The QuiltWoman.com Blog

Here it is, December 22nd, and most of us are in the middle of the last minute, how am I ever going to get this done, Christmas Project Panic. I am speaking, of course, about those darn sewing projects that you plan on giving as gifts. You know the ones; you start out in July with the best of intentions. As the Summer slides into Fall, you keep telling yourself, “I really should start on that wall-hanging/quilt/tote. Now here it is, ten days before Christmas, and not a single project is done.

So in lieu of working on the current project, I’ve decided to procrastinate (again) and revisit the projects of Christmases Past.

The gift that keeps on giving

I remember when I was first married and decided to make my husband a shirt. Not just any shirt, but a warm wool shirt he could wear in his woodshop. As usual, I bought the fabric and pattern early. And it sat. And sat. And collected some dust and sat some more. Finally, Christmas was upon us and I hadn’t even cracked open the pattern envelope. I really really wanted to give him this shirt for Christmas. So I wrapped up the fabric, notions, and pattern and put it under the tree. I can honestly say he was surprised Christmas morning when he opened that gift!

But the story doesn’t end there. During the course of the next 12 months, I managed to make the shirt. It was in the style of a dress shirt (meaning a collar, placket, cuffs, yoke, everything!). Once again, the shirt got wrapped and put under the Christmas tree. Again, Christmas morning, my husband was surprised. Yes, he was surprised to see the shirt was complete, but the surprises didn’t stop there. When he tried it on, we discovered three things.

To start with, the sleeves were too short. I should have realized someone 6’ 3” tall needed longer sleeves. Then when he went to button it up, we discovered the buttons were way to small to be handled with ease. And to top it all off, I had put the sleeves on the wrong sides! The left sleeve was on the right side of the shirt and visa versa. So not only did he have to endure short sleeve with teeny buttons, but he had to do contortions to get the cuffs buttoned. Try it sometime, put a shirt on backwards and see how easy it is to button the cuff!

I’ll give my husband credit, he wore (and still wears) the shirt today. In fact, he has it on today!.

The best gift I ever made

I still remember the best gift I ever stitched up. When my daughter was 4 years old (she’s 17 now), she decided her favorite planet was Saturn. Don’t ask me why, I have no clue. When she would come home from pre-school, she would have in her possession drawing paper covered with crayon sketches of Saturn. Being the loving mother, I decided to make her a stuffed Saturn (think stuffed animal here). I don’t recall how I managed to figure out the construction. And making the ring around the planet was like stuffing sausage, or what I assume stuffing sausage would be like. But come Christmas morning, my daughter was the very happy recipient of a blue and silver Lame’ planet. She absolutely loved it and still has it to this day!

The gift that just made it on time…NOT!

A friend of mine related this story to me when I told her about my Christmas Project musings.

“I made my brother and his wife the paper pieced birdhouse quilt a few years ago. I worked on it constantly through the fall and even more frantically as Christmas got closer. My brother didn’t have much vacation, but he was off for Christmas Day and I wanted the quilt to be there. At last, I finished it on December 23rd and ran it over to FedEx moments before their shipping deadline for that day. It was all set for December 24th delivery, and I went home feeling very successful! That evening, there was a huge ice storm in the southeast - particularly affected was Memphis, TN (FedEx’s shipping hub) and all air traffic was grounded. Nothing was moving in Atlanta either (where my brother lives). My quilt didn’t arrive until December 26th.”

But that’s enough procrastinating for now. I need to get back to this year’s projects and see if I can get them done. I think I’m going to adhere to Nancy’s sage advice (Nancy being the head of QuiltWoman.com):

“Don’t promise anything to anyone! Let them be surprised if you get it done and let it be next year’s gift if you don’t.”

So to all my gift recipients, if you get a gift card Christmas morning, it’s probably because this year’s gift to you just became next year’s!

On that note, we’ll just say Happy Holidays to everyone from the Christmas Project Panicked staff at QuiltWoman.com!

We think our staff here at QuiltWoman is pretty special.  Apparently, we aren’t the only ones!  One of our talented designers recently sent us an e-mail saying:

“You know how proud I am of everyone and I think everyone should not only get some recognition, but more importantly give the public faces. Say when a customer calls and someone says, Carol speaking,…..they could have a face to go with the conversation. It is all the support that makes my product what it is. Perhaps everyone could write a paragraph on what they do along with the picture and put it on the web.”

