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What do you do with your leftover binding?

Keep it, toss it? Recycle?  Never have left over binding? What's your rule of thumb for how much binding to make?

Submit a comment and let us know about the ties that bind.

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Becoming a creative art quilter does not always happen overnight. So why not take advantage of the lessons learned from an expert. Here are six great tips to guide you along the way from Katie Pasquini Masopust's (Episode 906) book Design Expolorations For The Creative Quilter. 

• Use different kinds of music for differnent stages of quiltmaking.  Music with no lyrics for the design portion.  Just pleasing rythyms that allow the right side of the brain (the creative side) to function. 
  
• Store fabric in open bins by primary and secondary colors (yellow, orange, red, violet, blue, green).  You can go even a step further by then separating the colors into seven value steps from light to dark.
• Use an L-shaped cropping tool to search for the perfect spot on a drawing or painting.  Using a cropping tool allows you to tighten up a composition.  It also allows you to stop worrying about a particular area of a painting that you don't like.  Katie finds that she is most successful in finding a good composition when the L-shaped cropping tool opens only 3"-6".
• Use a proportional scale to enlarge your design.  This handy tool takes all of the guesswork out of determining the size for your finished project.
• Keep a record of your work in a file.  The file should include notes on inspiration, technique, and the date you completed the piece.  This will make it easy to fill out forms and answer requests when entering your work in shows or for publications.

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In Lesson 21 of Alex Anderson - Hand Quilting, Alex talks about marking a quilt and demonstrates her quilting stitch and how she travels beneath the layers of a quilt.

If you'd like a copy of Hand Quilting with Alex Anderson, click here.

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Today is World Alzheimer's Day and Ami Simms wants to go viral!  If you are a member of Facebook, here's what Ami would like you to do:

Please change your FaceBook profile picture temporarily to the photograph of a person who has/had Alzheimer's that you wish to honor and remember on September 21st and always.

Please include this statement in your status update:

I support the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
at www.AlzQuilts.org

If you make a $5 donation to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative before midnight on Wednesday, post the invoice number generated by your donation to the AAQI FaceBook page at: http://www.facebook.com/AAQI.News *

They will capture the image of your loved one from your profile picture and add it to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative 2011 Virtual Wall of Remembrance where it will remain for one year. Names will not accompany photographs.

If you are not on FaceBook, or wish to make multiple donations to honor more than one person, email one photograph of each of your loved ones and the invoice number generated by your donation ($5 for each photo) to Diane at diane456@gmail.com. Pictures may be cropped and sized to fit the wall.

As it is somewhat time consuming to snag and post your profile picture, please do not change it until you see it appear on the AAQI Update Blog, above. It may take several days to keep up! They'll do their best.

*If you've never been there before, you may have to click the "LIKE" button. What's not to like?!

Let's help Ami out and remember our loved ones!

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Nowadays, most of us don't use delicate linens and other textiles on a daily basis; however, while styles and tastes have changed over the years, many of us have collections of these lovely items--often family pieces--that we can't bear to toss out or give away. Usually these cherished textiles stay tucked away and are viewed only on rare occasions. What a shame!

Recently I had the opportunity to take a "Linen Ladies" workshop with Cindy Needham (featured in Episode 202). Cindy is a quilter known for taking beautiful useable pieces of beautiful antique textiles, and giving them new life in a quilt.The vintage pieces are the "stars," but with Cindy’s beautiful handiwork, the new creation takes on a whole different dimension. According to Cindy, the idea is not to overpower the original maker's beautiful work, but to showcase and incorporate the old with the new and give life to the piece in a way that can be passed on to future generations.

Class participants were asked to bring old linens to be audition as potential "new" works. As the students began revealing the treasured pieces that they had brought from home, there were many "oohs" and "aahs" heard around the classroom. It was fun to walk around the room and hear each person share the story behind the pieces she had brought. Many were family pieces that had been saved, as expected, in a drawer for many years. 

As the class got underway, Cindy began sharing the unique challenges and pleasures of working with antique textiles. She covered a variety of topics, including how to deal with stains and holes, and the selection of marking tools, threads, peek-a-boo fabrics (that is, the foundation fabrics for the vintage pieces), batting, and beads. While covering these topics, Cindy frequently used completed pieces as examples. It was during the discussion of peek-a-boo fabrics that Cindy unveiled a piece that caught my eye immediately. It was a small piece, about 15" square. The center motif featured a doily centered on a small napkin, with a beautiful lace edging along the outer border.  For more...

Watch Cindy's show for Free September 20-25, 2011.                                                                                                                                                     

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Plum and gray are very hot on today's decorating scene, and Melrose by Red Rooster Fabrics offers quilter's a large variety of options.  From bold leaves and stylized flowers to swirls and stripes, this is sure to make your next quilting project stand out from the crowd.  And speaking of projects!  Check out this great two-block quilt designed by Cyndi Hershey.  Get the Free Pattern here.

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In Lesson 20 of Alex Anderson - Hand Quilting, Alex talks about working on a hoop.

If you'd like a copy of Hand Quilting with Alex Anderson, click here.

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Travel with Ricky Tims on this 11-day tour of Ireland visiting the Dublin, Glendalough, Avoca, Kylemore Abbey & Gardens, Killarney, Cliffs of Moher, Adare, the Dingle Peninsula and we will be spending time in the Galway area for the festivities that surround the very first International Quilt Festival of Ireland!

This trip is created and organized by Jim West of Sew Many Places. Get all the details HERE! Tour is limited. Sign up soon!

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BONUS. See a Free Episode Now!

GREAT NEWS! You've seen the trailer for Why Quilts Matter, now we're giving you a FREE sneak-peak of an entire episode! "The Quilt Marketplace" is now available for viewing by all TQS members. Here's what the folks at Why Quilts Matter have to say about this exciting episode:

"The marketplace for quilts has always been a bit of a mystery. It’s hard to understand why some quilts are so much pricier than others, and why some old quilts aren’t worth anything at all. And how can an artist ask $10,000 for a brand new quilt…and get it? In this episode of Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics, host Shelly Zegart takes you behind the scenes in the quilt marketplace—past and present—where you will meet its players, learn its unwritten rules, and penetrate its secrets. Discover why one 19th-century quilt was worth $264,000 and how a quilt can go from $150 to $20,000 as it passes from picker to dealer, up the ladder of expertise. Find out how artists price their quilts in the contemporary market and how technology is changing the playing field forever.
Featuring appearances by Shelly Zegart, Susan Parrett, Pat Garthoeffner, Susan Kramer Hunkins, Rod Lich, Caryl Bryer Fallert, Gerald Roy, Karen Musgrave, John M. Walsh III, Mariya Waters and (yay! Our very own!!) Ricky Tims.

This FREE episode is only available until September 26, 2011 so make sure to schedule time to enjoy it this week. Also, click below if you're interested in purchasing the entire series. The DVD includes bonus interviews and features that you won't see anywhere else. This would make a great gift for your quilting friends, so order your copy today!