Dancing with Thread, written by Ann Fahl and published by CT Publishing is an inspirational book that is perfect for anyone interested in free-motion quilting (FMQ). To clarify, this book is appropriate for quilters of all levels, from the beginner to advanced quilter.
The Gallery section of this book uses excellent photography of beautiful quilts, with close up photos that show the wonderful free-motion quilting. Ann also shares insights on how she quilted each of these quilts, in a way that helps to inspire and teach.
This 96-page book is packed full of great insights. There is a nice section for tools and supplies, including insights on many new products on the market too! The insights on thread are also very helpful, especially for someone new to FMQ. Tips are also included for selecting and quilting with decorative and metallic threads. And there is a helpful section on trouble shooting, when things don't go the way you want.
Ann helps you plan out your FMQ for which to show off your quilt design, and creating FMQ borders. A variety of sample quilting motifs, border ideas, and corner suggestions are very helpful. The give projects included in this book, range from beginner to experienced level, are all lovely designs, but they are also excellent projects to practice insights provided in this book.
Ann has also published Coloring with Thread (2005), and Coloring with Thread Dvd (2007). Both of these are on my wishlist, as I'm sure they too would help inspire and teach better free-motion quilting skills!
Dancing with Thread, Coloring with Thread, and Ann's Coloring with Thread DVD are available for purchase from CT Publishing.
It’s almost time for the 2010 edition of International Quilt Festival/Long Beach! The show, sale, and quiltmaking academy will feature close to 500 quilts, textile artworks, and wearable art garments on display; close to 100 classes, lectures, and special events; and shopping in more than 300 booths selling quilts, fabrics, patterns, notions, books, machines, sewing supplies, crafts, antiques, and gifts.
Within the event is Make It University!™, a special area of the show floor featuring mixed-media, textile arts, paper, and fiber crafts. Developed in collaboration with Cloth Paper Scissors® magazine and its editor Pokey Bolton, Make It University!™ includes teaching showcases, workshop projects, special exhibits, vendors, and Open Studios, where artists demonstrate right on the show floor.
July 23-25, 2010
Classes begin and Preview Night July 22
Tours offered July 21 and 26
Preview Night, July 22—5-9 p.m.
July 23-24—10 a.m.-7 p.m.
July 25—10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center
300 E. Ocean Blvd. (Note: front entrance actually on Pine Ave.)
Long Beach, CA 90802
ADMISSION:
$10 general
$8 seniors 65+ and students
$10 Preview Night ticket (no discount) includes on free additional day
Children 10 and under admitted free with a paying adult
From the special exhibit “West Coast Wonders 2010.”
I do hope you get a chance to go to this fantastic show. If you do live out of the area, please keep in mind that the LAX airport is nearby, and that a great public bus transportation that drops you off a short distance from the show. You can come by car, airplane, bus, and even a boat (yes, that is how I went last year). Great show. Don't miss it!
I have had some people contact me asking what to do after they have ironed on AccuQuilt applique to their fabric. As, I'm actually working on this step for my Arabesque table topper, I wanted to share a few insights. But, please remember I am in no way an expert on anything. There are many that know more than I do. My contribution in the world of blogging is researching and sharing! LOL!
To start with, I recommend you investigate what quilting stitches your machine has. It is also best to test them out on a sampler quilt, as you may need to play with stitch width and length to get your desired effect. For the particular table topper, I wanted to use the blanket stitch. For my Bernina the settings I used was 2.1L and 2.2W with the needle in a down position. As some of these stitches, like the blanket stitch, can create a "tunneling" effect, I will use a tearaway stablizer underneath my machine applique. Also, use a heavy weight thread for your stitches to standout. I used Isacord, but you can use any heavyweight cotton that you and your machine like!
Go slow. Remember when the machine does the blanket stitch you do not want to turn your fabric, resulting in a "V" of this stitch. When you need to turn, for a curve, point, or inside of a V, make sure your needle is in the down position and raise your pressure foot. The more gradual you take your curves the smoother your stitching will be!
When taking the inside of a "V" stop after your blanket stitch has reached the end of one side of the V. Drop your feed dogs. Pivot your fabric, complete one more blanket stitch, pivot your fabric and take another blanket stitch. This will result in 3 blanket stitches that share the inside point of the V. Now release your feed dogs to continue on with the remaining part of your V. When you drop your feed dogs, this allows you better control of placement of the three blanket stitches in the point, to where they each share the point at the bottom of the V. If you don't drop the feed dogs, these three stitches will not share a point, as your machine will push them along. While you'll still applique, you won't get that sharp point in your blanket stitching.