So we decided to do just that.  A drum roll please.  Introducing the staff at QuiltWoman.com!

Nancy

Nancy

Nancy Dill is the heart, soul and owner of QuiltWoman.com.  She is not only a quilter, designer and quilt shop owner, but she is also a CPA.  This woman can do it all. 

Nancy’s been sewing since childhood, but in 2003, after attending the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, Nancy decided that she wanted to design, teach quilting and travel. That led to Nancy publishing her own patterns. Becoming the owner of QuiltWoman.com is the realization of a dream; the melding of all her loves into one business. We have no idea how she juggles all the hats she does, but she does it extraordinarily well.

Carol

Carol

Carol is our valued administrative assistant.  If you call QuiltWoman.com, chances are hers is the voice you are going to hear answer the phone.   She has known Nancy for many, many years, but somehow is not yet a quilter.  But since joining QuiltWoman, she feels like she has been bitten by the Quilting Bug.  So who knows, she may be a quilter before we know it.  Carol says she does love walking through the quilt store adjacent to us and looking at all the beautiful fabrics!

Debbie

Debbie

Debbie is our chief graphics designer.  She takes input from the designers, turns the information into patterns, photographs the quilts, and on and on and on.  When not sitting at her computer, you can usually find her at home tending to her menagerie.  She has 3 dogs, 3 cats, 5 chinchillas, 3 goats, 4 bunnies, 1 bearded dragon, 2 ducks and an assortment of fish.  She’d really really like an African Grey Parrot, but that’s in negotiations right now.  Debbie also has an incredible skull collection.  She’s sort of a natural history geek.

Jessica

Jessica

Jessica, one of our graphic designers, makes up the other half of the “Art Department” at QuiltWoman.com. While only a beginning quilter, she has been sewing and crafting ever since she learned to say “fabric.” Jessica also has a fascination for all things Asian, spending her time outside the sewing world concocting recipes with an Asian twist and keeping on top of her Japanese language skills.

Ann

Ann

Ann is an accountant at QuiltWoman.com, but she also proofs patterns and answers customer questions.  She is married and has two handsome sons and a brilliant daughter-in-law.  She really loves to make quilts, especially hand quilting.  But her very favorite thing to do is to buy fabric!  She’s our kind of gal!

Sarah

Sarah

Sarah is the accountant in the group that makes sure every thing is mathematically correct.  She is a busy Mom of two small children and currently does not quilt.  But Sarah says she may try it in the future when she has extra time (in about 20 years we figure).  Sarah does enjoy the beauty of quilts, which is a good thing since she is surrounded by quilters!

Mary Lou

Mary Lou

If you buy a kit from us, chances are Mary Lou was the one that cut the fabric and assembled the kit. Mary Lou has been sewing for 50 years and quilting for the last 35. Now that her 5 children are grown, she keeps busy sewing and embroidering for her 7 grandchildren. She especially enjoys making sweatshirt jackets and embroidering them because as she says, you have only so many walls to decorate but you can always decorate yourself. In her opinion, working with all the beautiful fabrics and assembling the kits is a dream come true.

Corinne

Corinne

Corinne is our web master, blogger, and resident computer geek.  She’s been sewing since she was 13 and still fondly remembers the first flat felled seam she constructed at that age. She’s now amazed she ever wore those pants in public ! Corinne took up quilting in the early 90’s and has been hooked ever since. After working as a process control engineer for 23 years, she wandered over into the software side of things and is thrilled to be able to merge her love of technology with quilting. Can you say “Dream Job?”

So that’s everyone in the office. We strive everyday to provide you with quality products and premiere customer service. Don’t hesitate to call us at anytime. We are here for you!

As mentioned in a previous blog, Barb Sackel’s “4 in 1” patterns were a huge hit at Quilt Market.  The appeal of the patterns is in the way they allow other textile arts and crafts to be incorporated into their design.  We sat down with Barb to get further insight into what “4 in 1” Quilts are all about.

