08.30.09 | More Quiltie Goodies 2009

These are more of the quiltie things that I love.

Websites
You know those companies who supply us with our yummy quilting fabric? Well, they have some terrific websites, and many of those websites have lots of free quilt patterns. Some of my faves are
Benartex http://www.benartex.com/projects/index.php
P&B Textiles  http://www.pbtex.com/html/free_patterns.html
Marcus Brothers  http://www.marcusbrothers.com/makeit/index.html

Misty Fuse
I adore appliqué. I love its variety: it can be traditional, elegant, romantic, whimsical, funky, and/or contemporary. However, I must admit that I am just not very good at doing appliqué. I need to do more of it. This product is helping me to do that.

MistyFuse is a fusible web with a difference. It is as thin and light as a butterfly’s wing. It is hard to tell that a project has been fused with it. It makes me look like a better appliqué artist than I really am. And that’s golden because I need all the help I can get!

3 in 1 Color Tool
This is an awesome idea. The color wheel can be daunting, but Joen Wolfrom has made it understandable at last. In a small 2 inch by 8 inch space, you get three invaluable color tools. The color guide has swatches of color (think paint chips) along with a color wheel, and a guide to color schemes.

She clearly explains five basic plans and shows how to use them. She also includes a red and a green value finder. If you are trying to decide if a lovely fabric will fit in your quilt as a dark value, these will really help.  And last in this tiny tricky toolkit, are 2 fabric preview windows, little cutout circle, square and triangle for viewing swatches of fabric. We so often tend to look at a bolt, which is silly because we are looking to see how that fabric will look when cut into a 3” triangle. Her fabric preview windows really help with that!
http://softexpressions.com/software/books/wolfr.htm#3

"Draft N' Cut" 2" x 18" ruler by EZ Quilting is absolutely terrific for cutting up stash into 2” strips. Fast! Easy!

I love making scrappy quilts.  My last quilt, the Pineapple Blossom in bright cheddar orange and reproduction prints, has more than 250 different fabrics in it. It's shown in the Gallery under Custom designs. You can't miss it-- look for the cheddar!

I think it’s interesting to put loads of different fabrics in scrappy quilts, but it’s so time-consuming to have to pull out every drawer of fabric and cut a smidge of every fat quarter that you own, just to make a really awesome varied scrap quilt.
So I like having lots of strips already cut and on hand.  It’s easy to grab a few bags of scraps when that sewing urge strikes me, and just get going and get sewing!

I always cut a few extra strips when I am making a quilt. Those extra strips get stored by size in bags, and the bags go in a big basket on the workroom shelf. I separate the strips by size into dark and light, and into reproduction and novelty fabrics. It really depends on how small you like to sew. I have bags of 3”, 2 ½”, 2” and 1 ½” strips, and they all get used, but I find the 2” strips get used a lot!

It sure cuts down on the hours of cutting that can slow you down in the beginning of a scrap quilt project.  This method is proposed by Bonnie Hunter on her website, www. Quiltville.com.  I have made many of her patterns and they are all scrappy, fun and fabulous.

And last but not least…
How about a gift certificate to North Star Quality Quilting? Please inquire. This is a great gift for now and for the future!

More News:

01.14.10 | Quilting for Haitian Relief

08.30.09 | More Quiltie Goodies 2009

08.29.09 | Newsflash October 2009

01.01.08 | Quiltie Goodies

LEARN MORE ABOUT DONNA

Donna Laing is a quiltmaker who enjoys both traditional and contemporary quilting. She has been quilting for over 35 years and made more than 100 quilts before she stopped counting. She is the owner of North Star Quality Quilting, a professional longarm service in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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