Just Do It!
There’s a quilt I’ve got to start. And soon! My parents’ 60th wedding anniversary is in November. For their 50th, I started more than year in advance and made an elaborate, hand-quilted labor of love. That was then, this is now. I have a mere five months left and here’s what I’ve gotten accomplished so far.
And Dad, if you google me some rainy afternoon and find your way here, don’t tell Mom.
June 15, 2009 2 Comments
Head of the Class!
When we editors see a quilt made from a pattern we published hanging in a quilt show, we get a little giddy. Remember in elementary school, when the teacher chose YOUR poem to read at parents’ night, or chose YOUR drawing to hang in the school art show, or chose YOUR science fair experiment to use as an example of how to do it right? It’s a lot like that. We publish patterns that we hope you, our readers, will like. But when you like them enough to commit them to fabric and enter them in a show, we know we’ve scored a hit.
Quilter extraordinaire Matt Sparrow (check him out at manquilter.com) just attended the Edmonton and District Quilters Guild’s show in Alberta, Canada, and posted 60 quilt photos on Facebook. I was clicking through them, killing time on a Sunday afternoon, when I came across this one. I don’t know who made it (if it was you, I’d love to hear from you!), but I do know that it was the result of a very special collaboration involving Quilters Newsletter, Moda Fabrics, Barbara Brackman, and the Alliance for American Quilts. The pattern is available in our November 2008 issue. Moda produced thousands of kits and generously donated the proceeds to the AAQ (allianceforamericanquilts.org).
We at QN love to put our heads together with other industry leaders and are hard at work on a second collaboration with Moda and Barbara Brackman. Keep an eye out for the next fabulous repro pattern in what we hope will become a very successful series. It’s coming in our October/November issue!
June 14, 2009 2 Comments
Visit to the QN Offices
Quilters Newsletter recently had a visit from Mickey Depre, quilt artist, teacher, lecturer, and author. She and three friends came to view the Dynamic Duos quilt exhibit hanging in our gallery, and I was fortunate to be able to give them a behind-the-scenes tour of our office. An inside look to where the “magic happens”! I was also able to snap a photo of them in front of our First Four Hundred poster (Mickey is far right). I love to play tour guide and I hope they had as much fun as I did.
June 11, 2009 No Comments
Forecast at 5 pm
Yesterday it was “clearing, with brilliant color.” This lovely sight greeted Quilters Newsletter staff as we left the office for the evening. What you can’t see is that this rainbow is really 4 rainbows fading top to bottom. And there is another one above it (and out of the picture). An energizing conclusion to a busy day at work. After suffering from a couple of weeks in which severe weather has been a daily occurrence, this was a delight. Tornadoes aren’t exactly rare around here, but their frequency lately is unusual. Just last Sunday five funnel clouds were spotted along the Colorado Front Range. Thanks, Mother Nature, it’s good to see your softer side!
June 11, 2009 1 Comment
QN’s Sewing Studio
Quilters Newsletter straightened up our sewing studio last week. It is usually in a state of creative chaos, but was getting a bit out of control. I’m sure you can relate. I am always fascinated by other people’s creative spaces, so I thought I would share some photos of ours while it is still relatively ship-shape.
The studio is dedicated to QN’s founder, Bonnie Leman. 
A view of our two sewing machine stations and cutting table with fabric storage underneath. Threads and various notions hang on the back wall. The shelving above holds larger items such as batting, quilts that belong to QN, machine carrying cases, etc.
A closer shot of our notions wall and wicker storage shelves for all the sample header cards of new fabric the fabric companies are kind enough to send us. Large windows provide great light and a fabulous view of the parking lot.
More storage for the QN stash which is currently sorted by color.
Our design wall with our latest group project, and on the left, ribbons that are given to QN each year for QN’s sponsorship of the Traditional Applique category at the World of Beauty quilt contest at International Quilt Festival/Houston.
June 11, 2009 2 Comments
Why Quilters Should Not Wear White
OK. So I was getting ready for work this morning and decided to actually iron a nice white shirt. When it comes to clothes, I’m a wash-and-wear kind of gal, so this was a relatively rare occurrence. I turn my iron on to press cotton that I’m about to cut up for a quilt, but not to do much else.