QW: Why are the patterns called “4 in 1”?  What’s the 4 and what’s the 1?

Barb: A “4 in 1″ Pattern is a quilt design that gives you creative spaces for different techniques. Originally I thought of just 4 techniques to put in the 1 space. But the list soon grew quickly. I kept the “4 in 1″ name for convenience although it should really read, “Unlimited in one”. Some of the techniques are; using focus, fussy cutting motifs, hand appliqué, machine appliqué, hand quilting, machine quilting motifs, red work, blue work, ribbon embroidery, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, printed pictures, panels, cross stitch and the list goes on.

Trophy Case with panels that started it all....

QW: How did you come up with the idea?

Barb: The whole concept started when I was working in a quilt shop and customers would pick up this adorable panel and then just set it back down while stating “I don’t know how to use this.”  The owner then pushed the bolt into my arms and said, “Do something with this.” She knew that my creativity gets sparked when I am challenged. That’s how Trophy Case came along. We made kits and that bolt disappeared immediately. At the time, Red Work was just beginning to return on the quilting scene in full swing.  Also, big motifs were left stranded because quilter’s didn’t want to cut the beautiful motifs into tiny squares.  And so, the idea of creating spaces for all the different arenas evolved into the 13 patterns we have today.

Trophy Case with applique

Trophy Case with large motif

QW: Do you have a favorite “4 in 1” Quilt?

Barb: Yes, it is the Trophy Case of course, because that was my baby to the whole line.

QW: Give us some examples of what you have done in your creative spaces.

Barb: I have 16 women who are my testers. Every quilt of mine is tested 3 times. I don’t put any restrictions on my testers, I just let them fly. Therefore, some amazing stuff comes back to me.

The “4 in 1″ patterns have come back with cross stitch, Blue Work (such as Circle of Fun seen below) and hand embroidery from the needle artists. Machine embroidery has found a new home with these patterns. Now you can utilize a whole CD, match it with fabric and have a full themed quilt.

Circle of Fun with Blue Work

Big motifs have found a home. Melancholy and Scenic Circle work really well with large prints.

Melancholy with large motif

Melancholy with Winnie the Pooh panels

Scenic Circle with panels

Playful Pinstripes and Minnie Pinstripes have inspired a whole new style of quilt by showcasing long pieces of fabric that tell a story.

Playful Pinstripes with large motif

Playful Pinstripes with story line

Minnie Pinstripes with a parade of animals

My quilts incorporate themes that can be geared for fabulous men quilts. View to the Woods had men in mind with the pine trees. Throw in some wildlife, hunting, camping or any outdoors fabrics and if you want to really pamper your man, make it in flannels for that final outdoors feel.

View to the Woods with a large motif

Homestead Acres with machine embroidery

The spaces allow playing with appliqué, machine quilting, machine embroidery (see Homestead Acres above) and Broderie Perse.  Then come the final embellishments: buttons, cording, ribbon work and gorgeous quilting.  The sky is the limit and your imagination is your pilot. Golden Treasures is a great example of that.

Golden Treasures with Christmas Panels

Golden Treasures with focus fabric

Golden Treasures with fussy cut panels

Golden Treasures with cross stitch

QW: Are you planning on increasing your line of “4 in 1″ patterns?

Barb: I have new ones already designed as I love the idea of a marriage between crafting and quilting.  Of course, I am always open to ideas. If there is a need in the community of quilting, I would love to hear about it.  Just go to the Contact Us page at QuiltWoman.com and e-mail me a message.  Make sure you state it’s for me so I’ll get it!

In the meantime, you can get patterns of any of the quilts featured here by visiting QuiltWoman.com.

While at Quilt Market we took some video of all the comings and goings.  Take a look!  It’s the next best thing to being there.  Make sure you read the posting just below this one that details all the fun we had!

Let’s just say this, Quilt Market was AWESOME!   The new attendees on the QuiltWoman staff were awestruck.  We put in some long days, but it was worth it.

For those of you who know what Quilt Market is, skip to the next paragraph.  For those who don’t, here’s the 411.  Quilt Market and Quilt Festival are the back-to-back shows held every October by Quilts, Inc.  Quilt Market is a trade show where vendors show their wares and quilt shops and distributors can view them.  This is followed by Quilt Festival, a trade show which is open to the public.  Along side both of these is a juried show of some of the best quilts of the quilting world.

