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January 8, 2011
In This Issue - Quick Links
From Jinny's Desk
New Book & Quilt Kit Available
Ask Jinny: Dealing with Bias Edges
Free Fabric Football Pattern
Jinny's Garden - Block #12
Dear ,

My first order of business for 2011 is to thank you for being part of our quilting community.  We started our email newsletters less than two years ago and have been so pleased by the response of quilters like you. You really seem to like the news and information we bring you.

We love to hear from you, too! Although we can't respond to every email, please know that we do read them and pass them on to the staff. Keep them coming!
News from My Desk
Polly helping Grandma
Polly helps add the D-rings to the Carolina Carryall kits.
My holidays were probably very much like yours -- full of friends, family and cooking!  My grand-daughter, Polly, (and her family) came to visit just after Thanksgiving.  We celebrated her second birthday and "worked" at the Studio. Polly loves to visit "grandma's shop". She helps out and avidly collects fabric scraps to bring back to my house.  Perhaps one day not too many years out we'll be making her first doll quilt together.

My family lived overseas for many years and often spent the holidays in places where Christmastime looks nothing like it does in America.  I wrote a short article for Quiltposium magazine about one of our Christmases in Borneo. You can read it here -- and get my recipe for a Beyer family-favorite cookie. (You must be a subscriber to view the magazine but the subscription is free.)

MoroccoI guess the thrill of traveling and living in new places is still part of me. In the last year, I've taught in Ukraine and Australia and was the guest quilter on the India trip. Later this year, I'll teach in several places in the US, as well as the Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine and The Netherlands. Plus later this year, I'll be traveling to Morocco with Sew Many Places, a travel company specializing in tours for quilters. The dates have just been set: October 21 - 29.  If you've ever considered a trip like this one, I'd love to have you join us.  You can find more information at Sew Many Place's website.

A Golden Album Quilt Book and Kit Now Shipping
Golden Album QuiltI suppose we need to wait for all good things, but we certainly had to wait longer than expected for my new book to arrive.  If I'd been planning ahead, I should have known that the books, which were due to arrive in early to mid-December, would probably get caught in the Christmas crush at U.S. customs and at the freight companies.  Well, the books are here now and I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

You may recall that the idea behind the Golden Album quilt and pattern book was generated by requests from readers of my book, The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns.  They wanted to get the pattern for the "quilt on the cover".  Except there was no quilt! The cover was a collage of blocks I created for the book.

Sample PagesThe new book has detailed information on creating the twenty blocks in the quilt, plus full-sized templates, fabric information, and lots of marking, cutting and sewing tips. The blocks are organized so that you work on the easiest ones first and develop the skills to easily handle the last blocks.

We've been shipping out the pre-orders this past week so it's the perfect time to order if you haven't already.  You can find more information on the book and kit here.

Ask Jinny: Dealing with Bias Edges

I am relatively new to quilting. Recently I tried a small quilt with squares on point. All the outside edges are on the bias, so when I try to attach the two borders, I am finding the quilt stretches. Is there a trick to attaching borders on a quilt with bias edges?  I measured from the middle of the quilt, etc., yet I'm still having trouble.
Carolyn, Nova Scotia, Canada


Carolyn's question is a common one because bias edges can be stretchy.  Here are several techniques to try.

1)    Avoid having bias edges on the outside of your block or quilt. This is actually very easy: to minimize stretching, make sure that outside edges are on the cross-wise or lengthwise grain of the fabric.
Avoiding Bias Edges on a BlockLet's look at this simple block (the arrows indicate the crosswise or lengthwise grain of fabric.)

If you cut a square in half on the diagonal once (Square A), the long side is a bias edge. Cut this way, you'll be sewing the two triangles in A together on the bias edges, but that seam will be inside the block; the outside edges will have minimal stretch.

If you cut a square in half on the diagonal twice (Square B), you can see that the two short sides will be on the bias, but the long side that will be on the outside of the patch will be on grain.

Carolyn, in your situation, you want to make sure that the long side of your setting triangles (which will be on the outside of your quilt top) are not cut on the bias. If you want to cut the setting triangles from a square, you need to cut the appropriate size square twice on the diagonal as in Square B and above and as shown below.

 Avoiding Bias on a Quilt

2)    Take care when handling bias edges. You can't avoid bias edges all the time. If your patch or block has bias edges, take care when piecing and pressing.  Use a light touch. Some quilters suggest avoiding steam when pressing. Although I don't personally use starch, many quilters advocate starching fabric before cutting to minimize stretching. (Only use starch if you plan to wash the quilt after finishing it; starch can attract pests if left in the fabric.)

3)    Ease to fit. As you've discovered, when a quilt top has many bias pieces on the outside, the edges of a quilt top can be longer than the measurements through the middle of the quilt. To avoid borders that "ruffle", you need to cut them to middle-of-quilt measurements. This means you may end up with border strips that are slightly shorter than the quilt edge. When you sew the borders on, the quilt edges will have to be eased back to their proper size. Follow these steps:
  • Working with the border on top, pin the mid-point of one of the borders to the middle of one of the edges of the quilt.
     
  • Now, fold both the quilt top and the border strip in half (separately) to find the mid-point of each and pin those together.
     
  • Continue finding the mid-points between pins and pinning them together. It may take lots of pins, but this is the best way I've found to ease in the fullness.
(I've also posted this tip on my website.  You can find it under Quilt Tips - Back to Basics or at the link here.)

Do you have a question for me? Send me an email at [email protected]. I can't respond individually but will choose emails to answer here and on my website.

Football, Anyone?
Fabric FootballAmerican women often find themselves "football widows" this time of year as the season nears its conclusion with the Super Bowl just weeks away.  Some are quite happy to lose their spouses and boyfriends to the television -- more time to sew!

Last year, Carole Nicholas (a dear friend and my former seminar coordinator) and I were inspired to create a fabric football. It uses just scraps of fabric and a couple of shoelaces, plus almost a pound of 100% cotton stuffing.

This year, I'd like to share the pattern with you free.  We'll only have it available to download for a week or two. I'd like to think that will motivate you to download it and get started making one in your team colors (or your husband's!) right away.

Download free Fabric Football pattern [link available for subscribers only].


And please send pictures!  I'd love to see any footballs you make.

Jinny's Garden Block of the Month - Block 12
Black-Eyed Susan BlockThis is the second-to-last month for Jinny's Garden! Next month, you'll be able to download the pattern for Block #13 and the setting instructions. And maybe -- if I get busy -- you'll get a sneak peek at our free BOM pattern for 2011!

January's block is Black-Eyed Susan.  Eight identical triangles cut from border print fabric pinwheel around a pretty purple center that is appliqu�d on top.

The patterns for Black-Eyed Susan and all the prior months' blocks are available at [link for subscribers only].


Jinny's Garden QuiltWe still have complete quilt kits available, including the full pattern (it's more than 50 pages!) and all the fabrics you need for the top and binding. You can also order a Flower Fabric Bundle if you'd like to use your own fabrics for the setting and borders.

For more details of the Jinny's Garden kit, pattern and fabric bundle, click here.

Happy quilting!
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