Karen Says Sew

Complaint Department

2012-01-27T08:47:00.007-05:00

As a shop owner/designer/publisher I am required to wear many different hats. In the Customer Service area alone I deal with questions, comments and of course complaints. Nobody is perfect, and I am not using that as an excuse, just a simple statement of fact. Every now and then, no matter how hard we try, we screw up.

The mistakes that the staff and I might make in the store are easy to fix. They are mostly made one-on-one with a single customer. Publishing mistakes are a MUCH bigger issue! I write instructions, do my own sample sewing, have others proof read and often the published patterns have been distributed to my shop clubs where dozens of people have used them before they go to print. Still, every now and then you get that call that starts "Did you know that there is a mistake in ......" and panic mode sets in! OMG! If it really is a mistake (and not a confused customer) correcting it can be overwhelming. I immediately begin the process of contacting vendors, consumers, other shops, posting corrections on the website, mailing corrected copies...... a nightmare.

At the other end of the customer complain spectrum are letters like this one. Hand scrawled hate mail from someone so frustrated with one of my patterns that they took the time to pen me a detailed letter about what a miserable human being I am for writing such horrendously bad instructions. These make me smile.

I know that on first impression the fact that I find this humorous doesn't seem very customer service oriented, but inevitably these letters are written by people that are their own worst enemy. The letter featured here was received last week and has detailed issues with our Easy Stripped Table Runner pattern. Really? I have been publishing that pattern in one form or another since the mid 1980's. We sell an average of 1000 copies a month and it has been on the best seller list for the last several years. More than a handful of people have had success using the step-by-step illustrated instructions that are included in the pattern that has only FIVE seams. There is a very good chance that in this particular instance, it isn't me with the problem.

Now I am faced with the issue of how to respond.

The author of this particular letter begins by telling me that she has been sewing for 49 years, quilting for 5, has a doctorate degree and is not stupid. She goes on to explain that it took her "hours to engineer a 60 degree triangle for the runner".

Dear Not Stupid in California,
I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with our Easy Striped Table Runner pattern. Please keep in mind that the materials list for a quilting project is much like the list of ingredients for a recipe. On the back of the Easy Striped Table Runner pattern you will find a list of materials necessary to make the project. Clearly listed between "thread for assembly and machine quilting" and "basic sewing supplies" is "Creative Grids 60 Degree triangle ruler" an important ingredient for the success of your project. This is the same ruler that is shown in the step-by-step photographs that accompany the written instructions. Attempting to make the project without the proper tools is akin to preparing beef stew without purchasing beef.

..... um... too snarky?

Ms. California also goes on to take issue with my use of the word "equilateral" in reference to the type of triangle needed for this project. She points out that the word equilateral means "all three sides need to be the same"...... uh, I agree? According to her drafting experience "You cannot make a 60 degree triangle that is equal for the 8 1/2 inch strip".

Dear Ms. California,

As a resident of the state of Pennsylvania I am unaware of any laws in the state of California that prohibit the use of 8 1/2 inch increments in basic geometry. To complete the Easy Striped Table Runner project I suggest that you purchase the required ruler from your local quilt shop. If sales of the 8 1/2 inch size are somehow prohibited in your state, the ruler is also available in a 12 1/2 inch size a well. You can also order the ruler directly from our website. We are willing to ship rulers across state lines at any time.

...bad idea. Ms. California probably isn't the type to appreciate my sense of humor.

And my favorite part of the letter: "My God, you charge $10 for this pattern"! Which is signed with her name, followed by "Esq." - meaning she is an attorney.

Dear Esq.
I am deeply troubled by your dissatisfaction with our Easy Striped Table Runner pattern. In an attempt to rectify the situation I would like to refund my profit from your purchase. Unfortunately I do not sell the pattern for $10. I retail it for $8.50 both in our store and on our website. Your purchase was made from another shop that ordered wholesale through a distributor and established their own retail in our free enterprise system. Our wholesale cost is $4.25 - 30% for the distributor or $2.97. Subtract from that the cost of the bag, color printing, paper, employee payroll to fold and ship the pattern and we are left with .86 cents. Would you like that in the form of a check or shall I make a charitable donation in your name?

....nope. She probably wouldn't like that either.

Customer Service experts will tell you that one disgruntled customer is like one bad apple. They can spread rot and ruin your entire reputation that you have worked so hard to build. I spend a portion of every day, and I do mean every day - 7 days a week, talking to customers via email and phone, helping them understand techniques, find old issues of free patterns or pages they have lost. I've talked many a customer through enlarging or reducing a project or helped them to understand that what the instructions say and what they are doing might not be the same thing. If Ms. Disgruntled had dashed off an email or picked up the phone I or one of my employees would have been happy to talk her through drafting a triangle using any brand of rotary ruler. We would have pointed out the importance of the blunt tip on the Creative Grids brand and explained why that is our ruler of choice.

Because she eloquently stated that she intends to "not walk, but RUN" the next time she sees my name on a pattern I think we have past the point of talking her through the issues she described. Therefore I am appealing to you, loyal blog readers, for opinions on how to respond to this letter. You are officially in charge of this persons Customer Service. Post a comment. If you were in her shoes, what would make you happy? Go for it.

Work, Work, Work

2012-01-26T18:53:00.011-05:00

I love my job every single day. There has not been one day in the last 19 years that I haven't loved going to work. I firmly believe that the old adage "Find something you love to do, then find a way to get paid doing it" makes for a happy life. But even when you love your job the way it is, sometimes the gods smile down upon you and gift you an office that looks like this:

That's right, for the next 6 days I am "working" in Ft Meyers Florida at the Pink Shell Beach Resort with Kaye England and several dozen shop owners. We will share ideas, sew, trade information on suppliers, sew, discuss class formats, etc, and sew. Apparently we will sew a lot.

Kaye runs this event and she sent us info about what we should have with us. To comply with Kaye's requests I shipped 48 lbs of fabric/sewing machine/notions before I left the burg. Then I packed a suitcase filled with everything that didn't fit in the box! If you total it all up, it was more than 50 yards of fabric that the wonderful Kaye suggested that we have with us. F I F T Y as in 5 - 0 yards! Plus trims for journal pages and things to share, rulers, notions, etc. I can't wait to see what she has planned for us.

My loyal followers won't be surprised to know that getting here wasn't easy. It involved Delta canceling my first flight. Getting up at 4am to make an early morning flight is bad enough, but getting to the gate on time only to find out that the plane is having "mechanical" problems could ruin your day. I have to say that Delta really stepped up, re-booked me through Atlanta, offered to cover my ground transportation and gifted me a $50 voucher towards baggage fees on a future flight (those 50 lbs are coming home with me too). I was impressed. I arrived at the resort only one hour after my original plan. Even though I was an hour late, my room wasn't ready when I arrived so instead of catching some late afternoon sun, I sat for an hour in the lobby with my luggage. Not fun - but a nice long walk on the beach, a glass of wine and a good nights sleep and I will forgive them.

I'm going to do my best to post updates of the weeks events on The Quilt Company Facebook page - you can follow the fun there. Post a comment, and see what 30+ shop owners can do with 1500+ yards of fabric! It is going to be fun!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/The-Quilt-Company/142564535755634

Done

2012-01-10T08:48:00.008-05:00

And....DONE!

The king size quilt is bound and on the bed! One UFO done and checked off the list and it is only January 10th! My goal was one a month so I am going to feel really sanctimonious when I finish off TWO of my UFO's in ONE month! Doesn't that make you feel like a slacker? Go ahead, grab an unfinished project and finish it off! Don't let me get ahead of you! I think you will find that the time it takes to actually finish the project is far less than the amount of time you spend fretting over the fact that you haven't gotten to it, yet. Today - or possibly this weekend - should be "yet". It should be the deadline you need to move something, anything, from a pile in your sewing area to display worthy. You are going to love it when you are done - trust me. Finished is a very good feeling!

I'm moving on to project #2. A curtain for my daughter. This one is on the very top of the unfinished pile. It has only been there for about a month. Our oldest daughter and her husband and the twins have finally moved into the house they have been refurbishing for about a year. My gifted daughter found out she was having twins and to her the next logical step was to purchase a 110 year old victorian house that needed a TOTAL rehab. Something to keep her busy while awaiting the delivery of the twins. Is it possible that a house could need MORE than a total rehab? This one had no kitchen, no functioning bath, it didn't even have main stairs to the second floor! Luckily the majority of that is all behind them and they were in the house before the holidays.

Lauren requested that I make cafe curtains for her kitchen. Cafe curtains with Eifel Towers embroidered on them. She did the measuring, I did the sewing and the 2 window curtains were delivered mid December. She also needed one for the back door. I did my best to explain double rods, hems, headers and how the rods would mount, but I decided not to make the door curtain until I could see the door and take my own measurments. Today the door curtain gets stitched - because I am going ther to visit tomorrow. The "last minute" is a great motovator! It still counts as finishing off a UFO!

If you are planning to keep up by finishing off your own projects, you better get busy. I am spending all day Saturday sewing with friends and I have already packed up the pieces for those twin bed quilts as my project for the day. I would have to sew for a week to get the tops finished, but progress of any kind is better than none!

As you finish off your own projects, let me know about it so that we can celebrate together! Post a comment telling everyone what you have completed or send me a photo that I can post and share. Email photos to Karen@thequiltcompany.com.

RESOLUTIONS

2012-01-01T16:31:00.021-05:00

Happy New Year!
Time to make that wish list of resolutions that should last you through.... Martin Luther King day? I know, I know, this year is going to be different. Trust me, I know, I even believe you. I was saying the exact same thing to myself early this morning when I was on the treadmill. The same treadmill that I haven't been on since LAST January. Seriously, 2012 could be different... couldn't it?

This year I will be making only those resolutions that I can actually keep. Including the one I make every year to stop smoking. That one is a given. I don't smoke. Never have, never will. I think of that resolution as one of those things that you put on your to-do list that you have already done, just so you can have the satisfaction of actually crossing something off. ......I'm not the only one that does that am I?

This year the resolution plan is to finish off some UFO's. Not too exciting, but just think of how good I am going to feel when they are all done - or sort of done. Let's not get too crazy here. I still have a ton of "new" work to do. I'm shooting for a one-a-month average. That will by no means finish off anywhere near ALL of my UFO's, but it is a healthy and realistic goal. I'm feeling good about the ability to follow through this year, I'll keep you posted.

2012 is off to a good start. New Years day, while dinner was in the crock pot, I made and applied the binding to the quilt for our bed. All that I have to do now is the hand stitching. This is the same quilt that I made for the "new" look in our bedroom in August of 2010. The quilt has been finished - quilted and waiting for binding for 17 months. A few nights with a needle and thread and the room will really be "finished". I actually enjoy hand stitching bindings, but this king size. To apply the binding I had to clear a surface large enough to accommodate the light blue and white quilt so that it wouldn't get dirty. That took 17 months.

Cleaning the space in our huge workroom also unearthed about a dozen other UFO's, several of which have been waiting far longer than 17 months to be finished. With enough encouragement and enthusiasm I might even get those twin bed quilts for the guest room assembled, quilted and on the beds. I'm pretty sure I started those in the last millennium. Hmmm. I wonder how they decide what constitutes an antique quilt, the age of the fabric or the date that it is finished? If I dig deep enough in that UFO pile I might have a few antique contenders!

In The Meadow We Can Build A Snowman...

2011-11-28T18:26:00.007-05:00

You should all be very thankful that you can't hear me singing! Even though I think I sound pretty good, I have it on trusted authority that when someone strikes up a tune, I should keep my mouth shut. Instead of singing about snowmen, I'm going to stick to telling you how to sew one. Use this photo for reference, I don't have step-by-step photos to share - but I know you can do it if you just follow along!

This great big gift bag is the perfect alternative to paper gift wrap for those of you that are going "green". Totally machine washable and cute as the dickens, this bag can be used year after year. Why not start by personalizing a bag for each recipient? I used a basic blue dot fabric for the body of the bag, but for those that don't like snow, how about a Hawaiian print? Pink candy cane stripes for the girly girl in your family or what about an ultra conservative plaid for Dad? Check your stash, you know there are fabrics in there and you can't remember why you purchased them. This is a great opportunity to put a nice size piece to good use.

To make one bag you are going to need:

1 1/8 yard of bag fabric, trimmed to 36" by the width of fabric

1 yard of black or whatever you like for the hat

1/4 yard of red, or any color for the hat band or 2 yards of wide ribbon

scrap of orange for the carrot nose

scrap of black for the eyes and mouth

18" square of PUL waterproof fabric for the face, you can order that here:

http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=144711242047421447&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2010

18" square of flannel for lining

2 yards of cord for the drawstring

threads, fusible web and basic sewing supplies

I have an instruction sheet that details exactly how to make the bag step-by-step and also includes the applique shapes for the snowman face. If you order the package of PUL fabric we will happily include one with your order. You are probably wondering why you need PUL for the face. You don't. It is just a beautiful bright white fabric with an exceptionally smooth texture and it makes a great looking snowman! The 18" square of flannel is to be used as lining for the PUL. Like any white fabric, depending on the print you are using behind it, you might get some shadowing. I like to line the white to make sure that doesn't happen. After all, you will be looking at this bag for years to come!

Step one is to construct the snowman face. You are going to draw an 18" circle on the PUL. If you have a Quick Trim & Circle Ruler that I designed for Creative Grids, flip the ruler over, find the center, count 9 spaces away (that's half of 18) and draw the perfect circle. If you don't have a ruler, start rummaging around the kitchen for something round that is around 18" that you can trace. If you want to see what else the Quick Trim & Circle Ruler can do, click here to see the video:

http://www.creativegridsusa.com/products.cfm?item_num=CGRMT1&ref=d

Now that you have seen it, I'll bet you want to order one, click here:

http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=144711242047421447&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=1908

Now back to our Snowman Bag:

Layer the PUL on top of the flannel and draw the circle that will be the snowman's face. If you have the pattern, trace the eyes, nose and mouth pieces onto the fusible web. Press the fusible web onto the appropriate color fabric. If you don't have the pattern, cut the shapes out freehand. You know what a carrot looks like - just cut! How bad can it be? Coal comes in all shapes, you can't get that wrong!

Fuse the facial features to the PUL keeping everything inside the circle. You will want to use a pressing cloth when you iron on the PUL. Stitch the features down before cutting the circle out. If you have kids, get them involved with arranging the face, they know how to create personality!

Now stitch the face centered on one 36" edge of the background fabric. The head should extend past the edge of the fabric by about 2 inches. This helps it to look like the black hat is on the snowman not hovering above it. Trim the snowman's forehead even with the edge of the fabric.

Cut the black hat fabric into two sections measuring 18" by 36". Match the raw edges and stitch one section to the top of the snowman's head and the other to the opposite side. If you know how to make the pillowcases with the finished cuff seams (we call it the hot dog method) add the hat fabric using that method and all of your raw edges will be concealed.

If you have never used the roll-it-up method before, my friends over at American Patchwork & Quilting have a great step-by-step tutorial on their Million Pillowcase Challenge site. You can click here to see it:

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/instructions/RollItUp.pdf

Now cut the hatband fabric into 2 strips measuring 3 1/2 inches by 34 inches. Fold about 1 inch of fabric to the backside on each end of both pieces and press. Stitch both pieces into a long tube. Press the tubes flat. Center each of these strips 1 1/2 inches up from the seam line on the black fabric. Top stitch along both long sides on both fabric strips. You can also use a nice wide ribbon to make these casings - faster and easier, but don't forget to finish the ends!

To assemble your bag, fold it in half with the right side showing, matching the seams. Stitch both sides using a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance. Clip the corners and turn the bag inside out. Stitch the side seams a second time using a heavy 1/4 inch seam allowance and all of your raw edges will be hidden.

Insert the cording through the hatband to use as a drawstring.

Enjoy - for years to come!

Bibs, Bibs and More Bibs

2011-11-28T09:00:00.003-05:00

I love having grand kids. I also love having an embroidery machine. If you have both of them, you can make absolute magic!

Our Granddaughter Madeline just cut her first tooth and her brother Grant is following right behind. They are in the drooling-all-over-everything stage so some quick and easy bibs sounded like a great idea. AnitaGoodesign has an adorable embroidery CD to stitch out bibs in the hoop, so I decided to give it a try.... I loved the results!

To make the bibs you have to have an embroidery machine and a hoop that will accommodate a 7 or 8 inch stitch area. I use a BERNINA 830 with a Jumbo hoop, so I had all the equipment I needed.

You will want to have the following on hand:

The Embroidery CD, Bundle of Joy, by AnitaGoodesign. You can order it here: http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=144711242047421447&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2009

8 1/2 inch square of fun fabric for each bib

8 1/2 inch square of PUL water resistant fabric for each bib

You can order that here:http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=144711242047421447&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2010

Thread to match or coordinate

No-Tie shoelaces or ribbon for ties

Water Soluble Stabilizer

The bibs are available on the CD in two sizes and two styles. Select the one you prefer and load it into your machine. I stitched out the larger size, and naturally I had to make both the boy and girl versions!

Hoop just the stabilizer and thread your machine with the same thread top and bottom. Any brand wash away stabilizer will probably work, I had OESD Aqua Mesh and it worked great! Because I planned to make more than one bib, I didn't cut my stabilizer to the size of the hoop. I cut a long length, about 40 inches and started my hoop at one end. See the photos below.

Stitch out the placement line on the stabilizer.

Place your fabric and the PUL wrong sides together, the same way you want them to look in the finished bib. The PUL is wonderfully soft, but water resistant, so nothing will soak through the bib. It is easy to sew, in fact this is the material that they are using for the newfangled diaper covers. It also works great for purse lining, it stays clean and everything in your bag stays dry. Back to the bibs....

Place the fabric/PUL over the placement line with the PUL on the bottom and stitch the tackdown stitches.

Take the hoop off the machine (but don't take the fabric out of the hoop!) and trim the excess fabric. I trimmed one layer at a time to get a nice clean cut. It also allowed me to take extra care not to snip the stabilizer layer!

Put the hoop back on the machine and stitch the satin stitch.

Your done!

The satin stitch finishes all of the edges, including the neck edge. It also stitches two small eyelet holes, one on each side to insert the "no-tie" shoelace into. You can pick-up these curly shoelaces in any discount store. They are permanently curled and stretch. To use these to hold the bibs in place you poke a hole in the eyelet and slide the shoelace end through the hole. If you prefer ties, you can always tack a ribbon in place instead. I found the no-ties in white, red and black.

Because I left a long length of stabilizer all I needed to do to make the next bib was gently tear the first from the stabilizer and slide my hoop further down the length. This photo is of the first two I stitched, then I realized I could put them even closer together. Very little waste. When you have them all stitched out, rinse away the excess stabilizer and let them dry. You can press the bibs if you need to, but do it on the cotton side. If you find that you have to press the PUL, press on the woven side or use a pressing cloth.

Once I got going, it was very hard to stop! The scalloped edges took a few minutes longer to trim, but they were just as quick and easy to make. Speaking of quick, I am lucky enough to have several machines to stitch on, so while the 830 was humming away making bibs, I was able to use another machine to stitch up a quilt top.

The package of PUL is enough to make a dozen bibs, which makes the cost for the PUL about 44 cents each. A set of bibs would make a killer shower gift for a new Mom. You can even personalize them. I passed over the decorative stitching on some of the bibs and added names or initials using the fonts built into the machine.

These things are like potato chips - you can't make just one!

If you are just joining us, scroll down through the previous posts to see additional ideas and a peek at future projects.

Button Tree Sweatshirt

2011-11-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

I love this project for several reasons. Not only is it festive and easy to make, but it is really fun to wear. The buttons make a little jingle sound when you move that kids absolutely love.
First, lets get the "Don't make this shirt for anyone that is small enough to bite the buttons off the front" warning out of the way. Grant and Maddie are going to have to wait a few years for theirs.

You are going to need:

1 bag of Laura Kelly green buttons. (One bag is probably enough for 2 kid size shirts.)http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2007
Green sewing thread

1 sweatshirt, the color of your choice, it doesn't have to be red.

1 embroidery hoop. Hand embroidery or machine embroidery, the hoop just needs to be a bit larger than the size of your tree.
1 triangle pattern - you are going to make this yourself so you will need 1 sheet of paper.

1 small rectangle of brown fabric if you want your tree to have a trunk

Brown thread for the tree trunk applique

A Button Sew-On foot for your machine, it's a #18 if you are a BERNINA owner.

Basic sewing supplies

Create your triangle tree shape by folding a sheet of paper in half lengthwise. Place your rotary ruler on the paper so that one edge extends from one corner of the folded paper to the opposite diagonal corner. Cut. (Yes I know that cutting paper with your rotary blade will dull it - use an old one. Having an extra rotary cutter with a not-sharp-enough-for-fabric blade at this time of year helps with gift wrapping too!) This is your tree pattern. Trace it on to the front of your sweatshirt using a removable marking pencil.

