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Congratulations to JHulinsky, aka Julie from Nebraska.  She is the winner of an iPad Mini from TQS.

Over 150 RARE Bears were created for the TQS RARE Bear Contest!
 
Thank you to everyone who entered and submitted a bear.  Many of you submitted more than one to this wonderful program.  You have made so many children happy.  And remember, the program is ongoing and you can always make a RARE Bear.
 
 

                               

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The The LaConner Quilt Museum will be featuring a solo show of Kathy McNeil's Quilts.

Star Members can watch Kathy in Show 1802:Fearless Quilting and Fabulous Results They can also learn more about Kathy's landscape techniques in two online Featured Guest DVDs currently running on TQS.  Click here to see the DVDs.

The LaConner Quilt Museum
703 2nd Ave. La Conner, WA 98257
360 466-4288

April 2nd - June 17th - Magical Journey of Hand Appliquéd Art Quilts

Saturday April 2nd 2 pm - Lecture - " The Creative Life"
Inspiration, risky ideas,tricky techniques, beastly bindings, and enchantment. Kathy shares her ' in progress' tips, tricks and joy with you.

Saturday April 2nd 3p - 5p Meet and Greet
Kathy McNeil, internationally award winning quilt artist.  Sewing thousands of little scraps of fabric together by hand, she creates quilts that look like paintings. These wall hangings are inherently and symbolically full of love and comfort. Often using over a hundred different fabrics (1-2000 pieces) in one composition, she revels in adding small details and surprises for the viewer to find. Her award winning quilts are frequently featured in museums, magazines, calendars and international shows. Many of her quilts are in private collections.

 


Celtic Fox
The Celtic fox, captured in this quilt, symbolizes a need to think fast, and be cleaver and wize. The Fox is often described as cunning, that word comes from “Kenning”, meaning to know and understand. Shape-shifters, illuminated by the moon, they are associated with transformation and the need to take a new approach to our lives. Silent and Swift, Owls are the Crone Goddess’s  messengers, helping to unmask those who would deceive or harm you. Rabbits are connected to the moon and femininity. They talk to us about conceiving new ideas and holding them in our hearts. In Ireland eating a hare was like eating your own grandmother.

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You'll want to hop on over and learn how to make these adorable drawstring bunny bags

from Ashley of "Make It and Love It" featured on the WeAllSew.com site.

 
 
 
 

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Alex spoke with two time Martha Stewart "American Made" finalist Heather Jones at QuiltCon West 2016.  They discuss the growth of the modern quilt movement and what to do if you don't live near a guild. Heather has an Art History background and considers herself a "minimalist".  Click here to see more of her work as part of the contest.

Click here to visit Heather's website, www.heatherjonesstudio.com.

 

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(Photo from Pumpkin Patch Quilter)

Rulers and templates come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes.  Keeping these necessary tools organized can be a challenge for any quilter. Before we show you the creative storage ideas we have discovered, YOU need to do your homework by spend some time going through your current inventory of rulers and templates to see if any are damaged or need to be replaced. 

Rulers are a workhorse tool that should be kept in good working order.  There are ideas on the web for repairing a broken ruler using clear adhesive tape or heavy duty glues such as Gorilla Glue, Super Glue or Crazy Glue. But, this solution might lead to problems if the ruler pieces aren't glued together accurately. 

As you go through your collection, take note of rulers that you have multiples of and those that you might need for an upcoming project.  Avoid the need to re-count through the entire collection again by organizing a list on your phone or written down for easy reference.  That way you'll be ready the next time spot a sale on rulers at your local quilt shop. TQS editor Mary Kay, keeps a list of all of the BERNINA feet she owns on her phone, using the Bernina Accessories App, for this same purpose.  But, we will get to machine feet later down the road in our year-long Organization Project. 

A good basic set of rulers that will get the most use from in your work space should include the following:

12 1/2" x 12 1/2"-squaring large blocks

6 1/2" x 24"-cutting yardage

6 " x 12"-cutting smaller yardage

6 1/2" x 6 1/2"-cutting and trimming small blocks

4" x 4"-cutting and trimming small blocks

          1" x 6"-small measurements

Exactly how many rulers and what type does one quilter really need? Well, that depends on each individual. Some quilters prefer a basic group of standard rulers, while other quilters love having a wide variety. Keep in mind if you fall in the latter category, storage can become a challenge. This is when you need to determine what type of quilting space you currently work in (or are trying to achieve this year) and whether your space and budget will allow for all of the tempting rulers your desire out on the market today:

  1. Do you perfer a clean and visually clutter free space with tools, books, fabric out of sight?
  2. Do you like a visually stimulating space with areas for art, quilting tools and other items of interest?
  3. Does your entire workspace allow for large amounts of horizontal or vertical storage?
  4. Do you need a variety of specific rulers such as Longarm, cutting, drafting, etc.?

So, on to the options we found that just might be the perfect fit for you.

Option 1: 

If you perfer a clean and clutter free space, consider these options for your rulers. Each offers close at hand solutions without being a visual distraction. Repositionable hooks along the side of a work table or on the back of a door utilize what is often overlooked place to hang items. Storing vertically also gives you more work surface.