So there I am, all proud of myself for ironing a shirt, just the way Mom taught me, when I realize the seams are collecting gooey little flecks of something black. I hold the iron up and duck down to look up at the sole plate–scorched fusible web stuck all over the heel. Oh, yeah. Last time I used the iron, I was fusing something and went off the corner of the pressing sheet a little.
But the icky, gummed up seam is under my arm. No harm done, I think, picking at it half-heartedly with my thumbnail. No one will see it. I finish ironing the shirt, careful to use just the tip of the iron. Which probably took twice as long as it would have to turn the iron off, let it cool, clean it up, and start over. But whatever.
Now, my ironing board cover is starched stiff, probably a lot like yours, if you’re enrolled in the same “starch those fat quarters ’til you can shuffle them like a deck of cards” school of patchwork that I am. So every time I reposition the shirt, I have to peel it off the ironing board like a Band-Aid off a scraped knee. FFFWWWT. FFFWWWT. FFFWWWT.
When I arrive at the office, my friend Lisa points at me and says, “Thread.” I look down. My white shirt sports about a dozen midnight blue threads, detritus from the baby quilt I was working on last night, neatly peeled away from my ironing board and now stuck like glue to my starched white blouse. “Great,” I say as I start picking.
I haven’t even made it to my desk when another staffer points at the back of my sleeve and says, “What’s that?” I tuck my chin over my shoulder and pull the sleeve around to get a better look. A faint green blob, about the size of the palm of my hand, reaches up and slaps me in the face. Where did that come from? Ah. I remember. Last weekend’s painting-on-fabric experiment didn’t quite get cleaned up all the way, and my ironing board is, apparently, too close to my work table.
Sigh. Tomorrow, I’m back to tee-shirts.
June 9, 2009 6 Comments
Congratulations to the new iPod owners
Congratulations to three very lucky ladies: Vicki Damon, Kristen Webb, and Tany Berg! They are the winners of these colorful iPods offered in a random drawing as thanks for participating in the QN reader survey. This grouping of colors really appeals to me. I think they would make a great start for a quilt. But my taste in color runs toward the bright and unusual. I hope they enjoy their iPods as much as I do mine (which is orange). Quilters can be funny. When I was deciding which iPod to buy, I was tempted to get the iPod Touch, which would hold lots more songs and video than the nano. But guess what the deciding factor was? Color! The choices were too delicious to pass up, and how many hours of video do I need to carry with me at any one time anyway?
Vicki, Kristen, and Tanya also received an array of DVDs from our co-sponsors: season 1 of The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson and instructional quilting videos from the accomplished quilters/authors published by Martingale & Company and C&T Publishing. Thanks again to all of you who let us know what you think about QN and quilting in general.
Vicki Damon
Kristen Webb
Tanya Berg
June 5, 2009 1 Comment
Quilt-related license plates
After seeing a great quilt-related license plate on our way to lunch today, the QN staff is wondering if any of you have or have seen quilt-related license plates. Click over to our message board and join the conversation.
June 5, 2009 1 Comment
Quilters: On Stage
Last night I attended the play Quilters at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Wonderful!
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
This particular performance was a benefit performance for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, which organized a quilt exhibit to hang in the lobby for the duration of the run, till July 12. 
This play debuted in Denver in 1982, but this was my first time seeing it. It surprised me. It moved me. That it is a musical was a surprise; it doesn’t fit the typical idea of a Broadway musical. No mighty choruses, but exquisite singing. Sparse set, but was everything it needed to be. And it was less about quilts than just about women. Women’s lives. The quilts were a vehicle to tie it all together. The audience was overwhelmingly women and I would guess overwhelmingly women quilt. But one does not have to be a quilter to appreciate the story of the friendships and hardships, the happy times and tragic times, that pioneer women faced. That’s what moved me.
See it if you can.
May 29, 2009 No Comments
Old Favorites added to web site
I just wanted to touch base and let everyone know that we recently added two old favorite patterns to the web site-Rachel’s Star from the December 2000 issue and Lights in the Window from the December 1995 issue which has never been available on the web site before. Enjoy!
Rachel's Star
Lights in the Window
May 29, 2009 No Comments
