Christmas Stitching

While my sewing machine is in the shop I decided to do something different. I took out my old Prairie Schooler patterns and thought I'd work on a little bit of cross stitch for a change. This always happens around the holidays. Every December I spend a couple of hours looking through all the Christmas designs I've collected over the years, thinking about all the lovely pieces I'd like to stitch. Occasionally, I even make something. Duh, it would never occur to me to start in July, when there'd be a better chance I'd actually finish something by Christmas. Oh well. 

Then, I pulled out some of my other unfinished Christmas items, like these Christmas tree mug rugs I started last year but never seemed to complete.

These are just too cute not to finish so I know I'll do that at least, if I get my machine back soon. And so I started cutting pieces for a few more. This is a free pattern on my website and in the small quilt group Files, by the way. 

For the December challenge in my small quilt groups (Yahoo and Facebook - see blog sidebar for links), we're making red & white quilts again. I realized I had to start thinking about what I want to make. If you don't have time to make a whole quilt, it's okay to simply make a mug mat or coaster. We're having a showing of the quilts on Facebook and Yahoo on December 30 so I've got plenty of time. I cut these pieces for one quilt and now have decided I'll probably make a different one instead. 

In addition to dreaming of all sorts of creative, Christmasy things I could be making, I started my Christmas shopping. Some of you are probably already finished. I just can't get into it if it's not cold or snowing. Well, we've now got the cold so out I went . . . .

Wishing you a happy December and may all your stitching dreams come true. Make a wish that some of mine come true too. I've been feeling pretty tired and lazy lately and since it takes me a lot of time and energy to write blog posts, I promise I'll finish writing the ones about making scrappy quilts after the holidays. In the meantime, make something cute and show me a picture of it in my Facebook small quilt group. 

Oh yeah, one more cute little stitching project I started and really need to finish . . . . 

Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday, we took what was probably our last (dog) walk at the park on the lake. It's getting way too cold and windy. That's Lake Michigan behind the bare trees.

Yep, Brrrr. It's November in Chicago.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you - the wonderful quilting friends I've met through this blog. I am especially grateful for your support and kindness all these years and hope that those of you who are celebrating the holiday have a blessed time with family and friends and safe travels. 

Collecting Fabric - for Scrap Quilt Lovers

Recently, I met some quilters who told me that making scrap quilts terrifies them. They said that they're often intimidated and don't quite know how to put their fabrics together or even what fabrics to use.

Hexagon Garden from Small & Scrappy - one of my favorite little scrap quilts.

If you read the Introduction in my book Small & Scrappy (of course you actually read all of your quilting books, don't you?), you might remember what I wrote: that in order to make good scrap quilts you need to begin collecting lots of different prints in various colors. It's absolutely necessary to  have a "good fabric wardrobe" with a nice variety of prints in basic colors. I think every quilter should have a good assortment of prints in shades of red, medium blue, brown, tan, green, gold, indigo or dark blue, pink, black, purple and, of course, a collection of light prints or "shirtings."

It can be overwhelming to know where to begin collecting and developing a nice collection of fabrics. I know it's fun to just keep buying the same colors over and over again. But, if you're intent on making scrap quilts, then you need to go outside your box and pick up some prints that may not be in your customary colors. I love blue and always tend to buy a lot of blues. But if I only buy blue every time I shop, my fabric collection will suffer and so will my quilts. Because it does tend to become overwhelming, focus on building up your fabric stash by buying one color at a time.  The good news - this will involve a lot of shopping.

Next time you visit a quilt shop or shop online for fabric, in addition to buying yardage of what you love, try focusing on buying some prints in different colors you may not have in your collection at home as well. Perhaps buy additional half yards, quarter yards or fat quarters of just ONE color on this trip. I always seem to be low on gold and green. Not my favorite colors or used often as the focus in my quilts but I still love to incorporate them into my scrap quilts and need to remember to buy more. Then, the next time you shop, focus on only buying say, an assortment of reds, or just buy a few brown prints.