If you are adding a trunk to your tree, use a bit of paper backed fusible web fused to the brown fabric and cut a rectangle. Fuse it in place and stitch around it. The trunk isn't necessary, everyone will realize the green triangle is a tree without the trunk. I just added that step for you purists. Not making a trunk has one added benefit. After the holiday you can cut the buttons off and replace them with red buttons in the shape of a heart! Same shirt - new look!

Now put the shirt into the embroidery hoop. You want the shirt flat on the bottom of the hoop as you would for machine embroidery. For you hand stitchers, this is upside down. Put the outside of the hoop on the inside of the shirt. Push the inside of the hoop down from the outside of the shirt and secure. This will allow the shirt to sit flat on the surface of your sewing machine.

You didn't think we were going to sew those button on by hand did you?

Look at your buttonhole menu. Is there a picture of a button? Press it. All machines that do a zigzag stitch are capable of sewing buttons on. If you think about it, all that is required is a zigzag stitch that doesn't go anywhere. If you don't have a button sew on feature, set your stitch length to zero and your stitch width to match the holes in the buttons. The holes in buttons are pretty standard, so once you determine the setting you are good to go.

Set your machine up for free arm sewing. Slide the hooped shirt under the presser foot. You might have to take the foot off to get the hoop past the needle depending on what type of hoop you are using. When you have the shirt ready to sew, secure your Button Sew-On foot in place. - What? You don't have a Button Sew-On Foot? Ok, you can use another wide base zig-zag foot, but the process isn't going to be as much fun. Having the right tools makes the whole process SO much easier. BERNINA's #18 foot has little rubber feet that hold the button in place as you stitch. If you don't have that foot, you are going to have to sew slowly and keep a careful eye that the button doesn't slip and break your needle.

Place a handful of buttons on the shirt and scoot them into position inside the tree shape. Arrange them randomly using only the sew-through buttons. Save the ones with a shank for another project. Hop from button to button as you fill in the shape. If you have scissors built into your machine, this is a great place to use them. If you don't have scissors, just hop from button to button, you can trim all of the carrier threads later. Fill the entire triangle shape with buttons. Trim threads and enjoy!

Here are some helpful hints:
To keep the stitch spacing, some 4 hole buttons get stitched in parallel lines, smaller ones get stitched in an X. Look at the distance between the holes to tell the difference.

Make sure the whole tree is inside the hoop you select, you can't move the hoop after you have started to sew buttons.

Don't use a t-shirt, the buttons are too heavy. You need a sweatshirt for support

Turn the sweatshirt inside out to launder it so that the buttons don't get caught in the wash.

If you don't have a button sew-on stitch or scissors built into your machine, let Santa know, he might be in a generous mood this year!

Holiday Gift Ideas

2011-11-25T05:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you that didn't get up in the middle of the night on Black Friday to forage for bargains at some big box store that insisted you show up before dawn to get a deal, this post is for you.

Over the next week or so I have decided to post my favorite gift giving ideas. Most of the projects don't require a long involved explanation and those that do have materials or patterns that you would probably need to purchase. I am going to make that easy too. I've added links to our website for those items. If you order the product to make the project and we have an instruction sheet, we will toss it in your package, free of charge. We also offer FREE SHIPPING on our website.

How's that for a little bit of Holiday Cheer?

This is a sneak peek at the projects for those of you that might want to product shop a little early:

Number 1 on the list is our Button Tree Shirt. The photo is a close up of a red sweatshirt that has been decorated with green buttons. Where did I get all those green buttons? I ordered them - don't try dying them yourself.... ask me how I know.

Sundays post will give you the tips and tricks for making this project unbelievably simple. I know you will be too busy supporting your local small business on Saturday to get any sewing done! Click here to order the buttons:

http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2007

I have twin grand babies, Grant and Madeline. This is their first Christmas and as any Grandma with an embroidery machine knows, you have to sew like crazy for them before they are old enough to have an opinion!

These bibs are an "in the hoop" project from Anita Goodesign. You can order the design CD here: http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2009

I will give you my tips for making them fast and efficient later in the week.

For those of you that are going "green" our Snowman Gift Bag is the perfect alternative to paper gift wrap. This huge reusable bag is large enough to hold an entire stack of gifts for one person. You supply the fabric - which might just be in your stash - and when you order the white for the face we will include the instructions for making the bag.

The snowman face is made from PUL waterproof fabric. You are going to want some of that to back the baby bibs too! You can order it here: http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2010

Our 12" by 16" Gingerbread Button Pillow kit is a customer favorite! There is plenty of time to make this great little pillow because you won't have to waste any time running around town looking for the embellishments. We include them right in the package! The gingerbread men are already pre-cut and pre-fused in the kit as well. All you do is the fun part. We will talk zippers around Wednesday.

http://http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=1923

Speaking of customer favorites, have you made the Microwave Potato Bag? Amazing, simply amazing.

Click here for fabric by the yard: http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2011

Click here for Warm Tater Batting:
http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_ID=2008

If you are looking to dress up some bottles of wine for the gift giving season we have the perfect pattern for you, Wine Butler! A few tips and one of my secret tricks and you will be making these in quantity faster than you think possible. The pattern is available on our website:

http://store.thequiltcompany.com/stores_app/browse_item_details_photos.asp?Shopper_id=92921025162369292&Store_id=466&page_id=23&Item_Id=1705&Photo=One
When you order the Wine Butler we will toss in a copy of our more family friendly Holiday Mix Gift Bag. It works for wine, but it also works for some non alcoholic mix that I will share with you as well.

It is going to be fun!

Let's stitch up a festive holiday together!

Small Business Saturday

2011-11-18T09:52:00.006-05:00

Remember when Black Friday happened after Thanksgiving?

This year it seems that nervous big box retailers are doing everything they can to jump the gun and offer Black Friday deals as early as possible. Is that really necessary? Is it really a deal? I've never been one to get out of bed at some ridiculous hour to stand in line in the freezing cold to push and shove my way to a "deal". For years our family made the trip to the downtown department stores on the day after Thanksgiving. Not really for the deals, more to support our downtown shopping district, enjoy lunch out with the kids and check out the decorations.

I like to shop local and being an independent shop owner I am acutely aware of what it takes to support an independent business. In the past two years there has been a growing movement to dedicate the Saturday after Thanksgiving to small business. The movement is called Shop Small. The idea is that small, local business contribute far more to your local economy than big box retailers. We tend to support other local business as our suppliers, we employ your neighbors and more of the money you spend with us stays in the local community.

Added to those efforts this year is the idea that you can and should shop local for those on your holiday gift list. For example, instead of the hot new toy that was most likely made in China, why not purchase an enrollment in one of our museums programs for kids? Instead of a shirt and tie that was stitched in some third world country why not get Dad a gift certificate for some lawn work from the guy around the corner? You get the idea.

If you live in my neighborhood and you are shipping packages to friends and family I recommend that you use Barry at The Shipping Depot in Shoppers Plaza on Rt 8. Barry and his staff are the friendliest people I know and they always go above and beyond to satisfy their customers. http://www.theshippingdepotonline.com/

The Hartwood Restaurant and Whispers Pub have been a favorite place to send our customers for lunch for years. My daughter worked there through high school and although the kitchen staff has changed the owners are still dedicated to providing a unique place to eat with excellent food. Located on Harts Run Road in Glenshaw, I know anyone on my gift list would love a gift certificate for a meal there. http://www.hartwoodrestaurant.com/

Another excellent lunch spot is the B&Z Deli at the corner of Harts Run and Saxonburg Blvd. Casual dining with sandwiches made to order and take-out available. I'm not really sure if they offer gift cards, but a ready made meal is always welcome over the busy holiday season. http://www.bzdeli.com/

Speaking of ready made meals, pop into A Fare To Remember in Shoppers Plaza, right next to The Shipping Depot when you are visiting Barry. You can stock your frig or freezer with delicious, gift worthy, meals to share with family and friends. http://fareathome.com/

I absolutely love Sarah that cuts (and colors) my hair at Super Cuts in Gibsonia. Unless they are bald, everyone on your gift list gets their hair cut. While the salon may have a name that seems like a national chain, most are franchise stores that are locally owned.

Obviously I also want to recommend that you purchase gift cards from local specialty shops, like your local quilt shop, that would be of interest to people on your list, but I also want to use this space to allow you to make additional suggestions of independent business that you recommend. Make a suggestion by leaving a comment. None of the business I've mentioned here ask me to advertise for them, I'm just a satisfied customer.

For our part in Small Business Saturday we will be offering free demonstrations in the shop from 10:00 - 4:00 featuring all American made products. If you are in the area, stop by, bring a friend, and shop small!

What is Karen up to now?

2011-11-04T13:18:00.007-04:00

Busy, busy, busy. When you own your own business there is always a laundry list of things that you need to do. If you are working on controlling expenses, you think you should be working on advertising. If you are working on advertising someone has probably called off sick and you have to cover... well, you get the idea.

This week I am working on FUN. Nothing but FUN and I am having a blast! Last week I was in Houston attending International Quilt Market. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I came home feeling so totally jazzed about what I found. Fabrics, yes. There are always tons of fabrics to choose from and this season there are about a dozen new companies from which to choose them. Some years there is an obvious "hot" new item that everyone is excited about. Not so this year and I like it better that way!

When there isn't that special "one thing" that everyone gravitates to, you have to be more creative in your buying. You have to dig a little deeper to find the gems that you can polish and make sparkle in your own store. This Market I went out of my way to attend workshops and demonstrations that I normally wouldn't have time for. WOW! Talk about inspiration! I packed my overweight suitcase with fun stuff that I couldn't wait to get home to try.

This week is where the rubber meets the road for those new products. Sure they look good under the sparkly lights of the convention center, but before we offer them to customers I have to test them myself. Can I make them perform their tricks here at home? More importantly are they well designed enough that my customers will want to play with them too? Here in the "test lab" where I am creating new projects for our upcoming Handmade for the Holidays event I am happy to say that all of the new products have passed the test with flying colors!

In addition to new products I also gather a ton of ideas for projects that I create and write instructions for here at home. We have a huge button bin that we use on a regular basis but somehow it never seems to get any smaller. I saw some great dyed button projects at Market. Instead of purchasing the dyed buttons I decided to come home and dye our white and clear ones. How hard could it be? Hard. I sorted for about an hour, dumped the white and clear buttons into Kelly Green Rit Dye and waited... swished, stirred and waited. Then I waited. 36 hours later I had the buttons in the photo. These were all in the same dye bath for the same length of time.

Why some are light blue and some are lime green and absolutely NONE of them are Kelly Green is a total mystery to me. Frank Panion, my beloved high school chemistry teacher always said I made more chemistry in the hall than I made in class. My husband wondered why I thought I could dye buttons. My staff wondered why there was a strainer of buttons in their lunch sink! Easy fix. I ordered the already dyed buttons from our distributor!

So the button dying didn't work. Big deal. They are cool colors and I will find a use for them... eventually. I still enjoyed the thrill of seeing what would happen. Meanwhile I stitched up some batik rayon samples that are going in the wash tonight. I played with the new spritz dyes until I absolutely had to stop myself or there wouldn't be any left for customers. I steamed, fused, gathered, clipped and stitched. I've made the mistakes, learned some lessons and now I absolutely can not wait to share the success stories with my customers so that they can roll up their sleeves and have some fun! Sometimes the best thing you can get is permission to play for awhile.

Fun!

2011-10-11T08:36:00.007-04:00

I had every intention of creating a new post last week, but there just wasn't time! The kick-off of our newest edition of BlockWatchers Club was on Monday evening. Tuesday was spent with the North Pittsburgh Quilt Guild teaching a class and then presenting at their meeting in the evening. Wednesday I met with a group of young people to talk about owning your own business and Thursday and Friday were spent here in the store with BERNINA educator Paula Harmon. Whew!

If you missed attending Sewing Celebration or Celebrate 8 here in the store, you missed a really good time - and great goodie bag if I do say so myself! Paula had projects to inspire everyone from beginning sewers to experienced embroidery pros. Several customers were inspired right into a new machine and they will be spending the next few weeks exploring the possibilities with their "new baby" - Congratulations! You are going to love it! Unlike bringing a real new baby home, we are always here to support you and you can stop by and ask us as many questions or get help on as many techniques as needed. I can't guarantee that your "new baby" won't keep you up at night, but at least this one has an on/off switch!

What better way to unwind after a busy week than to spend the whole day sewing? That is exactly what I did on Sunday. Our Quilts of Valor group was hosting a sewing day in the classroom here at the store, so I had to be here to keep an eye on things. We aren't open on Sunday, so I had the whole BERNINA area to myself. One 820 to sew on and one 830 to stitch out embroidery. The ultimate spoiled sewer!

While the 830 stitched out these adorable elephants for a Timeless project for Market, I assembled the hand print quilt for my sister. Leslie's kids, my niece and nephew, attend a private school - in Illinois, and she is in charge of the Fall Fundraiser this year. That means I am in charge of helping her by making a quilt. All quilters understand this issue. You are a quilter and you love what you do, therefore you must be willing to make your Mother/ Sister/ Friend/ Neighbor/ Old High School Teacher/ Co-worker/ Person that sits next to you on the bus/ Etc a quilt. Especially if it is for a very worthy cause.

I don't actually mind doing this for Leslie. She did all the hard work. She worked with the kids, did the hand prints, mixed the textile medium in and heat set the blocks. I only had to do the parts that I love and with 2 sewing machines it was easy to multi task! Boy did it feel good to sew and accomplish something! Now I am going to use her as an excuse to spend another day at the sewing machine while I get the quilting done.

Sneaky huh?

Back In The Swing Of Things

2011-09-20T08:33:00.005-04:00

Home is a good place to be.
We have been back from our shortened cruise adventure for about 10 days now and I consider myself older and wiser with the lessons I have learned. I can share this much with you:

#1. Never book a cruise that leaves port the weekend of a Monday holiday.

#2. If you are traveling during hurricane season, buy travel insurance*.

#3. If you are sailing on Norwegian Cruise Lines, don't expect a straight answer from anyone on board the ship or on the phone.
*I reserve the right to amened that statement after we settle the claim with the insurance company!

To make a long story short. Our cruise that was scheduled to leave port on Sunday didn't leave until Tuesday. According to NCL this was the result of dangerously high seas. That's odd, because the marine report called for 4-6 foot seas on Monday. Labor Day. A national holiday here in the U.S. One of those holidays where union port workers would have to be paid holiday overtime pay. I have a feeling that the "safety of their passengers and crew" was less a determining factor than their bottom line.

This is a photo of the Music Park that I took while we were waiting for out ship to come in - doesn't that look like a nasty day for sailing? Note the ominous skies and wicked winds.

NCL graciously granted us a "refund" for the two days and two ports that we missed. They decided the best course of action was to apply that credit to our shipboard account. We didn't use the entire credit so now we have to wait 3 weeks or more for a refund. We were told that our pre-paid dive trips in the ports that were skipped would be refunded to our credit card. We were also told they would be credited to our shipboard account and that they would be refunded via check. I am quite sure that if I asked 6 more people I would have six different answers. It is going to take weeks, possibly months to straighten everything out.

We did finally get to dive in Costa Maya and Cozumel. We saw sharks (not the dangerous kind) lots of Lion Fish, my first eel - a huge 5' long green eel, lobster and beautiful tropical fish. The best part of the vacation. Although I have to admit that the beniges at Cafe DuMonde were pretty good too.

Oh, one more thing to share on the list of things I have learned:

#4. If you get sunburned on the first day out wearing a tank suit and all of the evening wear you brought with you has a V neck, you are going to look ridiculous at dinner!

Now I am going to enjoy the rest of National Sewing Month by doing a little sewing. Until Friday, when we have to leave for Quilting Around Chautauqua at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York. Are you going to be there? Stop by and say "hello". I am giving a lecture on Sunday Morning and my husband and I will be manning a booth in the ballroom of the Anthenaeum Hotel. It is a fun weekend and well worth the trip!

Caution: Vacation Ahead

2011-09-03T15:13:00.009-04:00

Some days I wonder why I even make plans to leave my house.

I've already decided that my tombstone should read "It was a good idea at the time". I've been stranded in Washington DC because my seat was given away, had my luggage lost in Philadelphia (numerous times), been grounded by hail in Denver, sat on the tarmac in New Jersey for hours, driven home instead of flying because of ice in Florida. I've been searched, patted and swabbed in the best and the worst airports in our country and abroad. Why won't I learn to just stay home?

Earlier this summer I was pouting because we hadn't made plans for a "real" vacation. Not the visit the kids, kiss the grand babies, give a lecture while you are their kind of trip, a REAL vacation. The kind where you go for nothing but relaxation and enjoyment. My husband had pretty much told me to put my big girl panties on and deal with it when I received a very enticing offer in my email box. Oh that wicked email. Norwegian Cruise Lines was offering a ridiculously low rate on a cruise out of New Orleans starting on Labor Day weekend. It would have been an absolute sin to pass up the balcony rate. Seven days, 4 ports and 3 dive sites that we have never been to.

My husband is an avid scuba diver and he talked me into joining him about 10 years ago. I really do love to dive, but the absolute best part is that all I have to do is suggest a diving trip and he is immediately agreeable. I found some cheap flights, booked a balcony and relaxed knowing that I had a "real" vacation to look forward to.

Then Lee showed up.

We lived in Florida for almost 8 years. I know when hurricane season starts and I know when it ends. I also know that cruise lines make adjustments to their itinerary when necessary to avoid storms. I'm OK with that. I honestly have to say that when Lee showed up, much earlier this week, I thought we had dodged a bullet. Then it was as if Lee realized that moving at the pace it was it would blow through New Orleans before Saturday and that wouldn't interrupt my plans. The travel gods couldn't have that, so Lee immediately SLOWED DOWN. It has been pummeling those poor people in southern Louisiana with rain for days.

This map shows the current conditions in New Orleans. 24 hours before our ship is set to sail. NCL decided not too long ago and notified their future passengers that it is too dangerous to bring the ship into port so those passengers currently on the ship get an extra day at sea, well south of the storm. Those of us that are set to board the ship.... we loose a day. Oh, and they suggest that we change our travel plans to arrive at the port no earlier than Monday evening. WHAT? Change travel plans to fly into a tropical storm a day later? Are they kidding? Setting aside the fact that making a change with the airlines weeks or months, let alone hours before your planned flight requires a credit line and willingness to strap yourself to the wing, what makes them think those planes won't be grounded? I realize they make their living on the water, but do they not know that they gauge these storms by SUSTAINED WINDS?

We are sticking to our original travel plans. Our flight on Sunday is from Pittsburgh to Houston and Houston to New Orleans. There is an excellent chance that the Houston to New Orleans segment will be canceled. No problem. I know Houston well. I attend Quilt Market there every year. Better yet, this month is the Texas Shop Hop. Almost every shop in Texas is participating. With 24 + hours to kill we will rent a car and hit as many Houston area shops as possible. I guess this vacation just turned into a business trip.

I Heart Ohio

2011-08-29T08:30:00.013-04:00

I spent the better part of last week traveling the Ohio countryside with my husband. If you ever feel that the whole world has gone "you know where" in a hand basket, pack your bag and head for rural Ohio on a summer day. It will do wonders for your outlook on life.
This was not a vacation trip, it was work related. We probably would never have found our way to Greenville Ohio unless I had been invited to speak, but it was well worth the trip. We began the week in Maumee, Ohio, home of Checker Distributors and Creative Grids Rulers. I was one of the featured speakers for their annual Open House - my absolute favorite summer event. This is a wholesale show for shop owners, long armers and quilting professionals. The event is fabulous and the dinners each evening where the vendors and demonstrators have the chance to catch up with friends and network with other people in the industry are an absolute highlight. It was at this event last year that I learned from Sue Hausmann that my husbands official position in our company is as CEO. Which really stands for Carry Everything Out. I'm sure that he agrees because that is what he did for most of the week!

Finishing up after the Creative Grids designer meeting on Tuesday and having to be in Greenville, near Dayton on Thursday made the trip home to Pittsburgh silly, so we headed south to visit the grandbabies! Wednesday also happened to be my birthday and I don't think that I could have found a better way to celebrate than holding, hugging, snuggling, feeding and changing these two, especially when it was capped of with an all you could eat crab leg dinner on the kids deck!
Thursday we headed for Greenville and the Great Darke County Fair. I was the featured speaker on Friday afternoon and offered a class on Saturday morning at Smiths Merchants in nearby Arcanum. That left plenty of time to explore Greenville and the Great Darke County Fair. This isn't your average county fair, this is the largest county fair in the country and they have everything you think they should and more.

