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QUILT BORDERS &
TABLE RUNNERS | | |
New Patterns!
Last month we introduced
3 new patterns. By way of reminder, here are the placemats for each one.
 | | Crowning Glory |
 | | Forest Finery |
 | | Christmas Socks |
Click on the pictures to see more photos, and to place your order
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| CURRENT INTERNET SPECIAL | | |
Lei Kukui
Bed quilt pattern
Regular price: $15.00, for a limited time purchase for just $12.00
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I HAVE A NOTION | |
Introducing you to the notions Nancy & Janice use.
Ultimate
3-in-1 Color Tool 
This wonderfully designed tool will help you explore new color combinations and give you increased color confidence. A really useful and usable color tool with easy-to-reference numbered color swatches. Also includes two value-finders in red and green, and handy carry case. Now with CMYK, RGB & HEX formulas for graphic designers, web designers and anyone who works with color.
$17.00 Buy It Now.
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FANTASTIC FABRIC
GIVE-AWAY | | |
Congratulations to the three lucky winners in our April drawing:
Diana, Oregon
Lori, Oregon
Susan, Arizona
These three lucky ladies each won 2 yards of Janice's hand dyed fabric! Thank you to everyone who purchased fabric from us in March & April so your names could be entered in our drawings. |
| QUILTCHONG.COM | | |
RETREAT TO THE OREGON COAST!
Visit Nancy's studio in Gold Beach, Oregon, for private applique lessons with Nancy or for your quilting retreat. Whether you come for one day or several, by yourself, or with friends, you deserve a place to relax while you stitch.
 | | Nancy's Studio |
Go to QuiltChong.com for more pictures and information, then call Nancy to book your retreat!
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| Aloha!
Adornments. Oh, how we love to adorn the world around us. Not satisfied with just a functional blouse and slacks, we add embroidery, scarves, belts, and jewelry. We adorn the outside  of our house with wreaths, flags, sculpture, and gardens. The inside of our house is made more beautiful with art, collectibles, photographs, and quilts. We adorn our bodies with make-up, jewelry, tattoos and piercings. (Did you see those hats at the royal wedding and the Kentucky Derby!)
Ancient artifacts reveal paintings on cave walls, carved utensils, decorated baskets and pots. Utility is one thing, beauty is another. Somewhere in us is the need to make the ordinary things around us more beautiful.
As quilters and crafters we derive great pleasure and take pride in adorning our homes and ourselves with the things we make. Personal taste in style, color, and medium enables us to create things unique to us, things that please us, things that please those around us.
This month we celebrate adornment. Let's add beauty wherever we can.
E komo mai!
Nancy & Janice
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| LEI KUKUI | | |
Candlenut Tree
Kukui trees in Hawaii are recognized by their dusty green, tri-lobed leaves. These trees can grow to heights of 80 feet, providing more than shade. Its bark, leaves, flowers and nuts are used for a variety of medicinal and practical applications.
 | | Lei Kukui |
Kukui nuts are rather large, similar to walnuts. In ancient times, Hawaiians used the nuts as candles, because of their high oil content, or they extracted the oil to burn in stone-basin lamps. Before electricity, any source of light at night would have been appreciated. So these little nuts served an important purpose, and the tree came to be known as the candlenut tree.
 | | Kukui nut leis |
The tree had both practical and ornamental uses, extracts from the bark and nuts were used to paint kapa (a type of cloth made by Hawaiians); soot from burned nuts was used as a black dye for tattooing; the leaves, flowers and nuts were, and still are, strung into leis for personal adornment. The dark lei (at right) was made from mature, highly polished nuts, while the brown lei using somewhat less mature nuts, was left in a more natural condition.
Our bed quilt pattern, Lei Kukui, depicts the leaves, nuts, and little white, five petal flowers of the tree in a traditional arrangement with a center medallion and kukui nut lei border.
Lei Kukui. 84" square and up. Regular price: $15.00, but for a limited time purchase this pattern at our Internet Sale Special for just $12.00. Buy It Now
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HAWAIIAN QUILT OPTIONS | | |
Medallion - Border - Block
You get an unexpected bonus with our Lei Kukui: three patterns in one.
 | | Lei Kukui medallion |
1. Use the center medallion without the border to make a quilt that would be approximately 52" square. This is a great option if you are making a single-bed quilt, or need a larger wall hanging.
2. Or, are you looking for a unique border to enhance another quilt you are piecing or appliqueing? Using the Lei Kukui border around another quilt could be just the look you need, and would increase the size of your quilt to approximately 84".
3. Included also, is a companion 21" block, or pillow pattern! Add this block to our other block patterns for your pohopoho* quilt, or turn it on point and you have a 30" wall-hanging. Lots of options!
To see how other people have used our patterns, be sure to visit the Gallery pages on our website.