Over time, if you shop often, this will give you a nice variety. And, you may find that this is a way to overcome the overwhelming feeling we all get when we enter a quilt shop and may help to keep the confusion to a minimum. There's usually inspiration at every step and if you see a quilt you must make, then go for it and buy all of the fabric it takes. Just remember to also build up your basic fabric collection while you're there. Also, if you make small quilts, then don't buy all large, busy floral prints. Mix it up and buy a few geometrics, stripes or checks, tiny florals and dots too. Save the large florals for the borders perhaps. When you build up your fabric collection this way, the next time you feel like making a scrappy quilt, you're good to go.

Bottom line - don't be afraid to buy more fabric. Sure, you don't need it and it's probably true, we will never use all of it up in our lifetimes. But, as quilters, it goes without saying that we are also collectors of fabric. Fabric is what drives us as well as the entire quilting industry.  You should not apologize or feel ashamed if you have too much fabric. Buying fabric is an essential part of the creative process and it often gives us the inspiration we need to begin something new. Stop and think -  do you really need 5 yards of a print you love? Or, will a half yard or even a fat quarter do? There will always be new fabric to love. You may be better off buying additional yardage of some other lovely prints that will complement that one and build up your collection. Don't hoard - share or donate the fabric you know you won't use. It's actually quite freeing to get rid of some of it.

For those of you who are new to quilting, it's common to lack confidence in picking out fabrics for a quilt. There's nothing wrong with following the same colors a designer has used in his or her quilt. Until you have a style of your own you may need to experiment with the styles of other designers so you can find out what makes YOUR heart sing.  But go and build up a nice collection. We're thinking ahead as I'm making plans for the next "mystery quilt" starting in January 2018. Hope you'll join us. You'll need lots of scraps.

Hope you have a good weekend. I'll give you more tips about storing your fabric and making scrappy quilts after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Listen Up, Quilters

Quilters, here's some fun news for you - I'm excited to be a guest on the American Patchwork and Quilting Radio show/podcast hosted by Pat Sloan this coming Monday, November 13.

You can listen to the interview live at 4:00 pm Eastern time (3:00 pm Central, 2:00 pm Mountain, 1:00 pm Pacific time) as Pat "grills" me about all sorts of fun quilting-related stuff. Hope you're excited too! (I'm getting over yet another cold and hope I'm better by then or I'll be the one with the nasally, hoarse voice who says "Huh? Pat, would you please repeat that question??" That's my excuse in case I come off sounding a bit ditzy . . . .)

If some of you are unfamiliar with this concept, a podcast is a radio or talk show that you access on the internet. (So don't spend the weekend looking in the attic for your old transistor radio from the '60s . . . .) You can listen live on your computer by following this link. If you can't listen live, no worries, you'll still be able to access the recording of the show a little later in the day on the website. And, if you are really, REALLY busy, weeks later in Past Shows using the same link. They keep the interviews up on the website. While you're there, listen to all the previous interviews with your favorite quilting designers. Pat has been hosting the show for years with inspirational quilters every Monday. Click on the Listening Tips box to get more info. 

So, don't forget now - on Monday afternoon, make yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, sit back, relax, and join Pat and me for a nice chat. Close your eyes and it'll be like we're in the same room, old friends, just talking quilts.  

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In other news, I am still working on getting your e-mail notices for updates on my blog to work in a timely fashion. Please bear with me as I try to figure it all out. I suspect some of you may have received more than one e-mail last time. Sorry, but I am phasing out one subscription service and adding another so that may happen from time to time until I know for sure what's going on. It's just me here, winging it, no tech people helping me out. 

Have a good weekend!

Pup-pup is busy getting Sheepie all nice and clean for Monday's show. I don't know how many times I've told her it's RADIO, not TV.  

Quilt Show at the Garden

It's that time of year again - the Fine Art of Fiber quilt show at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  Mostly modern quilts but it's always fun to see the different types of quilts other quilters make.

A wall of embellished small quilts made from Sue Spargo panels.  

Today was a dreary, rainy, overcast day so I did not walk around the rest of the garden much. 

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Early in October, I started making a little pumpkin quilt runner. I haven't finished quilting it yet. Cute, no?

After I posted it on Facebook, some said they'd be interested in buying a pattern for it. So, I am working on getting that done and up on my website in a few days. Check my website sometime next week and with a little luck it will be available on the pattern page. 

Have a good weekend! Puppy really hopes it stops raining soon . . . . I keep telling her the rain is only going to ruin her new coiffure if she goes out there and gets wet. Not sure she believes me (or cares).