Don't have holes in some of your rulers? Use spring clips from the office supply store.

                  
                                     Kathy Drew                                                                         Pine Needles

 


(Photo by Lilo Bowman)

Jacquie Gering (Show 1202), one of the queen's of a clutter free sewing environment, used an industrial magazine holder to store rulers in her Chicago studio.

Option 2:

Do you prefer a visually stimulating space, or are you lacking in large areas of vertical and horizontal storage? Mary at Pin.Sew.Press finds a table top mail sorter to keep things in order, while Sarah of SewMe uses a wooden plate rack.

                                 
                                                           Pin.Sew.Press.                                                                                Sew Me

 

                    

Companies such as KRHemphill Woodworking can customize pieces to accomodate all of your rulers for tabletop or wall mount storage, while Janna Thomas (Show 1803) of BlocLoc offers the Hang in a Round system that securely clamps to a table or other sturdy surface. The large number of hooks allow you to hold an assortment of tools including a ruler up to 30" in length.

 

Option 3:

What about those odd shaped specialty rulers and templates that won't fit so well on hooks or racks? Della at Della Designs keeps them, along with their directions, in zip style bags on a skirt hanger placed on a closet door. AllPeopleQuilt suggests using a D-ring binder with large clear zipperd pockets. Clip it Up offers a wall mounted swing arm rack with 15 clips.

                                                         
                                                                   Della Designs                                                                          allpeoplequilt


                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                  ClipItUp
 

Click here for a list of links to other Organization blogs.

 

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This looks like it would make a great celtic knot if you put just a few of them together. 

Find out what's called when you play Jinny's game.

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Alex sat down and chatted with Free Spirit fabric designer and quilting entrepreneur, Anna Maria Horner, at QuiltCon.  They discussed designing fabric, Anna's seven children, and the creation of her shop in Nashville, Craft South.

Craft South's brick & mortar location is on 12th Avenue South in Nashville. 

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Christa Watson decided it was time to have a "real" design wall in her house, so she headed off to the home improvement store to see what she could find.  With just some foam core and a little ingenuity, she ended up with a "great wall" to call her own.

 

 
 

 

 

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CatWalk, a new exhibit, running February 20 through May 16 2016, in six galleries of the Philips Wing of the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam.  This wonderful exhibit is dedicated to the fashion of the Dutch from 1625 to 1960.  
Enjoy this "fashion forward" video as it flies through time.
 
(Video by Erwin Olaf)
    
 

From February 20 through May 16 2016, six galleries of the Philips Wing will be dedicated to fashion of the Dutch from 1625 to 1960. Starting with garments worn by members of the Frisian branch, of the house of Nassau in the Golden Age, the exhibits will feature vibrantly coloured French silk gowns and luxurious velvet gentlemen’s suits of the eighteenth century, classically-inspired Empire dresses and bustles of the Fin de Siècle, culminating in twentieth-century French haute couture by Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

Rijksmuseum Curator of Costumes, Bianca du Mortier explains, 'The garments presented in this exhibition reflect the stories of the people who wore them. In fashion, the choices of the wearer count – they make him or her a trendsetter or a follower. Even today the clothes of the very rich and powerful always convey a conscious or unconscious message. In that respect, nothing has changed over the last 330 years. These choices are restricted by such factors as budget, opportunity, age, social status, climate, personal likes and dislikes and so forth. And when presented in a museum, there is a final selection: the selection of the Rijksmuseum.'

The exhibition is being designed by world-renowned Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf.

According to Erwin Olaf, 'The challenge and honour of designing this exhibition, Catwalk, for the most extraordinary museum in the Netherlands came at exactly the right moment for me. For several years now I’ve been exploring alternative ways to present my photographic work and to integrate it in installations, sound, video and films as means to immerse viewers in a world that fires and challenges their personal imaginations and, ultimately, sparks a stimulating dialogue between the viewer and the work on view.'


 

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Welcome to International Quilting Weekend!

March18-20, 2016

 

Over 220 Free Shows & Amazing Prizes

Do you love quilting?

The Quilt Show, with hosts Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, is an online worldwide quilting WebTV show and magazine all in one. There are hundreds of shows, amazing, award-winning guest artists from all over the world, demos and discussions, tips and tricks galore, articles, slideshows, patterns and puzzles, all at your fingertips whenever you want to watch them. It's all in chapters so you can watch and then get back to quilting!

Introduce yourself to TheQuiltShow.com this weekend. Here's how:

 

Three Easy Steps:

1. Enter to Win! Great prizes (see below). If you have entered, go to Step 2.

2. Login/Join - Sign in or Sign Up (It's Free!)               

3. Start Watching!  (We show you how to choose)    

             

The Quilt Show hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, will open all of its shows from the first seventeen series-- shows 100-1713 -- for the entire weekend. This means that, for three special days, everyone will have the chance to view over 220 shows, featuring some of the quilting world’s leading artists, for FREE. 

 

2016 International Quilt Day Sweepstakes Terms & Conditions


Here's What You Can Win!