I love fabric flowers and fell in love with this flower when I first saw it. I was very happy to find a great tutorial by Sew Prim Khris. http://sewprimkhris.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-fabric-flower-tutorial.html
This is an inactive blog, where content is still available. My MAIN blog is now QuiltShopGal @ www.quiltshopgal2.wordpress.com
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tutorial: Fabric Flower, by Sew Prim Khris
I love fabric flowers and fell in love with this flower when I first saw it. I was very happy to find a great tutorial by Sew Prim Khris. http://sewprimkhris.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-fabric-flower-tutorial.html
Friday, January 29, 2010
Machine Embroidery Fun
I enjoy machine embroidery and find it a perfect way to feel like I'm accomplishing something when I'm cleaning up my sewing room. While doing some organization in my sewing room today I played with a Valentine's design from Designs by Sick. Cute design that was very easy to stitch out! Perfect design for towels, shirts, aprons, and many other items you may want to embroider.
I do like to do test stitch outs on dishtowels, tote bags, or misc items. Always difficult to tell how a design will stitch out, and how you may want to change colors. Thus, I like test stitch outs on items I would still be willing to use, or give as a gift. And I must say that my husband was even happy to see a new dish towel tonight with this Valentine motif!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Any predictions for 20-20?
I have a growing list of topics that I research and use to share. While I had plans for what I wanted to share today, something popped up, on another blog, that took me in a completely different direction today. And, I've concluded that it is more important for others to read what I read, than for me to share what I had originally planned to share today.
The EQ Blog is a delightful blog that I follow with great delight. Their post today refers to an article written in 1994 by Penny McMorris. This article focuses on thoughts about how technologies would influence quilters in 2010. I enjoyed reading this post on the EQ Blog today very much, as well as Penny's complete article that can be viewed via a link in the EQ post today. I really hope everyone will read this article and take a few minutes to reflect back on quilting, as well as take time to think about the future of quilting.
What do you predict quilting will be like in 2020? I'd love to hear your thoughts. This may sound silly, but I think those that can visualize the future can help to influence achieving something great. In this perspective, I want to recognize and compliment Penny McMorris. Penny, along with a great EQ team, has helped to provide many quilters with many delightful products that help us create beautiful quilts in 2010.
I had already been quilting for many years in 1994 and never dreamed we'd be where we are today. Thus, I'm truly greatful for Penny's ability to dream and help inspire others to create products that have made such a significant impact on the quilting world as it is today.
And I'm looking forward to seeing where quilting will be in 2020! Again, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Jeri Kelly
It is always fun to come across a designer or author that you've never heard of before, and be inspired with their work. It was this delight that I felt when I learned about Jeri Kelly, and while I've not used any of her designs or books, I wanted to share with you my insights.
And I thought this nautical collection is so cute!
She has many more delightful patterns, books, kits, fabric and other items on her website:
http://www.jerikelly.com/
Clearly, Jeri Kelly is very talented and creates some fun designs!
The Heart Trio Pattern looks perfect for Valentine's Day.
And I thought this nautical collection is so cute!
She has many more delightful patterns, books, kits, fabric and other items on her website:
http://www.jerikelly.com/
Clearly, Jeri Kelly is very talented and creates some fun designs!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) Winter Convention & Trade Show has just completed at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, Ca. I was delighted to have a chance to attend this successful show, with vendors and participants from all over the world, representing a large variety of crafts. The Convention provide many wonderful speakers who shared insights on various crafts, as well as global trends and tricks on being successful in the current economic situation. The show room floor was full of many fantastic manufacturers and distributors, with many new products being introduced at this show.
While it isn't realistic to share insights on every booth, I want to share insights for those that caught my eye for quilting, sewing and embroidery enthusasists. And, as this is a trade show, some of these insights may apply to store owners. So, I hope if something catches your eye and you do not see it in your local store, that you share this info with the respective store owner.
As I only had a few hours at this very large Convention & Trade Show, I hope you realize I may have overlooked many opportunities to share insights. But my overall impression is very positive. Here is a summary of my findings:
AMERICAN & EFIRD
This booth was full of delightful threads for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. They have such a beautiful collection of colors with their Signature, Mettler, Maxi-Lock, and YKK line of threads.
BOSAL
This manufacturer showcased a large variety of stablizers and interfacing, including fusible fleece and Craft-tex stablizers. All of their products are Made in the USA and look like great products at competitive prices. Their Fleece-Fusible is the heaviest in the industry. Carol McLead, Owner/Designer of Aunties Two Patterns. was also part of this booth. Carol has many really cute designs that utilize Craf-Tex products. SewCalGal hopes to be able to share more insights about these specific products in the future, after creating some projects using Craf-Tex and Carol's designs. In the meantime, when you are out shopping look for CRAF-TEX brands and designs by Aunties Two Patterns. Many of her cute patterns are designed specifically for use with Craf-Tex and BaliPops! If you are a store owner, and do not have these products in stock, I recommend you contact Bosal and Carol to place your order soon!
