“4 in 1” Quilt Patterns: “The sky is the limit and your imagination is your pilot.”

November 17th, 2008

As mentioned in a previous blog, Barb Sackel’s “4 in 1” patterns were a huge hit with the crowd at Betty’s Quilting.  The appeal of the patterns is in the way they allow other textile arts and crafts to be incorporated into their design. We sat down with Barb to get further insight into what “4 in 1” Quilts are all about.

QW: Why are the patterns called “4 in 1”? What’s the 4 and what’s the 1?

Barb: A “4 in 1″ Pattern is a quilt design that gives you creative spaces for different techniques. Originally I thought of just 4 techniques to put in the 1 space. But the list soon grew quickly. I kept the “4 in 1″ name for convenience although it should really read, “Unlimited in one”. Some of the techniques are; using focus, fussy cutting motifs, hand appliqué, machine appliqué, hand quilting, machine quilting motifs, red work, blue work, ribbon embroidery, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, printed pictures, panels, cross stitch and the list goes on.

Trophy Case with panels

Trophy Case with panels that started it all....

QW: How did you come up with the idea?

Barb: The whole concept started when I was working in a quilt shop and customers would pick up this adorable panel and then just set it back down while stating “I don’t know how to use this.” The owner then pushed the bolt into my arms and said, “Do something with this.” She knew that my creativity gets sparked when I am challenged. That’s how Trophy Case came along. We made kits and that bolt disappeared immediately. At the time, Red Work was just beginning to return on the quilting scene in full swing. Also, big motifs were left stranded because quilter’s didn’t want to cut the beautiful motifs into tiny squares. And so, the idea of creating spaces for all the different arenas evolved into the 13 patterns we have today.

Trophy Case with applique

Trophy Case with applique

Trophy Case

Trophy Case with large motif

QW: Do you have a favorite “4 in 1” Quilt?

Barb: Yes, it is the Trophy Case of course, because that was my baby to the whole line.

QW: Give us some examples of what you have done in your creative spaces.

Barb: I have 16 women who are my testers. Every quilt of mine is tested 3 times. I don’t put any restrictions on my testers, I just let them fly. Therefore, some amazing stuff comes back to me.

The “4 in 1″ patterns have come back with cross stitch, Blue Work (such as Circle of Fun seen below) and hand embroidery from the needle artists. Machine embroidery has found a new home with these patterns. Now you can utilize a whole CD, match it with fabric and have a full themed quilt.

Circle of Fun with Blue Work

Circle of Fun with Blue Work

Big motifs have found a home. Melancholy and Scenic Circle work really well with large prints.

Melancholy with large motif

Melancholy with large motif

Melancholy with Winne The Pooh panels

Melancholy with Winnie the Pooh panels

Scenic Circle with panels

Scenic Circle with panels

Playful Pinstripes and Minnie Pinstripes have inspired a whole new style of quilt by showcasing long pieces of fabric that tell a story.

Playful Pinstripes with large motif

Playful Pinstripes with large motif

Plaqful Pinstripes with story line

Playful Pinstripes with story line

Minnie Pinstripes with a parade of animals

Minnie Pinstripes with a parade of animals

My quilts incorporate themes that can be geared for fabulous men quilts. View to the Woods had men in mind with the pine trees. Throw in some wildlife, hunting, camping or any outdoors fabrics and if you want to really pamper your man, make it in flannels for that final outdoors feel.

View To the Woods with a large motif

View to the Woods with a large motif

Homestead Acres with machine embroidery

Homestead Acres with machine embroidery

The spaces allow playing with appliqué, machine quilting, machine embroidery (see Homestead Acres above) and Broderie Perse. Then come the final embellishments: buttons, cording, ribbon work and gorgeous quilting. The sky is the limit and your imagination is your pilot. Golden Treasures is a great example of that.

Golden Treasures with Christmas Panels

Golden Treasures with Christmas Panels

Golden Treasures with fussy cut panels

Golden Treasures with focus fabric

Golden Treasures with fussy cut panels

Golden Treasures with fussy cut panels

Golden Treasures with cross stitch

Golden Treasures with cross stitch

QW: Are you planning on increasing your line of “4 in 1″ patterns?