There were chickens - beautiful chickens - an entire barn full of rabbits, a swine barn and a Cow Palace. The Domestic Arts building was filled with quilting, crocheting, cross stitch and needlepoint. I was wondering why cooking wasn't represented in the Domestic Arts category until we found an entire room full of entries for the best pies, cakes and cookies, jellies, jams, etc. in a different building with flowers and vegetables.

My husband found his own way of enjoying the fair offerings.

This is him enjoying Greek food:

Sweet Potato Fries

Rootbeer Float

Bourbon Chicken

Fried Ice Cream

Hot Sausage

Fruit on a Stick

Foot Long Hot Dog

Burger

Pie

And then he picked out the tractor of his dreams.

I had to break the bad news to him that he couldn't bring it home. But the fair was so much fun that we might just go back and visit it again next year.

2011-08-13T11:37:00.005-04:00

Isn't this a great looking quilt?

You can see it in person if you stop by the shop. The 60" by 80" sample is on loan from the pattern designer, Blue Underground. The name of the pattern is "A Bit Askew". I was immediately drawn to it the first time I saw it at Quilt Market and I'm thrilled that my customers will have the opportunity to see it in person.

I think everyone that looks at this type of quilt sees something different. Some people take one look and all they see is a hot mess. Others see creative possibilities. What if I used that pattern and all of my blue scraps with only red accents? What if I made it larger by adding solid black sashing between the blocks? Hmmm. Imagine the possibilities.

Do you want to know what I thought the first time I saw the quilt?

Remember the old commercial with the cracked egg in the frying pan? "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs" immediately came to mind. I thought "This is your brain, this is your brain in a quilt"!

Follow me here. To me, all of the black and white areas represent the mundane things I have to remember that clutter my brain everyday, grocery lists, when to pick up the dry cleaning, what size underwear my husband wears, etc. Those bright colored strips are the bursts of creativity! They are the fun, the excitement, the new quilts, fabric shopping trips, new patterns and new designs - the things that make you happy! I know for a fact that all of the stuff in my head is "A Bit Askew" and I love that there are "bursts of creativity" in every square.

I wonder what would happen if I made my own version of this quilt and reverse the fabrics? Every strip would be exciting, bold and beautiful with a few black and whites tossed in for accent. I would not straighten the strips, because to be honest, I like my life "A Bit Askew". With a brighter more exciting pallet and room for fewer mundane things, I wonder if it would be overwhelming? One thing is for sure, my husband would have to buy his own underwear.

Pavement Hell

2011-07-28T19:01:00.012-04:00

Let's start with the assumption that inhaling the fumes from hot asphalt year after year destroys brain cells. At least that would provide some plausible explanation as to why my 4 DAY paving project took 4 WEEKS to complete.

Yes, I've been living in blacktop hell and I think of Phil as the Devil himself.

Phil is the person that we contracted to dig up our front parking lot, add several inches of new limestone for drainage and repave... IN APRIL!

We had a very wet spring. That put Phil behind. I understood. Mother Nature is not to be messed with. Phil assured us that he would be here in May. I understood, shuffled classes, made adjustments. No Phil. June 1st, Phil was still behind. More shuffling, more adjusting. I suggested that Phil wait until the first week of August to do our job. We are closed the first week of August and he could have the whole place to himself for an entire week. Phil laughed. He would be long gone by August 1st. Ours was a "little" 4 day job - if that! Probably wouldn't take more than 3 days. He would be here next week at the latest... he recited that exact statement to me each week for 4 consecutive weeks.

July 1st, just 4 months behind schedule, Phil delivered equipment to our parking lot. Then Phil got sick. He sent his "crew" to do the job. "The Plan" was for the men to dig up 1/2 of the lot, stone it and put down the base. Customers would have half of the lot to use. The next day they would repeat the process for the other half of the lot while customers parked on the base. Day three was "planned" to be a Sunday when we are closed, the top coat would go on the entire lot.

That would have been nice.

That isn't how it happened.

Phil's guys didn't understand "The Plan"

Phil's guys tore up the pavement and delivered crushed concrete. Crushed concrete isn't limestone. Limestone drains, crushed concrete doesn't. That explains the giant puddle in the photo. The whole reason for doing the job was to provide drainage and prevent heaving in the winter. We paid for limestone - We wanted limestone. We made them rip several ton of crushed concrete out and do it again. That took a week. Phil's guys weren't happy. Phil understood, but he still couldn't make them understand "The Plan".

Then the hydraulics broke on the paving machine and I left town for a week. My darling husband promised me that he would do his best to have Phil out of our life by the time I got back. I still love him anyway.

While I was away the Stooges managed to dig a trench and fill it in, forgetting that it was to be filled with the rock that was in the truck just 3 feet away. Do over #2.

They also managed to dig up our entrance drive (thank heaven we also have an exit drive at the opposite end of the lot) park their equipment and leave for the weekend. I was not happy when I returned and neither was Mother Nature. She stormed and dumped 18 inches of mud in our catch basin. Phil's guys had to clean it out.

I have a friend that keeps threatening to make t-shirts that say "Life is hard. It's even harder when you are stupid". I would like to buy them for Phil's Stooges.

Yesterday was the virtual straw that broke the camels back. Paving day. They were finally ready to put the top coat on the entire lot. Remembering "The Plan", they were to pave one half at a time. I remembered the plan - they didn't. I began to eye the steamroller and plot evil deeds.

All of our customers were forced to use the back parking lot - where the workmen stashed all of their equipment and trucks eating up more than half of the parking spaces. Then they had to enter through the back door and climb down a flight of stairs! We also had to receive UPS, FedEx and a tractor trailer delivery of a sewing center and cabinet down that same flight of stairs. Phil had to go. What ever it takes, Phil needed to be gone by the end of the day!!! I had had ENOUGH!

At 6pm I returned to the lot to find this. They ran out of asphalt with 3 feet left to go!

Just shoot me now....

Today they returned to "finish" the job, get out of my life, and they are done....

Except that they have to come back "later" to paint the lines for the parking spaces. I said "Great, you can do that next week while we are closed". Phil looked at me with his best Customer Service smile and replied "Can't. I'm on vacation next week."

I hope my $24,000 has a good time at the beach.

And the Winner is........

2011-07-25T08:30:00.007-04:00

DPUTiger!

Your comment was selected by the random number generator to receive the free fat quarters! I also want to thank everyone that participated. We received some wonderful feedback and we will look closely at your requests as we do our future planning.

Judging from the comments that we received, most of you will be happy to see the new website when it goes live in the near future (keep in mind that "near" is relative - I think the first of September is really, really, near - but plan is to have it ready for the first week of August!) I agree whole heartily that it should have been done much sooner, but it is extremely time consuming and tedious work. Once we are up to speed, maintaining it will be easy, but doing all of the background work isn't my idea of a fun job. Let's face it, we here at The Quilt Company are all about the fun. It is why we come to work each day.

Then there is that little matter of ever changing technology. Our suppliers have been preaching "Social Media" as the way to go for over a year now. I have a website that is getting a total overhaul, I am repeatedly told I don't blog enough, I have to create yet another Facebook page for the store so that you can "like" us (ignore the current page - it isn't a business page and the new rules require a specific business page, it will go live with the new website)

Industry big wigs can't believe I don't tweet on Twitter. Really? Do all of you really want to know the details of my world? Because I can pretty much guarantee that the tweet I would be sending this morning would read something like "Of course it is RAINING! Now the fricken asphalt guy has yet ANOTHER reason that he won't be finishing the parking lot today". Later I might have to tweet that you should "Ignore the lump in the parking lot paving - I realize it is shaped like a body that has been flattened with a steamroller but that is a coincident. For the record I haven't seen Phil". That would probably get me into trouble and I would end up residing in a place that won't allow you to have pins, needles, scissors or other sharp impliments. Then where would we be?

The whole reason for the survey was to get a good idea of what my customers really want. I hear you - Sunday hours. Every now and then Sunday hours might be possible, but 7 days a week? Not happening. I have a life outside the shop too. More evening hours? We are already open on Monday and Thursday until 9pm. That is more hours than any other quilt shop in our area. You love Brandon - I can understand why. We have award winning customer service when it comes to our BERNINA Tech. Fast, reliable, and reasonably priced. What more could you want? How about 3 years of FREE Cleaning and a fabric discount? That is what is in the works for our those that purchase their BERNINA from us and we still have the absolute best prices on machines. Events - we are planning even more! Trunk shows for October and January. Handmade for the Holidays is planned for the Community Center so that everyone that wants to can attend.

If you are sorry that you didn't take the opportunity to voice your opinion, it isn't too late. You won't be in the running for the free fat quarters, but you can still speak your mind. Email me directly: mailto: Karen@thequiltcompany.com. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Don't Forget!!

The Quilt Company will be CLOSED FOR VACATION

from August 1-6.

On The Road Again

2011-07-18T11:55:00.008-04:00

Hello from sunny and sweltering hot San Antonio, Texas

I'm off again on another business trip. This time to south Texas in the middle of July for BERNINA University. I lead such a glamorous life. Why a company would book a convention in south Texas when the average daily temperature is in triple digits is beyond me, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

I do have to admit that the River Walk here is absolutely beautiful. Anyone that has the opportunity to visit would have to be jealous that their hometown doesn't have one. Wait - I live in the Pittsburgh area and we have three rivers! How hard would it be to dig a few canals, line them with fabulous shops and restaurants and beautiful landscaping? Someone should get right on that.

If you follow my blog, you already know that some of my travel woes are legendary. This trip started out a bit rocky when I attempted to print my boarding passes the evening before we left. A process that should be no big deal. Three hours and six phone calls later and I will admit to heaping some serious verbal a** kicking on the customer "service" operator, I had the required boarding passes. It took that long because the discount ticket agent that I used (Cheap-O Air - which should have been my first clue) "adjusted" our flights way back in April and "forgot" to "push the change thought the system" - for three months. Despite the phone conversation I had with them just three days earlier.

On the first flight I had the opportunity to catch up on some serious business reading. On the second flight I had the joy of sitting next to Quinn, an 8 year old traveling alone on his way home from his Grandma's and a trip to Disneyland. His very thoughtful Grandma packed him an entire backpack of sugary treats to keep him occupied on the trip. - gee thanks Grandma. I can attest to the fact that a zip lock bag of Oreo's, Sweedish Fish, Starburst Fruit Chews and a Slim Jim topped off with a can of Sprite are a volatile combination. - special thanks to the flight attendant that offered me a free glass of wine, but that even I don't drink at 10:30am. But I digress.

One of the business articles that I read was on Customer Service - or the lack of it, which I was experiencing first hand. In this article the business Guru's make a point that in order to provide excellent customer service, you should ask your customers what they want. Good idea.

So while I am sweltering on the River Walk here in south Texas, I have chores for you. Respond with a comment to this message and answer the following questions. I know that many of you are located in other states so you don't shop in my store, but you may order from us online. You can respond to my questions with answers that would apply to your own local quilt shop. Take part, participate, I will make it worthwhile. You have until July 24th to leave a comment, on the 25th I will use a random number generator to select a comment to receive a beautiful 8 piece fat quarter bundle. - that 2 yards of fabric for doing a little homework! Here are your questions:

What ONE thing could we do to improve customer service?

What ONE service could we add to make it more convenient to shop with us?

What ONE class or event could we add that you would like to attend?

More from Shipshewana

2011-06-26T14:57:00.017-04:00

This is my second year attending the Shipshewana Festival. Last year I was there to teach Schoolhouse sessions, that event happens on Thursday. This year we also had a booth at the Vendor Mall in the Quilt Show.

It is a wonderful festival in an Amish town in northern Indiana. The drive there is totally relaxing as you watch the cities disappear and the corn fields roll by. Every business in town participates in the multi day event that starts on Wednesday and runs through Saturday and it also corresponds with the local Shop Hop.

This year the featured speaker was Kaye England. If you don't know Kaye, you should! She is one of the funniest quilters I know with tons of stories to share. She was a shop owner for years, but she has sold the stores to travel, teach, write and design fabrics. Kaye's personal collection of quilts were displayed in the automobile museum - sorry, I didn't have time to take photos there, but I can tell you that my husband thoroughly enjoyed his visit to see the cars!

The photo above was another of the impressive quilts in the quilt show and vendor mall. Beautiful piecing and lots and lots of quilting to show it off!

This ribbon winning quilt absolutely knocked my socks off! The applique was trapunto, the quilting was done by hand and the over all effect was absolutely beautiful. Look at all those stitches!

What made it even more impressive was the size. This photo shows that quilt hanging next to another ribbon winner.

From a distance I couldn't imagine why this Mariners compass wall hanging didn't have a ribbon on it. The colors are beautiful, the points are precise and the information indicated that it had been hand pieced. Upon closer inspection I could see that the quilting was done by machine. For some reason the quilter decided to quilt each point using a blanket stitch, making it appear that the points had been fused in place. All that handwork and no ribbon!

This Ohio Star quilt has 221 stars that measure THREE inches each! They were all set on point with three inch solid squares between them. Look at the amount of machine quilting there is in each square.

The blue border points were micro stippled and the white ones had these beautiful feathers.

I thought this large bed sized quilt was impressive! Bargello quilts have always been one of my husbands favorites and this multi directional one had him thinking that I should make one for our bed. It had me thinking that he should learn to quilt!

Why not put the Shipshewana Quilt Festival on your list of things to do in June 2012?

Hello from Shipshewana Indiana

2011-06-25T07:58:00.008-04:00

We are currently vending at the Quilt Festival in Shipshewana, Indiana. My husband has been helping hold down the booth while I taught a few sessions of the Schoolhouse program and spend the rest of the day demonstrating my Quick Trim Ruler. It's been fun!

I though you would enjoy seeing some of the quilts from the show.

It is hard to appreciate the colors and workmanship of this sampler quilt in this larger photo. It is a big quilt and I wanted you to see the whole thing. The next photo shows just the one corner. Every block is different and they were very well pieced. I think the border choice was perfect.

This quilt had a ribbon, best of show for machine quilting.

Here is why! Although I do have to wonder if a Statler Stitcher was involved.

This quilt caught my eye immediately. The setting is unique and the blocks are all hand appliqued. The message from the maker says that this quilt will be given to her grandson when he marries or reaches the age of 35, which ever comes first!

The quilt is hand quilted. I hope he finds a bride worthy of this kind of work.

More photos later! Right now I have to get to the booth and get ready for another day!

Quilt Something - It's Good For You!

2011-06-13T08:40:00.005-04:00

Not that I have ever needed a reason or an excuse to start another quilting project, but the next time my husband gives me that look - you know the one - I intend to peer at him from behind my stack of unfinished projects and quote directly from this article from the Daily Mail in Scotland.

Why Quilting Improves Your Health In Ways That Even Exercise Can't Manage

Is that good news or what?

This study found that quilting offered health benefits including increased brain activity a better sense of well being and cognitive ability. They didn't even mention that you have a beautiful quilt to show for all of your healthy efforts as well!

I consider this a wonderful way to start my work week! Toss those running shoes along with the guilt of not using them and forget that gym membership. I'm off to stimulate some brain activity and improve my cognitive ability. To improve my heart rate I think I just might cut into some $14.99 per yard fabric that I am not sure I have enough of to finish the project - that should get the blood pumping.

If you would like to read the entire article, here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2002862/Why-quilting-uniquely-good-us.html

Now go improve your health!

Quilts of Valor

2011-06-07T09:50:00.013-04:00

While I am on Grandma duty, I thought I would share a little bit about the Quilts of Valor group that meets at our shop on the second Monday evening of each month. I think you will be impressed with the amazing things they have accomplished in the last six months. Bonnie, our coordinator and mother of an active duty Marine, does a fantastic job. She also has a wonderful team of volunteers that work with her to make quilt tops that are then professionally quilted and returned for binding. Some members of the group cut, some piece, some quilt and some bind and a few of them do it all. They selflessly give their time to make these gifts of love for wounded soldiers that have given of themselves for out country. If you are looking for a way to give a little something back and share your quilting skills, they would love to have you join them!

Quilts of Valor is a national organization and it is my personal feeling that if every chapter had a coordinator like Bonnie and the volunteers that help her, every wounded vet would be wrapped in a quilt of love as a thank you that cannot begin to express our appreciation for their sacrifice. If you don't live near our store, I encourage you to seek out a Quilts of Valor chapter in your area. Even if you have never made a quilt, there is a team of volunteers that would love to help you learn.

Here is an excerpt from Bonnie's last newsletter:

Hi Everyone,

I have given General Jones 4 more quilts that he has presented to soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital on our behalf. I also had the pleasure of delivering one of our quilts to the USMC Reserve Unit in North Versailles. Brian asked that we make a quilt for the entire unit to hang in their headquarters. He told me that this unit returned from Iraq in 2005 with 90% of the men injured and they wanted a quilt that they could hang for everyone to enjoy. They loved the quilt!

I received an email from the Region Nine coordinator regarding the men and women that work at Dover Air force Base in England. These are the men and women that have the honor, but unfortunate duty of taking care of the bodies of our fallen heroes and preparing them for transport. Missy gave me 5 finished quilts this weekend and I have two of them boxed and ready to go to Dover.

I also have two quilt tops to ship to volunteer longarmers in New Jersey and two more to ship to longarmers in Vermont and another going to Maryland. Those tops are in addition to those being quilted by Maryjane and Mary right here in our area. The CCAC Child Development Center raised $60 on our behalf and I am using that money to cover the cost of postage to ship the quilt tops to the quilters. A co-worker also donated a check for $100 and I am sure that we will put that to good use as well.

We have made and donated 41 quilts since January 2011 and 30 of them have been distributed. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication, this program could not be successful without all of you.

Our next meeting will be Monday evening June 13th at The Quilt Company and we will be using the AccuQuilt to cut 10" charm squares to put kits together. I hope to see everyone there!

Bonnie

The Grandma Zone

2011-06-04T10:24:00.004-04:00

Caution:

You are about to enter the Grandma Zone. That wonderful place that is inhabited by those of us that have just been blessed with the most adorable grandchildren in the world, and we can't stop talking about them or showing you photos of them. There is a desperate need to let the entire world know how wonderful they are.

The twins arrived on May 28th. Grant Emory and Madeline Rae are perfect, except that they live 5 hours away. I was there for their arrival and their first 5 days. I would still be there, but they have another set of Grandparents that we have to share them with and they are entitled to some cuddle time too. I'm headed back for a second visit as soon as they leave and I'm actually looking forward to the 5 hour trip. It will give me plenty of time to think, design, plan and decide on the next twenty or so quilts that I want to make them so that they always feel like they are wrapped up in Grandma love!

Who knew that two tiny little people could rock your entire world!

Home From Quilt Market

2011-05-17T13:40:00.010-04:00

Home.

It has taken a little over a day to crawl back into the land of the living, but I think I have adjusted back into my timezone, gotten a good nights sleep, unpacked the mountain of paperwork and goodies that I managed to bring back, sorted through everything that piled up while I was away and can say I am officially home from Market. Whew!

Salt Lake was beautiful! The sun was out and the weather was perfect. This was the view from my hotel. Waking up at 4am each day (not by choice, but by habit, it was 6am at home) gave me plenty of time to get outside. I even took my running shoes and managed to go running a few mornings. I don't run far, but it was a great way to see the downtown sites. I also don't take my camera when I run, so for photos of the beautiful spring flowers at Temple Square, click on over to Karen Snyder's blog, http://annalenaland.com/

I bought batiks, batiks and did I mention batiks? Then I decided I had to branch out a little and I added some great new patterns, big bold contemporary fabrics, some retro and a ton of blenders and basics. Our favorite designers didn't let us down and we will have a stream, make that a river, of fabrics arriving from now through the end of the year. I bought for the areas that we needed to fill immediately - like red white and blue. Thanks to Bonnie and the great job she is doing with our Quilts of Valor group, our usual assortment is running pretty low and we can't have that!

One of my favorite parts of Market is the displays. The amount of work that goes into pulling together a single booth is mind boggling. Don't you just love this tree from the Riley Blake display? The quilts and kids clothes in the background were well made and looked great. I have to admit that I was particularly drawn to the baby and kid items. My daughter is due with twins any day now and I am definitely in Grandma Mode.

I did see a few things that I can guarantee or at least feel pretty confident that I won't be making for those new additions to our family. Then again, I learned a long time ago to never say never.

Jililly featured their newest patterns in an Ice Cream Store display, complete with a handsome guy handing out free small cones! You can see their well deserved and well earned booth ribbon displayed up front.

I was fascinated by these..... um, green things! I thought of them as something from under the sea and imagined that they would look great with a fish print behind them until one of my friends pointed out that she thought they were cactus! I guess that explains the snake coiled around the one in the lower left. Don't know what they are, they are totally non functional, but I want some anyway!

I better get to work, I have a thousand things to do and I still have visions of purses and totes and fabrics and table runners dancing in my head!

