September 5th, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
Write and tell me about your quilting and fabric art. I’d like to feature my readers and share their quilting adventures.
Leave your story in the comments below or e-mail me. Here are some of the ideas for information you might include.
- How are you connected with quilting and fabric art…quilter, writer, teacher, speaker, encourager (it could be a combination of these)?
- How did you get started in quilting and fabric art?
- Do you do traditional quilting, a combination of traditional and other mediums?
- Do you create your own patterns?
- Anything else of interest in your quilting world.
- Include your web site and/or blog if you have one and would like to share.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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September 3rd, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
AlzheimersNotes.com
Over at One Book Two Book, where I co-blog with Marcie Pickelsimer, we have four more days of daily giveaways going on. Marcie has lined up a fabulous array of prizes…books, backpacks, lunch kits and more. (Giveaways and contests seem to have become a very popular part of the patchwork blogging world.)
Stop by, check out the instructions and leave your comment.
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September 3rd, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
With the beginning of September and the youngsters (whether our children or grandchildren) back in school, our thoughts turn to autumn. Often there’s a nip in the air at night which reminds us fall is “around the corner.”
The Arts Bloggers share their weekly inspiration:
Crocheted baby sweater and cap
Caron Yarns commissioned Noreen to design an adorable baby sweater and cap. Here’s the patttern for it. Congratulations, Noreen!
Photo Talk at Layers Upon Layers
Give your photos a graphic quality that will make them pop!
Make a Very Personal Gift with Scrap Girls Products
What more personal gift could you make for a friend or loved one than one which memorializes a major accomplishment?
Metamorphosis
A fun visual journal prompt in your journal writing.
Stretch the Baking Soda Box to the Freezer
Simple and money-saving reuse for your spice jars.
Yard Sale Quilters
Quilters frequently visit yard sales to find items, at reasonable prices, they can recycle for their art. Mary Emma (from Quilting and Patchwork) enjoys meeting and helping them at her yard sales.
Tip of the day - dealing with small sewing machines
Trying to repair clothing on a small sewing machine can be tricky. Chloe shares some of her tips for making your job easier.
ENJOY!
(Amazon image: click here for details)
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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September 2nd, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
In recognition of Grandparents Day, this Sunday, September 7, we’re writing tributes to our grandmothers and grandfathers. When it comes to quilting, I have to credit my mom’s mother, my Nanny, for my initial interest in quiltmaking.
When I was about 8-years old, I helped Nanny stitch by hand, quilts for my sister, brothers and myself. I sat beside her in her farmhouse kitchen, she in her rocking chair and me beside her.
“Take small stitches,” Nanny would tell me. “We don’t want gaps in the quilt.”
We must have done well, Nanny and I, because the quilt stayed together through many years of use, only fabric has worn out, not the stitches.
I still have that quilt, made of feedsack fabrics and leftover scraps from Nanny’s sewing. I know it’s mine, because Nanny inked our names on one corner of each child’s quilt.
Do you have any memories involving your grandmothers and quilting?
(Amazon image; click on image for details.)
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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September 1st, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
Awhile ago, I discussed calendar and tea towels as fabric for quilts and other items.
Recently, Isabelle shared with us her use of calendar towels:
My favorite use for calendar towels is to make either toss cushions if they can easily be divided into halves or frame them. They make great gifts for someone born in that year, or who married or bought a house that year. But first I highlight the month and date of the occasion with glitter, embroidery or whatever is most appropriate.
Thanks for sharing, Isabelle. You have great ideas for lovely gifts.
(c)2008
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August 31st, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
One of my readers checked out my post, Corduroy Quilts,and wanted more information about them:
I was browsing the internet for a corduroy quilt (possibly even a duvet style if that is even common or possible) and came across your blog. I was wondering if you still are making them, have any, or could direct me to where I could find one. I am searching as a gift .
Since I no longer make quilts, corduroy or otherwise, on commission, I was wondering if anyone else made them or knows where my reader can find them.
Let me know in the comments below. Thank you.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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August 29th, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
All this mention of lunch boxes in the giveaways we’re conducting over at One Book Two Book brings to mind memories of my school days. We used either a brown paper bag or metal lunch box. (It seems metal lunch boxes are making somewhat of a come back.)
That’s all that was available then. If we were fortunate, we got a new one when school started. (With four in the family needing lunch boxes, book bags, pencil boxes, and clothes, new lunch boxes weren’t always in Mother’s budget.)
Many of these lunch boxes came with a thermos. (Occasionally Mother bought one separately.) In these we usually carried milk. We didn’t have boxed juices and beverages, so either drank milk or water. Mother might put soup in the thermos on cold weather days.
Attending a One-Room School
For the first four years of school, when I attended the one-room school house, we had no choice but to tote our lunch. There was no hot lunch program…and no one to prepare it if we’d wanted one.
When our district combined with a larger one, in my fifth year, I had the choice of hot lunch there. But I still often took my lunch box. In high school, it wasn’t the thing to take a lunch box. If we chose cold lunch, we carried it in a small brown bag.
Our daughter used metal lunch boxes, too. Then hers eventually became the repository for crayons and craft supplies.
What type of lunch box did you carry to school? Does it evoke memories of school days and lunches?
Are there fabrics with lunch box and back-to-school themes? Have you made a quilt or hanging with lunch boxes on it? That would be a very different piece of fabric art.
(Amazon image; click here)
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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August 28th, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
Twitter has become a popular means of communication, even for businesses, in recent months. Now there is a free Twitter ebook produced by Geekpreneur.
For more information, read Yvonne Russell’s post, Twitter Ebook, at Home Biz Notes. Perhaps you’ll glean some ideas on how to promote yourself as a quilter and your quilting related business on Twitter.
Have you been using Twitter in your business and/or personal life? How is it working out? I’m registered, but have yet to find the time to get very involved.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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August 28th, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
Quilters sometimes are in a quandry whether to use straight or bias binding on their projects.
- Is one easier to make?
- Is one easier to use?
- Is one better to use than the other?
Here’s some useful information at Quilted Paradise - Bias Binding vs. Straight Binding. It should help you decide which you want to use, and when it might be better to use one than the other. Have fun!
Do you have a preference yourself?
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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August 27th, 2008
QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
In a previous post, I mentioned quilting or doing handwork while watching the Olympics events. A number of readers replied with their projects.
- Were you inspired by the Olympics?
- Did you do handwork while watching the Olympics?
- Have you designed anything that has a Olympics theme?
- Have you come across any fabrics with a sports theme you could use in your projects?
- Did you design some projects yourself or come across ideas on quilting blogs and in magazines?
Some related Olympics posts:
What Quilting Are You Doing During the Olympics?
The Panda Bears of China - Quilting Inspiration?
Quilting in Early China
(Amazon image; click here to check out fabric)
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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