I Love Books

All kinds of books.  When I was an elementary teacher I spent most of my years as a teacher-librarian.  I marvelled that I got paid and a budget to go and buy books for all ages in all subject areas.  I spent hours reading to children.  So would you be surprised to know I have about as many books as some guild libraries?  Now that we have a quilt shop I put all I learned about building a collection of library books into building a collection of fabric to suit a wide variety of quilters.  I wish we could have one of every quilt book but there wouldn't be room for fabric, notions and patterns.
Today I want to tell you about 2 books that I think are great reference tools to help you learn about choosing colours and designing quilts.
"A Fiber Artist's Guide to Color and Design" by Heather Thomas for Landauer Publishing
         Landauer has been putting out a series of books on the basics and beyond which have hardcovers but spiral bound inside.  This means the book lies flat as you are using it in your sewing room.  I love the way Heather has laid out the sections with clear language and great pictures.  She shows you all about colour with great quilts to show how each illustrates the use.  Then she goes into the elements and principles of design.  Finally there are practical workshops to let you experiment. 



'Adventures In Design" by Joen Wolfren for C&T Publishing
        This would be your next step in developing skills to apply to quilt making.  I will never get to this level but by reading the book and thinking how you might do the exercises has to help.  You get a deeper understanding of the quilters who create the works of art on display at major quilt shows, seen online or enjoyed in print. 
       

Lapel Stick-The Ultimate Accessory

This company has been putting alot of effort into getting quilters to use their product this past year.  And for good reason.  As someone who is glue stick challenged (as I usually end up with my fingers glued together and the pieces not sticking) this is a very useful product.  Rather than try to make up my own description, here is what the company says:

Ultimate Accessory for Quilters, Sewers, and Crafters

Temporary non-toxic acid-free fabric adhesive that goes on in seconds and dries clear for Quilting, Sewing, Crafting, and Embroidery - replaces baste stitching, pinning, tapes, spray adhesives, and stabilizers. No more messy sprays or getting stuck with pins and it won't gum up your needles or machines! LAPEL Stick is water soluble and safe to use on cottons, wool, polyester, blends, felt, linen, and leather.

Need I say more?!  Good, because it is Sunday morning, my one day of the week off.  I haven't had coffee yet, need to do some Christmas shopping, do laundry and get some groceries. Yikes, better run....

Frixion Pens

What a lot of chatter has been generated by quilters using these pens!  Pilot has been making these pens since 1986 (says their website) but some smart quilter introduced them to the world of quilting.  They are thermo-sensitive gel pens which are removed from paper by friction or from fabric by heat.  They come in a variey of colours but black and orange are the favourites at this shop.   If you haven't been following their use in the quilt world here is an update:

1.  Good news.  A gel pen that marks on fabric and is easily removed by running a warm iron over it.  Unlike water soluble pens, the ink is not set by heat.  Anyone who has run a hot iron over the blue marking pen knows how hard it is to get rid of the lines.

2.  Bad news.  After spending time marking you decided to give the fabric a little press and removed all the lines! 

3.  Good news.  The marks from Frixion pens reappear at -10C.  Place your fabric in the freezer and all will reappear.

4.  Bad news.  The quilt you shipped by airmail to the quilt show arrived with all the pen marks showing.

5.  Good news.  We learned that all the pen marks will wash out and you have no marks to reappear.  Wash quilts before shipping to shows.

That is the story so far.  If there are any more developments we will be sure to hear.  I still want to see if a hair dryer will remove the marks.  If you were to arrive at a show with your lines showing, it could be an easy fix in the hotel room.

'Deck the Holly' Snap Sack

Need a hostess gift in a couple of hours?  Want a project you can start and finish just for fun?  Snap Sacks include a pattern and fabric for a small project.  All you add is thread, batting and time.
Anne made our sample of 'Deck the Holly'.  It includes all the fabric for the top and a cute red backing.  We have a demo die for the Accuquilt GO that cuts a Christmas tree, snowflake and holly with berries.  So for this Snap Sack we even precut the holly leaves and berries, with WonderUnder on the back.  Just peel, fuse and stitch!  That will save you about 20 minutes.

Feel free to use your own stash and make enough for all your holiday social engagements.  I was going to say you could start on next year's bazaar items but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves...but, then again, I have already ordered fabric for next Christmas.....

Welcome To December 2011

It's time again to think about holiday gifts for quilters to give and receive.  There are some great new tools, gorgous new fabrics and wonderful new books and patterns.  How can we have so much fun?! 

My number one favourite new tool this year is Clover's Wonder Clips'.    Clover says:
The Wonder Clips are great alternatives to pins, especailly when working with heavy weight fabrics, piles and vinyls. It can hold layered sections of sewing projects such as handle connectors to handbags and piping without distortion. It holds quilt bindings while sewing and it's easy to see and easy to find when dropped on the floor. Works well with Sergers!

I love them when making baskets or bags.  They are like a clothespin and hold multiple layers in place.  There is no shifting of layers as there is when pinning.  For binding, they clamp on and have no sharp points.  They say there are 1/4" and 1/2" markings on the flat bottom so you can line them up for even topstitching but I'm still working on perfecting that use.  It may take awhile. 

They come in packages of 10 or 50.  At $7.99 for 10,  they make a great hostess gift for quilting friends.
      

Getting Ready

How time flies!  Where did October and November go?  I am getting ready to start the one-a-day posts for December.

Quilting Celebration

Wedensday September 21
Komoka Community Centre
7 pm

Tomorrow night is our third annual evening to celebrate the start of a  new year of quilting.  The kids are back to school, the days are shorter and autumn is in the air.  What better way to celebrate than to get together with friends to see what is new and what is coming up. 
Joan for 'Sew Creative' in Mt Brydges and I have invited Betty Gormick our sales rep with the supplier N Jefferson.  Betty will be showing us new items to spark our creativity.  Joan and I will displaying samples for classes coming up this fall. 
The proceeds from tickets sales are donated to the Rural Womens Resource Centre.  In the past we have donated over $1000 which they have used to stock the food bank which supports families in our area.
Komoka Community Centre is near the water tower.  It is by the Railway Museum on Queen Street.  If coming from London, go out the Oxford Street extension and look for the new arean.  Go to the next street and turn north.
I'm almost ready and getting excited!