Daily Blog

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The TQS gang goes "on the road again" for a visit with author, designer, blogger, and self-described "scrapaholic" Bonnie Hunter, who made her first quilt using her grandmother's cardboard templates.

Nowadays Bonnie, who still enjoys stitching on her beloved treadle machine, uses a webcam so that her followers can watch her at work in her studio! In this show, Bonnie shares her quilter-friendly system for cutting and sorting scraps, her technique for making quick 2"-finished half-square-triangle units from strips, and her ingenious "Leaders and Enders" technique, which makes thrifty use of leftovers and thread. In addition, Bonnie shows how she builds a quilt using fabric "strings" and phonebook-page foundations, and how to play with the finished blocks.

We end with a field trip to meet Nebraska quiltmaker, author, teacher, and quilt judge Shelly Burge, who currently incorporates copper crimping in her quilts - while curating her collection of over 300 (!) vintage sewing machines.

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We stumbled on this while surfing rather than working. Here is a fun Spring Sale by Landauer Books. It includes great quilt books and some fabric and...well here is their pitch

• Save 30% on our latest releases like Easy-Cut Quilts with a modern twist, Embroidery & Patchwork Revisited, Modern Hand Stitching, and many more!
• Save 40% or more on great, select, skill-building titles in our First-Time and Basics & Beyond series. Create projects that are sure to impress with titles like First-Time Machine Appliqué, First-Time Beading on Fabric, and Needleturn Appliqué The basics and beyond.
• Save 50% or more on overstock and hurt books including fantastic project books, technique books and many best sellers for a fraction of their retail price.

Click Here or on the sign to see what's on Sale.

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(Photo: heavy.com)

Ricky recently received the following mail:

As you know, Arkansas was hit by an EF-4 tornado on Sunday. The two hardest hit towns are in my county. Mayflower was the site of an oil spill just one year ago and now are dealing with the destruction of this storm. Vilonia was hit by a tornado just two years ago. This tornado took almost exactly the same track destroying many rebuilt homes and lives. 

If any quilter out there have finished charity quilts, I am sure they would bring a special kind of comfort to the people affected by the storms. Thank you for posting this to a much larger audience than I am able to reach.

Anyone who wants to send a quilt can send it to Lynn Wilson, 83 Woolly Hollow Road, Greenbrier, Arkansas 72058.

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Congratulations go out to TQS member noralg was the winner of her own copy of Ruth's fabulous stitchery book. A big thanks goes out to all who played. 

Would you like to take your stitchery to a new level but need bit of help? Let Ruth Chandler show you how to take dozens of traditional embroidery stitches and transform them into a whole new art form. 

Ruth's book, Modern Hand Stitching (Landauer), details the how-tos plus fabulous ideas for stretching your creativity with free-form alternatives. With clear, easy-to-follow directions and lots of images, this book is sure to inspire you to add a bit of stitchery to your next project.

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Can you imagine being named artist-in-residence at several prominent US National Parks, including Denali (Alaska), Acadia (Maine), and Mesa Verde (Colorado)? That's the enviable experience of Colorado-based fiber artist Linda Beach!

Join us in this episode (Episode 1409) as Linda visits the TQS gang to show some of her amazing, nature-inspired, machine-pieced works, and to share some of the fabric-selecting and construction techniques she uses to create them, a process she compares to assembling a giant quilter's jigsaw puzzle.

In addition, Ricky shows how a traditional Sailboat block can be an inspirational springboard for a fun and funky new design. "Sail" in, settle down, and enjoy!

                                                                                                 (Photo: Gregory Case Photography)

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Alex and Ricky learn about the new Vision 2.0 from Gammill.  You won't believe some of the features and the new, customizable system starts at only $8,995!

Click here to learn more.

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There is still time to get your Quilt Block Design in to AccuQuilt and be qualified to win $22,000 in prizes. We want a TQS member to win. Plus you can win prizes just by voting. Voting starts May 1.

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You saw it here first and it just won Best of Show at AQS QuiltWeek Paducah 2014---

To see complete list of winners, click here.

ElaTED (89" x 89") created by Ted Storm is a quilting tour-de-force.  Inspired by delftware designs and hand-quilted, Ted hid 8 different designs in the symmetircal setting.  Can you see them?  Click here to go to Ted's blog.

Hand applique, padded applique, embroidery, beading, padded trapunto, hand quilting. Materials: Cotton and some silks.

ElaTED won the Founders Award at IQA Houston 2012.

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Would you like to take your stitchery to a new level but need bit of help? Let Ruth Chandler show you how to take dozens of traditional embroidery stitches and transform them into a whole new art form. 

Ruth's book, Modern Hand Stitching (Landauer), details the how-tos plus fabulous ideas for stretching your creativity with free-form alternatives. With clear, easy-to-follow directions and lots of images, this book is sure to inspire you to add a bit of stitchery to your next project.

You can achieve amazing variation simply by experimenting with stitch length, thread weight and fiber type in straight stitches (left), cross stitches (center), and knots (right).

Want your own copy of this book? Enter our contest. We'll announce the winner on April 29.