As you can see I do not clip my threads, but I will later secure them by using a needed to tuck the loose thread to where they will not show.
Using the blanket stitch can be slow, but it creates a stitch that looks as if was hand stitched and can be quite striking on certain designs. Thus, making it worth the effort. Various types of zigzag/straight stitch combos also work well, and are common with quilters who use invisible thread. Again, for this particular table topper I just wanted to use the blanket stitch.
I found several great videos on you-tube. Here is one that I thought had some great tips.
Machine quilting fused applique is an easy and fun quilting technique. If you haven't tried it, I hope you will soon. And, if you are familiar with machine quilting fused applique and have additional tips, please feel free to comment and share your insights.
Doesn't this cute quilt just make you think about a fun summer beach party? Well, I was "sorta" at a beach party this past week. And you could "sorta" be at a beach party this weekend.
The Southern California Quilt Run is having a quilt run Thursday - Sunday. While there are a lot of fun shops, I highly encourage you to visit Luella's Quilt Basket in Redondo Beach. Great shop, close to the beach (and only minutes from the Los Angeles airport).
Luella Fournell is the owner and she has been in business for 22 years this month! They have an excellent selection of fabrics, with many beautiful quilts on display!
Excellent collection of books, with a great area to relax and check out the books. Definitely one of my favorite places!
And they currently have a special exhibit on display of bags and patterns from Pink Sand Beach
Designs.
And, this exhibit includes two new designs that were just released at Spring Quilt Market.
Did you know that Nancy Hammond of Sand and Sun Designs and Nancy Green of Pink Sand Beach Designs, both started designing out of Luella's Quilt Basket and have now gone National? Both are great designers and Luella encouraged them to pursue being professional designers!
This is such a delightful store. Bright, cheerful, friendly staff.
They also have one of the best collection of patterns that I've ever seen, and a lovely selection of kits.
There is also a long-arm quilter that works out of Luella's.
I hope you get a chance to visit Luella's on the Quilt Run this weekend. But if you live too far away, you may want to plan a vacation to Redondo Beach and visit Luella's. Then you'd really have a fun beach party!
I have been looking for a patriotic machine embroidery (ME) design for a 4th of July project. While searching, I popped by KittyKitty Designs, one of my favorite sources for great designs! While I was looking around, I found some new items that caught my attention and I wanted to share insights for my ME friends.
You may recall a prior post where I shared insight about the Mock Cathedral Window design, by KittyKitty Designs, which I highly recommend. Absolutely lovely design that stitched out perfectly.
Well, they now have a Mock Card Trick design and a great video too! Oh, how I want to stitch this design out soon. Don't you? Beautiful design, especially for quilters!
Plus, KittyKitty Designs has several excellent tutorial videos!
And, of course, I fell in love with their new "Hummingbird Dance" design set. Absolutely beautiful. I am truly amazed that this "set", which includes six designs, and comes in various file formats and sizes, is only $10 for the entire set. If I hadn't previously stitched out KittyKitty Designs, I'd truly be skeptical. But as I was so happy with the quality of the stitch out of their Cathedral Window design, I'm confident these cute hummers will stitch out beautiful.
Ok. While I didn't find a design for my 4th of July project, I am now excited about stitching out more cute projects using KittyKitty designs.. And, I wanted to recommend that you also check out KittyKitty designs to see if there are any ME designs that catch your eye. They have many wonderful ME designs and excellent tutorials!
KittyKitty designs also has a chat forum that is quite fun. There are various chat topics, including "Bernina", "Pfaff", "Brother & Babylock", and "Janome" lovers, as well as many more chat topics.. And, to my delight, when I checked the chat forum I learned that KittyKitty Designs is celebrating their 10th Anniversary with a giveaway! Yes, a giveaway that you may want to enter and maybe win!