C&T PUBLISHING
This well known publisher had a large selection of their delightful books on display in their booth, primarily dealing with fibre-arts, along with a great Liquitex Surface Design Center full of beautiful acryllic colors, mediums & inks, along with other delightful products.. I do hope more quilt stores and craft stores will contact their C&T Sales Rep to be able to stock Liquitex products in local stores. They are all yummy and fun. And ask C&T about other products that are fun to use with Liquitex products (e.g. Fast2fuse, Lutradore, etc.).
I also enjoyed a make-n-take by Laura Bray of Katydid Designs. Laura did a great job sharing insights on using Liquitex with simple cheesecloth to make a great product. Of course, it did help to use fast2fuse to get the cheesecloth and other fabrics to form a cute card. She made it so simple, even I could make a beautiful card!
C&T was definitely one of my favorite booths to visit, but I must confess I would have liked to have seen a larger selection of their delightful books at this show, particularly C&T's new releases! But I hope to have a chance to provide insight on C&T's new releases in the near future.
CLEARBAGS
This manufacturer has a large line of crystal clear packaging that looks perfect to me for the designer who is looking for hiqh quality packaging material for their designs. They also have many other delightful products. Clearbags are so clear I couldn't get a good picture. But if you are a designer looking for great packaging for your designs, I recommend you check out ClearBags! And I hope craft stores will stock a variety of ClearBags to help the home based designer who needs to provide beautiful packaging for their designs, on a small scale!
CREATIVE OPTIONS
A division of Plano Molding Company has a delightful line of storage and totes that looked perfect for quilting, sewing, embroidery and other hobbies! Many of their products are in JoAnns and other craft stores. I also hope that more sewing, quilting, embroidery & craft stores will offer their delightful products in the future. I hope to be able to share more insights on their products in the future.
DURABLE SUPPLY COMPANY
This wholesale distributor of ZIG Products and Dykem Products had a delicious supply of colorful pens. Many of their pens would work for the fibre-artist and they also had several marking pens that would help the sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiast when they want a marking pen to disappear. I will be evaluating one of the marking pens and share more insights in the near future.
JUNE TAILOR, INC
Several new items were on display at the June Tailor booth. SewCalGal recomends June Tailor products with great delight. They have a great collection of rulers and it was fun to see their new half square & quarter square triangle at this show! June Tailor is also introducing a new program for kids called the "Purple Chimp". Kids will be able to customize designs online and print to transfer sheets to create their own stylized t-shirts, bags and other projects. This will help kids get exposed to different crafts, safely share ideas, and make creative items that they can keep or use for gifts. I was very excited to learn about the Purple Chimp and hope to share more insights with you in the future. The Purple Chimp site is not yet released, but will be available soon: http://www.purplechimp.com/
LORALIE DESIGNS
I enjoyed meeting Loralie of Loralie Designs. A delightful woman who is very talented. Her booth showcased her new designs called "Art Stamps, the stamp of identify". These machine embroidery designs create a redwork type design that you then color in with fabric pens and/or paints, to your delight, thus making each ME design unique to you. Her booth showed examples of how these design look great on fabric, including use in a quilt, but they also look great when stitched out on cardstock to be turned into cheerful greeting cards, and other paper crafts. I hope to have a chance to stitch these designs out someday to be able to share more insights. But for now, these new designs do look really delightful, as all of Loralie Designs do!
MIGHTY BRIGHT LED
Their booth showcased a variety of LED lights and optical grade magnifying lenses that look like a good fit for the sewing, quilting and embroidery enthusiasts. Their delightful LED lights are able to operate via batteries or AC power. All provide a diffused light (eliminating a hot spot on your fabric subject), with a soft white light. SewCalGal hopes to be able to evaluate these lights to share more insights in the future, but they definitely look like a good product at a reasonable price.
OFFRAY RIBBON COMPANY
Their booth had a large selection of beautiful ribbons, of which I wanted to take them all home with me. So many colors, sizes and styles. Great selection. I do hope to see larger selections of Offray Ribbons in stores this coming year. Great product for stores to sell, and I certainly enjoy using them in my sewing projects.
PRYM CONSUMER USA
Their booth showcased their Dritz, Omnigrid, Collins brands, as well as Fons & Porter products.
They had many delightful products on display, of which I hope to get a chance to share more insights in the future. But one that certainly caught my eye is Omnigrid's new "Flip-N-Cut" Magic Templates. I'm certain these templates will be very popular with quilters and every quilt store and craft store is going to want to keep them instock. {order soon}
TAMSCO PRECISION TOOLS
Tamsco manufacturers various precision instruments, but I focused on their scissors that would delight sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. They have many interesting products, including some kits looked interesting, but I was definitely interested in these small scissors to clip fine threads. I hope to be able to test these scissors and other Tamsco products and report more in-depth insights in the future.
WESTCOTT
This Manufacturer showcased a large line of cutting tools for home & office, but my focus was on their items that would delight a quilting, sewing and/or embroidery enthusiast. I found their scissors to be lightweight and have a nice feeling to their grip. They also have a Titanium Bond, making them stronger than the typical pair of scissors. One of their scissors, can actually cut through 30 layers of Denim! Another pair of scissors is designed to cut thru 6 layers of fabric. They also have a cute pair of little scissors that look like they would be a must for every sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiast. For kids, they have scissors with a special handle of microban substance that will help eliminate uncontrolled growth of bacteria (perfect for the classroom). They also manufacture rotary cutters, mats and many other products! SewCalGal hopes to share more in-depth insights on some of these products in the future. But was very impressed with what I saw at this show. I hope to see more Westcost scissors, rotary cutters & mats in stock in quilting, sewing, embroidery & crafting stores in the future. They are of high quality and a reasonable price!