Barb: I have new ones already designed as I love the idea of a marriage between crafting and quilting. Of course, I am always open to ideas. If there is a need in the community of quilting, I would love to hear about it. Just go to the Contact Us page at my pattern publisher, QuiltWoman.com, and e-mail me a message. Make sure you state it’s for me so I’ll get it!

In the meantime, you can get patterns of any of the quilts featured here at Betty’s Quilting Etc. or by visiting QuiltWoman.com.

Quilt Market Video, just for you!

November 3rd, 2008

While at Quilt Market, the staff of QuiltWoman.com took some video of all the comings and goings. We’ve “borrowed it” and have posted it here.  Take a look! It’s the next best thing to being there. Make sure you read our posting just below this one that details all the fun we had!

Betty’s staff at Quilt Market!

November 3rd, 2008

Let’s just say this, Quilt Market was AWESOME! The new attendees on the Betty’s staff were awestruck. We put in some long days, but it was worth it.

For those of you who know what Quilt Market is, skip to the next paragraph. For those who don’t, here’s the 411. Quilt Market and Quilt Festival are the back-to-back shows held every October by Quilts, Inc. Quilt Market is a trade show where vendors show their wares and quilt shops and distributors can view them. This is followed by Quilt Festival, a trade show which is open to the public. Along side both of these is a juried show of some of the best quilts of the quilting world.

The QuiltWoman.com booth

The QuiltWoman.com booth

Betty’s sister company, QuiltWoman.com, had a booth at Quilt Market. Because QuiltWoman.com had 57 new patterns to introduce, they needed four, count’em, four booths! They displayed samples of all the new patterns and had them for sale. We helped the staff of QuiltWoman along with two of their quilt designers, Barb Sackel and Toby Lischko. Jen Eskridge was also there, demonstrating her Seamingly Accurate Seam Guide.

To add to the excitement, QuiltWoman.com raffled off ALL 57 of their new patterns to a quilt shop. The winner of the patterns was Rachael’s Fine Fabrics & Quilting in Lubbock, Texas. Congratulations! Let us know when you have them all stitched up!

But enough of that…what was hot and what was not? As far as QuiltWoman.com goes, their new patterns Hopscotch and Minnie Pinstripes sold out! Also getting a lot of attention were Seasonal Placemats and all of of Barb’s 4-in-1 patterns. The Seamingly Accurate was selling like hot cakes and has been picked up by a number of national distributors. Jen, the brains behind Seamingly Accurate, was dancing in the aisles!

Barb, Nancy, Vicki and Mark Lapinski

Barb, Nancy, Vicki and Mark Lipinski

We took time to peruse the booths of other vendors. We saw the awesome new AccuQuilt GO! (more on that closer to its availability date). The newest Moda fabrics were HOT, especially at Sample Spree where the fabric was cheap, cheap, cheap! In addition, any patterns that lent themselves to kitting or charm squares were also very popular.

A hot trend we picked up on is embellishments. Anything you could sew through and wash was being applied to quilts and apparel. Hillcreek Designs‘ buttons were great. Beads, threads, yarns, ribbons, leather and fabric scraps were also showing up. There was a lot of couching going on too (if you are thinking sofas when you read “couching”, visit here to see what we are talking about).

Creative apparel was getting some attention. We saw some incredible jackets by Londa’s Creative Threads. The Junk Jeans People were using old jeans to make jackets. They had some very unusual techniques involving a drill and bleach. Bags and totes were hot too. Much more info on these will be forthcoming in future blogs.

Finally, we have to name drop. We had dinner one night with Mark Lipinski of Quilter’s Home. Yes, he is as entertaining in person as he is in his magazine. We got a personal tour of Judy Murrah’s sewing room (she’s the author of the Jacket Jazz series). And we had access to Marie Osmond, Ricky Tims, and Nancy Zieman.

