To cap a wonderful bloghop, I would first and foremost like to thank the amazing artists and bloggers who made this possible:  Jamie Fingal, Deborah Boschert, Vicki Welsh, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Terry Grant, Gloria Hansen and Diane Perin Hock.  To all of you who left comments, THANK YOU!  And to Quilting Arts/Interweave, Mistyfuse and Havel’s Scissors, thank you for your generous donations that make this grand prize possible!  Here is one more chance to win, and read to the bottom for a bit more news!  Please note, this giveaway is for those residing in the United States only due to postage costs.  However, if you live outside the US and win and are willing to share postage costs, you can enter also. Leave comments before 8 a.m. Eastern Time, October 10th.  I’ll do the drawing that morning and post/contact the winner.DRUM ROLL please:  the Winner is number 42, Gail Myrhodosky!  I’ve emailed you, Gail, to get your snail mail address.  This giveaway is now over, but I’ll do one more in mid November–come back on November 10th—well, come back before then please, but for more on the Holiday giveaway, visit here on November 10th.

There is now a video clip available on YouTube which you can watch here or over on YouTube, here.

The grand prize is grand indeed:

Huge thanks to Quilting Arts/Interweave, Mistyfuse and Havel’s for their generous donations to this bloghop!

• A copy of the DVD!
• A selection of products from MistyFuse! I show you how I use these products in the Video workshop.
• A huge donation from Havel’s Scissors including a generous giftbag that includes long scissors, short scissors, snips, seam ripper, AND the non-stick scissors too!
• And a copy of Quilting Arts Gifts magazine from this year, with a project by me!

Here’s a photo of the stencilled ornaments project I did; I will also be demonstrating this project at the Christmas Delights Sampler (Class 765, and it still has openings…sign up at Festival!) from 2 to 5 Saturday afternoon at International Quilt Festival!

My project in the Quilting Arts Gifts 2013-14 issue is Stenciled Ornaments.

If you’d like to win this GRAND PRIZE, please leave me a comment and tell me something you learned these past two weeks from one of the blogs you visited on the bloghop!    And if you can’t wait, or don’t win, do remember you can order my DVD from me here or the download (or DVD) from Interweave, here.  Leave comments before 8 a.m. Eastern Time, October 10th.  I’ll do the drawing that morning and post/contact the winner.

NOTE:  this giveaway is for those residing in the United States due to postage costs.  However, if you live outside the US and win and are willing to share postage costs, you can enter also.

And….. just when you thought the bloghop was over, NOPE!  I’m doing a SECOND bloghop in early-to-mid-November to kick off the holiday season.  So on November 10th, make sure you come back (well, come back and read my blogposts before then, but you know what I mean) to join the second and final round of fun!

The cover (back and front) of my DVD, Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork, with Fabric Collage and Machine Quilting. Order the DVD from me here, or the download and DVD from Quilting Arts/Interweave here.  Right click so you can open in a new tab and read all the bits on the left.

Today I want to share some hotlinks to some of my favorite things, products that I use and recommend in my DVD.  By having the hotlinks, you can go straight to a site to order.  I expect I’ll be referring folks to this post for a long time; if you discover a link is no longer working, please let me know by leaving a comment or using the Contact Me page and I’ll try to find a new link.   Thanks!  Since this post is quite long, here is what you’ll find below:

• Threadwork Unraveled, my book about all things thread
• Point, Click, Quilt! by Susan Brubaker Knapp
• Mistyfuse Adhesive Web
• Mistyfuse Goddess Sheets
• Transdoodle from Mistyfuse
• Karen Kay Buckley’s Scissors
• Janome 8900 Sewing Machine
• Havel’s Scissors
• Panasonic Titanium non-stick Iron
• Textile Paints and Derwent Inktense Pencils

Threadwork Unraveled by me, Sarah Ann Smith

My book is about all things thread.  You’ll learn everything you need to know about thread, from how it is made to what will make your life easier, and your quilting better!  The book is organized in three sections:  The Basics, Applique, and Quilting, and is designed to be a reference book you’ll come back to again and again.  You’ll learn how needles, tension, your workspace, sewing machine, stabilizers, and other tools all help you in using all those wonderful threads now available.  I’ll help you understand how and why certain tools and notions work best and when another option is a better choice.  Click here to read more and to order.