There were many other excellent booths that offered inspiration for quilting, sewing & embroidery enthusasts at the CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show: ArtBin storage products, ColArt the manufacturers of Liquitex, Markers Supply, The Simplicity Creative Group, Fiskars / Gingher, and many more delightful companies promoting delightful ribbons, buttons, yards, paints, and various other crafts.
As mentioned earlier, if any of these products caught your eye and you do not see them in your local stores, I hope you will share these insights with those stores. And, if you are a store owner or designer, and not a member of CHA, you may want to check them out soon.
The CHA 2010 Summer Convention & Trade Show is scheduled July 27-29.
http://www.hobby.org/
http://www.chashow.org/
For those that may not be aware of The Craft and Hobby Association.....Members can take advantage of exclusive discounts, benefit from the CHA Career Center. CHA membership is composed of representatives from over 60 different countries. Their Mission is to "Stimulate growth of the craft and hobby industry, create consume demand, help members succeed, and lead the industry"
Online Learning Center (http://www.craftandhobby.org/). Webinars are also available on demand: http://cha.impactlearning.org/
While it isn't realistic to share insights on every booth, I want to share insights for those that caught my eye for quilting, sewing and embroidery enthusasists. And, as this is a trade show, some of these insights may apply to store owners. So, I hope if something catches your eye and you do not see it in your local store, that you share this info with the respective store owner.
As I only had a few hours at this very large Convention & Trade Show, I hope you realize I may have overlooked many opportunities to share insights. But my overall impression is very positive. Here is a summary of my findings:
AMERICAN & EFIRD
This booth was full of delightful threads for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. They have such a beautiful collection of colors with their Signature, Mettler, Maxi-Lock, and YKK line of threads.
BOSAL
This manufacturer showcased a large variety of stablizers and interfacing, including fusible fleece and Craft-tex stablizers. All of their products are Made in the USA and look like great products at competitive prices. Their Fleece-Fusible is the heaviest in the industry. Carol McLead, Owner/Designer of Aunties Two Patterns. was also part of this booth. Carol has many really cute designs that utilize Craf-Tex products. SewCalGal hopes to be able to share more insights about these specific products in the future, after creating some projects using Craf-Tex and Carol's designs. In the meantime, when you are out shopping look for CRAF-TEX brands and designs by Aunties Two Patterns. Many of her cute patterns are designed specifically for use with Craf-Tex and BaliPops! If you are a store owner, and do not have these products in stock, I recommend you contact Bosal and Carol to place your order soon!
C&T PUBLISHING
This well known publisher had a large selection of their delightful books on display in their booth, primarily dealing with fibre-arts, along with a great Liquitex Surface Design Center full of beautiful acryllic colors, mediums & inks, along with other delightful products.. I do hope more quilt stores and craft stores will contact their C&T Sales Rep to be able to stock Liquitex products in local stores. They are all yummy and fun. And ask C&T about other products that are fun to use with Liquitex products (e.g. Fast2fuse, Lutradore, etc.).
I also enjoyed a make-n-take by Laura Bray of Katydid Designs. Laura did a great job sharing insights on using Liquitex with simple cheesecloth to make a great product. Of course, it did help to use fast2fuse to get the cheesecloth and other fabrics to form a cute card. She made it so simple, even I could make a beautiful card!
C&T was definitely one of my favorite booths to visit, but I must confess I would have liked to have seen a larger selection of their delightful books at this show, particularly C&T's new releases! But I hope to have a chance to provide insight on C&T's new releases in the near future.
CLEARBAGS
This manufacturer has a large line of crystal clear packaging that looks perfect to me for the designer who is looking for hiqh quality packaging material for their designs. They also have many other delightful products. Clearbags are so clear I couldn't get a good picture. But if you are a designer looking for great packaging for your designs, I recommend you check out ClearBags! And I hope craft stores will stock a variety of ClearBags to help the home based designer who needs to provide beautiful packaging for their designs, on a small scale!
CREATIVE OPTIONS
A division of Plano Molding Company has a delightful line of storage and totes that looked perfect for quilting, sewing, embroidery and other hobbies! Many of their products are in JoAnns and other craft stores. I also hope that more sewing, quilting, embroidery & craft stores will offer their delightful products in the future. I hope to be able to share more insights on their products in the future.
DURABLE SUPPLY COMPANY
This wholesale distributor of ZIG Products and Dykem Products had a delicious supply of colorful pens. Many of their pens would work for the fibre-artist and they also had several marking pens that would help the sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiast when they want a marking pen to disappear. I will be evaluating one of the marking pens and share more insights in the near future.
