Dear Quilting Friends,
I don’t know how many of you are gardeners in
addition to being passionate quilters, but I have a large
vegetable garden at home. Luckily, Jim is great help with the
hoeing and weeding - in fact he’s much more dependable at that
than I am! But we both love having all those fresh vegetables at
our fingertips all summer long. Lettuce, spinach, red beets,
cabbage and green beans are all currently available and sweet
corn is not far behind. So far, we have been eating everything
as it ripens, but with the advent of larger quantities of green
beans, I’ll soon need to dust off my pressure canner and get
serious about preserving vegetables for the winter. For a while,
that will cut into my available quilting time, but never fear,
I’ll soon be back in my upstairs sewing studio - I can’t stay away
from there for very long, especially with all the gorgeous new
fabrics arriving for fall and winter!
Fabulous
Fabric
Many of the newest fabric designs feature fall,
winter or holiday themes such as Rustling in the Dark by
RJR, Merry and Bright by Moda, Snow Show by
Benartex and Pom Pom Penguins by South Seas. For each of
these groups, I am showing you only the panel or focal piece - but
wonderful coordinating fabrics are also available. Stop in
Threads of Tradition to see all of the additional coordinates.
|
Merry & Bright |
Snow Show |
Pom Pom Penguins |
Jitterbug is a fun new fabric line from
Andover. Extra large dots, diagonal stripes, folk art floral
prints, small stripes and prints combined with simple piecing
let the fabric speak for itself. Soda Shop, a free pattern
designed for the Jitterbug fabric line can be downloaded at
www.andoverfabrics.com.
Nifty New
Notions
Aren’t we all always looking for gadgets and
shortcuts that will make our sewing easier and even more fun? If
you have ever struggled to pick up a rotary cutting template or
have nicked your finger with a sharp blade, you’ve got to try
the amazing Little Gripper. It’s quick, easy and so handy
you’ll wonder how you ever completed a quilt without it! The
Little Gripper has a simple locking lever. Position the suction
cup onto any 2 ¼" or larger acrylic template or small ruler,
then flip up the lever to lock the Little Gripper in place. Flip
the lever back down to release the suction cup when you are
finished. The Little Gripper allows complete control of your
small rulers and templates and reduces the risk of cut fingers!
Two new resources will help make machine
quilting a breeze. The Skillbuilder Mastery CD contains
hundreds of quilting designs in multiple sizes and runs on any
computer. Just point and click to print out feathers, leaves,
lines, motifs, backgrounds, hearts and templates. There are
designs for squares, triangles, octagons, stars and borders.
This one CD includes all the designs from Skillbuilder 1, 2 and
3. Print your chosen designs onto paper, quilt through the paper
and tear away for a perfect finish.
Along the same line, Stipples Made Easy
are rolls of adhesive edged patterns for machine quilting.
Machine stipple with ease when you use these preprinted stipple
guides. Now even beginning quilters can create the free-form
look of stippling with this tear-away paper. The adhesive strips
along the edges help position the pattern on the quilt and keep
it from shifting as you stitch. Simply stitch through the paper,
and then tear away. Four different designs are available: small
stipple, large stipple, stipple with stars and stipple with
flowers. Each roll is 9 ½" wide and 26 feet long - big enough to
cover an entire 45" x 60" quilt!
In a past issue, I believe I mentioned how much
we love the new Fons and Porter mechanical marking pencil.
Both the white and silver leads go on smoothly, stay in place
and can be easily removed with plain water. Apparently the
response to this pencil has been greater than Liz and Marianne
anticipated and our orders keep getting backordered due to
unavailability of the product. We have recently discovered that Bohin, a French notions
company, has an identical pencil with
their name on the barrel. The Bohin brand is now in stock and we
will continue to carry whichever brand of pencil and lead
refills that are available at the moment.
Best Press Spray Starch has debuted their
new Cherry Blossom scent in a pretty shade of pink. The same
best spray starch ever, just with a new choice of fragrance. We
still also have Caribbean Beach, Lavender, and Citrus scents in
stock as well as the unscented variety.
