Favorite Quilt Shop here in Elkton yesterday. At noon, they hosted a free demo over the  lunch hour.  Donna Wittkop (a  long arm quilter and teacher from Smryna DE) demonstrated the CurveMaster presser foot. This amazing little gadget allows you to sew curves with no pinning and it actually works! You’ve probably seen it at quilt shows – its great for the Drunkard’s Path and Winding Ways patterns or anything with an annoying curve that requires lots of pins. With this presser foot, no pinning is needed.  As an interesting aside, Donna had cut out all her her Winding Ways pieces with one of those Accu cutter machines – saved her a lot of time!

Fascinating Piecing Technique

Friday, September 17th, 2010

I’ve just sat here for an hour watching Dale Fleming on The Quilt Show. Wow! She uses freezer paper and glue to insert curves and circles! It looks amazingly easy to do – no applique or top stitching  involved at all. When she’s finished, the seams of the curves and circles are sewn in and trimmed down to a 1/4 inch seam allowance. There’s a book out there if you aren’t a member of the The Quilt Show. However, as uncomfortable as it may sound to some to sit in front of your computer watching TV, it is worth it to me when the stuff such as I watched today was absolutely awesome!

Quilt show tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Heading up to PA for a Quilt Show – Pennsylvania National Extravaganza XVII.  Hope you get a chance to go! My plans are to try and control myself while I there and just soak up all the inspiration – I’ll let ya know how that goes…

Another new Quilt Shop

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Yep – another quilt shop has opened up in our area – and what a grand place it is! Hoppin Bobbin recently purchased a quilt shop in Aberdeen, shut it down for a few months and totally transformed it into their own! Great classroom space, a long arm for finishing quilts, although I don’t think they are renting time on it, some embroidery available as well as a large selection of beautiful fabrics. Take some time to visit – the atmosphere is most welcoming and while you are there, check out the class schedule. They have a lot of interesting things being offered in addition to my Diamond Star being taught by Mary Lou, who by the way is a highly skilled bridal gown seamstress in addition to quilting. It may be worth taking the class just to learn something new from all her experience!

Busy and not so busy time

Monday, September 13th, 2010

So we left the new windows and went down to NC just in time to meet Earl – he was a bust but my son and daughter-in-law were fun! Then we came back to the new windows and old dirt – I am torn between cleaning and quilting – I know, I know… there should be no question. Quilting, right? But since quilting has won out for a long, long time, the dirt and mysterious debris has staged a slow and steady onslaught in this charming abode of mine, demanding attention.

Yesterday, we had a great Tessellating Tree class at Bear’s Paw – I forgot my camera so I’ve just attached a pic of my latest two samples. Every one in the class used shades of red and green. Every one was in or past the quilting stage by the end of the class – one industrious lady even had her binding stitched on before we were through!