JUNE TAILOR, INC
Several new items were on display at the June Tailor booth. SewCalGal recomends June Tailor products with great delight. They have a great collection of rulers and it was fun to see their new half square & quarter square triangle at this show! June Tailor is also introducing a new program for kids called the "Purple Chimp". Kids will be able to customize designs online and print to transfer sheets to create their own stylized t-shirts, bags and other projects. This will help kids get exposed to different crafts, safely share ideas, and make creative items that they can keep or use for gifts. I was very excited to learn about the Purple Chimp and hope to share more insights with you in the future. The Purple Chimp site is not yet released, but will be available soon: http://www.purplechimp.com/
LORALIE DESIGNS
I enjoyed meeting Loralie of Loralie Designs. A delightful woman who is very talented. Her booth showcased her new designs called "Art Stamps, the stamp of identify". These machine embroidery designs create a redwork type design that you then color in with fabric pens and/or paints, to your delight, thus making each ME design unique to you. Her booth showed examples of how these design look great on fabric, including use in a quilt, but they also look great when stitched out on cardstock to be turned into cheerful greeting cards, and other paper crafts. I hope to have a chance to stitch these designs out someday to be able to share more insights. But for now, these new designs do look really delightful, as all of Loralie Designs do!
MIGHTY BRIGHT LED
Their booth showcased a variety of LED lights and optical grade magnifying lenses that look like a good fit for the sewing, quilting and embroidery enthusiasts. Their delightful LED lights are able to operate via batteries or AC power. All provide a diffused light (eliminating a hot spot on your fabric subject), with a soft white light. SewCalGal hopes to be able to evaluate these lights to share more insights in the future, but they definitely look like a good product at a reasonable price.
OFFRAY RIBBON COMPANY
Their booth had a large selection of beautiful ribbons, of which I wanted to take them all home with me. So many colors, sizes and styles. Great selection. I do hope to see larger selections of Offray Ribbons in stores this coming year. Great product for stores to sell, and I certainly enjoy using them in my sewing projects.
PRYM CONSUMER USA
Their booth showcased their Dritz, Omnigrid, Collins brands, as well as Fons & Porter products.
They had many delightful products on display, of which I hope to get a chance to share more insights in the future. But one that certainly caught my eye is Omnigrid's new "Flip-N-Cut" Magic Templates. I'm certain these templates will be very popular with quilters and every quilt store and craft store is going to want to keep them instock. {order soon}
TAMSCO PRECISION TOOLS
Tamsco manufacturers various precision instruments, but I focused on their scissors that would delight sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. They have many interesting products, including some kits looked interesting, but I was definitely interested in these small scissors to clip fine threads. I hope to be able to test these scissors and other Tamsco products and report more in-depth insights in the future.
WESTCOTT
This Manufacturer showcased a large line of cutting tools for home & office, but my focus was on their items that would delight a quilting, sewing and/or embroidery enthusiast. I found their scissors to be lightweight and have a nice feeling to their grip. They also have a Titanium Bond, making them stronger than the typical pair of scissors. One of their scissors, can actually cut through 30 layers of Denim! Another pair of scissors is designed to cut thru 6 layers of fabric. They also have a cute pair of little scissors that look like they would be a must for every sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiast. For kids, they have scissors with a special handle of microban substance that will help eliminate uncontrolled growth of bacteria (perfect for the classroom). They also manufacture rotary cutters, mats and many other products! SewCalGal hopes to share more in-depth insights on some of these products in the future. But was very impressed with what I saw at this show. I hope to see more Westcost scissors, rotary cutters & mats in stock in quilting, sewing, embroidery & crafting stores in the future. They are of high quality and a reasonable price!
There were many other excellent booths that offered inspiration for quilting, sewing & embroidery enthusasts at the CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show: ArtBin storage products, ColArt the manufacturers of Liquitex, Markers Supply, The Simplicity Creative Group, Fiskars / Gingher, and many more delightful companies promoting delightful ribbons, buttons, yards, paints, and various other crafts.
As mentioned earlier, if any of these products caught your eye and you do not see them in your local stores, I hope you will share these insights with those stores. And, if you are a store owner or designer, and not a member of CHA, you may want to check them out soon.
The CHA 2010 Summer Convention & Trade Show is scheduled July 27-29.
http://www.hobby.org/
http://www.chashow.org/
For those that may not be aware of The Craft and Hobby Association.....Members can take advantage of exclusive discounts, benefit from the CHA Career Center. CHA membership is composed of representatives from over 60 different countries. Their Mission is to "Stimulate growth of the craft and hobby industry, create consume demand, help members succeed, and lead the industry"
Online Learning Center (http://www.craftandhobby.org/). Webinars are also available on demand: http://cha.impactlearning.org/
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Valentine Sewing Party
Today I'm attending the Valentine Sewing Party. Anyone can join. We're essentially working on Valentine related projects and all participants will be posting on their blog throughout the day to share insights of what they are working on...and the party! I haven't been introduced to all of the participants yet, but here are some that I know are participating. I'll update this list as I meet others!