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Lei Kukui
border pattern |
We know it can be difficult to tell just what size the applique elements really are when you look at these small pictures of a large quilt. To try to set your mind at ease, here are two photos of this quilt pattern with Janice's hand in the picture to give you a feeling for the actual size
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Lei Kukui
medallion pattern |
of the applique.
A 3/16 inch turn-under allowance is included. See, these shapes are big enough to be easily appliqued.
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KIMONO | | | Inspired Adornment
 | | Kimono |
Giving thought to your fabric selection is the key to success with this quilt. Yes, it is an opportunity to use one of your prized Asian print fabrics, or even silk kimono fabrics, but choose your background carefully.
If you are using a print for the applique, select a background that is very different from any of the colors in the print, making sure you have strong contrast between the applique fabric colors and the background fabric. Notice in this quilt at right, the pale green background color is not a dominant color in the red print fabric, and provides strong contrast to the red. The small cream colored fans are a minor element in the print and do not compete with the over-all look.
While the dark applique fabric in the quilt at left contrasts with the background, the large, light-colored flowers are a bit distracting. Our plan with this quilt is to use fabric paint markers to shade the light flowers to help them recede a bit. We think the quilt then will be more successful.
HINT: Consider medium- to small-scale, low-contrast prints, for this pattern.
CREATIVE IDEA: Kimono are often elaborately adorned. For a truly stunning, one-of-a-kind kimono quilt, start with a nearly solid fabric for the kimono, like the one at right. Then add embellishments using applique, fabric paints, beads, or embroidery. Consider a branch of cherry blossoms, flying cranes, koi swimming in water. (When it is done, send us pictures!)
Kimono, 24" x 36". $12.00.
Buy It Now
Click here to see a selection of Fabric Packs for the Kimono quilt, and remember, you can choose any Fabric Pack to go with any 2 Fabric Applique Quilt. So look around, and find the one that is right for your quilt. |
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COMING EVENTS | | |
Nancy's Whereabouts:
Go ahead, treat yourself to a class or retreat this Spring or Summer. You deserve it!
Quilt Shows
- August 8-13, London International Quilt Festival, London, Ontario, Canada.
Nancy will be teaching, displaying our quilts, and selling our patterns and videos. A great opportunity to shop, see our quilts up close, and meet Nancy in person.
Classes - Presentations - Events
- May 13, Quilters Junction, Centralia, WA
- May 14, The Quilting Loft, Seattle, WA
- May 24, Metropolitan Patchwork Society, Beaverton, OR
- June 23-26, Vermont Quilt Festival, Essex Valley, VT
- July 5-8, A Quilters' Affair, Sisters, OR
- Aug 8-13, London International Quilt Festival, London, Ontario, Canada
- Aug 15-16, Friendship Square Quilt Guild, La Habra, CA
Applique with Janice at QuiltWorks Northwest
Janice has 2 on-going groups that meet to applique every month at QuiltWorks Northwest in Bellevue, WA. You bring your own applique project, Janice provides guidance, and the group provides motivation to keep you going. The Friday night group meets on the 2nd Friday of the month from 6pm-9pm. The Sunday group meets on the 3rd Sundays from 1pm-4pm. We would love to have you join us! The dates are on our Calendar, with a link to QuiltWorks NW website for more details. Sign-up now for the next 4-month session.
Hawaiian Quilt Cruise
- Feb 2012; Learn to design your own Hawaiian Quilt with Nancy while enjoying the beauty of 4 Hawaiian islands! This cruise is with C.P. Trips. Get more information and contact information for C.P. Trips on our Calendar.
Click CALENDAR for details and contact info
Register early for classes, they can fill quickly, or be cancelled if not enough people register in advance.
Thank you to all of you who are spreading the word, letting your quilt guilds and shops know you want Nancy to teach in your area. Nancy is booking events in 2011, 2012 and beyond. Remember to let your local quilt shop and guild know that you would like to take an applique class from Nancy Chong. Give them our website, or print Nancy's brochure and give it to them. Be sure to circle the classes you are interested in! Nancy will travel anywhere she is invited to teach. QuiltUniversity.com If you do not live where you can take a class from Nancy in person, then perhaps a class at Quilt University would work for you.
"No tests. No grades. No pressure. New classes open every weekend from January until the end of October. Students receive a password to an online classroom with a teacher-led Discussion Forum and Student Gallery. A typical class consists of three or four lessons. Lessons open on Friday evening."
Nancy's next QuiltUniversity.com classes begin:
June 3: Celtic Tablerunner
June 17: 2 Fabric Applique Quilts July 22: Hand Quilting Aug 19: Baltimore Basics |
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Thank you for spending a little of your precious time with us, we really appreciate it. Remember to send us your stories, pictures, questions, or suggestions. We love to hear from you.
A hui hou,
Until next time,
Nancy & Janice |
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