Point, Click, Quilt

I met Susan Brubaker Knapp over the internet and we have become friends.  We share a similar approach to our art and quilting, and her book is fabulous.  Especially in regard to my DVD and how I work,  I would like to recommend to you the first section on taking and selecting a good photo.  Susan talks about composition, lighting and cropping, all of which are essential to a successful work.  To learn more about Susan’s book, click here.

Mistyfuse Adhesive Web

I am a complete fan of Mistyfuse products.  I LOVE this fusible web!  It leaves such a light, soft hand, never “expires”, doesn’t gunk up the needle EVER, and works really well.   I also like that it does NOT come packaged with release paper (which in other brands either comes loose too easily, or sticks, or whatever); you use baking parchment of a non-stick press sheet (next item) which is less wasteful than all that release paper, and once you understand how to use Mistyfuse is infinitely easier!   For most projects you would want either the white or the Ultraviolet; the latter is best for light colored fabrics.  The black has lots of fun uses…  All items are listed on one page, so just scroll down until you see what you seek!

and Mistyfuse Goddess Sheets

Mistyfuse Fat Goddess Sheet

Goddess Sheets are non-stick press sheets.  You could use Reynolds brand Baking Parchment, but these sheets won’t wrinkle and wear out or tear like Reynolds Baking Parchmnet.  I’ve been using my press sheets for YEARS–the only wear and tear is where I accidentally sliced off a sliver with my rotary cutter!   I prefer the largest sheets, the Fat Goddess, so named because it allows you to fuse up an entire Fat Quarter (18×22 inches) of fabric without having to move the sheet.  In fact,

and Transdoodle Transfer sheets and Saral Transfer Paper in a roll

To transfer designs, I use Transdoodle or trace; I don’t use a light box.  Either the fabric is light enough in color that I can trace by placing the fabric over the design, OR I layer things up with the fabric on the bottom, Transdoodle Transfer paper in the middle, and the pattern on top.  These sheets last a LONG time, can be used over and over and over again.   They come in 8 1/2 x 11 inch packs with white, yellow and blue in the package.  I use mostly the white and blue.  Saral is a transfer paper available in art supply stores and online and is available in sheets like Transdoodle and in rolls.  It lasts a while, but not nearly as long as Transdoodle.  However, sometimes you just want a long roll of white for a large design or motif.  You can find Saral  here at Dick Blick among other places..  I will note one caution:  if  like me you forget to test for removability, whenever you use ANYTHING yellow, TEST!  It doesn’t like to let go of some fabrics!

Janome 8900 Sewing Machine

My beloved Gandalf, well OK, he’s really a Janome 8900…..

For quite a good long while now I have used and loved Janome’s wide-harp sewing/quilting machines, beginning with the 6500, then the 6600, 7700 and now the 8900.  I LOVE THEM!   In 2003 I was frustrated with my then-machine’s balkiness using assorted fun threads.  I wanted to decide what threads to use, not have my machine dictate what I could use because the machine would otherwise crab at me (for example, on that other-brand-machine, it didn’t like it when I used Superior Threads 40-wt poly in the needle and 60-wt  Bottom Line in the Bobbin; ALL the Janomes I have used  handle that with ease).  When I test-drove the 6500 it handled every thread I put on it with ease, as has every machine since.  I was so in love with my 6500 I didn’t think they could make it better but with each generation they have.   A HUGE, HUGE HUGE Thank you to Janome America for their long-term support of me!  I think I’ll go hug my Janome 8900 right now!