Alice - Alice In Quilter Land
Beatrice - A Needle In A Haystack
CJ - A Stitch &
A Prayer - Aunt Polly's Porch
Amanda - Busy Little Quilter
Carol - Carol's Craft Blog
Kelly - Charming Chatter
Cora - A Crafty Moment
Lisa - Crafty Little Mama
Sandie - Crazy About Quilts
Kris - Dandellion Quilts
Dawn-Marie - Friendship Around The Fire
Kim - Kim Sherrod Studios
Karen - Log Cabin Quilter
Lori - Lollydo
Michelle - L7 Quilt Co.
Mary - Mary on Lake Pulaski
Melinda - Melinda's Fabric Fancies
Moneik - Moneik Quilts
Mary Anne - Moon Beams In A Jar
Nat - Not Just Nat
Rene - Luv2Kreate
Joan - Projects of An AcadienneOuvrages d'une Acadienne
Chrys - Paper Roses
Paws for Stitching
Stef - Quilt Buddy
Katherine Quilter Going Bananas
Diane (and her Sis) - Quilting Is Blissful
Annie B - Seize The Day
Cindy - Sew Cindy
Kim - Stillmeadow Quilting
Participants will be posting updates throught out the day, to their blogs, to show their progress today. Like a Parade of Valentine projects! So, you may want to pop by the blogs of the participants to enjoy seeing what everyone is working on.
My first project is a wallhanging.
I must confess, I will be offline mid-morning as I need to go to a meeting. So, most of my sewing will begin mid-day! But while I'm out, I hoping everyone can help me out. I'm not that great with colors. I initially thought I'd make this wallhanging with all the hearts the same color (the darker pink fabric for the hearts and borders, with the light pink being the background.
I'm now thinking of using a variety of fabrics for the hearts. So let me know what you think of these colors?
Do you think I should keep all the hearts of the same fabric or go for a mix? And if I select a mix of fabrics for hearts, do you like the fabrics I'm thinking of cutting into hearts? With the AccuQuiltGo I can cut these hearts out in a few minutes! Any recommendations?
Update:
I am having fun quilting with a great group of quilters that have come to the Valentine Party today. I arrived late, due to needing to attend a last minute meeting this morning. Not sure how late everyone wants to quilt today, but I'm on a roll so I think I'll be continuing to party all night long? Anyone up to turning this into a slumber party?
I've been asked by others at this party if like the AccuQuilt Go cutter? YES! It is a fantastic product. I just get on a roll cutting, cutting....actually I spend far less time cutting than I did previously. And I've been very happy with the ease of use & accuracy.
Earlier in our party I had shared that I had initially thought I'd make my Valentine wallhanging using two fabrics, but was struggling if I wanted to use a variety of colors as shown in the AccuQuilt pattern I'm using. To clarify, this pattern was given out for free for AccuQuilt Fans on Facebook awhile back.
I ended up cutting more hearts using the AccuQuilt Go, spending only a few minutes to cut a number of hearts in a variety of colors.
I placed some of my colored hearts on my wallhanging canvas.
My husband likes the variety of colors, but neither of us like the light shades.
We also like it when all of the hearts are the same fabric.
I wish I had a better photo to share, but I'd rather spend time quilting right now than tweak the lighting and try to get better photos {sorry}.
What do you like? A mix of colors or the solid fabrics.
I've also made some pillowcases today, but haven't taken any photos of them to share right now. Next time!
7pm update:
I realized I wasn't participating in the Valentine Party appropriately. I created another post for update(s) vs updating this post. I'm now trying to clean up my blog and delete my most current post, and merge into an update in this post. I get "it" now! Sorry for the few of you that left comments on my post that I'm now deleting.
8pm update:
Finished dinner with my DH. Fresh asparagus, french onion soup and cornish hen. Yummy. I'm lucky to be married to a great cook, who kindly prepared dinner while I participated in the Valentine Party. Have finished washing dishes and am heading back for a bit more sewing tonight. I hope to get one more update w/photos before I stop this evening.
9pm update:
I wanted to share a few more photos. Today I made some Valentine pillowcases from my stash. Yes, the accent print on one is short...but that was what I had in my stash.
And I made two pillowcases that have absolutely nothing to do with Valentines Day, but I do love cats and have some cat loving friends! Plus I used fabrics from my stash!
And I embellished several dish towels with scraps from the hearts that I cut with the AccuQuilt! Super easy way to turn scraps into usable items that can be fun in your home, or for gifts!
I've had great fun with the Valentine Party sew-cial. Have met some delightful quilters (who also blog) and have been inspired by all of their projects and insights they shared. I particularly appreciate getting feedback for color & fabric selection today!
Thank you to Charming Chatter and everyone that came to the Valentine Party today. I had a great time. But I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to call it a day. But I'm looking forward to reading the blogs of all the participants and seeing what they create today and in the future!
I'll share insights on how I finish my Valentine Party Wallhanging(s) and other projects on future posts at http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com/
Good night fellow quilters!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Fun Times at the CHA Craft Super Show
The CHA Craft Super Show is certainly an inspirational show for all forms of crafters. It offers the largest variety of make-n-takes that I've ever seen and a fantastic variety of craft booths. As this show in Anaheim, Ca is currently underway, I want to encourage anyone with an opportuntity attend to go. You will not be sorry. This is a fantastic craft show that is extremely well organized with great vendors. And we are lucky to have such a professional show in Southern California.