Your Tax Dollars At Work

2011-05-09T18:04:00.007-04:00

I received the following in my email today from the U.S. Census Bureau:

"Each decade, after it tabulates the decennial census, the Census Bureau calculates the center of population. The center is determined as the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight."

What the heck for?

Considering that the U.S. is NOT flat, is NOT weightless and does NOT balance on anything, not to mention that one thing we are definitely NOT in this country is IDENTICAL WEIGHT, why do they bother with this calculation? And after a bunch of math brains get together and figure it out why do they think I have nothing better to do than expect us to join them for their big announcement?

"Join the US Census Bureau for a live UStream event discussing the new Centers of Population at 11am EDT on Wednesday May 11. They will be taking questions from the public during the event on Facebook and Twitter."

Really?

This is a tweet worthy event? What question could the public possibly have except "Why do you bother doing this"? Who uses this information? Isn't it obsolete as soon as the first person moves, even if it is just across town? One baby is born and oops there goes the perfectly balanced-everybody weighs the same-on the perfectly flat imaginary map of the United States calculation. Considering that according to their very own statistics 11,000 babies are born every day but not necessarily evenly spaced throughout the US, I would venture to say that their statistic is skewed.

I have plans to be somewhere over the midwest, flying to Quilt Market in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. There are a few thousand of us that will decend on the city for the multi day event. We tend to bring lots of fabric, quilts, books, patterns and notions with us. Those things tend to be heavy. I hope we don't tip the map!

Quilt Market Countdown

2011-05-01T20:42:00.010-04:00

It's that time of year again.

Quilt Market season. Twice each year everyone in the quilting industry heads for the largest convention in the industry. This month we will make the trip to Salt Lake City, Utah to search for beautiful fabrics, innovative patterns, the very best new notions on the market. Right now, those of us that design for the marketplace are scrambling like crazy to finish and perfect our newest offerings.

Would you like a sneak preview at mine?

This is my newest pattern. I'm calling it "Old Dog, New Tricks". I think the name is perfect, because after 18+ years in the industry, I think I probably qualify as an "Old Dog". The project is made using the Quick Trim Ruler that I designed for Creative Grids and that ruler is capable of teaching even the most experienced quilter a few new tricks!

My original idea for the ruler was to eliminate having to draw all of those pesky lines when you clip corners on blocks like flying geese.

It certainly does that, but it also does a whole lot more!

For "Old Dog, New Tricks" you also use it to draw circles!

Keep in mind that this is a sneak preview. The pattern isn't ready yet, it is still in the proof reading stage, I have nine more days until Market - why hurry?

If you aren't familiar with the Quick Trim Ruler, you can check out the Creative Grids video on YouTube by clicking here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxzlBFVq0d0

Cincinnati

2011-04-12T14:01:00.009-04:00

What you see in this photo is an assortment of yo-yo's. Hand gathered little circles that are drawn up and measure about two inches before they are flattened into this shape and are made into "quilts". No backing or batting is normally added, just hundreds or even thousands of gathered circles that are stitched together edge-to-edge to complete the project.

But do you really know what this is a photo of?

I will show you the finished project at the bottom of this post. It was one of the entries in the Quilt Festival Show in Cincinnati.

We were vending at the Cincinnati show at the Duke Energy Convention Center. If you look closely you can see the edge of our double booth over in aisle 5, across from the Superior Threads booth. This photo only shows our end of the convention center. There was plenty more to enjoy at the opposite end of the huge room.

The show set-up was wonderful and there was plenty of quilting eye-candy. Being across from Superior Threads booth meant that as I demonstrated in our booth, this was the view that I had - not bad, not bad at all!

The quilts in their booth were wonderful and I was especially fond of the delectible mountain piece with the red border. The quilting was spectacular, but there is something about the way that the fabric shades through the colors that really appealed to me. After seeing it for 4 straight days, I know that I am going to have to make my own version of it. I will have to "put it on the list" of things I want to do as soon as I have time.

Do you have a list of quilts that you plan to make "someday"? My list includes a scrappy log cabin with lots and lots of tiny rails as well as a batik double wedding ring that doesn't even have to be a whole quilt, I would be happy with a table runner. I should probably plan to finish those twin quilts for our guest room that I have been working on for three, no four.... ok, about SEVEN years, but first I want to make another set of baby quilts for the twins that our daughter is expecting. Before that, I have to finish the pieces that I am working on for Quilt Market next month...... it is nice to know that there is no shortage of quilting in my future!

Now to show you what I will NOT be doing with my quilting time. I will not be making yo-yo's.... but if I did, I would hope that I would make something as unique as this.

Pretty amazing huh?

Doesn't that make you wonder where ideas like this come from?

Do you think the quiltmaker saw a handfull of yo-yo's laying on the table and thought, "Gee, that looks like my daughters eyes"? Maybe she has an aversion to sewing squares together or thought "Squares, been there, done that, I think I will photo shop circles into a scalloped edge quilt.

Maybe she had a few hundred yellow yo yo's left over from another project?

What is your best guess as to how something as unique as this gets started?

Has anyone seen my XML.dll file?

2011-03-30T20:55:00.005-04:00

The error message clearly says "Set up XML.dll is missing from computer" and I want it back.

Where could it possibly have gone and who would have taken it? The good Lord knows that I NEVER delete anything from my computer, I rarely trash the emails I receive let alone something as scary sounding as a XML.dll file. All I wanted to do was upgrade my Corel program. It should have been as simple as inserting the pretty little disk into the correct drive and listening to it whir as beautiful things happened, but it wasn't.

This whole thing started two days ago and I have once again been sucked into computer hell. I've installed, uninstalled, booted, rebooted, trashed, fixed, dialed help lines, allowed people to remotely walk their fingers through my electronic files and I am now, 2 full days later, exactly where I started - only worse off. Things have been trashed that I now have to re-install just to get back to the sorry state I was in two days ago pre-upgrade attempt.

Then the following invitation popped into my email:

"We are pleased to announce that Bill Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation will be a keynote speaker at the annual WIRED Business Conference, occouring in New York on May 3, 2011.

yadda, yadda, yadda,

Price $1895 - for lunch or possibly dinner, the invitation doesn't really say.

It is almost worth it. If I knew for sure that there would be a question and answer period I could fly to NY, attend the event and ask Mr. Microsoft himself why the heck these things always happen to ME and demand he restore my watchamacallit file! I would probably be taken out in handcuffs.

The invitation says that Martha Stewart will also be there. Maybe I can just get Martha to slap him upside the head?

All kidding aside, if I had the time to make a trip to New York, it would have been to see this:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/finally-mrs-rose-and-the-public-can-see-all-her-rugs/?smid=tw-cityroom&seid=auto&utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=americanquilter%203/29/2011%204:28:10%20PM

A definate WOW in the quilting world.

Where Have I Been?

2011-03-17T18:09:00.017-04:00

Several people have asked.

More than a few have insinuated that I am way behind in my blog posting.

True, but I have been busy.

We will be vending at the Quilt Festival in Cincinnati Ohio in April.
Working a show of that size requires hours of planning and cutting and folding and printing and planning and packing and planning and wondering if you are planning correctly.

Then you have to pack what you have in bins and pile it all up and wonder if you have enough.... or too much. Don't forget the samples that have to be made and quilted and bound and packed. Then you have to have drapes and carpet and tables and chairs and table drapes and fixtures and a plan to make it all fit.

Click here for more information on the show:
http://www.quilts.com/newHome/shows/viewer.php?page=SpringFestival

While you are at it, you have to make samples of everything you are taking and I like to remake samples so that the fabrics in our kits match the samples we have on display. We publish our own patterns so I can "easily" change the photo on the front of the pattern. That only requires that I make a new sample, set up the lighting, take the photo, do the editing and insert it on the page before we print. Our wonderful Xerox printers have been behaving like spoiled kids recently. Turn your back on them and something rotten happens.

Naturally this NEVER happens when the Xerox Tech is standing here and I am trying to explain that the paper jams ALL THE TIME.

Then there have to be new patterns and samples made so that we have something "new" for the show. It doesn't matter that this is the first year for this show and almost everyone attending would never have seen our usual booth set-up, we still have to have something NEW. I added a few pillows to our button pillow line, including this Happy Birthday project.

In addition to prepping for the show, I was the featured speaker at the Quilt Guild in New Wilmington PA earlier this month. The meeting is in a great college town located about an hours drive from my store, but I have always found it better to leave extra early - like around noon - to get there in time for the evening meeting. If you happen to get there early, there is a great outlet mall located nearby and you can spend some time looking around until the meeting is ready to begin. I have twin grandchildren due later this spring and the Carters store and I became great friends. The best part about shopping for grandchildren is that you don't have to try their stuff on in front of a three way mirror!

We also have a new BlockWatchers Club that started this month. As part of the fun, I have decided to digitize the applique blocks for those club members that have embroidery machines. Fun, fascinating, but not foolproof. It takes a ton of test stitching to get everything the way you would like it. There is no better way to learn to digitize than to jump right in and give it a try. I have managed to digitize and test sew the first 8 of 24 blocks for this project. Not being one to sit around watching a machine sew, I powered up not one but two BERNINA 830's and had both embroidering at the same time. Those grandchildren I mentioned, are both getting embroidered quilts too.

Lauren, our oldest daughter and her husband are expecting the twins and they requested monkeys and giraffes for the babies room. I have finished two quilts, one green/brown/gold with monkey faces embroidered on it for baby boy and one in all shades of yellow with giraffes embroidered on it for baby girl. Both are backed with Oh So Soft from Moda and I have just a little bit of binding to hand stitch to be completely finished. Then I am going to start on the quilts that Grandma wants them to have!

Meanwhile I also completed samples for our newest pattern Five Easy Pieces. It is the perfect showplace for those large bright funky prints - but being in Grandma mode, I couldn't resist making a baby version too. Instructions for both are in the same pattern. We backed the baby version with cherry red Oh So Soft and added a layer of batting too. If feels absolutely luscious!

Did I mention that "we" are doing a complete redesign on the website? Actually I have hired a pro for this job, but it is my responsibility to tell her exactly what I want. Not an easy task, but it is going to be amazing when it goes live. I can't wait! It also requires a complete re-write of almost everything, changing the format I use for the newsletter. Yep, the spring newsletter that I just finished, printed and mailed has to be changed and re-done to fit the new format. Maybe we will start that process with the summer newsletter.....

CABIN FEVER

2011-02-23T15:24:00.016-05:00

I have to give Old Man Winter a little credit for the success of our Cabin Fever Event that we held at the Hampton Community Center Ballroom on Tuesday evening. After the 8+ inches of snow that he dumped on us on Monday night, everyone was more than ready to get out of the house and have some fun.

Luckily that is just what we had planned!

Sixty of our most adventurous customers joined my entire staff for an evening of crafting fun. Sure, we are a quilt shop, but that doesn't mean we don't know how to do other things too!

Before opening the shop I spent many years as the Regional Craft Coordinator for a chain of craft stores. I can knit, crochet, needlepoint, decorate Ukrainian Eggs and teach calligraphy among other things. I'm also a certified Wilton Cake Decorator and that isn't all. As our guests can tell you, I can show you how to silk paint with Sharpie Markers. I can turn a Crate and Barrel candle holder into a pin cushion and take a fluffy flower idea and make it easier than anyone can imagine. Mix in the talents of my staff and you have a creative powerhouse capable of providing you with an evening of creative fun!

The spacious room and pleasant surroundings made it easy to move around to the different stations, including the food table and bar. Making a wine charm made it easy to keep track of your drink as you traveled from project to project.

Everyone stretched their creativity just a little beyond what they thought they were capable of and I think it felt good to spread those wings a little and get out of the winter doldrums.

Stash Management

2011-02-09T09:32:00.014-05:00

BRRRRRR. The last few days have made a good argument for human hibernation. Would someone please reach inside Phil's snug little burrow and yank him out so that he can explain exactly what he meant by "early spring"? A quick thaw any minute now would be just fine with me.

On a more positive note, this weather does lend itself to staying inside and getting some sewing and quilting accomplished. You might even want to get a jump on the spring cleaning bug and organize your sewing space. My customers and friends are always telling me that they "need" to use up their stash. Well friends, it isn't going to go anywhere unless you dive into it and put it to use. Maybe it is time to put your big girl panties on and deal with it.

Quilting "stash" comes in many flavors. There are those pieces that you absolutely LOVE. Those are the pieces, no matter how big or small, that make your heart beat a little faster just looking at them. As silly as it sounds, you can't possibly "use" those pieces, because if you did, they would be "gone". I understand completely. Fondle those, refold and set those aside. Quilter-to-quilter, we get it.

At the opposite end of the stash spectrum are the "What the heck was I thinking?" fabrics. You know the ones. You have absolutely no idea what possessed you to purchase them. They don't work with anything else in your stash. They may even have been a beautiful green in the store that turned into baby puke yellow when you got it home. You know in your heart of hearts that you are never going to use them, but you paid good money for them and can't possibly throw them away. Here is the solution:

I Karen Montgomery here by grant _____(insert your name here)____ permission to donate any fabric of any length or size that they deem not worthy of their esteemed stash to a worthy cause.

There, that should do it. Take all of that unworthy fabric out of your sewing space and give it away! The Million Pillowcase Challenge is still going strong. There are inner city programs that teach kids to sew that are always looking for donations. Quilts of Valor groups all over the country are doing amazing things for our Vets. There are many, many more groups that would love to have your "ugly" stash. If you live local, give us a call, we can put you in touch with the people we know.

Now that just leaves the middle ground of stash. The pieces that you like and would love to see used, you just don't have the time to drag it out and put it to use. Why not use one of these frigid snowy days to grab a rotary cutter and put it to good use?

I suggest that you cut 10 inch squares, 2 1/2 inch strips and 5 inch squares. These are the standard cuts that are used in hundreds - maybe thousands of books and patterns. You don't have to know what you are going to make, just cut, sort by color and size and enjoy the feeling of "using up" some of your stash.

Once you have nice neat pre-cut pieces to play with, imagine the fun you will have! Grab a pattern, your pre-cut pieces and you will be ready to sew in minutes! Scrap quilts abound! You are ready for any Jelly Roll, Layer Cake or Charm Square pattern you see, including all of the ones pictured here.

Now don't you feel better about your stash?

You Can't Do This In Florida

2011-01-24T08:34:00.005-05:00

I wouldn't exactly call our son "Mr Science". Brandon has always been attracted to off the wall crazy stunts because they are, well.... crazy... not because of the scientific properties involved. I spent much of his adolescence praying that he came home with limbs intact and hoping that he wasn't being escorted by the local police. Not that he was a "bad" kid, he just liked doing goofy stuff. If you get more than one boy with an attraction to goofy stuff in the same room, even if it is for just a few minutes, chances are you are going to need stain remover. Left unattended you may require a fire extinguisher or a new counter top. That only begins to explain why we have home video of what appears to be a flying vacuum cleaner. But I digress.

We have had a real cold snap here in the 'burg. Our overnight lows have been in the teens or even single digits for over a week. The windchill has been frigid by any standards. It was not enough to put a damper on Brandon and his now adult friends and their goofy antics.

It turns out that when the temperature is 5 degrees or below and you toss boiling water into the air - it vaporizes! It also makes a really cool sound! Scientific principals aside, it is fun!

Boiling tap water combine with frigid temperatures and you have what amounts to a poor mans version of fireworks. After the Steeler victory last night Brandon and his friends tossed several gallons of boiling water into the air to celebrate - and nobody lost a finger or shot their eye out.

Naturally I had to get Brandon to show me how it was done. Early this morning we boiled up some water in the microwave and whoosh! Vapor! How cool is that?

Ok, you had to know that Brandon got that "goofy" gene somewhere.

Home From the South

2011-01-18T13:38:00.017-05:00

I did it. I managed to fly to Florida for the Ricky Tims Super Seminar, visit my friend and my daughter and return relatively unscathed. Five luke warm days in the somewhat Florida sunshine. Not exactly the perfect vacation...... but I would do it again in a minute!

My plan was to take my new, bright shocking pink, camera with me so that I could document my travels and share the photos with you here on the blog. That plan went awry when my purse fell over in the car on the way to the airport and that cute little camera slid out of my bag. I never even noticed the shocking pink camera on the car floor. Better in the car than in the bin at airport security, which is where I thought I had lost it until I phoned my husband.

No problem, I had my fancy schmancy phone with me. That would work just fine..... or not. If you want to see my photos of the trip, you will have to stop by and look at them on my phone. I've spent the last several hours emailing them to myself, but they never arrive. We will have to make do without my original photos

Flying for me is never easy, and I should have known better than to book a flight through Newark in any month where there is a chance of snow. When I tried to check in for my Wednesday morning flight, Continental informed me that my flights had been canceled. They had no options and their operators were very busy. They suggested I "try again later" before hanging up on me. I outsmarted them and booked a USAIRWAY one way ticket through Charlotte. I arrived at the airport very early for my flight so that I would have time to get my Continental refund before I left the burgh. With refund slip in hand, I checked the departure board and noticed that the 12:00 flight to Charlotte had been delayed. I headed straight for that gate and because other poor unfortunate travelers were going to miss their connections, they were rerouted and I was able to snag a seat on the earlier flight - the one that left so late that I actually arrived in Charlotte on schedule - instead of late, and made my connection for sunny Florida. Yippee!

After a night in West Palm, Bernie and I headed for Jacksonville, UNF, and the seminar. We found Lindsay, checked in to our hotel and registered for the seminar. That isn't a photo of the seminar building, that is the fancy new dorm at UNF with the lazy river. I couldn't find a photo of the University Center - work with me here....

There were over 370 women (and one man) attending. Ricky starts on time, stops on time and keeps things moving. Even though Bernie and I were just a few rows from the back, we had no problem seeing everything that was presented. The room was large, the presentations were on Power Point and shown on a large overhead screen. There were tight video shots of the "real life" demos and I don't think there was a bad seat in the house. I was impressed.

The days were paced to move quickly, but there were also generous breaks in the morning and afternoon. Lunch was an hour and a half, which was more than enough time to get out, eat and be back in your seat without having to rush. The doors opened at 7:30 am and the sessions started at 8:30. I would have preferred a later start and less break time, especially the morning that Bernie had to scrape ice from the windshield - in sunny Florida. Luckily the days got warmer the longer I stayed. The last night that I was there we actually ate outside on the patio! Now that I am home, I hear that Jacksonville is in the 70's. - figures......

The seminar days flew by. Alex Anderson did a segment on drawing your own hand quilting designs. As always, Alex made herself available at every break to sign autographs, take photos and listen to endless stories about how her fans have connected with her over the years. I was no different.

On Friday Lindsay joined us for the afternoon session. I specifically wanted her there to meet Alex. The quilt featured on the front cover of the Start Quilting book has a border on it made from fabric that I designed for Timeless Treasures. I named the fabric line after Lindsay. Lindsay's birthday is January 15th, Alex's birthday is January 14th. I now have a photo (on my phone) of Lindsay and Alex and the book which she autographed. Just for fun.

One absolutely delightful segment was presented by Libby Lehman. (that is Ricky's quilt, Libby does thread painting) Libby is a national treasure. She is hysterical, talented, more fun than you can imagine and a very good teacher. Her honest, down to earth comments about her work were great fun to listen to and I don't think anyone left the room thinking "I could never do that". On the contrary, I think everyone that possibly could, raced home to give it a try! I even considered giving it a try on the sewing machine that Lindsay took to school with her, but there just wasn't time.

Blending the seminar with a college visit required that we include Lindsay with meals, take her shoping to Target for "necessities" and spring for a very expensive birthday dinner. Bernie and I have been friends for over 20 years so there was lots of talking and laughing. There justs wasn't time for anything else.

Sunday morning we headed back to West Palm and stopped to vist with another of Bernies friends over lunch. Cindy's home was absolutely delightful, beautifully decorated with quilts - some of which are published and award winning. It was a perfect ending to a great weekend. Then I had to fly home. I left in the wee hours of the morning and other than a 5 hour layover in Atlanta due to mechanical dificulties, all went well.

Quilting weekend, daughter visit, warmer temperatures than we had at home. Steeler victory, New England loss, what else could a girl want? ...... I want to do it again!

I'm glad that is over......

2011-01-10T17:49:00.007-05:00

There is nothing like the year end inventory to suck the fun out of having a retail store. It is not only a necessary evil, it is required by law. Weighing several thousand bolts of fabric, counting zippers and fat quarters and patterns and notions and thread (3,380 spools to be exact) and packages of pins and needles and ........ well you get the idea. Then comes the paperwork that inventory generates. The cross checking and verifying and correcting and when it is all done, it is TAX TIME. What kind of reward is that?

It is no wonder that after all of the numbers are put to bed I try to schedule some sort of treat for myself. A pedicure in the middle of winter, a shopping splurge for a special treat, anything that I can dangle as a carrot to help me get through the fact that I spend most of my holiday lifting, counting or answering paperwork questions.

