| Quilted Strait Newsletter |
September 2009
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 Lots of new fabrics and patterns, lots of new ideas, how does a quilter every manage to go to sleep at night! And then.... there is still the annual problem of how am I going to carve my pumpkin this year to keep me awake at night. You see, I have to confess, I really don't like Halloween that much and from my point of view the only redeeming feature to the holiday is the whole pumpkin carving tradition. I have however found some new sources of pumpkin carving inspiration . There are free templates, ideas for three-toned patterns (you do some peeling as well as some carving) and instructions for proper Jack-o-Lantern burial. Check out the gallery on this website for some amazing jack-o-lanterns. I am thinking perhaps a two color reverse applique project for my next Halloween pumpkin......?
Be sure to check out the new search feature on our website...... just want to check out what we have added recently? Beginning September 2009, you can now search our fabric database by when the fabric was added to our inventory. Just type the month you are looking for into the search box and you will see all of the fabric added to the inventory in that month. Try going to the website and typing September and you will see all of the fabric added to our inventory so far this month.
Piecefully,
Kris
Don't forget to go to the bottom of the newsletter to get to the link that will allow you to sign up for our monthly drawing.
P.S. If you are having trouble receiving the images in our newsletter, be
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 New Product Review
My favorite Bamboo Batting
Quilters Dream Orient Batting is a blend of Bamboo, silk, Tencel® Cotton. These are all natural fibers and this combination of fibers make a batting that is soft, strong, warm and breathes. The most outstanding feature of this batting is the wonderful soft drape after quilting. This batting has a little loft and is very lightweight, but still warm. The items made with this batting are meant to be washed in cold water and dried in a cool dryer.
Stitch up to 8" apart. Prewashing is not necessary, but you will get about 3%
shrinkage if you do not prewash. This batting has received great reviews from the machine quilters we know. I hand quilted a small sample and at my level of hand quilting I found it acceptable, however several more expert hand quilters think that this batting has a little more drag on the needle than they would like for fine hand quilting where you are going to be loading alot of stitches on the needle at at time.
About the fibers:
Bamboo - is a soft, absorbent fiber with
unique antibacterial qualities. Bamboo is warm in the
winter and cool in the summer.
Silk - is the strongest natural fiber in existence Dream Orient
contains high quality Tussah 'Peace' silk, which is stronger and
more resilient than white silk.
Botanic Tencel® - is made
from environmentally friendly eucalyptus wood pulp derived from
sustainable tree farms. Tenciel®
is exceptionally strong, resilient and resistant to wrinkles,
yet so soft it is often referred to as imitation silk.
Cotton - is a natural fully renewable fiber that is
soft, breathable and a traditional fiber used throughout
generations.
About the Bamboo Plant
· Bamboo is the fastest growing timber plant on earth and requires no fertilizers to grow.
· Bamboo regenerates (cut one stalk and two will grow in its place) with a short harvesting cycle.
· Bamboo can grow 47 inches in 24 hours and 78½ feet high in 40 to 50 days.
· The Bamboo plant is used for watershed protection, and soil remediation. It retains water in the watershed,
reduces runoff, sustains riverbanks and helps mitigate water pollution due to its high nitrogen consumption.
· Bamboo can be grown on all continents except Africa.
· The species used for Bamboo fiber is Phyllostachys Heterocycla, commonly known as Moso Bamboo. It is NOT the
Bamboo species eaten by Pandas.
· Bamboo fiber is a natural cellulose and eco-friendly fiber that is thinner than the average human hair with a round,
smooth surface.
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October Fab Shop Hop
Go to our website and click on the link to register for the October online Fab Shop Hop.
Great Prizes and lots of fun shops.
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 Top Ten List of Reasons to buy Fabric
#4
Neighborhood children might need just the right color for a scavenger
hunt.
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Fall Stash Dash
October 2,3 &4th, 2009
Dash around the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsula's as you pick up your free fat quarters at each shop. This year's color theme is yellow and blue and you will receive a free fat quarter at each shop. Get your passport stamped at each of the six shops and you will be eligible to win the grand prize of a Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine. Prizes also include six second prizes of fabric donated by Timeless Treasures Fabrics and Maywood Studios and gift certificates from the participating stores. Maps and driving directions available from the website. |
New Fabrics ....
 Barely There is a collection of soft, misty feeling medium scale tonal
prints by Laurie Godin for Northcott.
 Metro Mirageby Michele D'Amore fabrics features a
contemporary Autumn palette with a traditional Jacobean touch.
 The Apple Collection by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures features
stylised apples, apple trees and quirky owls.
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Subversive Stitching
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine (Paperback)
by
Rozsika Parker
If you've ever enjoyed looking at historical textiles or thought of the ways in which
needlework shaped the lives of women historically you will enjoy this book immensely. Parker takes one
of the central tasks expected of women in the 18th and 19th centuries
and shows how women used needlework as an outlet. The book covers the use and interesting changes to embroidery as well as the perception of needlework as an occupation and hobby. This book is out of print but is still readily available used in both hardcover and paperback forms.
Subversive Stitchers Blog
This is a wonderful blog! This is a writer's look at quilting, the quilt art community and anything else fabric. The Blog's title says it all - Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles
Be sure to check out the blog soon, the blog features a link to the American Alliance for Quilts Crazy for Quilts Auction. The link is a photo of the honorable mention entry from local quilter Dorothy Thompson.
Subversive verses from some antique needlework Samplers
"In the glad morn of blooming youth
These various threads I drew,
And now behold this finished piece
Lies glorious to the view.
