Monthly Newsletter From Jinny Beyer Studio

November 3, 2012

Greetings!,

Polly and Emmett

In September 2011, remnants of Hurricanes Lee and Katia flooded our region with about 10 inches of rain. Last June, a derecho whipped through our area causing unbelievable devastation in just 24 minutes. The shop was without power for days, and my nearby home was without power for a week! So, you can imagine my reaction when I heard Hurricane Sandy was headed towards the northeast. I was in Houston at Quilt Market with my shop manager, Barbara Hollinger. When it proved almost impossible to get an earlier flight home to beat the storm's arrival, I did what any sane woman expecting days without water and electricity would do -- I flew in the other direction to visit my grandkids!

The D.C. area escaped the worst of the storm this time. But in just a few short years, we have become familiar with the loss and deprivation that extreme weather can bring. Our hearts are with everyone in New York, New Jersey and the other affected areas. We hope your families and friends are safe, and that life's rhythms will become routine again for you soon.

Barb Hollinger, Chief Elf

I have worked with Barb for almost ten years now, and rely on her to keep the shop and mail order business humming. An engineer by trade, she is our Chief Elf and the one we turn to whenever the math is really tricky! She writes regularly for Machine Quilting magazine, even while spending her business hours working for me, an avowed hand quilter!

Barb calls herself a 21st century quilter -- someone who does everything. She both sews and quilts by hand and machine; loves antique quilts and will restore ones that catch her fancy; makes art quilts and traditional quilts and is intrigued by the modern quiltmaking movement. Barb draws the line, however: she refuses to fuse!

Please enjoy the November issue of my newsletter.

New! Rajasthan Spray

Last month, I introduced you to Bordering on Brilliance II, my new collection of border print fabrics. This month, I've got another new collection -- but it's completely different from the border prints!

Rajasthan Spray is a terrific new "basics" collection. There is one fabric design but I've used it to create 15 different colorways.

The background swatch gives you a good idea of the overall design.

My goal was to create a collection of "semi-solid" fabrics that would be ideal for large spaces like backgrounds and borders. But I wanted enough design interest that they would also be a little lively and would work well for appliqué and other fussy cutting applications.

The fabrics are available by the yard and in fat quarter bundles.

What's the Secret to Inset Seams?

Have you ever rejected a quilt pattern because it had Y-seams or inset seams in the blocks? (That would include just about any quilt design that uses diamond shapes, like this one, Block #163, Star Sapphire, from my free Quilter's Design Board.)

If so, you're not alone. I've taught thousands of students and I'm still amazed at how many quilters are afraid to tackle this common construction technique.

Well, I'm here to tell you that there are just two secrets to perfect inset seams:

mark the seam intersection points on your patches,
then sew dot-to-dot.

It really is that easy. And I've put together this short little video that will show you exactly how to make perfect inset seams by hand or by machine.

Watch the video and then give it a try -- maybe make a sample Star Sapphire block! It will open up a whole new world of quilting opportunities for you.

There's Plenty of Time for These Best-Sellers

Throughout the year, we have lots of fun finding or creating new projects for our Weekly Web Specials. These projects were three of our very best-sellers . . . and they're small enough that you can easily have them ready to go for the gift-giving season.

If you'd like to make sure you don't miss out on future best-sellers, be sure to subscribe to our Weekly Web Special email. You can do so by updating your subscription on our subscription page.
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Envelope E-Case

The Envelope e-Case is perfect for your tablet computer or e-reader. Made from a simple square, it has a flap with pocket on the front and back, and two center pockets. One pocket is custom-sized for your device and is secured with a Velcro closure flap. This bag is incredibly simple to sew with just a couple of short seams. The secret is in the fold!

The kit is $38 and is available in four colorways.
View Envelope e-Case Details.

Petite Gateau Pin Cushion

These delightful little pin cushions look terrific when made with high-contrast fabrics. The border print stripe gives the project big design impact with no additional work!

They are super quick and easy to make. (One of our staffers made a dozen in one weekend for her book club!) Kits are just $12.50 and that includes enough fabric to make at least three pin cushions. There are multiple colorways to choose from.
View Petite Gateau Pin Cushion Details.

Bailey Island Hobo Bag

We fell in love with this pattern the first time we saw it and loved it even more when we made it up with Jinny's fabrics. It was hugely popular when we offered it as a web special.

The construction technique is fun and easy: 2½" fabric strips are wrapped around strips of batting, then the strips are zig-zag stitched together. Inside there are two open pockets on each side.

The kit is available in three colorways for $69.50 and will make either the small or large size.
View the Hobo Bag Details.

Shenandoah Baskets - Month 10

I call this block, Basket of Daffodils. I added some oomph to the traditional Carolina Lily flower by using border print patches in the base of the flowers, and have placed them in a simple basket.

If you're just joining the program, there's no need to worry about catching up. In addition to this month's block, the download link below will give you access to all the materials we've shared so far.

Shenandoah Baskets is available with dark or light backgrounds. The optional floral appliqué is
shown on the light version.

(They are all Adobe PDF files so you must have the free Adobe Reader installed on your computer to view them.)

Remember that the only way to access the free download page is through this email. So, if you don't download the patterns immediately, be sure to save this email. The link below will be active until the next newsletter goes out.

[Link available only via subscriber email]

Ready to make the quilt? We have kits ready to go. Don't forget that you can choose Shenandoah Baskets with a dark or light background.

See the kit options here.

Happy quilting!