This year I have gone a little overboard. Ricky Tim's is hosting one of his Super Quilting Seminars with special guests Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman in Jacksonville Florida. On the campus of the University of North Florida. Our youngest daughter attends UNF in Jacksonville and her birthday is next weekend - the same weekend as the seminar. When my BFF Bernie discovered this, she suggested we attend. I could not have agreed more.

I'm sure my daughter, who was just home for 3 weeks is dying to spend her 20th birthday with her Mom and her Mom's best friend. Although I have already been informed that we can take her out to dinner, but we aren't invited to the party her friends are throwing.... I can't imagine why.

Seeing Lindsay for her birthday is a bonus. My main reason, besides spending time with Bernie, in what I hope will be the Florida sunshine, is business related. This seminar is serious business. Day one starts at 2:30 and runs until 7:30 pm. Day two starts at 7:30 AM and doesn't finish until 5:30 and then there is an evening concert by Rick at 7:30 pm. Day three runs from 7:30 am until 5:30 pm. That is a lot of hours to fill. The entire thing is lecture demo style. No sewing, no cutting, no materials list. I know that I can be long winded. I once talked for 45 minutes on batting alone, but 2 1/2 days is a LONG time. What can they possibly tell us that will hold the interest of everyone for that long? I can't wait to find out, and then I will share it with you.

At least I hope I have the chance to find out. As I write this another storm is set to hit the New York area on Wednesday. Naturally I have to fly through Newark NJ to get to Florida - on Wednesday. I'm leaving a day early because it is not uncommon for my flights to go a bit haywire. Later this week I will either be able to tell you about the wonderful time I had at the Ricky Tims Seminar or you will be forced to listen to me whine about yet another airline disaster. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Holiday Sewing Help

2010-12-15T14:32:00.005-05:00

As a pattern designer/instruction writer I get lots of feedback from consumers. Mostly in the form of phone calls and emails, because my name, address, email and every other bit of contact information possible is on everything I publish. I always cringe, just a little bit when the staff hands me the phone and says "It's a customer with a problem". I am human, and try as hard as I possibly can not to, I do make mistakes. We go above and beyond to correct an issue as quickly and efficiently as possible and do everything we possibly can to remedy the situation they create. I want you to be happy with our products. I also appreciate constructive criticism. It is nice to hear that you think another illustration or arrow or red line would help someone be more successful in the future.

Sometimes is isn't me with the problem. From time-to-time we get calls or emails from extremely irritated customers, that insist I am A COMPLETE MORON THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN OUT BACK AND SHOT for writing such horrid instructions. After walking them through the step-by-step instructions that I KNOW are correct because they have been followed hundreds of times, we discover the step they skipped or what they "think" they read and get them back on the right track. Most of customers are grateful for the personalized attention. Sometimes, much to my amusement, when the light bulb finally goes off in the consumers head, they are so embarrassed by the conversation they simply hang up on me!

Sometimes the messages are just plain funny. If you are stressed over holiday sewing, you are going to enjoy the following. Bernie is my BFF. She lives in Florida and has a degree in Family and Consumer Science - that's Home Ec. for us common folk. She recently had an issue with our Tea Towel Apron pattern and the following is the email she sent me. Enjoy!

"I want you to know, that despite your best intentions, your "Quick and Easy Apron" pattern directions are not idiot proof. I am living, almost breathing (despite a stuffy nose) example of it. May I suggest that in future printings you print the "finished edge" line in RED with the caption "Do NOT cut on this line, you Moron". I have already altered my directions in this way - too late. Never mind that I had already made one of these with great success. I'm blaming the cold meds for this disaster. It might also be helpful to suggest that the consumer use a "good quality" tea towel and not one with a rather loose weave that cost $2.

Of course the SMART thing to do, once I realized my cutting error, would have been to attach a casing out of "regular" fabric. I decided instead to sew the corners, that I had just lopped off, back on. Great idea, except that I sewed one of the corners, wrong sides together, instead of right sides together. I had to rip that one out, a nightmare on the loosely woven fabric. Except, I ripped out the one I had sewn correctly, so I ended up ripping them both out. It would have been "smarter yet" to sew them back on using the serger. Except the one I own has been buried in my closet since we did the kitchen remodel, seven years ago..... and it is threaded in black.

Despite ending up with a ravelled mess, I forged ahead. By the time I had everything sewn back on, trimmed correctly and top stitched, the bottom of the casing ended up too "high" on the sides. I decided to sew grosgrain ribbon loops further down to pull the ties through so that they were not right under my boobs. By the time I finished sewing the cute contrasting pocket on, it had been 2 1/2 hours since I started! I fully expect it to unravel the first time I wash it, but it looks SO cute hanging on the side of my fridge!

My plan was to make these for my quilt group for next Christmas. I have 12 months to make 7 aprons. I better get started."

Ho Ho Ho..............

Holiday Sewing

2010-11-21T16:46:00.008-05:00

The Christmas crunch has started. We have hosted our first session of Handmade for the Holiday demonstrations at the shop. Fliers, ads and circulars have started to arrive at my house by the pound. There are turkeys in defrost mode in millions of refrigerators across the country. I have received catalogs for every food product that could possibly be shipped as a gift - and a few that you might not want to receive! It is time to turn on the sewing machine and get started on those gifts that I intend to give. That was today's plan. Get going. Check some gifts off that list......

I did get to sew for most of the day. First I had to prepare an email blast that will go out on Monday morning to our local customers. I try to send a sampling of photos of new fabrics and products to those that can walk into our store. Very few of our fabrics are uploaded to our website. Sometimes I make a suggestion for what the new fabric might be used for.

On Friday Jerry, our UPS man delivered the mother lode of novelty fabrics. Each one was more adorable than the last. Opening the boxes in a fabric delivery is like Christmas all year round. Judging by this shipment, we have been very good girls this year.

There were chef prints and daisies and stripes with fruit. PacMan looking ghosts and French postcards and knitting sheep. Adorable knitting sheep. I suggested to my email audience that the sheep would make a great looking knitting bag. Too cute. Back to sewing.

My oldest would love something made out of the French line. We can always use a new sample of the Easy Stripe Table Runner. My baby sister had those chef prints in her kitchen at one point. I wonder if she would like an apron, or maybe a table runner. I should get started....

Several hours later I had done a lot of sewing. No gifts to show for my time, just some class prep for next week and this adorable knitting bag. I don't need a knitting bag. Nobody on my gift list knits. I just couldn't resist. Those sheep, trimmed with a sweater print, stitched into my version of the Chinese Take-Out bag was just too perfect to not stitch up. I even made and added those great looking handles using the pattern from Aunties Too. I had a great time making that bag.

Anyone on my gift list want to learn to knit?

Introducing the Quick Trim Ruler!

2010-11-07T08:19:00.009-05:00

I mentioned late in the summer that I had designed a ruler for Creative Grid and promised to show it to everyone here on the blog as soon as we had samples and video ready to go. I have to admit that it took longer to find time to shoot the video than it did to produce the ruler! We filmed quick demonstrations at Quilt Market that are available on You Tube and on the Checker Distributors website. Keep in mind that these are last minute videos that were filmed on the convention floor, not professional studio shots. You will hear lots of convention noise in the background as people stopped by asking questions and making comments just off camera. I can hear them, but you can't, that explains my temporary distractions. If you would like to see me, exhausted, having a bad hair day on the last day of Market, click on the link below. Keep in mind it is all about the RULER - not me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxzlBFVq0d0

Designing the ruler and working with the Creative Grid team has been a delightful experience. When they agree to do something, consider it done. I suggested the ruler on a Friday afternoon. I emailed drawings of what I wanted it to look like Monday morning. One week later the design was approved, changes had been made, Plexiglas had been ordered and two weeks later I had a prototype in my hand. For someone that is use to taking a year to pull a fabric line together that is like working at the speed of light!

I have had the ruler to work with for almost 2 months. I LOVE the way it works and I hope you will too! Naturally I had to design a few quilts to work with the ruler - although the ruler works with ANY 45 degree angle line on ANY pattern you already own.

Both our Sea Glass, pictured here, and the Migration pattern have step-by-step illustrations of how to position the ruler right in the instructions. Both quilts are "jelly roll" projects as well. One set of 40 strips with just a little more fabric added will make either one of the quilts.

My absolute favorite part of the ruler is that I no longer have to draw a zillion lines to sew on. I simply pre-trim the pieces and sit down and sew. Perfect every time. Demonstrating the ruler to both customers and other shop owners I have discovered that everyone else loves the idea of using the ruler to trim their binding strips. Apparently that has been a big issue for most quilters - problem solved! Feel free to go back and watch that segment of the video if you missed it or stop in the shop, we would love to show you in person! If you don't live near The Quilt Company, stop in your favorite quilt shop and ask for a demo on the ruler, I am pretty confident that I showed it to every quilt shop owner that attended Quilt Market! Tell them I sent you!

PS If you can't find the Quick Trim Ruler in your area, call the shop and order one by phone. The price is just $16 + postage and we would be happy to send you one.

Market

2010-11-02T15:16:00.011-04:00

I have to say that the combination of joy, exhaustion, creativity and adrenalin of attending International Quilt Market has me wishing I was facing a three day weekend instead of a full work week, but I wouldn't want to miss it for the world.

Four full days of teaching, demonstrating, walking the floor, and placing orders, combine with drinks and dinners with other shop owners and vendors that feel more like family is more fun than work, but exhausting just the same.

Debby and I have fun no matter where we go. Sometimes I am pretty sure that we are the only two people that find the situation funny, but that doesn't deter us from having a good time. For example, Ty Pennington was at Quilt Market. He is offering a new fabric line called Impressions and you could stop by this booth to meet him. During set-up time, when the walls of the booth had to be screwed together, Ty was nowhere to be found. There were a few girls and a cordless drill manhandling things into place. Where is that DIY guy when you need him?

Talk about fun.....

The Swirly Girls pattern company has designed a new block of the month program for Michael Miller fabrics. MM was gracious enough to invite us to a beautiful breakfast so that Susan, from Swirly Girls could explain the program to us. Deb loved it immediately, but I was a bit more cautious. I know what it is like to be in over your head, making promises that you only hope you can keep for the next 12 months. I usually prefer to be in charge of my own destiny, so I decided to think about it. By our last day at Market neither of us had seen anything that we liked better than the new Clubhouse program, so we stopped by to give it another look. I then realized that if you bought the program, Swirly Girls (also girls that know how to have fun) allowed one person from your party to be entered into their glass wind tunnel. You had the opportunity to "grab" as much Swirly Girl cash as possible in 30 seconds.

That made the decision.

We were definitely doing the program.

Guess who was going in the booth

Deb secured enough cash to
win two charm packs of the
same fabrics that are used in the block of the month.

I guess she will still be buying lottery tickets if she really wants to strike it rich.

Deb's quote "That isn't as easy as it looks!"

Luckily the quilt is beautiful and you can look forward to making it starting just after the first of the year.

Wind tunnel not included.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2010-10-22T15:42:00.010-04:00

I've been busy getting ready for International Quilt Market in Houston. Normally I am knee deep in fabric scraps of a new fabric collection right about now, but this year things are different. I don't have a new fabric collection.

Last year, about the time I should have been working on the artwork for this Market, we chose to take on a BERNINA sewing machine dealership. It wasn't a decision that I took lightly and the time commitment to new dealer training, staff training, store adjustments, etc. was too important to share or impose on my design time, so I decided to let this Market slide.

Now that the dealership is up and running in full speed, over the last several months I've been contemplating how nice it will be to just go and enjoy the Market atmosphere. No sales side of the aisle, just the buying side of the aisle. Everyone knows buying is much more fun than selling! Buying is good, very good, but in my mind creating is ever so much BETTER!

Without the pressure of Market samples for a new fabric line, I have had time to create. I've still been ankle deep in fabric scraps, they just aren't mine! Along the creative journey I have found a few new items that have made me very happy. I have access to just about anything that I want in the sewing world and I have very discriminating taste. A notion has to really be worth it's weight in gold to make it into my stash or earn a recommendation to my customers. I also like things that work with ease and hopefully do more than one thing. Working on my most recent projects I have discovered a few new favorites.

Sue Hausmann told me about Steady Betty. It may not look like much, but like a tried and true friend, Steady Betty is there when you need her. I have the 15 by 24 inch size. Betty is a foam covered pressing surface that is suitable for ironing but is unbelievably helpful when hooping a project for machine embroidery. If you have ever felt like you needed another set of hands to get a project in a hoop, I suggest Steady Betty. She comes in smaller sizes, but in my opinion, get the big one! Your little hoops won't mind. Naturally we have them in our store, but if you are not local, I would bet the quilt shop in your area could order one for you too.

My sewing moto has always been "It is all in having the right tools" but sometimes I don't take my own advice. When we get the time, most of us are just happy to be sewing. We can figure out how to make do with whatever we have. There are always multiple ways to accomplish a task and if we can do it without having to invest in something special, all the better. The other day I was working on a wall hanging that needed some "in the ditch" quilting. I wasn't looking forward to doing it. I can do it and I can do a good job if I go slowly, but those few stitches that "jump" out of the ditch drive me crazy. I decided to try a specialty foot for my BERNINA. They call it an Edge Stitching Foot, because there is a center fin in the foot that helps you guide your fabric so that you can stitch an even distance from the edge. BUT if you put that same guide in the "ditch" created by your seam, the needle stays right there - in the ditch! Wow that was easy! I have the BERNINA 830, which is why this foot looks so huge. The 830 is a 9mm machine with differential feed, so the foot is wider. You can get a "regular" one for your machine.

As long as I was in fancy feet mode, I decided to give the foot for sewing on buttons a try. I can't honestly remember the last time I stitched a button on by hand. Any machine that zig-zags will sew a button on. Simply set your stitch length to zero. The holes on all buttons are standard, no matter what size the button is. Technically you are zig-zagging in place. Who the heck needs a special foot for sewing on buttons? Any zig-zag foot works just fine. Ok, fine. Occasionally you break a button or a needle. It is rare that one slips out and zings its way across the room. It isn't like I've ever put anyone's eye out. I guess that explains the little rubber grips on the specialty button foot. They hold the slippery little devils in place while you sew. Some genius also thought about adding that little bar in the middle that gives just the right amount of slack to the thread so that if you plan to actually button the button, there is room for the buttonhole to close underneath - what will they think of next......

Hello?

2010-09-23T19:59:00.006-04:00

If you call me and I don't answer, I apologize.

If you text me, I am going to need you to call me so that you can tell me what your text says.

I will call/text you back.... eventually.

Earlier this week my husband needed a new cell phone. After about an hour in the phone store, we decided that he is not really ready for top notch technology. To make a long story short, he now has my old phone and I have a brand new, newfangled phone with a touch screen. We decided that with all of my traveling, it would be nice to have Internet access on my phone. Now I have to learn to use it. My husband told me it would be simple, I think he used the phrase "anyone can do it". This is the same man that was adamant with the clerk at the phone store that whatever phone he chose, she would have to transfer his ENTIRE contact list to the new phone. There was no way he would find time in his busy schedule to type ALL of those numbers into a new phone. She agreed to perform the service at no charge. I'm sure that she was wildly amused when she discovered that my husbands extensive list of contacts, that he said would take "forever" to transfer, contained exactly EIGHT numbers. I am not married to a phone geek.

My new phone is sleek and wonderful, and I have no idea how to use it. It has been a very busy week getting ready for Fall Festival at the Chautauqua Institute. It has not been a good week to learn new technology. I thought I would start with the instruction book. Have you seen the instructions for the new phones? The booklet that explains how to make a call, send and receive text messages, access the Internet, play games, track your entire life with an "App", take photos and about a zillion other functions is smaller than the phone!

My first clue that this would not be as easy as I thought was when I discovered that the print in the teeny tiny booklet was too small to read - and I was wearing my glasses! I had my son give me a few tips, a quick lesson on the 19 things I have to touch to get to the screen that allows me to dial. Answering is still a bit tricky and you can forget finding text messages. I set the tone that lets me know when one arrives, so at least I know I'm missing something. I just have absolutely no idea how to retrieve them.

At the store the clerk was more interested in showing me how to download Apps. She flipped a few things, handed me the phone and said "Go ahead, type in anything you are interested in" I typed in "quilt". She looked at me and said "really?" Meanwhile up popped 4 new "Apps". One was marked "Binding Calculator" and it was free, so I touched it. I now have an App on my phone that allows me to calculate quilt binding. I don't really need that app, I can calculate binding in my sleep, but it was free, and it is the only thing on my phone that I know how to use, so I am keeping it.

On the Road - AGAIN!

2010-09-15T08:12:00.013-04:00

In my last post I mentioned that I was off to Chicago for more Bernina training. I wasn't kidding and as you can see from the photo, neither was Bernina. This is what the hotel ballroom looked like as over one hundred of us arrived to a find a sea of 830 boxes ready and waiting for us to unpack and get down to sewing. That is exactly what we did and every minute of it was a learning experience.

We did some amazing things with the 830 in our action packed days, although I do have to say that I think we could have accomplished even more if they didn't stop to feed us every 2 hours!

All that eating wasn't necessarily a bad thing, meal times were spent getting to know our fellow dealers. I had breakfast, lunch and dinner with some old friends and many new ones. Getting to know Beverly and Nancy from Abigayle's Quiltery in Olmstead Falls, Ohio was an absolute delight. That came in handy for my next road trip.

I was scheduled to teach and speak at Quilts'N Gifts in Bluffton, Indiana last weekend. Mary Porrata the owner had requested that I bring as many quilts as possible with me for the event. When you are traveling with quilts, the only way to make sure they arrive safe and sound is to travel by car. Quilts are HEAVY and it only takes one or two to put you over the weight limit. Although we love our men in brown, and they "guarantee" delivery, if they don't deliver, the guarantee only means they return your shipping expense. I would still be left standing in the middle of an empty ballroom with no show and tell for my lecture. So my husband packed up the car and we left a day early for Indiana.

Not having to hurry meant that I could toss the Quilter's Travel Companion in the car and program the Garmin for one quilt shop after another. Stop #1 was to visit Nancy and Beverly at Abigayle's. Just a bit over 2 hours from Pittsburgh, this shop and the wonderful little village that they are located in, is well worth the trip. Both Nancy and Beverly are delightful and tons of fun. If you stop by, be sure to drool over their wonderful samples and then wander upstairs to see their classroom that is completely stocked with 830 machines. - can you tell I am jealous?

Stop #2 was in South Amherst, Ohio at Quilt's and Creations. As luck would have it - they were having a SALE! Located in a 100+ year old building right on Main Street, this shop is easy to find and very well stocked. Don't worry about shopping after a sale here, there will still be plenty of bolts to choose from.

I couldn't resist taking my husband to The Door Mouse in Betsville, Ohio for stop #3. This shop, which qualifies as being located in "the middle of nowhere" in my book, has more fabric in the building than any other shop I have ever been to. When you own a store and your husband does your accounting, it helps if you show him shops that make you look like you are controlling your inventory! The Door Mouse is packed with fabric. Perfectly organized, neat, clean, aisles of overwhelming amounts of fabric. They have great samples too, on the walls of the "second floor". You can see them from the loft, which is filled with flannel. If you visit this shop, take a map with you. My Garmon never did find it and google maps insists that it is located in Kansas, Ohio.

Our 4th shop was in Bluffton, but the Ohio Bluffton, not the Indiana Bluffton. Forever In Stitches is located on Main Street in a picture perfect small town. The shop is beautiful and much to my surprise I ran into a customer that has moved to that area and now works in that shop. I looked around a little, but both my husband and I were fascinated by the TWO Gammill quiting machines in the back of the store. We had a lovely visit and stopped at the ice cream store on the way out of town as we headed for the Bluffton in Indiana.

The remainder of the weekend was spent with Mary at Quilts'N Gifts. Saturday I taught 2 classes to a delightful group of customers that will be the first to attest that I can TALK about quilting! Mary provided a great lunch and we all enjoyed her store. I was especially amused at Mary's use of all of her available sales space, including the ceiling!

Sunday I was the featured speaker at Mary's customer appreciation luncheon at the local Country Club. Now you know why Mary wanted me to bring as many quilts as possible. She wrapped the room with quilts, including the entrance and hallway. The majority of the quilts were mine, but she also included a few customer quilts that were made as part of my 9 patch summer challenge that launched right here on the blog. It was an absolutely delightful way to spend the weekend. We headed home on Sunday evening and enjoyed a beautiful drive through the Ohio countryside.

Tomorrow I head for Eden, New York to do another presentation and next weekend, the Chautauqua Institute for Fall Festival. Then I really am going to stay home and SEW - until Quilt Market at the end of October!

