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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

It's a whole new world as fiber artist Sonya Lee Barrington shares the pleasures of using wool and silk as alternatives to cotton in your quilts and other sewing projects. After whetting your appetite with a number of her fabulous quilts, Sonya "gets down to business," explaining the unique properties of these two versatile fibers, offering a slew of tips for working with them, and showing a variety of inventive project possibilities. You'll love her clever purse made from the pocket of a man's wool jacket!

Want more? Ricky demonstrates an easy "four-patch-within-a-square" block that we'll pattern on the TQS site with a super-cool block challenge.

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At the beginning of June, the staff of AccuQuilt will be moving to a new headquarters building just 30 miles away in Omaha at 137th and Giles Road. The new building includes state-of-the-art warehousing facilities, as well as amenities for quilters to support and promote the advancement of quilting. The company’s roots go back more than three decades, when it began as a contract manufacturer known as Phoenix Manufacturing.

In addition to the office and warehouse facility where AccuQuilt GO!®, GO! Baby® and Studio^TM Fabric Cutters are shipped across the U.S. and internationally, the new headquarters building contains a quilt gallery to show off traveling quilt collections. It also includes a state-of-the-art quilting studio, where quilters will be invited to tour and attend classes. The building even has a coffee bar to entertain guests. It is located just 40 miles from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.

After a one-day hiatus in services to accommodate the move, staff will be in place and ready to work in the new AccuQuilt headquarters building the first part of June. To celebrate the opening of the new headquarters, quilters from every corner of the U.S. and internationally will join AccuQuilt staff on June 22nd to see the unveiling of the winning design in the AccuQuilt Barn Quilt Design Contest. Find more info at http://www.accuquilt.com/barnquilt.html.

And don't forget, Alex will be at the unveiling which is free and open to the public!

Two quilting retreats will be held in conjunction with the grand opening and barn quilt raising, one before and one after the celebration. Quilters can get registration information at http://www.accuquilt.com/retreats-2012-ct. The celebration and retreats are being held in conjunction with the Omaha Quilt Show, which will be taking place at the same time just down the street from the AccuQuilt headquarters building.

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In Episode 1012 - Beyond Cotton: Working with Wool and Silk with Sonya Lee Barrington, Sonya demonstrates how to work with wool while showing Ricky how to make a purse out of a jacket.  This quilt is also a "re-cycled" piece.  The quilt top is 100% recycled wool and the buttons are recycled as well. It is machine pieced; hand embroidered and hand quilted. The back is new Pendelton^® wool and the batting is wool as well.  The quilt measures 48" x 72".

The Jigsaw site changed the look.  You can increase the puzzle to full screen by clicking the little box and arrow icon in the lower right corner.  You can see it in the picture below.

After you make it full screen use the gear icon to rescatter the pieces.

You can see more of Sonya's work at www.sonyaleebarrington.com.

Wool Work - 35 pieces non-rotating

Wool Work - 96 pieces non-rotating

Wool Work - 96 pieces rotating

Wool Work - 300 pieces non-rotating

Wool Work - 300 pieces rotating

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Susan Else creates out of this world quilted sculptures.  We found Susan and some of her wonderful designs at Road to California 2012 where she was a featured artist.  Not only is her work three dimensional, some of it even moves!  Her sculpture "Forever Yours" won Juror's Choice, Art Quilt Elements 2012 at the Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA.  Keep an eye out, you just might see her at TQS.

Please visit Susan's site at www.susanelse.com.

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Here is just a little sample of the amazing quilts that were created from the Half-Square Triangle Exchange in 2012. 

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Captain John stopped by the Superior Threads booth while he was at the AQS Show in Paducah.  He asked the question, "What are thread customers looking for?"  He gets some great ideas about what to use for piecing and what to use for quilting.  John is also introduced to the Superior Thread Holder.

 Click on the picture to learn more about the Superior Thread Holder.

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Have you visited We All Sew lately?  Brought to you by Bernina, it is a place where sewers, crafters, and quilters can be inspired through project ideas, patterns and tips.  Some of their latest free patterns include a Geometric Quilt Block Pillow and a Quilted Casserole Carrier both from Erika Mulvenna and cute little Mug Rugs from Stacy Schyler.

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This month changes the pace with the first of 3 appliquéd blocks. You will be making 3 copies of this block. If you’ve never used the AccuQuilt GO! Cutter before, check out the video this month to see why I love to use it for cutting all of my appliqué shapes. It makes your cutting very fast and accurate.

You can use your favorite appliqué technique to create the 3 blocks for this month. If you have an embroidery machine, designs are included for you to do basic appliqué in the hoop. If you own an embroidery machine but have never used it to do appliqué this month, you may want to take a break and wait until next month to start your appliqué.

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A lot of non-quilters are getting a peek into our world today. Check out the article on Ricky featured in the London Financial Times. 

Click here to read the article.

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Take a peek behind the scenes of Episode 1012 and watch Sonya Lee Barrington as she teaches Ricky how to make a purse out of a jacket pocket.  She also talks with Alex about the wonders of silk.  Ricky gets in on the teaching as well when he shows Alex how to make a "four-patch-within-in-a -square block.  Come join in the fun!