Picture This Quilt from Circleville Quilt Show 2010

Thursday, September 9, from 4 – 7 pm will be my fall class Open House & Sale at my home.  Stop by to sign up for any of my fall classes.  I will have samples available of my upcoming classes from all of the stores where I will be teaching this fall.  Have a snack and a glass of wine, and check out the new classes.  If you sign up for three classes (at any store or a combination of stores) on Thursday at my Open House, you will get 25% off the third lesser priced class.   Also, for every class you register for, you will get one entry for the door prize drawing.  Stop by on the way home from work or before dinner and say hi! Email me at qwm@rochester.rr.com for address and directions.

Again, on Saturday, September 11, from 10 am – 3 pm, I will be at Jackie Lynn’s for the Class Preview Day and Sale.  I will be having the same sale for the classes I will be offering this fall at Jackie Lynn’s on Saturday at the Preview Day.  The store will also have a special on fabric purchases and refreshments.

Winners of Best Use of Color at Circleville Quilt Show 2010

Hopefully you can stop by for one of these sale days, but if not, all of my series classes have a reduced fee if you sign up for all 3 or 4 classes in the series.  This sale will be in effect until the first day that the series begins.  Also, the dates for the 2011 Get-Away Weekend have been set, April 1 – 3.  You can read more about this fun-filled weekend by clicking on “Get-Away Weekend” link at the left.  Sign up and pay in full by September 30 and you will receive a coupon good for one free class (up to a $60 value) anytime through 2011.

"All Roads Lead to the Quilt Show" Challenge

To print a copy of my current Fall newsletter, click on the “Newsletter” link at the left of this page.   The newsletter has descriptions of all of my fall classes and an alphabetical list of upcoming classes with dates and times.  If you would just like to see a listing of dates and times of upcoming classes, click on the “Upcoming Classes” link at the left.  On this page you will find a chronological list of classes with dates and times.  Just click on the class name to see a photo of the sample.  Click on the “Class Locations” for directions and addresses of the various stores where you will find my classes.  All stores have

Best In Show - Circleville Quilt Show 2010

samples displayed and supply lists available for these classes.  The homepage of this website is also a blog, which means I will be updating it regularly with new blogs.  I will keep you posted on updates to my classes, last minute additions, area quilt shows, sales, quilting tips, recipes and all sorts of fun and entertaining information on quilting.  You can look back through previous blogs to see what I mean if you haven’t already been reading my blogs.  This summer I posted photos of the samples as I completed them as a preview of the fall classes.  Also, I shared the journey I took reorganizing my quilting studio.  I was just in southern Ohio last week visiting my mom and happened on a quilt show.  The pictures you see on this blog are from that show.  One quilt was a photo quilt made from the same pattern we will be using in the Picture This class.  Hope to see you all this week!

Venetian Tiles

Mo's Basket

Some of you took my X-Block class last winter where we made the Venetian Tiles Quilt.  This is a beautiful quilt that is made from a simple 9-patch block and then cut with a twist using the special X-Block acrylic ruler.  If you missed it, I’ll be offering it again this fall.  The fun pieced border is made from the left over pieces from making the blocks.  It’s all about value placement and a great way to use up scraps or stash.  It may look difficult to make, but it’s as easy as making a 9-patch…all sewn from squares.

And for a new class, and a very different looking quilt made with the same X-Block ruler, there’s Mo’s Basket.  This quilt appears to be made of woven zigzags instead of diamonds, but again it is made from a simple 9-patch and then cut with the magic X-Block ruler.  I’ve had so much fun making these easy quilts, that look like a much more complex project.  Again the border is made from the leftover block pieces.  This pattern is more color organized and less scrappy than the Venetian Tiles quilt.

October Bag Lady

I’ve been a bag lady for the last few weeks, busily sewing various bags for my new Bag Lady class series.  Each month we will be making a different bag featuring different techniques.  Here you see the designer knock-off bag which we will be making in the October Bag Lady class.  I designed the bag pattern so you can make it from one quilted designer placemat and a coordinating designer napkin.  If you prefer, you can use pre-quilted fabric and a coordinating print for the pockets and handles.  How about making one as a holiday gift for a special friend.

November Bag Lady

In November we’ll be making the Bodacious Brag Bag.  It has a vinyl pocket on the front to insert a photo.  The photo is not permanent and can be changed as frequently as you like after the bag is made.  This personalized purse would also make a wonderful gift for that new mom or grandma or anyone who would like a photo memory bag.  Rather than the ribbon bow shown on the pattern, I added a continuous prairie point trim.

In September we’ll be making the Still Waving purse pictured a few blogs ago.  In the Caffeinated Crafters series in November, we’ll be making the coordinating curved-top mini bag which makes a great little money pouch or cosmetic bag.  It has an easy-to-sew zipper closure.  This too would be a great little gift, maybe with a gift card tucked inside.  In this fun Sunday series class we meet once a month for caffeine and brunch, while make a fun, easy and hip sewing project.