My Life As A Long Haul Trucker

2010-08-24T15:10:00.013-04:00

I don't really drive a big rig. I drive a mini van. What many of you would consider a brand spanking new mini van, we only took delivery of it at the end of June. I would much prefer to be driving something small, sporty, with dual exhaust and 5 on the floor. Owning a quilt shop means that you haul a lot of "stuff" with you when you travel for work. So much stuff that something small and sporty would never do.

The reason that I feel like a long haul trucker is that when I arrived at work today and parked my brand spanking new mini van the odometer read 6314 miles. A mere 61 days old and I am averaging a little over 105 miles per day. That is a lot of mileage for someone that has a commute to work that is measured in FEET!

Most of the mileage accumulated making 2 trips to Florida. The first was for a wedding at the beginning of July, the second was last Thursday, returning our daughter Lindsay to college in Jacksonville. I drove Pittsburgh to Jacksonville, moved her into her dorm room, and drove back home to Pittsburgh in 36 hours. Then I drove to Maumee Ohio, near Toledo the very next day for the Checker Open House. Checker is our favorite wholesale distributor and I was scheduled to give a lecture on Sunday and demonstrate my new Creative Grid ruler to other shop owners on Monday. It was great fun - even if it did require an additional 3 1/2 hours of driving- each way!

This is a wholesale event for shop owners only.
On Sunday the shop owners were treated to lectures by Electric Quilt, myself, Sue Hausmann and Eleanor Burns. Between and after the lectures they shop the warehouse for goodies to take back to their stores. On Monday the shopping frenzy included the opportunity to stop by one of 20 or so booths and chat with designers, authors and manufacturers of a whole assortment of product. That is me in the back corner demonstrating my new Creative Grid Quick Trim ruler. - you are going to love it!

Susan and Mary Jane of the Quilt Branch, authors of the "Six Halves Make A Whole" series were on our right. Susan's House ruler is a Creative Grid product too. We love their stuff!

Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs was on our left. I think I have been watching Joan demonstrate her purse patterns for well over a decade - is that possible? Her two new patterns are just as detailed and well thought out with step-by-step photos as they always have been.

Finishing out our little corner was Nancy Halvorsen. We are pretty excited about a new product we found that prints patterns right on to fusible web using your home printer. Nancy explained to Debby how to access a pdf of her artwork for the newest book and print the designs on the product - NO tracing! 'ya gotta love that!

From my point of view, one of the best things about this Open House is that Checker truly appreciates how hard we all work and Sunday evening after close, they take us all to dinner. It is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with other designers. I sat across from Eleanor Burns and next to Karla Alexander. Our table was close enough that I also had the opportunity to lean back and have a great conversation with Sue Hausmann. How's that for dinner companions?

I've known Eleanor for years, and it was nice to catch up on how her family is doing. This was my first opportunity to meet Karla, and it is easy to see why her books and rulers are so popular, we could easily become great friends! Check out that great mass of color behind her. Isn't her work beautiful!

It was my first opportunity to meet Sue Hausmann too. Naturally I feel like I know her from TV and I am quite sure that Sue had no idea who I was. She was gracious, delightful and I have to say that Sue is younger and so much more energetic and fun in person - I think PBS is so old fashion it actually ages people!

Sue and I have several things in common. This weekend tons of people were busy snapping photos and I don't think anyone took a good photo of either of us.

I don't think anyone would say that about Eleanor - she looked fabulous and entertained everyone with her barnyard presentation.

I'm adding this photo so that the next time your husband gives you a hard time about shopping at your local quilt store, you can prove to him that it could be worse - you shop by the yard - we shop by the bolt!

Now I am home for a few days before I have to head to Chicago for more Bernina training next week. The work here at home is piling up - what I really want to do is SEW!

Super Simple Sashing

2010-08-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

Our very last setting option for the nine patch quilt is SIMPLE PIECED SASHING. There are hundreds of other options to explore, but this was intended to be a simple summer project, so let's not get too complicated! I do have to say that I am really looking forward to seeing photos of your finished quilt (or quilt top!) so please post them to the facebook page or email them to me at mailto:karen@thequiltcompany.com and I will post them for you.

Feel free to comment, make suggestions and let me know if you are interested in starting another project. We have momentum - why not keep going!

I think this simple sashing idea is the one that I will select for my finished blocks. I haven't decided on what color the sashing will be, although I have pondered the idea of colorwashing the blocks so that they shade across the quilt and doing the same with the sashing - in the opposite direction...... there I go complicating things again....

Before you select the fabrics for the cornerstones for your project, you need to decide if you want them cut from one piece of fabric or if you want them scrappy. Scrappy seems logical, especially if you, like me, cut WAY too many squares for your nine patches to begin with! But I do like the look of that constant periwinkle with those green blocks - it is so hard to decide!

SUPER SIMPLE SASHING

66" BY 82"

Materials

80 nine patch blocks

2 1/4 yards of sashing fabric

1/2 yard of cornerstone fabric (or 99 leftover squares)

2/3 yard of binding

5 yards of backing (you may be able to run the backing the opposite direction and use less fabric, but your fabric would have to be at least 44" wide after washing, with selvedge edges removed)

Cutting Instructions

From the sashing fabric cut:

30 strips 2 1/2" by the width of the fabric, cross cut these into 178 rectangles measuring 2 1/2" by 6 1/2"

From the cornerstone fabric cut:

7 strips 2 1/2", cross cut these into 99 squares measuring 2 1/2"

From the binding fabric cut:

8 strips 2 1/4" by the width of the fabric

Instructions

1. Arrange the nine patch blocks in 10 rows of 8 blocks each, inserting one sashing strip between each block. Press all seams toward the sashing strip. Each row should begin and end with a sashing strip.

2. Construct the sashing strips for between the rows by stitching together 8 sashing strips and 9 cornerstones for each row. The rows should start and end with a cornerstone. Press all seams toward the sashing strips. Make 11 rows.

3. Stitch the rows together to form the completed quilt top. Press.

Then add borders if you like and 'quilt as desired".

Is that enough inspiration to finish your project? Could you use a little more encouragement? Post a comment here on the blog about how you plan to finish your quilt between now and August 31st and I will select a winner from the comments and award a beautiful fat quarter pack of batiks! The winner is determined by random number generator, so everyone has an equal chance to win, but you have to sign your post to be eligible for the prize - I can't send a package to "anonymous"! You don't have to have your quilt finished to post a comment, just let us know how many blocks you have made or how you plan to finish your quilt. I can't wait to hear from you!

To the Point!

2010-08-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Give your basic setting block option an Art School Graduate look by turning the blocks on point!

On point settings are not complicated, you simply assemble the quilt in diagonal rows instead of straight ones. We are going to use the same 8 block by 10 block layout and alternate the nine patch blocks with solid squares of the fabric of your choice. Once again, the black squares indicate the setting squares in my design wall photo.

I want to encourage you to think about your quilting design before you select the fabric for your setting blocks. If you plan to use a simple all over quilting design, then a print fabric like a floral or multi color print to compliment your 9 patch blocks will be beautiful. If you want your 9 patch blocks to really make a statement, select a fabric that has a more solid look. Then fill those blocks with knock-your-socks-off quilting!

You may have seen my Desert Nine Patch quilt that was featured in a full page ad in several quilting magazines. Keepsake Quilting is offering a kit for it (so are we on our website.) I created the 9 patch top, but the quilt was really brought to life with the quilting that was done by Maryjane Efstathiou of Thistles & Thimbles. Those solid squares gave Maryjane the perfect place to show off her talent - to rave reviews!mailto:thistlesandthimbles@msn.com

If you look closely you will notice that not all of my solid squares are the same color. To make the quilt more interesting, I chose 2 shades of off white, Straw and Parchment, and alternated them in the setting blocks. I made that decision before constructing any of the 9 patch blocks, so I was also able to make the light blocks in the 9 patches coordinate with the setting blocks. Parchment against Parchment and Straw against Straw - after all I AM an Art School Graduate!

Now before things get even more complicated, lets get going on the instructions!

ON POINT SETTING

68" BY 85"

Materials:

80 nine patch blocks

3 yards for setting squares

2/3 yard binding

4 1/4 yards backing

Cutting Instructions

From the setting square fabric cut:

11 strips 6 1/2 inches

From these strips cut 63 squares measuring 6 1/2"

3 strips 10", cross cut these strips into 9 squares measuring 10 inches

Cut these squares diagonally twice to yield 4 triangles from each square for your side setting triangles

Cut 2 squares 6 inches and cut both in half, diagonally one time to yield 2 triangles from each square. These will be your corner triangles.

Instructions:

1. Arrange the 9 patch blocks in 10 rows of 8 blocks each, having each block on point. Fill in the center spaces with the setting squares. Fill in the outer edges using the large triangles. Place the smaller triangles on each corner.

2. Stitch the rows together diagonally beginning in one corner. Take care to orient the side triangles in the proper direction on each end of the pieced row. Press the seams in each row in the opposite direction of the previous row.

3. Stitch the rows together to form the completed quilt top. Press,

The setting triangles are cut to size, but the corner triangles are a bit over sized. Trim the corner triangles as needed.

Tomorrow we will cover sashing options!

Nine Patch with Setting Blocks

2010-08-15T00:01:00.004-04:00

Yesterdays simple Block-To-Block setting option results in a 48" by 60" finished quilt. If you are looking to make something a bit bigger, the easiest way to enlarge the project is with solid setting squares! I am going to assume that you are making 6 inch finished nine patch blocks for these instructions. If you have chosen to make another size, you are going to have to do some calculating on your own.

The photo shows just 9 of my blocks on my design wall with black setting blocks. I don't know that I am going to use black in my finished quilt, but it photographed the best with my block assortment and made it easy for you to distinguish which areas I am referring to. You are also going to have to make a few more 9 patch blocks for this setting!

ALTERNATING SETTING SQUARES

66" by 90" - a nice size for a twin bed

Materials

83 Nine Patch Blocks

2 2/3 yards fabric for alternate blocks

2/3 yard binding

5 1/2 yards backing

Cutting Instructions

From the alternate block fabric cut:

14 strips 6 1/2" by the width of the fabric
Cross cut these strips into 82 squares measuring 6 1/2"

From the binding fabric cut:
8 strips 2 1/4" by the width of the fabric.

Instructions
1. Arrange the blocks in 11 rows of 15 blocks each. Begin and end the top and bottom row with a nine patch block (you should have a 9 patch on all 4 corners)

2. Stitch the rows together, pressing the seams in each row in the opposite direction of the previous row.

3. Stitch the rows together to form the completed quilt top.

Adding borders to your quilt if you have an extra deep mattress is always an option! Remember to calculate for the "shrink" that will take place when you have the quilting done. When making a bed quilt I like to have the top at least 4 inches larger than necessary before it is quilted so that when the quilting is completed it isn't too short for the bed!

If you would like a much larger quilt, make 85 nine patch blocks and cut 84 solid squares. Set them in 13 rows of 13 blocks each for a 78" by 78" quilt. With the addition of 10" borders on all sides your quilt will measure 98" by 98" which is suitable for a nice size queen. - I mean queen size bed, I'm sure you deserve to be treated like a queen and your size is very nice too - but I meant the quilt! Before I get into too much trouble, you are going to need 3 yards of fabric for the border.

Tomorrow - on point options!

The Nine Patch Project

2010-08-14T10:13:00.006-04:00

I started the summer Nine Patch Project on Facebook way back in June, a little over 75 days ago. The concept is simple, make one nine patch each day and by the end of the summer you will have enough for a quilt. Easy.

It is now mid August, I have a stack of 9 patch blocks (and many more squares that will eventually become 9 patch blocks when I get "all caught up" - see the vacation post below.) For those that have been diligent (and in some cases over achievers) it is time to post the assembly instructions. Easier said than done. Technology and I don't always agree on what is possible and what I am capable of accomplishing. Normally I write and illustrate instructions for publishing, paper publishing, not electronic publishing. I draw diagrams, layouts and write step-by-step instructions. That is WAY to much to post on Facebook, so I am directing all 800+ participants in the project here to the blog for the finishing details.

I am going to post one simple setting option each day for the next several day. That way I can show you photos, give you dimensions and discuss the options for finishing your 9 patch quilt. These will be simple finishes, nothing complicated, but I've taken the math out of calculating the sizes and numbers of things to cut.

There are a few "first-quilt-ever" participants in the group, so I thought that I would begin by giving simple, detailed instructions to start. If you have no idea of how to finish this project:

BLOCK TO BLOCK SETTING
48" by 60"

Materials:
80 nine patch blocks measuring 6 1/2 inches including the seam allowance.

1/2 yard for binding

3 yards for backing

batting

Cutting Instructions
From the Binding fabric cut:
6 strips 2 1/4" by the width of the fabric

From the backing fabric cut"
2 pieces 54" by the width of the fabric. Remove the selvedge edge and stitch the pieces together to form a rectangle 54" by approx. 80".

Instructions

1. Arrange your blocks in 10 rows of 8 blocks each. The seams in your blocks should be pressed to one side. Turn your blocks or re-press a few seams so that the seams that touch when the blocks are stitched together are pressed in opposite directions. This will allow the seams to "nest" and make it easier for you to match the intersections.

2. Stitch the rows together, matching the seams in each block to the adjoining block. Press all of the joining seams in one direction, alternating the direction in each row. For example press row one to the right, row two to the left, three to the right, etc.

3. Stitch the rows together and press the seams in a uniform direction. All of the seams can be pressed in one direction or they can be pressed from the center out toward the edge.

Your quilt top should measure 48 1/2" by 60 1/2" including seam allowance.

4. Layer your quilt top with the batting and backing and baste the layers together. I prefer to thread baste instead of using safety pins, but pins are fine too. Your basting should be done in both directions (up and down and across) and close enough together that you can't put your hand on your quilt without touching it, about 5" apart is great.

5. Quilt as desired. - the infamous quilting instructions! You can easily quilt this project by hand or machine. If you are working by machine, you will need a walking foot for straight line quilting. If you have never done quilting before, taking a class at your local quilt shop is a great idea, or at least stop by and ask a few questions.

6. Trim the batting and backing so that it is even with the quilt top. Stitch the binding strips together end-to-end on a 45 degree angle to form one long strip. Press these seams open. Press the binding in half so that the right side is showing. Pin the binding to the quilt top, mitering the corners and stitch in place by machine. Fold the binding over the raw edge to the back of the quilt and stitch in place by hand.

TA DA - YOU'RE DONE!!!!

Vacation Time Warp

2010-08-08T20:38:00.007-04:00

Last week our shop was closed for "vacation".

Webster defines vacation as "Time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure". I must be doing it wrong. I spent everyday last week at work, cleaning, sewing, organizing and attempting to accomplish everything that I have been putting off until "later". If you are anything like me, you already know that "later" never comes, you have to put your foot down and make it happen.

My number 1 priority for the week was to make curtains for my bedroom. These are the very same curtains that I intended to make on our week of shop vacation LAST year, but I ran out of time. I have had the fabric from my Counterpoint line ready and waiting for about 18 months. Enough is enough. If nothing else happened, I intended to stitch up 8 simple panels for the 4 windows in our bedroom. To be perfectly honest, I also had in mind that with an entire week to get the job done I would also be able to stitch up pillow shams, bedskirt and bathroom curtains to coordinate. The quilt top was already assembled and ready to go to the quilter. Piece of cake - I had a whole week!

Before I could start on my bedroom project, I had a bit of work to finish up. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet, but I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to design a custom ruler for Creative Grid. I love the Creative Grid brand and we sell tons of their rulers. A few weeks ago I was starting a project and found myself adding markings to the ruler I was using to make it work the way I wanted it to. I gave my friends that make Creative Grid a call and the next thing I knew, my ruler design is being put into production! I will be introducing it at a wholesale show later this month - and of course I will debut it here as soon as I get my hands on one!

I have to have quilts ready to show what the ruler can do for the show. Because of the tight timing, I have to make the quilts using my hand drawn version so that I can get them finished, quilted and the patterns published. Here are the two quilts that I made before I could start on my bedroom project. Both quilts were made with Tonga Treats 2 1/2 inch strips, but the ruler is a general use ruler, not something that has to be used with strips.

I quilted both of the quilts myself with lots of help from our Bernina 830. I'm really new to this whole embroidery machine thing, but I think that they came out BEAUTIFULLY! The quilting patterns are from the Holice Turnbow collection that was included with the Version 6 software. It was amazingly simple to resize, adjust, and position the designs exactly where I wanted them right in the machine. If you have never used your embroidery machine to quilt a project, I encourage you to give it a try.

Although the retail shop was on vacation, the wholesale side of our business still needs tending to. Just about the time I was ready to unroll the curtain fabric, the fax machine spit out a huge pattern order. Without "staff" it was up to me (with help from my husband and kids) to print, fold and bag a few thousand patterns. It was Thursday before I touched the curtain fabric.

Friday was a day of determination. Curtain panels or bust. If you know anything about making curtains, you know that the rods have to be installed before you can start because you need them in place to take your measurements. That required husband help. While I was at it, I talked him into painting too. My husband, like most, likes to have "help" when he does a job. The curtain panels were pushed back and finished on Saturday. We agreed to paint on Sunday.

While I was finishing up the curtains, I sent my husband with fabric in hand, to Home Depot with specific instructions to have them color match the blue for the wall paint. It is a computer generated color matcher and professed to be perfect - I disagree. It isn't even remotely close - but it is on the wall.

The room is clean, the curtains are up and the week is over. Now you just have to imagine what it will look like with the quilt, bedskirt, shams and bathroom curtain..... maybe next year.

Alive and Kicking... and having fun!

2010-07-27T13:08:00.009-04:00

We got a call at the shop today from a woman that heard that I had been in a terrible accident and that the shop would most likely be closing. I am happy to report that isn't true. I am happy, healthy (to the best of my knowledge, knock on wood) and have no plans to close the shop anytime soon.

Funny how rumors get started. It always seems like it is the bad ones that stick. My usual response when someone tells me something like that is to laugh and ask them if they have heard the one about my having slept with Mel Gibson. Unfortunately that worked better when Mel was the "Sexiest Man Alive". After his outbursts of late I have decide to replace him. I have tossed around the idea of starting a "thing" with Harrison Ford, but after some thought, I decided that I have always harbored a small crush on Richard Gere. My husband was in Naval Flight Officer Training when we got married and I have always had a soft spot for the movie "Officer and a Gentleman". I'm going to have to see if Richard is available for my rumor mill. I love that white uniform......

While we are on the subject of rumors, you might not realize that I went to high school with Taylor Lautner. Ok, that is a bit of a stretch, but follow me here. I went to Hampton High School. Taylor Lautner is currently working on a new movie (where he does not play a vampire) that is filming right here in town and in the movie he attends Hampton High School - the very same one I attended. They aren't just using the building in the film, the producers decided to actually call it Hampton High and keep the mascot the same - the Talbot. Anyone else have a Talbot as a mascot at their high school? ..... I didn't think so. Hampton has the distinction of having the only Talbot mascot in the U.S. ... or possibly anywhere. If you are wondering, a Talbot is not only an upscale woman's clothing store, it is also an extinct, snow white hunting dog (although our mascot was always grey). So, on some obscure level, I went to high school with a vampire. Toss that one into the rumor mill and see if it sticks! Check it out here

http://www.wpxi.com/entertainment/24243753/detail.html

One thing that is not a rumor is that I have a pretty fantastic hometown. Allison Park is our zip code, but here in Pennsylvania we have a government of Townships, ours is Hampton. Another strange fact is that Pennsylvania is technically not a state, we are a Commonwealth. Your American History teacher lied to you about there being 50 states, but that isn't the point. I live in a township with different boundaries than our post office. Hampton is a very small community measuring just 4 miles by 4 miles, but we pack in as much greatness as we can. Now the rest of the world, or at least Family Circle Magazine, has taken notice. We were rated the #2 best place to raise a family! We are pretty thrilled with that distinction and I am especially proud because my husband is an elected official that helps make this place so wonderful. Check it out:

http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/money/10-best-towns-for-families-2010/;jsessionid=ILDY4IALUYANWCQCEARR42Q?page=2

I am pretty sure that Family Circle got this right. I was raised here, my kids spent all or at least part of their childhood here and after living 11 different places my husband and I moved our family back here to open the store - The Quilt Company -the one that isn't closing.

still busy, busy, busy...

2010-07-18T09:25:00.005-04:00

My BFF Bernie told me to get off the stick and update this blog because she was tired of reading about the Shipshewana Quilt Show. I've been busy! Bernie should know that, I spent the 4th of July weekend in Orlando attending her daughters wedding.

July is flying by and I am doing my best to savor every moment of it. Those of us that were socked with 24 inches of snow in 24 hours last winter want to soak up as much July as possible. We want to wallow in the sunshine, feel the heat on our bare skin and relish the feeling of only wearing one layer of clothing. It is time to show off parts of our pasty white bodies as proud survivors of Jan/Feb 2010!

