How-to-Quilt.com

August 2008 Newsletter

This issue includes:

1)  A Quilt Idea – Folded Flowers

2)  Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation – Jacqueline Sava - Soak Wash
   
3)  Featured Block of the Month – Hill and Valley  
   
4)  Book of the Month – Photo Fabric Play
   
5)  Newsletter News – Quilting Business on a Shoestring Budget Seminar

6)  Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation – Marv & Jeannie Spears (Soft Fabric Photos)

7)  Fabric Postcards for the Troops – Round ‘em up and send ‘em in before September 28 for Halloween

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1) A Quilt Idea – Folded Flowers –

n our recent survey, you said that you were ready for something a little different and possibly more challenging. I will be sharing more challenging quilts in the upcoming months, in the meantime, I thought I’d pull out a folded flower quilt – something a little different.

This one was a little challenging for me, mostly because it involved a lot of handwork.

Overall, it is pretty straightforward. The sky and grass are each single pieces of fabric with a seam running horizontally through the center.

All of the flowers, stems and leaves are hand sewn on. The flowers used the “folded fabric” technique. Each of these petals is a two-sided circle. To make each one, stitch the two circles of fabric right sides together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Leave about a 1 inch place open so you can turn it inside out.

These circles ranged in size from 3 3/4 inches in diameter (finished) to 1 3/4 inches in diameter (finished).

Clip the seam allowance so the circle will lie flat, and then turn it right sides facing out. Hand stitch the opening closed. If you are careful, you can hide the hand stitched part under another petal.

Make as many of these as you need for your flower. Each of my flowers had 5 petals in varying color combinations. Then simply fold the circle overlapping the opposite side, and stitch it inside another circle – starting from the top petal to the bottom petal.

The stems are simple strips of fabric. Using a bias tape maker, you can make your own bias tape from regular fabric. The bias makes it curve nicely on your quilt. (I wish I had done that on this quilt. The raw edges were folded under using a bias tape maker, but the fabric was cut on the straight grain.)

The leaves were hand appliquéd onto the quilt and hide the ends of the stems. The inside border separates the center from the Flying Geese. And the solid fabric outside the Flying Geese makes them look like they are flying in a corridor.

I used cornerstones with the Flying Geese because I decided I wanted them to look like they were going around the outside of the quilt instead of each side flying off the end.

The hand quilting on this is really simple and basic. There are lines in the sky radiating from the upper left corner down to the lower right corner of the sky – sort of a sunshine effect.

The quilting on the grass is kind of curving lines, emphasizing the unevenness of the ground. The rest of the quilt is hand quilted in the ditch – not very interesting at all. But, you see, the quilt is done and has hung on many walls.

This was an interesting quilt to make, and quite different from my other traditional block quilts, yet the Flying Geese reminded me that this was still a traditional sort of quilt. The hand quilting, though not inspired, accomplished getting the quilt finished.  Because of the three-dimensions of the folded flowers, it would have been difficult to machine quilt, and by the time I got to that point, I was anxious to get the quilt bound and hung up.

For those of you who are waiting for inspiration for hand quilting, why not just get something going? Do some basic quilting, get the quilt finished and promise yourself that you will come back and finish it later. At least you can enjoy the quilt in the meantime.

The pattern for this quilt is in:

By the way, now that I look at this quilt, it could use some Soak.

2) Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation – Jacqueline Sava - Soak Wash

In our July 22 Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation we talked with Jacqueline Sava from Soak Wash. Soak is a gentle, fiber-friendly cleanser formulated originally for knitters and now helping quilters keep their quilts fresh.

It’s amazing to me that you can get something clean without having to rinse it out. Jacqueline explains it this way: “Basically, the detergent reaches between the fibers and grabs the grease and dirt, it bonds with it, and then it lifts it off the fabric, and then it bonds it with the water. We don’t see it, but that’s what happens. The dirt gets trapped in the water and the water goes down the drain. What is left on the fiber is just a little hint of the fresh, clean fragrance. Everything else evaporates.”