While all the vendors in this show are delightful, here are some vendors that I hope you will visit at this show. And, if you can't make it to the show I hope you'll check out their websites. Each of these vendors provide great value & inspiration. And, the majority of the vendors has fantastic show specials, as well as a drawing for fantastic prize.
Lisa Liza Lou Designs
http://www.lisalizalou.com/ in booth #758
Lisa is a talented woman that inspires mixed media artists. I'm now convinced that Lisa can take a want-ta-be like me, and enable them to create wonderful items. Her booth is full of delightful products and items to inspire. This is a must visit booth. And when you pop by, check out items from C&T Publishing, Create & Treasure®, Liquitex®, and Ready-to-Go!® . I could easily spend a day play in Lisa Liza Lou Designs' booth. This is a designer whom you want to follow, if you are not already following. Inspirational! I hope to share more insights about her soon!
GotFabric.com
http://www.gotfabric.com/ in booth #1029
GotFabric is a delightful online fabric store that has a large selection of fabrics at great prices. And they have some delightful free patterns online. They have stores in Hawaii and a store in based in Anaheim, called "Fabric City". I was just delighted to see them at the CHA show, as I've been one of their happy customers for many years. They also have some great show specials on machine embroidery designs and machines. Those that want to go home with a show model are going to be amazed with their prices, and if you don't want a show model, you'll still find some great prices!
Kaleidoscope Collections
http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/ is in booth #754. I recommend everyone get a free demo on their software. It is an easy to use software perfect for those that want to create cards, scrapbooking embellishments, quilts, and an endless number of items. This software is easy to use and perfect for the entire family.
National Sewing Council
Located in the center of all the exhibits, they have exciting make-n-take projects to help teach basic sewing skills, embroidery skills, as well as to inspire the advanced sewing, quilting, & embroidery enthusiast. You may also want to pop by this booth and ask for a coupon for $400 worth of sewing products if you plan on purchasing Elna, Babylock or Janome at this show (all at great show prices from various vendors).
http://www.nationalsewingcouncil.org/
Hancock Fabrics
http://www.hancockfabrics.com/
M'liss designer was at the Hancock Fabrics' booth to share insights on her fabric lines. They were all absolutely beautiful. And I fell in love with her "Fresh from the Garden" line.
All Brands
SewCalGal is quite fond of AllBrands.com and highly recommends them for any sewing, quilting or embroidery enthusiast. Please pop by their booth at the CHA show, as they have some great show specials on many products. And, if you can't make it to this show I hope you'll check out their online store they have many great products & great prices for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts.
Simplicity Creative Group
http://www.simplicity.com/ SewCalGal loves Simplicity products and patterns. Their booth at the CHA provides an excellent way to see all of their product. I hope you get a chance to visit booth #829
Sulky of America
Sulky has a delightful Booth (#934) which showcases all of their delightful products for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. And, they have some great show special prices!
I was also pleased to meet, Lee Fletcher, a Sulky Certified Teacher. She teaches a variety of classes including Certification classes on being a Sulky Teacher. And I was pleased to see a display of her delightful line of Pat-e-Patterns that can be purchased in this Sulky booth, or email her at lflecher@pat-e-pattners.com. All of her designs look like fun. I hope you'll check them out when you visit this show. I hope to share more insights on her designs in the future. I did learn that one of her most popular desgns is a Quilter's Wallet design, that has also been updated.
sew4home
http://sew4home.com/
A new business that has a motto that anyone can make their home decor. The want to excite & support non-sewers to sew and make items for their home and for gifts. They are in booth #932 I was very impressed with their booth and have taken a quick glance at their site. I love their catnip valentine hearts! I know I'll be following their blog and watching them on Facebook. This is an inspirational new business that offers many "free" delights. I hope you'll check them out at CHA!
There are also more vendor booths and various make-n-takes than I could list. Excellent Show. I do hope you can make it to this inspirational show this weekend. I'm already looking forward to this show next year!
The CHA Show is truly delightful. I do hope you have a chance to go to this inspirational show this weekend. And, I hope those that live a far will plan on coming to see this show next year. I met people who traveled from Australia for this show today. It is truly a fantastic show and worthy of traveling a great distance to attend. Plus, this So. Cal. location is a great place to visit! I hope you'll go and enjoy all the vendor booths, make-n-takes, as there were far more than I could visit. But I did want to share insights on some vendors that I enjoyed and hope you'll visit at the CHA Craft Show and/or via their online sites soon.
Consumer Show Dates
January 22nd - 23rd
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, Ca.
Trade Show Dates
January 24th - 27th
Anaheim Convention Center
While all the vendors in this show are delightful, here are some vendors that I hope you will visit at this show. And, if you can't make it to the show I hope you'll check out their websites. Each of these vendors provide great value & inspiration. And, the majority of the vendors has fantastic show specials, as well as a drawing for fantastic prize.