The QuiltWoman.com booth

QuiltWoman.com had a booth at Quilt Market.  Because we had 57 new patterns to introduce, we needed four, count’em, four booths!  We displayed samples of all the new patterns and had them for sale.  Working with the staff of QuiltWoman were two of our quilt designers, Barb Sackel and Toby Lischko.  Jen Eskridge was also there, demonstrating her Seamingly Accurate Seam Guide.

To add to the excitement, we raffled off ALL 57 of our new patterns to a quilt shop.  The winner of the patterns was Rachael’s Fine Fabrics & Quilting in Lubbock, Texas.     Congratulations!  Let us know when you have them all stitched up!

But enough of that…what was hot and what was not?  As far as QuiltWoman.com goes, our new patterns Hopscotch and Minnie Pinstripes sold out!  Also getting a lot of attention were our Seasonal Placemats and all of our 4-in-1 patterns.  The Seamingly Accurate was selling like hot cakes and has been picked up by a number of national distributors.  Jen, the brains behind Seamingly Accurate, was dancing in the aisles!

Barb, Nancy, Vicki and Mark Lipinski

We didn’t just live in our booth however.  We took time to peruse the booths of other vendors.  We saw the awesome new AccuQuilt GO! (more on that here).  The newest Moda fabrics were HOT, especially at Sample Spree where the fabric was cheap, cheap, cheap!   In addition, any patterns that lent themselves to kitting or charm squares were also very popular.

A hot trend we picked up on is embellishments.  Anything you could sew through and wash was being applied to quilts and apparel.  Hillcreek Designs‘ buttons were great.  Beads, threads, yarns, ribbons, leather and fabric scraps were also showing up.  There was a lot of couching going on too (if you are thinking sofas when you read “couching”, visit here to see what we are talking about).

Creative apparel was getting some attention.  We saw some incredible jackets by Londa’s Creative Threads.  The Junk Jeans People were using old jeans to make jackets.  They had some very unusual techniques involving a drill and bleach.  Bags and totes were hot too.  Much more info on these will be forthcoming in future blogs.

Finally, we have to name drop.  We had dinner one night with Mark Lipinski of Quilter’s Home.  Yes, he is as entertaining in person as he is in his magazine.  We got a personal tour of Judy Murrah’s sewing room (she’s the author of the Jacket Jazz series).  And we had access to Marie Osmond, Ricky Tims, and Nancy Zieman.

Vicki & Marie Osmond

So Quilt Market is over and this is being written while sitting in the airport waiting to fly home.  We made a lot of new friends, including a good number from New Zealand and Australia.  We have a lot of new ideas brewing.  Our designers’ heads are spinning with all the new ideas they have.  Quilt Market is going to result in a lot of new patterns and products for you!

Grant, Barb, Nancy, Vicki & Corinne

I received this in my e-mail the other day…

“MODA will be introducing another New Pre-Cut at Quilt Market this Fall. They are called ‘Turnovers’.”

Turnovers! What next? I figured it was time to open a bakery OR get myself (and all you) up-to-date on all the products on the market meant to make our quilting lives easier. And maybe I can find out why they all seemed to be named after pastries.

Jelly Roll

Jelly Rolls

It all started with Jelly Rolls…I think. At least that was my first encounter with fabric named after a baked item. I tripped over them while visiting my local quilt shop last year. Interesting, I thought. But what do you do with Jelly Roll? I have no trouble with the real thing, but might have trouble chewing a fabric jelly roll.

Jelly Patch (uses Jelly Rolls)

Well, it turns out a Jelly Roll is a roll of pre-cut, matched fabrics, 2 1/2″ in width and 44″ long. You can find them from a variety of sources. I wasn’t really sure what they were, but then I started seeing patterns that use them, such as Jelly Patch. Hey! Someone was doing all the work for me! Well, some of the work anyway.

By the way, click on any of the images to see a large version of it!

Nickel Squares

Charm Pack

Next I started hearing about Nickel Squares.  Ok, maybe that doesn’t fit the food theme. But I was hearing about them none-the-less!