Vicki & Marie Osmond

Vicki & Marie Osmond

So Quilt Market is over and this is being written while sitting in the airport waiting to fly home. We made a lot of new friends, including a good number from New Zealand and Australia. We have a lot of new ideas brewing. Our designers’ heads are spinning with all the new ideas they have. Quilt Market is going to result in a lot of new patterns and products for you!

Grant, Barb, Nancy, Vicki & Corinne

Grant, Barb, Nancy, Vicki & Corinne

Why is there a pastry shop in my sewing room?

October 22nd, 2008

I received this in my e-mail the other day…

MODA will be introducing another New Pre-Cut at Quilt Market this Fall.  They are called ‘Turnovers’.”

Turnovers!  What next?  I figured it was time to open a bakery OR get myself (and all you) up-to-date on all the products on the market meant to make our quilting lives easier.  And maybe I can find out why they all seemed to be named after pastries.

Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll

Jelly Rolls

It all started with Jelly Rolls…I think.  At least that was my first encounter with fabric named after a baked item.  I tripped over them while visiting Betty’s last year.  Interesting, I thought.  But what do you do with Jelly Roll?  I have no trouble with the real thing, but might have trouble chewing a fabric jelly roll.

Jelly Patch (uses Jelly Rolls)

Jelly Patch (uses Jelly Rolls)

Well, it turns out a Jelly Roll is a roll of pre-cut, matched fabrics, 2 1/2″ in width and 44″ long.   You can find them from a variety of sources, including Betty’s.  I wasn’t really sure what they were, but then I started seeing patterns that use them, such as Jelly Patch.  (Pattern available at Betty’s and here.)  Hey!  Someone was doing all the work for me!  Well, some of the work anyway.

By the way, click on any of the images to see a large version of it!

Nickel Squares

Charm Pack

Charm Pack

Next I started hearing about Nickel Squares.  Ok, maybe that doesn’t fit the food theme.  But I was hearing about them none-the-less!

Accent on Charms

Accent on Charms (uses Nickel Squares)

Nickel Squares are pre-cut 5″ squares of fabric.    Betty’s carries a number of patterns for Nickel Squares (also sometimes called 5″ Charm Packs). Accent on Charms is just one example.

Layer Cakes

Hopscotch

Hopscotch (uses Layer Cakes)

But it doesn’t end there.  I was in Betty’s the other day and I heard mention of a new pattern that uses Layer Cakes.  Now this is really getting out of hand.  Of course, I had to check it out and discovered Layer Cakes are 10″ squares…sort of Nickel Squares on steroids.  Betty’s has a gorgeous new pattern designed by LOBO that uses Layer Cakes, called Hopscotch.

Sweet Rolls

Destiny (uses Sweet Rolls)

Destiny (uses Sweet Rolls)

In the process of writing this blog, I found another pastry, I mean type of pre-cut fabric  Anyone want a sweet roll? These are 5 1/2″ or 6″ wide strips that are 44″ long.  (Wondering to self here…why haven’t manufacturers standardized on these widths?) I found this brand new pattern in Betty’s, called Destiny.  It’s designed by our own Barb Sackel!

Turnovers

Turnovers

Turnovers

And this all leads us back to the Turnovers that inspired this blog entry.  Turnovers are 6″ pre-cut squares cut in half diagonally to give you half square triangles.  These turnovers are “fresh out of the oven”, so I haven’t seen any patterns using them yet.  Give it a week or so!  I’m betting we find some patterns that use them at Quilt Market!

Betty’s carries…

….most of these pre-cut products.  The only one we don’t carry are the Layer Cakes.  But, that doesn’t mean you can’t get them.  Read on about the AccuQuilt below.  We also carry all the patterns mentioned, plus many more!

Make your own pastries with AccuQuilt!

AccuQuilt

AccuQuilt

I should mention you don’t necessarily have to take what you see when it comes to these pre-cut fabrics.  Betty’s has an AccuQuilt machine that is available for your use.  Join the Accu-Cut club for $5.00 per month or $50 per year.  You then can use the AccuQuilt (by appointment) and create your own “pastries” out of the fabrics of your choosing!