Karen Kay Buckley’s scissors

Karen Kay Buckley Large scissors, my most frequently used

Karen Kay Buckley’s Medium scissors, which may soon take over as my most-often-used scissors

Karen Kay Buckley’s curved tip scissors, great for trimming. At first didn’t think I’d use these much, so surprised at how useful I have found them. Nice large finger holes!

Karen Kay Buckley’s Little scissors, great for detail work

Honestly, I love and use all four of them!    They are well worth the not- expensive price, and will likely soon become YOUR favorites, too. You can find all four of these scissors here on Karen Kay Buckley’s website.  Karen’s products are great; she spent a lot of time perfecting these scissors, and they are now taking off in popularity with good reason!  The Large, Medium and Small are all non-stick coated which is great for working with fusibles!

Havel’s Scissors

Havel’s 5 1/2 inch curved tip embroidery scissors

The 5 1/2″ curved tip Embroidery scissors from Havel’s are also great.  I find I use them most at the sewing machine. I particularly like the length of the curved blades at the machine.  Thank you!!!!  to Havel’s for sponsoring various and sundry Quilting Arts TV and for sponsoring several Dinner@8 exhibits and International Quilt Festival over the past several years!  And, drum roll–Havel’s is also donating goodies for my part of the Bloghop and Giveaways to celebrate the release on my DVD (more on that on September 17, 2013; giveaways will be in September and November 2013). Thank you!

Panasonic Non-Stick Titanium Coated Iron

Panasonic TITANIUM Non-stick iron. Titanium coating is usually a gold color. Gunk just wipes clean!

Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE this iron!   The key word appears to be Titanium–other non-stick irons don’t work the same way!   And of course this one is lime green–this is GOOD!   There are several models available at the moment on Amazon.  The one pictured is here.  They have other model numbers, different colors.  They key thing is the word “titanium” in the description.   You can put this iron down right on the Mistyfuse, let it melt onto the soleplate, and then wipe it clean!   No more Hot Iron Cleaner!  No more nasty fumes!  For the price of four or five tubes of iron cleaner, you get an iron you can wipe clean!   Mo’ bettah!

Superior Threads

Oooh pretty colors, so many colors! a.k.a. Sarah’s thread stash!

There are many brilliant threads out there now, that is one of the things that prompted me to write my book:  so that folks could understand how to use them.  Since I teach, I try to be fair, honest, and give all companies an equal chance.  There are a number of companies that make threads I use, respect and like:  Superior Threads, Aurifil, Madeira, Isacord and others.   But Superior is far and away the best at striving to educate the public.   I highly recommend the Education section of the Superior Threads website.   As well, they make brilliant quality threads, stand behind their products, and have great customer service.   When I switched from quilting with only cottons to using a wide range of threads (thanks to my Janome’s ability to do so without a grump), I decided to build my stash to “one of each please”–the thread equivalent of the BIG box of crayons!  I did so 10 or 12 spools at a time, and having a wide range makes it so much easier for me to do my thread-coloring.

Textile Paint and Derwent Inktense Pencils

You could spend years having fun with surface design, textile paints, drawing materials and dyes.   My DVD just mentions the use of transparent Textile Paints and Derwent Inktense pencils.   To take the easy one first, Derwent Inktense pencils look like a pencil but, when activated with water and set according to instructions, they are pretty much permanent.  The lead used is also available as blocks, but for the way I used them a pencil works better.  You can find the box of 12 colors here at the Interweave Store;  one year for Christmas I asked for and received the box of 72 (of course I wanted the BIG tin!).  We got it here, at Dick Blick.

There are many, Many, MANY types of textile paints including opaque, transparent, metallic and so on.  You’ll find different ways to use them, too.   In my DVD I used Setacolor Transparent Textile paints (here at Dick Blick , please note this link takes you to a page with opaque as well as transparent–check the instruction in the video to see what you prefer).  I also love Jacquard Lumiere paints, which are opaque, metallic and delicious (Lumiere here at Dick Blick).   Last but definitely not least, I really like the paints made by Pro Chemical and Dye, a dye house in Fall River, Massachusetts.   Click here to visit Pro Chem‘s paint page, where you can find transparent, opaque and metallic textile paints.

