A Word (or two) About Quilt Backings….part I
Recently I’ve had a couple of quilts show up at my doorstep with backings (linings some call them) that have issues so I thought this might be a good place to discuss it. Now keep in mind, if you use another machine quilter you may want to check with them for what they require – this is based on my requirements. Your backing fabric needs to be at least 5″ larger than your quilt on all four sides. That means if your quilt is 80″ by 90″ your backing fabric (at the very least) needs to be 90″ by 100″…. Read more »
Uh-Oh!
Quilting was not my first love….I know, shocking, isn’t it?!? When I was in fourth or fifth grade, my mother sent me to the Singer Sewing School at the Singer Sewing Center in the Nanuet Mall. Every Saturday for what felt like forever, I got up early and was dropped off at the mall before it opened and attended sewing classes. We got to pick out a pattern, fabrics and notions and was walked through the construction process and at the end of the “term” there was going to be a Fashion Show! We were going to get to model… Read more »
A Fresh Start!
I recently moved my personal sewing stuff to our basement. Wasn’t much to look at, your typical semi-finished basement…white walls, cement floor, washer and dryer set up. Then my friend René said, why don’t we paint it…René loves to paint! I mean LOVES to paint! So I went to the paint store and picked out one of my favorite colors…almost, but not quite, lime green! It is a color that gives me great joy! I don’t care if it’s going out of style, I still love it! So we checked our schedules and found a day to spend painting together… Read more »
What to get??
Do you have your Christmas shopping all done? I certainly do not! So far one present has been purchased. Good thing I don’t have too many people to buy for! I’m thinking of getting my husband a Kindle from Amazon.com but I’m still not convinced he/I would like it better than an actual book….what are your thoughts? Then there’s the Advent Conspiracy where they urge you to “buy less, give more” which I love! But then you have to convince your whole family into participating so you don’t look like a cheapskate! So how does your family handle Christmas/Holiday giving??
What Inspires You?
Recently I was out shopping and came across this piece of furniture that made me want to make a quilt. Now the piece wasn’t quilted, there were no carvings that made me think of appliqué, it was just something about the piece that made me say, “I need to design a quilt!” I wish I knew what that something was exactly, because sometimes quilt making inspiration is few and far between! So what is it that inspires you to make a quilt? Is it a magazine photo? A piece of fabric? What makes you say, “this is it!”
The Lake
My husband’s family owns a house on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Tom’s grandfather had the house built almost 75 years ago and it truly is a family treasure. It’s not a huge house, there is no beach front, but it’s our place of refuge. This weekend (Columbus Day weekend) marks the 31st year I’ve been coming here! I still remember that first weekend…I didn’t really know Tom’s family well and the first night here I heard my first loon call…for those of you who have never heard a loon call it is an eerie sound…especially at night…at a place… Read more »
Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski!
I’m going to be a guest on Mark Lipinski’s internet radio show! Tune in on Wednesday, October 6th between 3pm and 5pm (eastern time). We’ll be talking about why I prefer my smaller quilt guild to the larger one I joined when I moved to New Hampshire. Mark is always a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it! If you’d like to listen go to Creative Mojo and click on “Listen Live”. If you get a chance to listen, please let me know what you thought!! See you then.
Quilt Retreats!
Does your quilt guild offer retreats? Have you gone on one? From my own experience, I highly recommend you attend one! Our guild retreats are held twice a year – once in September and once in February. They’re not too expensive ($110 – $240) and if you’re well enough prepared, you can get a LOT done! What do you do on retreats? Well, here’s what we do: our retreat center allows us to show up at 10am on Friday (and the majority of us do), we move tables around and set up cutting and ironing stations. We’ve had as many… Read more »
Getting ready…
There are two kinds of people…the organized kind and the unorganized kind. Unfortunately, try as I might, I fall into the later category. I’m trying to get ready for my quilt guild’s retreat this weekend and it’s bordering on ridiculous! I do okay up until the last minute and then I start chucking everything in the car for fear I might forget something, so I wind up with a huge bunch of stuff I really don’t need which in turn makes it even harder to focus on one project at a time! Today, I cut strips and squares for a… Read more »