So that concludes our cooking, I mean quilting lesson for today.  I still have no clue why most of this pre-cut fabric is named after pastries, but does it matter?  I’m just thrilled to have someone doing some of the cutting for me!  If you are short of time (like most of us these days), put your coffee into a travel mug, hustle on down to Betty’s and check out our selection of pre-cut fabrics.  We just might be able to save you some cutting time.  And I’m sure we can point you in the direction of a real bakery if our sweets can’t satisfy your craving!

Betty’s is going to the International Quilt Market!

October 8th, 2008

Some of the staff of Betty’s Quilting Etc. will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, October 25-27. For those who don’t know, Quilt Market is the largest quilting trade show in the country. That means it’s not open to the general public.   So even though you, as a retail customer can’t attend, our staff members will be scouring the show to find for you the latest designs and ideas. We’ll do all the walking so you don’t have to!

Going with us…
Barb Sackel
, one of our favorite teachers, will be attending with us.  You just never know what Barb might see that will spark an idea for a new design or new class. Also attending the show with us will be Jen Eskridge of ReannaLily Designs. Jen is the creator of the Seamingly AccurateTM Seam Guide. She’ll be doing demos of the Seamingly AccurateTM during the show.  (See the video in this blog post.)  Add to the group Nancy Dill -  Betty’s Owner/Manager; Vicki Steffenhagen - Betty’s Assistant Manager and a designer; and Corinne Goeke - Betty’s Webmaster and Blogger (and quilter too).  With this group, we should be able to cover the entire show and then some!

So stay tuned!
After our return, we’ll be blogging some of the nifty stuff we’ve seen, the ideas we’ve had, and who knows what else!  It should be pretty exciting for all of us!

Seamingly Accurate - when a 1/4″ isn’t enough

September 25th, 2008

Betty’s Quilting etc. is very excited to be the FIRST store to carry the Seamingly Accurate™ Seam Guide.  Tired of having inaccurate seams? Is your sewing machine covered in masking tape for your wider hemming and sewing needs? Wish you had a REAL guide beyond the metal throat plate? Do you have a metric machine and need an “inches” guide for your new patterns?

Seamingly Accurate™ is a new product allowing you to sew hems, apply trims, quickly make half-square-triangles and more without permanently altering your sewing machine! This product has been designed by Jen Eskridge, owner and founder of ReannaLily Designs. She found, in her commissioned sewing endeavors, that she really needed more sewing guide lines. It occurred to her that you might also.

Sample Uses

Seamingly Accurate Seam Guide

Seamingly Accurate Seam Guide

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To Use:

Click PLAY to watch this 3 minute Installation movie:

1. Peel off the backing of Seamingly Accurate™ to expose the repositionable adhesive.

2. Apply Seamingly Accurate™ to your sewing machine over and around the throat plate, lining up the black “needle line” of Seamingly Accurate™ with your needle as shown. Use any straight lines on your machine such as the edge of the throat plate to help you line up your Seamingly Accurate™ straight on your machine. Use a ruler to help you. Remember that you can remove and reposition it many times if needed. If you have an accessory case that opens or a removable table, or free-arm bed, make a cut in the Seamingly Accurate™ so you can open your accessory case or remove your arm or table without removing Seamingly Accurate™. You can position Seamingly Accurate™ any way you like.

Seamingly Accurate with area for throat plate cut out

Seamingly Accurate with area for throat plate cut out

3. Using a craft knife, cut around your metal throat plate and bobbin case. Remove this piece of paper, or you can mark where you want to cut with a pencil , remove Seamingly Accurate™ from your machine, cut with scissors, and reposition Seamingly Accurate™ on the machine. If you have an accessory case that opens or a removable table, or free-arm bed, make a cut in the Seamingly Accurate™ so you can open your accessory case or remove your arm or table without removing Seamingly Accurate™.

