QUILT OF THE MONTH
Green Gingko Leaves
Jennifer Wharton
The green Gingko Leaves quilt is a miniature made for one of my husband's
coworkers who particularly admires ginkgos. For this quilt I fussy cut a
section of a Kona Bay fabric for the backing and used it to quilt the design
from the back. I used Radiance fabric on the front, with YLI 100# silk thread and a Microtex 60
needle.
Double-layer cotton batting gives the trapunto effect.
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Favorite Website
Kim Stotsenberg
See what Kim is up to on her blog SewnNSew Quilting! Take a peek at her book, JUST LEAF IT. In this book, Kim
gives you easy to follow step-by-step instructions to create
your own sampler of leaf designs for blocks, borders, and setting
triangles!
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Featured Business
SewBatik
SewBatik has a passion for designing, sourcing and
distributing exquisite batik and hand dyed fabrics. Their fabrics are
only sold on the SewBatik website and at trunk shows and home parties
coordinated by "Batik Associates". Diane and Bruce Magidson
co-founded SewBatik in 2004. Visit the website www.sewbatik.com
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Cancer touches everyone. Love
Heals-Quilts for Cancer is a moving story in our March issue about a community of
quilters who
came together to make quilts for the local cancer center. Linda
Evans Cox designed a pattern for a quilt which will fit a chemo
treatment chair
and has graciously allowed us to share it with you. Visit our website, www.mqumag.com, to download the FREE pdf.
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Let's help stop this #2 cancer killer. Get checked today!
Vicki Anderson Kit Robinson
Executive Editor Managing Editor
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The March issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited includes
the amazing artistry of Jenny Bowker, and the story of how her art has been
influenced by her travels in the Mideast. Ellen Anne
Eddy teaches her creative bobbin work techniques and gives a step-by-step lesson in
making a sensational project. The photos of Ellen's
colorful work almost leap off the pages. An article on Environmentally Friendly
quilts includes thought provoking quilts by Eileen Doughty, Patricia Anderson
Turner, Eleanor Levie and a fabric art critique group from Northern Colorado. The gorgeous photo-manipulated quilt, The Last Dance, by Diane Rusin
Doran, graces the JawDropper page. Quilts by Marilyn Wall, Jane Bayerena and
Vicki Carlson are shown in the Noteworthy section. Articles by Barb
Hollinger on Quilting Borders, Doug Creasy on When to Call a Tech, a tour of
Stephanie Patterson's incredible studio and instructions on her inventive way
to quilt charity quilts in assemble line fashion, a humorous look at teaching
quilting by Kim Brunner, as well as her more serious article on using templates,
and a lesson on computerized quilting with Shirley Higginbotham are included! And last but absolutely not least,
our featured artist Anita Shackelford tells us the story of how she came to
machine quilting and shares several of her gloriously quilted works with us. She
also gives us advice on teaching quilting to 'Teens and Tweens'. Don't miss this information packed issue!
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Tote Tuesday
Virginia Spiegel
Thanks to everyone who particpated in Virginia Spiegel's Tote Tuesday fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The Tote sponsored by MQU raised $275! The total raised was over $15,000, bringing the amount that Virginia has contributed to ACS with her Fiber Art For A Cause promotions to over $205,000! Thanks, Virginia, for your dedication and personal fight against this deadly disease.
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CALLING ALL GUILDS!
We are adding a GUILD LINK to our Links page on the website. If you would like to have your Guild added, send your website information to liz@meanderpublishing.com. Guilds will be grouped by state, making it easy for potential members to find Guilds in their area. No matter how large or small, let us share your Guild information.
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Spotlight On Teachers
LINDA V TAYLOR
Linda Taylor is a highly regarded longarm machine
quilter whose work has been displayed in many venues and published
widely in several quilting magazines and books. Linda has been quilting
for over 20 years and is known and respected as one of the innovators
of the art of longarm machine quilting. She has won numerous quilting
awards in shows sponsored by the International Quilting Association,
American Quilter's Society and National Quilter's Association. She was the 2007 MQX Teacher of the Year! She most recently has launched her new video streaming and on-line
classes with www.thequiltingschool.com
Be sure to check it out!
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Machine Quilters
Exposition East 2010
Rhode Island
Convention Center, Providence RI
Classes begin April
12 and run through April 17th
Public Quilt Show:
Thursday, April 15th
- 10-6
Friday, April 16th -
9-5
Saturday, April 17th
- 9-5
Come, enjoy the MQX
Experience
www.mqxshow.com
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Tip of the Month
When doing free motion quilting with your DSM, it is a must to use
gloves or some other device that helps you to grip the fabric tightly. It is also much easier to do straight
stitching with your walking foot (of course!) and your grippers, especially
when handling a large quilt. This is a great help---not just for quilting,
but also while stitching applique or other detail work.
If you want to make your borders stand out more, outline
them with a straight stitch about a 1/4" on either side of the seam line. (Be sure to use your walking foot when you
have the feed dogs up!) This will make them much more noticeable than stitching
in the ditch---and you won't have the unsightly problem of occasionally having
your stitches jump just outside of the ditch!
It is nearly impossible to free motion quilt in straight
lines.
Instead--think wavy!
Wavy lines can be very narrow or really wide
depending on the area to be quilted. After doing this a while, your wavy lines
will be so uniform people will think you used a stitch that is programed into
your machine!
Our tips this month came from
NANCY HINDS!
Let's see YOUR tips here next month! If selected, you will receive a 1 year subscription (or extension) to MQU!
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New Column in the Magazine
ASK
KIMMY
You wanted it...now it's here! Whether a beginner or an
experienced machine quilter, no matter if you are using a longarm, midarm or
sit-down machine, many of you have problems and nowhere to turn. Several
subscribers have emailed asking for a column to answer reader questions. Well,
we heard you! Kim Brunner, renowned author, quilter, teacher and training DVD queen,
will start her column ASK KIMMY in
the May 2010 issue. Kimmy has the answers, and if she doesn't, she will go to
other experts to get them.
Email questions to AskKimmy@meanderpublishing.com and we will ASK KIMMY!
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