Accent on Charms (uses Nickel Squares)

Nickel Squares are pre-cut 5″ squares of fabric.  QuiltWoman.com carries a number of patterns for Nickel Squares (also sometimes called 5″ Charm Packs). Accent on Charms is just one example.

Layer Cakes

Hopscotch (uses Layer Cakes)

But it doesn’t end there. In the QuiltWoman offices I heard mention of a new pattern that uses Layer Cakes. Now this is really getting out of hand. Of course, I had to check it out and discovered Layer Cakes are 10″ squares…sort of Nickel Squares on steroids. Betty’s has a gorgeous new pattern designed by LOBO that uses Layer Cakes, called Hopscotch.

Sweet Rolls

Destiny (uses Sweet Rolls)

In the process of writing this blog, I found another pastry, I mean type of pre-cut fabric.  Anyone want a sweet roll? These are 5 1/2″ or 6″ wide strips that are 44″ long. (Wondering to self here…why haven’t manufacturers standardized on these widths?) I found this brand new pattern in called Destiny. It’s designed by one of our own designers, Barb Sackel!

Turnovers

Turnovers

And this all leads us back to the Turnovers that inspired this blog entry. Turnovers are 6″ pre-cut squares cut in half diagonally to give you half square triangles. These turnovers are “fresh out of the oven”, so I haven’t seen any patterns using them yet. Give it a week or so! I’m betting we find some patterns that use them at Quilt Market!

Cooking Lesson is over

So that concludes our cooking, I mean quilting lesson for today. I still have no clue why most of this pre-cut fabric is named after pastries, but does it matter? I’m just thrilled to have someone doing some of the cutting for me! If you are short of time (like most of us these days), pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down and check out QuiltWoman.com’s selection of patterns for pre-cut fabrics. We just might be able to save you some time. And I’m sure we can point you in the direction of a real bakery if our sweets can’t satisfy your craving!

QuiltWoman.com will be at the International Quilt Market in Houston, October 25-27. For those who don’t know, Quilt Market is the largest quilting  trade show in the country. That means it’s not open to the general public.  But if you are one of our retail customers, don’t fret. By QuiltWoman.com going to Quilt Market, we are able to bring you, the customer, the latest designs and ideas.

For those who are attending Quilt Market, where do you find us? We will be in Booths 811, 813, 815 and 817. That’s right, we have so much to show you, including tons of new patterns, we need four booths to hold it all. Also with us will be Barb Sackel, one of our newest and most talented designers.

Seamingly Accurate^TM
We are thrilled to have attending the show with us Jen Eskridge of ReannaLily Designs. Jen is the creator of the Seamingly Accurate^TM Seam Guide. She’ll be doing demos of the Seamingly Accurate^TM during the entire show. During the show, buy 12 Seamingly Accurates^TM and get one free for your store to demo.  Until the show, you can see the Seamingly Accurate in action in a video in this blog post.

Special on Patterns
While at the show, pick any 10 patterns and receive a special wholesale price.

See you there!
The staff of QuiltWoman.com is looking forward to seeing everyone at Quilt Market. It’s a lot of fun for all of us, and we truly enjoy the opportunity to meet those we do business with. Stop by, say “Hi” and give us a chance to chat with you. See you there!

QuiltWoman.com is very excited to introduce the Seamingly Accurate™ Seam Guide.  Tired of having inaccurate seams? Is your sewing machine covered in masking tape for your wider hemming and sewing needs? Wish you had a REAL guide beyond the metal throat plate? Do you have a metric machine and need an “inches” guide for your new patterns?

Get it here!

Distributed exclusively by QuiltWoman.com, Seamingly Accurate™ is a new product allowing you to sew hems, apply trims, quickly make half-square-triangles and more without permanently altering your sewing machine! This product has been designed by Jen Eskridge, owner and founder of ReannaLily Designs. She found, in her commissioned sewing endeavors, that she really needed more sewing guide lines. It occurred to her that you might also.