Another new series this fall will be the Master Quilter Series.  It’s a short two-hour demo class once a month on Saturday mornings.  In the class, I will demonstrate an intermediate quilting technique.  Then you will have about 1 1/2 hours to start a short project which uses the technique.  These morning classes will be followed by the afternoon Bag Lady Series class, which will also use the technique demo from the Master Quilter Series.  So if you really like the technique and want to make another project using it, you can stay for the Bag Lady class.  Here are the scheduled topics for the Master Quilter Series: Piping Bindings and Trims (September), Continuous Bias Binding (October), and Prairie Points (November).

New Class: Think Inside the Box

I’ve got lots of new classes coming up this fall.  Until times and dates are set at all the stores and all the samples get finished, I won’t be updating my newsletter and class schedule on the site.  In the meantime, I’ll post these pictures of new samples as I complete them.  I just finished the quilt “Think Inside the Box” which comes from the book Geometric Gems.  It’s a great quilt to show off a collection of fabrics.  The “insides” of the boxes are seamed, so smaller scale prints work best.  The three values used for the boxes really gives the quilt dimension.

New Class: Casting Shadows

Another new class, Casting Shadows, also is a great exercise in value.  The varying shades of background fabric and triangle fabrics also create lots of dimension.  Varying values is often the key to making your quilt pop.  Contrast is always an important consideration when making a quilt.

A couple of dates to mark on your calendar are Thursday, September 9th and Saturday, September 11th.  Thursday will be the open house at my home for all of my classes everywhere that I teach.  Saturday is the class preview day at Jackie Lynn’s for the classes at that particular store only.  Both sale days will include the same sale on my classes and a drawing for a free class kit.  I’ll have all of my class samples at my open house on Thursday and the class samples for the classes offered at Jackie Lynn’s will be on display there for the class preview day on Saturday.  You can sign up for classes on either day and I will be there to answer any of your questions.  There will be times posted and more information later in my newsletter and on this blog.

I like to store my threads on pegs on a thread rack which is mounted to the wall over my sewing machine.  I know that experts say it is best to store thread in a drawer or closet away from dust and sunlight.  But I rotate my threads regularly into my tote bag which often comes to class with me so they are protected in the tote bag.  I love color, and that is the reason for the thread rack on the wall.  My studio is fairly small, so I don’t have space for a permanent design wall.  If you have the room, a design wall is a great tool.  It’s easy to make a design wall by simply tacking a piece of cotton batting or flannel to a blank wall.  Another alternative, if you have a large double door closet, is to hang the design wall fabric from the frame of the closet door so the design wall covers the doors.

In my closet, I keep various totes filled with projects in progress and others filled with items like ribbons, laces & trims, purse hardware & trims, and interfacings & fusibles.  One of the series classes which I will be teaching this fall is the Bag Lady Series.  To the left you can see the purse we will be making in September.  It’s from Susan Rooney’s local pattern company and was designed by a local designer, Ruthann Stillwell.  Those of you who came to the Get-Away weekend this past April might remember them from the presentation they did on Saturday after lunch.  The pattern is called “Still Waving” and has that beautiful wave across the top.  The pattern also includes two different zippered small totes, which we will be making at the November Caffeinated Crafters class.  Also in one of the new Master Quilter Series classes, I will be demoing how to make  your own fabric piping and giving you some creative ways to add piping to your quilts.  The Master Quilter Series will be an inexpensive, short class, meeting once a month on Saturday morning.  I will demo a specific quilting technique while you relax with a cup of coffee, and then you can begin a short project using the technique.

Now if I can just get the rest of my studio cleaned and reorganized! And finish up the rest of the samples for this fall.

I keep odd scraps and small leftovers from projects in pre-cut sizes and sorted by color in tote boxes.  The pre-cut sizes are compatible to the Scrap Therapy brand patterns (2″, 3 1/2″ & 5″ squares) which I have been collecting.  These are stored in scrap therapy tote boxes, sorted by size and then value.  The strips are cut into either 2″-wide or 2 1/2″-wide strips.  I started a collection of 2″ strips years ago after reading Debbie Caffrey’s book “Noodle Soup,” which is full of patterns for 2″-wide strips.  Also, my bindings are 2″-wide and I always have a little leftover when completing a quilt.  And speaking of bindings, here’s a TIP: Store all of your pre-cut bindings in a large glass jar.  Cut them out when you cut out your quilt (press them in half, roll them up mark them by pinning a note with the quilt name they belong to.  This way you can always see how many unfinished quilts you still have and you won’t accidentally use that binding fabric in another quilt. I also keep 2 1/2″-wide strips to use with all of the jelly roll patterns and books that are so available today. These strips are stored separately in two different tote boxes, sorted by value (light, medium and dark).