Someone from one of the Janome yahoo lists that I am on asked me a great question, and since my answer was detailed, I thought maybe it might help others so I decided to post it here.  Apologies in advance for the length.  Here’s the incoming (shortened) inquiry followed by my reply.  Bottom line, I am THRILLED with the Janome machines I have had the fortune to use since 2004:  each new version just keeps getting better and better.  They have been utterly dependable with great stitch quality and all the features I need most.  What you need to do is figure out what YOU need, then find the machine that best meets those needs.  There is no such thing as the one and only perfect machine–just what is best for you.

Here’ s Gandalf, “my” new Janome 8900.  He replaces Rubeus Hagrid, the brilliant Janome 7700.  I must say, I DO miss that ruby red, but I think the changes on this machine make it even better (hard to fathom!) than the 7700.  As always, thanks to Janome America for their support since 2004!  (And that odd black thing hanging on the machine’s harp is a Martelli quilting ring…go back a couple of posts for more information.)

Hi Sarah,
I’m sorry to bother you.  ….!  I hope to retire within the next four years and dedicate more time to sewing/quilting.  In the meantime though, I would like to invest in a very nice sewing machine.  I currently sew with an XXXX .  I am curious in your opinion of which brand I should buy.  Thanks for your time. (Note: she specifically asked about Bernina and Janome machines, hence the brands in my reply which follows.)  Signed, XXX

Dear XXX:

That’s a decision you’ll have to make, alas.  Berninas are brilliant machines, at a very high price.  Some of the machines (all brands) have become–for me anyway–too complicated!   I like having the computerized machine, but there is a point where you need a Master’s in Computer Science to navigate all of it.  Just too much…and sometimes too finicky.  Where the line is depends on the individual user.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING:  figure out what you need and will use.  When we built a house in 1997-8, our builder told us to list Need, Want, Wish.  All items on the “need” list should be in the house, a number of the wants, and even a wish or two.  For example, we needed three bedrooms, a kitchen, and two baths.  We wanted an extra half-bath and a studio space for me.  That sort of thing.   So sit down and list what you need on a sewing machine.  For me, the list would be something like this:

• Harp space for Free-motion quilting.
• Really good balanced tension.
• Good satin stitch.
• “Single” (not boldface) blanket stitch
• Small increments to increase/decrease stitch width and length on zigzag, blanket stitch, straight stitch, and blind hem stitch (.01 as opposed to .05, that sort of thing)
• Good lighting
• Good local dealer/support

Bernina machines I sometimes say are all the quality at double the cost.  Janome gives outstanding value for the price:  what you can get on a 7700 or 8900 would *easily* cost $2-3000 (yes thousands) more in another brand, and the other brands might not be as reliable.   Bernina has the best presser foot system (changing, quality of manufacture) in the industry bar none–but their feet are expensive.  So buy a sturdy metal  foot for $40?  Or buy a Janome foot that does the same thing for $10 then replace it in a decade if/when it wears out?    So far, I’ve not had a single Janome foot die from over-use, and I use my machine a lot.

Once you’ve figured out WHAT you need, then figure out what simple set of things will allow you to test different machines.  When I bought a machine in 1996 just before leaving the rat race (and the nice salary), I took a quilt sandwich to each dealer and tried different things on it, writing my notes on the white cloth.  If you make garments and buttonholes, take some stabilizer and cloth similar to what you would use and test-drive the buttonholes.  Put notes right on the cloth (or safety pin or staple paper to the sample) to remind you what you thought as you made it:  was the process easy/intuitive?  Convoluted?