Giveaway for an AccuQuilt GO! with Starter Package includes:
AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter
10" x 10" cutting mat and one "Value Pack" die (cuts three shapes: Square-4 1/2", square-2 1/2", Half Square-2" Finished Triangle (cuts four triangles) 6-1/2" Square Die
3-1/2" Square Die
6-1/2" Triangle Die
4-7/8" Triangle Die
3" (finished) Half Square Triangle Die
4-3/4" Square Die
3-3/4"W x 3-1/2"H Parallelogram Die
3-1/2"W x 6-1/2"H Rectangle Die
5" x 10" Cutting Mat
6" x 12" Cutting Mat
How you can enter to win this giveaway:
Simply join the Pixies Rule Forum. But when you join this forum I do hope you'll also leave a note to congratulate Terriann for her 10 year anniversary. And, I hope you'll take time to check out all of the cute ME designs at KittyKitty Designs too.
Jan Krentz has released a companion book to her popular book "Quick Star Quilts and Beyond", with her recent book "Quick Diamond Quilts and Beyond", published by C&T Publishing. This new release continues to provide new insights and inspirations for making spectacular diamond quilts.
While these quilts look challenging, Jan shares insights in this book to make these projects Beginner friendly!
There are 12 new diamond quilt patterns in this book, all without inset seams. Each pattern has well written instructions and excellent visuals. Insights are provided to help with fabric selection, with tips on color value, texture, and contrast.
Also, included is an excellent "Diamond" Gallery that shows pictures of 30+ inspiring quilts. I'm confident that many future award winning quilts will be created from quilters that use techniques provided by Jan, and inspirations from this gallery. Wonderful quilts! Wonderful book!
This book is available via the online store for C&T Publishing.
To help with creating these beautiful diamond quilts, Jan has designed a set of acrylic rulers especially for cutting diamonds with a rotary cutter. They are the “Fast2Cut” 45 degree diamond, half-diamond and quarter-diamond. SewCalGal has not had an opportunity to use these rulers, but expects them to be high quality rulers that are helpful when making designs from this book.
I'm also looking forward to checking out Jan's book "Quick Star Quilts and Beyond", which has 20 projects. And her "Hunter Star Quilts & Beyond", has six different ways to make a Hunter Star. Hymm....I actually think I'd love to have all of Jan's books in my quilt library!
Copyright Notice: All photos displayed in this article are copyright protected. Permission was given by C&T Publishing to be used in this article. Please do not use or print these photos without seeking permission by the publisher.
In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to do something different. Yeap, an entire article about Men. Many think of Father's day as a day to recognize just that - a Father. But I'm of the mindset that it isn't just a Father that deserves recognition. Frequently, a great Father has help from others: Grandfathers, Uncles, Brothers, Step-Fathers, and male friends. To all of you, I wish you a very Happy Father's Day!
But my focus today, is to also recognize Men Who Quilt. After all, men who quilt definitely contribute to nurturing, inspiring and bringing happiness to others. And, given I frequently here from a male quilter that they feel like there are not many men who quilt, I wanted to share insights on those men that do quilt and really make a difference to our wonderful world of quilting!
There are actually more wonderful male quilters than many may realize, and a good number of them have made a significant contribution to our world of quilting. While I can't cover insights on all of them, I do want to increase awareness that there are many talented guys out there. So, here goes my insights on some fantastic male quilters:
Al Hutchins, of Quilt Artistry Studio, is an excellent long arm quilter and teacher. Al and his talented wife, Barbara, actually moved their long arm quilting business from So. Cal. to Fayetteville, NC to be able to be closer to their kids and grandkids. While SewCalGal misses having them in So. Cal. she is delighted to know they are closer to their family, and have expanded their business to include instructional DVDs, and are frequently giving training at quilt shows and workshops. SewCalGal definitely recommends Al for any long arm quilting service, teaching, or presentation. Here is one of the many quilts that Al quilted for me.
Jeremy (Sew Like A Man) is a husband, and a father of four, has a PhD, and he likes to quilt.
I met Dick Linhart on Facebook. Dick is a talented quilter, that is making a difference by making quilts for Quilts of Valor (QOV). Dick also served many years with the American Red Cross, and worked in Wisconsin on various social work related positions. His wife "Tink" has always been a devoted sewer, but when their son, Jon, was deployed to Iraq in '04, Dick (and Tink) became very active in Quilts of Valor.
Patrick Lose is a famous quilter, designer and author, that has also designed several lines of wonderful fabric. He has a brilliant quilting style, full of vibrant colors and design, all targeted at bringing good cheer.
Tim the CFO of AccuQuilt has certainly made a difference in the world of quilting, has "experience" quilting, and definitely is trying to recruit more men to become quilters. You may have seen one of his videos.