Lisa Liza Lou Designs
http://www.lisalizalou.com/ in booth #758
Lisa is a talented woman that inspires mixed media artists. I'm now convinced that Lisa can take a want-ta-be like me, and enable them to create wonderful items. Her booth is full of delightful products and items to inspire. This is a must visit booth. And when you pop by, check out items from C&T Publishing, Create & Treasure®, Liquitex®, and Ready-to-Go!® . I could easily spend a day play in Lisa Liza Lou Designs' booth. This is a designer whom you want to follow, if you are not already following. Inspirational! I hope to share more insights about her soon!
GotFabric.com
http://www.gotfabric.com/ in booth #1029
GotFabric is a delightful online fabric store that has a large selection of fabrics at great prices. And they have some delightful free patterns online. They have stores in Hawaii and a store in based in Anaheim, called "Fabric City". I was just delighted to see them at the CHA show, as I've been one of their happy customers for many years. They also have some great show specials on machine embroidery designs and machines. Those that want to go home with a show model are going to be amazed with their prices, and if you don't want a show model, you'll still find some great prices!
Kaleidoscope Collections
http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/ is in booth #754. I recommend everyone get a free demo on their software. It is an easy to use software perfect for those that want to create cards, scrapbooking embellishments, quilts, and an endless number of items. This software is easy to use and perfect for the entire family.
National Sewing Council
Located in the center of all the exhibits, they have exciting make-n-take projects to help teach basic sewing skills, embroidery skills, as well as to inspire the advanced sewing, quilting, & embroidery enthusiast. You may also want to pop by this booth and ask for a coupon for $400 worth of sewing products if you plan on purchasing Elna, Babylock or Janome at this show (all at great show prices from various vendors).
http://www.nationalsewingcouncil.org/
Hancock Fabrics
http://www.hancockfabrics.com/
M'liss designer was at the Hancock Fabrics' booth to share insights on her fabric lines. They were all absolutely beautiful. And I fell in love with her "Fresh from the Garden" line.
All Brands
SewCalGal is quite fond of AllBrands.com and highly recommends them for any sewing, quilting or embroidery enthusiast. Please pop by their booth at the CHA show, as they have some great show specials on many products. And, if you can't make it to this show I hope you'll check out their online store they have many great products & great prices for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts.
Simplicity Creative Group
http://www.simplicity.com/ SewCalGal loves Simplicity products and patterns. Their booth at the CHA provides an excellent way to see all of their product. I hope you get a chance to visit booth #829
Sulky of America
Sulky has a delightful Booth (#934) which showcases all of their delightful products for sewing, quilting & embroidery enthusiasts. And, they have some great show special prices!
I was also pleased to meet, Lee Fletcher, a Sulky Certified Teacher. She teaches a variety of classes including Certification classes on being a Sulky Teacher. And I was pleased to see a display of her delightful line of Pat-e-Patterns that can be purchased in this Sulky booth, or email her at lflecher@pat-e-pattners.com. All of her designs look like fun. I hope you'll check them out when you visit this show. I hope to share more insights on her designs in the future. I did learn that one of her most popular desgns is a Quilter's Wallet design, that has also been updated.
sew4home
http://sew4home.com/
A new business that has a motto that anyone can make their home decor. The want to excite & support non-sewers to sew and make items for their home and for gifts. They are in booth #932 I was very impressed with their booth and have taken a quick glance at their site. I love their catnip valentine hearts! I know I'll be following their blog and watching them on Facebook. This is an inspirational new business that offers many "free" delights. I hope you'll check them out at CHA!
There are also more vendor booths and various make-n-takes than I could list. Excellent Show. I do hope you can make it to this inspirational show this weekend. I'm already looking forward to this show next year!
The CHA Show is truly delightful. I do hope you have a chance to go to this inspirational show this weekend. And, I hope those that live a far will plan on coming to see this show next year. I met people who traveled from Australia for this show today. It is truly a fantastic show and worthy of traveling a great distance to attend. Plus, this So. Cal. location is a great place to visit! I hope you'll go and enjoy all the vendor booths, make-n-takes, as there were far more than I could visit. But I did want to share insights on some vendors that I enjoyed and hope you'll visit at the CHA Craft Show and/or via their online sites soon.
Consumer Show Dates
January 22nd - 23rd
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, Ca.
Trade Show Dates
January 24th - 27th
Anaheim Convention Center
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Snowball Quilt A Long
I joined the Quilting Cat in a Snowball quilt-a-long. What I like about this Virtual Quilt Sew-cial is that you can use fabrics from your stash (or go buy fabrics) and pretty much work at your liesure. The goal is for every participant in this quilt sew-cial to complete six blocks per month. And there is no requirement for the size, colors, or what you do with this quilt...just come join the sew-cial. And, if you have a blog, we hope you will periodically post insights on your progress. Or, at least, that is how I understand this Snow Ball Quilt-A-Long.
Quilting Cat is one of the delightful blogs that I follow. One of her posts about this Quilt-A-Long was the fact she was using a layer cake, whereas others were using scraps. I have a layer cake that I thought I'd use it, but I decided to make up a Snowball quilt with some cat fabric & misc scraps, in honor of PiWacket. {you need to be a follower of Quilting Cat to understand who PiWacket is.
Quilting Cat introduced me to Bitnbyaquiltingbug, whom I now following, as she too has a delightful blog. And Bitnbyaquiltingbug is also one of the leaders in this delightful SnowBall Quilt-a-long.