Repeat this process at each dealer/brand/machine.  Then think about it.  And don’t forget that a top dealer with good, courteous, prompt customer service is worth their weight in gold!

A couple years ago, when the Bernina 830 came out, I test drove it and frankly, it was amazing,  but so far beyond my budget… so I applied to be in the Bernina teacher program despite misgivings because Janome has been SO good to me.  Bernina never really answered.  And since then I’ve heard some grumbling about the 830 being TOO complicated and finicky but don’t know if that is operator error or what–there are always people who grumble.

I LOVE that the Janomes are so dependable, take any thread you put on them and sew well, etc.  And the price–even if I were paying full retail–is a fraction of the Bernina, Viking, etc.  Not sure about BabyLock as I have never lived anywhere that had a BL dealer, so have no experience with them at all.    And since that time, Janome came out with the 7700 which was pretty close to being my dream machine, and I’m thinking that the 8900 is even better (except I wish it still had that ruby red instead of the silver-gray!).

BOTTOM LINE:  I’m really glad Bernina didn’t offer me the opportunity to try their machines on a teacher loan program.  Since then the 7700 has come out and now the 8900, and they are simply FABULOUS machines.  I’m definitely a Janome girl!

As for Top of the Line versus better but not most expensive in a given brand , last summer when teaching at Vermont Quilt Festival, one of the muckety mucks from Janome ended up sitting in my classroom for an hour or so at lunch.  I had opted to stay and teach through lunch, and they needed someone in the class and were able to accommodate my desire to keep the classroom open.  Well, he must have liked what I was teaching and how, because he offered to have Janome lend me a 12000 that I could take home from the show!!!! So I went down to test-drive it.  Answer:  brilliant machine, thank you SO MUCH for the generous offer, but not for me.  It didn’t have the two feet I use most:  open toe accu-feed, and circular free-motion foot (the one in the convertible set).  [Note:  I’ve heard that the open toe accu-feed will be out this month, and there is now a free-motion foot that would meet my needs that fits on the 12000.]  That ruled the machine out right there.  Plus, to change tension you had to go through several screens on the computer.  I don’t like computer interface stuff–there’s nothing wrong with it, I just vastly prefer the simplicity and ease of turning a dial or knob like you can on the 6600, 7700 and 8900!  It’s one of those “what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream things.”   So I thanked the Janome honcho, said it was a fabulous machine but wasn’t the best machine for me.  The embroidery capabilities would be wasted on me…. I’d rather wait until whatever was going to replace the 7700 came along—and that I hoped it had the visibility around the presser foot of the 12000 on the 7700 body.  Well, guess what the 8900 is?  Exactly that!    So I think I’m going to be very happy with this machine.  It’s a matter of figuring out what YOU need and will work for you, then comparing the machines/brands/models until you find the best fit.

Hope this VERY long reply helps, and think I’ll post it to the groups, too, as others may have the same question!  Thank you for asking!

Cheers, Sarah

Author of bestseller ThreadWork Unraveled
website: https://www.sarahannsmith.com
blog: https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog
e-mail: sarah@…………

PS:  Someone asked about the knob/dial on the 7700 and 8900:  it is actually a dial that you see when you flip up the lid on the top of the machine.  If you think of the dial like a tire, the “tread” shows on the top curve of the dial.  Just above and to the right of the take-up lever area (which is that gray stripe up the front left of the machine) is where   the dial is located.  It is a manual adjustment and easy pease:  see, do!

Just wanted to dash off a quick note to tell you how happy I am to be teaching again at International Quilt Festival in Houston this coming fall!  I hope to see some of you there…perhaps in my classes!  To learn more about the classes, click here to go to the Quilts, Inc. website.  From there you can download the PDF class catalog, register (online–easy peasy) for classes and/or events.

I’ll be very busy; my schedule begins on the Monday of Quilt Market (a to-the-trade only wholesale show) and continues through the week of Festival!

