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TQS has a lot of members who are interested in the Dear Jane quilt. Our site sponsor Stitchin’ Heaven has a Dear Jane block of the month program that began in 2004 to fulfill the needs of those who needed a structured set of of instructions to accompany the book "Dear Jane" by Brenda Papadakis. The book does not include instruction, only line drawings of the 225 blocks making it difficult sometimes to figure out how to construct the 4 1/2" blocks.

Stitchin’ Heaven’s 24-month program will provide the fabric as well as the instruction for the 10 blocks each month. The book is required and the Dear Jane software is recommend. SH is planning another program to begin in January 2008 and they are offering TQS members who want to make a Dear Jane quilt a free start fee (a $25 value!). This offer will be good through September 2007 and the program will begin in January, 2008. If interested in the offer, the coupon code TQSDJ2008 needs to be entered during the checkout process. More details can be found here

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Every quilt teaches a lesson.  Sometimes the lesson is not revealed until the quilt is almost completed.  While creating "Rose Window", Cindy learned two valuable lessons. "1). If you are using black fabric, DO NOT use white poly batting. 2). Hand quilting with black thread on black fabric is not only impossible to see while doing it, it's impossible to see within the finished product."

Have you learned from a "mistake" quilt?  How has it helped you become a better quilt designer? Share your thoughts so that others can avoid some of those pitfalls. 

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     "Summer Memories" by mknavy90

Mary enjoys quilting with her daughter, morning walks and NASCAR.  She wanted to remember this summer in a quilt journal.  As it happened she and her daughter were able to attend a taping of The Quilt Show in La Veta, Colorado which featured Jean Wells as the guest artist.  Seeing Jean's nature inspired portrait quilts an idea for her journal came to mind. 

Mary decided to make her own portrait quilt capturing images of the flowers she saw every morning on her walk and the techniques she had just learned from Jean Wells. The quilt featured above is the result.  What a great way to celebrate a special time.  Do you have a quilt that holds special memories for you? 

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    "Iris Garden" by con8487 

Let's face it we all have UFO (un-finished objects) that we say we are going to complete some day laying around our quilt area.  Many languish in our "to get to" pile for months if not years.  While glancing through our Quilt Gallery recently we came upon a UFO that required 33 years of diligence to complete.  The kit was given to the quilter by her mother in the 1960's.  All of the flowers required cross-stitching.  At one point she even ran out of thread and had a difficult time trying to locate a color to match.  But she perservered until she found DMC floss to match perfectly.  The quilt was completed in 2005 and includes many quilted iris to compliment the cross-stitch design.  Let's all give a big WooHoo! to con8487.  She definitely deserves it.

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(Jean Wells with Ricky and Alex)

Jean Wells, artist, teacher and co-owner of The Stichin' Post quilt shop, will spend an hour with us in chat room Featured Guest on Monday September 10, 2007 at 1:00pmPacific/4:00pm Eastern. Jean will share how to create your own miniature nature quilts based on her book Portraits From Nature. We hope you can join us for a very inspriring hour.

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 "Ragtime Circle Quilt" by MontanaGramma & Kessley Newton

As we race down this highway of modern life, it is important to remember to preserve the traditions of the past for future generations.  Quilting is one of those art forms that need to be kept alive and what better way to ensure its continuation than to include a young person in the making of the quilt. When they are able to choose the pattern, fabric and do the actual sewing, a real sense of accomplishment is the result.  It may also lead to a desire to continue creating quilts; and thus the passion is passed from one generation to the next.  

Was there someone in your past that took the time to share their love of quilting with you? Was it a Grandparent, Aunt, or neighbor? What was the first quilt you worked on with this mentor? 

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  New York Uglies by Jan Eaton

If you have ever gone to a quilt shop with a group of friends to buy fabric you know that each of you is drawn to different fabrics.  One or two pieces of fabric will be loved by everyone in the group.  But invariably there are those you personally consider "real uglies" and would never want to own, let alone purchase.  Well one person's ugly is another's beauty.  Jan Eaton and a group of friends decided that they needed to purge their stash of "ugly" fabrics.  They challenged themselves to come up with a quilt using these fabrics.  The group traded and didn't care if mistakes were made while sewing up the blocks-remember these were fabrics they didn't like that much to begin with. 

My grandmother used to say that "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's (pig) ear".  Well, I think in this case she was wrong.  Jan's "New York Uglies" should definitely inspire us all to go through our stash and come up with a quilt this beautiful.

Lilo

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She's piping hot - meet Susan Cleveland. Susan's approach will take your quilts to a new level! It's her details and incredible precision that result in smashing quilts. Her exciting piping technique adds just the right amountof "pop". Don't miss the afterset - Susan continues to teach - talk about a great teacher!! In addition to this you'll meet Mother Superior, Heather Purcell, see the studio of Mickey Depre and Ricky plays Uptop from Sacred Age.

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If you have been following along with us to make your very own Fishing With Pop Pop quilt, you should now be ready to begin work on the water blocks. Click here for Part 3 directions . And remember, the more blues you use for your water the more interesting it will appear. We definitely want to see everyone's work, so post them on your profile. Let's get started and make some quilting waves.

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After suffering from sore shoulders while quilting a twin size baby quilt I finally followed the suggestion of a number of our members and went out to buy myself a set of rubber door stops. I put them under the back of the machine and to my surprise it really helps to tilt the machine. Why was I so reluctant to try this? Stubborn I guess. Many of you I am sure have quilting tools you use that aren't from the quilt store at all. We want to know what you have found and how you use it. I promise it won't take me as long to try a new "gadget" next time. Oh, and Wayne ("The Big Kahuna" cameraman) found out that a rotary cutter works great for cutting his gels. I guess it works both ways with great tools.

Lilo