Gifts for
You and Me
Donna Sharp has done it again! Three new
patchwork purses in colors for fall have arrived and they are all
fabulous! Mandy Patch is sophisticated in olive and
black, Woodland features a traditional blend of fall
colors in rust, green, and brown, while Roanoke in blues
and browns is a perfect companion to your casual denim wardrobe.
All three colors are available in most of Donna Sharp’s current
purse and bag styles.
Books and More Books
Are you inspired by the style but intimidated by
the methods for making beautiful bargello quilts? With the
clever technique taught in Instant Bargello by Susan
Kisro, you can transform theme fabric - from nature prints to
animal motifs - into "instant" bargello-style designs.
It is summertime, but you don’t need a green
thumb to grow a beautiful garden! Popular flower motifs are
showcased in fresh, pretty quilts in the new book Gathered
From the Garden, Quilts with Floral Charm. Gather seeds of
inspiration from your very own garden, and then use quick
appliqué methods to "sow" them. Flower blocks are featured in
eight projects such as Sunflower Circle and My Secret Garden.
Combine blocks in different ways for unique quilts and find
handy tricks for appliquéing perfect stems, circles and other
shapes.
In her new book, Appliqué Quilt Revival,
Nancy Mahoney is back with more block patterns from the
1930’s - and this time it is an adventure in Depression-era
appliqué. Grab your stash of reproduction fabrics and start
stitching blocks from this rare collection, taken from actual
newspaper clippings from the period. This book includes 14 quilt
patterns that showcase unique designs. Play with cheerful motifs
ranging from delightful bunnies, kittens, and flowerpots to
beautiful butterflies and wreaths.
If you prefer to make the gifts you give, rather
than make a trip to the mall, then consider making quilted
pillows with sentimental messages that will touch the hearts of
loved ones every single time. Quilted Pillows for My Family
and Friends will provide you with lots of ideas to get this
tradition started in your family. The patterns in this book are
quick to make and impressive when completed. I hope they inspire
you to make quilted pillows for your family and friends!
New Patterns
For all of you who love reproduction fabrics and
quilts from the Civil War era, I’d like to introduce you to the
designs of Evonne Cook of Clothesline Quilts. Her Civil
War Battle series of patterns includes unique and stunning
designs named Bull Run, Pea Ridge, and Shiloh. All
three of these quilts include directions for making either
5-inch or 10-inch blocks, resulting in two sizes of the same
quilt. The quilt photos on the cover use large and small-scale
prints for a very authentic reproduction look.
|
Bull Run |
Pea Ridge |
Shiloh |
For those of you who prefer the brighter colors
of 1930’s quilts, take a look at Vintage Memories by
Leslee Price. A combination of a feathered star center
block with double pinwheels, square in a square and basket
blocks all embellished with an appliquéd vine and yo-yo flowers.
This unusual design is a real eye-catcher!
|
Vintage Memories |
Oh, My Tangled Stars |
Two Block Hop |
If traditional patterns updated with pretty new
fabric lines are more your style, consider Oh, My Tangled
Stars or Two Block Hop for your next quilt. Two Block
Hop features any focal print with selected complimentary
fabrics. Sashing is added to the blocks, resulting in a chaining
effect to the overall quilt design. As quilters, we enjoy making
lots of quilts, but some are more pleasurable than others. I
think you will find Oh, My Tangled Stars fresh to make and you
will not be able to wait to see how the finished blocks come
together. With fresh colored fabrics this pattern makes a very
romantic quilt, but with more masculine choices it could
certainly take on a more "manly" feel. This pattern also
includes the instructions for making pillow shams to coordinate
with your quilt, for a complete ensemble!
With gratefulness for a continuous flow of new
quilting ideas, so many friends to share them with, wonderful
summer weather, and a bountiful garden, I feel blessed indeed. I
hope you can think of even more reasons to join me in that
sentiment. May you find joy in all your summer activities and
friendships, and especially in your quilting!
Enjoy the delights of summer,
Linda
Threads of Tradition @ Sauder Village
22611 State Route 2, Archbold, Ohio 43502
800.590.9755 or 419.446.2541 ext. 3011
www.saudervillage.org
send email inquiries to:
lrufenacht@saudervillage.org
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