In an effort to enjoy every moment summer has to offer, we have been checking out local art festivals, attending the summer theater series and eating out as much as possible. Things have been really busy at the shop with Monday night Happy Hour and our regular schedule of events. Not to mention those one-per-day Nine Patch blocks that I have to keep up with!

This week we are hosting our Chirstmas in July event. We take a different approach to our holiday fabric presentation. The bolts start to arrive as early as April/May, but we don't put them on the sales floor. We stockpile all of the holiday prints until mid July and THEN we bring them all out at once. That way our customers get to see the entire holiday selection at one time. Everything we have to offer is available at the same time. No wondering if something else you like better will arrive next month. No disappointment because the theme print is sold out before the coordinates arrive. It also means that as the temperature climbs into the 90's this week, I will be digging out Christmas decorations!

To prepare for the event I've been doing a lot of sewing and instruction writing. I've finally finished and published the instructions for the Hanukkah pillow in our button pillow series.

It always seems like Halloween comes about a minute after our Holiday Open House. I have no desire to rush the season, but to get to publishing and distribution in a timely fashion I also had to finish our new Fright Night pillow. Each of these 12 by 16 inch pillows feature a different technique. Hanukkah has detailed instructions for mitering corners. Fright Night features a chenille cat! The cat is made of 4 layers of black flannel that "fluff". As always, the cute decorative buttons are included right inside the pattern.

Both of the patterns and fabric kits will be available for our holiday event next weekend and the patterns will be available on our website very soon.

Summer also brings lots of out of town visitors. We have some "regulars" that stop by to see us and shop every summer as they pass through on their way to the beach or visit friends or family here in town. If you are "local" stop by and show us what you bought on your travels or join us any Monday night for Happy Hour at 6:30 for a free demo. If you aren't local and are passing through the Pittsburgh area this summer, stop in and say hello! No matter where you live, post a comment and tell me what you are doing to enjoy the summer!

Shipshewana Quilt Show

2010-06-25T21:17:00.015-04:00

Here are the photos of some of my favorite quilts from the Shipshewana Quilt Show that I promised you!

The quilts are absolutely beautiful, my photography leaves a bit to be desired. You may have to tilt your head a little this way or that way to view them, but I hope you enjoy this tiny glimpse of the show.

This tall ship masterpiece was hand appliqued and won the hearts of the judges. It is stunning in person and believe it or not, it is a block-of-the-month quilt!

Anyone looking to start a new project?

This contemporary piece was my personal favorite. It is a large quilt and when I read the description, it said that the woman that made it collected the fabrics, which were all silk, by purchasing silk shirts from thrift shops!

You have to love a person that can walk into a thrift shop and envision THIS!

I couldn't resist taking photos of these large quilts with mini blocks. Our First Friday/Saturday club was based on 4 inch blocks this year and there was a fair amount of whining and complaining from the participants. I wanted to prove that some people LOVE working small!

The quilt with the blocks on point in the border has 1/2 inch sashing. Those inner borders are made up of 1/2 inch triangles and 1 inch squares on point. I would love to own a quilt like this. I doubt that I will ever get around to making one like it, but I would like to think I might...... a girl can dream can't she?

Talk about small, these next few are really, really small!

This is an "Inchy" project. The tiny squares are each one inch square. The more colorful squares are individual works of art. The squares are stitched, embellished, beaded and have satin stitched binding and then they are appliqued to the pieced background.

The Inchy idea isn't original, there are lots of books and even Internet swap groups for inchy projects.

This quilt is really, really small..... this Lone Star quilt was created in the folded pineapple technique. That is difficult enough to do with precision, but this quilt maker took it to the extreme! Those "logs" are about 1/8 inch and the whole quilt measures 9 inches!

In the next photo you can see it hanging in the bottom right corner under some of the other quilts in the small quilt category. What I don't understand is why it didn't have a ribbon on it! - WOW!

From small to bed size. These wonderful pieced wheels are 15" blocks. It was one of the most unique scrap quilts I have ever seen. The pieced centers were made up of every fabric imaginable and they were all tied together with the backgrounds.... and why not add a hand appliqued border while you are at it?

Every show seems to have a selection of Stack and Whack or One Block Wonder quilts. This one was huge and was meticulously put together. The fabric selection was a unique color combination, the pinks and yellows seemed to glow against the red background fabric. Well done!

There were more, but it is much better to enjoy them in person.

Shipshewana Quilt Festival

2010-06-23T19:31:00.012-04:00

I'm "working" out of town for a few days as a guest speaker in Shipshewana, Indiana. You are probably thinking "yea right, tough gig", but I really do have to work tomorrow. I'm teaching 4 sessions of Schoolhouse here at the Quilt Festival. Normally I would also have a booth for this 4 day event, and would be in the booth when I wasn't teaching and wouldn't have time to enjoy the event. That wasn't in the cards for this trip. So here I am "stuck" in a quaint Amish town filled with quilt shops and quilters on a beautiful summer day.... what is a girl to do? .....SHOP!!!

I had great fun today! It took a bit more than 6 hours to get here, but that included a stop at Checker Distributors, our wholesale suppliers warehouse to pick up a few goodies. Checker makes the Creative Grid rulers that I love and it would be a shame to drive right by their Ohio warehouse and not stop in to see what was new. They are conveniently located 1 tank of gas from home and they have a clean bathroom so I stopped by, got gas, and made a quick trip through the warehouse..... and spent a little over $500! It would have been cheaper to pee at the rest stop - but not as much fun!

It was a little after 3pm when I checked in to the Festival registration and received my packet. It included admission to the quilt show, vendor mall and shop hop passport. The quilt show was in the same building so I went right there. WOW!!! The show was wonderful! Naturally I had left my camera in the car, but I couldn't resist snapping a few photos with my phone. When I realize I had taken almost a dozen photos in just the first aisle, I decided to just enjoy the show and take the good camera when I go back tomorrow morning.

After enjoying the show I decided to do a little shop hopping. I have to say that it was great fun to be on the other side of the shop hop counter.

I headed straight for Yoder's, the Amish department store that is hosting this event. The owners are lovely people that are doing a fabulous job with the event as well as having a great store.

I snapped this photo in the middle of their fabric department (there are also shoes, food, housewares and a dozen other departments in the building). I know it is hard to see, but the crowd of people in the distance are all in line waiting to have their books autographed and a photo taken with Eleanor Burns. The place was packed and even though I have a 5000 square foot building full of fabric in Pennsylvania, I managed to find 2 pieces of rayon batik that just had to come home with me.

My next stop was a short trip away (it is within walking distance!)to Lolly's Fabrics inside the Davis Mercantile. I was lusting after their beautiful Amish made fixtures and displays when I turned the corner and look what I found! My BeJeweled Table Runner!

It is a great looking sample, as were all of the samples in the shop. This Indiana Amish community has lots of displays, and Lolly's even has another storefront in the mercantile featuring finished quilts and wall hangings. I thought they were reasonably priced, especially for hand quilting.

I still had a bit of time left before the stores closed for the evening so I stopped by Home Spun Treasures in LaGrange on the way to my hotel. It is a small shop with a limited amount of fabric, but look what was on display! - My Reversible Table Runner! I really felt good to see my patterns included in the samples of these top notch shops.

The staff at Home Spun Treasures was very excited about tomorrow's event. They are getting up very early in the morning to hang clothesline around the courthouse and display their donation of 1000 pillowcases for the pillowcase challenge! ONE THOUSAND PILLOWCASES! That is something to be proud of! I hope I have the chance to see the display before my class. I also want to stop by the quilt show again and possibly squeeze in a few more shops .... so many shops, so little time.

Easy Sewing + Fabric Stash = Great Project

2010-06-20T09:12:00.008-04:00

Are you making 9 Patch blocks?

If you aren't familiar with the project you can scroll down through my blog posts and read about where the idea originated from and how the whole thing works. It is a simple concept and everyone is welcome to join the fun. There is nothing to buy and no "rules" to follow, all you need to do is make one 9 patch block each day from now (by "now" I mean today, the day you are reading this) until August 20th. Those of us that started on June 1st will have about 80 completed blocks by the end of the summer. If you started a bit later, you can either get caught up by making more blocks per day or make a smaller quilt! The blocks can be any size and I suggest that they be made from your fabric stash. If you want to join the Facebook group, log on to Facebook and search 9 Patch Project, we would love to have you!

I have chosen to make 6 inch blocks that start with 2 1/2 inch squares. Some of the almost 700 Facebook participants are starting to worry about how they are going to put these blocks together. Personally, I think it is a bit soon to start fretting over setting ideas, I'm still enjoying the gorgeous colors of the batiks that I am using. I do realize that some people like to plan. Others are wondering how many blocks they need to make to make the project queen size and how much border fabric they need....

My advice - relax! Enjoy the process! On the other hand, maybe dreaming about the finished project is the part of the process you enjoy....

Later in the summer I will be providing sashing and border suggestions for the blocks, but I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the other setting options in finished quilts.

Karen Snyder has this beautiful 9 patch quilt featured on her blog. You can read her post about "leaders and enders" at:

http://annalenaland.com/ .

This quilt is obviously set on point and has 13 rows of 13 nine patches. If you do the math, this quilt requires 169 nine patch blocks - that is a little more than double the number that we will have by making one per day! For those of you that are looking for a large quilt (Assuming that those are 6" finished blocks, this quilt would measure 110" square) you will need to kick things into high gear and start making at least TWO blocks each day. (If you aren't familiar with bed sizes, I consider 110" as a generous queen or a skimpy king.) This would be a great project for the over achievers in the group!

One of the things that makes 9 Patches so irresistable is that they can look so totally different! Believe it or not this quilt, my Daybreak pattern, is also a 9 patch project! The blocks are sewn side-by-side without sashing to create the overall pattern. I used solid batiks for the Daybreak quilt, but I have customers that have translated the color chart in the pattern into prints and even packed florals for a watercolor look - beautiful! The pattern is available on our website at http://www.thequiltcompany.com/ and you may also have seen it featured in the Hancocks of Paducah catalog.

Now I'm off to finish my husbands Father's Day gift... it is not a quilt, just a bit of custom framing!

Western PA Shop Hop

2010-06-13T18:55:00.006-04:00

Let's go to the hop, ba da da dum,

Let's go to the hop, ba da da dum......

If you are a quilter and live anywhere near Pittsburgh PA, you were probably in our store at some point over the last several days. We just hosted the Western Pennsylvania Shop Hop and had a record number of hoppers.

This year the hop had a dance theme and we hosted the Sock Hop. Not all of the stores get as "in to it" as we do, but we figure if you are going to do it, do it right! It was great fun dressing in 50's gear, listening to the music all day and having fun with the customers. We even purchased hula hoops. We considered offering them to customers that were waiting in line so that they could entertain themselves - but then we discovered that we can't do it anymore either! (Here is a tip for you: the LARGER the hula hoop the easier it is to use. We are blaming the smaller hoops on our inability to keep them going. That is our story and we are sticking to it).

We packed official Bazooka bubble gum in our goodie bags and offered our hoppers the chance to help themselves to our penny candy selection and bottled water before they went on their way to the next shop.

Our hop always has a progressive quilt. The hoppers pick up one pattern at each of the 12 shops, another pattern is in the shop hop booklet, one is on the internet site and one was available on kick-off day when the passports went on sale.

Each shop owner has a designated job for the hop and this year I designed the quilt. Our version features cherries to fit with our 50's theme. The background is bright white even though it look funky green in this photo.

In a month or two we will have the pattern and kit available to purchase. I will add it (with a better photo) to the website.

Now all the shop owners have left to do is attend a meeting tomorrow morning so that we can draw all of the prize winners from the passports that were turned in and call the lucky winners!

Then we start the planning for Shop Hop 2011. Do any of you hoppers have ideas or suggestions? Feel free to comment, we are always looking for great ideas!

Home from Vacation!

2010-06-07T08:17:00.012-04:00

Hi Everyone, I'm home!

We had a great vacation last week! I think that it would have been impossible not to. The weather was perfect, the travel was relaxing and the company couldn't have been better. This ship, the Celebrity Summit was our home, docked in Kings Wharf Bermuda. You can see our room in this photo, up on deck 8 mid ship, two floors above the lifeboats.

This is the view from the balcony of our cabin looking out over our temporary backyard! Not bad, not bad at all.

Not that I saw much land in Bermuda. The boat was just a way to get to the island. This trip was all about the scuba diving. It was a dive trip for my husband and myself, just the two of us for an entire week.

I think we spent as much time on a dive boat headed for a wreck or a reef or 40 feet under the water as we did on land.

You might be wondering what possesses a woman of my age to strap on what feels like 100 lbs of equipment, including a weight belt, to make her sink to the bottom of the ocean just too look around. I do it because it is great fun and because my husband LOVES to scuba dive. I also do it because I can, and I know that someday I won't be able to say that.

That is my gear at the back of the boat and that is my husband standing in the middle of the boat watching the island get smaller and smaller. (Martin is the other diver on the right side of the boat and at this point I am praying that he doesn't loose his breakfast all over my gear. Martin was a bit queasy on the boat.)

Before you begin to think that I am a fabulous self-sacrificing wife, I should point out that this photo is of Julio, part of the Dive Crew on the boat. Behind those Ray Bans are some of the most gorgeous eyes Mexico has ever produced. He and his wife travel, island to island, season after season working as crew on dive boats. They have been all around the world. Great life! No 401K, but he didn't seem like he was worried about it at all.

He also has a great personality and really knows his stuff. It is nice to feel comfortable with the people in charge of your air supply!

There are absolutely NO photos of me from this vacation. I made absolutely sure of that. We were at the dive boat at 8:15 each morning after a 20 minute moped ride from the ship. Then I spent 15-30 minutes on the boat getting to the dive site, almost 2 hours on the ocean floor and another 15-30 being whipped around on the boat retuning to shore. Then it was another 20 minutes back to the boat on the moped before I could hit the shower. It gave new meaning to "bad hair" day.

If it OK with you, I will just insert this publicity photo of Jacqueline Bisset from the movie The Deep. I look exactly like this when I dive...

OK, I look nothing like this when I dive. The only thing I have in common with her is that we actually explored the sunken ships that the movie the deep was based on.... and I was cold too.

Now it is back to reality. The Western Pennsylvania Shop Hop starts this week and I have to get busy with my 9 Patch Blocks!

The 9 Patch Project

2010-06-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

June 1st! Time to start the 9 Patch A Day Challenge!

It isn't too late to join in. There aren't any real "rules". The goal is to use up some stash and have something to show for it at the end of the summer.

Here is the plan:

Make one nine patch block each day using your stash. Just one block each day. Any size, any color, using any method (although sewing 3 rows of 3 squares together seems like the simplest method to me!). There are no 9 Patch Police, so if you prefer to sit down and make a weeks worth of blocks at one time, that's OK too. I'm recommending a 6" finished block, but you can choose any size you like. Bigger blocks mean bigger quilts. If you have some leftover squares from another project, put them to good use!

If you want to make the 6 inch finished size you will be making your blocks using nine squares that are cut 2 1/2 inches. Stitch those squares together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, in three rows of three. Press the seams in the top and bottom rows toward the center block. Press the seams in the center row away from the center block. Stitch the rows together, your seams should nest. Your finished block should measure 6 1/2 inches including the seam allowance. That's it. Sleep and repeat, every day until mid August.

Later on in the summer I will provide you with simple sashing and setting instructions. Right now the important part is getting started on the blocks. You can use just 2 colors in each block or you can use 9 different colors. I'm leaning toward the 9 different colors. I have a beautiful batik stash and no scrap quilts to show for it. I'm making scrappy 9 patches, but I think I am going to keep the center square light, or at least the lightest of the nine in each block. You can feel free to make yours anyway you like, and I do mean ANY. Although it is hard for me to do, some of my favorite quilts are true scrap quilts. The color arrangement is what my Aunt Jean refers to as "the dogs breakfast". Lime green next to brown, blue and orange, next to pink polka dots - ANYTHING GOES, and I love it when it is done! I just have a hard time getting there. The scrap quilts I make tend to be more organized, and it doesn't look like this one will be any different.

We are working on the honor system here. You don't have to report in to tell me how many blocks you have done. You don't have to confess if you fall behind. You can catch up later or make a smaller quilt! To be honest, I'm not actually making MY blocks this week. While you are reading this, I'm off scuba diving with my husband in Bermuda! I promise to post photos of my blocks when I return. In the mean time I have set up a Facebook page so that everyone can report their progress and encourage others to keep sewing or join in - the more the merrier! You can link to the Facebook page below or search "9 Patch Project" on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/9-Patch-Project/116885848345468?v=wall&ref=ts

That way we can interact with each other and the blog stays - well it stays the blog. Now get started on those blocks and I will catch up with you when I get back from vacation.

Market

2010-05-28T08:26:00.008-04:00

I know that many of you have been (not so patiently) waiting for an update from Quilt Market. Unfortunately, updating the blog has been on the bottom of the to-do list since returning home from Minneapolis. I also had to finish our version of the Western Pennsylvania Shop Hop quilt, write the summer newsletter, produce the final instructions for both our block-of-the-month projects and our First Friday/Saturday program. Some of you are probably thinking that I should have done some of that before I left for Market. I would like to point out the ridiculousness of that theory, before Market I am busy getting ready for Market. Now that Market is over, I am busy playing catch-up before I leave on vacation. Never a dull moment

around here.

Quilt Market was wonderful! I couldn't identify any "one big thing" that everyone was excited about. In my book, that is a good thing. I like it better that way. When something "big" hits and all of the shop owners are chasing the same item, I think it makes for a much less creative atmosphere. The next Market all of the manufacturers and pattern designers try their version of the "big thing". When there isn't a clearly defined "hot" item they are forced to be more original and creative. A much better industry for everyone involved!

At this Market we bought heavy on beautiful batiks. Timeless Treasures introduced their own line of Tonga Treat pre-cuts in 2 1/2 inch strips and 10" squares. We bought them all - and lots of them. Hoffman also introduced a new assortment of Bali Pops which we won't see until fall, but they are well worth the wait. The photo at left is a project that was made from one package of the Hoffman Bali Pops with the border and applique added.

Our favorite vendors didn't disappoint! Here is Debby showing off one of Terry Atkinson's newest patterns. These cute little zip bags are perfect for everything from jewelry and make-up to sewing supplies and even lunch! Although we already have the absolute best assortment and price on 22" zippers, Terry was also offering a gorgeous assortment of 14" zipper in stunning colors, so we have that coming too. The bags are oh-sew-adorable with the added trims, so naturally we hit our favorite trim supplier.

Can you imagine how much fun it is to sort through the offerings in this booth? Lace, rick rack, ball fringe, beaded fringe, snap tape, ribbon, cording, you name it, they have it - and in tons of colors! Just browsing this booth has inspired several of my own designs, like the ball fringe on our MacGreggor's Garden pillow. We purchased yards and yards of new trims for you to use to decorate your projects.

As you may know, before we hit the Market floor there are several events that take place. Schoolhouse is one of them. This ALL day program is based on 15 or 30 minute classes that run continuously from about 11 am until 5 pm. There are over a dozen classes to chose from in each time period. I presented thirty minute sessions for Timeless Treasures and so does Karen Snyder. We both design for Timeless, but live on opposite ends of the country and only get to see each other at Market. This photo is of the two of us the day we presented our Schoolhouses. Proving that great minds not only think alike, they dress alike too!

Another delightful event that happens before Market is the FabShop Dinner that is attended by shop owners from around the world. Normally I am filthy dirty and busy setting up a booth on the Market floor when this dinner takes place. In Minneapolis I was a special guest at this dinner and was presented the Star Communicator Award for our industry. It was a special thrill to be chosen by my peers for this award and to be included in the company of the other recipients, Marti Michelle, Star Designer, Carole Britt of Batiks Etc, Star Shop, Oliver+S, Rising Star, Checker Distributors, Star Supplier.

All in all it was a wonderful Quilt Market, lots of fun new items, lots of wonderful new fabrics and patterns and lots of laughter. Once again, Debby and I were not "cool" enough for our hotel - We stayed at the ultra hip "W" and we are more the Holiday Inn Express type. When I get some time I will have to tell you about the orange water - too funny! But right now I have to clear my to-do list and get ready for vacation!

In the Kitchen

2010-05-16T11:35:00.003-04:00

I am convinced that, late at night, my kitchen appliances are talking to one another, and not in a good way. We have been in our house for 14, almost 15 years. That means that most of my appliances are also 15 years old - some are older. They have recently mounted a rebellion. I'm seriously considering dragging my 27 year old washer into the kitchen to set a good example for them and insist that they behave. When did 15 get to be "old"?