Ricky Tims is a well known in the world of quilting. He actually began designing and making quilts in 1991. He is very active in speaking and teaching engagements, as well as with The Quilt Show.
Ryan Walsh (I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts) is from the Catskill Mountains, New York. A father of two boys, happily married, and loves to quilt!
Mark Lipinskiis a well known quilter with quilts and designs that reflect his personality! Let me just say that they both stand out in a crowd! He is booked solid teaching and lecturing, to such I'm not sure how he finds time to design and/or quilt. But somehow this guy seems to manage it all!
Scott Hansen (Blue Nickel Studios)is a talented quilter and designer. He is also married and has 3 children. One of his patterns is available for free at Free Spirit Fabric and on his website. And, Scott is a quilter that enjoys making and trading ATCs.
John (Quilt Dad) is a 35 year old happily married, father of three, who loves to quilt. He is very talented and enjoys modern quilt designs. I'd also love to make a quilt using his design called "Off the Grid" that he made for Moda Bake Shop.
Brian is very talented and was recently recognized on High Plains Quilting for winning an award with his beautiful quilt. While this is a spectacular quilt, what is even more fantastic is this was part of a special Quilt Exhibit called " "Wranglers Among Us", and it was the 10th exhibit of this nature! It was on exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum until this past May lst. Don't you just love those Wranglers in Golden, Colorado? I sure would have enjoyed visiting this exhibit and seeing all the beautiful quilts made by "Wranglers". This would certainly make for a fun trip next year!
Mark L. Sherman is an award winning quilter, teacher, and lecturer.
Kaffee Fasset is a world renown quilter, author, and fabric designer.
Wayne Kollinger (Tuxedo Park Designs) is also a talented quilter, author, designer that also shares many great design insights on his blog.
Greg (Flat Out Quilting) lives in the flatlands of Kansas and enjoys quilting. He is very talented and I "expect" to see Greg winning awards at the National level, very soon. Yes, I have high expectations to Greg. To clarify, SewCalGal sends this note special note to Greg....don't give up, you are very talented. While you may view you are in the flatlands, and a fish out of water, follow your heart and continue to create!
Michael James is a world renowned quilter, with a unique style. His line of fabrics are frequently used to make beautiful quilts and clothes.
Gene Black(an Alabama Artist) is a talented quilter, who also has a fun blog. I think also anticipate seeing Gene winning awards at major quilt shows, very soon!
Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Designs is definitely a guy to watch. He is only 17 years old and has already started his own business, designing patterns, which were shown at Quilt Market! And, he has been featured on Moda Bakeshop.
I'm confident there are more Men who Quilt than I've identified in this post. As such, I do hope you'll feel free to add comments on any guy you know who quilts, that you'd like to share insights on. As well, as feel free to add a comment if you want to share any insights on the guys I've shared insights about.
To all the Men who Quilt, I want to recognize you for your contributions in the world of quilting. While you may not view you have done much, even if you are new to quilting, you are an inspiration to others. I do hope all of us will continue to recognize any man who quilts, to encourage them, as well as encourage future male quilters.
Happy Father's Day and, from my perspective, Happy Male Quilter's Day! Thank you for being a guy that quilts!
I had fun visiting some of the shops participating in the Southern California Quilt Run yesterday, and am looking forward to visiting more. I do enjoy seeing beautiful quilts on display, shopping for fabrics, books, patterns & gifts, and particularly enjoy seeing how each quilt shop has their own personality. One day on this quilt run was exhausting, but fun. I'm on inspiration overload. So, I thought I'd just share insights on one store with you now.
My first stop was A Time to Sew, in Laguna Hills. This is a beautiful shop, well organized, with a great selection of quilting items, and a very friendly staff.
Martha Hurlburt and her husband, Ron, have owned this store for 2 1/2 years. They have several clubs, including a UFO Club where they share ideas and applaud finished projects. And there is a special reward for those that have completed their 10 projects for the year in September! {what a great idea}.
They also have a Saturday Sampler Club (aka block of the month). And twice a month they have a "Fuzzy Slipper" free sewing night! What fun!
There is also a nice collection of kits available, all at great prices too!
I loved their collection and display of books. Excellent selection, with many new releases too!
Their Online store is available, but they do not have all their products setup yet. So, you may want to call their store if you see something you want that isn't available via their online store. You'll also find that they have a large offering of classes, which are held in a lovely classroom. You can even sign up for their classes online.