Sample Uses

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To Use:

Click PLAY to watch this 3 minute Installation movie:

1. Peel off the backing of Seamingly Accurate™ to expose the repositionable adhesive.

2. Apply Seamingly Accurate™ to your sewing machine over and around the throat plate, lining up the black “needle line” of Seamingly Accurate™ with your needle as shown. Use any straight lines on your machine such as the edge of the throat plate to help you line up your Seamingly Accurate™ straight on your machine. Use a ruler to help you. Remember that you can remove and reposition it many times if needed. If you have an accessory case that opens or a removable table, or free-arm bed, make a cut in the Seamingly Accurate™ so you can open your accessory case or remove your arm or table without removing Seamingly Accurate™. You can position Seamingly Accurate™ any way you like.

3. Using a craft knife, cut around your metal throat plate and bobbin case. Remove this piece of paper, or you can mark where you want to cut with a pencil , remove Seamingly Accurate™ from your machine, cut with scissors, and reposition Seamingly Accurate™ on the machine. If you have an accessory case that opens or a removable table, or free-arm bed, make a cut in the Seamingly Accurate™ so you can open your accessory case or remove your arm or table without removing Seamingly Accurate™.

4. Now your guide is fitted to your sewing machine and can be easily used and reinstalled on many occasions.

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Your throat plate position will vary depending on your sewing machine brand. ReannaLily Designs recommends removing that portion, in case you need access to that pesky bobbin case during your sewing afternoon.

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Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Half Square Triangles (HST)!

A.B.C.

A. Position your Seamingly Accurate™ paper guide by laying the Needle Line in line with your needle. Secure your paper Seamingly Accurate™ in place with clear tape. As you sew, make sure that the corner point is lined up with the Dotted ¼” line. This will keep your diagonal center line ¼” from your stitching line the entire time.

B. Sew down the left side, using the Seamingly Accurate™ as your guide. Flip the square unit and sew along the right side, still continue to use the guide, giving you a square that looks like the one pictured.

C. Cut the two halves apart along the imaginary centerline, between the two stitching lines. Press the new HST open. It should measure 3.5” square.

Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Triangles and Continuous Binding!

When making continuous binding strips, you can cut many 2.5″ strips of fabric and join them with a 45* seam. This is method eliminates bulk when hand sewing or machine stitching the binding in place.

The 45* angle is also a very popular angle in quilt triangle construction. To join a two pieces of fabric with a 45* cut, the quilter needs to off-set the angles and Seamingly Accurate™ can help! The off-set should line up with the needle stitching line. {see the photo below}

Seamingly Accurate™ is excellent for making Wide Hems!

Need a 3″ hem on the bottom of your new drapery or garment? Try Seamingly Accurate™. Depending on your sewing machine’s area under the sewing machine “head” you can make perfect hems up to 5.5″ wide.

Many of ReannaLily Designs’ Patterns use Seamingly Accurate™ to help sew faster and more accurately.

We’d like to introduce you to one of our talented designers. Meet Barb Sackel!.

Barb has been designing quilts for 10 years but decided to take her designs to the public one year ago. To date she has 14 patterns on the market with another 11 coming out for the Quilt Market Trade Show being held in Houston in October. One of her best loved designs is Batik Diamonds, now available not only as a pattern but also in a kit format here at QuiltWoman.com

As part of Barb’s association with Betty’s Quilting etc., Barb helps to make the store samples and assists in making the kits that are now becoming so popular. She also teaches classes at Betty’s. You can see the list of upcoming classes on the Betty’s classes website. If you live in Western New York, be sure to check them out!

If you would like to meet Barb, she is a featured speaker at the Shop Hop at Betty’s Quilting Etc. on October 2 - 4. She will be hosting the following demos:

• AccuCut Die Cutting System - Barb has designed 4 new quilt patterns using this system. The new patterns will be available for early release to you exclusively at Betty’s. They will be available to the general public at QuiltWoman.com in late October.
• Quilt Finishing - Learn Various ways to finish off quilt tops including tying, pin and hand basting, stitch in the ditch machine quilting, crazy grid machine quilting, pillowcase binding, and traditional binding.

Of course all of Barb’s patterns and kits can be found at QuiltWoman.com.

We wish her great success in her future endeavors. Take a look at some of her other quilts below, and see the rest on her feature page at QuiltWoman.com.