Quilting

With your help, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine has reached the halfway point of the One Million Pillowcase Challenge! More than 500,000 pillowcases have been created and donated to local charities since the challenge’s inception in 2010.“We are halfway to our goal and couldn’t be more thrilled!” says Jennifer Keltner, executiveeditor of American Patchwork & Quilting. “Thanks a half million to everyone that has helped usreach this milestone. Because of the generosity of quilters and sewers around the nation, 500,000people in need have received a pillowcase to give them hope, encouragement, or comfort. But westill have more work to do. We’re not stopping until we reach our goal of one millionpillowcases!”To find out how you can help, visit AllPeopleQuilt.com/millionpillowcases.

WANTED: Your quilts for this week’s Quilters’ Show & Tell. The theme is Embroidery/Stitchery. Your embroidery/stitchery can be done by hand or by machine and should be the focus of the quilt you submit. Unfinished quilts are welcome too. Please don’t submit a quilt you’ve already entered in the past… let’s see something different! Read the Guidelines and submit your photo before Friday, June 21st, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. (EDT). Sponsors To sponsor a weekly Quilters’ Show and Tell event, please send me an email and I’ll send you the information package. Check available dates here. Sponsors are featured on the voting post published on Friday. Winner: Quilts for Guys Thanks to everyone that entered and voted for last week’s Quilts for Guys event. Guest Judge Jenny from Jenny H. Quilts was our guest judge and she awarded her bonus points as follows: 40 points – Bill’s San Salvador – 40 + 67 = 107 points 20 points – Blue Bayou – 20 + 79 = 99 points 20 points – Mouse – 20 + 22 = 42 points 20 points – Bluenose – 20 + 76 = 96 points Winner The winning quilt is Gone Golfing, Back Maybe by Marelize which received 118 community votes. She won a fat eighth bundle of my hand dyed fabrics. Quilters’ Show & Tell Links Rules and Guidelines Submit your photo 2013 Themes, Winners & Sponsors Guest Judges

Every now and then a little something will float in and out through my brain. My kids will tell you that's a scary place to be. I love my children. Anyway, I was invited to a birthday party for a one year-old last year and needed a present. I'm all about making gifts for children, if at all possible. I love the idea of a child carrying a gift through their childhood- something special and unique not something you would find on a store shelf- instead of tossing it in the back of the closet. Thus, Patty Cat was born. If you happened upon my sewing studio whilst I'm creating, you would cringe. And, probably agree with my children! I don't draw patterns, I cut them out with scissors and old file folders. And I don't start with a sketch, instead it's more of a picture in my head. Which can be tricky, because of that floating in and out thing. But, in the end, I am usually pleased with the result. A little tweaking here and there and I end up with something that resembles what I was seeing with my mind's eye. Sometimes, it's even better than I expected. I feel that way about Patty Cat. And, so, when I saw that The Swirly Girls were holding a Show Us Your Poppy Love Challenge, I knew my little kitty needed to be a part of it!We carry the Vintage version of Poppy Love at the shop. It happens to be my favorite. I had been buying up little pieces of it here and there, so I just needed to add the fabrics for the Poppy Love Patchy Picnic quilt. Off to the sewing studio...............I love making this cat with her spindly arms and legs and saucer eyes surrounded by fluttery lashes. Working with beautiful fabrics makes the process all the more enjoyable. I got her made, whipped up the quilt and sat her upon a wicker basket on the side porch of my house. I borrowed some of my mother's miniature ironstone tea set and Patty Cat was ready for her picnic. Snapping a photo, I sent it in and waited. And guess what? *********She won! Patty Cat and her Poppy Love Patchy Picnic quilt won in the small project category! Isn't that amazing? I am so thrilled and grateful. While you are visiting The Swirly Girls' blog, take a peek at the other winners. Seriously, the quilt is gorgeous and the little dresses are amazing! (A little side note- whenever I write the word gorgeous, I hear it in Haley Mills' voice in Pollyanna when Nancy shows her her engagement ring as the doctor carries Pollyanna to the car. Don't judge.)Thank you, Susan and Christine, for loving Patty Cat. She loves you back.