There is a growing community of Bloggers with AccuQuilt products. I've been researching ways to network this group, where any blogger with any AccuQuilt can participate. We are a growing community with a great voice, and ability to network and opportunities share insights are endless!
There are a couple of different ways you may want to participate in this group.
You may want to "officially" join this team by posting this badge on your blog, but it is not required. On the other hand, if you post this badge on your blog and email me that you have done so, once I verify it I will add your site to the links on my sidebar, with other team members. Links to these bloggers also are linked to show viewers all your posts that include "AccuQuilt" in your post.
I've also done some tweaking to the Linky tool and am opening it up to any blogger with an AccuQuilt product. My criteria for you creating a link is to ensure you link to a "post" not your blog, that your post reflects something insightful for those interested in AccuQuilt.
Please do not link posts that pertain to giveaways, but if you want to promote a giveaway please email me and I will gladly share insight on my page for "giveaways and contests". I also want to ask a favor, in that inside of your post you reference you are sharing this with SewCalGal's team of Bloggers that love AccuQuilt products, and include a link back to this post. I ask this, in that you may have readers that would be interested in reading other AccuQuilt related posts that have been added to this linky.
Lastly, I want to clarify this isn't an AccuQuilt sponsored activity. It is more of a matter that I believe our numbers are growing and I'd like to find a way for us to network. To help encourage my fellow blogging friends, that are also AccuQuilt owners, to network and be part of the Bloggers with AccuQuilt products, I will periodically be having giveaways that will be of special interest to this community or give them an extra way to enter.
I am hoping that all the posts that are shared in this linky provide inspirational insights and/or tips that will be of interest to those that love their AccuQuilt products.
While the above linky is for posts pertaining to AccuQuilt, below is a linky that this team can use to post their videos pertaining to AccuQuilt.
Today was definitely a fussy day....fussy cutting day. I've always admired quilts that have fussy cut fabrics, but until recently I didn't enjoy taking time to fussy cut my fabrics. It was a slow process, and with most tools, always difficult to see if I was fussy cutting what I really wanted to cut. But I've found a cool tool that really makes this process so easy and fast! It is also a very helpful tool to audition fabrics, for color & scale.
I'm now hooked. Can't stop fussy cutting. I'm looking at cute prints and planning quilts that I can fussy cut and show the designs off. Auditioning is so much fun!
This set includes 5 square-up templates, designed to audition and fussy cut fabrics in your choice of 10-1/2", 8-1/2", 6-1/2", 4-1/2" or 2-1/2" squares. The templates were laser-cut and help you create perfect fussy cut squares.
Unlike most rulers that are used for fussy cutting fabrics, these templates use a red color that allow you to easily view the fabric you are cutting. Plus, unlike clear acrylic templates, you won't easily lose or misplace these red templates.
I found them very easy to use. You start with the appropriate sized template to "audtion" your fabric.
In case you haven't noticed, I really enjoyed seeing how one could showcase certain fabrics, by auditioning the scale of the print, to decide how best to fussy cut the fabric and design a quilt around it.
The rulers act like frames for you to see what your fussy cut piece of fabric will look like. And you simply cut with the small ruler, which fits inside of the frame (after you've inserted the smaller ruler inside of your fame and removed the frame). Very easy. And definitely fun!
Fussy cutting is no longer an activity I get fussy about any more. Not with CutRiteTM Square-Up Template Set .
Yeap, I think I'm going to be making a cute pet quilt, for my upcoming Pets On Quilt Show. These fabrics will look great fussy cut in a quilt, don't you think?
Works purrfectly!
I can't stop playing with these rulers!
Don't you think it really helps to audition a fabric for fussy cutting?
In this fabric, with the small scale, I think any of the sizes would make a cute quilt, but I concluded I like the 2 1/2" square the best. Love how it allows the cats in this fabric to standout, each with their unique purrsonality. Gosh, I love this ruler set!
The red color also makes it easy to see your rulers on light, medium, and dark fabric. They are much easier to find and less likely to get lost!
Another plus of this fussy cutting tool is that it is also a tool to help identify values of fabric. You can hold up one of the templates to your eyes when view fabric to determine the fabric's value (light, medium, dark).
You can order these rulers online from Quilters Paradise, or wholesale thru Brewers.
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