4. Now your guide is fitted to your sewing machine and can be easily used and reinstalled on many occasions.

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Seamingly Accurate with throat plate area removed

Seamingly Accurate with throat plate area removed

Your throat plate position will vary depending on your sewing machine brand. ReannaLily Designs recommends removing that portion, in case you need access to that pesky bobbin case during your sewing afternoon.
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Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Half Square Triangles (HST)!

A. Position your Seamingly Accurate™ paper guide by laying the Needle Line in line with your needle. Secure your paper Seamingly Accurate™ in place with clear tape. As you sew, make sure that the corner point is lined up with the Dotted ¼” line. This will keep your diagonal center line ¼” from your stitching line the entire time.

Half Square Triangles - lining up point with 1/4" line

Half Square Triangles - lining up point with 1/4" line

B. Sew down the left side, using the Seamingly Accurate™ as your guide. Flip the square unit and sew along the right side, still continue to use the guide, giving you a square that looks like the one pictured.

Half Square Triangle with both seams sewn

Half Square Triangle with both seams sewn

C. Cut the two halves apart along the imaginary center line, between the two stitching lines. Press the new HST open. It should measure 3.5” square.

Finished Half Square Triangle

Finished Half Square Triangle

Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Triangles and Continuous Binding!

When making continuous binding strips, you can cut many 2.5″strips of fabric and join them with a 45° seam. This is method eliminates bulk when hand sewing or machine stitching the binding in place.

The 45° angle is also a very popular angle in quilt triangle construction. To join a two pieces of fabric with a 45° cut, the quilter needs to off-set the angles and Seamingly Accurate™ can help! The off-set should line up with the needle stitching line. {see the photo below}

Making binding using the Seamingly Accurate

Making binding using the Seamingly Accurate

Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Wide Hems!

Need a 3″ hem on the bottom of your new drapery or garment? Try Seamingly Accurate™. Depending on your sewing machine’s area under the sewing machine “head” you can make perfect hems up to 5.5″ wide.

Sewing a wide hem using the Seamingly Accurate

Sewing a wide hem using the Seamingly Accurate

Many of ReannaLily Designs’ Patterns use Seamingly Accurate™ to help sew faster and more accurately.

Meet Barb Sackel…loads of talent and all ours!

September 15th, 2008

Have you Heard? ………..There is someone at Betty’s Quilting that we would like you to meet. Barb Sackel is our area’s newest designer and she calls “home” Betty’s Quilting.

Barb has been designing quilts for 10 years but decided to take her designs to the public one year ago. To date she has 14 patterns on the market with another 11 coming out for the Quilt Market Trade Show being held in Houston in October. One of her best loved designs is Batik Diamonds, now available not only as a pattern but also in a kit format at Betty’s and QuiltWoman.com
All Barb’s patterns are offered in the store and at QuiltWoman.com In addition, you can see samples of her work hanging in the Betty’s classroom. Barb is also featured by Nancy’s Notions, Clotilde, Pattern Peddlers, and Checker, to name just a few. She is also found in two major distributors in Canada. Business is booming for Barb!As part of the Betty’s family, Barb helps to make the store samples and assists in making the kits that are now becoming so popular. She also teaches classes at Betty’s. You can see the list of upcoming classes on the Betty’s classes website. Be sure to take one of her classes!

Batik Diamonds

In addition, Barb is available to do trunk shows for your guild or organization.  Email Barb at stitchbum@aol.com.  But the best part about Barb being a local is you can come in and meet her at the upcoming Shop Hop at Betty’s on October 2 - 4. She will be hosting the following demos:

  • AccuCut Die Cutting System - Barb has designed 4 new quilt patterns using this system. The new patterns will be available for early release to you exclusively at Betty’s.
  • Quilt Finishing - Learn Various ways to finish off quilt tops including, tying, pin and hand basting, stitch in the ditch machine quilting, crazy grid machine quilting, pillowcase binding, and traditional binding.

Of course all of Barb’s patterns and kits can be found at Betty’s Quilting Etc. and at QuiltWoman.com.

Come on in to meet Barb, whether at the October Shop Hop or in a class. Help us all wish her upcoming success in her future endeavors. Take a look at some of her other quilts below, and see the rest on her feature page at QuiltWoman.com.

