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Showing posts from July, 2020

Benartex Christmas in July Blog Hop

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I'm so excited!  Today is my day on the Benartex Christmas in July Blog Hop!! Jim Shore has long been a staple of Christmas decorating and I wanted to show this fabric line off to its fullest.  I chose my Nearly There Cutie Pattern because its large pieces showcase the prints. For the folks who are new to my blog/website, a Cutie Pattern always uses 16 fat eighths plus extras (borders, background, etc.).  A Cutie Pack  (16 fat eighths) is an economical way to buy fabric and and Cutie Patterns are written to minimize fabric waste. Here is the fabric that was left from making this quilt: Even though Cutie Quilts are great for beginner/frugal quilters who want to minimize their cash outlay, they are also great for long-time quilters (like me!) who are drowning in scraps.  Cutie Quilts don't add much to my scrap piles.  Phew! I love designing quilts, but I also love to machine quilt them! When I baste a quilt, I know that the next step is a day or two

It's Christmas in July with Odif!

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Since I am the undisputed "Biggest Fan of 505 Basting Spray ," I'm happy to be an Odif Ambassador.  Today we would like to share our ideas for using Odif to celebrate Christmas in July! I decided to play with Odif Coating Sprays. I am exclusively a traditional quilter.  I make design and make traditional quilt patterns and I machine quilt them.  I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about paints.  So, in the spirit of 2020, I homeschooled myself. I hung white fabric on cardboard and started spraying: I was expecting a graffiti look to the paints, but the red, green and gold were very subtle on white.  I tried again on some black fabric: Neither gave me the look I was expecting. It wasn't WRONG, it was just UNEXPECTED. So, throwing away my idea of what these paints would look like on fabric, I spied a gorgeous piece of Stag & Thistle fabric in my scrap pile.  I wonder what would happen if I highlighted the nests by spraying them white and then sp

Frolicking in the Forest!

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Since we are rounding the corner on 100*F here in NY and I don't have central air conditioning, I am hiding in my sewing room where I have a small floor cooling unit until the heat breaks.  Or until I run out of fabric. I plunked myself down at my handy-dandy Handi Quilter Stitch 710 sewing machine and started quilting my Forest Frolic Go with the Flow Cutie Quilt : Are you Feeling the Feathers on this Forest Frolic Formulation?  (Buckle up, I have more.) This quilt is quilted with all white thread, Konfetti 100 (50 weight cotton) in the needle and DecoBob 104 (80 weight polyester) in the bobbin. I use both of those threads often, so I'm replacing my spools with cones. This Fabulously Fashionable Free-motion Feathered Forest Frolic Formulation has Fossil Fern Fabric on the Flip-side.  (Ok, now I'm done.) Care to see the front of the quilt? I'm currently in the middle of a releasing a ten-week First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting

Benartex Christmas In July Blog Hop! -- Get Ready!

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It is the middle of July … the sun is shining and flowers are blooming, so it is the perfect time to start thinking about Christmas! Join Benartex, Kanvas and Contempo fabrics and 11 talented pattern designers for a Christmas in July Project Hop from July 20 th  through the 31 st . Each day will bring an amazing new project and fabric collection feature – all the fabrics are in stores now so you can get started on your projects right away and beat the holiday rush! Hang your stockings, play your favorite Christmas carols, make yourself a mug of frozen hot chocolate and enjoy! My project will feature one of my Cutie Patterns as well as a seasonal free-motion quilting video! Follow along with these designers to get into the holiday spirit! Monday July 20 th  – Nancy Scott, Winterberry  https://masterpiecequilting. blogspot.com Tuesday July 21 st  – Heidi Pridemore, Rejoice  https://heidipridemore. blogspot.com/2020/07/benartex- christmas-in-july-project-hop. html Wednesd

Quilting Essentials: First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting

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Today is the official launch of my 10-week free-motion machine class!  I think I need to celebrate with a cake!!! The class is available HERE . Since 2020 is the "Ipecac Syrup" of party drinks and folks are struggling, I wanted to find a way to offer this course for free. I found a way on my class platform (Darn it, Jim, I'm a quilter, not a techie!) to offer each lesson free for a week. Here are the instructions you find when you click the " how this class works " link: If you plan to watch the class for free, use the " how this class works " link.  If you want to purchase the class for on-demand access, click  HERE . One thing about watching on mobile devices -- click the button above the header to get to the list of Lessons I'm so proud of you for taking the plunge into machine quilting!  I hope that the tech-stuff doesn't add any stress.  I'm making these courses because I'm home during the virus, and since I&