So when bright youth shall charm no more
And age shall chill my blood,
May I review my life and say
Behold my works were good."
---unknown
While rosy cheeks thy bloom
confess
And virtue thy bosom warms
Let virtue and let knowledge dress
Thy mind with brighter charms,
Daily on some fine page to look
Lay useless sports aside
And let the needle and the book
Thy fleeting hours divide.
---1820, Sampler by Rosamund
Packard
More samplers and verses can be found in the collection of The Old Sturbridge Village Museum.
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Class Schedule - Register Now
Foundation Paper Piecing Workshop
Instructor Barb Schultz
Class Fee: $40.00
One
session class: Wednesday,
September 30, 12-4 pm
Barb has lots of tips and techniques to tell you
about to make foundation paper piecing a fun and useful skill to add
to your quilting repertoire. You bring whatever pattern you wish to
work on and Barb will not only provide you with some general
instruction, but help you to get started on your individual pattern
Wool Appliqué Workshop
Instructor: Lauretta Ehling
Class Fee: $7.50 per session
One Sunday a month from 12:30 to 3:30 pm
Oct. 11, Nov. 8, Dec. 13
This
is your chance to get started working with wool, work on one of the 2009
Wool Block of the Month Projects, finish up old Wool Block of the Month
Projects, or start a new wool appliqué project of your own choosing.
Whatever you choose to bring to class you will have the advantage of
Lauretta's wool appliqué expertise at your disposal. She will be at
each session of the workshop to advise, to lend color advice and to
offer troubleshooting help. Give yourself a Sunday afternoon to work
with your wool, enjoy the camaraderie of working with others and take
advantage of Lauretta's vast wealth of experience working with wool.
Experienced Ink Workshop
Instructor: Barb Schultz
Class Fee: $40.00
One session class: Wednesday, October 14, 11 am to 3 pm
If you've taken a
class from Barb or used All Purpose Inks and Fabrico pens on
your own this is a great opportunity to further hone your
skills, get help with a problem or find inspiration and
direction for a new project.
A demonstration of free motion "thread inking" using
a domestic sewing machine will be offered.
Spend a fun day exchanging ideas and exploring the
possibilities. Bring your projects, your problems, your
ideas and a sack lunch.
 Accidental LandscapesInstructor: Barb Schultz One session class: Sunday, October 18, noon to 4pm Discover
the secrets of creating a fabric landscape accidentally using Karen
Eckmeier's layering and topstitching technique. You'll find out how
to capture the feeling of a scene in simple layers, create a landscape
based on a favorite photo, postcard, color palette, memory or vacation.
Surprise yourself with lively, exciting compositions. Accidental
Landscapes Book required for class.
 Moon Over the Mountain
Instructor: Lauretta Ehling
Class Fee: $35.00
One session class: Tuesday, September 29, 10:30 m to 2:30 pmThis
is a wonderful quilt to use up your stash of batiks as well as learn
the basics of machine appliqué. You will complete several blocks in
class while learning the secrets of quick machine appliqué. Lauretta's
method of preparing a reusable template that you can use over and over
again to shape your "moons" and "mountains" will apply to many other
machine appliqué blocks and quilts you might want to tackle. Once you
learn this technique the possiblities are limitless! OK for beginners.
 Wool Log Cabin
Instructor: Lauretta Ehling
Class Fee: $65.00
Three session class: Tuesdays, October 6,13, and 20, 10:30 am to 2:30 pm
You will
first create the woodland scene on wool that forms the center of this
log cabin quilt and in the process you will learn about painting on
wool with Tsukineko inks and the art of needle felting. After you have
your center completed - you will be ready for the log cabin blocks that
form the rest of the quilt. Lauretta has created her log cabin blocks
using William Morris fabrics - your fabric choice will reflect your own
style and give the quilt your own unique look. Confident Beginner.
Fusible Web Applique
Workshop
Instructor: Sam Coyle
Class Fee: $35.00
One session class: Saturday, October 24, 1-5
pm
Participate in this workshop to learn
the technique of Fusible Web Appliqué while working on your
own project. Bring your pattern and your fabric and Sam has
lots of ideas and tips for you. You will receive instruction
for using fabric to the best advantage, the secrets of
working with fusible web, transferring your placement
diagram and various stitching techniques
 Batik Beauty
Instructor: Lauretta
Ehling
Class Fee: $25.00
One
session class: Tuesday, November 10, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
This is a chance to feature all of those
wonderful batik fabrics you have been saving. Batiks are made by
hand and are original art, and each inch of a batik is unique.
Because of this, your batik quilt will be a work of art like no
other. Make this easy to
construct, complex looking quilt while you have fun playing with
color and texture. This class will provide you with an excellent
exercise in the use of color in a fun and non-threatening
way. You will learn to trust your eye and your own special color
sense.
Free Motion Machine Quilting
Instructor: Peggy St. George
Class Fee: $45.00
One session class: Thursday, Nov 12, 10:30 am to 4:00 pm
Learn the basics of free motion machine quilting from this
accomplished and experienced machine quilter.
The focus in this class will be hands on practice. You will learn
to control speed and direction of your quilting and have a
chance to practice some simple designs as you learn to work
with your machine. Your machine must have a free-motion or
darning foot and you must be able to lower or cover the feed
dogs.
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Win a $50 Gift CertificateSign up for our newsletter and be entered into
our monthly drawing for a $50 online gift certificate. Sign up now! Next drawing October 25, 2009.The September Newsletter Drawing Winner is
Cheryl Whiteman, Washington State
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