We'd love to have you join us in making a Snowball quilt. Quilting Cat has shared insights on the pattern, which is easy and requires 6 1/2" squares for the snowballs and 2 1/2" for the 9 patch blocks and corners of the snowballs. For more info on the pattern check here: http://piwacketquilts.blogspot.com/2010/01/goal-met-plus-one.html There are also many variations of the Snowball design. If you want to work on a variation and join us in this virtual sew-cial, we'd love to have you Quilt-A-Long.
Sew-cials are so much fun!
Quilting Cat is one of the delightful blogs that I follow. One of her posts about this Quilt-A-Long was the fact she was using a layer cake, whereas others were using scraps. I have a layer cake that I thought I'd use it, but I decided to make up a Snowball quilt with some cat fabric & misc scraps, in honor of PiWacket. {you need to be a follower of Quilting Cat to understand who PiWacket is.
Quilting Cat introduced me to Bitnbyaquiltingbug, whom I now following, as she too has a delightful blog. And Bitnbyaquiltingbug is also one of the leaders in this delightful SnowBall Quilt-a-long.
We'd love to have you join us in making a Snowball quilt. Quilting Cat has shared insights on the pattern, which is easy and requires 6 1/2" squares for the snowballs and 2 1/2" for the 9 patch blocks and corners of the snowballs. For more info on the pattern check here: http://piwacketquilts.blogspot.com/2010/01/goal-met-plus-one.html There are also many variations of the Snowball design. If you want to work on a variation and join us in this virtual sew-cial, we'd love to have you Quilt-A-Long.
Sew-cials are so much fun!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Curby's Closet
I came across Curby's Closet while at the Road to California Quilt Show. Curby's Closet has been selling cute little baby booties and recently started selling their designs to make these delightful quilted baby shoes.
While SewCalGal has not yet evaluated their pattern, Curby's Closet appears to have design that comprise six simple steps to make cute baby booties. And they currently have two cute styles to make:
Isn't this little Quilted Loafer design adorable?
And I find their Quilted Baby shoes design so adorable!
http://www.curbyscloset.com/
Curby's Closet also has an online boutique where they also sell completed baby shoes, as well as patterns. If you find that they are out of stock of completed baby shoes, via their on-line store, I hope you'll check back in the future.
Many quilt stores are also selling these cute patterns, including: Cozy Quilt Shop, Quilt In A Day, Luellas, and many other stores. Curby's Closet is a new designer that quilt shops and stores may also want to contact Curby's Closet directly for wholesale information.
SewCalGal anticipates Curby's Closet's design for cute baby booties and loafers to become very popular designs.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Kaleidoscope Kreator
Did you have a Kaleidoscope toy as a child? There were typically inexpensive toys that could delight a child for hours. Unfortunately, these Kaleidocope toys could not be admired by more than one person at a time, nor could beautiful Kaleidoscope designs be saved for future enjoyment.
Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 software is an easy to use software package that will allow you to create beautiful designs that you can enjoy online and share your images with friends, save for future reference, as well as print to make a endless variety of beautiful projects.
I was amazed how easy to install this software, as well as how easy it is to use. Within a few minutes I was creating a variety of Kaleidoscope designs and having great fun doing so. I also had fun playing with Kaleidoscope Kreator to see if applique snowflakes I made with the AccuQuilt system would look good on a circular table topper! And it helped give me great ideas for future Christmas projects.
I also had fun using a photo of some threadplay project (UFO) where I saw an endless number of Kaleidoscopes using this image. But I'm only going to show you a couple of the Kaleidoscopes I created with this image.
For quilting & sewing enthusiasts, you can print on inkjet fabric sheets to turn your Kaleidoscope designs into quilts, wallhangings, table toppers, totes, etc.. And for those that like to design using Electric Quilt, you can bring your Kaleidoscope images into EQ to design a quilt that uses your beautiful Kaleidoscope designs!
Kaleidoscope Kreator is also a wonderful software package for those that enjoy scrapbooking, cardmaking
paper crafting, fashion & accessories.
And I love the idea of creating quilted gifts using Kaleidocope Kreator.
Here is a list of upcoming shows that Kaleidoscope Kreator will have a booth at. I hope you'll have a chance to see them at one of these upcoming shows. If you can, pop by their booth as I'm sure you'll be impressed with a quick demonstration.
Jan 22-23 CHA Craft Super Show, Anaheim, CA (Booth 754)
Make & Take table at the CHA Craft Super Show (Anaheim)
Mar 24-27: AQS Quilt Show, Lancaster, PA (Booth 3403)
Apr 16-18: International Quilt Festival, Chicago, IL
Apr 21-24: AQS Quilt Show, Paducah, KY
Kaleidoscope Kreator also has a great website and blog.
http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/
blog: http://kaleidoscopecollections.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KalCollections
SewCalGal believes the Kaleidoscope Kreator is an excellent software package, which enables creativity & fun, at a very reasonable price! I also think this software would be something the entire family would enjoy!
If you are are Kaleidoscope Kreator user I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or if you get Kaleidoscope Kreator I hope you'll come back and let me know what you think.
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