Note: You are missing out if your membership doesn’t include a CD recording of these conversations. Both Penny’s Inner Circle and the Star membership level include the recordings.

Whether you hear the live call or not, having a recording guarantees that the information will be at your fingertips the minute you need it. 

It’s easy to upgrade your membership. Just visit the Membership Form: https://www.thequiltingcoach.com/public/5.cfm and enter your information. Highlight the drop down that Yes, this is a Renewal, and you’re all set.

3)  Featured Block of the Month - Hill and Valley

One of the things I enjoy most about living in Southern California is the different terrain.

When I look to the west, I see the Pacific Ocean and on most evenings, a beautiful, colorful sunset.

To the east, I see mountains and the Cleveland National Forest. And on the drive between, there are plenty of rolling hills and valleys.

This simple 9 patch can be done in a variety of colors to remind me of the hills, valleys and beautiful Southern California sunsets.

Click on the picture above to get the pattern.

Download your 10 FREE Patterns here

4) Book of the Month – Photo Fabric Play

With so much going on around transferring photos onto fabric, you can imagine how pleased I was to see this brand new resource from C&T, Photo-Fabric Play.

The author, Krista Camacho Halligan taught classes at a local stamp, art, and scrapbook store where she met many fabulous artists and was exposed to a variety of mediums. Now she has blended her knowledge of scrapbooking with quilting to create unique and beautiful memories for the family and friends of quilters.

Whether you are making a holiday quilt, a teacher quilt, sports quilt, or just a memory quilt, the ideas abound in this treasure. And, the ideas are not limited to just quilts. There are 13 craft projects that are easy enough to complete in a weekend. Well, maybe not all 13 in one weekend, but you have time to complete them between now and Christmas.

Reserve your copy until Tuesday, August 5.

5) Newsletter News – Quilting Business on a Shoestring Budget Seminar

Our first Quilting Business on a Shoestring Budget Seminar was this last weekend, and was a total blast. Everyone who braved the Scottsdale heat learned tons about how to set up and run an online quilting business - or any online business for that matter.

The video folks have 32 hours of tapes that they will be cutting and pasting together those of you who missed it can see what went on - well, most of it anyway.

The DVDs should be completed within the next few weeks - stay tuned, we will let you know when they are ready.

In the meantime, I am sorting and re-sorting the information so it can be presented online. We will keep you posted about that as well.

6)  Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation – Marv & Jeannie Spears

Soft Fabric Photos - SoftFabricPhotos.com

In our July 10 Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Marv and Jeannie Spears, we learned about transferring photos and other images onto fabric. Marv and Jeannie were very generous with their information and shared the exact step-by-step process for pre-treating fabric before printing photos on it.

One of their secrets is to use a piece of fabric that is cut from selvedge to selvedge. Once the fabric has been soaked in the treatment and has dried, take a large piece of freezer paper and iron it to the back of the fabric. Use a flat and hard surface for ironing – if it is too soft, it won’t work. And use a fairly hot iron. Not so hot it will scorch the fabric, but hot enough to melt some of the wax on the paper and get the fabric to stick to it.

Then cut a piece of fabric (with the freezer paper firmly attached) the size you need for your image. Once cut, iron the fabric and freezer paper again before you print. The extra ironing makes the freezer paper adhere better.

If you would like a CD recording of this call, click here

7)  Postcard Quilts for the Troops – Halloween 2008!

We are doing Halloween once again. This was so popular and fun last year, we decided to do it again this year. Diane Malaznik has graciously offered to collect and photograph the cards and post them on the website. She is doing an excellent job, and posting them as fast as they come in: http://fabric-postcards.com/

The deadline for the Halloween Roundup is September 28 which will give her time to box them up and ship them to Iraq. Send your cards to:

Diane Malaznik
14215 Westmore St.
Livonia, MI 48154-4149

Check out pictures of the fabric postcards already delivered:

http://fabric-postcards.com/

Have a fabulous Month!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

©How-to-Quilt.com 2008