Okay folks – I know I was talking about doing Quilt-Cam tonight – but I’ve got company coming! My friend Tonya Ricucci of LazyGalQuilting is on her way up from Augusta Georgia where she has been visiting Siobhan of Scraps & Threadtales… And she’s going to come stay a couple days! And as much as I hate to do it…I’m recanting Quilt-Cam tonight – in order to spend time with my friend. We may

...gotta love a good read.or, in my case,gotta love the books filled with inspirational photographs of early needlework from the collection ofBetty Ring.... while living in CT, where I grew up,I was fortunate to find the set of books from a dealer.the set cost me a mere 30.00and by today's standards that was a bargain.... I was doing some research on Betty Ring's collection, and found out that these books are now appraised at over 200.00 each!a pleasant suprise for sure :) I stitched this sampler below, back in 1997 using inspiration from these books: how things have changed!...do any of you have these books?? Lori from Notforgotten Farm

You rug hookers out there wanted rug hooking kits and we listened. Well, Polly listened and we have added more to our store.........You can find them HERE Remember when I told you about the hole in front of my house yesterday? It's a big hole. Notice the guy at the top and the ladder - for scale. My fear is that they will find some ancient artifact, or human remains and then the whole thing will be surrounded by yellow tape and people with clipboards and microphones will arrive and the hole will NEVER be filled in again and I would need a gondola to get from my house to the other side of the street. Seriously, if you are a Michigander - you know that one of the favorite local summer games is to claim to know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. Every summer, somewhere here in the mitten state, a "dig" goes on for Mr. Hoffa. It happened earlier this week not very far from here. Everyone with a shovel is a suspect. I am happy to inform you all that so far - Jimmy has not appeared here on Miller Avenue. But, if they keep digging - who knows.Laurie

I finished chain piecing parts of my blocks yesterday. It looks like a big mess at this point. I am trying to catch up for the next step in Doreen's jelly roll sew along! Not having electricity put me behind. I hope to get the blocks put together today. Lots of pressing first!With Passion,Carrie P.

Some of the Heritage Quilters participated in a Workshop on a new form of doodling called ZenTangle… Have you heard of it? Well…neither had I!!  Zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images that are unplanned, abstract, black and white art.  The ladies in the workshop created square paper tiles that were exquisitely beautiful and were one of a kind art pieces worthy of framing! Have a look for yourself!… Beautiful, aren’t they?!  This was what they produced in the morning.  After lunch they were going to apply their newly acquired skills to quilting! Check out these sample quilts!  WOW!    A work of Art to say the least! And when you get REALLY ambitious, doodle a zen-sational umbrella! The good news is..you don’t HAVE to take a class!  You can buy this book…. …OR…just  ‘Google’ ZenTangle and you will get unlimited info on how to Zen Doodle!  There are free videos and there is even a ZenTangle Blog!  So fill your boots…in fact you might even want to ZenTangle them!!  Go ahead and make a fashion statement!:o)) Have a Zen-sational day and thanks stopping by!~P

I’m not sure if I posted this before… Our last big meal together was held on the top floor of the Europa hotel. It’s a beautiful hotel – I couldn’t believe how lucky were were for the entirety of our trip with the hotels we stayed in. Okay, so the first one in Galway was a bit rambunctious with the pub being right below my window, and then there was that wedding party that went past 2:30am –

Each Wednesday, a new Quilters’ Coupon will be available here from one of our favourite online retailers. This week, it’s all about the free stuff you can find at Craftsy. Enjoy! Free Online Quilting Class: Creative Quilt Backs I’ve watched this class and it is fantastic. Make the back of your quilt as pretty and interesting as the front with easy ideas from this free class by renowned quilter Elizabeth Hartman. What you’ll learn: Simple calculations for planning your quilt back and determining fabric quantities Piecing together large-scale prints for dramatic effect Using a pieced strip to break up negative space Floating a block with the help of a scaled drawing Using your design wall to build a patchwork back with scraps from your stash Register for this free class here! Free Quilting Patterns Also, don’t miss the Free Quilting Patterns at Craftsy too. Advertisers: Contact me for an information package.