Baby Love

Plate In the Garden

Melancholy

PreWash Fabrics or Not?

January 14th, 2008

I love the feel of NEW fabric. It’s so smooth and firm. I always ask instructors what their preference is when it comes to pre-washing. It’s 50:50 depending on the quilter. It would be so much easier if the answer were consistent! I wouldn’t be sitting in this “gray” area on the topic. I’m a big fan of “rules”. But unfortunately, this is one of those area’s that’s the choice of the quilter. So off I go on a researching adventure to figure out how to choose.

Fibers in fabric are stretched taut when manufactured and some fabrics relax more than others. Not all fabrics shrink per say, but more so relax. If you have multiple KINDS of fabrics in a quilt, one relaxing more than another could be a really BAD thing. Part of what we see as shrinkage is actually the relaxation of the cotton fibers as they try to return to their natural state. If you want a more vintage look to your quilt, and patches are big enough that shrinkage-more so relaxation-would add to the appeal of the quilt….don’t prewash. But if you have smaller, more intricate pieces, and intense quilting……prewash. If you prefer to work with stiffer fabric, AND want to prewash, use spray starch or sizing to reintroduce stiffness.

I hope you learn from MY inexperience….

I tried pre-washing for a class once. The instructor was insistent that we wash our fabrics before we begin assembling our blocks. I had 1/2 yard pieces and 1/4 yard pieces. I threw them in the washing machine, threw in the mild detergent she suggested, and had Synthrapol on hand like she suggested in case any colors bled. She told us a horror story of a raffle quilt bleeding all over itself 2 days before the raffle and how she was up for 48 hours straight appliquéing over patches to hide the bleeds. I was ready in case bad things happened and was so grateful that I was armed with this knowledge BEFORE the quilt was finished. I was astonished when the washing machine stopped to find a completely different nightmare…..

ALL of my fabrics had frayed and knotted themselves into a twisted pile of sheer chaos. There were knots upon knots upon knots. Some of them tied so tightly, I had to cut them with scissors to get them off. So I sat on a stool in front of the washing machine, tugging and pulling and cutting what seemed like THOUSANDS of threads. As I sat there, I realized some of the threads I was pulling on, were making gathers in the fabric. Near tears, I thought $100 worth of 1930’s fabric was ruined. I tossed them all in the dryer and figured once they were dry, maybe it would be easier to get the threads off. 40 minutes later……I had PERMANENT PRESSED accordion folds in most of my pieces, that no amount of steam in the world seemed to touch.

To make a long story short…..I have since learned a few lessons.

1. There are OTHER settings on my washing machine besides “Heavily Soiled”. The Gentle\Delicate cycle doesn’t agitate nearly as much.

2. Fill the washing machine to it’s capacity water wise, no matter how little you have thrown in there.

3. There is a LOW Heat - Delicate cycle on the dryer too! (who would have thunk!). I also use clothespins and hang the pieces in the basement to dry as well.

4. Anything under 1/2 yard could be better suited in a lingerie bag or pillow case.

5. IMPORTANT - clip off a little triangular section from each corner of fabrics before you wash them. Try about 1/2″ or a little less. You’ll still see a bit of fraying, but not enough to create bunches of knots.

6. For Smaller pieces of fabric (including strips, charm squares, jelly rolls, and “inherited” scraps): fill the washer with lukewarm water and Mild laundry soap, push the fabric into the water, and let it SIT for *20 minutes*, swishing it occasionally with your hands (NOT agitating). Then drain, and rinse the same way - pushing it into the water several times, but NOT agitating. Spin if you’re feeling daring, untangle if necessary, and toss into the dryer on low heat. Or avoid the dryer and lay the pieces on towels or hang. If you do not agitate, you have almost no tangling or fraying.

7. A GREAT tip from another quilter was to put a pinking blade in my rotary cutter and pink the cut edges of the fabric. This REALLY controls the fraying. The bonus is a pinked edge is easier to spot in my stash, so I know if something has been washed or not!