October 29-November 2, 2012 – International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas (click on images to view larger):

• Monday: Fine Finishes(edge finishes including perfect mitered corners!)
  • Learn to make a perfect mitered binding straight grain bindings, double-fold bias bindings, piping, and couched yarns.  Time permitting Sarah will share how-to’s for  fabric accents, curved bindings, fused bindings, wacky raw-edge squares, and couched-yarn finishes! By the end of this class you’ll have a “swatchbook” of samples and notes including a wide assortment of styles and techniques to finish your quilts and quilted garments.  See a previous blogpost about this class here.

   

• Tuesday:  Birch Pond Seasons(fusible applique)
  • Learn fusible applique, several techniques for “piecing” with fused fabrics, and how to make your own Birch Pond art quilt.  I’ll also cover facings as an edge finish and a range of fun ideas that will let you branch out on your own after class.  Kit fee ($20) covers the cost of the pattern and one package of white MistyFuse (except when taught in stores; then, please purchase these items from the store). See a previous blogpost about this class here.

   

• Wednesday:  Decorative Stitch Applique(use those fancy stitches on your machine!)
  • Make a small wallhanging or a selection of small blocks which take full advantage of all those decorative stitches on your sewing machine. Using fusible appliqué and an assortment of as many threads as you care to bring and use, you’ll see how versatile a single leaf pattern can be! The embroidery / decorative stitches you use in this class can be adapted to your choice of other appliqué methods; we will use fusibles in class so that you can make a wide selection of appliquéd leaves during the class. The project samples can be used for a quilt, a garment or home dec items. See a previous blogpost about this class here.

   

• Thursday Morning:  Machine Quilting Forum—Fun with Fancy Threads
  • I’ll share some tips about using fussy, fiddly threads and how to master them with the right needle, the right bobbin thread, and a fun little project/demonstration.  This Forum starts with an overview and introduction to six machine quilting experts.  Each of us will give a 9 minutes (not one second longer!) presentation. Then we break out into 6 stations…think of it as speed-dating for machine quilters!  We’ll do a 20 minute presentation, then the bell rings and off you go to the next station/teacher.  A great way to see if you want to learn more or book a teacher for your group.

   

• Thursday Afternoon:  Meet the Teacher,a free 30 minute demo on the show floor:  Collaged and Fused Art Quilts
  • I’ll show you my process for creating fuse-collaged quilts, with step-by-step examples of this small tomato-garlic-and-basil quiltlet.

• Friday Morning: Friday Sampler–QuiltColoring with Thread
  • Think of your sewing machine and thread as a big box of crayons… more colors than you’ve ever had in a box of crayons!  Then learn to use your machine and thread to color your art quilts and bring them to life.  This Sampler is a ginormous room with 20 or more teachers giving quick demos.  Participants can move from station to station as they choose.  It’s a great way to see if you’d like to take a class with a teacher or even book them for your guild.
• Saturday:  Sarah gets to relax and play today… I’m going on the bus tour to the Texas Quilt Museum in LaGrange.  Anyone want to go on the same bus?
• Sunday:  I’ll be visiting the booths and quilts today…including one of mine that has been juried into the show (more on that later, after the judging is done and it’s safe to post pictures to the internet).

I’m so looking forward to Houston this year…hope you get to come play, too!

Last post I shared about the Shaker Museum in Enfield where we stayed when I taught for the Northern Lights Quilt Guild.  Thanks so much for inviting me!  I could seriously see wanting to teach weeklong workshops where we start with an idea for a project, try out a few techniques in the mornings, and play with the pieces and design in the afternoon.  Finish with quilting and binding… that would be SO much fun!   But this time, we had a shorter time frame.  Our classroom was HUGE!  I’d guess it was 1/3 of the second floor.  The Shaker’s probably didn’t foresee me needing to darken the room to do a slide presentation, but the room actually has built-in, recessed shutters on all the windows which came in handy for my purposes, too!