I think the trouble actually started a few years ago when the white refrigerator that didn't match anything else when we moved in finally passed into appliance heaven. It was replaced by a mammoth black frig with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Why not stainless? I don't care what kitchen decorators say, I hate cleaning fingerprints off of stainless. I'm 100% "easy clean" when it comes to kitchen equipment. I have a stainless toaster that I would gladly replace in a heartbeat.

Last week our dishwasher went kaput. We shuffled off to the local home improvement store and purchased a new sleek, black model with hidden controls. Cary installed it last weekend. Now the frig, cook top and dishwasher "match", but the cook top is the only "old" item in the group, and it isn't happy.

I originally selected a black cook top because I have a dark counter top on my island and it was easier to clean than stainless. Shortly after we moved in one of the 5 burners on the cook top developed a problem. I am not what you would call a 5 burner cook, so the warranty had actually expired before I noticed that one burner didn't really work. Cary fixed that issue, but in the process created another. For the last dozen years I have had to use the smallest burner in tandem with any of the others if I want them to work properly. Believe it or not, it hasn't been that big of an issue. If I am cooking with burners, I usually use more than one. Now that the new dishwasher is installed, the cook top has decided to throw a tantrum every now and then. It refuses to light, clicks incessantly and practically begs to be replaced. It will have to get in line.

The microwave is the oldest kitchen appliance we own. It is huge, and it too is jealous of the new dishwasher. From time-to-time the digital touch pad gets confused. It is like having a micro with dementia. When you have clearly pressed 2:00 cook time, it registers 3:00. Lately it likes to make that one minute mistake into 30:00. Using it is like keeping an eye on a misbehaving child, turn you head for just a minute and you will live to regret it.

At this point the only two things not giving me problems are the oven and the garbage disposal. I'm pretty sure the garbage disposal is deaf, so it hasn't heard the other appliances whining an complaining. I have to assume that the oven is working properly. I won't really be able to say for sure until next fall. At the first sign of good weather I give up using my oven and head straight for the outdoor grill.

The problem is, I am lusting after a new microwave "drawer". Clearly 4 to 5 time pricier than a normal microwave, but it would look great installed just under the only working appliance, the oven, which would have to be moved up to accommodate the micro drawer. Just a "minor" adjustment of resizing the cabinet opening, removing a drawer and rewiring everything...... my husband seems to think a counter top model will work just fine.

I think eating out is our best option.

The Nine Patch Challenge

2010-05-04T10:33:00.016-04:00

I spent Saturday evening with a few quilting friends. We weren't quilting, Pam hosted a "Girls Movie Night". It was a great opportunity to relax and laugh with friends. It was also my first chance to see Pam's wonderfully creative new home. The movies were fun, the food and wine were both enjoyable and the conversation delightful. There is nothing like getting together with "girls", no matter what your age.

Part of the conversation revolved around the summer quilting project that they are all involved in. This is the second year for the project and Jeannie, the ring leader for this event, has just announced this years details. I didn't participate lst year, but I wish that I had. I was totally captivated watching the process unfold over the summer. It was amazingly simple, yet viral at the same time.

Here are the details in a nutshell:

Browsing the Internet, Jeannie had read a blog where the blog owner had decided to ask her friends to join her in making one nine patch block each day for a specific period of time. (I'm pretty sure it was Crazy Quilting Mom's blog that started this whole thing). Just one block. The idea was that one block a day is do-able, not stressful and a simple nine patch is super easy. After about a month and a half they would have enough blocks for an entire quilt making just one block per day.

Jeannie suggested to her small circle of quilting friends that they make this their summer project. One nine patch per day, in any size, for the summer. She would then host a picnic at her home in August for show-and-tell to see what they had accomplished. Her quilting buddies thought it was a great idea. In fact they thought it was so good that they each told a few friends. Those friends agreed and told a few more friends. The nine patch project had gone viral.

As the local shop owner, very early in the summer I saw customers in the shop meeting each other before classes and clubs to show and share nine patch blocks. A few participants decided to use 1930's fabrics and make several identical blocks and then swap with friends. I was constantly overhearing conversations about how many blocks were finished, who was playing catch up and who was forging ahead. More than once customers heard each other discussing the project and were surprised to find out that others were participating. Nobody but Jeannie really had any idea how many people were at home making blocks!

Everyone involved was having great fun, using up their stash and enjoying being part of the secret club. A few people even stuck to the one-per-day mandate. Most played catch-up and made the entire weeks blocks in one evening or on the weekends. Some procrastinated and performed marathon sewing sessions so that they were not embarrassed at the end of the season picnic. Naturally there was one over achiever in the group. Bonnie actually produced EIGHT beautiful nine patch quilts made from fabrics in her stash.

The project was so popular and had grown in size so that the picnic had to be moved from Jeannie's house to a pavilion at the local community park! From what I heard and the photos I saw the project was a rousing success.

Now I am considering recreating the project right here on this blog. Do any of my virtual friends want to come out and play?

If you are interested - no more lurking! You have to post a comment letting me know that you want to participate. No pressure, I just want to know how many of you are playing along. I will post the details so that we can get started on June 1st.

I will happily provide simple setting instructions for those of you that need them. Then in August I will host a virtual quilt show so that you can show off your blocks or quilt or quilts that you have accomplished!

The quilt photos that accompany this post are quilts that were completed during the original 9 patch project online. Feeling inspired?

One simple nine patch per day - easy!

Post a comment by clicking on the "comment" button below this post. You can be anonymous if you like, but let me know what appeals to you about this project. Is it the one block per day? Is it the group event? Is it the idea of using up your stash or because it is easy? I'm fascinated by the appeal of this project. Of course if nobody agrees to participate online then I will know that the real appeal is the end of summer picnic!

Gremlins?

2010-04-23T19:40:00.002-04:00

????????????????

I have no idea why, but the blog addition that I wrote today was added to the list dated Thursday, March 25th.

For the life of me I can't figure out how to move it to the top of the page.

If you want to read it - you are going to have to scroll down

Design Wall

2010-04-06T19:12:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago Debbie from Quilting Possibilities in New Jersey posted a photo of her design wall and openly wondered what everyones looked like.

Well, here is mine:

The green table runner on the left is the Scrappy Table Runner by Nina McVeigh. Bernina will be sending the instructions (if they haven't already) in a consumer email. As a new Bernina dealer I have been busy encouraging everyone to sign-up for emails at:

http://www.berninausa.com/

The site is packed with wonderful projects as free downloads and great tips and video that you can access for free. As you can see I was a good little dealer and made the sample. When you see Nina's version you will also see that we have very different taste in fabric.

The cheery cherry blocks in the middle are the beginnings of my version of the Western Pennsylvania Shop Hop project. Here in the greater Pittsburgh area our shop hop happens in June but we start selling passports (still just $5!) in April. This Thursday, April 8th is the kick-off day for the sale. (The quilt doesn't have to be finished by then, I have until June to do that!) This years theme is dancing and our shop is having a sock hop. The cherries seemed to fit a 50's theme.

On the far right is the banner I made for my niece Abby. She is making her first communion in early May and I was asked to help with this project. I can't remember when I had so much fun. That's a green satin background that I quilted before layering the other items on top using applique. The grapes are assorted size and different color purple buttons. You can't tell but the leaves are three dimensional and it is hard to see the shear ribbon leaves on the wheat in the photo. I learned to embroider and position script on this project - ya gotta love that virtual positioning on the Bernina 830! It was a really enjoyable creative process. Rarely do I get to do something this much fun that I don't have to write instructions for when I'm finished. Several of the girls here at the shop have suggested that I write a pattern because they know it would sell - not a chance, Abby is one-of-a-kind! I have 2 years to plan for her brother Andrew!

That large roll of fabric leaning on the wall is 60 yards of one of the prints from my Counterpoint line. It is intended to be the new drapes and pillow shams for my bedroom. Someone (me) decided that having FOUR windows in the bedroom and another DOUBLE WIDE window in the bathroom was a great idea. Because tackling 60 yards of fabric is a daunting task, that roll has been leaning there for months. The other reason it has been on the back burner is that I just finished putting together the matching King size quilt top. (Don't be too impressed, the pattern is just large squares). Now I have to deal with the batting. King size batting is 120" by 120". To fit our bed, with the new high mattress and calculating for quilting "shrink" the quilt should be at least 132" wide to have the proper drop on each side. Would someone please have a chat with the batting manufacturers and tell them about this problem?

What's on YOUR design wall?

2010-03-29T12:26:00.012-04:00

Last weekend started early for me as I headed to Twinsburg Ohio for another round of Bernina training. You are probably thinking the same thing that my little sister was when I was in Chicago for training - "Don't you already know how to do that stuff?". The answer is yes, for the most part, but with our new Bernina machines there are so many features that it is hard to keep track of them! Seriously, the 820 and 830 are so packed with features and it is much easier to learn them by using them. Bernina seems to think that sitting 40 of us down in a hotel ballroom with a machine in front of us is the perfect way to get us to use the features. They are probably right, if I were here at the store I would never find the time. That would be a shame, because I would have never figured out virtual positioning or perfect placement and it only took me 2 seconds to fall in love with those features.

I made a quick dash from Cleveland to Wheeling, West Virginia on Friday evening to join my staff for the weekend. Each year I give the girls a retreat weekend as their Christmas gift. We schedule the weekend in March to avoid the holiday rush and hopefully have better weather. Normally I stay behind to watch the shop, but this year we had a few employees that had to skip the weekend for one reason or another so I left the shop in capable hands to join in the fun.

It is amazing how much can be accomplished when you sew for an entire weekend without having to stop and prepare a meal or clean up. It is also amazing that with all of the laughter we managed to accomplish anything. I can't remember the last time I laughed until my sides hurt. Are there any better friends than quilting friends?

We are also old and wise enough to know that what happens on retreat, stays on retreat and you shouldn't try to explain it to your husband. They just don't get it.

It has taken until Wednesday to recover from all of the fun and lack of sleep. If you look closely at the photos you will see a wine glass here and there. We know how to enjoy ourselves! We also know how to kid around and thankfully everyone on staff has an exceptionally great sense of humor - especially Harriett, who will never, ever, eat another chocolate chip cookie without thinking of our weekend.

If you have never been on a quilting weekend, I highly recommend it! Start planning one NOW. The hard part is explaining to your family and non-quilting friends that you really DO want to spend an entire weekend sewing. They tend to have a hard time understanding that you really are willing to drag thousands of dollars of quilting equipment to a remote spot and stay up late just to sew. As my husband said, he never thought he would see a day that I wanted to take my ironing board on "vacation" with me! Now that I have recovered from last weekend, I would do it again in a minute!

The Sewing Zone

2010-03-25T18:45:00.023-04:00

Normally Sunday is my day off, but this week "company" was coming to visit the store and I had to get things ready. If you are adept at reading between the lines, you already know that means "clean". Our store is generally organized, but I WORK here. I sew, cut, design, publish, and all that it entails right on the sales floor, in the corner of the Bernina area. It is less than a month until International Quilt Market, so there is a mini frenzy happening as I design, stitch and write the last bit of instructions. I rarely worry about what people think because my customers ARE creative people, they understand the process. This visitor was a bit unusual. "Mr. Bernina" in the form of H.P. Ueltschi, the owner of Bernina International himself was scheduled to pay us a visit on Tuesday. I thought wearing my shoes and getting the threads off the floor might be appropriate.

I came in early, about 8am, on Sunday morning. I made a deal with myself, if I cleaned up the part of the mess I was dreading (instead of hiding it in the closet) I could treat myself to an afternoon of sewing. It seemed like a total waste of time to be cleaning without the embroidery machines running, so I powered up the 830 and let it finish the "quilting" on these pieces for a jacket. The jacket is patchworked pieces of Fire & Ice batiks (obviously I used "fire") and the stitching design is one that is pre-programmed into the Bernina 830. I stitched it randomly over the fabrics and flannel interlining before cutting out the pattern pieces. The jacket pattern is our Fun On The Run pattern. I love the way it fits and I cut it without the button closure in the front - I never button it anyway.

The plan was to clean-up, not just push stuff into a drawer. By my definition that meant that I had to deal with each pile as I got to it. Therefore I did not consider it cheating when I took the time to get caught up with this years First Friday/First Saturday project and assemble my missing blocks. I powered up the 820 and had them stitched together in no time while the 830 hummed away at embroidering my jacket pieces.

I was ruthless with the trash bin, scrap basket and charity box. I think I filled all three. If I couldn't finish it, file it or find it a proper home - out it went. Ta-Da! Clean!

Then I started to really sew! It was like being in "the zone". Everything worked perfectly. Did you ever have a day like that? One where the machine hums, you never touch your seam ripper, everything matches perfectly..... ahhh,.... it was sewing bliss. I didn't want to stop!

I constructed the smaller size tote bag for our new "Zip It" pattern (available soon) and used the 830 and my new found software skills to reduce the same quilting design that I used on this Lauren table runner to fit the 4 inch blocks on the tote bag. The virtual positioning on the 830 makes ME, with my weeks of experience, look like an expert at embroidery.

I don't see myself embroidering kittens or flowers on my shirts, but WOW do I love that jumbo hoop and the quilting possibilities!

My loving husband must have known better than to interrupt my perfect day. He stopped in to change some light bulbs and before he left he suggested that he pick up a pizza for dinner. He is a very smart man. I joined him and our son for a few slices and when they decide to watch an old war movie on TV I jumped at the chance to get back to the shop and sewing until bedtime!

The only disadvantage of spending the day sewing after cleaning, is that I made another mess that had to be cleaned up on Monday morning. Luckily I had another whole day to prep for Mr. Ueltschi's visit. I will tell you more about that as soon as I have the time!

Embroidery 101

2010-03-24T21:12:00.011-04:00

I was going to have to dig in and learn to use the embroidery machines sooner or later. It wasn't that I didn't want to try, but lets face it, there are only so many hours in a day. I also have this never ending to-do list that is filled with things that I am totally capable of doing, without learning anything new... and I have "staff" that are embroidery experts. They embroider, I suggest projects. It has been a great relationship.

Last Saturday we had Embroidery Club here at the store. If you are in our area and own a machine or think you might ever want to own one, you should join us. The information and inspiration is excellent and the meetings are FREE. It doesn't matter what make, model or brand sewing machine you own. The meetings are for fun and inspiration. As always, my favorite part of the program is show and tell. Barb S. had a piece to show, but I was fascinated by the shirt she was wearing. It was beautiful. She graciously explained how and why she had made the shirt. The applique was to cover a stain.

BINGO! That was something that I could relate to and the whole how-to process clicked! I could do that! I happen to have a new white shirt with a coffee stain that wouldn't budge. That's a "before" photo of my shirt. With that stubborn stain it was about to go in the trash. With Barbs verbal instructions and a little help from my embroider specialists and Brandon our Tech, I (a total novice at machine embroidery) managed to turn my trashy shirt into a real treasure.

The process is a bit easier than working right on a shirt. When you embroider a garment you have to have a perfect placement. For my project the design was embroidered using white Isacord thread on a cream organdy fabric before it was placed on the shirt. Organdy has a bit of a sheen to it, it adds a little sparkle and holds the design together. The design I selected isn't a stand alone lace. I understand from the experts that without the organdy, the whole thing would have fallen apart - and we don't want that!

I am getting a little ahead of myself. Before I stitched the design I had to select one with a solid outline. I couldn't find one I liked, so we used the Version 6 software to outline the design that I had selected. The outline created a stitching line about 1/4 inch away from the design that would later become my cutting line. I popped the organdy into the hoop with 2 layers of wash away stabilizer and pushed the start button on the machine. - simple!

The idea is to create the applique, cut it out, remove the stabilizer, then place it on the shirt and stitch it in place. It worked like a charm. I used a spray adhesive on the back of the lace (after I removed the wash away stabilizer). The 505 spray allows you to peel and stick the applique in place until you are happy with the placement. Another layer of tear away stabilizer went inside the shirt while I stitched around the outside edge. Then I added a few clear seed beads for pizazz - don't you love it! Ok, I will admit it - I'm hooked!

Next month we are going to use some embroidery magic to make the cute little pouch in the embroidery hoop - the entire thing - zipper and all - in the hoop! I can't wait!

Meanwhile I am in Cleveland for yet another round of Bernina training. This time we are working on the 830 and using the Cutwork tool. Someone is going to have to figure out how to add more hours to my day.....

Look! SNAKES!

2010-03-16T12:58:00.003-04:00

This is just me being me, and if you know me well, you also know that I find this ridiculously funny.

Nancy Halvorsen's newest book just arrived to go with her latest fabric collection. Deb couldn't help pointing out the featured table runner.

Anyone see snakes? Cute little colorful garden snakes? Possibly cute little headless garden snakes? Poor things, why would she have cut their heads off?

Ok, maybe it is me........

Guest Blogging

2010-03-05T08:21:00.005-05:00

My BFF Bernie sent me an email the other day, whining that she was bored and suggesting that I update my blog to give her something to read. HA! I wrote right back and suggested that she do it herself. As a result, today you get to be treated to a Guest Post from my friend from Florida, fellow fabric designer, mother of three, and the most laid back Catholic I know.... Bernie! I was a bit amused at the topic Bernie selected, she is obviously on her best behaviour in front of strangers, so I couldn't resist adding my own comments in italics.

Hi! This is Karen's friend Bernie, here for a "guest posting" because Karen's "to-do" list is longer than her arm. Longer than my arm. Longer than all of our arms put together. We've been really good friends for more than 20 years. Since she moved back to PA in 1991, ours has been a long distance friendship, only seeing each other once or twice a year. Thank God for e-mail!

We used to write REAL letters, with pens and paper and postage that took some real effort. E-mail is the only part of technology I "get". (We didn't weren't that good at real letters either, most of them were started one day and finished several weeks later and mailed several weeks after that! It was not uncommon to get a letter that included at least 2 major holidays.)

I was going to write about my experience at quilt judging. Just a few weeks ago I was a scribe for the judges at our local quilt show. To be honest, although it was educational, it was also a bit like watching grass grow..... for TEN hours. Maybe another time.

Instead I have decided to write to you about my pet peeves. Why you ask? Because someone cut me off this morning while they were driving and texting, completely oblivious to the fact that they almost caused an accident. That drives me crazy. So, because of that, I am in kind of a mood, and Karen has given me an audience. (Up until now, Karen was also unaware that Bernie HAD any real Pet Peeves!)

A few of my Pet Peeves in no particular order.

The aforementioned texting or cell phone use while driving (I don't get the whole texting phenomena anyway, if you need to tell me something, call me.. but not while driving)
Garish lighting in department store fitting rooms... wouldn't more flattering lighting sell more clothes? (I can attest to Bernies complete dread of clothes shopping, she has emailed me volumes on the subject and that was before she was slated to be Mother-of-the-Bride this summer).
People who use "supposably" which isn't even a word, instead of "supposedly". Same goes for "irregardless" which should be "regardless" (.... wait a minute, I think I do that...)
General rudeness, texting (there it is again) or checking a Blackberry in the middle of a conversation or talking out loud in church or the library???
Running out of bobbin thread with 6" left to sew. That's a killer. (see why we are friends!)

There are more, but I didn't want you to think of me as a complainer, I'm pretty easy going. (That may be the understatement of the century! Bernie is the definition of "easy going". She has been known to eat Thanksgiving dinner on paper plates. Her youngest son wore his "He-Man" pjs to school because he wanted to and her recent house guests came to visit in December and didn't leave until the end of FEBRUARY!)

Surely you have some Pet Peeves of your own... here's your chance to tell the world, or at least those reading this blog, by leaving a comment. I know I feel better, so will you.

Bernie.

What Do You See?

2010-02-22T16:06:00.007-05:00

I want all of you to look at this quick snapshot of a project that I have been working on and tell me what you see. Obviously it is a work in progress, some of the blocks have been stitched, some still need to be trimmed, but you get the idea. It will be 9 blocks that measure 8 inches each. Once the blocks are stitched together there will be very little space between the flowers. I have a simple border planned, but it might not go any further than it is right now.

Opinions please?

This is my design for a floral fabric group from Timeless Treasures that features a flower design for each month of the year. They asked me to come up with a plan, and I thought several different ideas would be appropriate. This project is just one of them. After all, we don't all celebrate our birthdays in the same way. I think consumers would like an assortment of projects to choose from. The other reason I thought a variety of projects would be appropriate is that a the prints that you don't see here have a white background, they look silly on the black base fabric.

I think that the large flower template is the perfect place to show off the individual prints. I like the way that the black background blends in and the flowers "pop". I also think this would make a great table topper, perhaps even on your patio table... maybe in a few months, because this is what my patio table looks like now!

I want all of you reading this to give me your honest opinion of this work in progress, post a comment. What do you think of this design? The reason I am asking is that I sent the working photo (above) to Timeless and they told me to put the project on the back burner because to them, it looks like snakes. - snakes! Question marks, I can see..... snakes?

Have I been snowed in for too long or does someone in New York need therapy?

You decide.

I can take it.