8. Another tip was to serge or zig-zag the cut ends (not the selvage edges) together. ( I tried this too, worked great) That or basting the fabrics together.

So in preparation for ANOTHER class……I again pre-washed my fabrics last night, and it was a much less stressful ordeal.

Merry Christmas!

December 24th, 2007

Quilter’s Night Before

by Brenda Groelz, Kathy Rockbugs, Marilyn Root, Cindy Swafford

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
The only one sleeping was Quilter’s dear spouse.
The Log Cabin stockings were almost completed,
“Just a few stitches left,” our sweet quilter repeated,

“Then I can hang them and head to off to finish
the pillows I’m making, fulfilling Mom’s wish
For something ‘quilty’ to put on her couch”,
as she pricked her poor finger, our quilter yelled, “Ouch!”

When from out in the kitchen there arose such a crashing,
she sprang from her work, and she dropped all her sashing.
Away to the doorway she flew like a plane,
wondering just what was happening and who she could blame.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
but Old Mrs Claus and her bag of quilt-gear….
With her elves bearing gifts, through the kitchen she came,
she directed and pointed and called them by name.

“Now Elna, now Pfaff, now Bernina and Viking,
the Hoffman and Mumm should be just to her liking.
To the sewing room - there, it’s just back of the hall,
now dash away, dash away, dash away all!”

“My Dear,” said The Claus (as she liked to be called),
“There really is no need to worry at all.
Your projects will all be completed this night,
I’m terribly sorry we gave you a fright.

Sit down. Have some tea. It’s relaxing, you’ll see.
My friends and I’ve come a long way to help Thee.”
She thought she was dreaming, our Dear Quilter did,
In fact she quite feared that she’d near flipped her lid!

But the flash of the needles and twist of the thread
soon gave her to know she had nothing to dread.
They spoke no more words, but went straight to their sewing.
How the work went so quickly she had no way of knowing.

The stitches, how tiny! The corners, how straight!
This Claus-woman’s talent was awfully great.
They finished the pillows, then started a quilt.
Before they all knew it, the whole thing was built!..

Now old Mrs. Claus, she knew quilters real well,
and she knew they’d need help on this night most of all
So she said to our quilter, “Just move over, dear,
I’ve brought my own needle. We’ll get done, never fear.

I told dear old Santa about what quilters do.
How they plan all these projects but have other work too.
So he taught me his magic for doing things fast.
There, that pillow’s done. Now this is the last.”

They tidied their thread snips, and picked up the scraps
and chased our dear quilters six cats from their laps.
They left behind gingerbread (just to be nice)
and the whole house smelled sweetly of Christmas and spice.

As they scurried away with their thimbles still gleaming
dear Mrs. Claus paused, her cap ribbons streaming.
“Merry Christmas, my dear, now just have a ball!
Relax and enjoy. Happy Quilting to all!”

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 21st, 2007

Woo Hoo!  Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, STUFFING!!  I can’t wait.  But even MORE exciting….

BLACK FRIDAY

(Some retail  stores open at 4 AM, some at 5.  I can’t wait to find all the doorbuster goodies)

Even Betty’s is even getting in on the fun.   All Christmas Fabric is 40% off!

October and November was great fun around here, lots of retreats.  I got so much done. I can never be that productive unless I’m locked in somewhere and meals are provided.

My favorite finished project was from a pattern from our very own Nancy Dill!

CHAMELEON PURSE

At the retreat I went to in October, I made one with a pumpkin theme

halloweenpurse.JPG

(click to enlarge)

And then at the NEXT Retreat, I whipped up a new “Shell” to correlate with Winter!! I didn’t even have to empty my purse!

purse2.JPG

(click to enlarge)

This is an AWESOME pattern for people that like lots of purses, but don’t want to make lots of purses.  The shells can be made in no time, and attach inside with velcro.  ALL MACHINE WASHABLE!!  Yee Haw!

If you want to make one for yourself, you can get the pattern here:

QuiltWoman.com

Stay tuned, we’re going to start blogging ALOT more often!