One side of the room--the chairs are leftover from ladies gaythering near the projector and screen before they moved to the walls (and electrical outlets or natural light). Those green raised-panels you see next to the windows are actually the recessed shutters!

Looking across the room (which is set up for the lecture Friday evening)...VAST!

For the first day, I taught Applique 3 1/2 ways, and as usual was so busy I forgot to take photos.  The next day, however, Chris had her blocks out, so here they are…alas, her lovely satin stitching on the one block doesn’t show in my photo!

Chris's Gingko leaves

Then we moved on to free-motion quilting on Saturday.  Students experience levels varied from having done absolutely none to having done some but not entirely happy with what they did.  The key, of course is the dreaded P-word:  practice. But knowing a few tips and tricks, and most of all proper preparation, helps folks immensely.  Here are some photos of the samplers students did.  I use the sampler that is also in my book for teaching, but offer students the choice of using the block/grid format or  just going free-form in the freedom of open space.  Some students prefer the limited space of the block—it isn’t as intimidating to them as all that openness of an 18 inch (or thereabouts) quilt sandwich.  For others, the blocks are seriously claustrophobic, and they prefer to noodle around.  So I encourage them to do what makes things most comfortable….. and boy did these ladies go to town!

Free-motion play!

I love the way this one looks like braided leather. The student wasn't too wild about the feathers on the far right, I think because she was being critical of the shapes of the petals which weren't as smooth as she wanted. However, it is a great look with the thin feather plumes on a straight stem grouped like this. I think I'll have to find a way to use this...great for sashings and borders!

Red! I ask students to use a highly contrasting thread on top and a matching thread on the bottom. I know this is evil. We are so much more critical of readily visible mistakes, but it makes diagnosing tension problems SO much easier--you can actually see what is happening, then write notes onto the white fabric as a reminder of what you did to correct the issues. I'll take the piece and walk a few feet away, then turn it over to where the thread matches the back, and students are always surprised at how good their beginner work looks with just a few more feet distance and matching color!

Another red...I think she was having fun!

Another, done within the grid

And a blue one...

And one more in progress at the machine

Noone ever believes me when I say that it is easy to write with the sewing machine, but apart from one lady who didn't try (in another class long ago) every single student who has tried to write their name, CAN and does! Your hands know where to go...think how many rent and grocery checks you've signed in your life! Remember how hard it was back in first grade to make the shapes of the letters, and now you don't even think about it? That is muscle memory and practice. Ditto for quilting!

Sunday was a half-day session with a few parts of my Fine Finishes class, about edge finishes, bindings and display techniques.  The program chairs decided to focus on the basic and essential double-fold bias binding, which is the basis of so many other techniques, and piping.  I taught Susan K. Cleveland’s way of making piping using the Piping Hot Binding tool.  As so often is the case, it is a simple idea that is brilliant, with some of the best written directions ever.   I heartily recommend this tool–tho it may seem expensive for a piece of plexiglass, the instructions are SO worth every penny!   You can find it here at her website, Pieces be With You.  It was so much fun watching the ladies learn how to make the piping, use the tool, and then get totally jazzed about the possibilities of using the piping alone, in combination with other stuff (like inserted into the bias binding, alone, etc)!  And yep…I was so busy trying to cram the most into a half day that I didn’t take pictures!

Thanks again ladies for a wonderful weekend!

After Enfield, I drove south and lectured the next night for the Chelmsford (Massachusetts) Quilt Guild –and of course no pictures– but really enjoyed that visit, too. I had forgotten that I’d be teaching at a Quilters Gathering in NH, and some asked what classes I’d be teaching.  I didn’t know, but one lady kindly checked for me (she’s on the board) so I was able to share that, too.  I’ll have to put the classes I teach at shows onto my class listings…where I post where I’ll be teaching on the Classes page of this website.  Add that to the to-do list!  I’ll be back here soon with more of the stuff that has been keeping me from blogging…stay tuned!