Right now I have a large tote box of fabric to pre-cut when I’m in the mood to do some cutting.  These scraps often get very wrinkled  in the large tote box. TIP: The best way to get rid of the wrinkles before cutting,  is to spray them with Mary Ellen’s “Best Press.”  It comes in several scents, does not leave a white residue like spray starch and sizing, and is acid-free. Of course the very best system is to cut your scraps from making a quilt into your pre-determined sizes immediately, when you are done with your quilt and not let them pile up ( lol)!

The remainder of my stash consists of larger pieces, sometimes bought with a plan in mind and sometimes just bought because I liked it.  The pieces bought with a specific pattern in mind are stored together in a small box for that project.  I also make a lot of Stack-n-Whack quilts and over the years have bought large yardage for these projects.  All of my Stack-n-Whack yardage is stored in a large tote.  Another stash within my stash is background fabric (usually 3 yards of a great light fabric).  These background fabrics get stored together on a shelf.  The rest of the larger pieces are sorted by color and stored together on a shelf.  I like to keep my flannels and batiks separate from the regular cottons, also sorted by color.  And I have a large tote of Christmas fabric and a large tote of fabric bought to be used in landscape quilting.  This is just the way I sort my fabrics, based on the kinds of quilts I like to make.  For example, if you make a lot of watercolor quilts or Halloween quilts, you may want to sort these fabrics separately.  It really depends on what you collect.  I also have a small stash of 2 1/2 yard novelty and Hawaiian prints that I keep separately for making “party shirts” for my husband, Jeff.

The photo you see, is the pattern we will be making for the December S.A.B.L.E. club.  I made the sample from my stash of batiks.  Batiks make beautiful quilts because the colors are so vibrant.  Also, they are easy to sew, because the fabric does not stretch as much as traditional quilter’s cottons.  This is because the thread count is higher.  Also, batiks are great for applique, since they press so well.  TIP: When sewing with batiks, some machines tend to skip stitches.  To remedy this, try a micron needle. Next: getting your notions in order.

S.A.B.L.E. Club - October

I’ve been busy this summer working on samples for upcoming classes.  If you have not heard already, Maple Island Quilts has a new pattern out: BQ3.  It’s just as fast and fun to make as the earlier BQ and BQ2 quilts.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with these quilts, the BQ stands for “big quilt.”  The blocks are large (18″) and consist of a 12″ square with strip-pieced sides.  They all work well with large-scale prints and sew up real fast, since you don’t need to make many blocks and the pieces are large.  Also, they don’t need to have a border.  We’ll be making the BQ3 pattern in my October S.A.B.L.E. (Stash Amassed Beyond Life Expectancy) class.

In addition to making samples this summer, I’ve also been working on organizing my quilting studio.  The first step was to go through my fabric and sort it into groups: fabric to keep, fabric to sell, and fabric to donate.  I boxed up the fabric to sell later and bagged up the fabric to donate.  In Rochester there are many places to donate quilting fabric and supplies.  Some of those places are Bits & Pieces (the senior group in Fairport that sorts through donations, prices and resells items to the public at incredibly low prices), the Project Linus group (you can drop off donations at Jackie Lynn’s for this project which makes donation baby quilts),  and your local quilting club (which usually accepts donation quilts or donation fabric for quilt kits for members to sew into donation quilts).  I’m sure there are many more and if you know of one, please comment below and share your information.  Next time I will share with you how I sort the fabric I keep in my stash.

S.A.B.L.E. Club - September 2010

This weekend is the 7th Annual Western New York Shop Hop.  It includes 9 stores in the Rochester and Buffalo area: Betty’s Quilting Etc., Ivy Thimble, Mt. Pleasant Quilting, Aurora Sewing Center-East Aurora, Aurora Sewing Center-Clarence, The Carriage Quilt Shop, Country Treasures, Marie’s Sewing Center, Seams Sew Perfect,  and Sew What.  You can pick up a list of shops and addresses at any of these stores.  It started on Wednesday, June 9 and runs through Sunday, June 13.  Hours are Wednesday through Friday, 9 am – 7 pm, Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm and Sunday 12 – 4 pm. Shop hops are always a fun way to check out what’s new at your local and area quilt shops.  Even if you can’t make it to all of the shops, I hope you can make it to some.  There is usually a big drawing for those who complete the shop hop, but each individual store also has specials and often some nice freebies.  To check out the article from Thursday’s paper, click here .

I recently went on another shop hop in May which included 7 shops, all in the Rochester area.  I didn’t make it to all of the stores, but I did get to visit a new store in the center of Caledonia, Chestnut Bay Quilting.  I discovered they had a huge collection of batiks and purchased most of the brown and teal fabrics which are in the quilt shown here.  This quilt is the sample for my first S.A.B.L.E. club coming up this fall in September.  As soon as I have dates and times for all of my fall classes, I’ll let you know.  In the meantime, I’ll post the new samples in my blog as I get them made.  So be sure and check back throughout the summer for a preview of my upcoming new classes!